Day 1

The L.A. Poker Classic is consistently one of the largest World Poker Tour events of the season and this year’s main event at the Commerce Casino is no exception. A grand total of 665 players each put up the $10,000 buy in to create a total prize pool of $6,384,000. The final seven tables will walk away with at least double their buy-in and the first-place finisher will be the 85th Poker-Made Millionaire of the WPT, taking home nearly $1,600,000.

The top pros all came out for one of the most popular events on tour, and the numbers were so large that five tables were forced to start downstairs in the high-stakes poker room. Additionally, due to a shortage of tables, some of the players in the second floor ballroom were forced to play on specially made tables for shorthanded games like stud and Chinese poker. The result of which was nine uncomfortable players waiting hours for the leg-room relief of a table break.

Even though about 25 players busted in the first of the 90-minute levels, only one of them was a notable professional. It took just four hands for Shane “shaniac” Schleger to be eliminated at the hands of Noah “fouruhaters” Schwartz. Both players have a WPT final table this season and are fan favorites of the online community. Schwartz made the best possible full house on the river to make Schleger’s stay a short one. Schwartz hung on to most of his chips throughout the day to finish with close to 50,000.

Gus Hansen, who won this event in 2003, did not make an appearance in today’s field, but the other four past champions did make the trip. Of the four former champions, Antonio Esfandiari (2004), Michael Mizrachi (2005), Alan Goehring (2006) and Eric Hershler (2007) all managed to survive the day.

The close proximity to the Hollywood Hills brought out at least a few stars. Montel Williams, Jennifer Tilly and Rick Solomon were all spotted throughout the day, although the majority of the rich and the famous will have to wait until the WPT Invitational on March 1 to make their debut.

It was a long and slow grind for most of the field. After five levels had passed, play ended for the night and the bagging and tagging began. The notable players that finished the day with a slightly heavier bag included David Singer (137,400), Theo Tran (112,575), Justin Bonomo (77,125), Antonio Esfandiari (118,000) and Anna Wroblewski (116,550).

Play will resume tomorrow at 12:30 PST where the approximately 450 remaining players will start with blinds of 200-400 with a 50 ante and play six more levels.

Day 2

Four hundred and twenty-eight players remained at the start of Day 2 at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic, and a long day was facing those lucky enough to survive six levels of play. The strong tournament field attracted by the event ensured that many professional players would be getting in each other’s way. At some tables this was more so than others, but two tables in particular saw the worst table draws of the day.

Many professional players fell early during the first level; in fact a lot of players fell, as seven tables were lost as the tournament field sprinted out of the gate during level one. Among those early victims were Barry Shulman, Jean-Robert Bellande, Max Pescatori, Jordan Morgan, and the 2006 WPT World Championship winner, Carlos Mortensen. The end of the second level saw the field disintegrate even further to under 300, and the fast pace of eliminations charged on for the rest of the evening and night, leaving the final number of players at 140.

The chips of the vanquished had to go somewhere during the course of this chaos and wild swings saw multiple players cross the 200,000 mark. The first person to do this was Mickey “Mouse” Mills, who was down to 6,000 at one point early in the day, and mounted a surprising comeback. He started his march to 200,000 by flopping quad fives, which quadrupled him up courtesy of his opponents, who held a full house and a flush. Shortly after that, Mickey hit a full house with 7-5 to take out an opponent with top pair. Finally, just before dinner, Mickey turned a wheel to pick up even more chips and charge to the chip lead before the dinner break. Mills was joined by several players in the 200,000 club shortly after dinner, and they included Joe Schulman (285,000), Yury Parad (243,000), and Kyle Burnside (200,000).

Table 14 was the featured table for much of the day, and it was there that a cross-section of the poker world crossed paths. The six well-known professionals at table 14 included representatives from poker's old guard in Bob Stupak and Tony Ma, defending LAPC champion Eric Hershler, as well as two from poker's young crowd in Danny Wong and Aaron Been. Throw in one well-known poker brat in Phil Hellmuth and you have a lethal mix of half a dozen players. These six players were also quite resilient. They survived four full levels of play together before Ma and Wong busted out, but then Mark Newhouse and Mickey were added for good measure. The table was finally broken up near the end of level five, but at that point there was another table ready to take its place.

