The final table had a little of everything, including for the first time on the World Poker Tour, a woman. Kathy Leibert, a seasoned pro. Though men have long dominated poker, women are now starting to make waves. She is joined by fellow pros Chris Karagulleyan, Stan Goldstein, Can Kim Hua and Hon Le. Rounding out the field was the group’s only amateur, Mark Seif.

Much of the game's fast-paced action centered on the personal grudge between Seif, a volatile prosecuting attorney, and Le "The Kamikaze Kid." A week earlier, Seif had taken most of Le's chips in a tournament and Le was out for revenge. "He raises me every pot!" Seif exclaimed.

Midway through the tournament, Mark was dealt a pair of aces. Hon Le called Mark's bet with the 8 and 9 of hearts. The flop came with two more hearts. Hon Le bet $30,000. Mark raised to $80,000. With nothing but the hope of making a flush, Hon called. The turn card did nothing for either player. Mark bet another $10,000. Hon called, now all in. They turned over their cards and Mark had Hon Le cold. Hon's only out was a heart on the river. Against the odds, it came and Hon won the pot. As Seif suffered several bad beats, his own play became increasingly desperate. He started playing weaker hands, and letting his emotion get the best of him.

It was just as interesting to watch Karagulleyan play. At times he was maddeningly conservative and then other times curiously aggressive, but in the end Karagulleyan's strategy paid off. In the final mad dash, he and Hon Le raced for the finish, chip lead shifting back and forth, before Karagulleyan finally beat the Kamikaze Kid to win the first place and $660,000. Karagulleyan became the newest "Legend of Poker".

- Thomas Hardy