When World Poker Tour returns to FSN this Sunday night at 8pm and 11pm, the eyes of the poker world will focus for the 10th year in a row on the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, the world’s largest poker casino, for WPT LA Poker Classic – Part 1.
Once again, this prestigious event saw a huge field with a lot of the biggest names in poker, including WPT Champions, WPT World Champions, WPT Players of the Year, WSOP bracelet winners, and the return of Phil Ivey, who played his first tournament on US soil in a year. The impressive field generated an even more impressive prizepool of $5.2 million, with $1.3 to be awarded to first-place.
As always, the first episode of the tournament follows the playdown days with extended coverage as the 549 entrants battled it out to reach the final table. One of the highlights of that coverage was the proverbial “LAPC Table of Death” that featured WPT Season X one to Watch Dan O’Brien, WPT Champions Will Faila and Erick Lindgren, online phenom Dan “DJK” Kelly and poker pros Matt Berkey, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Allen Kessler and Jason Mercier.
Once the playdown was completed, the money bubble burst and the final table set, it was another WPT Season X One to Watch who had survived – David “Doc” Sands” – along with a “who’s who” of young poker pros. Joining them was 53-year-old WPT Boot Camp alumni Sean Jazayeri, the lone amateur and elder statesman of the table.
Here are the chip counts as the players started the final table:
1. Sean Jazayeri – 4.38 milion
2. David “Doc” Sands – 4.01 milion
3. Noah Schwartz – 3.83 milion
4. Dan Kelly – 2.57 milion
5. Jason Somerville – 840,000
6. Jason Burt – 835,000
Viewers will see plenty of action at this final table as the first three hands involve an all-in shove by one of the final table players, resulting in two double-ups and a bustout and it doesn’t slow down there. The river card plays a huge role in this event, which leads to high drama as players are left sweating the final card on every all-in hand.
Away from the felt, a new The Raw Deal with Tony Dunst segment analyzes the final table play between Jazayeri and Schwartz so far and there are interviews with the final table players and some player profiles.
Make sure to tune into, or set your DVR for, this exciting new WPT episode on Sunday night at 8pm and 11pm on FSN.
