2009 L.A. Poker Classic

$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 1
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

Williams Three-Barrels to No Avail

David Williams fired three times on a board of {4-Clubs} {4-Diamonds} {7-Spades} {8-Clubs} {A-Clubs}. He bet pot (1,200) on the flop, pot (3,500) on the turn and 6,500 on the river. His lone opponent called him in position all three times. At showdown, we didn't quite hear Williams, but we think he might have said, "Jack-high." Whatever he did say, his opponent turned over {5-Hearts} {4-Hearts} for trip fours. Williams is still ok; he has 22,000 chips.

Tags: David Williams

Level: 4

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

Cooler for Levy

Adam Levy is down, but not out.
Adam Levy is down, but not out.
Hoyt Corkins' good fortune is Adam Levy's misfortune. Levy was dealt {K-Diamonds} {K-Clubs} on the same hand Corkins was dealt {A-Hearts} {A-Clubs}. All of the chips wound up in the middle, with the board running out {4-Clubs} {9-Spades} {2-Diamonds} {6-Diamonds} {J-Diamonds}. That made Corkins' aces the best hand. He's up to 40,000, while Levy slips to 7,000.

Tags: Adam LevyHoyt Corkins

Movin' on Up

Barry Greenstein
Barry Greenstein
On our last rounds on the floor, we saw some notable players picking up a bunch of chips. Shannon Shorr turned a combination draw in a four-way limped pot that was checked to the turn. Shorr held {6-Spades} {9-Spades} on a board of {10-Hearts} {10-Clubs} {3-Spades} {7-Spades}. He elected to call a 500-chip bet to take a heads-up river that filled his straight draw, {8-Hearts}. Shorr's opponent checked, then called a bet of 1,400. He couldn't beat Shorr's straight. As a result, Shorr is up to 30,000.

We also saw Barry Greenstein take 5,000 chips off of an opponent in a heads-up pot. Greenstein check-called a bet of 1,000 on a flop of {8-Diamonds} {4-Clubs} {9-Spades}, then check-called 4,000 more after the turn fell {A-Diamonds}. Both players checked the river {7-Clubs}, with Greenstein turning over {A-Clubs} {J-Clubs} for top pair. That was a winner.

John "the Razor" Phan is also steadily chipping up. He was the only one of three opponents to call a bet of 1,000 from an early position player on a board of {5-Hearts} {9-Spades} {7-Diamonds}. When the turn fell {A-Spades}, Phan's opponent checked and then folded to a bet of 2,000.

Tags: Barry GreensteinJohn PhanShannon Shorr

Table Talk

With thousands of dollars in the balance, the usual "ballas" are interested in anything but poker. Phil Ivey is sweating a college basketball game between Oklahoma and Texas; Mike Matusow is thinking ahead to the dinner break.

"I'm gonna go run on the break," said Matusow. "Run for thirty minutes. Get my brain moving." He also suggested some other activities that he would get up to before running (if you're really curious, ask Mike. He'll be happy to share.)

While we were out listening to the players, we also saw Chad Brown flop a set in a five-way limped pot. There were three hearts on the board, {Q-Hearts} {7-Hearts} {3-Hearts}, so when action checked to Brown he bet 500. One player called, who then led into Brown for 500 on the {3-Diamonds} turn. Brown raised to 1,500 and was called. Both players checked the {A-Hearts} river. Brown's set of sevens, {7-Diamonds} {7-Spades}, were good against his opponent's {Q-Spades} {J-Clubs}. As a result, Brown is up to about 12,000 in chips.

Tags: Chad BrownMike MatusowPhil Ivey

Suppah Thyme

The tournament clock has been paused while the remaining 549 players (and us) go on a 75-minute dinner break. We'll be back at 8:00 p.m. local time to finish out the last two levels of Day 1.

Play Resumes

Cards are back in the air. 540 players remain. Hopefully their bellies are full. Our dinner is stuck in traffic on the 5 freeway.