Day 5: Official Seating & Chip Counts

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

Day 5 will begin at 12:00 noon PT, down in the low-limit area in the poker room. Action will resume in Level 23, with blinds at 10,000-20,000 and a 3,000 ante.

TABLE 1:
Seat 1.  Shahen Martirosian  -  236,000  (11 BBs)
Seat 2.  Jason Somerville  -  1,025,000  (51 BBs)
Seat 3.  Joe Hachem  -  700,000  (35 BBs)
Seat 4.  A.J. Jejelowo  -  1,573,000  (78 BBs)
Seat 5.  David Sands  -  819,000  (40 BBs)
Seat 6.  Elvis Huynh  -  675,000  (33 BBs)
Seat 7.  Allen Carter  -  580,000  (29 BBs)
Seat 8.  Dan Kelly  -  1,749,000  (87 BBs)
Seat 9.  Jason Dewitt  -  1,182,000  (59 BBs)

TABLE 2:
Seat 1.  Jason Burt  -  609,000  (30 BBs)
Seat 2.  Daniel Idema  -  433,000  (21 BBs)
Seat 3.  Sean Jazayeri  -  1,126,000  (56 BBs)
Seat 4.  Sorel Mizzi  -  600,000  (30 BBs)
Seat 5.  Nick Binger  -  565,000  (28 BBs)
Seat 6.  Noah Schwartz  -  1,770,000  (88 BBs)
Seat 7.  David "The Dragon" Pham  -  855,000  (42 BBs)
Seat 8.  Stephen Chidwick  -  1,420,000  (71 BBs)
Seat 9.  Skip Wilson  -  625,000  (31 BBs)

WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Day 4 Recap

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

By BJ Nemeth



Noah Schwartz (right) would have a big day on Monday, playing -- and dragging in -- several large pots to finish the day as chipleader.



Day 4 began with 54 players, who were all guaranteed at least $21,080 for finishing in the money. Royal Flush Girls Danielle Ruiz (left) and Brittany Bell checked out the early action. Some of the notable early eliminations include Christian Harder (53rd place), Amit Makhija (50th), and Matt Marafioti (49th).



The big story early was the precipitous fall of Tuan Phan, who started the day as chipleader with 1,140,000. After the first level, Phan was down to 185,000. He was able to rebound up to a fairly safe 500,000 or so, but then Phan ran A-K suited into the pocket aces of Sean Jazayeri, and he was eliminated in 43rd place.



Kunal Patel (standing, top left) was eliminated by Joe Hachem (center, right) when Patel's AJ failed to catch up to Hachem's AK. Patel entered the day as the short stack, but couldn't climb out of the hole, finishing 46th.



Joe Hachem started the day relatively short-stacked with 153,000, but had a strong first level, more than tripling his stack to 555,000. Hachem, who has both a WPT title and a WSOP Main Event championship, survived to Day 5 with 700,000 in chips.



A day earlier, Barry Woods (right) missed nearly two full levels with a trip to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with a distended hernia. But he made it back Sunday night in time to play his remaining chips into the money.

In this photo, he battles against David Sands (left) over a board of 1065K3, and Woods took it down by moving all in on the river. Unfortunately, Woods was eliminated late in the day in 21st place.



After a flop of QQ6, Tom Marchese (right) checked, A.J. Jejelowo (left) bet 25,000, and Marchese check-raised to 62,000. Jejelowo reraised to 115,000, and then Marchese made it 172,000.

The entire table watched as Jejelow slid out the fifth bet (pictured above), making it about 300,000. Marchese folded, and Jejelowo took the pot. Marchese started the day above average, but he would be eliminated in 25th place.



Jamie Shaevel was eliminated in 35th place when his 44 failed to catch up to the 99 of A.J. Jejelowo.



With the final board showing A84810 and more than 350,000 already in the pot, Daniel Idema (far left) moves all in for 307,000. Tyson Marks (right) stood up to study Idema, and he tanked for several minutes before he folded.



In the biggest pot of the tournament to this point, Noah Schwartz (foreground, right) raised preflop, and Larry Lipman (left, smiling) reraised to 102,000. Schwartz called, and the flop came 543. Lipman bet 130,000, Schwartz raised to 284,000, Lipman reraised to 484,000, and Schwartz moved all in for 960,000.

