Chris Moorman had surprisingly never won a major title before the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic final table but he was still one of the most successful poker players of all time. He held close to $3 million in career live earnings and another $11 million online. Tonight in Los Angeles he booked his second million-dollar live cash and cemented his status as one of the all-time legends of British poker. Moorman topped a field of 534 players and he booked his first career title. Everyone in the poker world knew it was only a matter of time before this would happen, it was only a question of when and where. It is fitting that it came at one of the top tournaments on the WPT schedule. A marquee champion at a marquee event.
Here is a look at the chip counts when cards got into the air on Thursday at the Commerce Casino.
Seat 1. Chris Moorman – 3,190,000 (106 bb)
Seat 2. Patrick Bruel – 2,280,000 (76 bb)
Seat 3. Josh Neufeld – 1,930,000 (64 bb)
Seat 4. Glenn Lafaye – 1,855,000 (61 bb)
Seat 5. Adam Friedman – 1,150,000 (38 bb)
Seat 6. Michael Rocco – 5,615,000 (187 bb)
Action began with Moorman being the most active player at the final table, while Adam Friedman didn’t win a pot during the first 18 hands. That wouldn’t change for him when he was all in on the 19th hand either. Glenn Lafaye raised to 105,000 from middle position and Friedman reraised all in for 555,000 on the cutoff. Lafaye tanked for a while but eventually called. Friedman was ahead with 44 but Lafaye’s AJ found some help on a board dealt A9725. Friedman was out in sixth place, good for $200,440, to kick off the eliminations.
Josh Neufeld was the second to fall on Hand 38. He raised to 110,000 on the cutoff and Moorman reraised to 280,000 on the big blind. Neufeld then reraised all in for 1.63 million and Moorman called. Neufeld had his tournament hopes pinned on the A10 but he was behind the pocket tens held by Moorman. The board ran out 9436Q and that was is for Neufeld, who was eliminated in fifth place and took home $264,520.
Then the double ups began, and there were quite a few of them before a player busted out in fourth place. First, Lafaye doubled up and then Bruel took a turn surviving successfully. Lafaye then doubled up two more times and Rocco doubled up as well. That took us all the way to Hand 112.
Bruel was then all in for a second time and it would be his last. Moorman raised on the button preflop to 215,000. Bruel called on the small blind and Lafaye called on the big blind. The flop was dealt J82 and both Bruel and Lafaye checked. Moorman bet 265,000 and Bruel raised all in for 1,705,000. Lafaye folded and Moorman called. Bruel held K8 for a pair of eights but he was behind Moorman’s pair of jacks, thanks to AJ in the hole. The turn and river fell 9Q and Bruel was out in fourth place, good for $332,190.
A short time later the largest hand of the tournament took place and set the heads-up final lineup in the process. All three players were all-in preflop on Hand 129 and it was an exciting hand from start to finish. Lafaye raised to 325,000 on the button and Rocco reraised all in for 2,020,000 on the small blind. Moorman moved all in over the top for 2,835,000 from the big blind and Lafaye called to cover them both. All three players then tabled their hands.
Moorman: 1010
Lafaye: QJ
Rocco: A8
Board: KQJ3A
Lafaye flopped two pair to take the lead but Moorman made a Broadway straight on the river to win the hand and triple up to survive. Rocco was eliminated in third place and he took home $423,440. Lafaye still held the chip lead for the start of the heads-up final with 8,275,000 but Moorman was right on his heels with 7,750,000.
Moorman took the chip lead on the first hand of the heads-up final and he never looked back after that. Lafaye was able to double up once, but his stack was already so low that he had to shove again a short time later. He picked a poor time to make that move because Moorman woke up with aces to end the tournament.
On the final hand Lafaye limped preflop and Moorman raised to 600,000. Lafaye called and the flop was dealt J76. Moorman bet 525,000 and Lafaye moved all in for 3.9 million. Moorman quickly called with AA and Lafaye flipped over 54. The turn and river fell Q5 and Moorman won the pot and the WPT title. Lafaye took home $662,840 as the runner up. Moorman pocketed the top prize worth $1,015,460, which includes a seat in the WPT World Championship at the end of Season XII. Moorman also won a special edition pair of Monster 24K Gold headphones and the iconic Commerce Remington trophy.
Final Table Results:
1: Chris Moorman – $1,015,460
2: Glenn Lafaye – $662,840
3: Michael Rocco – $423,440
4: Patrick Bruel – $332,190
5: Josh Neufeld – $264,520
6: Adam Friedman – $200,440
That concludes our coverage from the WPT L.A. Poker Classic. Thanks to the Commerce Casino for hosting one of the marquee tournaments of the year and thanks to Joe Giron for the great photography this evening. You can see more of his work on his website,www.joegironphotography.com. The next WPT event will be the Bay 101 Shooting Star that runs from March 10-14 just north in San Jose, California. The WPT Live Updates team will be in the Bay Area to bring you all of the action from one of the most star-studded events on the WPT schedule.
Original article by: WorldPokerTour.com