Wpt La Poker Classic Winners

4/14/2022by admin

On Monday, the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic final table played at HyperX Esports Arena inside the Luxor in Las Vegas. It was the first of three WPT final tables over three days to play to a winner.

The big story heading into the final table, which saw six players from the 546-player freezeout field return to action, was Darren Elias' quest for a fifth WPT title, though some stiff competition stood between him and that goal including World Series of Poker bracelet winner David “ODB” Baker and WPT champ Matas Cimbolas.

The Lithuanian poker pro and 2014 partypoker WPT UK main event winner will have a chance to improve upon that finish when play resumes in April. Hot on Cimbolas’ heels is two-time WPT champion. During season 10 of the WPT there was one special event that did not apply to the Player of the Year standings: The WPT World Championship Super High Roller – May 23–25, 2012 – Bellagio – coincident with end of Event #22: WPT World Championship.

The title actually came down to that triumvirate, but in the end, both Elias and Cimbolas were denied as 46-year-old Baker emerged victorious to capture his first WPT title, seven-figure score, and no-limit hold’em win.

“It kind of sounds corny, but it really means so much to me,” Baker told WPT officials after his win. “I’ve battled my whole life in this business, I care about this business, I care about the prestige of these things and I know some of the guys are a little too cool for school. But I’ve had a glaring omission on my resumé. I get to check off all those boxes today and I’m overjoyed.”

Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	David “ODB” Baker	United States	$1,015,000
2	Matas Cimbolas	Lithuania	$646,930
3	Darren Elias	United States	$473,280
4	Jean-Claude Moussa	United States	$346,550
5	John Smith	United States	$267,400
6	Steve Yea	South Korea	$201,650

ODB Takes Top Spot on Arizona All-Time Money List

Prior to the win, Baker had $4,407,488 in live tournament earnings, including a prior best of $514,926 for finishing third in the 2015 World Series of Poker Event #44: $50,000 Player Championship.

Wpt La Poker Classic 2020 Results

Other highlights on his poker resumé include finishing 17th in the 2010 WSOP Main Event for $396,967, winning the 2012 WSOP Event #37: $2,500 8-Game for $271,312 and a bracelet, and third in a 2010 WSOP $1,000 NLH event for $206,813.

By claiming his first seven-figure score, Baker has also surpassed Jacob Balsiger on top of Arizona’s all-time money list. The latter had $5,042,442 in career earnings, while “ODB” now has $5,409,689.

'Having won in the hometown, in the home casino, obviously, it just means everything.”

Final Table Action

The early and middle stages of the tournament played out in California’s Commerce Casino last week, and that is where Baker led the field on both Days 3 and 4. At the final table, he began second in chips and was cheered on by a large crown including Josh Arieh, John Racener, Cord Garcia, and Ray Henson, all wearing #TeamBaker t-shirts.

According to updates from the event, the first elimination took place on Hand #33 of the final table. That is when South Korea’s Steve Yea jammed holding ace-three suited and ran smack dab into Cimbolas’ pocket jacks. Yea paired his three on the flop but that was all the help he got as both the turn and river bricked.

Three hands later, 72-year-old John Smith got his short stack in with pocket fives only to have Cimbolas wake up with another big pair, this time kings. The cowboys held and Smith hit the rail in fifth place for $267,400.

Five hands after that, Baker notched his first knockout when he raised holding queens and had Jean-Claude Moussa three-bet jam for 10 bigs with ace-ten offsuit. Moussa failed to catch up and took his leave in fourth place for $346,550.

Three-handed play was a long affair lasting more than 100 hands. Eventually, Cimbolas raised the button and Elias shoved with sixes from the small blind. Baker woke up with aces in the big, called off, and doubled big through Elias, who busted a short time later in third place at the hands of Cimbolas.

Wpt La Poker Classic 2018 Results

Baker took a more than 2:1 chip lead into heads-up play and the two would jostle for 39 hands. In Level 33 (150,000/300,000/300,000), on Hand #187 of the final table, Cimbolas limped with ten-five and Baker checked his option with four-five suited.

Baker check-called a bet of 300,000 on the flop and then checked the turn. Cimbolas bet 600,000 and Baker called to see the river, which gave him a straight. Baker bet 10 million and Cimbolas called off for his last 2.975 million. Just like that it was over with Cimbolas finishing as runner-up for $646,930.

To win the L.A.P.C. title clearly meant a lot to Baker.

