The World Poker Tour’s Los Angeles Poker Classic just wrapped up from the Commerce Casino, and fully one-third of the television table was composed of PocketFivers. J.C. “area23JC” Tran (pictured at right) finished as the runner up for nearly $1.2 million, going out on the first hand of heads up play in an incredible spectacle. Paul “kwickfish” Wasicka went out fourth for $455,000. Wasicka made a bubble move to take a big pot off Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, who bubbled out in 60th place a few hands later (the top 54 made the money). All told, the event, which was covered live on PocketFivesLive.com, was a rousing success for many PocketFivers.

J.C. Tran’s heads up battle with eventual champion Eric Hershler ended abruptly after one hand. Hershler limped and Tran raised to 700,000. The flop came A-J-6 with two clubs and Tran bet out 1.6 million, prompting an all-in from Hershler. Tran called all of his chips with A-7, top pair with a 7 kicker; Hershler flipped over J-6 for bottom two pair. The turn (four) and the river (nine) were no help to Tran and Hershler captured his first WPT championship in his first ever WPT tournament. It marked the first time that a WPT tournament ended in the first hand of heads up play. Hershler walked away with nearly $2.5 million and a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship next month at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. In a post made on PocketFives.com by Tran the next day, he commented, "Thanks for all the support. I feel there were a few hands in which I could have played differently, but overall I'm very pleased with my play. In regards to the heads up play, there was no chop, just an unfortunate hand to have when the blinds are that high."

Earlier on in the final table, Tran knocked out Wasicka (pictured at left), sending him to the rails in fourth place. Tran opened with a bet of 600,000 and Wasicka moved all in. Tran called with pocket threes and Wasicka flipped over A-7. The K-K-3 flop brought a boat for Tran and the turn left Wasicka drawing dead. This was Wasicka’s second cash at a WPT event; he finished 15th at the 2006 WPT Championship for $146,460.

Another J.C., J.C. "PrtyPSux" Alvarado (pictured at right), competed in the LAPC and went out in 15th place. Alvarado’s pocket nines ran up against Ben Johnson’s pocket tens in yet another unfortunate situation for this rising poker star. PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington comments on Alvarado’s run-ins during the LAPC: “If J.C. hadn’t lost to runner-runner tens while having a player on the brink of elimination, and then lost a one million chip pot a few hands later with K-Q offsuit all-in against K-Q offsuit where Ben Johnson ran four cards to a flush, he would have been a major contender in the final 18. Even with those two beats coming late in play and at crucial times, J.C. was still able to recover and put himself within one double-up of being back near the top of the chip counts with 15 players left.”

Other PocketFivers who cashed in the event included Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little (pictured at left), who finished 35th for $35,690. Harrington comments on Little’s image at the LAPC: “Little has been on a solid run and is becoming known as a regular at the major poker tournaments and as a player watch out for.” Jeff “HB_Hitman” Anderson went out in 46th place for $22,780 and Ari Engel finished 50th for the same $22,780. According to Harrington, “Ari dropped from 300,000 to less than 50,000 on Day Three, but was able to keep his composure, rally, and make a comeback to finish in the money. Ari and Joe Sebok were the talk of the tournament through Day One and most of Day Two. Sebok lost a huge pot to J.C. Tran in a flush versus full house situation that propelled Tran to a second place finish.”

Next up for Harrington and PocketFivesLive.com is a trip to the forests of Connecticut for the Foxwoods Poker Classic, which kicks off March 30. The final table will take place on April 4. Visit PocketFivesLive.com for more details. If you’ve qualified for or are planning on buying into this or any other WPT tournament, you can register for coverage free on PocketFivesLive.com.