WPT LAPC: Darren Elias Leads Final 6 in Main Event; Maria Ho & Rainer Kemper Win $25K High Roller Titles

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  • Namita Ghosh March 8, 2019
  • 2 Minutes Read

The World Poker Tour (WPT) LA Poker Classic (LAPC) is on the edge of closing out its 50-day run. With a schedule featuring 69 events right from January 16, the poker fest has been one of the more popular tournament series coming from the WPT stable.

Action has been intense at the series currently underway at the Commerce Casino. Even as poker couple Rainer Kempe and Maria Ho shone on the felts, each taking down a $25K High Roller title, a number of other side events crowned winners. For Ho the win came right on her birthday, adding to the celebrations! All eyes are now on the $10,000 Main Event that is down to its final six players.

Darren Elias commands an overwhelming chip lead over the other competitors with a stack of over 9 Million in his stack, quite a distance ahead of David ‘OBD’ Baker (4,760,000) and Matas Cimbolas (4,675,000). The delayed Main Event final table is slated to play out at the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas on March 11, and the winner will take home over $1 Million along with a seat worth $15,000 to the Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions, and the Hublot Big Bang Steel watch.

Capping off the series will be the $1,100 NLHE Big Bounty Send Off $100K GTD that kicked off on March 6 and is fast approaching the home stretch.

2019 WPT LAPC Winners

EventWinnerPrize Money (USD)
$25K High Roller IRainer Kempe$270,905
$2,140 Six-MaxCliff Josephy$74,110
$5,250 Eight-MaxAnthony Spinella$108,005
$2,140 No-Limit Hold'emCord Garcia$49,050
$2,140 2-7 Single DrawPeter Neff$21,615
$1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-LoDmitry Levin$20,000
$1,100 No-Limit Hold'emAndrew Wisdom$33,470
$1,100 Omaha/Stud Hi-Lo MixDonald Halpern$20,095
$1,100 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'emCody Bell$23,000
$350 Great Wall of ChipsBehzad Teranie$71,000
$500,000 Kickoff EventChristopher Haydt$100,000
$25K High Roller IIMaria Ho$276,690

 

$10,000 Main Event – Day 5 Recap

Featuring a buy-in of $10,000, the WPT LAPC Main Event attracted 546 entries, a considerably larger field than the previous year’s count of 493. High participation numbers can be attributed to a renewed satellite push spearheaded by WPT Executive Tour Director Matt Savage that helped generate a $5.1 Million prize pool.

Only 108 players survived through to Day 3, and by the time the chips were bagged, only 35 players were left standing in the field.

The money bubble burst on Day 3 and making it in the 69 ITM finishers were formidable names like Day 1 chip leader Mike Matusow (27th for $31,020), Gordon Vayo (36th for $26,830), Jesse Martin (37th for $26,820), Brian Yoon (38th for $26,830), Champions Club member Mike Del Vecchio (41st for $23,530), Ankush Mandavia (43rd for $23,530), Amit Makhija (57th for $18,850), Amal Bounahra (58th for $18,850) and Blake Bohn (68th for $17,230).

Day 5 started with 12 finalists. Former WPT champion Andy Frankenberger (12th for $78,040) was the first player to exit after he ran his pocket jacks into Steve Yea’s pocket aces.

Elias then played what turned out to be the biggest pot of the tournament so far. On Level 23, Elias put himself at risk when Tony Tran bet 60,000 from the cutoff and Elias responded with a raise of 275,000 from the small blind. Tran made it 720,000 to go, and Elias ripped all in. Tran called it off for 2.5 Million, and the cards were tabled.

Elias

Tran

Elias flopped an ace and rivered a king for two-pair, winning the hand to stack up to 5.4 Million, while Tran was relegated to the rail in 11th place.

James Carroll (7th for $155,900) turned out to be the final table bubble boy after his king-jack was cracked by Elias’ king-queen. Carroll’s elimination narrowed the field down to the six-handed final table.

Darren Elias (9,070,000) carries the largest stack to the final day while Day 3 and Day 4 chip leader David “ODB” Baker (4,760,000) has been pushed to second position. Matas Cimbola (4,675,000) rounds up the top three stacks.

Darren Elias
Darren Elias chip leads the final 6 players

Final Table Chip Counts

  1. Darren Elias – 9,070,000
  2. David “ODB” Baker – 4,760,000
  3. Matas Cimbolas – 4,675,000
  4. Jean-Claude Moussa – 1,250,000
  5. Steve Yea – 1,205,000
  6. John Smith – 895,000

 

Maria Ho Wins $25K High Roller

Poker couple Maria Ho and Rainer Kempe were both in top form this past week. Right after Kempe took down the first $25K High Roller, Ho went on to claim the second $25K High Roller at the stop. Ho bested a 28-entry field to collect the trophy and $276,690 in prize money.

Ho defeated Kristen Bicknell heads-up to bank her second-largest cash till date. Her biggest score remains her runner-up finish in the 2011 WSOP $5,000 NLHE ($540,020).

Maria Ho
Maria Ho Wins $25K High Roller 2

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Maria Ho – $276,690
  2. Kristen Bicknell – $180,070
  3. Sean Winter – $117,190
  4. Tamon Nakamura – $76,270
  5. Manig Loeser – $49,640

 

Rainer Kempe Takes Down Series Opener $25K High Roller

The 2019 LAPC kicked off with the first of two $25K High Roller events which attracted 27 entries. German poker champion Rainer Kempe defeated Josh Gordon heads-up to capture the title and banked $270,905 in first-place prize money.

Rainer Kempe
Rainer Kempe wins $25K High Roller 1

Final Table Results (USD)

  1. Rainer Kempe – $270,905
  2. Josh Gordon – $180,600
  3. Jeremy Ausmus – $127,320
  4. Ali Imsirovic – $96,040

Content & Images Courtesy: World Poker Tour /LAPC News

Keep following PokerGuru for more exciting updates from the 2019 LAPC!

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