From the Desk of the Poker Philosopher

The $15K World Poker Tour Bellagio event always attracts a star-studded field of pros fresh off competing in the World Series of Poker. The six-handed final table this year was no exception:

Seat 1: Ralph Perry - 1,635,000
Seat 2: Luke "IWearGoggles" Staudenmaier - 3,495,000
Seat 3: John "The Razor" Phan - 3,495,000
Seat 4: David Benyamine - 4,860,000
Seat 5: Gabe Thaler - 1,550,000
Seat 6: Mike "SirWatts" Watson - 5,060,000

Watson won over $1.6 million for his first place finish. Sigh, I still recall playing with him at one of my first big final tables, a $10 rebuy on Poker Stars. I've had the privilege of meeting him twice, most recently during the WSOP main event when we were both in good shape on Day 2B.

I love this photo of Watson with all the people from 2+2 who were there to see him win it. There's really an extraordinary collection of talent in this photo, including two other winners of earlier events in the Bellagio series: Tony "Bond18" Dunst, who won a $3K event, and Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, who won a $5K event just weeks after turning 21. What a huge couple of weeks it's been for 2+2. I only wish I could have done my part by final tabling the main event.

Congratulations, Mike!

Labels: Bellagio, poker, tournament, WPT

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