2019/2020 WPT L.A. Poker Classic - $1,100 No-Limit Hold'em $1 Million GTD - Poker tournament results, including winners and their payouts and winnings. During season 8 of the WPT there was one special event that did not apply to the Player of the Year standings: The WPT Celebrity Invitational - February 20–21, 2010 - Commerce Casino - prelude to Event #13: L.A. Poker Classic; References. 2019/2020 WPT L.A. Poker Classic - $220 No-Limit Hold'em 20/20 $202,020 GTD - Poker tournament results, including winners and their payouts and winnings.

Amid aflurry of pokertournamentsstaged over the past couple of weeks, the World Poker Tour has arguably left the most prestigious one for last. The WPT L. A. Poker Classic (known by the acronym LAPC) is a venerable stop on the circuit that will begin action on Saturday, bringing back a nostalgia for the way that tournament poker used to run. It’s the finale for one of the biggest festivals in poker that doesn’t have “World Series of Poker” in front of it.

Only Tournament That Has Been on the WPTSchedule Since Inception

Officially, the L. A. Poker Classic datesback to 1993, making it one of the longest tournament series in the world. Onlythe World Series of Poker (born 1970) and the Irish Poker Open (created in1980) can make claims to have being contested consistently longer than theLAPC. The WPT has been a part of the mix since their very first season ofaction back in 2003, making it the only event that has been able to stay on theroster for the 18 years that the WPT has existed.

What makes the WPT L. A. Poker Classic atournament that everyone wants to take part in? First, the very history that isexplained above – not to mention the prestigious “Bronco Buster” trophy thatgoes to the victor of every event (the WPT version of the Frederic Remington trophyweighs in at 44 pounds!) – makes it a must play stop on the tournament circuit.The crème of the tournament poker world comes out to the Commerce Casino foraction in the event, from the lowest buy-in preliminary events to the WPT event.

Second, the WPT L. A. Poker Classic is athrowback to the way that tournament poker “used to be” and some would argueshould be again. The $10,000 buy in ensures that there will be a sizeable purse(even in its first year in 2003, the WPT LAPC drew in 136 players for a $1.3million prize pool). There’s also NO REBUYS for the tournament, making it moreof a challenge instead of the “free for all” style of poker that comes aboutwith the unlimited “re-entries” and multiple Day Ones. The worst part of it?The WPT LAPC will not be played to conclusion; it is one of the tournamentsthat the WPT has decided to move to the HyperX eSports Arena in Las Vegas,where it will be decided in April.

Finally, the lineage of champions for theWPT L. A. Poker Classic reads like a “Who’s Who” of the poker world. Defendingchampion David ‘ODB’ Baker stopped Darren Elias and the late John Smith fromtaking the title in 2019 and he is expected back to try to keep his crown.Baker is just the latest notable name to join the roster of LAPC champions,including Daniel Strelitz (2017), Anthony Zinno (2015), Chris Moorman (2014),Sean Jazayeri (2012), Phil Ivey (2008), Michael Mizrachi (2005), AntonioEsfandiari (2004) and inaugural champion Gus Hansen (2003).

Season XVIII Player of the Year RaceTightens Up

The 2020 WPT L. A. Poker Classic is going to offer some big time points for the Player of the Year race as one of the big-dollar tournaments on the schedule. As such, there is a great chance for players to creep into the mix for the Season XVIII Player of the Year mix. Over the past couple of weeks, that battle has tightened up considerably after it once looked like a runaway.

Riding the two final tables he’s enjoyed on the Season XVIII schedule (including one win) and leading the final table of a third tournament, Brian Altman is the man people are looking to catch. He’s been able to build up 2100 points as he surges towards the line and the POY title. Eric Afriat may have something to say about that, however, as his recent title win at the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic pushed him up the ladder into second place with 1700 points. WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic champion Alex Foxen added 50 points to his total by cashing at the Fallsview event, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Afriat with his 1450 points.

