Thirteen players remain in the Season XVI WPT L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Championship, with Dennis Blieden (pictured) and his stack of 2.88 million out in front. Blieden’s lead is a big one, and he has more than 1.1 million more than Toby Lewis does in second place overall.
Lewis finished Day 4 with 1.76 million, and then it’s Derek Wolters rounding out the podium with 1.501 million.
Lewis is having himself quite the year. In fact, it’s already his best year ever on the live tournament felt, according to his HendonMob.com profile, and it’s not even March yet. Lewis was recently in Australia for the 2018 Aussie Millions and won the record 800-player event for nearly $1.2 million. Second in chips with 13 players left in the Season XVI WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Lewis has a real shot to win his second seven-figure score of the year.
A lot happened on Day 4. Thirty-one players returned to action from the 493-player field, and it was Jeremy White in the lead. Tan Nguyen was the first player to bust, and he was followed to the payout desk by the likes of Billy Baxter in 27th, Mike Sowers in 24th, Josh Kay in 21st, and Chance Kornuth in 16th.
Kay’s elimination meant only Phil Hellmuth could supplant Art Papazyan in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race with a win, but then Hellmuth was next out the door in 15th place. Hellmuth went out at the hands of Blieden, when the WPT Raw Deal host called all in with a flush draw on the 
flop with the [pd]Ad5d[/pc]. Blieden had the 
for top pair and a weaker flush draw. Blieden’s hand held, and Hellmuth was out the door with a $46,940 payday.
The final player to bust on Day 4 was White, unable to ride his start-of-day chip lead to Day 5.
Two WPT Champions Club members remain in Anthony Zinno and Zachary Smiley. A victory for Zinno would give him a pair of firsts on the World Poker Tour. He’d become the first player to win four WPT titles, and he’d become the first player to win the same event twice. If Smiley goes on to win, he’ll earn his second WPT title. Zinno finished Day 4 with 1.024 million, and Smiley bagged the shortest stack left at 325,000.
Also advancing to Day 4 was Ben Zamani, reigning Hublot WPT Player of the Year. It’s the second WPT Main Tour cash of the season for Zamani and he’ll now be looking to spin his 580,000-chip stack into his first World Poker Tour title.
Garrett Greer is also alive. He has a stack of 600,000 to battle with on Day 5 and plenty of WPT L.A. Poker Classic experience on his side. This Season XVI run is Greer’s fourth WPT L.A. Poker Classic Championship cash. His best finish was in Season XI when he finished seventh for $161,300.
Day 5 of the Season XVI WPT L.A. Poker Classic Championship will see the final 13 players return to action at 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The remaining players have locked up $57,300 in prize money, with a chance at the $1 million top prize.
Stay tuned to WPT.com for continued coverage of the Season XVI WPT L.A. Poker Classic Championship.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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