WSOP Poker Player’s Championship final table includes 3 local pros, Phil Hellmuth

By Case Keefer (contact)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 | 7:15 a.m.

The two top players from this summer’s World Series of Poker will face off against each other at the final table of the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship Wednesday afternoon.

Ben Lamb and Phil Hellmuth, who are now first and second in the WSOP Player of the Year standings, emerged as two of the event’s final nine Wednesday morning at the Rio after 15 hours of play.

“To be here, I feel really blessed,” said Lamb, a 26-year-old poker pro who resides in Las Vegas. “It’s a fun tournament. It feels great.”

The final table begins at 3 p.m. Wednesday with the Chip Reese Trophy and $1.72 million going to the winner. The tournament, which is considered the second most prestigious of the series behind only the Main Event and attracted a starting field of 128 players, will air live on ESPN3.com.

Lamb and Hellmuth both have some catching up to do. Hellmuth is fifth in chips with 2.2 million, while Lamb goes into the final table in seventh with 1.1 million.

But both believe a switch in format will help their chances. The tournament has run for four days as an eight-game mix, but will feature only no-limit hold’ em at the final table.

“We’ll see what happens when we play all no-limit at the final table,” Hellmuth warned his tablemates. “I make money when they all try to bluff me.”

Lamb laughed off Hellmuth’s proclamation. He’s confident in his own abilities and believes he has an edge over the rest of the table.

“There are only two really good no-limit players at this table,” Lamb said. “That’s Scott Seiver and Brian Rast. The rest aren’t great at no-limit and are more mixed games players.”

Seiver and Rast are the two remaining Las Vegas professionals to advance to the final table. Rast is second in chips, while Seiver enters with the shortest stack. Everyone is looking up to Minh Ly, a Temple City, Calif., professional, who has 5.2 million chips.

This is Hellmuth’s third final table of the year at the WSOP. The 11-time bracelet winner has come in second in each of his other two deep runs this summer.

Lamb has a first and a second at the 2011 WSOP. He won the Pot Limit Omaha World Championship for $814,436 and came in second in another PLO tournament for $259,918.

“I’ve played the best I’ve ever played,” Lamb said.

Below is a full rundown of the players at the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship final table in order of their seat at the table.

Brian Rast 2.66 million chips

Rast resides in Las Vegas and is primarily a cash game player, but does own one World Series of Poker bracelet.

George Lind 2.31 million chips

Lind persevered with a short stack for most of Day 4 to lock up his second career six-figure cash at the WSOP.

Phil Hellmuth 2.24 million chips

“The Poker Brat” continues his quest for his 12th WSOP championship — and first that doesn’t come in a hold’ em event.

Owais Ahmed 1.42 million chips

Ahmed made a name for himself earlier this year by beating Michael Mizrachi heads-up for a bracelet in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low event.

Scott Seiver 725,000 chips

He won the most prestigious non-WSOP tournament, the World Poker Tour World Championship, for $1.6 million earlier this year at the Bellagio.

Minh Ly 5.21 million chips

A regular at some of the Strip’s biggest cash games, this is Ly’s first WSOP finish in the money since 2008.

Ben Lamb 1.18 million chips

Lamb, who lives in Las Vegas, first rose to WSOP fame by coming in 11th in the 2009 WSOP Main Event for $633,022.

Jason Lester 920,000 chips

The Miami native has experience on his side, as he made his first WSOP appearance in 1990.

Matt Glantz 2.53 million chips

Glantz has nearly $1.6 million in WSOP earnings dating back 11 years, but the Philadelphia native has never been able to break through for a championship.

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.