Lipman had Schwartz had nearly even stacks, and both were contenders for the chip lead, so nobody minded that Lipman took his time to consider the situation. Lipman eventually called with AK for a gutshot straight draw, while Schwartz turned over 33 for bottom set.

The turn card paired the board with the 4, clinching the pot for Schwartz with a full house, and the meaningless river was the 9. Lipman, who had been near the top of the leaderboard, was eliminated in 27th place.



Noah Schwartz (right) chats with Tom Marchese as he takes several minutes to stack the biggest pot of the tournament to that point, worth 2.1 million in chips.



Jason Dewitt (right) four-bet all in preflop with A10, but he ran into the dominating AK of Joe Tehan (left). But a ten on the flop gave Dewitt a big double up to 1.1 million in chips, and left Tehan with just a small handful of chips. Tehan was eliminated a short while later in 23rd place.



With Tehan's elimination, there were still two members of the WPT Champions Club in the field. Everyone recognizes Joe Hachem, but Allen Carter (pictured above) flies under the radar of most people. Carter didn't draw much attention to himself on Day 4, but he quietly survived the day with 580,000 in chips, still in the hunt for his second WPT title.



With the board showing K653, Skip Wilson (right) check-raises all in against Jason Dewitt (left). Dewitt tanked for several minutes before he called with QQ, but he was dominated by Wilson's AA. The river was the 7, and Wilson doubled up. Both players would survive the day.



Sorel Mizzi's amazing comeback continued for another day. Mizzi had been crippled down to just 700 in chips on Day 3, which represented about 1/3 of a big blind. But Mizzi battled back with some fortunate double ups, and survived not only Day 3, but Day 4 as well. Mizzi takes his seat among the final 18 players with 600,000 in chips.



After A.J. Jejelowo (left) four-bet it preflop to 250,000, it was Noah Schwartz (right) who took the lead, betting 325,000 on the turn with the board showing J1026. Jejelowo would fold, and Schwartz would drag in another large pot to add to his pile.



David Sands (right) studies a preflop raise from Dan Kelly (left). Sands is one of the WPT's "Ones to Watch" for Season X, and he's looking to make his first televised WPT Final Table, surviving the day with 819,000. Kelly was battling with Noah Schwartz for the chip lead late in the day, and finished second in chips with 1,749,000.



Jason Somerville (left) was the ClubWPT.com Player of the Day for Sunday, but Monday it was Noah Schwartz's turn (right). Schwartz won several large pots, and finished as the chipleader as he seeks out his third televised WPT Final Table. Both players survived the day -- Somerville with an average stack of 1,025,000, and Schwartz with a chipleading 1,770,000.



Day 4 came to an end with 18 players. Here's a look at the official seating and chip counts for Day 5 (average chip count: 915,000):

TABLE 1:
Seat 1.  Shahen Martirosian  -  236,000  (11 BBs)
Seat 2.  Jason Somerville  -  1,025,000  (51 BBs)
Seat 3.  Joe Hachem  -  700,000  (35 BBs)
Seat 4.  A.J. Jejelowo  -  1,573,000  (78 BBs)
Seat 5.  David Sands  -  819,000  (40 BBs)
Seat 6.  Elvis Huynh  -  675,000  (33 BBs)
Seat 7.  Allen Carter  -  580,000  (29 BBs)
Seat 8.  Dan Kelly  -  1,749,000  (87 BBs)
Seat 9.  Jason Dewitt  -  1,182,000  (59 BBs)

TABLE 2:
Seat 1.  Jason Burt  -  609,000  (30 BBs)
Seat 2.  Daniel Idema  -  433,000  (21 BBs)
Seat 3.  Sean Jazayeri  -  1,126,000  (56 BBs)
Seat 4.  Sorel Mizzi  -  600,000  (30 BBs)
Seat 5.  Nick Binger  -  565,000  (28 BBs)
Seat 6.  Noah Schwartz  -  1,770,000  (88 BBs)
Seat 7.  David "The Dragon" Pham  -  855,000  (42 BBs)
Seat 8.  Stephen Chidwick  -  1,420,000  (71 BBs)
Seat 9.  Skip Wilson  -  625,000  (31 BBs)

Day 5 begins Tuesday at 12:00 noon PT, and the final 18 players will battle for the six seats at Wednesday's televised WPT Final Table. Stay tuned to WPT.com for live reporting of the action, including hand-for-hand coverage once they reach the final 10 players.

