WPT LA Poker Classic Day 6: The Final Table


After six longs days of poker, we've finally reached a final table for the LA Poker Classic at Commerce Casino. 692 players, celebrities, and satellite wnners forked up $10K each for a shot at $2.3M first place prize, a set in the $25K WPT Championships, and bragging rights for winning the biggest poker tournament (total prize pool) ever in California. Right now, JC Tran sits on top as the chipleader, with WPT champion Alan Goehring still in the hunt for his second title. Per Ummer from Sweden is trying to win his first WPT event.

Final Table Chipcounts (courtesy of Poker Wire):
1 JC Tran (Sacremento, CA) $3.72M
2 Per "Nemo" Ummer (Cyprus, Greece) $2.87M
3 Michael Woo (Desert Hot Springs, CA) $2.195M
4 Alan Goehring (Henderson, NV) $1.9M
5 Daniel Quach (Monrovia, CA) $1.655M
6 Steven Simmons (Watertown, NY) $1.505M

Quick Stats:
Chipleader: JC Tran
Total Entrants: 692
Prize Pool: $6,643,200
First Place: $2,391,550

Here's a final table payout list:
1st: $2,391,550
2nd: $1,162,560
3rd: $571,315
4th: $338,803
5th: $265,728
6th: $199,296

***** Live Blogging Updates *****

4:00pm... We're waiting to be let inside. In the meantime, the Poker Wire girls ate BLT sandwiches for lunch, while BJ ate McDonalds and got a St. Pattys Day green milkshake. Spaceman ate corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and baked chicken. I ate In & Out Burger... the double-double with cheese.

4:15pm... I'm set up in media row, sitting in the far corner with Spaceman and BJ. Stay tuned for action. We're supposed to start at 5pm PCT. The crowd just got let into the stage area and the crew is finsihing up last minute preps on the set.

4:20pm... Smoke break!

4:45pm... Prop Bet Update: We got four going in media row to keep things interesting.

1. The O/U in today's tourney was set at 11:20pm. I took the over and BJ has the under.

2. I bet Spaceman that the first bustout will be a bad beat. He has the best hand winning.

3. In the media pool, Spaceman has Per Ummer, BJ has Alan Goehring, and I went with Michael Woo. In these pools, you cannot take the chipleader and I got the last pick. So I'll be pulling for my man Mike Woo today.

4. BJ thinks it will take less than 4 hands before we see our first flop. I got 5 or more.

5:15pm... Celeb Sightings: The Grinder and James Woods is sitting in front of us in Media Row. Juha Helppi is here along with Paul Darden.

5:30pm... Player introductions are starting as we speak. Mike Woo was the first player to win a single table satellite to the LAPC. And now he's here at the final table. JC Tran is the chipleader.

5:38pm... Cards are in the air.

5:39pm... Prop Bet Update: BJ 1, Pauly 0. We got to see a flop on the first hand. I'm already in the hole before the first pot has been pushed to a player! Danoel Quach took down the first pot.

5:41pm... JC Tran is still the chipleader after won a pot against Alan Goehring.

6:00pm... JC Tran is up to $4.1M in chips.

6:06pm... Bouncin Round the Room: Announcer Linda Johnson pointed out that James Woods was in the crowd. He took 24th place in this event and was playfully talking smack with Mike Woo, who busted him when his A-A held up against Q-Q. By the way, Evelyn Ng is also here in the crowd.

Updated Chipcount:
1. JC Tran $3.8M
2. Per Ummer $2.7M
3. Daniel Quach $2.4M
4. Mike Woo $2.2M
5. Steven Simmons $1.290M
6. Alan Goehring $1.2M

6:13pm... In the biggest hand of the day, Steven Simmons raised preflop to $150K. JC Tran raised to $400K and Simmons moved all in over the top. Tran thought about calling for a while before he folded. Simmons has the reputation of being a tight player, so we suspect he had a big hand like Aces or Kings. That was the first hand he played so far, through 14 hands.

6:30pm... Per Ummer won his first pot of the day and won another one soon after. JC Tran was in both hands with him. 22 hands in and we're still looking for the first bustout.

6:38pm... Daniel Quach was the second player to move all in today. He went over the top of JC Tran for $1.8M. Tran called and everyone in the crowd jumped to their feet anticipating the first big hand and bustout of the final table. Tran flipped over Ac-Kh, while Quach showed As-Ks. They chopped.

