WPT LAPC: JAZAYERI DEFIES THE ODDS, LATEST WPT MILLIONAIRE

PHOTO (credit BJ Nemeth)/SOURCE: WPT.com

NOTE: Sitting here at the airport waiting for my flight out from Vegas, thank you McCarran Airport for the free, ultra-speedy wireless internet feed, meaning that I post my report on the LAPC before my long journey home!

Even if he entered final table play with the chip lead, not many people were giving Sean Jazayeri much of a chance to win the LAPC on Wednesday. It's not a slight on Jazayeri's poker abilities but more a fact that he had been on this type of a stage before. Jazayeri's chances of winning were also diminished given the quality of professional poker players at the final table - bracelet winners, WPT final table participants, PCA prelim winners dominated WPT Stadium at Commerce.

But, Jazayeri proved them wrong. He maintained his focus as chip were flying early and as opponents were challenging the unproven veteran. He picks up over 1.3M USD with the victory, a fine payday for sure.

Jazayeri's victory is a huge score for the WPT as well. Jazayeri is a former WPT Boot Camp student, his victory will certainly heighten the prestige of the Boot Camps, especially given the fact that Jazayeri won one of the WPT's premier events on tour.

DOC CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Although it's not the finish he would likely have wanted, the play of David "Doc" Sands continues to turn heads and is making a believer out of most poker experts. This is Sands' 6th six-figure score in the past eight months, a sick feat for sure.

Sands (2011 PTPR Rank: 10th) earns his first PTPR Score of 2012, something tells the 10th ranked player on the PTPR charts in 2011 is going to earn way more in the coming months.

Noah Schwartz gained some ground on current #1 player Jonathan Duhamel on Wednesday. Although Schwartz would have been preferable for the young Florida pro, Schwartz was still able to move up to the fourth spot overall for 2012, Schwartz (2011 PTPR Rank: 828th) is now four points ahead of fellow American Faraz Jaka.

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WPT LAPC FT PAYOUTS (USD) Sean Jazayeri $1,370,240 David "Doc" Sands $806,370 Dan Kelly $521,770 Noah Schwartz $355,750 Jason Burt $252,980 Jason Somerville $202,910 RELATED POSTS >> THE DOCTOR IS IN >> SCHWARTZ LEADS LAPC RACE >> IVEY'S BUBBLE BURSTS >> SELBST WINS LAPC ASG >> ALL-STAR CAST AT LAPC >> EDALAT WINS KICKOFF >> BROOKS WINS 2011 LAPC >> SCWARTZ WINS PLO @ PCA DEFENDING CHAMPION Gregory Brooks 2011 PTPR Ranking: 26th FINAL TABLE "LIVE" STREAM WPT.com NEXT TOUR STOP WPT Shooting Star Bay 101, San Jose, CA 2011 Champion: Alan Sternberg

PTPR PREMIER EVENT Los Angeles Poker Classic WPT LAPC Main Event February 24-29, 2012 Commerce Casino | California Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $5,270,400 Entries: 549 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION SEAN JAZAYERI 130 DAVID SANDS "DOC" 80 DAN KELLY 50 NOAH SCHWARTZ 40 JASON BURT 35 JASON SOMERVILLE 30 ALLEN CARTER 30 DAVID PHAM "THE DRAGON" 15 STEPHEN CHIDWICK 15 SOREL MIZZI 15 JASON DEWITT 15 JOE HACHEM 13 ELVIS HUYNH 13 A.J. JEJELOWO 13 SKIP WILSON 13 DANIEL IDEMA 10 NICK BINGER 10 SHAHEN MARTIROSIAN 10

WPT LAPC: THE DOCTOR IS IN - SANDS LOOKS FOR FIRST FOR FIRST WPT TITLE

PHOTO (credit BJ Nemeth)/SOURCE: WPT.com

Yet another successful Matt Savage hosted event is about to come to an end. Many star players of the poker world made their way to sunny California the past few weeks, trying to become the next LAPC Champion.

