The chips of 547 fallen foes lay in their stacks, including those of Phil Ivey, Antonio Esfandiari and Michael Mizrachi. Five of their most recent victims included two WSOP bracelet winners, a WPT champion and a 3-time WPT final table finisher. That’s all to say that they had survived a tough field.

Doc Sands had most thinking he was the favorite with the small chip advantage and the greater recognition as a pro. But when it comes to a Heads Up match, and one player gets dealt pocket Queens and the other player gets dealt Big Slick, you can just about disregard things like TV time. Both players inevitably got their stacks in the middle with their premium hands, and the biggest pot of the night was coming down to the most famous preflop race in the game. The tournament was going to go to whomever fate favored, or for the superstitious ones out there, whomever the dealer favored.

Fittingly, Jazayeri was the slight underdog of the hand with his AK-offsuit. An ace hit the flop, Doc’s Ladies went unimproved, and Jazayeri found himself with a commanding chip lead.

The next hand found Doc’s chips all-in as a slight underdog with KQ versus Jazayeri’s A5-suited. And again the flop favored the dog, the K-T-5 board giving Doc the superior pair. A Queen on the turn seemed to change everything—now Doc couldn’t hit his Queen because it’d give Jazayeri a straight, and Jazayeri couldn’t hit his Ace because it’d give Doc the straight—but really it changed nothing; Jazayeri still had just 5 outs. And he hit the least likely of those outs with a 5 on the river to give him trips and to ship him the 7-figure score.

Jazayeri was happy to be a millionaire; Doc was likely pleased with his consolation prize and, as a young star, the promise of future wins; and the WPT had to be thrilled about writing a check that was basically an endorsement for their own Boot Camp. And the post-match interview had Jazayeri saying exactly what the WPT would want to hear: “No doubt, I wouldn’t be here without the boot camp.”

If you want to see all of this for yourself, the tournament will air over three episodes of the World Poker Tour Season X on Fox Sports Net.

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose is currently underway. You can’t do anything in the Bay Area without a flair of innovation, so the WPT includes bounties and bonuses for being the chip leader in this leg of the tour. And shortly after that they’ll start their series of charitable poker events called WPT Playing for a Better World, starting on March 11th.

Final Table Results
1. Sean Jazayeri – $1,370,240
2. David Sands – $806,370
3. Dan Kelly – $521,770
4. Noah Schwartz – $355,750
5. Jason Burt – $252,980
6. Jason Somerville – $202,910

Player of the Year Standings
1. Will Failla – 1,650
2. Vitor Coelho – 1,500
3. Sean Jazayeri – 1,400
3. Bobby Oboodi – 1,400
3. James Dempsey – 1,400
6. Soi Nguyen – 1,250

WPT Los Angeles Poker Classic - 20th Anniversary

Just one month after his $2 million win at the Aussie Millions High Roller event, Phil Ivey has continued his roll with his shrewd play at the WPT LA Classic. Thanks to a late surge, at the conclusion of day 1 he is sitting in 5th place with 116,300 chips. The chip leader, Michael Rocco, ended the day with 156,200 chips. Phil Ivey is on track to repeat his performance in 2008 when he won the LAPC during season 6 of the WPT.

The World Poker Tour’s Los Angeles Classic tournament is held annually at the Commerce Casino. It is their largest event of the year and draws many professional players. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the $10,000 buyin event, and is the 10th year since it became affiliated with the WPT. The LAPC has often had very difficult fields, as evidenced by these well-known past winners: Gus Hansen (2003), Antonio Esfandiari (2004), Michael Mizrachi (2005), and of course, Phil Ivey (2008).

This year’s LAPC began with a field of 523 players, and at the end of the first day 373 remained. The field will increase slightly as Commerce Casino is still running satellites to this event, with registration open until noon tomorrow, when Day 2 officially starts. As of now the prize pool contains just over $5 million, with a first place payout of $1.37 million. Other notable players still in the running include Jonathan Duhamel (98,950 chips), Shaun Deeb and Joe Hachem.

