A True Underdog Story

Like a good Hollywood screenplay, the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic broke down into three acts. Act 1: A poker army, 791 strong, descends on Commerce Casino, making the 2007 LAPC the largest $10,000 event in World Poker Tour history. Act 2: The field dwindles, many notable characters perish, and the money bubble pops. Act 3: The six survivors battle at the final table, and one player emerges as the tournament's newest champion, and the winner of a $2.4 million first-place cash prize.

Sure, the plot sounds a little melodramatic, but it's Hollywood, baby; what else did you expect?

Day One - Open Casting Call
Between Feb. 24 and March 1, Commerce Casino, already the home of the biggest poker room on the planet, welcomed a record-setting field for the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic. The 791 players, housed in the casino's Crown Plaza Ballroom and an adjacent outdoor-patio overflow tent, generated a $7.5 million prize pool, and included some big names in both the world of poker and entertainment.

The deep-stack tournament structure ($20,000 stacks and $25-$50 starting blinds) meant most notables survived the early levels. By the 3:30 a.m. close (play began at 3:30 p.m. PST), however, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, "Yukon" Brad Booth, Dan Harrington, Allen Cunningham, Lakers owner Jerry Buss, poker player/Hollywood actress Jennifer Tilly, and defending champ Alan Goehring were counted among the day-one casualties.

In the wake of the castoffs, Joe Sebok emerged as one of the first stage's most successful players. Nursing a sprained ankle, iced and propped up on a service table, and with the consequences of a Gavin Smith last-longer bet looming (the loser would have the winner's initials tattooed on his rear end), Sebok took down enough pots, and eliminated enough opponents, to become the first participant to crack the $100,000 mark.

Day Two - The Good, the Bad, and the Tattooed
Of the 791-player starting field, only 368 received day-two callbacks (that's Hollywood-speak for "didn't bust"). For most of the remaining players, the storyline for the LAPC revolved around the $2.4 million first-place prize, but the tournament also featured numerous subplots, and one B-story, perhaps the most talked about, ended early on day two.

At 6:54 p.m., the Smith/Sebok side bet concluded with Smith on the losing "end." Dropped by an opponent's pocket kings, Smith exited the tournament, while Sebok spent time in pre- and post-dinner-break play designing a "J.S." emblem for his soon-to-be-tattooed betting partner.

Amid the extracurricular plotlines, J.C. Tran capped off a successful day two by providing an elimination that caused a dramatic shift in power in the event. Fewer than 185 players remained, when, in a heads-up hand with $80,000 in the pot, Tran come over the top of a $50,000 Sebok bet on a K 10 5 3 10 board. Sebok, after stating, "Well, I have to call," flipped over the Q 8 flush, only to have Tran show the K 10 full house.

The matchup sent both participants in opposite directions. Tran finished play at the top of the leader board ($543,700), while Sebok exited as a day-two elimination.

Day Three - The Talented Mr. Edler
Day three of the 2007 L.A. Poker Classic dispensed with the "levels played" criteria of the previous stages, and instead became a race to pop the tournament's money bubble. In other words, the returning field of 152 needed 98 players to bust in order to move on to the next phase.

By the eight-hour mark, 90 participants went from $2.4 million hopefuls to potential Hollywood Boulevard tourists. Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Danny Smith, Steve Dannenmann, Erik Seidel, Ted Forrest, Barry Greenstein, Prahlad Friedman, and Gene Todd, whose 7-3 collided with an opponent's 6-3 on a 6-3-3 board, all exited play during this time.

With the field whittled down, Bill Edler raked a big pot from Isaac Haxton, courtesy of an aces-full-of-fives full house. The win not only propelled Edler to the day-three chip lead, but also guaranteed the tournament pro, coming off a 13th-place finish in January's Borgata Winter Poker Open, his second consecutive cash.

At 2:36 a.m., Kristy Gazes (pocket aces) eliminated Andrew Scheinman (pocket sevens), and hand-for-hand play lasted 10 minutes before Denny Lee became the tournament's 55th-place finisher, and the final player to bust outside the money.

Day Four - J.C. Tran: The Legend Continues
Day four featured poker's version of the Hollywood shoot'em-up action flick - that's right, post-money bubble play. The necessary body count (whittling 54 down to 18) started 10 minutes into action when David Woodward's 54th-place elimination made him the first participant to earn a paycheck ($22,780).

Paul Wasicka contributed to the end goal, and notched two notable busts, with his A-J against A-4 victory over Joe Awada (33rd place - $35,690), and two pair besting pocket treys win against Nick Schulman (23rd place - $45,560).

The high-profile cast still in contention led to numerous other big-name matchups, and eliminations.

A run-in with Nam Le ended Ed Moncada's LAPC, as his pocket jacks failed to crack Le's pocket kings (43rd place - $28,855), and Greg "FBT" Mueller exited tournament play on the losing end of an A-K falling to pocket aces against Kristy Gazes (42nd place - $28,855).

While Le eventually fell in 22nd place ($45,560), his close friend J.C. Tran claimed the top spot on the day-end leader board for the second time in the tournament. Tran became the first player to cross the $1 million mark. He also busted Hans "Tuna" Lund in 20th place ($45,560), which put day four one elimination away from completion.

At midnight, the final bust of the day occurred with C.K. Hua's paired jack with a king kicker falling to David Bach's paired jack with an ace kicker (19th place - $45,560).