6:45pm... Players are on a break while the crew changes the tapes in the camera.

Updated Chipcount:
1. JC Tran $3.8M
2. Per Ummer $2.775M
3. Daniel Quach $2.475M
4. Steven Simmons $1.765M
5. Mike Woo $1.74M
6. Alan Goehring $1.54M

6:55pm... Players are back. We're on a new level. Blinds are $40K/$80K with a $10K ante.

7:05pm... Steve Simmons moved all in again. This time, Per Ummer called. Simmons had Q-Q to Ummer's J-J. The flop was A-10-4, the turn was a 2. I turned to Spaceman and said, "A betcha the river is a black card." He picked red and we had a prop on the river. A 10 of spades fell, which meant I picked up a win against Spaceman and Per Ummer doubled up Steven Simmons. Like I said before, Simmons is tight, but it's tough to fold J-J six-handed. Per's stack took a big hit. He has just over $1M and is the shortstack, while Simmons's stack is around $3M. JC Tran is still the chipleader. My guy Mike Woo is third in chips with $1.7M.

7:21pm... JC Tran and Per Ummer rumbled again. This time Ummer had A-A and Tran had 10-7. On a flop of Q-9-8, all the money went into the pot. Tran missed his open-ended straight draw and Ummer's Aces held up. Ummer doubled up and is now back on top as the chipleader, knocking JC Tran out of the leader's spot.

Updated Chipcount:
1 Per Ummer $4.2M
2 Steven Simmons $2.63M
3 Daniel Quach $2.55M
4 Michael Woo $1.9M
5 JC Tran $1.65M
6 Alan Goehring $1.2M

7:33pm... Alan Goehring came from behind to double up with 9-7. He flopped trip 9s against Daniel Quach's 10-10. Goehring's no longer the shortstack.

7:43pm... Daniel Quach just took down a big ass mother of a pot worth about $2M according to BJ. His A-A held up after he flopped a set.

7:49pm... 41 hands in, we still have six players left. The chips are going around the table. JC Tran went from first to last. Although this is not the longest the WPT has gone before somone was busted, it's certainly one of the longest tournaments I covered in a while before anyone got eliminated. With $2.3M on the line, no one wants to make a mistake. These players got this far and they're not going to piss away six days of work on a poor decision.

7:55pm... Jc Tran was all in preflop with A-K versus Alan Goehring's Kc-Jc. Tran still lead after the flop and his Big Slick held up to double up. He's still alive.

7:58pm... We're on a new level. Blinds are $60K/$120K with a $15K ante. The low stacks are about even... $1.4-$1.7M for JC Tran, Alan Gohering, and Mike Woo. The big stacks are Daniel Quach with $3.5M, Steve Simmons with $2.7M and Per Ummer has $2.8M.

8:05pm... My pick Mike Woo took a pot off of Alan Goehring with the Dead Man's Hand. He now has $2.3M. Goehring slipped to $1M. He's the shortstack.

8:11pm... Players are on a break. And so am I. Quach is our new chipleader.

Updated Chipcounts:
1. Daniel Quach $3.47M
2. Steven Simmons $3.44M
3. Per Ummer $2.19M
4. Michael Woo $2.18M
5. J.C. Tran $1.19M
6. Alan Goehring $1.015M

8:20pm... Bouncin Round the Room: I headed downstairs to eat a hotdog at the Tiki Hut. Commerce is infamous for their hotdogs. I also grabbed a donut. Kinda stale, but I was hungry. And now back by popular demand....

Last 5 Pros I Took a Piss Next To...
1. Juha Helppi
2. Paul Darden
3. Eskimo
4. Allen Cunningham
5. The Grinder

8:48pm... We're approaching Hand #60 without an elimination. On two consecutive hands, Steven Simmons and Mike Woo moved all in and everyone folded.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Daniel Quach $3.7M
2. Steven Simmons $3.045M
3. Michael Woo $2.5M
4. Alan Goehring $2M
5. Per Ummer $1.7M

9:03pm... Linda Johnson is even bored. She's cracking one liners with the crowd and has been telling jokes.