After five days of battle, the Main Event is down to the final six participants.

The chip leader is WPT Boot Camp graduate Sean Jazayeri. Not many people expect Jazayeri to win today so, Jazayeri may just feel like he's on a freeroll. Jazayeri shouldn't be taken lightly - he does have quite a few live event scores on his resume, including a second place finish at the Wynn Classic last season.

The spotlight today may very well be on David "Doc" Sands. After a successful run at the WSOP Main Event last summer, it seems that Sands is part of everyone's list of poker players on the verge of taking over. Sands (2011 PTPR Rank: 10th) earned seven PTPR Scores in 2011, including a very nice run at the Five Diamond Classic to end the 2011 season.

Doc (pictured, right) has a little over 4M in chips to start final table play.

The man right on Sands' heels is star player Noah Schwartz. Schwartz (2011 PTPR Rank: 828th) - who won a PCA PLO side event in January - is currently 14th on the 2012 PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard.

WSOP bracelet winners Dan Kelly (2011 PTPR Rank: 539th) and Jason Somerville (2011 PTPR Rank: 77th) are both seeking a first WPT title of their career.

Jason Burt is the remaining player at the final table. Burt (2011 PTPR Rank: NR) earned his big payday in 2009, finishing fifth in the 15K WPT Festa al Lago at Bellagio.

Final table play live from Commerce Casino is set to begin at 4PM PT today!

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1. Sean Jazayeri - 4,380,000 (73 BBs)
Seat 2. Jason Burt - 835,000 (13 BBs)
Seat 3. Dan Kelly - 2,570,000 (42 BBs)
Seat 4. Jason Somerville - 840,000 (14 BBs)
Seat 5. Noah Schwartz - 3,835,000 (63 BBs)
Seat 6. David Sands - 4,010,000 (66 BBs)

NOTABLE DAY 5 ELIMINATIONS
Season 7 WPT Beau Rivage Champ Allen Carter, David "The Dragon" Pham, Stephen Chidwick, 2010 PTPR Player of the Year Sorel Mizzi, Jason Dewitt, former WSOP World Champion and Season 5 WPT Five Diamond Classic Champ Joe Hachem, Daniel Idema and Nick Binger.

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WPT LAPC PAYOUTS (USD) 1st $1,370,240 2nd $806,370 3rd $521,770 4th $355,750 5th $252,980 6th $202,910 RELATED POSTS >> SCHWARTZ LEADS LAPC RACE >> IVEY'S BUBBLE BURSTS >> SELBST WINS LAPC ASG >> ALL-STAR CAST AT LAPC >> EDALAT WINS KICKOFF >> BROOKS WINS 2011 LAPC >> SCWARTZ WINS PLO @ PCA DEFENDING CHAMPION Gregory Brooks (Eliminated) 2011 PTPR Ranking: 26th FINAL TABLE "LIVE" STREAM WPT.com NEXT TOUR STOP WPT Shooting Star Bay 101, San Jose, CA 2011 Champion: Alan Sternberg

PTPR PREMIER EVENT Los Angeles Poker Classic WPT LAPC Main Event February 24-29, 2012 Commerce Casino | California Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $5,270,400 Entries: 549 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION 1st place 130 2nd place 80 3rd place 50 4th place 40 5th place 35 6th place 30 ALLEN CARTER 30 DAVID PHAM "THE DRAGON" 15 STEPHEN CHIDWICK 15 SOREL MIZZI 15 JASON DEWITT 15 JOE HACHEM 13 ELVIS HUYNH 13 A.J. JEJELOWO 13 SKIP WILSON 13 DANIEL IDEMA 10 NICK BINGER 10 SHAHEN MARTIROSIAN 10

2011 WSOP: LOVE IS IN THE AIR AS LOVE BIRDS SANDS/MOUTINHO IN THE BLINDS!

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

An amazing story is developing at the WSOP as we inch closer and closer to the November Nine.