WPT will contribute many of its resources such as its cast members, brand name, media and corporate resources, and an additional $100,000 cash donation. WPT CEO Steve Heller said in a public statement, “World Poker Tour has always been dedicated to supporting charitable causes, but by establishing WPT Foundation we are making a deep, lasting commitment to philanthropy the likes of which the poker world has not seen before.”

“With poker as a platform for an ongoing program and the support of celebrities, our poker player family and fantastic global charities, we’re confident the world will be shown how WPT and the poker community can be an engine for important change in the world, and we’re pleased to fuel that engine with an initial $100,000 donation. The launch event of WPT Playing for a Better World at the beautiful SLS Hotel will be a night to remember and the first of many such WPT Foundation events to come.”

The core of the fundraising will be done through a series of charity poker events called WPT Playing for a Better World. The launch event will take place at the SLS Hotel Beverly Hills. The guest list includes Hollywood celebrities like Maria Bello, Gerard Butler, Don Cheadle, Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson and Eva Longoria, as well as poker pros such as Daniel Negreanu, Dan Harrington, Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Selbst, Tony G., Jamie Gold, Maria Ho, Tony Dunst and Andy Frankenberger. Master chef José Andrés, winner of the James Beard Ouststanding Chef Award of 2011, will provide the menu for the evening’s entertainment.

The event will feature poker training sessions with famous professional poker players, followed by a round-robin poker event, raffle, and auction on items such as private poker lessons from poker legends, in-home session of WPT Boot Camp, a ticket to a WPT cruise, a helicopter tour of Los Angeles, and much more. Tickets for the event cost $500, and raffle tickets can be purchased for $100. To purchase tickets for the event, please visit WPTFoundation.org.

Ferrera would nonetheless be the first to exit the final table as he went all-in preflop with QJs against Juttelstad’s 99. The board gave Ferrera a pair of jacks, but alas a river 9 giving Juttelstad a set meant Ferrera would bust out in 6th place. 100 hands later, Todd Jacobsen was the next to be eliminated with TT, losing out to Sharon Levin’s A4s. Levin was shortly afterwards eliminated by Gagne.

The remaining three then tightened up with Uri Kadosh, Gagne and Juttelstad relatively even in chips. Kadosh would be the next to be knocked out as his resteal attempt from the big blind was called by Juttelstad on the button, who had raised with AJo. Kadosh was dominated as he flipped up J8o and the board did not help him as he exited in 3rd place, cashing out $105,463.

As heads up action began, Juttelstad had a sizeable advantage with about 7 million chips to Gagne’s 2 million. Gagne finished as the runner-up as she pushed in the rest of her chips on the turn having made a wheel with T4o on a 2-3-5-A board, but the Ace turned out to be the worst possible turn card for her as Juttelstad turned over 64o for the flopped nut straight. As Mike Sexton put it in his live commentary, the Ace was the “dream card” for Juttelstad. Only a 6 on the river would have resulted in a split pot, but Juttelstad’s hand held up to give him the title.

Juttelstad won $268,444 for his first live tournament title plus a $25,500 seat into the WPT Championship event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Although Gagne could not make history by winning this tournament, she has tied Kathy Liebert and J.J. Liu for the best finish for a woman in an open WPT Main Event.

Final Table Results:

1. Matt Juttelstad – $268,444
2. Gigi Gagne – $158,194
3. Uri Kadosh – $105,463
4. Sharon Levin – $73,344
5. Todd Jacobson – $54,649
6. Keith Ferrera – $42,185

Other notable players who cashed include Harrison Gimbel (9th: $17,258), Christian Harder (13th: $11,505), Raj Vorha (15th: $11,505), Noah Schwartz (18th, $10,067), and Darryl Fish (23rd: $8,629). There were 27 players who finished in the money who took their share of a $958,750 prize pool.

Matt Juttelstad was the chip leader by the end of Day 1B. He had busted out the previous day, and was originally not planning on taking the rebuy option. He, in the end, decided after finishing an interview for a grad schoool program at Florida Atlantic University in Miami to head back to the tables. He would be greatly rewarded for his decision as he turned his initial 30,000 chips into a big stack of 280,000 chips by the end of the night. He was quoted as saying that he was on the right end of several coolers, helping him gain the chip lead. He played a big hand vs Tony Dunst with 4-5 vs Dunst’s AQ on a A-K-2 flop. Juttelstad 3-bet the flop with his gutshot draw to be called by Dunst, then spiked a 3s on the turn to make his wheel.

