They’re getting down to the nitty-gritty at the 2013 World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic, as the field narrowed from 162 to just 63 players Monday. While the pressure will ratchet up a notch for many on Tuesday as the final table is visible on the horizon, others may now feel relaxed, as everyone who remains has made the money. Leading the charge is Jeremy Ausmus, the only player with over a million chips. His chip stack of 1,014,000 is just about a full 25 percent greater than his next closest competitor, setting him up nicely to continue his deep run.
Many of you will recognize Ausmus from ESPN’s coverage of the 2012 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. It was there that he made a name for himself in the poker world, making the November Nine and eventually placing 5th for over $2.1 million. That was the only time he has ever made a final table at the WSOP, though he has cashed a total of 14 times, with an amazing nine of those coming just this past year. He has two lifetime cashes on the World Poker Tour, one coming in this same event in 2010, with the other happening in December at the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic.
After Ausmus, the leader board of the L.A. Poker Classic is full of strong players. In third place is Eric Froehlich, proud owner of one WSOP Bracelet and over $2 million in lifetime earnings. Next is Galen Hall, who won the 2011 European Poker Tour (EPT) PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and then finished third in the 2011 WPT Championship. Also in the top ten is Paul Volpe, he of a 20th place finish in the 2012 WSOP Main Event.
Others remaining the field include Dan Shak (12th – 310,000 chips), Jennifer Harman (13th – 304,000), Phil Laak (20th – 266,000), Noah Schwartz (25th – 236,000), Scott Clements (32nd – 185,000), 2012 WSOP Main Event runner-up Jesse Sylvia (33rd – 184,000), 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Hachem (39th – 150,000), Mimi Tran (41st – 140,000), Scott Seiver (47th – 124,000), 2001 WSOP Main Event Champion Carlos Mortensen (48th – 122,000), Dani Stern (50th – 117,000), and John Hennigan (54th – 89,000).
Table 33 looks to be the most competitive to start Tuesday’s play, as five of the nine players seated there have above the average chip stack of 246,190 with four of them in the top 16 overall chip counts. Jeremy Ausmus’s table also looks strong with five above average, including fifth place contestant David Tuthill, who has 613,000 chips.
The oddball table is table 32, which has just a single player with a stack greater than average. And that man, Bruce Kramer, is barely above that line, holding 271,000 chips. Most of the stacks are bunched together, though, so there should still be some good battles at that table.
Day 4 will get underway at noon Pacific time Tuesday.
World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic – Day 3 Chip Leaders
- Jeremy Ausmus – 1,014,000
- Blake Barousse – 815,000
- Eric Froehlich – 755,000
- Galen Hall – 734,000
- David Tuthill – 613,000
- Paul Volpe – 570,000
- Ryan Franklin – 551,000
- Benjamin Zamani – 499,000
- Alexander Venovski – 415,000
- Warwick Mirzikinia – 378,000