Table 9 had become the place to be, or not to be if you were a tournament poker player as the evening progressed. Here is a look at how the table stacked up:

Seat 1: Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari
Seat 2: Anna Wroblewski
Seat 5: Johnny Chan
Seat 6: David Singer
Seat 9: David Benyamine

These five players were then joined by Phil Ivey during the last level of play, and he wasted no time in making his presence felt by eliminating Chan a few hands after sitting down. This gave Ivey 280,000 in chips and helped him to surpass the tables resident chip leader, Esfandiari, who held 274,000. It was actually thanks to Esfandiari that Ivey was moved to the table because the Magician knocked out the former occupant of seat three a few hands earlier. The players that survived the day, each and every one of them, will be quite thankful for the re-draw that is going to take place before day 3.

When the dust settled a huge chunk of the field had made an exit, 288 players were lost; and among them were some of the biggest names in the game and one celebrity: Chan, Paul Wasicka, Barry Greenstein, David Williams, John Juanda, Bill Edler, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Todd Brunson, Erick Lindgren, John Hennigan, and Montel Williams were all eliminated during day 3.
The chip leaders at the end of play are as follows:

Danny Fuhs:  397,100
Kyle Burnside: 279,700
Phil Ivey: 279,000
Antonio Esfandiari: 245,000
Blair Hinkle: 224,000
Jennifer Tilly: 218,700
Yury Parad: 213,100
Haralabos Voulgaris: 203,900
Mike Watson: 195,900
Noah Schwartz: 186,800

Check back in tomorrow for Day 3 at 12:30 p.m. and catch all the action.

Day 3

Satellite Winners Desperate To Cash Slow Down the Action

The money bubble at a World Poker Tour tournament is more often than not a harrowing and stressful experience. The fear of playing for days and leaving with nothing can turn even the most seasoned professional into a passive nit, opting to limp into the money before turning the aggression back on. Monday night at the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic, the desperation to finish in the money hit an all-time high, as player after player took turns stalling, often unapologetically.

Things started out well enough, the 136 remaining players were quickly whittled down over the first four levels to a more manageable field of 68. Then, with only 63 spots being paid, things began to get a little frustrating. Over at table 7, a player only known as “Bobby” began to get himself into some difficult situations, often taking over five minutes to act on his hand. The table kept their composure for most of it, trying to convince themselves that he may have had a tough decision to mull over.  Eventually, after the fourth consecutive five-minute decision, Theo Tran began to boil over and the floor was called. We still had four more bustouts before hand-for-hand play was scheduled to begin, but now a decision needed to be made.

Mike Carson, one table over, then took it upon himself to also stall, claiming it was unfair for his table to see more hands than the others. This upset David Singer, who was undoubtedly looking to take advantage of the bubble. After another table began to stall, the tournament director made the decision to start hand-for-hand play early, hoping to alleviate any tension and quell the blatant stalling.

Things failed to settle down, however, as Phil Hellmuth got into a loud altercation with another player at his table. According to the other players, Hellmuth had been abused with bluffs over and over again, and he was also about to boil over. He finally exploded out of his chair when a louder player at his table gloated with the rail after hitting a straight on the river. His opponent offered a mock-truce and a handshake, but Hellmuth declined until play was finished.

During this time, players still continued to play extraordinarily slow despite the change in structure. After Antonio Esfandiari had busted in 65th place, Theo Tran began to raise at will, picking up roughly 50 percent of the hands played at his table. At one point, it was folded around to Tran in the small blind and he stated, “I will take a blue button dealer,” referencing the blue all-in buttons given to the players in all-in situations. His opponent in the big blind was none other than “Bobby,” who was still sitting there with six chips to his name. He stared “Bobby” down, and then said, “I haven’t even looked at my cards yet.” Nonetheless, “Bobby” folded and Tran squeezed out his 5-2 offsuit.

