Phil Ivey Wins L.A. Poker Classic Championship

For some players, it is not a question of if, it's a question of when.

Phil Ivey is one of the most respected players in the game of poker. He had appeared at a record seven World Poker Tour final tables, which was more than any other player in history before the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic. But, in each case, he was defeated. He had never won a WPT event. So, when he made his eighth WPT final table at Commerce Casino, he was focused and ready, and finally captured his first WPT title.

The LAPC has always been a marquee event on the WPT schedule. The largest poker casino in the world attracts the best poker players in the world for its yearly $10,000 event, and as a result, the final table is always loaded. This year, the final table was one of the strongest ever: Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Nam Le, Quinn Do, Charles Moore, and Scott Montgomery emerged from a field of 665 players. The star power at the final table, along with the $1,596,100 first-place prize, produced an electric atmosphere as the players took their seats to begin play. Here is how the chip stacks looked:



No time was wasted in reaching major action; on the first hand of play, Charles Moore moved all in for 1.5 million against Phil Ivey. Ivey studied the stacks and pondered the situation for more than five minutes before making his call. "I didn't have to call him, but he moved all in on me 30 times yesterday. I got a little stubborn with the hand, and said to myself that if he moved all in on me here, I was going to call … and then I was thinking about it and I went the other direction; I was going to fold, but at the last second I just said to myself, let's see what he has," said Ivey.

The call brought the crowd to its feet, and the players opened up their hands. Moore showed down the A K, and he dominated Ivey's A 9. The board ran out 6 3 2 J Q, and this set Ivey back early; he was down to 2.6 million, while Moore soared to more than 3 million. Ivey had taken a hit early, and he said that for a second, his mind wandered to "here we go again" nightmares. That was the past, though, and this was the present. "I just gave myself a little pep talk and told myself not to worry about it. If I could recover from that, I felt like I would be able to win," said Ivey.

The other Phil at the table took his lumps 10 hands later when Nam Le bet 140,000 on a flop of J 6 3. Phil Hellmuth thought for about 15 seconds before making the call. The turn card was the K, Le bet 350,000, and Hellmuth announced, "All in." Le immediately called with the K 3 for two pair, and Hellmuth was not happy. He showed the J 8 and said, "I can't believe you caught a king." The river brought the 10, and Le won the pot.

This confrontation ultimately led to Hellmuth's elimination a short time later, when he moved all in preflop on a short stack against Moore. They turned up their hands, and Moore had Hellmuth dominated with the A Q against the A 9. The board came A J 2 7 Q. Hellmuth was eliminated in sixth place, and he earned $229,820. He also received a standing ovation from the crowd as a consolation prize.

Quinn Do then made his presence felt at the final table by doubling up not once, but twice. The first time, he made a pair of queens against Scott Montgomery, and then his jack-high flush against Moore took him up to 3.1 million, and he could breathe a little easier.

Montgomery, on the other hand, could not; he was below 1 million and was knocked down even further before he was able to double up a few hands later. His victory with jacks up over Moore gave him momentary relief, but on the very next hand, he was all in yet again. This time, things did not go as smoothly: Le raised from the cutoff to 350,000, and Montgomery moved all in from the big blind for 800,000. Le thought for about 10 seconds before he called with the K J. Montgomery showed down the J 8, and he was dominated. The board came 7 5 5 3 3, and Montgomery was eliminated in fifth place, earning $296,860.

Ivey had been relatively quiet after Moore doubled up through him on the first hand, but after Montgomery was eliminated, he went on the offensive. He picked up 3.14 million from Le, thanks to a 10-high straight. He followed that score up by grabbing an additional 1.84 million on the next hand. This time, he defeated Do with aces up. This not only put him back in contention, but back on top as the chip leader after Do managed to double up through Moore a few hands later. "It comes time when you have to start playing hands if you want to win these tournaments. You can't just sit around and wait for things to happen; you kind of have to make things happen," said Ivey about his decision to go on the offensive.

The four remaining players then fell into a holding pattern for the next 30-odd hands, trading punches and pots with a variety of regularity that sustained their stacks. That all changed on hand 97, though, when Le and Ivey got it all in preflop. Le held pocket aces against Ivey's pocket threes, and the large group of Le supporters voiced their approval. Their cheers turned to jeers after a flop of 10 6 2 was followed by the 3 on the turn. The set held up for Ivey, and Le was eliminated in fourth place. He received $411,770 for his strong showing, and he now has $4,324,127 in career tournament winnings after just four years on the tournament trail. "I was fortunate; I won a lot of key hands in a lot of key spots. I drew out a couple of times, and that's what it takes to win these tournaments. You have to be lucky when you need to be, and fade the bad luck," said Ivey.

