WPT -- L.A. Poker Classic Day 4

Day 4 of the World Poker Tour $10,000 no-limit hold’em championship at the L.A. Poker Classic began today at noon, and 63 players returned. The plan for the day was to play five levels, or down to 18 players remaining, whichever came first. It looked like that target number was going to be reached quickly, especially after a double-elimination and triple-elimination took place in the first 10 minutes of the day. Things kept moving along quickly after that, as well, but it was during the fourth level of the day that the deep-stack structure of the tournament took over and play slowed down immensely.

The field had lost 30 players by the time things slowed down though, and here is a look at the notable eliminations during that time:

63: David Daneshgar
62: Paul Darden
61: Paul Smith
57: Dan Shak
56: Will Failla
54: Cody Slaubaugh
50: David Pham
49: Nick Binger
47: Steve-Paul Ambrose
46: Jeff Garza
44: Matt Brady
43: Maria Ho
42: Nenad Medic
41: Jason DeWitt
40: Haralabos Voulgaris
38: Al Barbieri
37: Erica Schoenberg
36: Men Nguyen

The tournament staff eventually decided to add another level of play on day 4, and a sixth level began just before 9 p.m. Action picked up a little bit during the late stages of the day and things finally got down to 20 by the end of the night. Some large chip swings took place during the final stage of play, including the largest hand of the tournament between Chris Ferguson and Kofi Farkye, in which Ferguson jumped into the chip lead and Farkye started down the path to his demise. Here is a look at the final notable eliminations to end the night:

32: Bertrand Grospellier
31: Kofi Farkye
30: Andre Akkari
28: Paul Wasicka
26: Greg Mueller
24: Dan O'Brien
22: Justin Scott
21: Nancy Todd Tyner

The remaining players will return tomorrow and play down to the final table of six. Card Player will be there every step of the way to bring you all of the action in live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos. Here is a look at the chip counts at the end of day 4:

1. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson -- 1,721,000
2. Payman Arjang -- 1,488,000
3. Chris Karagulleyan -- 1,146,000
4. Xuan Nguyen -- 1,130,000
5. Binh Nguyen -- 1,040,000
6. Nick Schulman -- 850,000
7. Matt Woodward -- 771,000
8. Patrick Walsh -- 766,000
9. Dan Lu -- 662,000
10. Mike Sowers -- 626,000
11. Jeremy Kottler -- 614,000
12. Tam Ly -- 603,000
13. Mark Bryan -- 561,000
14. Peter Feldman -- 423,000
15. Zach Hyman -- 320,000
16. Blake Cahail -- 310,000
17. Teddy "Iceman" Monroe -- 264,000
18. Donald D'Auria -- 242,000
19. Billy Pilossoph -- 188,000
20. Cornell Cimpan -- 164,000

Here is a look at the highlights from the day as featured in CardPlayer.com's live updates:

Double Knockout to Start the Day

David Daneshgar and Paul Darden fell on the very same hand just a few minutes into play today. Daneshgar fell in 63rd place and Darden 62nd place. Both will receive $23,052 in prize money. Daneshgar limped into play today with just 4,000 after he survived the final hand last night on the money bubble.

Three-Way Elimination

Paul Smith moved all in for 17,000 from seat 1 in middle position, and Ray Qartomy made the all-in call from seat 2 in late position. Alberto Cerdeiro called from seat 4 in the cutoff, and then Mark Bryan raised to 60,000 from seat 8. Action went back to Qurtomy, who moved all in for 110,000. Bryan called him down, and he had all three of his opponents covered. Their cards:

Smith: 8 8
Qartomy: K Q
Cerdeiro: J J
Bryan: A A

Board: 3 2 2 7 10

Bryan won the hand, and he eliminated three opponents in one fell swoop. Qartomy was eliminated in 61st place, Smith in 60th place, and Cerdeiro in 59th place. They all took home $23,052 in prize money.

Kofi Crosses a Million

With 40,000 in the pot and a flop of 4 3 2 sitting on the table, Kofi Farkye bet 45,000 from the big blind, and Nancy Todd Tyner raised to 145,000 from the button. Farkye then moved all in, and Tyner mucked. Farkye took down the hand and he became the first player to hold a million in chips in the process.

Kofi Eliminates Jeff Garza

On a flop of A 10 4, Jeff Garza got all of his chips into the middle against Kofi Farkye. Garza held A-3, and Farkye flipped up pocket tens for a set. The turn and river bricked out, and Garza was eliminated in 46th place ($27,395).

These two have a history together as they dueled on the way to a sixth place (Garza) and fifth place (Farkye) finish at the North American Poker Championship in 2007. To top it off, Farkye, playing as RedSoxSox, was involved in an online controversy that was initially investigated because of Garza, who plays as ActionJeff.

Losing Steam

Play has begun to slow down throughout the field as the true deep-stack nature of this structure has set in for the tournament. The last six all-in pushes have gone uncalled as the short stacks try to get something going and the big stacks wait for better spots to call them down.

Chris Ferguson Takes the Chip Lead

Kofi Farkye raised to 24,000, and Chris Ferguson reraised to 76,000 behind. Farkye made the call, and the flop came A Q 6.

Both players checked, and the turn was the 7. Farkye bet 120,000, and Ferguson made the call. The river was the 3, and Farkye moved all in for 600,000. Ferguson, who had 376,000 behind, decided to make the call.

Farkye could only show 6 5 for a small pair, but Ferguson showed A K for top pair, top kicker and the massive pot. Farkye now has 240,000, while Ferguson takes the chip lead with 1.184 million.

Kofi Eliminated in 31st Place ($38,085)

Kofi Farkye got the last of his chips into the middle and Chris Karagulleyan made the call. Their cards:

Farkye: K J
Karagulleyan: A K

Board: K Q 8 J 10

Karagulleyan spiked a 10 on the river to make a Broadway straight and knock Farkye out of the tournament after he led the field for much of the day. He will take home $38,085 in prize money for finishing in 31st place.

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