Anthony Hu began the hand with a raise from early position to 11,000. This led to a call from Tianyi Ma for 11,000 from the small blind. Frank Brannan raised the price when he popped it to 55,000 causing a quick fold from Hu.
Ma deliberated for some time before sticking in his whole stack which was snap called by Brannan.
Tianyi Ma: A♠J♠
Frank Brannan: A♥K♣
The 3♠8♦6♥8♣K♠ did not improve Ma sending him out of the tournament.
Brian Hastings tournament run is over after he jammed preflop with a short stack from the middle position and was called by Victor Espinal.
Brian Hastings: A♥3♥
Victor Espinal: A♦A♣
Espinal had Hastings in trouble dominating with a pair of aces versus ace high and the board brought no solace to Hastings when it ran out 10♦K♣5♣10♣K♥ to send Hastings packing.
Evgeniy Tsyrenov opened to 9,000 from the cutoff before Brian Hastings raised to 25,000 on the button. Michael Nia made the call in the big blind, with Tsyrenov quickly getting out of the way.
Nia and Hastings both opted to check the 7♦A♠5♣ flop. Nia then led out for 18,000 on the 10♠ turn and Hastings called.
The J♥ river saw Nia check and Hastings fired 35,000. Nia then check-raised to 100,000 and Hastings did not take long to toss in a call.
Nia showed K♦Q♠ for a straight on the river, and Hastings could only smirk as he mucked.
Evgeniy Tsyrenov raised from the middle position to 8,000 before Billy Baxter popped it to 25,000.
Baxter's wager was not enough as Tsyrenov raised the price of admission to 70,000. Baxter smooth called swelling the pot heading into the flop.
Tsyrenov kept up the pressure on the 9♠6♣4♠ flop by putting Baxter all in for his tournament life. Baxter pondered before calling for his tournament life.
Billy Baxter: Q♦Q♥
Evgeniy Tsyrenov: A♦A♠
Tsyrenov showed Baxter the bad news and the runout of 10♠ and 9♣ did not improve Baxter's queens to eliminate him.
Mitchell Hynam continued to build a formidable stack as he knocked out Richard Hasnip in a hand that was all in on the river.
Significant chips went in preflop as Hynam's 31,000 wager was called by Hasnip. The J♠5♠8♣ flop led to Hynam betting 26,000 who was then called by Hasnip.
The K♥ turn did not slow down either player as Hynam bet out 78,000 and Hasnip called.
Hynam jammed on the 9♣ river putting Hasnip at risk. Hasnip took a long moment to think about his decision before flicking in the call.
Hynam revealed he flopped top set with J♦J♠ as Hasnip hit the rail.
Alex Kim was also eliminated at another table. He was seen leaving the area following his elimination.
Michael Nia opened to 8,000 in the cutoff and was immediately met with a three-bet to 32,000 by Faraz Jaka on the button.
The 7♠6♥7♣ flop saw both players check, while Nia tapped the table again after seeing the 6♦ turn. Jaka announced a bet of 35,000 and Nia asked to see the rest of his stack.
After taking some time, Nia raised to 82,000 and Jaka made the call.
Nia then moved all in on the K♣ river, with Jaka quickly tossing in the call.
Jaka tabled A♣7♦ for trip sevens, while Nia could only show his bluff with A♠Q♥ while sending much of his stack to the left.
Vince Salvatore opened to 10,000 in middle position before Gevork Kasabyan three-bet to 35,000 in the hijack.
Action folded back to Salvatore, who tossed in the call and announced a dark check before the 9♣9♦8♦ flop.
Kasabyan checked behind and the 7♥ turn was revealed. Another check from Salvatore was met by a bet of 45,000 from Kasabyan. The call was made and both players saw the 6♦ river.
Salvatore quickly announced all in for around 110,000. Kasabyan gave it some thought before opting to fold.
"Good fold," Salvatore told his opponent while showing K♦J♦ for a flush.
At a nearby table, Eric O'Brien was shipping the last of his chips across the table and heading to the exit.
Excitement will be in the air at the 2025 LA Poker Classic, as the remaining 40 players battle to make the money and the final table in the $10,000 LAPC Main Event.
It is expected to be a busy Day 3 at The Commerce Casino & Hotel, where action will resume at 12:00 p.m. local time with two very important milestones on the menu.
First up will be bursting the money bubble, as just 19 of the 40 players will earn a piece of the $1,348,500 prize pool. From there, the chase will be on to earn a spot at Wednesday's final table, and a spot on The Commerce livestream.
The leaderboard is tight at the top, with Mitchell Hynam looking for his second big score of 2025 after setting the Day 2 pace with 409,000 chips. Only two other players will return with 100 big blinds, as Adam Weinraub (407,000) and Anthony Hu (402,000) round out the top three.
Close behind that group is Frank Brannan, who enters the penultimate day of action with 393,000 chips in his stack.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Mitchell Hynam
United Kingdom
409,000
102
2
Adam Weinraub
United States
407,000
102
3
Anthony Hu
United States
402,000
101
4
Frank Brannan
United States
393,000
98
5
Evgeniy Tsyrenov
United States
365,000
91
6
Amir Mirrasouli
United States
363,000
91
7
Jonathan Cohen
Canada
357,000
89
8
Michael Nia
United States
339,000
85
9
Richard Hasnip
United Kingdom
314,000
79
10
Martin Carnero
Peru
308,000
77
Faraz Jaka
Plenty of notables are ready to give chase, including Faraz Jaka who saw his big stack trimmed down late last night to finish with 209,000 chips.
Not far behind Jaka is Billy Baxter (189,000), who went in the opposite direction in the later levels of Day 2 to bag up a healthy 47 big blinds.
Among other players to keep an eye on ahead of the bubble are Brian Hastings (186,000), Michael Wang (76,000) and Tyler Cornell (70,000).
Michael Wang
$10,000 LAPC Main Event Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$372,280
8
$42,140
2
$235,990
9
$37,230
3
$138,900
10-12
$32,360
4
$84,320
13-15
$27,640
5
$65,400
16-18
$23,600
6
$54,010
19
$20,230
7
$47,200
The chase for the money begins at noon, with a minimum cash of $20,230 on everyone's mind. From there, players will battle to make a deep run and chase down the first-place prize of $372,280.
Action resumes on Level 13, where the blinds will climb to 2,000/4,000 along with a 4,000 big blind ante. Players will continue to navigate 90-minute levels with 15-minute breaks in between, with plans to play until the final table is reached.
As always, PokerNews has you covered as we follow the action live from the ballroom floor for what is sure to be an exciting and dramatic day at The Commerce Casino & Hotel.
