Five Diamond World Poker Classic

If you have $15,000 plus the $400 entry fee, you can enter the last major poker tournament of the year as the main event of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic gets underway on Wednesday in Las Vegas.  Last year in the Five Diamond, 584 players made for a prize pool of over $8 million dollars. Last year’s Five Diamond champ was 2005 World Series of Poker winner Joe Hachem. The Five Diamond players' field is expected to have a similar number of entrants this year.

Five Diamond Poker Classic Schedule 

Day 1A of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic gets underway at noon on Wednesday from the Bellagio in Las Vegas while Day 1B gets underway at noon on Thursday. The final table for the Five Diamond is scheduled for December 18th. This is the second straight year the buy-in for the tournament is $15,000. In previous years it was $10,000.

Last year Hachem won the Five Diamond Poker Classic while 2005 saw the title go to Minh Ly. 2004 had Carlos Mortensen winning the prestigious Five Diamond poker title. The 2003 Five Diamond Poker Classic winner was Paul Phillips while the 2002 winner was Gus Hansen.

In other poker news, Andy Philachack won the World Series of Poker Circuit championship event in New Orleans. First place paid $247,860. Philachack started the final table as one of the short stacks but made a very nice comeback to win the title. He battled poker pro Josh Arieh in the heads-up duel. It was not a long battle as just four hands after it began Philichack flopped top-and-bottom pair against Arieh's bottom two pair and won the title as both players were all-in. Areih took home $130,050 for his second place finish.

The win is the first tournament title for Philachack but it is not the first time he has been at a final table. He was the runner-up earlier this year to Phil Hellmuth when Hellmuth won his 11th WSOP bracelet. Here are the top ten finishers from the WSOP circuit event in New Orleans.

WSOP Circuit New Orleans Winners

1. Andy Philachack $247,860
2. Josh Arieh $130,050
3. Ted McCollom $76,500
4. David Fox $61,200
5. Lenny Pruzansky $42,075
6. Nic Gellepis $42,075
7. Bruce MacGregor $30,600
8. Philip Sparta $22,950
9. Lou Esposito $15,300
10. Carl Johnson $12,240