Hungarian poker player Andras Koroknai leads the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic. Koroknai has nearly five million in chips and the final table will play out on Thursday.
Jim Casement was bestowed the title of Final Table Bubble Boy on Tuesday. He shoved pre-flop with A-4 of clubs for 14 big blinds and received a call from Koroknai, who held A-9. The flop came Q-10-5 with one club, leaving Casement drawing to a runner-runner flush or straight. He’d also win if a four hit. However, the board filled out A-2 and the final table of the 2010 WPT L.A. Poker Classic was determined. Casement earned $185,000 for his efforts.
On the 160th hand of the day, about 30 hands prior to his elimination, Casement doubled up Jean-Claude Moussa. The race situation featured Moussa’s pocket eights against Casement’s A-Q of hearts. The board fell 9-5-4-4-J and Moussa doubled up. The Canadian ended the day with a stack of 1.36 million, the fifth largest overall entering the final table. Moussa finished 503rd in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, collecting $25,000 for his efforts.
WSOP bracelet winner Steve Sung was bounced in eighth place from the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Sung moved all-in over the top of a bet by Koroknai on a flop of 8-2-2. Sung flipped up pocket queens, only to see Koroknai turn over kings. After one of the two remaining queens in the deck failed to hit on the turn or river, Sung was sent packing from the tournament. Eighth place was worth $135,000.
Another big gun was ousted just before the final table bubble, as 2001 WSOP Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen hit the rails in ninth. Mortensen committed his final seven big blinds with A-4 of clubs and received a call from Casement, who held a wired pair of tens. The flop came 9-6-5, all red, and no ace came on the turn or river. “The Matador,” who owns two WPT titles and two WSOP bracelets, earned $100,000 for his five-day run.
UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke was eliminated in 19th place from the $10,000 buy-in WPT tournament. Short-stacked, Duke picked up A-8 and pushed. Timothy Begley made the call from the big blind with pocket fours, which held. Duke, who has never made a WPT final table, earned $45,000. Begley, who turned in a strong run through the L.A. Poker Classic, ended up in 10th place for $67,000.
Who is left, you ask? Here are the chip stacks of the six players remaining in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic:
1. Andras Koroknai – 4,995,000
2. Raymond Dolan – 3,300,000
3. Tri Huynh – 2,565,000
4. Gevork Kasabyan – 2,000,000
5. Jean-Claude Moussa – 1,360,000
6. Michael Kamran – 680,000
In a tournament dominated by American poker players, two Canadians and a Hungarian will head to the final table. Moussa hails from Toronto, while Huynh resides in the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver. Koroknai calls Debrecen, Hungary home. The three American poker players are all from California.
The six-handed televised final table of the L.A. Poker Classic won’t play out until Thursday. Today, the six survivors of the WPT Celebrity Invitational will take to the felts to play down to a champion. The eclectic group of players features former “Real World: Las Vegas” star and current Absolute Poker pro Trishelle Cannatella along with ClubWPT qualifier LeRon Washington. The veteran of the table is Thor Hansen, a dual WSOP bracelet winner. The final table stacks up as follows:
1. Sean Urban – 2,090,000
2. Neev Baram – 1,900,000
3. LeRon Washington – 1,790,000
4. Trishelle Cannatella – 1,540,000
5. Steven Elliott – 1,520,000
6. Thor Hansen – 1,480,000
Thursday’s conclusion of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic gets underway at 4:00pm PT.