Ironically, “Bobby” became the bubble boy when he decided to call all-in after Aaron Been raised preflop with Q-5 offsuit. That’s right; he waited for more than two hours, folding premium hands, only to finally get all his chips in the middle with Q-5 offsuit - Poetic justice indeed.

After the bubble had burst, the players were given the remaining 20 minutes in the last level of the night to trim the field a bit. When the dust settled, 58 players were left standing, all still in the hunt for the nearly $1.6 million first-place prize.

Here are the players who busted in the money just before the day ended earning $22,020:

63. Stephen Ladowsky
62. Joe Schulman
61. Humberto Brenes
60. Marcel Sabaag
59. Ray Henson

Here are the top 10 players and their chip counts:

1. Kyle Burnside – 781,000
2. Phil Ivey – 656,000
3. Jennifer Tilly – 569,000
4. David Singer – 561,000
5. Yury Parad – 560,000
6. Mike Hamparsomian – 499,000
7. Theo Tran – 470,000
8. Scott Montgomery – 454,000
9. Daniel Fuhs – 444,000
10. Mike “Sirwatts” Watson – 393,000

Play will resume tomorrow at 12:30 P.M. PST and continue until either 27 or 18 players remain.

Day 4

A Tale of Two Phils During a Quick Day at the Poker Tables

The fourth day of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic began with a fury of eliminations. Eighteen players of the 58 that started the day were lost in the first level as the chips were flying after a prolonged money bubble the day before.

Here is a look at the notable eliminations amongst the early chaos:

56: Bob Stupak
55: Thu Nguyen
49: Mike Wattel
45: Aaron Been

Phil Ivey was also quite busy during the first level of the day. He began day 4 with 656,000 and then doubled up to take the chip lead. The pivotal hand occured when Scott Montgomery raised to 25,000 from the small blind and Ivey decided to re-raise to 80,000 from the big blind. Montgomery re-raised to 180,000 and Ivey moved all-in for 300,000 more. Montgomery made the call with [Ad9c], while Ivey exposed [AhKh]. The board came [Jd10d4s7dKc] and Ivey doubled up to 955,000. Ivey continued this success by becoming the first player in the millionaire club a few hands later. He stole a six-way pot on the river with a bet that forced everyone else to fold. The pot wasn't huge, but it was enough to take Ivey to 1,005,000.

After the first break Shawn Buchanan was the first notable player to make his exit, in 39th place, and he was followed to the rail by two professionals a few hands later:

Alan Goehring moved all in for 2,000 from the small blind when Noah Schwartz limped in for 10,000. Wei Kai Chang re-raised to 30,000 and Schwartz called to create a side pot. The flop rolled out [Jc8c6s] and Chang bet 40,000. Schwartz made the call and the turn brought the [Jh]. Chang bet 125,000 and Schwartz moved all in. Chang called and flipped over [AsJs] while Schwartz turned over [9d8d]. An inconsequential river card offered no help to Schwartz, or to Goehring, who exposed [10h7d]. Chang eliminated both players in the same hand and his stack grew to 750,000.

The consistent eliminations continued leading up to dinner, and lost on the journey to the final three tables was another pair of notable players:

34: Toto Leonidas
35: Mickey “Mouse” Mills

Phil Hellmuth then made his largest move of the tournament and in doing so defeated his LAPC antagonist. Neil Ho had been involved in many large pots with the Poker Brat and at times he was able to put Hellmuth on tilt. But Hellmuth got the last laugh when he eliminated Ho in 31st place:

Ho was all in preflop for about 175,000 with pocket sixes and up against the [AcKs] of Hellmuth. The board came [AhKh4sQh3s], and Hellmuth flopped two pair to win the pot, and bust the thorn in his side. After the hand, Hellmuth joined Ivey in the millionaire club. Hellmuth held a million even, while Ivey still led the field with 1,243,000.

