There are 63 players remaining in the World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic, which originates from the Commerce Casino. Online poker pro Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza eliminated Patrick Stemper from contention in 64th place, leaving the survivors to finish in the money. Now, the field will have to change gears in this marquee WPT event as players jockey for the $1.6 million first place prize.
Kofi Farkye, a former winner of the Nordic Masters of Poker, sits with the chip lead entering Tuesday’s play with 837,500. He’s tailed by Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers, a savvy online and live poker pro with considerable final table experience. Sowers holds 741,500, or 97,000 fewer chips than Farkye. At the bottom of the field is World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet holder David Daneshgar, who has just 4,000 chips to his name, the equivalent of one big blind. He survived an all-in on the money bubble and asked Tournament Director Matt Savage if he could forfeit his chips and not return to play on Tuesday. Savage, however, declined his request.
On Sunday, Antonio Esfandiari was a commanding chip leader. However, he found the rails on Monday, sent packing after coming out on the losing end of a bad beat against Sowers. Esfandiari held A-K and was in favorable shape to double up against Sowers’ A-Q. The flop came A-J-J, giving both players aces-up. However, a queen on the turn gave Sowers a better two pair and the river was no help to The Magician, as the 2004 L.A. Poker Classic winner hit the exit.
Here is a look at the top 10 chip stacks entering play on Tuesday:
1st: Kofi Farkye – 837,500
2nd: Mike Sowers – 741,500
3rd: Donald D’Auria – 666,500
4th: Jeremy Kottler – 574,500
5th: Chris Karagulleyan – 543,000
6th: Daniel O’Brien – 534,500
7th: Anthony Venturini – 508,000
8th: Dan The Lu – 507,500
9th: Chris Ferguson – 468,500
10th: Matt Woodward – 420,000
Chris “Jesus” Ferguson is a five-time WSOP bracelet holder whose most recent piece of hardware came after winning a $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em and Seven Card Stud tournament during the 2003 tournament series, one of two bracelets he won that year. Since 2005, he’s taken down Circuit Event championships at Harrah’s Rincon, Harrah’s Las Vegas, and Harvey’s Tahoe. All told, he has six Circuit Event cashes to his name for $1.3 million. Ferguson is a card-carrying member of Team Full Tilt along with Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius, among others. He’s also a proponent of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the main lobbying voice of the online poker industry.
Other notable names remaining in the 63 player field include:
13th: Nick Schulman – 321,000
16th: Peter “Nordberg” Feldman – 302,500
17th: Andre Akkari – 296,000
18th: Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza – 290,000
20th: Nancy Todd Tyner – 247,000
22nd: Hoyt Corkins – 233,500
30th: Greg “FBT” Mueller – 156,500
35th: Daniel Shak – 144,000
36th: Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier – 143,500
44th: Nenad Medic – 115,000
45th: Men “The Master” Nguyen – 107,500
48th: Erica Schoenberg – 96,500
49th: Paul Wasicka – 90,500
50th: Maria Ho – 89,500
56th: Steven Paul-Ambrose – 59,000
57th: Paul Darden – 41,000
60th: David “The Dragon” Pham – 16,500
63rd: David Daneshgar – 4,000
The average chip stack is 220,865. When play concluded on Monday, blinds were 2,000-4,000 with a 500 chip ante. Haralobos Voulgaris, who sits in 24th place, told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after play had concluded, “I started the day with 210,000 chips and I went to 280,000 right away. Then, I lost every hand for an hour and a half or two hours. I got really unlucky in a bunch of hands.” Voulgaris, the runner up in the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic, has 214,500 chips entering Day 4.
The tournament will crown a champion on Thursday. Each player at the six-handed final table will receive at least $240,000. Here’s a look at the scheduled payouts for the televised table:
1st Place: $1,686,760
2nd Place: $935,424
3rd Place: $654,797
4th Place: $430,963
5th Place: $310,694
6th Place: $240,538
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WPT L.A. Poker Classic.