Dunst was among 106 other players to bust out during Day 1B, out of a total player pool of 170. Other notable players who were eliminated included Matt Jarvis, Michael Mizrachi, Amnon Filippi, Tommy Vedes, Adam Geyer, Andrew Lichtenberger, Dan O’Brien, and Ebony Kenney. 112 players remain to battle it out on the felt on Day 2 of the tournament, including important names such as Keith Ferrera (200,600), Harrison Gimbel (143,200), Christian Harder (114,400), Darryll Fish (113,200), Tristan Wade (96,200), Matt Stout (94,800), Jonathan Little (63,700), Kathy Liebert (18,100), and Ashton Griffin (14,000).

Here are the top ten chip stacks going into Day 2, starting on Sunday at 12PM EST:

1. Matt Juttelstad – 280,000
2. Will Durkee – 233,100
3. Angeo Miele – 211,800
4. Alex Ivanov – 200,700
5. Keith Ferrera – 200,600
6. Hal Klein – 172,900
7. Lazaro Hernandez – 169,600
8. Harrison Gimbel – 143,200
9. Raj Vohra – 141,600
10. Christian Harder – 114,400

Action was fast from the very start as players got involved in big hands early on. Christopher Tryba got eliminated as he went all-in with his pocket Jacks vs pocket Aces. Former WPT champ Rhynie Campbell eliminated Steve Levy with pocket Aces vs Levy’s KQ. Campbell would eventually be eliminated by Deeb. By the dinner break, just 96 players were remaining. Action remained fast and furious as the pace of eliminations remained rapid after the break.

Deeb continued to accumulate chips as he played a big hand against the then-chip leader Matthew O’Donnell, as he got O’Donnell to lay down his hand on a 6-5-5-8-9 board, boosting Deeb’s chip stack to 95K. Dunst was unlucky losing with his pocket Tens vs his opponent’s pocket Eights. Uri Kadosh in the second last hand of the evening took the chip lead as he eliminated a short-stacked player with AK vs 42 suited.

Shannon Shorr, Matt Gianetti, Schwartz and Waxman were among players who did well finishing with above-average chip stacks, the average being 44,347. On that front, Alan Kessler and Failla have some catching up to do.

Fast action during Day 1A can be attributed to the “second chance” structure, offering a rebuy opportunity on Day 1B. Dunst, Lichtenberger and Little are set to buy back in on the second day of the tournament. By the end of the action on Day 1B today, the total field size and payout amounts will be finalized. The final table is going to take place on Feb. 14, and will be streamed live online. The champion will walk away with a sizeable six-figure sum.

Among the list of poker pros to take part are Andy Frankenberger, Jason Mercier and Will “The Thrill” Failla – the front runner for WPT Player of the Year. Florida has become a real poker hotspot as the World Poker Tour hosts 3 WPT Main Events in 3 months. They will return to the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino for the Hard Rock Poker Showdown in April. Last year, 433 players competed for a prize pool over $4 million. One week later, the WPT goes to Jacksonville for the WPT Main Event in the brand-new BestBet Jacksonville poker complex. In addition, the World Poker Tour will also host two WPT Regional events in Florida.

Winner of the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open will be awarded a substantial sum of cash for the first prize, along with the WPT Champions Trophy, the Tiffany & Co ® WPT Champions Award, will get their name engraved on the WPT Champions Cup, and gain entry into the $25,000 WPT World Championship to be hosted at the Bellagio in Las Vegas this coming May.

Darryll entered the final table as the short stack with just over 25 BBs.  Although he was able to make one double up, Darryll never really got any traction at the final table and after finding himself down to 15 BBs, he lost on the 52nd hand of the final table when his pair of 3s were unable to suck out on Lisa Hamilton’s pair of 7s.  About ten hands later, the ClubWPT qualifier Artie Rodriguez was crippled when his AcJc ran into Sam Soverel’s AsQd and he was eliminated 2 hands later in 5th place.

