March 01 2011, Donnie Peters

When Day 5 began at noon out in Commerce, California at the Commerce Casino for the 2011 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic Main Event, 18 players remained. All of them were contending for the title and over $1.6 million in first-place prize money, but only one of them was still in contention for his fourth WPT title. That player was none other than 2001 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen. When the day ceased with the final television table of six set, Mortensen was on top of the pack with 5,235,000 in chips.

Mortensen isn’t the only former WPT champion to make his way to the final table. Vivek Rajkumar is second in chips going to the final table with 5,185,000. That puts the 2008 WPT Borgata Poker Open champion not too far behind Mortensen. Joining those two are Amir Lehavot, Gregory Brooks, Darryll Fish and Steve Gross.

Kathy Liebert was the first player to bust on the day, finishing in 18th place for just over $50,000 in prize money. She was all in preflop with the , but in trouble against Fish’s . The board ran out and sent Liebert to the rail.

Another notable name who made it to Day 5, but failed to get through the day was 2010 WSOP November Niner Jason Senti. He was all in holding the against Brooks. Senti’s queens were in front as Brooks tabled the , but they wouldn’t hold as the board ran out to send him to the rail in 14th place.

With 12 players left on two tables of six, Mortensen was able to bust both Shannon Shorr and James Carroll on the same hand. He did it after having the worst of it in the three-way all in though.

With the blinds 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante, Mortensen had raised from under the gun to 95,000 and Shorr reraised from the small blind to 275,000. Carroll was in the big blind and moved all in. Mortensen re-shipped and then Shorr snap-called all in. What were the hands? Just the ol’ aces versus kings versus queens with 12 people left in a WPT Main Event, that’s all.

Shorr:
Carroll:
Mortensen:

With the worst of it going to the flop, Mortensen added a flush draw as the first three community cards came down . As the only player holding a spade in his hand, Mortensen had his opponents drawing dead when the rolled out on the turn. Without the board paired, the on the river was meaningless and Shorr and Carroll hit the rail while Mortensen moved to 4,500,000 in chips.

After Jesse Yaginuma hit the rail in 10th place, the final nine players reconvened at one table. WSOP gold bracelet winners Jason DeWitt, Allen Cunningham and David “Bakes” Baker all made it, but wound up finishing in ninth, eighth and seventh, respectively.

Baker was the last elimination of the night that set the official six-handed WPT final table. His final hand happened after he raised to 125,000 from the cutoff seat with the blinds still at 20,000-40,000 with a 5,000 ante. Rajkumar reraised to 305,000 from the small blind and Baker moved all in for slightly more than 1.5 million. Rajkumar made the call and held the . He was behind the for Baker, but the board ran out in his favor. Baker took over $176,000 for his finish.

Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts

Under normal circumstances, Rajkumar making this WPT final table and going for his second WPT title would be the top story. This isn’t a normal circumstance though as Mortensen is in line for his record fourth WPT title. This is Mortensen’s fifth WPT final table having previously won three out of the four he’s made. With his record and the chip lead, we’re taking him if we’re betting. If Mortensen can find his way to the title, he’ll move into fifth place on the all-time money list, surpassing Phil Hellmuth. Right now, he sits in 13th.

The final table will commence at 4:00 p.m. local time on the West Coast on Wednesday and the blinds will begin at 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante. This is going to be an amazing final table. Be sure to check back for the final recap right here at PokerNews.

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March 04 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

While Charlie Sheen may think he has Adonis DNA, we’re sure no one would disagree with us that he has nothing on Patrik Antonius. Need proof? You can watch Patrik Antonius discuss the cash games in Macau in a recent video that was posted. On top of that, Greg Raymer was spotted all patched up on Thursday night at the NBC National Heads-Up Draw Party. Find out who’s site he’s repping and more in tonight’s Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

The Wynn Poker Classic gets under way soon and Kristy Arnett went over to the Wynn Casino to find out more about it. Check out the latest Sin City Series for more.

The World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic crowned a winner Thursday night. With a win, Carlos Mortensen would have notched his fourth WPT title. Did he do it? You can find out in our WPT recap.

Thursday night the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Draw Party was held at PURE nightclub inside Caesars Palace. Wondering what the match-ups look like? Have a look at the NBC Heads-Up bracket.

There was plenty of high-stakes action online this week at both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Want to find out who racked up the biggest pots? The Online Railbird Report has the story.

With the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship under way, we couldn’t help but release our predictions for the event. And while we all did these in the comfort of our own offices, you’ll be surprised to see that we were all on the same page – well, most of us. Find out more in NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship: PokerNews Staff Predictions.

It’s Just Vegas But Smaller

Patrik Antonius recently arrived back in Las Vegas from Macau took some time to discuss the cash games in Macau in a video interview posted by Chris Porter. Antonius went to Macau for two weeks after the Aussie Millions. He said they played HKD5,000/HKD10,000, which translates to about $600/$1,200. He went on to describe the prop bets that went on between himself, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, and John Juanda, saying, “The props were maybe twice as big as the game.” You definitely want to catch this video for the inside scoop on the Macau cash games we’ve all been hearing about.

Raymer in Red

About a month ago, it was announced that Greg Raymer and his sponsor PokerStars had parted ways. Since then, there has been plenty of buzz on which site will snatch up the 2004 World Series of Poker winner.

It seems that Full Tilt Poker has done just that – at least for the NBC Heads-Up National Championship that is. Raymer was spotted on the red carpet of the Draw Party Thursday night donning the Full Tilt Poker patch on his chest. The deal is said to be a one-off and just for the event, but who knows where it will lead.

Check out the photos of Raymer on the red carpet on TwoPlusTwo.

Show Up, Get Paid

UB.com wants to pay you just for showing up at the World Series of Poker this summer. The Show Up, Get Paid promotion launched by UB begins March 6. Players have the opportunity to win their seats to the 2011 WSOP through satellites starting as low as ten cents.

“With Show Up, Get Paid we are making it even easier for our players to make their way to Vegas for the WSOP in 2011, plus there’s so many different ways for players to qualify,” Team UB’s Joe Sebok said. “The Team UB crew will be out in full force this Summer so you never know, you may wind up chatting poker with Prahlad Friedman or sharing strategy in the UB suite with Maria Ho or Eric Baldwin. Be sure to win your seat on UB and get there!”

Players who win a 2011 WSOP $12,000 Main Event package on UB will automatically bank $1,000 just for showing up at the WSOP and sporting the UB brand – yes, even if you go busto on the first hand. The longer a player lasts, the more money they get, with UB awarding up to $20,000 for a qualifier who makes it to Day 8 and if you make it to the Final Table, you could potentially pocket $1 million.

What are you waiting for? Sign up for a UB account today.

PokerStars Belgium

This week, PokerStars launched its Belgian client on a trial basis. Last year, the online poker site partnered with Circus Groupe, owners of the Casino de Spa and other venues in Belgium. Cash-game players in Belgium will only be able to play against other Belgian residents, but the tournaments will be international.

Find out more at EGRMagazine.com.

On the Red Carpet

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Draw Party was held Thursday night at PURE inside Caesars Palace. Sarah Grant was there to catch up with some of the players to find out who they would be playing. While Kara Scott’s date, Maria Mayrinck, called her a cheapskate, Scott insists she’s a good date. Also, Sarah caught up with Gus Hansen, who has a bold prediction about who will win.

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