9:06pm... JC Tran and his A-5s doubled up againt Per "Nemo" Ummer's A-4s. He's got over $1.4M now after he picked up a second pot in a row. Daniel Quach is still the chipleader with $3.2M, while Per Ummer slipped to under $800K.

9:15pm... We just completed Hand #72. No bustouts so far. Six tight players still remain. Here's how most of the hands have gone preflop: fold, fold, raise, fold, fold, fold. Yep, whoever raises preflop usually takes down the pots. No one wants to gamboool here.

9:18pm... Per Ummer came from behind to double up against Alan Goehring. Dominated K-Q to A-Q, Ummer flopped two pair. On a board of K-Q-10, Goehring had outs but didn't catch any. Ummer is still alive! And we're still six handed.

9:20pm... Players are on a break because the level ended. They are also coloring up chips.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Steven Simmons $3.155M
2. Daniel Quach $2.995M
3. Michael Woo $2.505M
4. Alan Goehring $2.19M
5. Per Ummer $1.6M
6. JC Tran $1.405M

9:30pm... Players are back. Blinds are $100K/$200K with a $20K ante. Let's hope the new blinds level will force the action.

9:36pm... Recent Elimination: The place went bonkers when Per Ummer and JC Tran were all in preflop. Everyone in the audience was tired and had been waiting for some action for almost four hours. On Hand #80, our first elimination went down. Ummer had Ac-7c while Tran showed Ah-Kh. Ummer's hand did not improve and JC Tran won the pot. Per Ummer won $199,296 for 6th place. JC Tran regained the chiplead. A new record was set at 80 hand before the first elimination. It broke the record set at the Borgata Poker Open in September of 2005, which was 73 hands. Ironically, that event lasted under 100 hands.


Per Ummer - 6th Place

Updated Chipcount:
1 JC Tran $3.7M
2 Daniel Quach $3.5M
3 Michael Woo $2.7M
4 Steven Simmons $2.6M
5 Alan Goehring $1.75M

9:40pm... Prop Bet Update: Spaceman is out of the media pool. Per Ummer was his pick and it's down to me and BJ. I lost a prop with Spaceman. I said the first bustout would be a bad beat.

9:50pm... Players are on a break. Andy Bloch is hanging out in media row.

10:08pm... Bouncin Round the Room: Things are back to being slow again. The Grinder is sitting in front of us making fart noises while Amnon Filippi is heckling the remaining players. I'm currently sweating Wil Wheaton in a 180 person SNG on Poker Stars and he's kicking ass.

10:13pm... Two players were all in preflop. JC Tran had 7-7 while Mike Woo had 9-9. The flop was 10-10-8. The turn was a 10 and the river was a three. Mike Woo's hand held up and his railbirds chanted in approval. Mike Woo doubled up.

10:20pm... Wil Wheaton update: Wil is 5th out of 17 left in his 180 person SNG. He's just made the money and has $16K chips left with two tables remaining. He was shortstacked a few levels ago and doubled up with Q-10 when caught trips. He had been on a rush since then.

10:22pm... Alan Goehring's J-J's held up against Mike Woo's J-6o. Goehring doubled up with a shortstack while Woo called from the big blind with J-6o. He has $1.14M and stciks around for a little while longer.

10:28pm... Wil Wheaton update: Wil picked up two hands in a row with preflop raises. No action. He's 6th out of 16.

10:29pm... Recent Elimination: JC Tran badbeated! Another exciting hand, as the crowd jumped to its feet when two players went all in. Alan Goehring's 5-5 was way behind JC Tran's pocket Aces. Flop was all spades 2-9-7. Tran had the Ace of Spades and was free rolling a flush draw. The turn was a 2 and the river was a five of diamonds. The audience exploded when one of Goehring's two outs spiked on the river. The room is still buzzing from that bad beat as JC Tran just shook his head and walked off the set to do a bustout interview with the lovely Courtney Friel, who is sporting a tight fitting sleek red cocktail dress. One of JC Tran's railbirds screamed, "Get that internet dealer out of there!" Yes, even live poker is rigged. Since Goehring had Tran covered by just 25K, Tran was busted out in 5th place. JC Tran won $265,728 for 5th place after getting his pocket aces cracked. Even pros get kicked in the junk.