Yesterday, David "Doc" Sands was moved to the ESPN feature table. As he entered the "arena", his girlfriend, Erika Moutinho was already seated at the table and, well, the two were forced to treat each other as adversaries for the time being.

Queue tonight and, well, things got a little more weird. Once again seated at that same ESPN feature table except, this time, they were seated one next to each other, battling blinds once an orbit. In one hand, Moutinho (sitting the Sands' right) raised Doc's big blind and took down the pot.

It could make for some very interesting TV as we get down in play - to add to the drama? Both are pretty low in chips so one may have to make a move on the other.

We are down to 32 players and Matt Giannetti is our chip leader. He picked up most of his chips off Brazilian Hilton Labroda - whom Phil Hellmuth lambasted for what the Poker Brat described as a terrible call.

Our main man Ben Lamb is still going strong - currently sits third in chips, one of four players with at least 13M chips.

Gregory Kaplan, JP Kelly, Lars Bonding, Phil Collins and Bryan Devonshire are all in the Top 10 - sure looks like we are going to be in for one entertaining November Nine!

Current notable chip stacks at the dinner break:
Matt Giannetti 14,360,000
Ben Lamb 13,035,000
Aleksandr Mozhnyakov 13,005,000
Gregory Kaplan 12,470,000
JP Kelly 10,250,000
Lars Bonding 8,445,000
Phil Collins 8,140,000
Bryan Devonshire 7,875,000
Eoghan O'Dea 5,500,000
Steve Brecher 4,925,000
Pius Heinz 4,550,000
Sam Barnhart 4,395,000
Kyle Johnson 3,185,000
John Esposito 1,965,000
David Sands 1,915,000
Erika Moutinho 1,775,000


It's a tough break for tonight's notable eliminations: Erick Lindgren, Tony Hachem, Mario Silvestri, Ruben Visser, David Bach, Feming Chan, Stefan Huber, Per Linde, Zohair Karim and Sebastien Ruthenberg.


PTPR GRAND SLAM EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
World Series of Poker NLH Main Event
July 17-November, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,000 | Prizepool: $64,531.000 | Entries: 6,865

PTS AT STAKE:
Bracelet Winner 170
Runner-Up 110
3rd place 95
4th place 85
5th place 80
6th place 75
7th place 70
8th place 65
9th place 55
10th place 45
11th place 40
12-14th place 38
15-17th place 35
18-20th place 32
21-23rd place 28
24-27th place 25

2011 WSOP: THE END IS NEAR - ANTER, BINGER LAST PRELIM WINNERS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

We're down to one event remaining at this year's World Series of Poker ... granted, it's THE biggest event on the poker calendar, but, the Main Event is the last shot at glory - and a gold bracelet in 2011.


Two events wrapped up in the last hour ...

EVENT 56 - NO LIMIT HOLD'EM
Hasan Anter wins with a royal flush! That's right, the ultimate nuts in hand, to win your first bracelet - I guess you can say you're running good when that happens, right? Anter scores his first PTPR Points of the season, defeating Nemer Haddad heads up. Added earns his second score of the year.

Ryan Goindoo, Bryn Kenney, 2010 bracelet winner Gavin Smith and Mike Meyers were others in the Top 18.


EVENT 57 - POT LIMIT OMAHA HI-LOW SPLIT 8 OR BETTER
Nick Binger (pictured) beat his brother to it! The fabulous Binger brothers have been terrorizing opponents for a few years now - and Nick reels in the first bracelet for the family! Binger earns his second PTPR Score of the season.

Binger bested 2009 WSOP Player's Champion (then the 50K H.O.R.S.E. World Championship) David Bach heads up. Bach earns his second Top 3 finish at this year's series.

Amongst the other players collecting PTPR Points is Doc Sands - who earns his fifth PTPR Score of the year (Jason Mercier and Max Lykov lead the way with seven).

