The World Poker Tour USD 10,000 Legends of Poker No-Limit Hold'em main event begins on Saturday, August 23, and there is no shortage of players prepared to claim the title of 2008 Legend of Poker.

The Legends of Poker 21 preliminary events drew players from all over the world for the famous tournament series that included everything from Hold'em to Omaha events. Over 5,500 players took part, and the top finishers took home portions of the cumulative USD 3,082,647 prize pools. Two poker legends have made their mark on this year's series thus far, as Barbara Enright took down the LIPS ladies tournament and Men "The Master" Nguyen won two of the prelim events.

On Thursday, August 21, the Bicycle Casino hosted to two special annual events. The first was the Legend of Legends & Media Invitational, a freeroll tournament that gives the media an opportunity to play alongside some of the legends of the game. Out of 81 entrants, Chris Dolan of NBC took down the top media prize of USD 2,500 cash and USD 2,500 to be donated to the charity of Dolan's choice, the Lakers Youth Foundation. And the top finishing legend was long-time pro Randy Holland, who scored a buy-in to the Legends of Poker main event worth USD 10,000.

The second of the two events was one that the Bicycle Casino is proud to host each year, the Mariani/Buss No-Limit Hold'em tournament to benefit the Lakers Youth Foundation. Pro poker players descended upon the event for a cocktail reception and the 7pm USD 1,000 entry tournament. There were 116 players and a total of 41 re-buys to create a prize pool of USD 136,590, and USD 100 from each buy-in and re-buy went directly to the Lakers Youth Foundation, in addition to other donations that were made throughout the evening. In the end, Behzad Teranie from Anaheim claimed first place in the tournament, and the evening was a success for the Lakers Youth Foundation.

All of the August festivities have resulted in a big one as the World Poker Tour comes to the Bicycle Casino for the USD 10,000 Legends of Poker main event. It gets underway on Saturday, August 23 at 2pm, and a second Day 1 will take place the following day to accommodate all players. Last year, a total of 485 players competed to create USD 4,607,500 prize pool, and in the end, seasoned poker pro and acclaimed author Dan Harrington claimed victory and over $1.6 million. This year promises another exciting tournament that will play down to the Thursday, August 28 final table, which is open to the public. Those who want to witness a part of poker history and be there for the WPT filming to be shown at a later date on Fox Sports, seating is free and begins at 4pm.