Photo Recap: Day 3 of WPT L.A. Poker Classic

By BJ Nemeth

Note: For the official Day 4 seating assigments and chip counts, click here.

Day 3 began with 238 players, and they had to play down to 63 in order to burst the money bubble. The entire day lasted more than 13 hours, forcing the start time of Day 4 (Monday) to be pushed back to 1:30 pm PT.

Here’s a look at the top of the leaderboard heading into Day 4:

1. Jason Dewitt – 1,023,000 (170 bb)
2. Richard Toth – 993,000 (165 bb)
3. James Carroll – 843,000 (140 bb)
4. David "Bakes" Baker – 702,000 (117 bb)
5. Mike Sowers – 677,000 (112 bb)
6. Shannon Shorr – 655,000 (109 bb)

And now, a photographic look back at Day 3 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic:

Before play began on Day 3, Phil Ivey sat down for a rare interview with WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing. The in-depth questions covered a variety of topics, including Ivey’s thoughts on who might be the second-best player in the world, and why he thinks he plays poker differently than the other top players. Unfortunately for Ivey, the tournament didn’t go as well as the interview, and he was eliminated fairly early in the day.

With the final board showing [Kh7s4hQd5c], Lauren Kling (center) moved all in against Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (foreground, right). Mizrachi eventually folded, saying he had pocket aces and had put Kling on king-queen. Kling didn’t reveal any clues about her hand.

During the third level of the day, three-time WPT winner Carlos Mortensen constructs what we believe to be his first chip sculpture of the tournament.

In a hand that extended deep into a break, Day 2 chipleader Joe DeNiro (far right) bet the river on a board of [Kh6c5s5h7h], and Lauren Kling (far left) tanked for a while before she called. DeNiro said, "Nice call," and forfeited the hand by mucking his cards. Kling waited for the dealer to push her the pot, and won another nice pot without showing her cards.

During a break, WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing (right) interviewed Academy Award-nominated actress Jennifer Tilly. Some of the topics discussed include why Tilly prefers the green felt to the red carpet, and her thoughts on what would happen if she played poker naked. Click here to view the video.

With the final board showing [Jc9s7c2c8s], Eddy Sabat (seated, left) bet two-thirds of his remaining stack, and Michael DiVita (standing, right) tanked long enough for Sabat to call the clock. When a floorperson arrived to begin the countdown, DiVita spent most of his one-minute warning asking whether the countdown began when Sabat asked for a clock, or when the floorperson arrived. DiVita eventually min-raised to put Sabat all in, and Sabat called with the second nuts — [Kc10c] — to beat DiVita, who had a nine in his hand for second pair.

Scott Seiver was having so much fun playing at this table that he requested a commemorative photo, comparing the situation to a large group trying to take a photo in a restaurant. True to form, this photo has people leaning awkwardly and looking away from the camera.

The players, clockwise from the dealer: (seat 1) Scott Seiver, (2) Eric Blair, (3) Tim West, (4) Bryan Paris, (5) Randy Dorfman, (6) Brandon Crawford, (7) Eddy Sabat, (8) Michael DiVita, (9) Kido Pham.

After his elimination in Level 14, Phil Hellmuth agrees to summarize his tournament for the WPT cameras. Hellmuth said he took a big hit to his stack early in the day when a player moved all in with king-queen, and Hellmuth called with pocket queens — but a king hit the board. He then stayed afloat with a short stack for another three hours or so before moving all in with [10d10s]. Chad Batista called with [Ad10c], putting Hellmuth at risk of elimination for the first time in this tournament. An ace hit the turn to end Hellmuth’s day.

As the field was nearing the money bubble, Allen Cunningham (left) tangled in a few spots with Jason Dewitt (foreground, right).

David "Bakes" Baker had a good day, moving up from 23rd position at the start of the day to finish fourth in chips with 702,000.

Daniel Alaei, too often overlooked as one of the best players in the world, bets the river to take down a pot as the field approaches the money bubble.

Darryll Fish (left) stares down David Baker (foreground, right) on the money bubble. Like Baker, Fish had a strong Day 3, starting in 78th position but finishing eighth in chips.

Once hand-for-hand play began on the money bubble, every big hand attracted a crowd hoping to see someone (else) eliminated. Here, with the board showing [AdJs7cQh9h], Jason Dewitt (foreground, right) bet into Allen Cunningham (left). Cunningham tanked for several minutes, and TD Matt Savage (standing, center) eventually called the clock. Cunningham called the bet, but mucked when he saw Dewitt’s [AsJd] (two pair). This pot moved Dewitt into the lead with more than 1,000,000 in chips.

Amir Lehavot reraised all in preflop for 23 big blinds, and a big crowd gathered as Michael DiVita pondered whether or not he would call. After some thought, DiVita asked Lehavot, "Has anyone ever told you that you look like Homer Simpson?" DiVita then added, "Well, Mr. Simpson, I’ll call." DiVita had [9h9s] to Lehavot’s [AdKh], and short stack Lehavot caught an ace on the river to win the race and double up in chips — extending the money bubble even further.

Does Amir Lehavot look like Homer Simpson? You be the judge.

Former WSOP champion and WPT winner Joe Hachem (center) can’t bear to look at the river card even though he is a heavy favorite to double up. Hachem was all in preflop with [AcAs] against the [10h9h] of Jason Senti (foreground, left). But Senti flopped a gutshot straight draw and turned an open-ended draw. Hachem covered his face before the river card came out, but his aces held up on the board of [KdJd4s8h3c].

As the money bubble dragged on longer and longer, the shortest stack in the room belonged to Ted Jivkov. According to players at his table, he tightened up so much that he folded pocket queens preflop in an attempt to reach the money. Jivkov eventually left the room without explanation and started missing hands, leading the other players to wonder if he was planning to come back. His stack was down to 17,000, which was less than three big blinds.

Finally, in the 19th hand of the money bubble, Hoyt Corkins (left) was coolered with [QcQs] against the [KcKh] of Mike Sowers (right). The best hand held up on a board of [Js8d5s4s6h], and two-time WPT winner Hoyt Corkins was the unfortunate bubble boy, ending Day 3. The other 63 players are now guaranteed at least $22,230, with their collective eyes on the first prize of $1.65 million.

Ted Jivkov, the player mentioned earlier who seemingly abandoned his chip stack, showed up shortly after play ended. Jivkov explained to his table that he had gone downstairs to get a room here at the Commerce, saying, "Whether I made the money or not, I knew I was sleeping here tonight." Now Jivkov can sleep better, knowing he finished in the money.

As the surviving 63 players bagged and tagged their chips, Lauren Kling gave a quick interview to the WPT crew. Kling has now played in five open WPT events — and cashed in three of them. Kling is hoping to improve on her previous best WPT finish (14th) and make the televised final table.

Day 4 begins Monday at 1:30 pm PT. Return to WorldPokerTour.com for continuing live coverage, including hand updates, frequent chip counts, video interviews with Kimberly Lansing, and another episode of "The Jess & BJ Show."