WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Day 1 Recap

By BJ Nemeth

The big news of the day was the appearance of Phil Ivey, who hadn’t played any tournaments in the United States since Black Friday hit on April 15, 2011.

Poker Hall of Famer and WPT Commentator Mike Sexton welcomes the players to Day 1 of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, along with his commentating partner Vince Van Patten, Raw Deal host Tony Dunst, WPT Anchor Marianela Pereyra, and Royal Flush Girls Brittany Bell, Danielle Ruiz, Ivy Teves, and Tugba Ercan.

The Commerce Casino had a featured table in the front of the room. The overhead flop cam can be seen extending over the table on a long pole.

Commerce’s Day 1 Featured Table began with Daniel Negreanu (seat 1), Kathy Liebert (seat 2), Jason Somerville (seat 4), and Ted Lawson (seat 6).

Negreanu was entertaining fans by talking directly to the camera, but the fun didn’t last long — Negreanu was eliminated in Level 2 when he flopped a set of sixes against David "The Dragon" Pham’s set of kings. (Pham was a late arrival, but not late enough to save Negreanu.)

Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi won the WPT L.A. Poker Classic back in Season III (2005), earning more than $1.85 million.

Phil Ivey surprised a lot of people when he showed up an hour after play started to register for the event. Ivey won this event back in Season VI (2008), but had only played a couple of overseas tournaments in the past 10 months.

During Level 2, Phil Ivey (right) had three-bet the flop and then moved all in on the turn with the board showing [Ac7h5sJc]. His opponent (second from left) tanked for several minutes before somebody called a clock — the player eventually folded.

Ivey finished the day very strong, playing 8-4 very aggressively and catching a straight on the turn to win a big pot, and then cracking aces with 10-10 to bust a player in the final minutes — they had gotten it all in after Ivey had flopped a set of tens.

Ivey skyrocketed up the leaderboard late to finish fifth in chips with 116,300.

WPT Anchor Marianela Pereyra (filling in for Kimberly Lansing on maternity leave) interviews ClubWPT.com qualifier Casey Hidle during the first break.

Dylan Hortin (left) and William Reynolds have been named to the WPT’s "Ones to Watch" list. The Ones to Watch will be profiled on the TV show so fans can follow their progress as they seek their first WPT title.

Maria Ho listens as Joe Hachem tells a story to the table. Ho is another player on the WPT’s "Ones to Watch" list, while Hachem is in an elite club of players who have won WPT titles and the WSOP Main Event. (Five players have done it: Doyle Brunson, Dan Harrington, Carlos Mortensen, Scotty Nguyen, and Joe Hachem.)

You know who would like to be in that elite club with Hachem? Phil Hellmuth. He won the WSOP Main Event back in 1989, but even though he’s made four WPT final tables, he has yet to win a WPT title.

Kara Scott (left) and Jennifer Harman were having fun seated side-by-side on Day 1. Both players survived the day with roughly average chip stacks.

Xuan Liu has won more than $1.1 million in the past 12 months, including a third-place finish at EPT San Remo last spring and a fourth-place finish at the PCA last month. Unfortunately, Liu won’t be making her first WPT final table this month, as she was eliminated in the final hour of play when she ran into Amit Makhija’s set of jacks.

After cashing in her first-ever open WPT event two months ago (the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas), singer Dee Dozier is looking to make it 2-for-2 here at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic.

Vanessa Rousso was at one of the more memorable WPT final tables of last season, ultimately finishing third behind winner Antonio Esfandiari. Rousso has won more than $780,000 on the World Poker Tour in her career.

Liv Boeree is a triple threat, with a degree in astrophysics, heavy metal guitar skills, and serious poker chops. Boeree has won more than $2.1 million in her career, highlighted by a victory in the 2010 EPT San Remo main event.

Lauren Kling has six WSOP cashes and three WPT cashes on her resume, including back-to-back cashes here at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic the past two years. Can she make it three years in a row?

Jonathan Duhamel catapulted to an early lead during the first level, and continued strong throughout the day to finish 13th in chips with 98,950. He also finished second in the $5,000 prelim event that finished the night before, continuing a hot streak in 2012 for Duhamel as he was named the ClubWPT.com Player of the Day.

Day 1 came to an end after five levels with 373 players remaining. (Registration remains open until the start of Day 2.) Here’s a look at the top chip counts from the official list released by the casino:

1.  Michael Rocco  –  156,200
2.  Tuan Phan  –  141,500
3.  Chance Kornuth  –  131,275
4.  Travis Carson  –  118,950
5.  Phil Ivey  –  116,300

Day 2 begins Saturday at 12:00 noon PT. Return to WPT.com for continuing live coverage throughout the day.