Once the table was down to four players, Anthony Ruberto remained in the lead with about 90 BBs while the other 3 players were tightly bunched with around 50 BBs each.  These stacks allowed for some real poker to be played and after a couple of orbits 4 handed, the chip stacks became even more tightly bunched as Sam Soverel and Lisa Hamilton jumped over Anthony Ruberto, but all of them still had right around 60 BBs.  4 handed play continued for quite some time and at one point all 4 players were within 6 BBs of each other as they all had right around 3 million in chips at the 30k/60k level.

On the 101st hand of the Final Table, Anthony Ruberto regained the chip lead when he was involved in a 3 way pot preflop and ended up shoving on the river for about a pot-sized bet of 2 million on a board of 9d7c5s8dTc.  At this point, Anthony and Lisa started chipping up by stealing Vitor Coelho and Sam Soverel’s blinds.  15 hands later and the blinds were at 40k/80k and Sam and Vitor found themselves with just around 20 BBs.  On hand 119, Vitor shoved his stack with 44 and was not a happy camper when Anthony woke up with AA.  With just 3 players left, Anthony was in a nice spot as Sam only had 15 BBs and Lisa obviously wanted to get heads-up with a healthy 50 BB stack which meant that Anthony could apply lots of pressure.  After picking off a bluff from Lisa Hamilton, Anthony knocked her out when they got it all-in on an As9s2d flop with Anthony holding AK and Lisa A3.

Heads-up play was between Anthony and Sam, and Anthony had a huge lead with almost 5 times as many chips as Sam.  Anthony steamrolled Sam heads-up and took the first 6 hands in a row only to double Sam up on hand 7 when Sam’s QQ held up against Anthony’s A8.  At this point Sam got back to where he was just half the stack of Anthony and one double up would put him in the driver’s seat.  Anthony refused to take his foot off the gas however and a few hands later he again took a 3 to 1 chip lead when he called Sam’s 3 bet preflop, called another bet on a Jh9c3s flop and then stole the pot when he bet about 1 million into a 1.5 million pot when another 9 hit the turn and got Sam to fold.  Anthony then took 6 of the next 7 hands leading up to the final hand where Sam 3-bet pre all-in with Kh7h and Anthony called with KcJh and his hand held.  And with that, Anthony “Boston” Ruberto won the WPT Jacksonville title.

In the U.S. we will continue to listen to Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten announce the televised final tables at the L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino, the Bay 101 Shooting Star in San Jose, the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Hollywood, Florida, and a new debut event as the WPT comes to the Jacksonville Poker Room in Florida for the first time.

Season X concludes once again this year at the Bellagio with the WPT’s World Championship.  The Main Event is a $25,000 buy-in and following the success of last year’s super high roller event, there will once again be another $100,000 super high roller event this year as well.   The player of the year race is still wide open, so expect lots of big name pros to be entering these events and giving us a good show to watch.

The World Poker Tour is one of the biggest poker tournament series on the planet. This special all inclusive bwin WPT Prague package includes $7,500 for your buy-in, travel and expenses!

You have three ways to win a WPT Prague package: standard qualifiers, freerolls and leaderboard qualifiers! This is the final WPT Europe event of the year so take advantage!

The standard qualifiers run daily. These tournaments have a wide variety of buy-ins for players of all levels. These lead into online finals which run every Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, which can be entered with qualifier tickets or bought into directly for $320! Each online final guarantees at least one WPT Prague $7,500 package!

The WPT Prague Freerolls are great because there is no cost to enter! To battle your way through the WPT Prague freerolls you’ll need to win two large field tournaments! To enter a freeroll all you have to do is win at least 1 Poker Point while playing at bwin! The Freeroll Final will take place November 19th at 20:00 (GMT +!) with at least one package guaranteed!

To qualify through the leaderboard be one of the top 50 leaderboard players on the bi-weekly leaderboard. The Leaderboard Final will take place November 20th.

Guests will be staying at the breathtaking five star Corinthia Hotel. This hotel is located directly across from the Congressional Center and a merge two metro stops away from Prague’s central district and a thirty minute ride from the Ruzyne International Airport.

Check the bwin lobby for full a WPT Prague qualifier schedule!