World Poker Tour -- Gregory Brooks Wins L.A. Poker Classic

The final table of the 2011 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event took place today at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California. The final table featured two former WPT title winners in Carlos Mortensen and Vivek Rajkumar. Mortensen was the most successful player in WPT history even before cards got into the air tonight. He would add to his record with a third-place finish and grow his career WPT earnings to $6,394,988. The win also put his total career earnings just above $10 million.

Rajkumar made it a little further than Mortensen, finishing as the runner up. Rajkumar just missed winning his second WPT title in the process, but he did grow his overall career earnings to $4,089,806. He put up a strong fight during the long heads-up final, which played out over 35 exciting hands.

Gregory Brooks was able to overcome both big-name professionals at the final table with the consistent aggression that he applied to his advantage over and over at the final table. He took home $1,654,120 for first place along with his first major tournament title as the L.A. Poker Classic champion. He was also awarded a trophy that is in the form of the classic Frederic Remington sculpture the “Bronco Buster,” a WPT bracelet, and a $25,000 seat in the WPT Championship.

Professionals Darryll Fish and Steve Gross rounded out the final table along with Amir Lehavot, and they were the players who fell in the early stages on the final day. Read on below to see where they finished and how all of the elimination hands at the final table played out. The next WPT event is the Bay 101 Shooting Star that will take place in San Jose, California from March 14-18.

L.A. Poker Classic Final-Table Results:

1: Gregory Brooks — $1,654,120
2: Vivek Rajkumar — $908,730
3: Carlos Mortensen — $640,680
4: Amir Lehavot — $421,680
5: Steve Gross — $304,000
6: Darryll Fish — $235,350

Here is a look at the elimination hands from the final table as featured on Card Player’s live coverage. You can also read about all of the big hands from the final table by checking out the live updates from the final day:

Darryll Fish Eliminated in Sixth Place ($235,530)

Darryll Fish moved all in preflop from the small blind for 1,230,000 after Carlos Mortensen raised to 150,000 from the cutoff. Mortensen made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Fish: Q 10
Mortensen: Q Q

Board: 10 9 7 A 6

Fish was eliminated on the hand in sixth place and he will take home $235,530 in prize money. Mortensen grew his stack to 4,730,000.

Steve Gross Eliminated in Fifth Place ($304,000)

Steve Gross got the last of his chips into the middle preflop and Vivek Rajkumar made the call. Their cards:

Gross: J 10
Rajkumar: A 3

Board: K K 9 7 4

Gross was eliminated in fifth place and he will take home $304,000 in prize money. Rajkumar grew his stack to 5,285,000 after the hand.

Amir Lehavot Eliminated in Fourth Place ($421,680)

Amir Lehavot raised to 175,000 from the button preflop and Vivek Rajkumar made the call from the big blind. The flop fell J 9 6 and Rajkumar checked. Lehavot bet 235,0000 and Rajkumar check-raised all in. Lehavot made the all-in call and they flipped over their cards:

Lehavot: K Q
Rajkumar: Q Q

Turn and River: 4 and 3

Lehavot was eliminated in fourth place and he will take home $421,680 in prize money. Rajkumar held 6.78 million after the hand.

Carlos Mortensen Eliminated in Third Place ($640,680)

Carlos Mortensen raised to 200,000 from the button preflop and Vivek Rajkumar made the call from the small blind. Gregory Brooks also made the call from the big blind and the flop fell J 5 3.

Rajkumar checked and Brooks bet 380,000. Mortensen then raised to 800,000. Rajkumar mucked, Brooks reraised all in, and Mortensen quickly made the all-in call. Their cards:

Brooks: 6 4
Mortensen: K J

Turn and River: 5 and 10

Brooks hit a fifth club on the river to win the hand with a flush. Mortensen was eliminated in third place and he will take home $640,680 in prize money. That makes Brooks the dominating chip leader heading into the final match.

Gregory Brooks Wins L.A. Poker Classic ($1,654,120) — Vivek Rajkumar Eliminated in Second Place ($908,730)

Gregory Brooks raised to 325,000 preflop and Vivek Rajkumar made the call. The flop was dealt 7 3 2 and Rajkumar checked. Brooks bet 400,000 and Rajkumar went into the tank for a while before he check-raised all in for 3.5 million. Brooks made the call and they flipped over their cards:

Brooks: 8 7
Rajkumar: J 10

Turn and River: 2 and A

Brooks won the tournament and $1,654,120 in prize money. This is his first major tournament title. Rajkumar was eliminated in second place, just short of his second WPT title. He did take home $908,730 in prize money as a consolation.

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