The WPT Festa al Lago has always been one of the most highly anticipated events in the poker industry.  335 people turned up for the tournament, beating last year’s field by a total of 60. Of course, the bigger field might be due in part to the fact that the buy in was reduced to $10,000 from $15,000, allowing more people to afford joining this high-profile poker tournament. However, most of those 335 were bumped off on the road to the final table. Now, with only 13 players remaining, Anette Obrestad sits atop the leader board at a pretty secure spot, with over 2 million chips at her disposal.

The Road to the Final Table

There were a lot of hopefuls who joined the WPT Festa al Lago at the Bellagio this year, all of them hoping to get a piece of the gigantic prize pool that this event usually generates. Of course, everyone has their eyes on the first place prize, but only one of those 335 hopefuls will really get there. Lauren Kling was the last one to go on Monday, just barely missing the final day, when only 13 people were left to move on. She did not go home empty handed, however, and managed to take home a total of $32,000. That’s more than thrice the buy-in she paid for – a pretty good pay day, all things considered.

Other players who just barely missed the final day play include Mark Newhouse, who left at 15^th place and Chad Batista, exiting at 16^th place.

The Final Thirteen

Still, though we’re getting pretty close to the final table, we’re not exactly there just yet. Thirteen players still remain, and it looks as if it’s going to be a pretty tough fight, what with the star-studded leader board. Anette Obrestad may sit at the very top with an impressive 2,009,000 in chips, but andy Frankenberger is not far behind her with 1,820,000.  Another famous poker pro sits at the leader board, and that’s Jeff Madsen, with 1,500,000. Allen Kessler is in fourth place, with 1,275,000. He’s followed really closely by John monnette at 5^th place with 1,271,000. With the top 5 having stacks so close to each other’s, it’s anyone’s game, really.

Other players who managed to get in include Noah Schwartz, Bobby Suer, Brandon Steven, Randal Flowers, Skip Wilson, Michael Benvenuti, John Krpan, and Jason Koon. Jason Koon, at last place, holds 396,000 chips.