Phil Ivey Wins the 2008 WPT L.A. Poker Classic

Phil Ivey, Phil Hellmuth, Nam Le, a World Poker Tour final table, and a $1,596,100 first-place prize set the scene tonight at Commerce Casino. The final table of the L.A. Poker Classic usually features the best players in the game, but this year it managed to exceed itself. Action began shortly after 5 p.m. PST, and here is how the chip stacks looked:

Seat 1: Quinn Do — 1,450,000
Seat 2: Nam Le — 1,180,000
Seat 3: Phil Hellmuth — 2,380,000
Seat 4: Phil Ivey — 4,100,000
Seat 5: Charles Moore — 1,510,000
Seat 6: Scott Montgomery — 2,680,000

No time was wasted reaching major action, and on the first hand of play, Charles Moore moved all in for 1.5 million against Phil Ivey. Ivey studied the stacks and pondered the situation for more than five minutes before making his call. The call brought the crowd to its feet, and the players opened up their hands. Moore showed down A K, and he dominated Ivey’s A 9. The board ran out 6 3 2 J Q, and this set back Ivey early; he was down to 2.6 million, while Moore soared to more than 3 million.

The other Phil at the table took his lumps 10 hands later when Nam Le bet 140,000 on a flop of J 6 3. Hellmuth thought for about 15 seconds before making the call. The turn card was the K, Le bet 350,000, and Hellmuth announced, "All in." Le immediately called with K 3 for two pair, and Hellmuth was not happy. He showed J 8 and said, "I can’t believe you caught a king." The river brought the 10, and Le won the pot.

This confrontation ultimately led to Hellmuth’s elimination a while later, when he moved all in preflop on a short stack against Moore. They turned up their hands, and Moore had Hellmuth dominated with A Q against A 9. The board hit the table A J 2 7 Q. Hellmuth was eliminated in sixth place, and he earned $229,820. Hellmuth also received a standing ovation from the crowd as a consolation prize.

Quinn Do then made his presence felt at the final table by doubling up not once, but twice. The first time he made a pair of queens against Scott Montgomery, and on the second hand he used Moore to grab even more chips. After the second hand, where Do made a jack-high spade flush, he was up to 3.1 million, and he could breathe a little easier.

Montgomery, on the other hand, could not; he was below 1 million and was knocked down even further before he was able to double up a few hands later, during the 50th hand at the final table. His victory with jacks up over Moore gave him momentary relief, but on the very next hand, Montgomery was all in yet again. This time, things did not go as smoothly:

Le raised from the cutoff to 350,000, and Montgomery moved all in from the big blind for 800,000. Le thought for about 10 seconds before he called with K J. Montgomery showed down J 8, and he was dominated. The board came 7 5 5 3 3, and Montgomery was eliminated in fifth place, earning $296,860.

Ivey had been relatively quiet after Moore doubled up through him on the first hand, but after Montgomery was eliminated, he went on the offensive. Ivey picked up 3.14 million off of Le thanks to a 10-high straight. He followed that score up by grabbing an additional 1.84 million on the next hand. This time, Ivey defeated Do with aces up. This not only put him back in contention, but back on top as the chip leader after Do managed to double up through Moore a few hands later.

The four remaining players then fell into a holding pattern for the next 30-odd hands, trading punches and pots with a variety of regularity that sustained the four players’ stacks. That all changed on hand 97, though, when Le and Ivey got it all in preflop. Le held pocket aces against Ivey’s pocket threes, and the large group of Le’s supporters voiced their approval. Their cheers turned to jeers after a flop of 10 6 2 was joined by the 3 on the turn. The set held up for Ivey, and Le was eliminated in fourth place. He received $411,770 for his strong showing, and he now has $4,324,127 in career tournament winnings.

Ivey was on a roll, now, and he wasted no time in claiming another victim five hands later. This time, it was his early antagonist, Moore, who moved all in with 6 2 on a board of 8 5 2 7. Ivey held 8 7, and he sent Moore home with eights up after the J fell on the river. Moore finished his tournament run in third place to take home $625,630.

The heads-up chip counts were:

The stacks were uneven at the start of heads-up play, and that point was only punctuated when Ivey bet 700,000 on a flop of A 8 6. Do made the call, leaving himself just 1.02 million behind. There was already 2.92 million in the pot when the A paired the board on the turn. Ivey then moved all in, and Do made the call after four minutes of contemplation. Ivey turned up A 8 for a full house, aces full of eights, and Do dejectedly showed down 9 8 for two pair, aces and eights (the dead man’s hand). Do was also drawing dead, and after the meaningless river brought the 4, Do was eliminated in second place, earning $909,400. And with that, Ivey completed his quest for a WPT title by winning the 2008 L.A. Poker Classic. This was his record eighth WPT final table, more than any other player in history. Ivey won $1,596,100, a $25,000 entry in the WPT Championship, and a huge cowboy trophy for the victory. Ivey now has $8,742,652 in career tournament winnings.