Golden State Pros Hold Court at the Commerce
While the poker world's attention has shifted to the
Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Golden State rounders are cleaning up in their own backyard at the
California State Poker Championship.
The
Commerce Casino, located just outside of Los Angeles, has played host to the tournament for the past two weeks. Buy-ins have ranged from $300 to $2,000, and the main event, scheduled for Sept. 23, is a $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event.
California is home to many of the world's top pros, and they are proving it. Most recently, Men "The Master" Nguyen of Bell Gardens and Young Phan of Irvine both made the final table of the $2,000 no-limit hold'em event.
2005
Legends of Poker runner up Kenna James of Downey took home $3,880 for his eighth-place finish in the $1,000 no-limit hold'em event.
Popular touring pro Amir Vahedi made the final table in the $500 no-limit hold'em event, pocketing $2,250 for his ninth-place finish.
Other notable names who have been on hand to defend their home turf include Cliff Cantor of Hollywood, who won the $500 buy-in no-limit event, and Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president Frank Mariani. David Daneshgar of West Lake Village has already made two final tables, taking third and fourth place. Daneshgar, a name that may not be familiar to many, is in the top 100 in
Card Player's Player of the Year race with over 1,000 points, all accumulated in California tournaments.
With the California talent pool as stacked as it is, the main event should have a tough field regardless of the poker community's attention being focused on upcoming
World Poker Tour (
WPT) events. Last year's champion, actor Ben Affleck, took home $356,400 and a $25,000 seat in the
WPT championship. Whether he will be on hand to defend his title remains to be seen.
