Friday, Feb 27, 2009 Cornel Andrew Cimpan wins the WPT L.A. Poker Classic

Cornel Andrew Cimpan defeated Bihn Nguyen in a long heads-up match and took home theat the WPT L.A. Poker Classic title and $1,686,760 in prize money.

The L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino is one of the biggest and most prestigious events on the World Poker Tour. This year 696 entrants created a massive $6,681,600 prize pool.

Andrew Cimpan had to fight hard for his first WPT victory, however. The final table lasted over 300 hands and the heads-up battle against Nguyen was both long and tough. Cimpan was in trouble on several occasions, but got lucky, and finally managed to win the L.A. Poker Classic.

In the final hand, Cimpan moved all-in with Kc5c and Nguyen called with #Ah#9d. A five on the flop enough to seal the deal.

WPT champion Cornel Andrew Cimpan takes home $1,686,760 in prize money and also gets a bracelet, a trophy, and entry into the $25,000 WPT season finale at the Bellagio.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson was the biggest name on the L.A. Poker Classic final table, but he started as the short-stack and busted out in 6th place. "Jesus" called all-in with #Ac#Kc on a #Ts-#8d#8h flop and lost to Cimpan's pocket fours.

Pat Walsh finished in 5th place. He was all-in with Ad2s against Binh Nguyen's #Ah-#Jh, but didn't get the help he needed from the board.

Chris Karagulleyan busted out 4th place in dramatic fashion. He called Cimpan's pre-flop all-in with Ah9d and was in good shape against Qc8c. The flop came AdQhTs and Karagulleyan retained his lead, but the Qs on the turn destroyed his hopes of a WPT victory.

Cimpan eliminated third-place finisher Mike Sowers as well. It was a race between Cimpan's AsQh and Sower's 5d5s and this time an ace on the flop was enough to win the hand.

"We witnessed one of the most amazing final tables in the history of the tour tonight, I can tell you that," said WPT host Mike Sexton after the tournament.

Final-table results from the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic:

1. Cornel Andrew Cimpan $1,686,760
2. Binh Nguyen $935,424
3. Mike Sowers $654,797
4. Chris Karagulleyan $430,963
5. Pat Walsh $310,694
6. Chris Ferguson $240,538

 

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