La Poker Classic Winners
The complaints about the L.A. Poker Classic were started by Allen Kessler last week on Twitter. It is Kessler’s belief that numbers dropped at the prestigious event due to structure tweaks. There were few who agreed with Kessler simply on this point, but there is a larger argument in play. The unique structure of the LAPC is what it makes one of poker’s ‘must play’ events each and every year. There are a few tweaks that can be made but this major event has a formula that works.
Leveling up
TOURNAMENTS ARE CURRENTLY SUSPENDED AT THIS TIME. CONTINUE TO CHECK BACK FOR AN UPDATE. The longest running poker tournament series in L.A. Provides the ultimate Poker experience yet again in the 27th anniversary edition. This year's LAPC will also feature 4 different 'Player of the Series' promotions with Commerce adding over $50,000. This event, which was limit hold 'em, had the largest prize pool in history for a tournament that was not played at no-limit hold 'em.; World Poker Challenge. Casino: Reno Hilton, Reno Buy-in: $5,000 4-Day Event: March 29, 2005 to April 1, 2005 Number of Entries: 345 Total Prize Pool: $1,725,350 Number of Payouts: 27 Winning Hand: 4 ♠ 3 ♠.
The World Series of Poker Main Event is the crown jewel of all tournaments. One detail that makes it such is the inclusion of two-hour levels for the duration of the event. Days 3 and 4 of LAPC have this benefit added and it marks the progression of a structure that fits all stages of the tournament.
The longest running poker tournament series in L.A. Provides the ultimate Poker experience yet again in the 27th anniversary edition. This year's LAPC will also feature 4 different 'Player of the Series' promotions with Commerce adding over $50,000. 2018/2019 WPT L.A. Poker Classic - $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em - Poker tournament results, including winners and their payouts and winnings.
Kessler believes that one-hour levels on Day 1 are a mistake and prefers 90. This is incorrect.
For a freezeout event, eliminations have to come at some point in order for the tournament to proceed. A structure tailored for eight 60-minute levels on Day 1 forces action by the end of the night and pulls the field down to a number that allows for the money bubble to hit on Day 3.
Survive Day 1 and you are rewarded with 90-minute levels on Day 2. Simple as that.
Difficult terrain
To build off of a point made by David Baker, poker tournaments are created like golf courses. Not all of them have to be the same, and if you don’t like one, you can play another. Five Diamond and LAPC are both $10,000 events but carry two different structures. The unlimited re-entry at Five Diamond combined with 90-minute levels throughout gives a different feel than LAPC.
Both tournaments take five days to reach the 60-minute final table, they just take different routes to get there. If Five Diamond and LAPC were the exact same structure, why even have the two events?
The former Bay 101 Shooting Star structure and WPT Rolling Thunder event go down to six-handed and 90-minute levels when the field hits 36 players. The addition of Six Max poker is a welcome sight to those who want some spice of life when playing a WPT.
Time to add a full live stream
Poker Central and PokerGO created a new age in poker with the abundance of live streamed final tables. The product is a proven winner and there is a step further they could go to bring in more fans to their subscription-based model.
Poker PROductions set up in Los Angeles days in advance to bring coverage of the final table. Next year, the crew can bring two extra table sets with them to stream from the final three tables down to a winner.
PokerGO wants to put stars on their broadcasts and Phil Hellmuth, as well as Chance Kornuth, fit the bill. The two players placed in the top-20 at LAPC but the only way to experience their run was through live updates. Live streams are the present and future of poker and including them before a final table is music to viewers’ ears. A Hellmuth rant going viral benefits PokerGO.
Does the cost of extra tables add up to the benefit of putting stars like Hellmuth on one of poker’s largest stages? It’s an interesting thought that fans want to see answered with a resounding yes.
What to do to bring up the field size?
Matt Savage can’t be pleased with the drop off from 500-plus entrants in Seasons XIV and XV to 493 in 2018. The $1 million guaranteed first-place prize fell into place to draw out East Coasters who were on the fence to justify the costs of flying cross-country for what could ultimately be only an hour of play. Ask Ari Engel.
The loss of Bay 101 on the schedule hurt LAPC. Assuming that marquee event does not return to the schedule in Season XVII, what does LAPC do to bring up numbers? The option of changing the structure is not available.