ClubWPT Player of the Day - Noah Schwartz

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

Day 4 Ends with Noah Schwartz Leading the Pack

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

With Sergey Pevzner's elimination in 19th, Day 4 of the LA Poker Classic Main Event draws to a close.  The final 18 players are all guaranteed at least $39,530, but they are all thinking about a bigger payday, namely the more than $1.3 million going to the eventual champion.

Noah Schwartz is fresh off an 18th place finish in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open and will likely improve on that finish here, as he takes the chip lead into Day 5 tomorrow.  He ended the day with 1,770,000, but Dan Kelly is hot on his heels with 1,749,000.

The players will be back in action tomorrow starting at 12pm PT.  Play won't stop until the six-handed televised final table is set.

Here are the top five chip counts headed into Day 5:

1. Noah Schwartz - 1,770,000 (89 BBs)
2. Dan Kelly - 1,749,000 (87 BBs)
3. A.J. Jejelowo - 1,573,000 (79 BBs)
4. Stephen Chidwick - 1,420,000 (71 BBs)
5. Jason Dewitt - 1,182,000 (59 BBs)

Sergey Pevzner Eliminated in 19th Place ($34,260)

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

Sergey Pevzner raises preflop to 40,000, leaving himself just 16,000 behind. Action folds to the big blind, where Stephen Chidwick puts out a big stack of chips to put Pevzner all in. Chidwick says, "I didn't look yet."

Pevzner calls his final chips with KQ, and Chidwick turns over A3. Pevzner needs to improve to stay alive.

The board comes 9526J, and Chidwick wins the pot with ace high to eliminate Pevzner in 19th place.

Stephen Chidwick  -  1,450,000  (72 BBs)
Sergey Pevzner  -  Out in 19th Place ($34,260)

The remaining 18 players are now counting their chips, and then they will bag them, tag them, and be finished for the day. Stay tuned for a brief recap.

Jason Burt Doubles Thru Nick Binger

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

Jason Burt is all in preflop with 1010 against the AK of Nick Binger. The board comes 873106, and Burt wins the pot with a set of tens to double up in chips.

Jason Burt  -  615,000  (30 BBs)
Nick Binger  -  550,000  (27 BBs)

Jason Dewitt vs. Daniel Idema

Level 22: 8,000-16,000, 2,000 ante

Jason Dewitt raises to 45,000 from under the gun and Daniel Idema reraises to 120,000 on the button.  Dewitt takes a minute, then calls.

The flop comes KQ6 and Dewitt checks.  Idema doesn't take long before betting 140,000.  Dewitt thinks for a bit, then check raises an additional 150,000.

Idema mulls over his decision for a few seconds before throwing his cards away, giving Dewitt the pot.

Jason Dewitt - 1,130,000 (57 BBs)
Daniel idema - 370,000 (19 BBs)

Level 23 Begins

Level 23: 10,000-20,000, 3,000 ante

The final 19 players are back in their seats and Level 23 is underway. Blinds are up to 10,000-20,000 ante 3,000.

Stephen Chidwick vs. Sorel Mizzi

Level 22: 8,000-16,000, 2,000 ante

With a board reading K64K3 and about 300,000 already in the pot on the river, Stephen Chidwick bets 225,000 and Sorel Mizzi goes into the tank. Four minutes later, Mizzi calls and Chidwick turns over KJ for trip kings. Mizzi mucks and Chidwick rakes the pot, bringing his stack up to 1,340,000.

Stephen Chidwick - 1,340,000
Sorel Mizzi - 700,000

David Sands Doubles Thru Noah Schwartz

Level 22: 8,000-16,000, 2,000 ante

David Sands raises to 32,000, Noah Schwartz reraises to 81,000, and Sands moves all in for 445,000. Schwartz tanks for a while before he calls with 99, but Sands dominates him with QQ.

The board comes AA57J, and David Sands wins the pot with his pocket queens to double up in chips.

David Sands  -  920,000  (57 BBs)
Noah Schwartz  -  1,750,000  (109 BBs)