Another familiar star from the tournament trail joined the millionaire club when Nam Le doubled up shortly before the dinner break: Brian McCann raised 52,000 preflop and Nam Le reraised to 150,000. McCann reraised all in and Nam made the all-in call for 410,000. They opened up their hands and McCann held [AsQs] to Nam’s pocket kings. The board rolled out [Qc6s4d3c4h] and Nam doubled up on the hand to increase his stack to 1,165,000.

The players returned from dinner at 7 p.m. and the final four eliminations stood in the way of the end of play. It took an hour and 15 minutes for their final stand to expire and at the end of play the following players had fallen to the wayside:

22: Mike Hamparsomian
21: Lance Allred
20: Colin Wickersheim
19: Paul Smith

Here is a look at the final chip counts:

1. Phil Ivey: 1,543,000
2. Blair Hinkle: 1,541,000
3. Phil Hellmuth: 1,399,000
4. Nam Le: 1,254,000
5. Michael Carson: 1,029,000
6. Michael Watson: 987,000
7. Charles Moore: 921,000
8. WeiKai Chang: 751,000
9. Quinn Do: 695,000
10. Matt Brady: 497,000
11. Jennifer Tilly: 417,000
12. Jeff Schwimmer: 413,000
13. Theo Tran: 410,000
14. Scott Montgomery: 386,000
15. Pete De Best: 291,000
16. David Singer: 285,000
17. Brian Taylor: 228,000
18. Yury Parad: 214,000

The final two tables will return tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. PST to play down to a final television table of six. We’ll see if Ivey can make his eigth final table in as many cashes, and if Hellmuth can make the third WPT final table of his career. It will be an interesting day tomorrow. Don’t miss any of the action in live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos on WorldPokerTour.com 

Day 5

Day 5 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic

Day 5 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic started with 18 players, but most of the eyes in the poker world were on just two -- both named Phil. One is arguably the best player in the world, and the other will argue that he is the best player in the world.

Both players are modern day legends, with impressive poker resumes that stream for pages. Between them, they have already earned over $17.85 million in live poker tournaments, won 16 WSOP bracelets, and reached 9 WPT final tables.

But both of their resumes have something missing -- with all that success, neither one of them has ever won a WPT event.

Phil Ivey started the day as chipleader, in the middle of a very unusual streak. He has finished in the money seven times on the World Poker Tour -- each time, he has made it all the way to the final table. Seven cashes, seven final tables. Could he make it eight-for-eight? (No player has ever reached eight WPT final tables.)

Phil Hellmuth started the day in third place, followed in fourth place by Nam Le, who already has a WPT victory under his belt (WPT Bay 101 in 2006). There was also a celebrity still in action -- actress Jennifer Tilly won the Season IV WPT Ladies' Night, and she was looking to become the first female in history to win an open WPT event.

The prize money is huge (nearly $1.6 million for first place), but seemed almost secondary in importance to these players chasing history.

PLAYING DOWN TO THE FINAL SIX

Jennifer Tilly struggled with a short stack most of the day, and eventually busted in 12th place. While she was disappointed at missing the final table, she broke her own record for highest finish by an Academy Award nominee. (She finished 15th at the 2006 WPT Borgata Poker Open, and fellow nominee James Woods finished 24th here at the L.A. Poker Classic two years ago.)

When the next player busted (Blair Hinkle, 11th place), the final ten combined to a single table, and the random draw put Hellmuth and Ivey side by side. Hellmuth dominated the first half of the day, and his stack of 3.8 million dwarfed the others. Ivey was in second place, and he had barely half as many chips (2 million). Nam Le was still alive with a below-average stack, patiently waiting for the right situations to make his moves.

Shortly after 9:00 pm PT, Theo Tran was eliminated in eighth place, and the final seven were one spot away from the televised final table. That's when we started to see some significant action between Hellmuth and Ivey.

Hellmuth raised under the gun, only to have Ivey reraise him. Hellmuth thought for about four minutes before folding, saying he had a mid-level pocket pair. He felt that Ivey had pocket jacks or ace-king, and was tempted to play the hand, hoping to flop a set.