Day Five - The Magnificent Six
In a secluded corner of the Commerce Casino tournament area, 18 players gathered to fight for six seats at the L.A. Poker Classic's televised final table.

Following the eliminations of Richard Munro (18th place - $58,470) and Shan Jing (17th place - $58,470), Kristy Gazes earned the distinction of being the last female participant to exit the tournament. Gazes finished in 16th place ($58,470) after David Bach (K 10) rivered a king to top Gazes' A J.

The last elimination in two-table play marked the end of one of the LAPC's most improbable runs. At one point down to three times the big blind, Tad Jurgens' two-day climb up the leader board culminated with an 11th-place finish ($91,125). Jurgens busted on the unofficial final-table bubble after his all-in A 9 reraise bricked out against Eric Hershler's pocket fours.

Tran contributed the first elimination of the final table as his flopped set made Jay Chang the 10th-place finisher ($91,125). Minutes later, Ben Johnson, short-stacked after Bach rivered a flush against his set of queens, finished in ninth place ($121,500) with a paired 4 falling to Bill Edler's paired 9.

Two cracked big pocket pairs resulted in an eighth-place finish ($151,870) for Vincent Procopio. First, Jacobo Fernandez rivered a flush to best Procopio's pocket aces; then, Paul Wasicka finished off the Philadelphia native, courtesy of A-K cracking pocket queens.

At 11:09 p.m., Tran's ace-high flush topped Edler's jack-high flush (seventh place - $189,840). That elimination closed day-four action, and left six players to vie for the $2.4 million top prize.

TV Final Table - Lights, Camera, Action
The chip counts going to the TV final table were as follows:

1. J.C. Tran - $3,470,000 (seat No. 4)
2. Paul Wasicka - $3,390,000 (seat No. 3)
3. Jacobo Fernandez - $3,370,000 (seat No. 1)
4. Eric Hershler - $2,160,000 (seat No. 6)
5. David Bach - $2,070,000 (seat No. 5)
6. Chau Giang - $1,370,000 (seat No. 2)

Held in the Commerce Casino's Crown Ballroom, set up with the familiar lights and cameras of the WPT's televised final-table stage, play began at 5:13 p.m. PST with $30,000-$60,000 blinds and $10,000 antes.

Play lasted more than three hours before fans witnessed the final table's first elimination.

Doubling up Chau Giang (A-K versus A-9) sent David Bach to the bottom of the leader board. The Georgia native survived for an additional half-hour before pushing all in with his last $205,000. Jacobo Fernandez and Eric Hershler both called. Following a checked A 10 4 flop, Hershler moved all in on the 2 turn. With Fernandez out of the way, Bach turned over the A 2 for two pair, but Hershler showed the 2 2. The set stayed ahead on the 3 river, and Bach exited as the sixth-place finisher ($257,425).

Despite his double-up, Giang dragged no other substantial pots and remained one of the table's short stacks. With the blinds at $120,000-$240,000, Giang moved all in, only to have J.C. Tran push from the button. A member of Bellagio's world-famous "Big Game," and arguably one of poker's most respected competitors, Giang saw his 2007 LAPC end in a fifth-place finish ($341,710) when his 8 4 fell to Tran's A J on the Q 9 4 3 A board.

Only one month removed from a 12th-place finish at the 2007 Aussie Millions, Wasicka outlasted a record-setting field en route to his LAPC final-table appearance. His bid for a title, however, fell short. After sliding down the leader board, Wasicka reraised all in over the top of a Tran preflop raise. Wasicka's A 7 needed help against Tran's 3 3, but the K K 3 6 10 board gave Tran a boat, and Wasicka walked off the final-table set in fourth place ($455,615).

In threehanded play, Hershler used two double-ups through Tran (K Q beating 10 7, and Q 10 topping J 10) to pull even with Fernandez in second place. Hershler then proceeded to win more than $2 million from Fernandez, courtesy of an uncalled reraise on an A K 2 flop.

The table's new short stack, Fernandez pushed all in minutes later with the J 2, only to have Hershler, holding the A A, call. The A 8 2 5 2 board gave Hershler the full house, and sent Fernandez home as the third-place finisher ($607,490).

With Fernandez's elimination, the $2.4 million prize came down to Hershler, a man playing in his first live tournament, and Tran, a circuit veteran with a painful L.A. Poker Classic history.

The chip leader going to last year's LAPC final table, Tran lost on a two-outer (pocket aces cracked by pocket fives) to eventual champ Alan Goehring, and ultimately finished the event in fifth place.

The chip counts were as follows:

1. Eric Hershler - $8,700,000
2. J.C. Tran - $7,400,000

At 11:23 p.m., after more than six hours of play, the 2007 LAPC final table ended on the first hand of heads-up action.

Hershler limped in from the button, and then called Tran's $700,000 raise. The A J 6 flop led to a $1.2 million bet by Tran. When Hershler raised all in, Tran called. Hershler showed the J 6, giving him the lead over Tran's A 7 top pair, and the tournament came to a close after the turn and river brought the 4 and 9.

Tran, making his second consecutive LAPC final-table appearance, earned $1,177,000 for the runner-up finish.

A South Africa native, and Los Angeles resident, Hershler's 2007 L.A. Poker Classic purse included a trophy, the $2.4 million first-place prize, and a $25,000 entry into April's WPT Championship event.

Unproven rookie tops heavily favored seasoned pro? Sounds like the classic Hollywood underdog story. Somebody call Ari Gold.