Bad Boys of Poker: An Exciting Special Poker Tournament of the World Poker Tour

Besides the regular dose of exciting poker tournament action that it provides, the World Poker Tour also features special poker tournaments that pertain to specific themes. These innovative games include the WPT Ladies Night, WPT Battle of Champions, and Hollywood Home Game poker tournaments. In addition to these huge and exciting poker spectacles, the Bad Boys of Poker tournament is definitely one of the most entertaining.

Comprised of six highly established professional poker players, the World Poker Tour already held two installments of the Bad Boys of Poker tournament. In Season 2, the world witnessed how exciting and fun it really is to match some of the crème de la crème in poker against one another. Held at the Bellagio within the colorful City of Las Vegas in Nevada, six very potent poker superstars gathered to display their skills and earn the right to qualify for the grand Season 2 finale at WPT World Championship.

The contenders for the first installment of the Bad Boys of Poker tournament, which was held on April 24, 2004, include Mark Richards, Antonio Esfandiari, and David Ulliott. In the meantime, Paul Darden, Gus Hansen, and Phil Laak occupied the three remaining seats in the competition. Right from the start, these outstanding professional poker players already tried to outsmart one another with their wily plays and strategies. After some excellent rounds of poker action, Ulliott, Esfandiari, Laak, and Richards were eliminated in succession, which leaves Hansen and Darden for the title. In the end, Hansen's plays proved too much for Darden, giving the former a direct seat to the prestigious WPT World Championship at the end of the season.

After the success of the first one, the second installment of the Bad Boys of Poker tournament was held at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California. This time, a new set of poker superstars plus a returning player was lined up for the event including Gus Hansen, Men Nguyen, and Tony G. Meanwhile, the other half of the poker tournament was comprised of Mike Matusow, Jean-Robert Bellande, and Phil Hellmuth Jr. In the second installment, the same rules apply just like the first, with the winner earning a direct seat to the WPT World Championship event at the end of Season 4 of the World Poker Tour.

As the Bad Boys of Poker tournament progressed, the first three to be eliminated from the event were Hansen, Bellande, and Nguyen. With only three remaining players left, each of the survivors tried to outplay one another, but luck was not on Hellmuth's side as he soon busted out of the competition as well. Matusow and Tony G. engaged pretty well in a serious display of poker skills and talents, but only one of them can win the game. In the end, Tony G. played much better to win a direct seat to the WPT World Championship of the World Poker Tour Season 4.