The next hand, it was Ivey who raised under the gun, and everyone folded to Hellmuth in the big blind. Hellmuth stared at Ivey and said, "This time I'll at least call you." It would turn out to be a mistake. They built a huge pot, and when Ivey bet big on the river after checking the turn (the board was [Qs10c2s10dKh]), Hellmuth was flustered, asking, "What is this B.S.?" Hellmuth called to see Ivey's [AcAd], and he couldn't beat it. Ivey pulled in a pot worth nearly 2 million, and moved into the chip lead -- slightly ahead of Hellmuth, who was fuming.

Hellmuth regained the chip lead over the next half hour, but then he made his second big mistake of the day. Hellmuth raised from the cutoff, and Ivey reraised from the button. Hellmuth stood his ground, moving all in with [AhKh] -- but Ivey had [AcAd]. The best hand held up, and Ivey double up to the biggest chip stack of the day -- more than 5.5 million. Hellmuth plummeted down to about 1.2 million.

Phil Hellmuth, who had the chip lead with seven players left, was now a short stack. If he were to bust, it'd be one of the biggest blowups in WPT history -- and that's to say nothing of the tantrum he was likely to throw.

Hellmuth steadied his temper and refocused his play, patiently waiting for the right situation. After nearly two hours of seven-handed play, Wei Kai Chang moved all in with a short stack, and Hellmuth found [AsQh] in the small blind. He had found his situation, and he called. Chang hung his head as he showed his dominated [KhQc]. Hellmuth's hand held up, busting Wei Kai Chang in seventh place and setting the stage for Thursday evening's televised final table.

THE FINAL SIX

Ivey continued his amazing streak of turning WPT money finishes into WPT final tables, and sets the record with his eighth final table. Ivey is in a strong position with the chip lead, but Hellmuth has a shot at the title himself in third place. Nam Le is the short stack, but he is one double up away from becoming a serious threat. Here are the official counts:

Seat 1  -  Quinn Do  -  1,450,000
Seat 2  -  Nam Le  -  1,180,000
Seat 3  -  Phil Hellmuth  -  2,380,000
Seat 4  -  Phil Ivey  -  4,100,000
Seat 5  -  Charles "Woody" Moore  -  1,510,000
Seat 6  -  Scott "r_a_y" Montgomery  -  2,680,000

First prize is $1,596,100, but there's much more on the line than that. Nam Le is looking to join the elite club of multiple WPT winners, and Hellmuth's claim to be the best in the world is hard to back up without a single WPT title (or a million-dollar victory of any kind). As for Ivey, in seven previous visits to the final table, he's come up short. At what point does a losing streak get labeled by the media as a curse?

The WPT final table is scheduled to start at 5:00 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for live hand-by-hand coverage of every check, bet, call, raise, and fold. This is a must-watch poker tournament if there ever was one.

Final Table

Ivey Wins his First World Poker Tour Title at his Record Eighth Final Table

Phil Ivey – Phil Hellmuth – Nam Le – A World Poker Tour final table – And a $1,596,100 first-place prize set the scene tonight at Commerce Casino. The final table of the L.A. Poker Classic usually features the best players in the game, but this year it managed to exceed itself. Action began shortly after 5 p.m. PST, and here is how the chip stacks looked:

Seat 1: Quinn Do - 1,450,000
Seat 2: Nam Le - 1,180,000
Seat 3: Phil Hellmuth - 2,380,000
Seat 4: Phil Ivey - 4,100,000
Seat 5: Charles Moore - 1,510,000
Seat 6: Scott Montgomery - 2,680,000

No time was wasted reaching major action, and on the first hand of play Charles Moore moved all in for 1.5 million against Phil Ivey. Ivey studied the stacks and pondered the situation for more than five minutes before making his call. The call brought the crowd to its feet and they opened up their hands. Moore showed down [AsKh], and he dominated Ivey's [Ad9c]. The board ran out [6h3s2hJhQc] and this set back Ivey early; he was down to 2.6 million, while Moore soared to over 3 million.

