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February 26th 2007
Biggest Ever WPT event kicks off in LA
Its official; the poker boom is alive and well, and stronger than ever. Despite (or maybe because of?) the anti-gambling bill (the UIGEA) and the troubles with third-party online payment processors, people are still turning out in force to play in live tournaments.
The 2007 L.A. Poker Classic, now in its third day at the Commerce Casino, is the biggest World Poker Tour event ever. With 791 players, a prize pool of over $7.5 million, and a first place prize of $2.4 million the LA Poker Classic has turned on its head the idea that poker is in decline.
The Commerce Casino in Los Angeles is used to attracting large and stellar fields for its poker tournaments, though this time around even the Commerce was taking by surprise by the number of players vying for a spot at the tables. The tournament organisers were forced to erect an impromptu tent to create extra gaming space, and they even had to impinge on the hallowed high stakes area of the casino.
You might think that with such a massive field the tables would be littered with unfamiliar face, but in fact the opposite was true, with practically every table bursting with top pros. One Day One table featured Phil Laak, Eli Elezra, Clonie Gowen and Weikai Chang, another saw Mike Matusow, Layne Flack, Amnon Filippi and Michael Binger squeezed together, while yet another struggled to contain the talents of Gavin Smith, Alex Jacob, Jason Strasser and David Williams.
It was no surprise then that Day One saw the backs of a number of high profile pros, including Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu, Dan Harrington, Huck Seed, Gus Hansen and the 2006 LA Poker Classic winner Alan Goehring. The early leader was Joe Seebok, who ran his stack up to $205,000 by the end of the day, which, most importantly, gave him a great chance of winning his last-longer side bet with Gavin Smith, and thus avoiding having the Canadian’s initials tattooed on his bum cheeks.
On Day Two Joe Seebok achieved his main objective when Gavin Smith crashed out with A-Ts v K-K, but the Day One chip leader failed to advance any further in his quest for a first WPT title, crashing out in the biggest pot of the tournament so far. J.C. Tran caught a full house on the river and moved all-in over the top of Seebok’s $50k bet forcing Seebok to make a decision for all his chips. Seebok eventually made a reluctant call with the second nut flush, but at least he could console himself with thoughts of his initials tattooed on Gavin Smith’s butt.
That win put the in-form J.C. Tran into the chip lead, a position he consolidated during the final hours of the day to end with $543,700, more than $200,000 ahead of second-placed Mike Carsson. Tran will rightly be installed as the early favourite to win the tournament and collect the WPT’s biggest payout outside the championship event, though with the likes of Joe Tehan, Jason Strasser, Can Kim Hua, Nam Le, Bill Edler, Paul Wasicka, Chau Giang, Kristy Gazes, Ed “Boliva” Moncada and Jeff Cabinallas all inside the top 20 there is plenty of play left in this tournament yet.
Submitted: 26/02/2007 13:14:25
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