Heads-Up Returns, WPT Bellagio Sets Prize Pool

WPT Five Diamond Winner Set for $1.26 Million

The Bellagio in Las Vegas hosted Day 3 of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic on Thursday. What started as a $10,000 reentry NLHE Main Event thinned the field to less than 100 players on its third day.

Per WPT live updates, the prize pool was finally completed, as the 503 entries created a prize pool large enough to pay out the top 54 players and award $1,268,571 to the winner. The breakdown was revealed to be 368 individual players and 135 reentries. Interestingly, there were 18 players who bought in three times, three players who did it four times, one who rebought five times, and three players who bought in six times.

Day 3 started with 166 players and Michael Mizrachi in the lead with 272,600 chips. Players quickly fell out of contention for the money, though, as JJ Liu, JC Tran, Darryll Fish, and Eric Froehlich were among the first to exit.

NBC Heads-Up to Return

A Twitter message from POKER PROductions came on the morning of December 6: “Press release soon, but NBC HeadsUp is back – Jan 24-26 at Caesars Palace. Invites going out.”

While little official information has been made available, the format of 64 players in a bracket-style single-elimination event looks to remain the same for the NBC National Heads-Up Championships. The production company is seeking players for the $20,000 buy-in invitational, and the television episodes should begin airing in March on major TV network NBC in the United States.