2009 L.A. Poker Classic
$10,000 No Limit Hold'em Championship
Day: 5
Level: 28
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 5,000
Happy Birthday, Ali!
PokerRoad Radio personality and NBC poker commentator Ali Nejad was just delivered a surprise birthday cake by a group of friends and the Happy Birthday song ensued.
Yep, we know this has absolutely nothing to do with the poker tournament you're probably here to read about, but it's the most action we've seen in the last 10 minutes.
Spotlight: Chris Karagulleyan
But Karagulleyan has taken down a few pots, too. He raised to 125,000 preflop and was called by Cornel Andrew Cimpan. Both players checked a flop of . Cimpan bet 200,000 on the turn and was quickly called by Karagulleyan. Both players again checked the river. Cimpan showed , but that was second-best to Karagulleyan's .
Sowers Getting Short
Cimpan Doubles through Ferguson
Cornel Climbing
Chris Karagulleyan started things off with a raise to 125,000 from early position. Cimpan made the call from the button and Payman Arjang joined them from the big blind.
The flop came and both Payman and Chris checked to Cornel, who fired a 200,000 bet, which was enough to chase everyone away.
After having faced elimination on more than one occasion today, Cimpan now sits with a very workable stack, about 1.8 million chips.
Sowers Doubles Through Nguyen
And so the search for two more eliminations goes on.
Cimpan Bluffs Ferguson Out of a Pot; Opts to Rub it in a Little
Both players checked the flop, opting to move straight to 4th Street which was the . Ferguson then fired a bet of 225,000, which Cimpan called with an apparent sense of certainty.
The last card off the deck was the , which prompted Ferguson to pass the action over to Cimpan, who fired a 325,000 bullet. After a brief moment of consideration, Ferguson eventually decided to fold. Cimpan then held his hole cards high in the air, and even dangerously close to Ferguson's face (the two are sitting directly next to each other), saying, "Ten high, baby! Ten high!"
The win drove Cimpan past the two million mark in chips for the first time in the tournament.
Arjang Doubles Through Karagulleyan
Which short stack will be the unlucky one who doesn't double up? Inquiring minds want to know.