World Poker Tour -- L.A. Poker Classic Final Table Set

Day 5 at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event was a quick one at the Commerce Casino. There were 18 players when the final day began and it took less than six hours to determine the final six who will compete at Thursday’s final table. That final table will begin at 4 p.m. PST on Thursday, March 3 and you can follow along with the action in Card Player’s live coverage. Here is a look at the final-table seating chart with chip counts:

Seat 1: Vivek Rajkumar — 5,185,000
Seat 2: Darryll Fish — 2,275,000
Seat 3: Gregory Brooks — 2,300,000
Seat 4: Amir Lehavot — 4,115,000
Seat 5: Steve Gross — 1,320,000
Seat 6: Carlos Mortensen — 5,235,000

The final table is loaded with professional talent and two of the players are former WPT winners. Carlos Mortensen will be appearing at his fifth WPT final table and if he wins on Thursday he will set a record and win his fourth WPT title, which would be the most all time. Vivek Rajkumar is a former champion from the Borgata Poker Open during Season VII, and he will lock up a second WPT title with a win on Thursday.

The final table will be rounded out by four WPT final-table rookies and they include former Card Player Online Player of the Year winner Steve Gross, professional Darryll Fish, and relative unknowns Gregory Brooks and Amir Lehavot.

The list of the players who fell today was equally as impressive as those who survived to make the final table, which speaks to how solid the professional turnout was for this marquee event. Kathy Liebert (18th place) and Matthew Marafioti (17th place) both fell early on day 5 before the field settled in to play through the first level. Brandon Crawford (16th place) was lost before the first break and Matthew Berkey (15th place) then made his exit a little bit after it.

The next notable player to fall was Jason Senti in 14th place. The November Nine finalist saw his queens cracked as he was sent to the rail. James Dowdy then took his leave in 13th place and it was time for the second break of the day.

After the players returned there was a swirl of chaos that produced the next three eliminations simultaneously. Mortensen eliminated both Shannon Shorr (pocket aces) and James Carroll (pocket kings) on the same hand when he made a spade flush with pocket queens in the hole. While this pot made Mortensen the chip leader, at the other table Jesse Yaginuma was eliminated on the same han. This created a three-way tie for 10th place, with Shorr, Carroll, and Yaginuma each taking home $63,410 in prize money.

The final nine were then seated at the final table and after a brief pause in the action where the players caught their breath during a few pots of little consequence Jason DeWitt (ninth place) and Allen Cunningham (eighth place) both fell in quick succession. It was then time for the third break of the day.

The final seven returned and what happened next was fitting for the quick pace that had existed all day. On the first hand back from the break David Baker raised to 125,000 from the cutoff preflop and Vivek Rajkumar reraised to 305,000 from the small blind. Baker reraised all in for just over 1.5 million and Rajkumar made the call. Their cards:

Baker: K K
Rajkumar: A 10

Board: A J 8 10 4

Baker was eliminated in seventh place and that brought the day to a close. Don’t forget to check back in on Thursday at 4 p.m. PST for live coverage from the final table of this marquee event.

Day 5 Cashes:

7th: David Baker — $176,520
8th: Allen Cunningham — $130,750
9th: Jason Dewitt — $63,410
10th: Shannon Shorr — $63,410
10th: James Carroll — $63,410
10th: Jesse Yaginuma — $63,410
13th: James Dowdy — $56,880
14th: Jason Senti — $56,880
15th: Matthew Berkey — $56,880
16th: Brandon Crawford — $50,340
17th: Matthew Marafioti — $50,340
18th: Kathy Liebert — $50,340

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