Steven Begleiter in action
His November Nine appearance may not have received the same hype and attention as Phil Ivey’s, but Steven Begleiter is letting his poker do the talking at the WPT Legends of Poker.
Begleiter steamrollered through a large chunk of the field to find himself monster chip leader after Day 1. Roosting on 235,000 chips, Toto Leonidas is his nearest challenger, on 93,000. The WPT Legends of Poker Championship is usually one of the busiest events in the WPT calendar, but only 279 players forked out the $10k buy-in this year.
With the EPT Kiev and APT Macau running simultaneously, poker players find themselves spoilt for choice when it comes to live event opportunities. Still, a $2,625,000 prize pool guarantees over $1 million to the lucky winner.
With five levels of play on Day 1, big names to hit the rail included former WSOP Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen, balshy Aussie Millions runner up Jimmy Fricke, Nenad Medic, Barry Greenstein and Joe Sebok.
On his superb Day 1 exploits and preparation for the November Nine, Begleiter, a 47 year old investment banker, commented, ‘If I didn't play poker for like three and a half months, or whatever, I'd be a little over-focused on what's going to happen in November. If I play regularly, hopefully I go in there playing at a high level and I'll make better decisions’.