2009 L.A. Poker Classic

$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 4
123456
Event Info

2009 L.A. Poker Classic

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k♣5♣
Prize
$1,686,260
Event Info
Buy-in
$9,600
Entries
696
Level Info
Level
35
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
0

Day 4 Starting Seat Assignments and Chip Counts

[user38449]
[user38449]
(Table 26)
Seat 1: Nick Binger - 122,000
Seat 2: Chris Karagulleyan - 543,000
Seat 3: Hoyt Corkins - 233,500
Seat 4: Matt Woodward - 420,000
Seat 5: Andre Akkari - 296,000
Seat 6: Zachary Hyman - 151,000
Seat 7: Shawn Glines - 145,000
Seat 8: Men Nguyen - 107,500
Seat 9: David Pham - 16,500

(Table 27)
Seat 1: Paul Darden - 41,000
Seat 2: Daniel O'Brien - 534,500
Seat 3: Paul Wasicka - 90,500
Seat 4: Jason DeWitt - 278,000
Seat 5: Donald D'Auria - 666,500
Seat 6: David Daneshgar - 4,000
Seat 7: Tam Ly - 86,500
Seat 8: Bob Patel - 144,000
Seat 9: Pat Walsh - 360,500

(Table 28)
Seat 1: Dan Lu - 507,500
Seat 2: Kofi Farkye - 837,500
Seat 3: Justin Scott - 309,000
Seat 4: Bryan Paris - 169,000
Seat 5: Jeff Garza - 290,000
Seat 6: Inhpounh Vongvone - 195,000
Seat 7: Alex Wilson - 38,000
Seat 8: Greg Mueller - 156,500
Seat 9: Nancy Todd Tyner - 247,000

(Table 32)
Seat 1: Steve Paul-Ambrose - 59,000
Seat 2: Bertrand Grospellier - 143,500
Seat 3: Matt Brady - 98,500
Seat 4: Dan Shak - 144,000
Seat 5: Ben Sarnoff - 221,500
Seat 6: Blake Cahail - 369,500
Seat 7: K.J. Nam - 70,000
Seat 8: Nick Schulman - 321,000
Seat 9: Binh Nguyen - 103,500

(Table 33)
Seat 1: Maria Ho - 89,500
Seat 2: Will Failla - 15,500
Seat 3: Xuan Nguyen - 247,000
Seat 4: Christopher DeMaci - 117,000
Seat 5: Teddy Monroe - 139,000
Seat 6: Tom Braband - 314,000
Seat 7: Al Barbieri - 72,500
Seat 8: Haralobos Voulgaris - 214,500
Seat 9: Peter Feldman - 302,500

(Table 34)
Seat 1: Payman Arjang - 183,000
Seat 2: Chris Ferguson - 468,500
Seat 3: Cornel Andrew Cimpan - 186,000
Seat 4: Erica Schoenberg - 96,500
Seat 5: George Rahme - 131,000
Seat 6: Anthony Venturini - 508,000
Seat 7: Mike Sowers - 741,500
Seat 8: Andy Le - 59,500
Seat 9: Jeremy Kottler - 574,500

(Table 35)
Seat 1: Paul Smith - 18,500
Seat 2: Ray Qurtomy - 8,500
Seat 3: Luis Velador - 122,500
Seat 4: Alberto Cerdiero - 138,000
Seat 5: Scott Mayfield - 119,000
Seat 6: Nenad Medic - 115,000
Seat 7: Billy Pilossoph - 79,000
Seat 8: Mark Bryan - 178,500
Seat 9: Cody Slaubaugh - 155,500

The Game's Afoot

[user75032]
[user75032]
It's Day 4 at the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic Main Event. Sixty-three players have survived three grueling days and 16 levels of poker to make it to this point. With a guaranteed payday secured, they'll now be jockeying for a deep run and more prize money.

Antonio Esfandiari was the last remaining former LAPC WPT champion in the field. He started Day 3 with the chip lead, but wound up bubbling just off the money in 65th place. With his elimination, we are assured of crowning a new champion on Thursday evening.

The top three players in the chip counts -- Kofi Farkye (837,500), Mike Sowers (741,500) and Donald D'Auria (666,500) -- have a leg up on the field, but it's a long row to hoe from here to the six-handed final table. There are still two full days of poker to play before we get there and as Antonio Esfandiari can freshly attest, anything can happen between now and then.

Cards will be in the air in 20 minutes. Despite running about 15 minutes into Level 17 last night, the tournament clock is currently set for a full 90 minutes of Level 17 to start the day. Keep your browser pointed to PokerNews throughout the day for live updates from the tournament floor!

Shuffle Up and Deal!

[user75032]
[user75032]
Cards are in the air.

