Season XVIII of the World Poker Tour continued at The Commerce Casino & Hotel in California with Day 2 of the $10,000 buy-in WPT L.A. Poker Classic. Following five 90-minute levels of play, the 490-player field would be reduced to the final 104 players, and leading them into Day 3 on Monday, March 2, is Isaac Baron with 710,000 in chips.
The Californian has amassed over $6.4 million in lifetime tournament earnings which includes both a WSOP bracelet and an EPT Monte Carlo title. On the World Poker Tour, Baron has cashed 17 times for over $1.15 million with his best result being a runner-up finish in the Season XIII WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star.
“It feels good,” Baron said on being chip leader. “I’ll take it, but at the end of the day there’s still a long way to go. Chip leader doesn’t really get me any money or get me anything. But it’s better than not being chip leader.”
Baron rose to the top of the counts in the middle of the day and continued to add to his chip lead throughout the day as players continually chased him. In the final few hands, Baron eclipsed the 700,000-chip mark and ended the day more then 50 big blinds greater than his nearest rival.
“I kind of started off just staying steady and then went on just a crazy rush,” he said. “I won just hand after hand for four or five hours and then just shot up. They were just huge pots. It was just one of those crazy days.”
Mike Eskandari (556,500) sits in second place while WPT Gardens Poker Championship final tablists Tuan Phan (470,000) and Chance Kornuth (446,000) are also in the top five. WPT Champions Club members Jesse Sylvia (456,000), Kevin Eyster (426,000), and Eric Afriat (405,000), along with WPTDeepStacks champion Upeshka De Silva (434,000), are the only other players above the 400,000-chip mark.
Other WPT Champions Club members surviving into Day 3 include previous WPT L.A. Poker Classic winners Chris Moorman and Daniel Strelitz, alng with Matthew Wantman, Matas Cimbolas, Pat Lyons, Matt Giannetti, J.C. Tran, Dylan Wilkerson, Dylan Linde, James Carroll, Jordan Cristos, John Hennigan, Mike Sexton, Denys Shafikov, Demo Kiripoulos, Lee Markholt, Barry Greenstein, Donald Maloney, and Will Failla.
WPT L.A. Poker Classic Day 3 Seating Draw.
With 490 players creating a prize pool of $4,712,550, the top 62 players will finish in-the-money with a guaranteed $16,905 payday. Once the final table of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic is reached, those final six players will be guaranteed $185,330 in prize money. When play resumes on April 2 at the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, those final six players will be fighting over the $1,000,000 first-place prize that includes a seat into the season-ending $15,000 buy-in WPT Tournament of Champions presented by Baccarat Crystal, along with having the honor of his or her name engraved on the WPT Champions Cup.
To see the complete payouts of all the 62 in-the-money spots, click here.
Day 3 will continue with five 90-minute levels, and the money is expected to reach late in the day following the implementation of the Action Clock by Protection Poker.
Day 3 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic begins at 12 p.m. (PT) on Monday with continuous live updates being provided by the World Poker Tour. Stay tuned right here to WPT.com for the exclusive live coverage of the tournament from start to finish to see who becomes the WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion, and wins his or her way to the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions presented by Baccarat Crystal.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive
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