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What at first appeared to be a short day in the making turned out to be a
drawn-out affair at the LA Poker Classic. Day Four started with a mere 27
players, only a drop in the bucket compared to the 693 who started two days
before in the ballroom at Commerce Casino. There was a strong Hollywood duo
among the players still alive to kick off the fourth day of action. James
Woods, once an inhabitant of the Losers' Lounge on Celebrity Poker Showdown,
found himself in the middle of the pack of a major tournament with $438,000 in
chips after a dramatic (and correct) call on Day Three. "I'm playing the
greatest poker of my life," he said the previous day. Keeping with the
Hollywood theme, Extra TV reporter Jon Kelley brought a strong $751,000 stack
to the table on Day Four. Both men had a real chance of advancing to the TV
table as play began for the day.
The action started quickly. First Tom Macey moved in with A-K suited but lost
to Sweden's Per Ummer, who held a pair of tens. Short-stacked Genefredo
Legaspi was knocked out, as was Chris Bigler, who was crippled in a
confrontation with JC Tran and then eliminated on the next hand by Jon Luu.
Then one of the tournament's great potential stories was wiped out when James
Woods raised out of the small blind with Q-Q and was essentially committed to
calling when Michael Woo re-raised from the big blind with A-A. Woods left in
good spirits to a round of applause from the spectators in attendance. Before
the first two hours of play were done, Roy Winston, Bruce Parker, Tony Luu,
and Damon Ahmadi would also be knocked out.
Hand-for-hand play started with Ahmadi's elimination, as did the first level
break of the day. As might be expected, things slowed down here. Anahit
Galajian managed to double up in hand-for-hand play before Rodeen Talebi left
the tournament in 19th place and new seats were drawn. She again doubled up
her $167,000 stack against John Gale just minutes later, giving her ammunition
that would keep her alive for the rest of the day. Before the blinds advanced
to $10,000-$20,000 with $3,000 antes, Per Ummer grabbed a huge pot from Brian
McCann with J-J and took the chip lead. Then Bill Gazes was knocked out as
soon as the next level began when his 4-4 fell to Alan Goehring's A-J, and the
players went on dinner break.
The next hour of play progressed slowly, with the short stacks doubling up and
lots of pots being taken without showdowns. At the end of the hour Jon
Kelley's run ended when he couldn't win his coin-flip with A-Q against Steven
Simmons' J-J. Brian McCann left quickly after Kelley when his A-A was cracked
by Kevan Casey's flopped set of queens. The level break didn't do anything to
slow the action down - Danny Noam moved in with A-Q right after the break and
ran into Alan Goehring's Q-Q. It would be another hour and a half before there
was another elimination, giving Anahit Galajian, Juha Helppi, and John Gale
plenty of time to get active. It was Finland's Helppi who finally went out in
13th to move things along, moving in with A-J and finding himself dominated by
Alan Goehring's A-K.
After the blinds went up to $15,000-$30,000 with a $5,000 ante, it wasn't long
before John Gale was eliminated. The Englishman caught bottom pair on a ragged
board and got his chips in, but Daniel Quach hit top pair and it held to send
Gale home 12th. Just ten minutes later, Mark Weidmann moved in with K-K, but
Per Ummer's A-Q outdrew Weidmann and ousted him in 11th place. That ended play
for the day, leaving only 10 players to compete for the championship when Day
Five began.
End Of Day Four Chip Counts
1. Per Ummer 2,455,000
2. Alan Goehring 2,315,000
3. Kevan Casey 2,030,000
4. Michael Woo 1,665,000
5. Daniel Quach 1,425,000
6. Steven Simmons 1,270,000
7. JC Tran 1,245,000
8. Michael McClain 665,000
9. Anahit Galajian 480,000
10. David Chiu 305,000
Day Four Money Winners
11th Mark Weidmann - $73,075
12th John Gale - $73,075
13th Juha Helppi - $59,789
14th Danny Noam - $59,789
15th Brian McCann - $59,789
16th Jon Kelley - $46,502
17th Kelly Kim - $46,502
18th Bill Gazes - $46,502
19th Rodeen Talebi - $39,859
20th Damon Ahmadi - $39,859
21st Jon Luu - $39,859
22nd Bruce Parker - $39,859
23rd Roy Winston - $39,859
24th James Woods - $39,859
25th Chris Bigler - $39,859
26th Genefredo Legaspi - $39,859
27th Tom Macey - $39,859
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