Each year there are a few marquee events in tournament poker. The World Series of Poker Main Event holds the undisputed top spot, but once you get past that there are a handful of events that fall into the second tier behind the main event. Each February the poker world turns out in force for the Los Angeles Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino.
Phil Ivey added his name to the list of LAPC champions last year, while PocketFivers Scott R_A_Y Montgomery (pictured, left) and Mike SirWatts Watson made deep runs at the LAPC as a launching pad to even greater success in poker a few months later. Montgomery earned a spot at the LAPC final table, ending up with a 5th place finish for almost $300,000 but possibly more importantly was able to get some experience in the late stages of a major live tournament. Montgomery went on to become a member of the November 9, ultimately finishing 5th again, but for a payday of over $3 million in the WSOP Main Event.
Mike "SirWatts" Watson (pictured, right) finished 10th in the 2008 LAPC, but was able to close the deal on another World Poker Tour event a few months later. His victory at the Bellagio Cup in the summer of 2008 brought in a nice payday of over $1.6 million for Watson, a nice increase over the $61,000 his 10th place finish in the LAPC brought in.The main event of the LAPC is the headliner, but with Matt Savage taking over the reins as the tournament director, a full slate of preliminary events at the Commerce has brought many players out early to compete in a variety of events across the buy in spectrum. Events aimed at the masses drew so many players that lines of alternates streamed out of the room and into the hall with the fields growing well over 1,000 players for tournaments with buy-ins less than $500 while even the $10k buy in HORSE event attracted almost 100 players. Savage has a reputation as one of the best tournament directors in poker, and every tournament series he is involved with only increases his stature.
The numbers in the preliminary events have been stellar and a large field is expected for the $10k buy in main event that starts on Saturday. Play will continue through the week, working the field down to a final table of 6 players that will play out the televised final table on Thursday February 26th.
Anyone playing in the event can register for coverage on PocketFivesLive.com using the Let Us Cover You link on the left side of the www.PocketFivesLive.com main page. The coverage will begin with Day 1a play and continue all the way through the final table.
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