The first leg of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) California Swing kicked off over the weekend as the WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event got underway at the Commerce Casino. Two days have already been completed; 538 players registered for the $10,000 tournament and going into Monday’s Day 3, only 120 remain. Brent Hart has a handsome lead over the pack, holding 487,900 chips, a cool 100,000 more than the next closest opponent.
The 523 player field created a prize pool of $5,164,800 with $1,000,460 and a $15,400 WPT Championship seat going to the eventual winner. Only 63 people will make the money – a min-cash is worth $19,050 – so nearly half the remaining field still needs to be shown the door before anyone can breathe a little easier.
One of Hart’s most significant hands occurred during the final hand of the day (don’t they always seem to happen during the final hand of the day?). Mohsin Charania told WPT.com that Hart had raised to 6,500 pre-flop, Charania himself re-raised it to 16,500, and the player in the small blind moved all-in over the top of both for 49,000. Hart called and then Charania decided to also go all-in for about 100,000 more chips. Hart also called that one and showed A♥-Q♥. He was behind both players who were at risk, as Charania had K♣-K♥ and the small blind had 9-9. According to Charania, the flop was relatively tame: 6-5-2 with just a single heart, so he was still in great shape. But the turn and river produced the dreaded runner-runner flush for Brent Hart, eliminating both Charania and the other player. That pot took Hart’s stack up over 400,000 at the time.
As mentioned, the L.A. Poker Classic is the first leg of the WPT California Swing, a Golden State “triple crown” of sorts. Shortly after this event ends, the WPT Bay 101 will begin in San Jose, followed soon thereafter by WPT Rolling Thunder in Sacramento. For an extra incentive, the World Poker Tour will be awarding a generous prize package to the player who has the best performance during the California Swing. To qualify, players must participate in all three events. After that, players earn points based on how they finish in each tournament, with the top overall points earner winning the prize package.
The WPT California Swing prize package includes:
• Accommodation at the Crowne Plaza during the 2016 L.A. Poker Classic
• Free airport transfer
• Complimentary massage at the Meridian Spa
• Shooting Star status at Bay 101 Shooting Star
• Free hotel accommodation for next year’s Rolling Thunder
• $500 room credit at Rolling Thunder
Day 3 of the 2015 WPT L.A. Poker Classic begins at noon Pacific time from the Commerce Casino.
2015 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Brent Hart – 487,900
2. Michael Kamran – 387,400
3. Max Mashour – 366,300
4. Ken Aldridge – 355,900
5. Dylan Hortin – 346,600
6. Pratik Ghatge – 306,200
7. Peter Neff – 303,800
8. William Miner – 298,500
9. Matthew Diehl – 290,500
10. Niall Farrell – 268,000