Other notables included: Bryce Yockey, The Unabomber Phil Laak (who also qualifies for Epic Poker League play with this cash), The Takeover Nick Schulman, Bjorn Verbakel, The Chainsaw Allen Kessler (who suffered a tough bad beat on his way out), Brent Wheeler, Kirill Rabstov, Aleksandr Dovzhenko and Igor Sharaskin.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 56 - No Limit Hold'em
July 5-8, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500 | Prizepool: $4,575,150 | Entries: 3,389

FINAL RESULTS:
HASAN ANTER 145
NEMER HADDAD 95
ANDY PHILACHACK 65
SELIM OULMEKKI 55
JOHN BORZIO 50
JOHN HORVATICH 45
RAYAN NATHAN 45
RYAN GOINDOO 30
JAMES BOYLE 30
BRYN KENNEY 30
BRYAN PARIS 30
GAVIN SMITH 28
MIKE MEYERS 28
STEVE MICHAELIS 28
JANI MIKKOLA 28
YOONJUN PARK 25
BASSEL MOUSSA 25
JASON GRAVATT 25


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 57 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
July 5-8, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,000 | Prizepool: $1,654,400 | Entries: 352

FINAL RESULTS:
NICK BINGER 128
DAVID BACH 78
BRYCE YOCKEY 48
PHIL LAAK 38
TREVOR READER 33
PETER CHARALAMBOUS 28
NICK SCHULMAN 28
BJORN VERBAKEL 13
ALLEN KESSLER 13
BRENT WHEELER 13
KIRILL RABSTOV 13
AUSTIN MARKS 11
PETER LEVINE 11
DAVID DOC SANDS 11
ALEKSANDR DOVZHENKO 11
IGOR SHARASKIN 8
ANDERS TAYLOR 8
GRAYSON NICHOLS 8

2011 WSOP: SINGONTIKO, MATROS SATURDAY NIGHT WINNERS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Only a few events remain at this year's series. Here are two others events that were completed overnight Saturday...

Event 51 - PLO Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
We came back today with 10 players remaining in Event 51. David "Doc" Sands was in line for his first bracelet, as he held a +2:1 chip lead as play started. Shockingly, within a couple of hours, Sands was the first player eliminated on the day.

David Singontiko won the event, besting Michael Yee heads up. Sands collected his fourth PTPR Score of the season while Alexander Wice picked up his third - both cross the century mark in points.

Jeff Gibralter, Igor Sharaskin, Mario Puccin, Fabrizio Gonzalez and Bryce Yockey also finished in the Top 18.


Event 52 - Mixed Hold'em (No Limit, Limit)
It should come as no surprise that a limit hold'em speciliast such as Matt Matros won the event. The former WPT Champion was able to use his skills to his advantage and pickup the golden bracelet.

Matros defeated Jonathan Lane heads up. Lane has had a pretty good ten days - scoring points at the Venetian Deep Stack and at WSOP Event 45 prior to this score.

Other notables scoring PTPR Points in the event included:
Matt Hawrilenko, Nikolay Losev, Noah Boeken, Pieter de Korver, Max Pescatori, Scott Montgomery, Patrick Renkers and Andrey Danilyuk.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 51 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or Better
June 30-July 2, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500 | Prizepool: $1,227,100 | Entries: 946

FINAL RESULTS:
DAVID SINGONTIKO 134
MICHAEL YEE 84
JEFFREY GIBRALTER 54
IGOR SHARASKIN 44
THOMAS SCARBER 39
MARCO OLIVEIRA 34
CLIFF KETTINGER 34
ROBERT CAMPBELL 19
JOHN REISS 19
DAVID SANDS 19
ALEXANDER WICE 19
PAUL VOLPE 17
MARIO PUCCINI 17
DANIEL MATA 17
NEAL LEVIN 17
FABRIZIO GONZALEZ 14
IGOR TRAFANE 14
BRYCE YOCKEY 14

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 52 Mixed Hold'em
June 30-July 2, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500 | Prizepool: $1,319,500 | Entries: 580