Here’s the remainder of the race for the SeasonXVIII WPT Player of the Year:

1. Brian Altman, 2100 points
2. Eric Afriat, 1700
3. Alex Foxen, 1450
4. Donald Maloney, 1400*
5. Toby Joyce, 1400
6. Geoffrey Hum, 1300
7. Aaron Van Blarcum, 1275
8. Milen Stefanov, 1200
9. Kevin Albers, 1200*
10. Simon Brandstrom, 1200*

(* – ties broken by tournament earnings)

The potential champion of the WPT L. A. Poker Classic would cast themselves right into the mix of the POY race. Should the prize pool for the tournament crack the $4 million mark (546 players turned out in 2019, building a $5.1 million prize pool), 1400 points will be available for the champion. This would mean that any player in the Top 61 on the WPT POY leaderboard would catapult over Altman (should he not cash in the WPT LAPC).

Cards will hit the air on Leap Day at noon (Pacific Time), with eight levels scheduled for action without a dinner break (another “old school” move). The excitement will be palatable as the WPT begins one of their legendary events, looking to crown their next poker millionaire.

A total of 395 entries were made in the 2020 $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Online Poker Open Main Event which ran from December 27–29 on the partypoker US Network. The strong turnout saw the $1,000,000 guarantee surpassed by more than a quarter of a million dollars, with $1,264,000 in total prize money ultimately paid out among the top 64 finishers in the first-ever WPT Main Tour online event held exclusively in New Jersey. In the end, the largest share of that money was awarded to eventual champion Soheb Porbandarwala, who took home $239,820 and his first WPT title for the win.

Porbandarwala has over $1 million in prior recorded tournament scores, with five World Series of Poker Circuit rings to his name. The Stamford, Connecticut native began the final day of this tournament as the chip leader among the eight remaining players, with his 88.55 million representing 148 big blinds when play resumed with 300,000-600,000 and a 75,000 ante.

Daniel Buzgon was at his fourth WPT final table, but came in with the shortest stack of any of the final eight. He got the last of his stack in on a J66 holding QJ. His opponent Alex Farin held AQ, which was behind at the time, but the A on the turn changed everything. The 6 on the river locked up the pot for Farin and eliminated Buzgon in eighth place ($28,727).

Porbandarwala added to his lead by securing the next two eliminations, sending Tim Kuder (7th – $41,217) and Alex Farin (6th – $56,830) to the rail to take more than a 2:1 lead on the next largest stack at the table. Obli Prabu was the next player to fall. Pocket kings were unable to hold up against the A-J of Matt Iles and Prabu was sent home with $75,564 as the fifth-place finisher.

Balakrishna Patur is the chip leader at the delayed WPT L.A. Poker Classic final table that was set in the spring but has not yet played out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He got all-in with pocket fours and was at risk when Porbandarwala called with pocket jacks. Patur spiked a four on the turn, though, to make a set and double into the chip lead. Porbandarwala regained the top spot not long after, though, and extended his lead by knockout out ‘anomalous’ in fourth place ($95,948).

The lead was traded yet again when Patur’s KQ outran the A3 of Matt Iles to send the later to the virtual rail in third place ($127,398). With that, Patur took 207 million into heads-up play against Porbandarwala’s 184 million in chips.

Wpt La Poker Classic 2018

The final two players battled it out for over two hours. By the time the final hand was dealt, Porbandarwala had built roughly a 6:1 chip lead. Patur shoved from the button for for 45.1 million with K6 and Porbandarwala called holding AQ. The board ran out J44107 and Porbandarwala’s ace-high was good to secure the pot and the title. Patur earned $164,868 as the runner-up finisher.

Wpt Poker Training

Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:

Wpt L.a. Poker Classic 2019

While this is the first WPT Main Tour online event to be held in the US, the tour did hold several international-facing main tour events earlier this year. The first was the $3,200 buy-in WPT Championship held in May, which drew 2,130 entries to create a $6,390,000 prize pool. Christian Jeppsson took home $923,786 as the champion. The WPT then hosted the massive WPT World Online Championships from July through late September, with five main tour main events included on the schedule, including a $10,300 buy-in that featured a $10,000,000 guarantee. Phillip Mighall emerged victorious in that event, topping a field of 1,011 entries to earn $1,550,298.

Winner photo credit: Borgata Poker Blog.

Wpt Poker Hosts