Day 1

What do you get when you combine a hundred celebrities, a few hundred professional poker players, and an open bar? A great big party.

Okay, let's be honest. Even without the open bar, this was destined to be a party.

The Season VI WPT Invitational kicked off Saturday night with a cocktail reception, allowing celebrities and top poker pros mingle and meet before battling on the felt for a $225,000 prizepool, plus a "side pot" that will be donated to charity.

There were over 100 celebrities present, from actors and actresses to musicians to producers. There were even a couple of the models who hold the money cases on "Deal or No Deal," and they were quite popular. Academy Award winner Don Cheadle ("Hotel Rwanda," "Ocean's 11") was there, and he has been increasing his involvement with poker charities the past two years. There were also the Academy Award nominees who are good enough to be called (at least) semi-pro players: Jennifer Tilly and James Woods.

The definition of celebrity varies from person to person. One journalist was more excited to see '80s icon Corey Feldman than anyone else. "His career may not be peaking right now, but you have to admit, that guy made some of the most classic movies of the eighties." One of those films, "Stand By Me," also starred a young Wil Wheaton, who is actually sponsored by an online poker site. Wheaton has also done a fair amount of poker writing, and he was the longest-lasting celebrity in this event two years ago.

Tom Everett Scott was here, and he made the final table in this event three years ago. He busted out about halfway through the night, as did last year's winner, Adam Weinraub.

There were plenty of professional poker players as well, with some of them taking extreme measures to get here. With the Heads-Up Championship taking place in Vegas, quite a few players hopped quick flights and burned up the desert highways to get here, even if only to play a few hands. Season V WPT Player of the Year J.C. Tran finished his tournament in Las Vegas around 7:45 pm, and made it to the Commerce less than four hours later. He only played for about half an hour before busting, but he stuck around and had a great time joking with the players and celebrities.

Gavin Smith held the unusual distinction of busting out of this tournament <i>twice.</i> Early in the evening, he lost all his chips to Montel Williams, only to reappear later in the night, sitting next to dueling cowboys Kenna James and Hoyt Corkins. It took a while to figure out that Gavin wasn't actually playing, just sitting behind someone's abandoned stack and folding every hand until the chips were gone. But it was a nice treat for the celebrities at that table (and everyone else within hearing distance) to witness the antics of Gavin, the unofficial WPT mascot.

Much of the play was amateurish, and the blind structure was very fast (30 minute levels). But for most of Day 1, this event was about having fun. But the 112 players who survived the day will probably sober up and take things more seriously on Day 2.

The leaderboard held few surprises, with six players over 100,000 -- all poker pros. Shane Schleger dominates the field with 191,000, and when he had about half that many, fellow pro David Singer went on the record to say Schleger was a 9-to-1 favorite to win this tournaments. (That means if the tournament were played out from that point ten times, Schleger would win nine of them.) So if Schleger closes the deal at the WPT final table Monday night, Singer called it first.

1.  Shane "Shaniac" Schleger  -  191,000
2.  Grant Lang  -  144,400
3.  Kenny Tran  -  124,000
4.  David "The Dragon" Pham  -  118,100
5.  Tim Phan  -  109,800
6.  Adam "Roothlus" Levy  -  102,000

Action resumes on Day 2 (Sunday) at 2:00 pm PT. Stay tuned to WorldPokerTour.com for updates, chip counts, photos, and video interviews with Kimberly Lansing -- who is still alive in the tournament with 24,400. Go Kimberly!

Day 2

If Day 1 of the WPT Invitational was a great big party, then Day 2 was for getting down to business. The open bar was gone, as were the rookie players who couldn't tell a flush from a full house. Only 111 players remained from the original 445, and they would play all day Sunday until there were just six players left.

That was the plan, anyway.

With seven players left, there was a dramatic three-way all-in situation that eliminated two players. For the first time in history, a World Poker Tour final table will start with five players rather than six.

