Mike Sexton and Rainer Kempe Top the WPT California Swing Leaderboard
Mar 11, 2017
Photo: WPT California Swing points leaders Mike Sexton (left) and Rainer Kempe.
The fourth annual WPT California Swing is two-thirds complete, and some of the contenders are already here in the field at WPT Rolling Thunder to make their final push for the WPT California Swing title.
To qualify, players need to enter all three events on the WPT California Swing — the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, and WPT Rolling Thunder. For the full official rules and a look at the point system, click here.
Here is the current leaderboard, with everyone who played both of the first two events and cashed in at least one of them. Once registration closes here at WPT Rolling Thunder, the leaderboard will be recomputed so it only includes players who played all three events.
1. Mike Sexton* – 227 pts
2. Rainer Kempe – 207 pts
3. Daniel Strelitz – 179 pts
4. Igor Yaroshevskyy – 171 pts
5. Garrett Greer – 161 pts
6. Joe Serock – 134 pts
7. John Cynn – 124 pts
8. Chino Rheem – 156 pts
9. Paul Volpe – 145 pts
10. Richard Tuhrim – 121 pts
11. Sam Phillips – 119 pts
12. Evan Krentzman – 114 pts
13. Sergio Aido – 111 pts
14. Brian Altman – 110 pts
15. Osmin Dardon – 110 pts
16. Matt Berkey – 110 pts
17. Stephen Graner – 109 pts
18. Kevin MacPhee – 108 pts
19. James Calderaro – 107 pts
20. Dzmitry Urbanovich – 104 pts
21. William Vo – 102 pts
22. Allan Le – 101 pts
23. Dean Baranowski – 95 pts
24. Sameer Aljanedi – 91 pts
25. Joe Elpayaa – 87 pts
26. Mike Eskandari – 86 pts
27. Charlie Carrel – 80 pts
28. Nam Le – 80 pts
29. Derek Wolters – 79 pts
30. Christian Harder – 78 pts
31. Pratyush Buddiga – 77 pts
32. Eduards Kudrjavcevs – 76 pts
33. Lander Lijo – 73 pts
34. Bryce Yockey – 73 pts
35. Jim Collopy – 71 pts
36. Nick Maimone – 70 pts
37. Eddy Sabat – 68 pts
38. Andrew Seidman – 64 pts
39. Mohsin Charania – 60 pts
40. Jimmy Guerrero – 57 pts
41. Ismael Bojang – 49 pts
42. Aaron Massey – 41 pts
43. Tim Reilly – 38 pts
44. Maria Ho – 30 pts
45. Michael Kamran – 29 pts
46. Anton Astapau – 27 pts
47. Nathan Bjerno – 24 pts
48. Grayson Ramage – 21 pts
As a WPT employee, Mike Sexton is ineligible for the prizes, though his fourth-place finish at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and his 22nd-place finish at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star are enough for him to top the leaderboard.
The qualifying points leader is Rainer Kempe, who finished 18th at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and sixth at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star. Even though he was at last night’s final table at the Bay 101, Kempe took a 1:00 am shuttle from San Jose to the Thunder Valley Resort Casino, and he has already entered this tournament to officially qualify by playing all three legs of the WPT California Swing.
The points race is far from over, because everyone who enters WPT Rolling Thunder earns five points, players who cash earn a minimum of 15 points, and the winner will earn 173 points.
In addition to the title of WPT California Swing Champion, the winner will receive the following prizes during next season’s WPT California Swing:
1. During the 2018 WPT L.A. Poker Classic, the winner will receive up to six nights of complimentary accommodation at the Commerce Casino’s Crowne Plaza Hotel, and complimentary airport transfer from LAX or Burbank Airport.
2. During the 2018 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, the winner will be awarded Shooting Star status, and receive complimentary accommodation of up to $1,000 in value to attend the event.
3. During the 2018 WPT Rolling Thunder, the winner will receive up to five nights of accommodation, plus a $500 food and beverage credit for use during the event.
The leaderboard will be updated on Day 2 after registration closes, and then throughout the rest of this event.
* As an employee of the World Poker Tour, Mike Sexton is ineligible to win this contest. However, as long as he meets all other qualifying factors he will be included on the leaderboard for comparison purposes and out of respect for his impressive performance during the WPT California Swing.
@WPT