The only poker tournament in the world named after a professional poker player is underway in Las Vegas.

The event, the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic, began today at the Bellagio casino in Vegas and runs through Saturday.

The event, an official part of the World Poker Tour (WPT), is named after famed poker legend Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson and is a no-limit Texas hold ‘em tourney with a buy-in of $15,000 and a total prize pool of over $7 million.

Around 500 people entered the tournament, including top poker pros such as Phil “Poison” Ivey, Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu, Phil “Poker Brat” Hellmuth Jr. and, of course, Brunson.

This is the eighth year for the tourney, which has been named in honor of Brunson since 2005.

According to event organizers, the Bellagio wanted to honor Brunson because although he could gamble anywhere, he spends most of his time playing poker at the Bellagio’s high-stakes poker room, called Bobby’s Room, giving the casino priceless publicity.

The winner of last year’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic was an ex-convict, David “Chino”? Rheem, who collected over a million dollars for the victory.

Brunson himself has never won his own tournament.

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