February 26 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 1 of the 2011 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic Main Event took place on Friday at the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. The $10,000 buy-in event attracted 666 runners as registration was open through the first five levels of play and created a prizepool worth $6,393,600. Leading the way into Day 2 will be Mike Baxter. The hedge fund manager and recreational high stakes player wrapped up the day with 125,400 in chips.

As expected, there were plenty of big names in the field. Antonio Esfandiari, Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Faraz Jaka and Erick Lindgren were just a few of the names that showed up. Barry Greenstein, Phil Ivey and a late-arriving Phil Hellmuth also joined the mix in this star-studded field. Out of that bunch, it was Mercier whop finished with the largest stack. He was able to building his starting stack of 30,000 up to 106,625 in chips and finish in fifth place overall.

After Level 1, Mercier tweeted, “Have 72.5k already from 30k after 1 level. Lol. @lapokerclassic,” to let the Twitter world know how well he was doing. Although he didn’t give the details, Mercier did catch up with the WPT’s Kimberly Lansing after the day and he discussed how he was able to accumulate so many chips.

Mercier mentioned that he was getting three-bet a lot early on. After he opened preflop with a wired pair of sixes, an opponent three-bet him. This time Mercier made the call and the flop came down . He checked and his opponent bet 600. Mercier made it 2,000 with a check-raise before the player came back with a reraise to 7,600. Mercier clicked it right back to 13,200 and his opponent went all in. Mercier called and was up against two aces. His set of sixes held on the turn and river and he won a big pot early.

Then, Mercier said he was fortunate to get pocket aces against David Paredes’ pocket kings for another 20,000 or so. His performance and Day 1 earned him RISE Clothing Player of the Day.

At the end of the day, 507 players survived to bag up chips and continue on their quest for the WPT title. Here’s a look at the top ten stacks moving into Saturday.

The average stack sits just under 40,000 and the field is still jam packed with notables. A few others who will be returning for Day 2 are Jordan Morgan, John Racener, Ryan Daut nd Dan Heimiller. They all finished with right around and average stack. Marco Johnson is the shortest stack to make it through the day and will come back with only 1,475 chips to play with.

Day 2 begins on Saturday at noon local time. Be sure to check back with PokerNews for the recap.

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March 07 2011, Rich Ryan

In the first episode of High Stakes Poker Season 7, the pro’s and the businessmen butted heads in some massive pots. Vanessa Selbst lost a massive pot when Phil Ruffin flopped a set of threes against her overpair and David Peat drew out on Bill Klein with a pair and a flush draw against Klein’s aces. The action did not slow down in the second episode of the season, especially on the last hand when there was a $600,000 pot played between two pros.

SPOILER ALERT: If you are waiting to watch the HSP episode, read no further.

Here’s how the players were seated and what their stacks looked like to start the episode.

Croak Folds a Flush: In the first hand of the episode, Peat limped in with from early position, Antonio Esfandiari limped behind on the button with and Robert Croak and Ruffin completed in the blinds with and respectively. The flop fell and Croak checked to Ruffin who bet $3,000. Peat, Esfandiari and Croak all called.

The turn was the and all four players checked. The on the river gave Croak a flush, yet Ruffin led for $50,000 into a pot of only $16,000. Action folded to Croak who tanked momentarily before mucking the best hand, and Ruffin triumphantly tabled his straight. Croak admitted he folded a flush and both Esfandiari and Vanessa Selbst were confused as to why.

Peat Trips up Klein: Selbst opened to $2,500 from early position with . Esfandiari called with from the hijack seat, Klein called with from the small blind and Peat protected his big blind with . Klein’s trap was foiled when the flop fell . He checked to Peat who fired $5,000 and the action folded back to Klein who check-raised to $15,000. Peat called.

The turn was the and Klein led for $20,000. Peat quickly called and the fell on the river. Klein led again – this time for $40,000. Peat was never folding but thought about raising for about half a minute before he finally called. Klein opened his kings but they were no good against trip fives and $160,800 was shipped to Peat.

“I didn’t want to take from charity.” Peat explained when his tablemates asked why he didn’t raise.

“It’s called being a nit,” Selbst needled.

Hero Call?: David Peat straddled for $1,600 and Barry Greenstein opened to $5,100 with . Ruffin called with from the small blind and Peat defended his straddle with . The dealer flopped and the action checked to Greenstein who continued for $8,000. Ruffin released and Peat made the call.

Both players checked the on the turn, and after the rivered Peat led for a measly $2,000. Greenstein promptly raised to $20,000 and Peat called even quicker. The Robin Hood of poker rolled over his hand to show he had trip kings and Peat mucked his hand looking utterly confused.

Klein Gets Tricky: Bill Klein started the action by limping with , and Peat raised to $3,500 right behind him with . Selbst called with , Ruffin defended his big blind with and Klein called, as well. The flop was and the action checked to Peat who continued for $8,000. Selbst folded, Ruffin called, and Klein surprisingly raised to $23,000. The action was on Peat and Ruffin tried to call, which led Peat to fold. Ruffin then called and the turn brought the . Both players checked. The river was the and Ruffin checked again. Klein bet $29,000 into $69,200, and Ruffin immediately folded.

High Stakes Legends: This week’s edition of High Stakes Legends profiled Benny Binion. Binion of course opened the famed Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, which hosted the World Series of Poker for over 30 years. The Horseshoe played host to huge cash games, as well, attracting the best players in the world to the property.

Oops: Ruffin limped in with and Peat tried to isolate him by raising to $3,500 with . The remaining players folded, Ruffin called and the flop fell . Ruffin led for $5,000 and Peat called.

“Obviously he has larceny in mind,” host Norm Macdonald commented.

The turn was the and Ruffin quickly bet $20,000 into a $19,000 pot. Peat stuck to his guns, however, raising to $50,000. Ruffin snap-called. The river was the and Ruffin slowed down, checking to Peat who fired one more bullet worth $100,000. Ruffin called and Peat sheepishly turned over the bluff.

Kara Scott asked Ruffin whether or not he thought Peat could’ve had him beat and Ruffin responded, “Nope, he could’ve had anything. I had $600,000 and it was about $100,000 so it was an easy call.”

Run It Once: Antonio Esfandiari opened to $2,500 with from under the gun, Ruffin called with , Peat called with , Selbst called with and Greenstein defended his big blind with .

The flop: – Whammy!

Selbst and Greenstein checked to Esfandiari who continued for $6,200. Peat called with just a pair of sixes and the action folded back to Greenstein who check-raised to $30,000. Esfandiari put in a third bet worth $106,000, Peat got out of the way and Greenstein moved all in.

“Once or twice?” Esfandiari asked, pushing his stack in the middle.

The $593,900 pot was the biggest of the season and Greenstein always runs it once, making this hand even more sick. The spiked on the turn to give Esfandiari a leading flush, but if the board paired then Greenstein would re-suck and take the pot. The bricked on the river however and Esfandiari scooped the monster pot.

The action has been fast and furious this season, and Andrew Robl will join the table on next week’s episode. If the teaser trailer is any indication, there is going to be ever more action and more all-ins than this past week.

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