“I stay at the Commerce 200 days a year,” he said. “It’s my home away from home. I know everybody there and most the people there know me. Most of the people there don’t even realize that I don’t live there. Having won in the hometown, in the home casino, obviously, it just means everything.”

On top of it all, Baker also claimed a $15,000 seat into the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions and a Hublot Big Bang Steel Watch.

The next WPT final table to play out will be the Gardens Poker Championship at 4 p.m. local time on Tuesday. The winner of that event will take home a $548,825 first-place prize, and of course PokerNews will bring you a recap of all the action.

_{Images courtesy of WPT/Joe Giron/PokerPhotoArchive.}

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The World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic kicked off last Saturday from the Commerce Casino. A total of 696 poker hopefuls entered, representing a growth of 5% from 2008. In the end, one man stood tall above the rest, Andrew Cimpan, who pocketed nearly $1.7 million for the win and earned a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship at the Bellagio in April. He bested Binh Nguyen heads-up.

A whopping 303 hands were dealt at the final table, with nearly 200 of them coming heads-up. In fact, it took 66 hands for a single elimination to occur. The honor of being the first player ousted from the televised six-handed final table went to Full Tilt Poker pro Chris Ferguson, who put all of his chips at risk after calling an all in by Cimpan with A-K on a 10-8-8 board. Cimpan held pocket fours, giving Ferguson plenty of outs. However, the turn came a six and the river came a three, ending Ferguon’s dreams of winning his first WPT title. “Jesus” took home $240,538 for his efforts.

Pat Walsh hit the skids in fifth place. With blinds of 50,000-100,000 and a 10,000 chip ante, Nguyen raised to 250,000 pre-flop. Walsh bumped it up to 950,000 and Nguyen pushed all in. Walsh called for his tournament life, flipping over A-2. Nguyen had him dominated with A-J and the better hand held. Walsh earned $310,694 for his fifth place finish in Los Angeles. His elimination came on the 97th hand of final table play.

Chris Karagulleyan, who was the chip leader entering the final table and a former winner of the Legends of Poker during the WPT’s inaugural season, was ousted from the L.A. Poker Classic in fourth place, earning $430,963. Cimpan moved all in from the small blind for ten times the big blind and Karagulleyan called for all of his chips with A-9. Cimpan reluctantly flipped over Q-8. Both players hit a pair on the flop of A-Q-10, but Cimpan improved in the hand for good when the turn came another queen.

Six hands later, online poker pro Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers was eliminated in third place. After an up and down final table for the North Carolina native, Sowers pushed over the top of a re-raise by Nguyen holding pocket fours. However, he found himself to be a 4:1 underdog against Nguyen’s pocket queens. The board bricked out for the youngster, who won a $5,000 buy-in tournament during the 2008 Borgata Winter Open for nearly $400,000.

On the 303rd hand of final table play, Cimpan pushed as the chip leader with K-5 of clubs. Nguyen turned over A-9 and the flop came 10-5-3, pairing Cimpan. The turn came a 10, leaving Nguyen rooting for an ace or a nine to win the hand and double up. If not, Cimpan would become the winner of the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic. The dealer turned over the four of spades, leaving Nguyen with a $935,424 consolation prize. At the time of the final hand, there were only 55 total big blinds in play.

Cimpan told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after the final cards had been dealt, “I’m so tired. I can’t fake it. Nguyen didn’t let me play the game that I wanted to play.” He also sent a shout out to his daughter, Joy (who is 13 years-old), and his son, Joshua (who is nine). Entering the marathon heads-up battle, Nguyen stood with twice as many chips as Cimpan.

Here were the final standings and payouts from the Commerce Casino:
1st Place: Andrew Cimpan – $1,686,760
2nd Place: Binh Nguyen – $935,424
3rd Place: Mike Sowers – $654,797
4th Place: Chris Karagulleyan – $430,963
5th Place: Pat Walsh – $310,694
6th Place: Chris Ferguson – $240,538

Saturday marks the start of the WPT Celebrity Invitational from the Commerce Casino. A $200,000 prize pool and a $25,000 seat into the WPT Championship will be up for grabs. The WPT then takes a two week hiatus until the Bay 101 Shooting Star event:

Wpt La Poker Classic 2019 Results

Bay 101 Shooting Star (San Jose, California)
March 16th through 20th, 2009

Foxwoods Poker Classic (Mashantucket, Connecticut)
April 3rd through 8th, 2009