The World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic kicked off last Saturday from the Commerce Casino. A total of 696 poker hopefuls entered, representing a growth of 5% from 2008. In the end, one man stood tall above the rest, Andrew Cimpan, who pocketed nearly $1.7 million for the win and earned a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in April. He bested Binh Nguyen heads-up.
A whopping 303 hands were dealt at the final table, with nearly 200 of them coming heads-up. In fact, it took 66 hands for a single elimination to occur. The honor of being the first player ousted from the televised six-handed final table went to Full Tilt Poker pro Chris Ferguson, who put all of his chips at risk after calling an all in by Cimpan with A-K on a 10-8-8 board. Cimpan held pocket fours, giving Ferguson plenty of outs. However, the turn came a six and the river came a three, ending Ferguon’s dreams of winning his first WPT title. “Jesus” took home $240,538 for his efforts.
Pat Walsh hit the skids in fifth place. With blinds of 50,000-100,000 and a 10,000 chip ante, Nguyen raised to 250,000 pre-flop. Walsh bumped it up to 950,000 and Nguyen pushed all in. Walsh called for his tournament life, flipping over A-2. Nguyen had him dominated with A-J and the better hand held. Walsh earned $310,694 for his fifth place finish in Los Angeles. His elimination came on the 97th hand of final table play.
Chris Karagulleyan, who was the chip leader entering the final table and a former winner of the Legends of Poker during the WPT’s inaugural season, was ousted from the L.A. Poker Classic in fourth place, earning $430,963. Cimpan moved all in from the small blind for ten times the big blind and Karagulleyan called for all of his chips with A-9. Cimpan reluctantly flipped over Q-8. Both players hit a pair on the flop of A-Q-10, but Cimpan improved in the hand for good when the turn came another queen.
Six hands later, online poker pro Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers was eliminated in third place. After an up and down final table for the North Carolina native, Sowers pushed over the top of a re-raise by Nguyen holding pocket fours. However, he found himself to be a 4:1 underdog against Nguyen’s pocket queens. The board bricked out for the youngster, who won a $5,000 buy-in tournament during the 2008 Borgata Winter Open for nearly $400,000.
On the 303rd hand of final table play, Cimpan pushed as the chip leader with K-5 of clubs. Nguyen turned over A-9 and the flop came 10-5-3, pairing Cimpan. The turn came a 10, leaving Nguyen rooting for an ace or a nine to win the hand and double up. If not, Cimpan would become the winner of the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic. The dealer turned over the four of spades, leaving Nguyen with a $935,424 consolation prize. At the time of the final hand, there were only 55 total big blinds in play.
Cimpan told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after the final cards had been dealt, “I’m so tired. I can’t fake it. Nguyen didn’t let me play the game that I wanted to play.” He also sent a shout out to his daughter, Joy (who is 13 years-old), and his son, Joshua (who is nine). Entering the marathon heads-up battle, Nguyen stood with twice as many chips as Cimpan.
Here were the final standings and payouts from the Commerce Casino:
1st Place: Andrew Cimpan – $1,686,760
2nd Place: Binh Nguyen – $935,424
3rd Place: Mike Sowers – $654,797
4th Place: Chris Karagulleyan – $430,963
5th Place: Pat Walsh – $310,694
6th Place: Chris Ferguson – $240,538
Saturday marks the start of the WPT Celebrity Invitational from the Commerce Casino. A $200,000 prize pool and a $25,000 seat into the WPT Championship will be up for grabs. The WPT then takes a two week hiatus until the Bay 101 Shooting Star event:
Bay 101 Shooting Star (San Jose, California)
March 16th through 20th, 2009
Foxwoods Poker Classic (Mashantucket, Connecticut)
April 3rd through 8th, 2009
WPT Championship (Las Vegas, Nevada)
April 18th through 25th, 2009
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WPT tournament trail.