Ivey was on a roll now, and he wasted no time in claiming another victim five hands later. This time, it was his early antagonist, Moore, who moved all in with the 6 2 on a board of 8 5 2 7. Ivey held the 8 7, and he sent Moore home with eights up after the J fell on the river. Moore finished his tournament run in third place, and took home $625,630.

The heads-up chip counts were:

Phil Ivey - 10.82 million
Quinn Do - 2.48 million

The stacks were very uneven at the start of heads-up play, and that point was only punctuated when Ivey bet 700,000 on a flop of A 8 6. Do made the call, leaving himself just 1.02 million behind. There was already 2.92 million in the pot when the A paired the board on the turn. Ivey then moved all in, and Do made the call after four minutes of contemplation. Ivey turned up the A 8 for a full house, aces full of eights, and Do dejectedly showed down the 9 8 for two pair, aces and eights (the dead man's hand). Do was drawing dead, and after the meaningless river brought the 4, he was eliminated in second place, earning $909,400.

And with that, Ivey completed his quest for a WPT title by winning the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic. He won $1,596,100, a $25,000 seat in the WPT Championship, and a signature cowboy trophy for the victory. Ivey now has $8,742,652 in career tournament winnings, which puts him in fifth place on the all-time money list. He is already a factor in the debate about who is the greatest player of all time, and this win further fanned those flames. But those aren't the things that Ivey is concerned with. He has always taken his journey through the poker world one day at a time. "I don't ever think about that. I just take it one tournament at a time, and one cash game at a time. I just play poker, and whatever people think of me is what people think of me," said Ivey.

Men Nguyen - LAPC Best All-Around Player
At the World Poker Open, there was a bit of drama heading to the final table, as Men "The Master" Nguyen needed a third-place finish or better to secure the best overall player award. Nguyen finished right where he needed to and eked out just enough points to snatch the honor from Jonathan Tare. Just a month later at the L.A. Poker Classic, Nguyen had no problem locking up best all-around player honors well before the main event had even started.

Things started off disappointingly for Nguyen, as he bubbled the final table of event No. 8. But just a day later, he would score the first of three victories by taking down a $300 stud eight-or-better event for more than $15,000. Five days after that, he won his second event, a $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em contest that was good for an $80,000 payday. Nguyen "slumped" through the next week, cashing only once before he struck gold again, this time in the form of a $2,500 limit hold'em tournament that netted him $42,000. To cap off his amazing run, Nguyen slipped in an additional stud final table just before the main event.

Hellmuth Gets Aggressive on the TV Bubble
With the World Poker Tour TV final table on the line, 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth showed no fear, making a few plays that had his young-gun opponents shaking their heads. Phil sat down with Card Player to recap the action and explain his thought process.

The Hands:
Hellmuth completes from the small blind and Blair Hinkle moves all in for 410,000. Hellmuth says, "I think I might have you beat. I know I should fold, but my gut is telling me I'm right." Eventually, he makes the call and they turn up their hands:

Hinkle: 9 7

Hellmuth: Q 2

Board: J 5 2 J 8

Hinkle is eliminated on the hand in 11th place, and takes home $61,610 in prize money.

Julio Rodriguez: Phil, you made a call on Blair that had everyone talking. Can you take us through the hand as you saw it?

Phil Hellmuth: I limped in from the small blind and had queen high. I decided I didn't want to push, because if I push, I'm usually getting called by a better hand. So, I just called. The blinds were 15,000-30,000, I believe. He decided to push on me with 410,000 behind. I studied, studied, and studied him, and I just didn't think he had anything. The more I studied him, the weaker I thought he was. You see, the call was all about how long I took. Over time, his weakness seemed more and more apparent. As time moved on, he started to realize that I had something, and he began to feel worse about his hand. So, in my mind, I thought maybe he had jack high, and I decided to make the call.

Charles Moore has the button in seat 9, Nam Le raises from middle position to 220,000, and Hellmuth moves all in for 1.26 million; he has Le covered by just 10,000. Hellmuth, as he's done all tournament with a big hand, stands up and says, "Just don't put a bad beat on me." Le folds, and Hellmuth shows the A 2 as he collects the pot. Le claims to have folded pocket tens.

JR: You made the same speech a couple of times on day 5. How did you use that speech to your advantage on the TV bubble?

PH: When Nam opened, two things crossed my mind. The first was that I didn't think he could call a reraise all in, and the second was that I had him covered, although it was barely, so his tournament was on the line. Yet, it took me a long time to decide to make the move. I operated on the assumption that he would notice that I hadn't been making too many moves all day. Whenever I moved in and gave the same spiel that I had been giving all tournament, "Just don't put a bad beat on me," I was sitting with A-K or K-K. Because of that, I knew he'd sense strength. I even stood up to sell it, and eventually he mucked, which didn't really surprise me. What surprised me was that he mucked pocket tens!