The other Phil at the table took his lumps ten hands later when Nam Le bet 140,000 on a flop of [Jd6h3d]. Hellmuth thought for about 15 seconds before making the call. The turn card was the [Kh], Nam bet 350,000, and Hellmuth announced, "All in." Nam immediately called with [Kc3c] for two pair, and Hellmuth was not happy. He showed [Jh8c] and said, "I can't believe you caught a king." The river brought the [10s] and Nam won the pot.

This confrontation ultimately led to Hellmuth’s elimination a while later, when he moved all in preflop on a short stack against Moore. They turned up their hands and Moore had Hellmuth dominated with [AhQd] against [Ad9s]. The board hit the table [AcJs2h7cQc]. Hellmuth was eliminated in sixth place, and he earned $229,820. Hellmuth also received a standing ovation from the crowd as a consolation prize.

Quinn Do then made his present felt at the final table by doubling up not once, but twice. The first time he made a pair of queens against Scott Montgomery, and on the second hand he used Moore to grab even more chips. After the second hand, where Quinn made a jack-high spade flush, he was up to 3.1 million, and he could breathe a little easier.

Montgomery on the other hand could not; he was below 1 million and was knocked down even further before he was able to double up a few hands later, the 50th hand at the final table. His victory with jacks up over Moore gave him momentary relief, but on the very next hand Montgomery was all in yet again. This time things did not go as smoothly: Nam raised from the cutoff to 350,000, and Montgomery moved all in from the big blind for 800,000. Nam thought for about 10 seconds before he called with [KdJd]. Montgomery showed down [Jc8s], and he was dominated. The board came [7d5c5s3s3c] and Montgomery was eliminated in fifth place, earning $296,860.

Ivey had been relatively quiet after Moore doubled up through him on the first hand, but after Montgomery was eliminated he went on the offensive. Ivey picked up 3.14 million off of Nam thanks to a ten-high straight. He followed that score up by grabbing an additional 1.84 million on the next hand. This time, Ivey defeated Quinn with aces up. This not only put him back in contention, but back on top as the chip leader after Quinn managed to double up through Moore a few hands later.

The four remaining players then fell into a holding patter for the next 30 odd hands, trading punches and pots with a variety of regularity that sustained the four player’s stack. That all changed on hand 97 though, when Nam and Ivey got it all in preflop. Nam held pocket aces against Ivey’s pocket threes, and the large group of Nam’s supporters voiced their approval. There cheers turned to jeers after a flop of [10s6s2d] was joined by the [3d] on the river. The set held up for Ivey and Nam was eliminated in fourth place. He received $411,770 for his strong showing, and he now has $4,324,127 in career tournament winnings.

Ivey was on a roll now, and he wasted no time in claiming another victim five hands later. This time, it was his early antagonist, Moore, who moved all in with [6h2s] on a board of [8h5h2d7s]. Ivey held [8d7c] and he sent Moore home with eights up after a [Js] fell on the river. Moore finished his tournament run in third place to take home $625,630.

Heads-Up Chip Counts:

Phil Ivey - 10.82 million
Quinn Do - 2.48 million

The stacks were uneven at the start of heads-up play and that point was only punctuated when Ivey bet 700,000 on a flop of [As8s6s]. Quinn made the call, leaving himself just 1.02 million behind. There was already 2.92 million in the pot when the [Ac] paired the board on the turn. Ivey then moved all in and Quinn made the call after four minutes of contemplation. Ivey turned up [Ah8d] for a full house, aces full of eights, and Quinn dejectedly showed down [9h8h] for two pair, aces and eights (the dead man’s hand). Quinn was also drawing dead, and after the meaningless river brought the [4c] Quinn was eliminated in second place, earning $909,400. And with that, Ivey completed his quest for a WPT title by winning the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic. This was his record eighth WPT final table, more than any other player in history. Ivey won $1,596,100, a $25,000 entry in the WPT World Championship, and a huge trophy for the victory. Ivey now has $8,742,652 in career tournament winnings.