Two of the best and most famous poker players in the world came close to winning another championship gold bracelet at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas before a little-known pro escaped with the victory.

The drama came in Event #18, an Omaha hi-lo tournament that had a $10,000 buy-in, a $1.7 million prize pool, 179 entrants and 18 payouts.

Canadian poker pro Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, who just days ago finished second in WSOP Event #14, a Texas hold ‘em tourney, and American poker pro Annie Duke, fresh off her TV appearances on “Celebrity Apprentice,” were vying for another bracelet–Negreanu has four and Duke has one.

But in the end, it was no-name pro Daniel Alaei of Los Angeles, California, who won the tourney, earning a tidy $445,888 for the victory.

Taking second was Scott Clements of Mount Vernon, Washington, USA, earning $275,946.

Finishing third was Ben Boyd, also of Los Angeles, earning $182,730.

Negreanu, who now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, finished in fourth.

Duke, also a Los Angeles resident, finished in eighth.

For Alaei, it was his second WSOP gold bracelet.

He won his first at the 2006 WSOP in a 2-7 lowball tournament.

At a post-tournament press conference, Alaei, 26, said: “In the poker world, bracelets are like trophies. It is good to win. Now, I want a third bracelet. Before, I wanted number two. And now, I want number three.

“Everybody at the final table is a great player. Everybody here played good. This is a big buy-in event with a smaller field, so there just aren’t many bad players. No one was giving anything away. Everyone was playing their best.

“At my last win, in 2006, it was so late and we were so tired. This is very different. Then, we played until five in the morning. It was really grueling. At the end of it, I just wanted to go to sleep. But tonight, I might go out and have some dinner and drinks. Then, I come back tomorrow. There’s another tournament tomorrow.”

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)