The World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic Main Event is down to just eleven players going into Day 5 with Isaac Baron in the lead, holding 2.970 million chips. Wednesday could be a short day, as the field will be narrowed to six players.
The remaining field is extremely strong, with four past World Poker Tour champions still in contention. James Carroll, Daniel Strelitz, Mata Cimbolas, and Kevin Eyster have all won titles. Upeshka De Silva has also won a WPTDeepstacks championship.
While I expect Day 5 to be short because only five people need to be eliminated, it is entirely possible that the day could drag on. The top six players in the chip counts all have between 2 and 3 million chips, so it will be a competitive race. They might not want to tangle with each other
Of course, that means the bottom stacks could be in for a heck of a time and at least three of them could still do major damage to one of the larger stacks.
Baron was the tournament’s chip leader after Day 2, but as happens in large events, he fell back slightly going into Tuesday’s action. He was down to less than a million chips when he had two hands that vaulted him back up the leaderboard.
On the first hand, Matt Giannetti raised to 27,000 pre-flop and both Baron and Blair Hinkle called. On the flop of 5-J-7, it was checked to Baron, who bet 33,000. Hinkle made the call, but Giannetti folded. Both checked the 5 on the turn and 4 on the river. Both players paired their 7, but Baron had a better kicker, K vs. 7. That took Baron’s stack to about 1 million.
Right after that, Baron and Hinkle got into a pre-flop raising war, with Baron shoving for a bit south of 1 million chips and Hinkle calling for barely less. Both had A-K, but Baron’s was suited spades and wouldn’t you know it, he hit a runner-runner flush to eliminate Hinkle. Just like that, Baron’s stack was up to nearly 2 million.
Once the proceedings get down to six players, the tournament will be paused. Rather than returning tomorrow, the players will wait until April 2nd to play at the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas. The top prize is $1 million. Everyone today is guaranteed at least $71,950, while the minimum payout at the final table is $185,330.
2020 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic Main Event – Day 4 Chip Counts
- Isaac Baron – 2,970,000
- Scott Hempel – 2,725,000
- Balakrishna Patur – 2,480,000
- James Carroll – 2,370,000
- Daniel Strelitz – 2,280,000
- Upeshka De Silva – 2,250,000
- Matas Cimbolas – 1,405,000
- Shi Chen – 1,255,000
- Ka Kwan Lau – 985,000
- Kevin Eyster – 440,000
- Charles Kassin – 435,000
