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No Economic Slowdown for L.A. Poker Classic

They Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Stimulus Package

by , Feb 19, 2009 | 12:56 pm

Comments (5)

It’s that time of year again… Poker players descend upon SoCal for the L.A. Poker Classic, and the Commerce Casino buzzes with tournaments and cash games of all shapes and sizes. I finally made my first jaunt over there on Monday to check out the $10K HORSE event, the first of its kind at the LAPC, and was taken aback by the masses in the tournament room – 1,362 to be exact – for the $335 NLHE rebuy. Word was that the $100K guarantee was the draw, but the final prize pool was nearly $400K. The line of alternates wound through the hallways, and it took so long to thin the field that the $10K HORSE start-time was pushed back.

With Tournament Director Matt Savage running the LAPC show for the entirety of the series, all poker media was invited to cover it. Steve Hall has been there for the majority of it, providing some updates and gossip as only he can. (Personal fave: report of Nelly’s random appearance to play high-limit cash.) With the Monday HORSE event and subsequent $10K heads-up, PokerRoad settled in for their live shows, Life’s a Bluff came to pick up some interviews, and CardPlayer got comfortable for the duration to provide live updates of the major preliminaries and the main event. Word is that PokerNews will even be showing up for the main, as Savage welcomes the coverage, overruling (in most areas of coverage) the usual WPT media restrictions.

The pros have been all over the 2009 LAPC, starting with David Plastik winning Event 2, Fabrice Soulier taking Event 16, Jason Mercier Event 19, Frankie O’Dell Event 22, Jeff Madsen Event 24, and Scotty Nguyen grabbing another HORSE title in Event 29 (the aforementioned $10K event). The $10K heads-up will find its winner today, and the $10K WPT main event begins on Saturday.

Side note: Scotty Nguyen is evidently unable to win a HORSE event without controversy. CardPlayer reported that he taunted another player and began to show signs of his 2008 WSOP behavior, though he calmed down after a warning from Savage.

From CardPlayer updates:

As his chip stack has grown at this final table so has the level of Nguyen’s voice. He specifically taunted Matt Graham after he busted him in fifth place in a manner that definitely crossed the line.

Really? Damn.


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5 Comments to “No Economic Slowdown for L.A. Poker Classic ”


  1. Kevin Mathers     says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:09pm

    From the CardPlayer updates:

    Matt Graham moved all in on fifth street and Scotty Nguyen called him down. Graham revealed KK to go with the exposed KA2 he held and Nguyen turned up 83 to go with his up cards of 99J. Graham was dealt the Q on sixth street, while Nguyen received the 6 to make a flush. Nguyen, said “Bye bye,” when he realized he had drawn out on Graham to defeat him. Graham mucked his hand after peaking at his last down card and he walked away from the table as Nguyen laughed. Graham will take home $66,355 in prize money.

    At this point Matt Savage stepped in to let Scotty know to knock it off.


  2. Poker Shrink     says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:40pm

    Any rumors on how much of the prize pool Chino Rheem got for chopping the event and letting Scotty have the trophy?


  3. Kevin Mathers     says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 1:48pm

    CardPlayer said Chino was getting about 80k to make up the difference between 1st and 2nd while Scotty gets the title and the trophy.


  4. foiledcoup     says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 6:19pm

    Nelly is on the invitational VIP list btw.


  5. California Jen     says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 8:09am

    I know, Steve, and I’m already shopping for a cute outfit for the night. 😉