TD Matt Savage has announced that play will stop after five full levels or when 18 players remain -- whichever comes first. It seems unlikely that we'll reach 18 remaining tonight (my personal over/under line is 24) but it's good to know there's a plan in place in the event that things move faster than expected.

Level: 17

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Ante: 500

Short Stacks Not Busting... Yet

[user75032]
[user75032]
You would think, with all of the short stacks in the field, that somebody would have busted by now. And you'd be wrong. Every short stack that's been all in -- including the shortest of them all, David Daneshgar -- has survived. David Pham and Men Nguyen were both all in in the same hand against Andre Akkari. Akkari held pocket threes; Nguyen tabled pocket kings; and Pham, the shortest of the three stacks, showed {A-?} {Q-?}. Pham won the main pot by connecting hard with a board of {J-?} {A-?} {2-?} {Q-?} {Q-?}; Nguyen took the side pot with unimproved kings against Akkari's unimproved threes.

Over on Table 35, the table where not a single player is even close to the average chip stack, preflop action moved to Cody Slaubaugh, who raised 51,000 over the top of a preflop raise from Nenad Medic. With 60,000 chips in the pot, Medic visibly deliberated Slaubaugh's range and the chips up for grabs before moving all in for 31,500 more. Slaubaugh called with {8-Clubs} {8-Hearts}; Medic showed {A-Clubs} {K-Hearts} for a race. Medic won the race by flopping top pair, {J-Diamonds} {K-Spades} {2-Diamonds}, and runner-runnering the nuts, {q-Clubs} and {10-Hearts} for an ace-high straight. He doubled to 216,000 (which is still below par); Slaubaugh is down to just 39,000.

Tags: Andre AkkariCody SlaubaughDavid PhamMen NguyenNenad Medic

Four-way Preflop All-In Results in Three Early Eliminations

[user38449]
[user38449]
Alberto Cerdeiro
Alberto Cerdeiro
Short stacks are... or were... aplenty over on Table 35, but Mark Bryan was able to take care of that problem, landing one seriously fatal blow that knocked out three of them.

Paul Smith opened the pot with an all-in raise from early position for about 17,000. Sitting to Smith's immediate left was fellow short stack Ray Qurtomy who made the call for all of his chips -- approximately 8,000. Action then folded to Alberto Cerdeiro, Commerce's last remaining First Steps qualifier, who made the call. Two more folds brought the action to Poker Battle's Nenad Medic, who considered a call but eventually folded. Next to act was Bryan, who opted for a reraise, making it 60,000 to go. No newcomers joined in, so the action returned to Cerdeiro who decided to move all in for about 110,000. Bryan made the call, setting the stage for the following four-way preflop showdown:

Smith: {8-Diamonds} {8-Clubs}
Qurtomy: {K-Spades} {Q-Spades}
Cerdeiro: {J-Hearts} {J-Diamonds}
Bryan: {A-Spades} {A-Diamonds}

The board then ran out {3-Diamonds} {2-Clubs} {2-Spades} {7-Clubs} {10-Hearts} and Bryan's aces held strong to take down the pot, sending Smith, Qurtomy and Cerdeiro to the rail. The win shot Bryan a little further up the leaderboard as he now sits with approximately 340,000 in chips. Cerdiero, Smith and Qurtomy finished in 59th, 60th and 61st place respectively and each will take home $23,052 in prize money.

As a participant in Commerce's First Steps promotion, Cerdeiro also won a $10,000 seat into the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic for being the last First Steps qualifier standing. Were he to have gone on to win the championship, he would've received an additional $50,000 from Commerce, in addition to the seat. After the buzz from the hand simmered down, Tournament Director Matt Savage informed the room that Cerdeiro is officially the first player registered for the 2010 L.A.P.C.

Tags: Alberto CerdieroMark BryanPaul SmithRay Qurtomy

Dan Shak Eliminated in 57th Place

[user75032]
[user75032]
Dan Shak made a play at the pot. In lots of scenarios, his play would have worked. But today he made his move at the wrong time.

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier opened the preflop action with a button raise to 9,000. Shak, sitting in the big blind, was the only caller. On a flop of {6-Spades} {10-Hearts} {8-Diamonds}, Shak checked to Grospellier, who bet 12,500. Shak immediately announced, "I'm all in." Grospellier snap-called and tabled {6-Diamonds} {6-Hearts} for a set of sixes, prompting Shak to glumly add, "I'm all gone." He showed {K-Clubs} {Q-Diamonds}, which was drawing dead after the turn {3-Spades}. The river {8-Clubs} cemented Shak's loss.

When the stacks were counted down, Grospellier had Shak covered by a single blue (500) chip. Shak stood up, grabbed his belongings, and headed to the payout counter. Grospellier now has 292,000.

Tags: Bertrand GrospellierDan Shak

12345…8