BWOTEOW: 10/31/09

A few fledgling careers getting a bankroll boost, a couple accomplished players cementing their stati as big-time pros, and one not-so-old legend proving (to himself?) he\’s still got something … all in the last two weeks of October:

Tommy Vedes
Festa al Lago (Bellagio)
Las Vegas

New Yorker Tommy Vedes has been on a cross-continental tear — with 9 cashes, 6 final tables, and 2 wins in the past four months for more than $1.7 million in tournament winnings — at events in Las Vegas, London, Cyprus, Tunica, and Thackerville, Okla. His run may or may not have culminated this month with a made-for-TV WPT victory against a pro-heavy 275-player field in the $15k Festa main event.

Check out Vedes\’ lifetime stats

Howard Lederer
Festa al Lago (Bellagio)
Las Vegas

New York émigré @howardhlederer may have been starting to doubt himself upon realizing he had only two wins in 25 WSOP final tables, and no victories anywhere in nearly two years. Fortunes changed with the latest $10k HORSE event in Las Vegas, kinda an \”old school\” tourney (19 entries, $92k top prize) that Lederer self-covered on Twitter.

Read why the Professor should always be your official \”pick to win it\”

Isaac Baron (\”westmenloAA\”)
Caesar\’s Palace Classic
Las Vegas

Confirmed online tournament bad-ass showed he could close it out live in LV by winning the $5k main event at Caesar\’s for a $250k payday. The 22-year-old beat a tough final table, too, bettering Theo Tran, Jimmy Tran, Kathy Liebert, and 2008 EPT Grand Final Champ Glen Chorny — a rematch of sorts, as Baron finished 4th at that final table.

More on Isaac Baron\’s continuing climb

Christophe Benzimira
EPT Warsaw (Casinos Poland)
Poland

In one of the smaller stops on the EPT, the 47-year-old French/Romanian businessman amateur beat out Italian pros Alfio Battisti (a PokerStars supernova elite) and Luca Pagano (ranked second only behind \”Elky\” on the EPT all-time Tournament Leaderboard) at a non-televised final table for almost €360,000 in first-place cash.

Enjoy a video recap of the EPT Warsaw action

CORRECTION: Pagano did indeed pass Elky to amass the most TLB points in EPT history.

Simon Watt
APPT Auckland (Skycity Casino)
New Zealand

The 26-year-old software developer and Auckland local bested 263 players — including Asian-Pacific PokerStars pros and online qualifiers from around the world — to take home $209,000 NZD (~$150k USD).

Off-the-table shenanigans caught on video at the second running of APPT Auckland

Dan Livingston
WSOP Chicago (Horseshoe)
Hammond, Indiana

The WSOP rebranded its Indiana circuit event as WSOP-Chicago, and in doing so drew record crowds, including 248 players in the $5k main event. Before taking down $292k and a Circuit ring, Livingston was an underemployed 22-year-old who had found recent success in $100 weeklies before winning his main event seat by pure luck in a Horseshoe \”high card\” promotion.

Get all the details and then some from the official WSOP report