The Final Three Celebrities

This tournament started with more than 100 celebrities invited to play in the field. In addition to the prizepool waiting at the final table ($125,500), there was a side pot worth nearly $30,000 that would go entirely to charity in the names of the final 13 celebrities in the field. The three title charities of the event (guaranteed to receive at least $2,500 each) are Soles United, Susan G. Komen For the Cure, and Harbor Private Funds.

When the field reached the final four tables (36 players), there were three celebrities still alive: actor Billy Burke ("Fracture," "Untraceable"), screenwriter Zak Penn ("X3: X-Men United" and writer/director of the upcoming poker film "The Grand"), and actor Tom McGowan. Burke was the first of the three to bust (30th place), followed by Penn in 20th place.

The celebrity last-longer award for 2008 goes to Tom McGowan, who finished in 14th place. McGowan is a Tony award nominee for his role in "La Bete" on Broadway, and is easily recognized for recurring roles he played on the hit sit-coms "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond." For his efforts, $10,000 will be donated in McGowan's name to the charity of his choice.

The Final Four Women

When professional poker pro Kathy Liebert busted in 27th place, there were four women left in the field. The WPT's video reporter Kimberly Lansing and Beverley Kruskol were both short stacked, and they were joined by Debby Perkins (a graduate of WPT Boot Camp) and Van Nguyen, wife of poker pro Men "The Master" Nguyen. A lot of people were rooting for a woman to be represented at the final table -- but wouldn't it be great to have more than one?

As the field diminished, all four women continued to play, and people began to think we'd see two women at the final table. None of these four women ever gave up, and when poker pro Tim Phan busted in 11th place, there were still four women among the final ten. Could we actually see three women at the final table, splitting the representation 50-50 between them and the men?

Scott Ross busted in 10th place, and poker pro Amnon Filippi was ninth --four women had reached the final eight. Take a minute to think about that. In a three-day tournament that started with 445 players, where men outnumbered women by a sizable margin, 50% of the final eight were women. This was not only a first for the World Poker Tour, but likely a first for any major poker tournament in history.

Mathematically speaking, there were guaranteed to be at least two women at the six-handed final table. Or so we thought.

Kimberly Lansing had been playing with a short stack all day, with never more than half the average stack. She fought to stay afloat, and when she rivered a pair with [Js9s] to double up against [As10c], it seemed that fate was on her side. But it was a fleeting moment, because on the next hand she was all in with [Kd10c] and finished with two pair -- but the ten on the river made a straight for her opponent's [AcJc]. Kimberly was eliminated in eighth place, a fantastic finish that all of her fellow reporters are very proud of.

Then something happened that had never happened before.

The Final Five Players?

When action folded to Debby Perkins on the button, she moved all in, and Beverley Kuskol called from the small blind. But then poker pro Billy Baxter surprised everyone by moving all in over the top, with more chips than both of them. Kuskol had a chance to get away from the hand, but she called with [8c8s]. Perkins showed [Ad5c], and they were both underdogs against Baxter's [QdQs]. Baxter's queens held up to win the pot, and for the first time in WPT history, two players were eliminated on the final hand of the playdown day -- creating a five-player televised final table.

With four women among the final eight players, only one (Van Nguyen) will reach the televised final table.

But there is a bit of a silver lining on behalf of women. Because the final table bubble was also the money bubble (sixth place was worth $5,000), Perkins and Kuskol would split the prize according to the Commerce rules, and both players were officially awarded sixth place. By WPT rules, sixth place qualifies as a final table, even if they don't take a seat on the stage. While Nguyen will be the only woman at Monday's televised final table, a WPT record is set as three women get credit for a WPT final table.

One last thing: Since Perkins and Kuskol get credit for a final table and split the prize money, that means our own Kimberly Lansing becomes the unfortunate "bubble girl."

