A $10,000 Second-Chance Tournament, and More Schedules

When Bellagio Tournament Director Jack McClelland told me that Bellagio was going to have a $10,000 second-chance tournament the week after the World Series of Poker, I laughed. I thought players would have to be nuts to come back a few days after their dreams were shattered and play in another multiday event. I claimed that I wouldn't play for a month once the WSOP was completed. So, I was in line buying in, and everyone there was whining that they should be in a loony bin for not taking at least five days off. The problem was, Bellagio tournaments provide so much play that everyone had to play.

Three days later, we were at the final table. After several hours of play, Amnon "Eric" Filippi from New York defeated new poker superstar Quinn Do to win first-place prize money of more than $364,000. Eric's aggressive, smart play got him the championship. Meanwhile, nobody knew Quinn Do a month ago, and all he did at the WSOP was win a bracelet and come in third in another event. Then, he tried this no-limit hold'em event at Bellagio and finished second.

Limit hold'em tournaments must be easy for some players. On CardPlayer.com, we kept track of Player of the Year points from the WSOP only to come up with our own best overall player. Cash-game player Todd Witteles played in his first two tournaments ever and finished third in one and then won a bracelet in his second attempt. His limit hold'em dominance at the WSOP gained him the most points for the WSOP standings. Good job, Todd.

This brings us to August. I am sticking to my word and am going to take a few weeks off from poker to catch up on work. The next time I will be attending a poker event will be at Camp Hellmuth on Aug. 18. This three-day camp will take place at Caesars Palacein Las Vegas. It will provide insight to those who want to learn poker from some of the best in a multiday seminar/event format. See you there.

Harrah's recently announced its schedule for the upcoming WSOP Circuit events. When you look at that schedule and the World Poker Tour schedule, you'll see that the year is almost completely booked. Who says you can win only $1 million a month?

WORLD POKER TOUR

The Bicycle Casino, Bell Gardens, California. . . Aug 27-31, 2005

Borgata, Atlantic City, New Jersey. . . . . . . . Sep 19-22, 2005

UltimateBet, Aruba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sep 26 – Oct 3, 2005

Doyle Brunson No. Amer. Poker Chmpshps . . Oct 18-21, 2005

Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, Ct . . Nov 13-16, 2005

Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . Dec 13-16, 2005

PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure . . . . Jan 4-11, 2006

Gold Strike Casino, Tunica, Mississippi . . . . . Jan 22-26, 2006

Commerce, Commerce, California . . . . . . . . Feb 17-21, 2006

Commerce, Commerce, California . . . . . . . . Feb 22-23, 2006

Bay 101, San Jose, California . . . . . . . . . . . Feb 27 – Mar 3, 2006

PartyPoker, Party Poker Cruise . . . . . . . . . . Mar 12-19, 2006

Reno Hilton, Reno, Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mar 27-30, 2006

Bellagio, Las Vegas, Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . . Apr 18-24, 2006

WORLD SERIES OF POKER CIRCUIT EVENTS

Grand Casino,Tunica . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aug. 11-25, 2005

Harrah's, Las Vegas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 6-16, 2005

Grand Casino, Biloxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sept. 29-Oct. 12, 2005

Caesars, Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oct. 19-Nov. 2, 2005

Paris/Bally's, Las Vegas . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 9-22, 2005

Showboat, Atlantic City . . . . . . . . . . . Nov. 28-Dec. 9, 2005

Grand Casino, Tunica . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jan. 5-26, 2006

Harrah's, Atlantic City . . . . . . . . . . . . Feb. 7-17, 2006

Caesars, Atlantic City . . . . . . . . . . . . March 21-31, 2006

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas . . . . . . . . . April 3-14, 2006

Harrah's, New Orleans . . . . . . . . . . . . May 18-28, 2006

Harrah's, Lake Tahoe . . . . . . . . . . . . . June 6-16, 2006

2006 TOC at the Rio, Las Vegas . . . . June 28-29, 2006

2006 WSOP at the Rio, Las Vegas . . . Summer 2006