2009 L.A. Poker Classic

$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 6
Event Info

2009 L.A. Poker Classic

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k5
Prize
$1,686,260
Event Info
Buy-in
$9,600
Entries
696
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
0

Binh Nguyen Eliminated in 2nd Place ($935,424); Andrew Cimpan Wins L.A. Poker Classic Main Event!

Binh Nguyen - 2nd Place
Binh Nguyen - 2nd Place
I feel bad for Binh Nguyen. Really I do. I've lost count of the number of times he had Andrew Cimpan all in with the worse hand. Nguyen seemed to know, on the final hand, when he once again tabled the best hand but was the one at risk of elimination, that Cimpan would find a way to do it again. It was simple preflop action; Cimpan moved all in and Nguyen called all in for less.

Cimpan: {K-Clubs} {5-Clubs}
Nguyen: {A-Hearts} {9-Diamonds}

Nguyen just had this look on his face, as if he knew what was coming. He was right to be dejected; the flop of {5-Hearts} {3-Spades} {10-Clubs} paired Cimpan's five without making a pair for Nguyen. The {10-Diamonds} that fell on the turn didn't help Nguyen either. When the river fell {4-Spades}, Nguyen was eliminated in second place. He gave a very brief, unenthusiastic hug to Cimpan and then shook his head as if to say, "What does it take?"

At least Nguyen will walk away with $935,424 in prize money.

Tags: Binh NguyenCornel Andrew Cimpan

Congratulations to Andrew Cimpan, Champion of the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic Main Event ($1,686,260)

Cornel Andrew Cimpan, Champion of the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic Main Event
Cornel Andrew Cimpan, Champion of the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic Main Event
"Mr. Simpson, this is the most blatant case of false advertising since my lawsuit against The Never-Ending Story," Lionel Hutz, the shady lawyer on the television show The Simpsons, once said. He might have been talking about this final table.

At the end of an epic battle that took a full five previous days of poker, and ten-and-a-half hours and more than 300 hands tonight alone, Andrew Cimpan emerged victorious from a field of 696 runners. His reward is a bracelet, a trophy, an entry into the $25,000 WPT season finale at the Bellagio -- oh, and $1,661,260 in prize money.

"We witnessed one of the most amazing final tables in the history of the tour tonight, I can tell you that," said WPT host Mike Sexton before the presentation of the trophy to Cimpan.

Binh Nguyen was brought back on the set to a huge round of applause from the gallery. Both he and Cimpan played their hearts out at this final table; luck was just not on Nguyen's side today. Sexton talked with both at the end of a long night.

"We all know what heartbreak you suffered at this poker table tonight," Sexton said to Nguyen. Nguyen thanked Sexton for his sympathy. He explained that this was his first WPT event ever and had absolutely no expectations whatsoever. A second-place finish is not bad at all.

Cimpan, for his part, was short-stacked since the start of Day 5. "You have to feel pretty good right now," Sexton told Cimpan.

Cimpan just nodded his head. "Yeah, I feel pretty good."

"You don't have to get too excited about it," replied Sexton. "It's only $1.6 million."

"It hasn't hit me yet," Cimpan conceded.

After the ceremonial end-of-the-tournament toast that is a signature of the World Poker Tour, the television production -- and the night -- was finally at an end.

Be sure to join us late next week for coverage of an event that has quickly become a perennial favorite for poker fans across the world -- the NBC Heads-Up Invitational from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Until next time, may all your cards be live and your pots be monsters!

Tags: Cornel Andrew Cimpan

$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship

Day 6 Started