The final five return to action Monday at 5:00 pm PT, with $125,500 waiting for the first-place finisher. Here are the official chip counts:

1.  Billy Baxter  -  1,250,000
2.  Van Nguyen  -  760,000
3.  Justin Marchand  -  815,000
4.  Ethan Ruby  -  910,000
5.  Elias Madias  -  710,000

Will this be the first mixed WPT event ever won by a woman? Return to WorldPokerTour.com Monday at 5:00 pm PT to find out, as we'll be providing complete hand-by-hand coverage of every single check, bet, call, raise, and fold.

Final Table

Women Make History as Van Nguyen Wins the WPT Celebrity Invitational

History was made as Van Nguyen, wife of legendary poker player Men "The Master" Nguyen, outlasted a field of 445 players to win the WPT Celebrity Invitational. It's the first time that a woman has won a WPT main event (other than the WPT Ladies' Night special, of course).

Nguyen wasn't the only woman to shine in this tournament, as three other women finished in the final eight -- another record. In another WPT first, Debby Perkins and Beverley Kruskol were both eliminated in the final hand leading up to the final table -- Perkins' [Ad5c] and Kruskol's [8c8s] failed to improve against Billy Baxter's [QdQs]. WPT final tables normally seat six players, but this one would start in front of the cameras with five.

The seventh-place finisher is normally dubbed the "bubble boy" in WPT tournaments. With Perkins and Kruskol tying for sixth place, WPT video reporter Kimberly Lansing became the "bubble babe," just missing a televised final table in her first major tournament. This tournament gave Lansing the opportunity to play with many of the top players that she has interviewed in other WPT events, and her deep finish gives her new perspective into the emotions that players face in multi-day tournaments.

The WPT Celebrity Invitational started with 445 players, including more than 100 celebrities who, in addition to the regular prizepool, were playing for a "side pot" for charity worth nearly $30,000. The final 13 celebrities would have charitable donations made in their names, up to a $10,000 donation given for the celebrity that goes the deepest. The celebrity last-longer award for 2008 goes to actor Tom McGowan, who finished in 14th place. McGowan was a Tony award nominee for his role in "La Bete" on Broadway, and is easily recognized for recurring roles he played on the hit sit-coms "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond."

But everything comes back to Van Nguyen, the woman who won it all, including $100,000 and a $25,500 seat in the WPT World Championship at Bellagio this April. Her patience and timing in the early stages of the final table were perfect as she won the first nine pots she contested, along with two walks in the big blind. Nguyen didn't lose her first pot until Hand #60. By that point, there were only three players left and she had built a solid chip lead.

Nguyen was taught to play by her husband, Men "The Master" Nguyen, and one WPT staffer nicknamed her "Mrs. Master." This husband-and-wife team is off to an incredibly strong start in 2008. Along with Van's WPT title, Men reached a WPT final table less than six weeks ago (3rd place, WPT Tunica), and just missed another a week after that (10th place, WPT Borgata). Men also received Player of the Tournament awards for both the World Poker Open in Tunica and here at the L.A. Poker Classic, where he won three preliminary events.

Nguyen faced tough competition from her male competitors, including runner-up Ethan Ruby, a wheelchair-bound former athlete who is part of Poker4Life, an organization that promotes charity poker tournaments. Legendary poker pro Billy Baxter (7 WSOP bracelets) finished in third.

Fourth place went to Justin Marchand, the Chief Media Officer for Card Player Media and Associate Publisher of Card Player magazine. Marchand had the distinction of being the only final tablist to earn his entry without an invitation -- he won the L.A. Poker Classic media tournament. Elias Madias finished fifth.

Here is the full list of final payouts:

1st:  Van Nguyen  -  $125,500
2nd:  Ethan Ruby  -  $50,000
3rd:  Billy Baxter  -  $20,000
4th:  Justin Marchand  -  $15,000
5th:  Elias Madias  -  $10,000
T-6th:  Debby Perkins  -  $2,500
T-6th:  Beverley Kuskol  -  $2,500
8th Place "Bubble Babe"  -  Kimberly Lansing