JC Tran - 5th place

Updated Chipcount:
1 Daniel Quach $4.5M
2 Michael Woo $3.87M
3 Alan Goehring $3.1M
4 Steven Simmons $2.33M

10:40pm... Wil Wheaton update: Wil Wheaton was shortstacked and made an amazing call on the flop with A-9. He was outdrawn and he took 10th place, bubbling out of the final table. Wil will be playing in the WPT Invitational tomorrow. Best of luck, Wil.

10:45pm... We're on a new level. Blinds are $150K/$300K with $30K antes.

Updated Chipcount:
1 Daniel Quach $6.4M
2 Michael Woo $3.6M
3 Alan Goehring $2.2M
4 Steven Simmons $1.8M

10:52pm... Recent Elimination: On Hand #103, Steven Simmons was eliminated in 4th place when his J-10 lost to Alan Goehring's K-Js. Simmons moved all in on the button, and Goehring quickly called with the dominating hand. Simmons won $338,803 for 4th place.

Final 3 Chipcount:
1. Daniel Quach $6M
2. Alan Goehring $4.25M
3. Mike Woo $3.5M

Steven Simmons - 4th Place
11:05pm... Dan Quach won the first big hand once it got three-way. He added to his stack which sits at $6.5M.

11:14pm... Recent Elimination: Mike Woo is out in 3rd place. Here's what wnet down. Mike Woo raised and Dan Quach moved all in. Woo eventually called with 5-5. Quach flipped over K-Q. The flop was A-A-Q, and Quach took the lead. The turn was a ten and the river was 3. Quach's hand held up and Mike Woo was sent to the rail. He won $571,315 for 3rd place.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Dan Quach $9.315M
2. Alan Goehring $4.51M

Mike Woo - 3rd Place

11:19pm... Prop Bet Update: BJ won the media pool when his pick Alan Goehring outlasted my pick Mike Woo and Spaceman's pick Per Ummer. I won the O/U on the final time. Spaceman and I did one last prop bet of the day... the final time of the event. We set the time at Midnight and he has the under.

11:30pm... There is a slight delay as the crew sets the table for the money presentation. We're almost ready for heads up play.

11:36pm... Dan Quach won the first hand of heads up play, but Goehring picked up the next few.

11:56pm... We're on a new level. Blinds are $250K/$500K. Antes are $50K.

Updated Chipcount:
1. Dan Quach $9.7M
2. Alan Goehring $4.2M

12:00am... Alan Goehring moved all in, and everyone in the audience jumped to it's feet anticipating a showdown. Alas, Quach folded and everyone sat back down as the folks in media row grumbled. Goehring picked up a few more chips and now has $6.6M to Quach's $7.2M. We're almost even.

12:03am... Clonie Gowen sighting here at the final table taping.

12:07am... After picking up three consecutive pots, we have a new chipleader in Alan Goehring.

12:18am... Bouncin Round the Room: I forgot to tell you how the Poker Wire girls are kicking my ass in various Roshambo prop bets. While we waited to get in Amanda beat me in best-of-three. We tied the first three and I thought I was inside her head, but then I went on Roshambo tilt and lost. During the boring heads up play, I played Heather IM-a-Roshambo. She slaughtered me.

12:24am... Recent Elimination: We had our first big battle on the 30th hand of heads up play. Both players were all in preflop. Alan Goehring was behind wth K-8 versus Dan Quach's A-J. Goehring looked disappointed with his call. The flop was Q-J-9 and Qauch kept the lead, but it gave Goehring a gutshot. The turn was a King, and the crowd let out a loud reaction as Goehring took the lead. The river was a 7 and Goehring won the hand and his second WPT title. Daniel Quach won $1,162,560 for 2nd place. Alan Goehring won $2,391,550 for first place including a seat in the WPT Championships at the Bellagio in April. Congrats to both Daniel Quach and Alan Goerhing.


Daniel Quach - 2nd Place


Alan Goehring - 2006 LA Poker Classic Champion
1:01am... Well that concludes another final table of the WPT. The LA Poker Classic is officially over. Thanks to the Commerce's staff and all my fellow reps in the media for another fun adventure. Special thanks to all my blogger friends for linking up my live blogging coverage and pimping it on their blogs. You guys rule. I also want to say extra special thanks especially to Maudie for the cool banners.