March 01 2012, Donnie Peters

The 2012 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic closed the books for another year after an amazing final table completed on Wednesday night at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California. Walking away with the title and the $1,370,240 first-place prize was start-of-the-day chip leader Sean Jazayeri.

When play began, Jazayeri led a tough final table. Joining him was a very strong cast of characters that included David Sands, Noah Schwartz, Dan Kelly, Jason Somerville and Jason Burt. Somerville and Burt were essentially tied as the two shortest stacks returning to play.

Somerville’s final table lasted just a couple of hands. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, on the second hand of play Somerville shoved all-in for 820,000 from under the gun with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000 in Level 28. Jazayeri called from the button and everyone else folded. Somerville was at risk, and turned over , against Jazayeri’s .

The flop produced three clean cards for Somerville as the rolled out. The turn was the and left him with just one more punch to dodge on the river. When the was turned over on the end, it gave Jazayeri the winning hand and sent Somerville out the door in sixth place. His payday was worth $202,910 and Jazayeri increased his chip lead with over five million in his stack.

Not too long after Somerville fell, Burt made his exit in fifth place. With the blinds the same, the dealer pitched Burt his 12th hand of the final table, and it turned out to be his last.

Burt had built his stack up to nearly two million after entering the day with 835,000. When action folded to him in the small blind, he raised to 160,000. Kelly made the call from the big blind and the flop come down . Burt continued with a bet of 180,000, and Kelly made the call.

The turn card was the and Burt fired 370,000. Kelly paused briefly and then moved all-in. Burt tanked for a few minutes and then called holding for top pair. He was at risk with fewer chips and up against Kelly’s , who had turned an open-ended straight draw. The river brought the and successfully completed the straight Kelly needed to win the hand. Burt was eliminated and earned $252,980.

Noah Schwartz was the next player to go. He fell at the hands of Jazayeri on the 34th hand of the final table and earned $355,750.

With the blinds up to 40,000/80,000/10,000 in Level 29, Jazayeri raised from under the gun to 210,000. Kelly flat-called from the button and then Schwartz reraised all-in from the small blind for 1.555 million. Jazayeri reshoved his stack of nearly eight million and that knocked Kelly out of the way. Schwartz tabled and Jazayeri showed .

“I played so bad this tournament,” said Schwartz. “Jeez. I’m the worst!”

From there, a flop, turn and river of ran out and Schwartz was second best. Jazayeri collected the chips and moved to slightly under 10 million.

With three players out in the first 34 hands of the final table, things were moving along in rapid succession. It took a little bit longer to determine the third-place finisher, who fell on the 69th hand of play.

During Level 30 with the blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000, Sands raised from the button to 200,000 and Kelly reraised all-in from the big blind for 1.655 million. Sands requested a count, received it, then made the call with . Kelly held two Broadway cards – – but was behind.

The flop gave Kelly some more outs, because he could now counterfeit Sands’ hand by hitting a seven on the turn or river to make a better two pair, but he was still behind. The turn didn’t change a whole lot of things and Kelly was now looking for a king, a jack or a four to win the pot, while spiking a seven could chop it. The river failed to give him what he needed and Kelly exited the tournament in third place for $521,770.

When heads-up play began, the chip counts were 9.47 million to 7 million in favor of Sands. At the time, only 24 big blinds separated the two, but Sands went to work right away at widening the gap. During the first 20 hands of the duel, Sands was up as high as 11.365 million, but ended that batch on the wrong side of a big flip.

Jazayeri knocked Sands back down to 10 million on the 88th hand of play before the two got all of the money in on the very next hand. Sands opened from the button to 280,000 with the blinds at 60,000/120,000/20,000 and Jazayeri three-bet to 800,000. Sands four-bet to 1.84 million and Jazayeri jammed for 6.925 million. Sands snapped holding and Jazayeri tabled .

The flop gave Jazayeri the lead when it fell . The turn and river kept him in front and allowed Jazayeri to double through. Sands was whacked all the way back to 2.58 million. From there, things only lasted one more hand.

The blinds jumped to 75,000/150,000/25,000 and Jazayeri raised to 400,00 from the button. Sands moved all-in for a little over 2.5 million and Jazayeri made the call holding . Sands held .

The flop was exciting for Sands’ fans because it came down , and put him in front for the double up. The turn, , kept Sands in the lead. The river landed with a miracle and Jazayeri smacked the winning trips to win the hand. Along with winning the hand, Jazayeri won the tournament. Sands was eliminated in second place for $806,370, the largest score of his live poker career.

2012 World Poker Tour LAPC Final Table Payouts

The L.A. Poker Classic has wrapped up and the WPT is on to the next stop, which will be the Bay 101 Shooting Star beginning on March 5, 2012. PokerNews will once again be providing daily recaps of the event, so be sure to stay tuned.

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*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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February 29 2012, Donnie Peters

The final 18 players returned to action for Day 5 of the 2012 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino on Tuesday to play down to the final table. When the final six remained, Sean Jazayeri was on top with 4.38 million in chips.

When the day began, Noah Schwartz was the man to catch, followed closely by Dan Kelly. Both went on to the final table, sitting third and fourth in chips, respectively.

Shahen Martirosian, the first player eliminated, left in 18th place. He was followed out the door by Nick Binger (17th), Daniel Idema (16th), Skip Wilson (15th) and A.J. Jejelowo (14th). After that batch of players fell to the rail, Elvis Huynh headed out the door in 13th, Joe Hachem in 12th, Jason DeWitt in 11th and Sorel Mizzi in 10th to set the final nine-handed table.

Former WPT champion Hachem went out in Level 26 with the blinds at 20,000/40,000/5,000. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, Hachem moved all-in from the button for his last 710,000 and Sean Jazayeri called from the big blind with . Hachem was just barely outdone holding . After the board ran out , Hachem was eliminated and earned a $60,610 payday.

When the final nine-handed table began, Jason Somerville held the chip lead. He wound up losing that lead to Kelly on the 12th hand of the final table, but hung on to make the official WPT televised final table.

Falling in ninth place for $79,060 was Stephen Chidwick. During Level 27 with the blinds up to 25,000/50,000/5,000, Chidwick was all-in with against Jason Burt’s . No help came for Chidwick, who was eliminated.

Falling in eighth place was David Pham. During the same level that Chidwick went out, Jazayeri raised to 100,000 from middle position. Pham three-bet to 350,000 from the big blind and action fell back on Jazayeri. He four-bet and made it 950,000 to go. Pham took some time and then moved all-in for approximately 2.1 million. Jazayeri snap-called with . Pham turned over to reveal the cooler. The flop, turn and river ran out and Pham was eliminated. He earned $110,680 for his finish.

With seven people left, it was time for the official final-table bubble. Allen Carter has had some great success on the WPT, including a win at the 2009 WPT Southern Poker Championship for $1 million and a third-place finish in the 2011 version of the same event for $218,471. This time around, he’d have to settle for a seventh-place finish because he became the final-table bubble boy.

In Level 28 with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000, David “Doc” Sands raised from the button to 120,000. Carter reraised all-in from the big blind for about 1.2 million. Sands made the call and rolled over . Carter was at risk holding . After no help on the board, Carter’s chips were added to Sands’ stack. For his finish, Carter collected $155,480 in prize money.

2012 WPT L.A. Poker Classic Final Table Chip Counts

The final table will commence on Wednesday at 1600 PST (0000 GMT) and will last until a winner is crowned. First place is worth nearly $1.4 million, but each player has already secured at least $202,910. It’s still anybody’s game, and you won’t want to miss finding out who walked away with the title. Be sure to check back here on PokerNews for the final table recap.

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