Two sure fire signs you're at a major poker tournament in Los Angeles:
1. Tons of Lakers gear
2. Celebrity players
At the Commerce Casino, the purple-and-gold jerseys and Tinsel Town rounders combined with a host of big-name pros for day one of the 2007
L.A. Poker Classic championship.
The 791-player starting field, housed in a filled-to-capacity convention room and tented overflow area on an adjacent patio, generated a $7.5 million prize pool. With the money bubble set to burst after the 55th-place elimination, the payouts for the top five finishers were announced as follows:
First place - $2,429,970
Second place - $1,177,010
Third place - $607,490
Fourth place - $455,615
Fifth place - $341,710
For a complete payout list, click
here.
Action began at 3:36 p.m. PST with $25-$50 blinds and $20,000 starting stacks. Commerce regular Jamie Gold made a quick exit from the
LAPC, as Anthony Reategui eliminated the 2006
WSOP champ during the first level of play.
In typical deep stack fashion, few other notables dropped out in level one, and the early
LAPC action featured numerous high-profile match-ups. One of the most talked-about pairings involved Shannon Shorr, who, donning a Lakers jersey, drew a seat at the same table as the team's owner, Jerry Buss.
Following the one-hour 7 p.m. dinner break, Buss joined the growing list of first-stage eliminations, one that already included Justin Bonomo, Barry Shulman, Chip Jett, Tuan Le, Joe Hachem, and Daniel Negreanu.
As the field continued to dwindle (630 by 10 p.m.), Joe Sebok climbed the
LAPC leader board, despite the distractions of a sprained ankle and a tattoo-your-rear-end-with-the-winner's-initials last-longer bet with Gavin Smith.
Sebok, ankle propped up and iced following an injury sustained during the level one break, eliminated Amir Vahedi when his pocket kings held against Vahedi's A
2
flush draw. After taking down several additional pots, Sebok became the first player in the
LAPC to cross the $100,000 chip mark.
While Sebok continued to have success (he cracked pocket aces with quad jacks), Jennifer Tilly's
L.A. Poker Classic ended on a bad beat. The Hollywood actress and
WSOP bracelet winner moved all in with a paired ace against Daniel Alaei's pocket queens, only to have Alaei turn a set.
At 3:36 a.m., and with play slowed since moving into the early morning hours, day one of the 2007
LAPC concluded.
Notables who finished action near the top of the leader board included Sebok ($205,000), Ari Engel ($180,000), Toto Leonidas ($115,000), Alaei ($110,000), Shawn Sheikhan ($105,000), Steve Dannenmann ($95,000), and Joe Tehan ($70,000).
Additional pros who failed to advance were Layne Flack, Jeff Madsen, Hasan Habib, Mimi Tran, Devin Porter, Dan Harrington, David Williams, Alex Jacob, Amnon Filippi, and Victor Ramdin.
For a complete list of chips counts and eliminations please click
here.
The 2007
L.A. Poker Classic resumes at 3:30 p.m. PST when the remaining field of 365 return for day two.
Stay tuned to
CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos, and a new edition of "The Circuit."
Quote of the Day: "I'm secure enough in my manhood to let another guy rub my back" - Gavin Smith on receiving a brief massage from David Levi.