Photo courtesy of WPT/Flickr
La Poker Classic 2015
La Poker Classic Winners Results
| Wed 16 - Mon 21 Jan | $ 120 No Limit Hold'em - Kick Off (Event #1) | United StatesChristopher Haydt | $500,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 20 Jan | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - KO Bounty (Event #2) | United StatesVictor Kruglov | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 20 Jan | $ 175 No Limit Hold'em - Triple Street (Event #3) | United StatesAlan Myerson | $15,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Mon 21 Jan | $ 350 Omaha - 8 or Better (Event #4) | United StatesAdam Kipnis | |
| Tue 22 Jan | $ 350 Triple Stud (Event #5) | United StatesParamjit Gill | |
| Wed 23 Jan | $ 350 Omaha 8/Stud 8 or Better (Event #6) | United StatesGreg Dinkin | |
| Thu 24 Jan | $ 350 Stud 8 or Better (Event #7) | United StatesHenry Le | |
| Thu 24 Jan | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - Survivor Bounty (Event #8) | United StatesYosuke Iwata | |
| Fri 25 - Sun 27 Jan | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - The Great Wall…of Chips (Event #9) | United StatesBehzad Teranie | $250,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 27 Jan | $ 240 No Limit Hold'em - KO Big Bounty (Event #10) | United StatesThu Nguyen | $100 Bounty. $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 27 Jan | $ 175 No Limit Hold'em - All-in or Fold Bounty (Event #11) | United StatesNissar Quraishi | |
| Mon 28 Jan | $ 350 Pot Limit Omaha (Event #12) | United StatesChristopher Haydt | |
| Mon 28 Jan | $ 150 Pot Limit Omaha - Triple Street (Event #13) | United StatesCraig Chait | w/ Re-Buys. |
| Tue 29 Jan | $ 350 Pot Limit Omaha - 8 or Better (Event #14) | United StatesRandy Sim | |
| Tue 29 Jan | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - 6-Max (Event #15) | United StatesDaniel Auzenne | |
| Wed 30 Jan | $ 350 Limit Hold'em (Event #16) | United StatesAlan Myerson | |
| Wed 30 Jan | $ 120 Crazy Pineapple (Event #17) | United StatesPeter Brownstein | |
| Thu 31 Jan | $ 350 H.O.R.S.E. (Event #18) | United StatesAdam Kipnis | |
| Thu 31 Jan | $ 200 No Limit Hold'em - Throwback Thursday 'Turn of the Century' (Event #19) | United StatesNavil Desai | |
| Fri 1 Feb | $ 240 No Limit Hold'em - Short Deck (Event #20) | United StatesDavid McCaw | |
| Fri 1 Feb | $ 350 T.O.E. (Event #21) | United StatesWayne Diep | Triple Draw, O/8 and Stud 8. |
| Sat 2 Feb | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - Social Experiment III (Event #22) | United StatesHaris Karim | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sat 2 Feb | $ 350 No Limit - H.O.R.S.E. (Event #23) | RussiaAndrey Zhigalov | |
| Mon 4 Feb | $ 570 Omaha - 8 or Better (Event #24) | United StatesGerard Rechnitzer | |
| Mon 4 Feb | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em/ Pot Limit Omaha (Event #25) | United StatesScott Stewart | |
| Tue 5 Feb | $ 570 Big O (Event #27) | RussiaAlexander Orlov | |
| Tue 5 Feb | $ 570 Stud (Event #26) | United StatesShirley Rosario | |
| Wed 6 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit - Heads Up (Event #28) | United StatesCody Bell | |
| Wed 6 Feb | $ 570 No Limit - Single Draw (Event #29) | United StatesMichael Rocco | |
| Thu 7 Feb | $ 570 H.O.R.S.E. (Event #30) | United StatesWing Wong | |
| Fri 8 - Sun 10 Feb | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - Jacked Stack II (Event #31) | United StatesBrian Scott | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Fri 8 Feb | $ 570 Triple Triple Draw (Event #32) | United StatesJames Woods | |
| Sat 9 Feb | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - Survivor (Event #33) | United StatesHeather Williams | |
| Sun 10 Feb | $ 120 No Limit Hold'em - Twitter Exclusive Double Stack (Event #34) | United StatesTammy Phelps | $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 10 Feb | $ 175 No Limit Hold'em - Triple Stack Turbo (Event #35) | United StatesSaji Abdelkarim | $25,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Mon 11 Feb | $ 1,100 Stud 8 or Better (Event #36) | United StatesHasan Kural | |
