Another exciting day has come to an end at the 2025 LA Poker Classic, with the second and final flight of the $10,000 LAPC Main Event sorting out the contenders ahead of Day 2.
Another 65 entrants took their shot at The Commerce Casino & Hotel, with just 41 runners finding a bag at the end of six levels. They will now join the 26 players from Day 1a to hunt for the money on Monday.
With registration still open into Day 2, the prize pool has already climbed over $1,000,000 in this prestigious tournament.
Sitting on top of the Day 1b chip counts is Martin Carnero, who finished with 367,000 to also claim the overall chip lead. Carnero stayed late into the last break of the night to make a big call with pocket kings and take a monster pot away from Won Lim.
The only other player to top the 200,000 chip mark was Adam Weinraub, who collected most of his 286,000 stack after stunning Vlastimil Pustina in the final level by going runner-runner to score the knockout.
Rounding out the top five is WSOP bracelet winner Frank Brannan, who will return with 170 big blinds on Monday.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin Carnero | Peru | 367,700 | 368 |
| 2 | Adam Weinraub | United States | 286,000 | 286 |
| 3 | Cesar Rodriguez | United States | 184,200 | 184 |
| 4 | Phuoc Nguyen | United States | 181,700 | 182 |
| 5 | Frank Brannan | United States | 170,400 | 170 |
| 6 | Zaher Samaan | United States | 155,000 | 155 |
| 7 | John Smith | United States | 145,000 | 145 |
| 8 | Adam Swan | United States | 142,700 | 143 |
| 9 | Anthony Hu | United States | 135,000 | 135 |
| 10 | Tianyi Ma | United States | 127,000 | 127 |
Many notable names earned their way into Day 2, including Tyler Cornell (75,000) and Jim Collopy (101,800), who sat down late in Level 5 and made a move on Cecile Ticherfatine to start his climb up the leaderboard.
Bill Klein turned top two pair against David Pock midway through the day, finishing the night with 47,500 after failing to bag on Day 1a.
Dan Heimiller also took a second shot at building a stack, but the third try was a charm as he won a satellite seat after exiting Day 1b.
Other notables who weren't so fortunate included Commerce Poker Pro Team member Luke Nguyen and Farid Jattin. Barry Woods took his seat to begin the day, but only lasted until Level 2 when Adam Nudo (30,300) won a flip.
$10,000 LAPC Main Event Remaining Schedule
| Day | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Feb. 24 | 12:00 p.m. |
| 3 | Feb. 25 | 12:00 p.m. |
| 4 | Feb. 26 | 12:00 p.m. |
Players will return at 12:00 p.m. local time, as the two opening flights will combine in the main ballroom. They will be joined by Day 2 entries, as late registration remains open until the end of the first level of the day.
Level 7 blinds will begin at 500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante, meaning any late entrants will have 60 big blinds to work with. Final prize pool and payout information will be posted shortly after the first break of the day.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we follow the action live from The Commerce until a winner is determined until the bright lights of the final table on Wednesday, February 26.
