The poker boom was on in full effect in 2005. The third season of the World Poker Tour kicked off in July, 2004, from the Aviation Club in Paris, France. Surinder Sunar battled Tony G in one of the most talked about tournaments in WPT history. Dodging verbal abuse from Tony G, Sunar was the crowd favorite. Season three events followed at the Mirage, Borgata, Bicycle, Foxwoods, Gold Strike, Commerce, and Bay 101 casinos. Three events were even held off-shore: the PartyPoker Million, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and Aruba Poker Classic all occurred in sunny, tropical locations. On April 18, 2005, the third World Poker Tour Championship, the granddaddy of all WPT events, kicked off from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. A total of 452 players coughed up $25,000 to enter, making it one of the richest tournaments on the WPT circuit every year. In the end, Tuan Le edged out one of the most competitive televised final tables in WPT history, pocketing $2.8 million and nabbing the title of World Champion.
Le’s road to victory in the 2005 WPT Championship was anything but a cakewalk. The final six contestants included British poker stud Paul Maxfield, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Hasan Habib, and 2005 European Poker Tour Grand Final champion Rob Hollink. If those three names weren’t enough to scare you, Phil Ivey was at the final table as well. To jolt your memory, Ivey won three bracelets at the 2002 WSOP alone and cashed for his fifth overall just a couple of months after the 2005 WPT Championship concluded. In the end, Le battled Maxfield heads up. On the final hand, Maxfield pushed all in with K-5 off-suit, but Le called with K-J of diamonds. The board came J-10-3-Q-7, giving Le a pair of jacks and a $2.8 million payday.
The top 20 finishers represented some of the toughest poker players anywhere, demonstrating once again that winning a WPT championship is about skill, guts, and determination. Hendon Mob member Joe Beevers finished in seventh, just missing the televised table. Five time WSOP bracelet winner and 2000 Main Event champion Chris Ferguson took home eighth. WPT Season One Aruba Poker Classic winner Juha Helppi finished 10th.
Outside the top 10, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi finished 11th. The champion of the L.A. Poker Classic during Season Three took home nearly $100,000. Poker author and three-time bracelet winner David Sklansky landed in 16th place. Dewey Tomko finished 22nd. He won his first WSOP bracelet in 1979 and was the runner up in the 2001 WSOP Main Event (which was won by Carlos Mortensen). Other names you might recognize included David Williams (25th), Isabelle Mercier (28th), Greg Raymer (33rd), World Poker Association founder Jesse Jones (41st), Todd Bruson (70th), four time WSOP bracelet winner Tom McEvoy (74th), and David Grey (99th).