Koroknai Takes Home a Huge First-Place Prize Worth $1,788,001

The final table of the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 no-limit hold’em championship event took place today at Commerce Casino. The final six players emerged from a large field of 745 but only one of them would walk away with $1,788,001 and the title of WPT L.A. Poker Classic champion. Here is what the table looked like when cards got into the air this evening:

Seat 1: Jean-Claude Moussa — 1,360,000
Seat 2: Gevork Kasabyan — 2,000,000
Seat 3: Tri Huynh — 2,565,000
Seat 4: Raymond Dolan — 3,300,000
Seat 5: Michael Kamran — 680,000
Seat 6: Andras Koroknai — 4,995,000 (pictured right with friends)

The play down stretch to this final table was a long affair. It took the final 22 players 14 hours to reach the final six on Tuesday, Mar. 2, so the pace of play at the beginning of this final table came as a bit of a surprise. Michael Kamran was eliminated in sixth place ($246,744) and J.C. Moussa fell in fifth place ($321,840) during the first 35 minutes of play.

After that things returned to normal and the final four players settled into their seats for a long ride. The energy of fans and supporters in the crowd kept things interesting throughout the night and no big move went down without a loud reaction from the attendees in the room. During the course of three hours at the final table three players managed to double up but not one player hit the rail. The crowds spirits were never diminished as they cheered on each double up as if the person who had survived had just won the tournament.

The cheers were dampened a little bit when Gevork Kasabyan hit the rail in fourth place and he took home $450,580 in prize money. He also took home his section of the crowd but the final three competitors pressed forward. Andras Koroknai doubled up through Raymond Dolan soon after Kasabyan’s departure and then he busted Tri Huynh in third place ($665,136).

The two hands all but won him the tournament. He took a massive chip stack worth 13,450,000 into the final heads-up battle against Dolan, who held only 1,450,000. Dolan moved all of his chips into the middle on the first hand of heads-up play with Q-4 in the hole against the QHeart Suit 8Heart Suit of Koroknai. The final board ran out 10Heart Suit 9Heart Suit 4Diamond Suit 7Spade Suit KHeart Suit
to give Dolan a slight lead on the flop, but the river gave Koroknai a flush for the tournament win.

Dolan was eliminated in second place and he took home $1,002,710. Koroknai was mobbed by the group of supporters that had cheered him on so enthusiastically after the win and they finished off their exuberance by tossing him into the air in celebration of the victory. Along with the approval of his comrades, Koroknai was awarded $1,788,001 in prize money along with a WPT bracelet, a watch, and a Commerce trophy.

Final-Table Results:

1: Andras Korovakai — $1,788,001
2: Raymond Dolan — $1,002,710
3: Tri Huynh — $665,136
4: Gevork Kasabyan — $450,576
5: J.C. Moussa — $321,840
6: Michael Kamran — $246,744

by Ryan Lucchesi | Published: Mar 04, 2010 from cardplayer.com

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