Photo Recap: Day 4 of WPT L.A. Poker Classic

By BJ Nemeth

The money bubble burst at the end of Day 3, so Day 4 started with 63 players and played down to the final 18. Here’s a look at the official leaderboard from the end of the day:

1. Vivek Rajkumar – 3,231,000 (161 BBs)
2. Gregory Brooks – 2,326,000 (116 BBs)
3. Jason Dewitt – 1,916,000 (95 BBs)
4. Matthew Berkey – 1,614,000 (80 BBs)
5. Amir Lehavot – 1,595,000 (79 BBs)
6. Carlos Mortensen – 1,467,000 (73 BBs)
7. James Carroll – 1,270,000 (63 BBs)
8. Allen Cunningham – 1,079,000 (53 BBs)
9. Steve Gross – 964,000 (48 BBs)
10. Brandon Crawford – 935,000 (46 BBs)
11. David "Bakes" Baker – 736,000 (36 BBs)
12. Shannon Shorr – 690,000 (34 BBs)
13. Jesse Yaginuma – 599,000 (29 BBs)
14. Darryll Fish – 584,000 (29 BBs)
15. Jason Senti – 533,000 (26 BBs)
16. James Dowdy – 363,000 (18 BBs)
17. Kathy Liebert – 304,000 (15 BBs)
18. Matt Marafioti – 210,000 (10 BBs)

Here’s a photographic look back at Day 4 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic:

On Day 4, the WPT Live Updates featured a live webcam provided by the team from All 360 Poker. It’s a unique webcam that provides a 360-degree view of the entire table, allowing viewers to see in whichever direction they’d like. The camera itself is the metallic red object that appears to be hanging over Carlos Mortensen.

The players, clockwise from the bottom left: Shannon Shorr, Jason Dewitt, Michael McClain, Carlos Mortensen, and Matthew Berkey.

Day 4 began with 63 players at the final seven tables, leaving most of the Commerce ballroom empty. There was an eighth table in play (far right), but it was the final table for the LAPC $25,000 high-roller event.

James Carroll took the chip lead early, and was at or near the top of the counts for most of the day.

Jason Dewitt plays a big pot against Carlos Mortensen.

On the other side of the same hand, Carlos Mortensen waits for Jason Dewitt to respond to his bet on the turn.

Almira Skripchenko (left) and Dinara Khaziyeva are both chess masters, and they played a game against each other for the WPT cameras while Day 4 of the main event played out in the background. Skripchenko and Khaziyeva are two of the final tablists who will be at the WPT Celebrity Invitational final table on Wednesday evening.

Off to the side of the main event, Erik Seidel (foreground, bottom left) won a huge three-way all-in situation in the $25,000 high-roller event. Elky Grospellier (standing, left) was the short stack with [AdQh], up against Seidel’s [AhAs] and the [9c9s] of Darren Elias (far side of the table). The aces held up for Seidel, busting Grospellier in third place and giving Seidel the heads-up chip lead.

Erik Seidel carried the momentum of the big three-way hand to go on and win the tournament. Amazingly, this is the fourth high-roller event that Seidel has cashed in so far in 2011. Seidel has a fourth-place finish, a third, and two victories, giving him more than $3.5 million in earnings in those events alone.

Steve Gross plays a pot late on Day 4.

The most memorable hand of Day 4 was between James Carroll (left) and Vivek Rajkumar. Carroll four-bet it preflop, and then check-called Rajkumar’s bets on the flop and the turn. With the board showing [KhJs8h10d5h], Rajkumar moved all in on the river, and Carroll tanked for about 10 minutes before he folded.

It took nearly as much time for Vivek Rajkumar to stack his chips as it did to play the hand. While Rajkumar refused to divulge any details about his hand, the table talked about the hand for several more minutes.

After a raise from Amir Lehavot and a reraise from Jason Dewitt, Steve Gross (far left) made a cold four-bet to 270,000. Shannon Shorr (far right) moved all in from the small blind, and Lehavot and Dewitt quickly folded. Gross was caught bluffing, but the pot odds were good and he called with [Jd2c]. Shorr turned over [AsKd], and the board came [Kc9d3sQc3d] to give Shorr the double-up.

Carlos Mortensen’s chip stack during a break. Day 4 included a lot of table changes as the field got smaller and smaller, so Mortensen had to dismantle and rebuild his structure a few times.

Without warning, Carlos Mortensen’s chip-stack sculpture imploded, sending chips everywhere. Mortensen claims it’s the first time that has ever happened. Kathy Liebert, who was treading water with a short stack all day, would love to have the problems of so many chips.

Melissa Hayden (foreground, right) takes an iPhone photo of her boyfriend Allen Cunningham (top left) late on Day 4.

Tim West (left) moved all in from the small blind after looking at just one card — the [10c]. Allen Cunningham (right) called from the big blind, and West asked, "Can you beat my ten?" West then turned over his other card to see it for the first time — [10c2s]. West briefly cursed his luck with a smile, until Cunningham flipped over [9s4d]. West was amazed that he was slightly ahead preflop, but the board came [AsAh8h3h4h], and Cunningham spiked a four on the winner to win the pot and eliminate Tim West in 21st place.

Nikolay Evdakov (far left) had five-bet all in preflop with [AdKs], and Jason Dewitt (far right) thought for a few moments before calling with [JcJd]. The board came [6d6s5c3c6h], giving Dewitt the double up and knocking Evdakov down toward the bottom of the chip counts.

Here’s a little setup: With the board showing [10h9c5s3h9s] and a healthy pot in the middle, Gregory Brooks (right) moved all in, and Evdakov called with [Ah10s] for two pair, tens and nines. But Brooks showed [Ad9d] to win the pot with trip nines and eliminate Evdakov in 19th place, bringing Day 4 to an end. Brooks finished the day with 2,326,000, while Jason Senti (top left) seemed more than happy to reach Day 5 in 15th place with 533,000.

WPT Anchor Kimberly Lansing interviews RISE Clothing Player of the Day Vivek Rajkumar.

Day 5 begins Tuesday at 12:00 noon 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."