FINAL RESULTS:
MATT MATROS 130
JONATHAN LANE 80
MATT HAWRILENKO 50
BRANDON MEYERS 40
BRIAN SMITH 35
NIKOLAY LOSEV 30
NOAH BOEKEN 30
AALOK ARORA 15
ADAM SANDERS 15
DYLAN DRAZEN 15
PIETER DE KORVER 15
MAX PESCATORI 13
DANIEL SINDELAR 13
JASON BERILGEN 13
VINCENT VAN DER FLUIT 13
SCOTT MONTGOMERY 10
PATRICK RENKERS 10
ANDREY DANILYUK 10

2011 WSOP: PAYAN, MONNETTE PICKUP BRACELETS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Short report for you folks tonight.

Event 22 - Pot Limit Omaha
Frenchman Elie Payan captured the title, defeating Doc Sands, Ronald Israelashvili, Benjamin Parker, Michael Kamran and Ryan Welch along the way.

Event 23 - Eight-Game Mix Event
John Monnette picked up the victory and defeated a laundry list of quality opponents: Eric Buchman (who's having a great start to the WSOP), Michele Limongi, Brent Hanks, John Juanda, November Niner John Racener, Rami Boukai, Owais Ahmed, Pispala, Ben Yu, Maya Roca Uribe, Gregory Dyer and Marco Traniello.

Juanda collects his second PTPR Score of the year (both this week at the WSOP) places him a single point off of the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Top 15 Leaderboard.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 22 No Limit Hold'em
June 13-15, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $1,500
Prizepool: $1,445,850
Entries: 1,071

FINAL RESULTS:
ELIE PAYAN 135
RAFE KIBRIT 85
DAVID SANDS 55
JUHA VILKKI 45
STEPHEN WOLFE 40
EMIL PATEL 35
CODY MUNGER 35
JEFF SARWER 20
ROLAND ISRAELASHVILI 20
BENJAMIN PARKER 20
FRANK PEELEN 20
NATHAN GAMBLE 18
MICHAEL KAMRAN 18
RYAN WELCH 18
QUINN DO 18
RICHARD RINKER 15
TIMOTHY SEIDENSTICKER 15
JOHN ORLINA 15


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
2011 World Series of Poker
Event 23 Eight-Game Mix Event
June 13-15, 2011

Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $1,112,475
Entries: 489

FINAL RESULTS:
JOHN MONNETTE 129
ERIC BUCHMAN 79
MICHELE LIMONGI 49
BRENT HANKS 39
DESMOND PORTANO 34
JOHN JUANDA 29
ADAM KORNUTH 29
JOHN RACENER 14
ADAM GEYER 14
RAMI BOUKAI 14
OWAIS AHMED 14
MIKKO PISPALA 12
BEN YU 12
HOOMAN NIKZAD 12
MAYU ROCA URIBE 12
GREGORY DYER 9
ROBERT ROSENGARTEN 9
MARCO TRANIELLO 9

DOWN TO FOUR AT WSOPC HAMMOND, PLUS GRAND PRIX RESULTS

PHOTO CREDIT: WSOP.com


We're down to four players at the first of four WSOP Circuit 10K Regional Championships. Horseshoe Hammond has played host to a eventful final table. Shannon Shore and Dave Doc Sands were hit with cold decks leading to their demise.

Gabe Patgorski holds the chip lead. Jim Anderson, Curt Kohlberg and Bernard Lee are still alive.


In Italy, results from the Poker Grand Prix Main Event were released. Jackson Ginopesi won the event, his first score of the PTPR Season.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Poker Grand Prix
No Limit Hold'em Main Event
October 21-24, 2010

Grand Hotel Billia
Saint Vincent, Italy

Buy-in: $2,081
Prizepool: $278,535
Entries: 138


FINAL RESULTS
GENOPESI JACKSON 35
DI LEVA ETTORE 18
MOCCIA FILIPPO 10
GRECO DAVIDE 8
MOSELE MASSIMO 5