| Mon 11 Feb | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - Shootouts (Event #37) | United StatesAndrew Wisdom | |
| Tue 12 Feb | $ 570 Big O/Pot Limit Omaha 8/Omaha 8 (Event #38) | United StatesMatthew Crooks | |
| Tue 12 Feb | $ 350 No Limit - Omaha 8 (Event #39) | United StatesVasu Amarapu | |
| Wed 13 Feb | $ 350 No Limit Hold'em - 12 Hours and Time's Up Bounty (Event #40) | United StatesHieu Ngoc Ma | |
| Thu 14 - Sun 17 Feb | $ 570 No Limit Hold'em - Double Stack (Event #41) | United StatesPing Liu | $400,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Fri 15 Feb | $ 570 Dealer's Choice (Event #42) | United StatesGeorgii Belianin | |
| Sat 16 Feb | $ 1,100 2-7 Triple Draw (Event #43) | United StatesJohn Anthony Cernuto | |
| Sun 17 Feb | $ 1,100 Limit Hold'em (Event #44) | United StatesAlexander Nguyen | $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 17 Feb | $ 1,100 Pot Limit Omaha (Event #45) | United StatesQuoc Vinh | |
| Mon 18 Feb | $ 1,100 Omaha 8 or Better (Event #46) | United StatesChad Campbell | |
| Mon 18 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em (Event #47) | United StatesMohsin Charania | |
| Tue 19 Feb | $ 1,100 H.O.R.S.E. (Event #48) | United StatesCarol Fuchs | |
| Tue 19 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Survivor (Event #49) | JerseyMark Hamilton | Survivor for $10,000 Cash. |
| Wed 20 - Sun 24 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - The L.A.P.C. One Million (Event #50) | United StatesJoshua Prager | $1,000,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sat 23 Feb | $ 150 No Limit Hold'em - Re-Buys (Event #51) | United StatesNavil Desai | $50,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 24 Feb | $ 1,600 No Limit Hold'em - Bounty Championship (Event #52) | United StatesStraton Wilhelm | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sun 24 Feb | $ 1,100 Omaha 8/Stud 8 or Better Championship (Event #53) | United StatesDon Halpern | |
| Mon 25 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em (Event #54) | United StatesAndrew Wisdom | |
| Mon 25 Feb | $ 1,100 Pot Limit Omaha - 8 or Better (Event #55) | United StatesDmitry Levin | |
| Tue 26 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Escalator (Event #56) | United StatesQuoc Le | |
| Tue 26 Feb | $ 2,140 No Limit - 2-7 Single Draw (Event #57) | United StatesPeter Neff | |
| Wed 27 Feb | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Seniors Championship (Event #58) | United StatesDavid Rosenbloom | |
| Wed 27 Feb | $ 2,140 No Limit Hold'em (Event #59) | United StatesLance Garcia | |
| Wed 27 Feb | $ 570 Archie 8 or Better (Event #60) | United StatesAlan Myerson | |
| Thu 28 Feb | $ 5,250 No Limit Hold'em - 8 Handed (Event #61) | United StatesAnthony Spinella | $200,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |
| Sat 2 - Wed 6 Mar | $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - WPT Championship Main Event (Event #62) | United StatesDavid Baker | |
| Sun 3 Mar | $ 2,140 No Limit Hold'em - 6 Handed (Event #63) | United StatesCliff Josephy | |
| Sun 3 Mar | $ 10,000 No Limit Hold'em - Short Deck (Event #64) | United StatesAndrew Wisdom | |
| Mon 4 Mar | $ 2,140 Pot Limit Omaha (Event #65) | United StatesJesse Yaginuma | |
| Mon 4 Mar | $ 25,000 No Limit Hold'em - Commerce High Roller (Event #66) | GermanyRainer Kempe | |
| Tue 5 Mar | $ 2,140 Dealer's Choice - 6 Handed (Event #67) | United StatesJames Collopy | |
| Tue 5 Mar | $ 25,000 No Limit Hold'em - Commerce High Roller (Event #68) | United StatesMaria Ho | |
| Wed 6 Mar | $ 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Big Bounty Send Off (Event #69) | TaiwanFrank Lin | $100,000 Guaranteed Prize Pool. |