In 2008, the World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic drew 665 entrants. In the end, of the most heralded players in the game, Phil Ivey, took home the title. This year, 696 players, a 5% increase, took to the felts at the Commerce Casino. At the end of Day 1, K.J. Nam was perched atop the field holding 135,000 chips, four times the average chip stack of 34,000. There are 406 players remaining, including a bevy of PocketFivers. Among those at the top of the field entering Day 2 on Sunday are Bertrand ElkY Grospellier (pictured at right) and Owen ocrowe Crowe, who sit at ninth and 13th, respectively. PocketFivesLive.com, which provides WPT coverage of online poker players, has been on the scene in Los Angeles.

Bertrand ElkY Grospellier, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, landed in ninth after Day 1, holding 90,275 chips. He’s fresh off a win in the High Roller event during the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $433,000. The $25,000 buy-in event attracted 48 players, with Humberto Brenes, Eli Elezra, and Nick TheTakeover Schulman finishing in the money. He’s one of only three players (Roland de Wolfe and Gavin Griffin are the others) who own both WPT and European Poker Tour (EPT) titles. The PocketFiver won both the WPT Festa al Lago and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, an EPT event, in 2008.

PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington commented on Grospellier’s play: "In every tournament he enters, Grospellier is a major threat. His style is exceptionally difficult to play against and he manages to force his opponents into making mistakes while very rarely making any of his own." Online, Grospellier took second in the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) High Roller Heads-Up event for $320,000 in a tournament that was ultimately won by Steve stevebets Jacobs.

Grabbing 13th place was Owen ocrowe Crowe (pictured at left), who comes armed with 81,000 chips to Day 2. An online poker veteran, Crowe won both the Sunday Million and $200 rebuy on PokerStars in 2006 for nearly $300,000 combined. One month ago, he won the Super Tuesday on PokerStars for $83,000 and in December of last year, notched another win in the $200 rebuy for $41,000. Last June, Crowe emerged victorious in the PokerStars $100 rebuy for $27,000. Last year, he took 15th in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $463,000, a tournament ultimately won by Peter Eastgate.

Leading the PocketFives.com contingent for much of the day was Mike SowersUNCC Sowers, who wound up in 42nd place with 60,000 chips. Sowers’ bankroll took a major boost 12 days ago when he finished as the runner up in a $1,060 buy-in tournament during the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) for $221,000. The 2009 calendar year also saw him notch a win in the $100 rebuy on Stars for $31,000. In tournaments that are tracked for the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings, Sowers has earned $308,000 since the New Year began.

Harrington explained Sowers’ run through Day 1 in Los Angeles: "After moving a lot of chips around throughout the day, Sowers was able to build a nice stack after busting Barry barryg1 Greenstein. He ended up losing some chips late in the day, but still goes into Day 2 in solid shape and will be a major obstacle for the players who draw his table." Joining him at Table 20 on Day 2 will be fellow PocketFivers Jamie thecronic420 Rosen, Shannon ShannonShorr Shorr, J.C. PrtyPsux Alvarado, and Scott dorinvandy Dorin in what promises to be a tough table.

Daniel Negreanu holds the fifth largest chip stack with 112,000, helped in part by a late elimination of PocketFiver Adam A_Junglen Junglen. On an A-Q-X flop, Junglen hit two pair with A-Q. However, Negreanu held pocket queens for a set. Another late exit for a PocketFiver saw Tim Tmay420 West (pictured at right) flop a straight. However, Mark Newhouse turned a full house and sent West packing. West made the final table of the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys tournament during the 2008 WSOP for $72,000.

PocketFivers remaining in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic include:

Mohsin ChicagoCards1 Charania – 79,275
Jeff ActionJeff Garza – 74,300
Mike SowersUNCC Sowers – 60,500
Joe JoeSebok Sebok - 60,425
Chris cdbr3799 Dombrowski – 55,775
Kevin BeL0WaB0Ve Saul – 54,975
Peter number1pen Neff – 49,550
Jimmy gobboboy Fricke – 48,950
Christian charder Harder – 47,050
Shane Shaniac Schleger – 42,500
Chad M8kingmoves Batista – 39,850
Randy Randers Haddox – 37,725
Aaron aaronbeen Been – 34,975
Scott SCTrojans Freeman – 28,100
Devin TranquilChaos Porter – 28,075
Jared TheWacoKidd Hamby – 26,175
Eric basebaldy Baldwin – 24,825
J.C. PrtyPSux Alvarado – 23,150
Keven Stamdogg Stammen – 21,625
Isaac mr. menlo Baron – 21,150
Corwin mig.com Mackey – 21,100
Justin Looshle Pechie – 18,975
Jason JP_OSU potter – 18,025
Hunter The_Hunt_D Frey – 17,700
Yevgeniy atimos Timoshenko – 17,250
Jon PearlJammer Turner – 16,250
Amit amak316 Makhija – 13,675
Mike SirWatts Watson – 12,200
Jeff YoungSupremacy Hakim – 10,400
Thayer THAY3R Rasmussen – 9,125
Darren darrenelias Elias – 8,325
Sorel Imper1um Mizzi – 7,175
Jason JCarver Somerville – 3,975

The action resumes at Noon Pacific Time on Sunday from the Commerce Casino. Follow your favorite online poker players by visiting PocketFivesLive.com, the best source for WPT coverage.