Players invade Reno for World Poker Challenge

The World Poker Tour season returns for the sixth time today with the World Poker Challenge at Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nev.

The buy-in for the challenge is now $7,500, the buy-in has gone up for the first time in 5 years since the World Poker Challenge has joined. It's a massive 50% increase from the previous years.

With the move to a higher buy-in, it would appear that this year's edition of the World Poker Challenge will be the last to air on the World Poker Tour. When the World Poker Tour recently announced its schedule for Season 7, the Reno event was missing from its customary slot at the end of March.

Last year's World Poker Challenge final table represented a major breakthrough for J.C. Tran. After reaching the World Poker Tour television table but fell short four times previously, he had a second-place finish the month before at Commerce, J.C.Tran finally ascended from consistent performer to World Poker Tour Champion.
In a battle of players nicknamed "J.C.," Tran defeated Juan Carlos Alvarado to claim the title after entering heads-up play with a prohibitive chip lead.

Last year's final table were:

1st J.C. Tran $683,473
2nd Juan Carlos Alvarado $366,798
3rd David "The Dragon" Pham $182,260
4th Mark Seif $182,260
5th John Hom $136,695
6th Danny Wong $113,913

The list of well-known and players who have made the final table at the World Poker Challenge over the years is a fairly distinguished one. Besides last year's marquee finishers, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Blair Rodman, Young Phan, Greg "FBT" Mueller, Paul "Eskimo" Clark, T.J. Cloutier, and 2007 WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider have all taken their shot at the big prize in Reno.

The World Poker Challenge is the next regular stop of the season for the World Poker Tour. After next week's event at Foxwoods, the season will end with the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship.