The World Poker Tour's Legends of Poker Main Event kicks off today at The Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles today. The $5,000 buy-in event boasts two Day 1 starting days and will run through August 25 when the final table will be filmed for TV and a winner crowned. 

Last year's Legends of Poker Main Event was a $10,000 buy-in that saw 279 players take their seats at the felt, creating a prize pool of $2,650,500. Prahlad Friedman bested the field last year to take home $1,034,000. Two 2009 November Niners finished in the top ten in that event, Steven Begleiter going home in ninth place for $29,240 andKevin Schaffel finishing in second place for $471,670. 

Several pros will be attending this year including Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Phil Hellmuth, Greg Mueller. Friedman will be on hand to defend his title. 

Of the 26 events on the Legends of Poker schedule, 22 are already in the books. On top of the side events that were going on, there was also a casting call. On Thursday, the World Poker Tour held auditions for a new television segment called "The Raw Deal." The host of the segment will need to be outspoken, witty, and will pull out all the stops when criticizing the play of amateurs and pros alike -- poker'sSimon Cowell, if you will.