The 2018 L.A. Poker Classic at Commerce Casino on the outskirts of Los Angeles had a pair of WPT events running this week. Alex Foxen won the $25,500 buy-in Rockstar Energey High Roller for a $425K score after he faded a field of 50 high ballas. Meanwhile, the WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event is down to the final table. Aussie Millions champ Toby Lewis is the chip leader with six remaining. First place pays out $1 million. Can anyone stop Lewis? Among those still alive... Dennis Blieden, Peter Hengsakul, Marc Macdonnell, Manuel Martinez, and Derek Wolters. The final table will be streamed on PokerGO.

And then there were six. The 2018 L.A. Poker Classic Main Event had a $10K price tag and attracted 493 runners to the Commerce Casino in Commerce, California. A cool $1 million was set aside for first place. The total prize pool exceeded $4.6 million. Going into Day 5, only 13 players were vying for the seven-figure score. When the dust settled, only six remained.
Dennis Blieden went into the fifth day of action at the LAPC with the big stack. He managed to survive the carnage as the field trimmed down the last vestiges of fat to get down to the lean, mean final table. Blieden bagged up the second most chips behind Toby Lewis. Also advancing to the final table... Peter Hengsakul, Marc Macdonnell, Manny Martinez, and Derek Wolters. Alas, Manny Martinez is the short stack.
If Toby Lewis sounds familiar, it should be. Lewis binked the Aussie Millions last month. The British pro banked $1.1 million USD for his victory Down Under. Now, he's got his sights set on a WPT crown. Only five other players stand in his way. The Brit won over $4.3 million in tournaments, which was good enough for #11 on the all-time money list from Great Britain. If Lewis finishes fifth or better, he'll pass Jake Cody and move into the U.K.'s Top 10.
Anthony Zinno went into Day 5 with a shot at making history. He was trying to win the LAPC a second time, in addition to winning his fourth WPT title. With three WPT titles, Zinno was tied with a handful of other players for most WPT crowns. Alas, Zinno fell short in his attempt at poker history when he busted in 8th place. Rough ending for Zinno despite his deep run.
Greg Paryani bubbled off the final table in seventh place. The remaining six locked up at least $186K (sixth place money), but all the cheesecake is up top. The runner-up will walk away with $600K while the champ gets to fondle $1 million in Benjamins.
Notables who cashed in the LAPC included... Phil Hellmuth, Zach Smiley, Aaron Kaiser, Garrett Greer, Ben Zamani, Jeremy White, Chance Kornuth, Craig Chait, Chase Bianchi, Josh Kay, Mike Sowers, Richie Wu, Billy Baxter, Tan Nguyen, Mike Del Vecchio, Joe McKeehen, Andy Frankenberger, Kristina Holst, Will the Thrill, Sam Phillips, Jean Gaspard, Wall Fisher, Mesha James, Tony Spinella, Eddy Sabat, Ben Keeline, and Rainer Kempe.
Who is going to win $1 million plus a free seat in the Tournament of Champions? Tune in to PokerGO to find out. The final table will be streamed starting at 4:30pm local time (a.k.a. 4:30pm PT).
2018 WPT L.A. Poker Classic
Buy-in: $10,000
Entrants: 493
Prize Pool: $4,681,035
Payouts: 62
Final Table Payouts:
1. $1,000,000
2. $600,630
3. $430,210
4. $319,310
5. $244,430
6. $186,235
Final Table Chips:
Toby Lewis 5,390,000
Dennis Blieden 4,125,000
Marc Macdonnell 1,695,000
Derek Wolters 1,520,000
Peter Hengsakul 1,065,000
Manuel Martinez 985,000
Meanwhile, there was also a $25K high roller at this year's L.A. Poker Classic. The Monster Energy High Roller was taped for TV. This high balla affair attracted 50 runners. Alex Foxen bested a final table that featured tough foes... Nick Petrangelo, Maria Ho, Sam Panzica, Eli Berg, and Isaac Baron.
Foxen held a sizable lead when heads-up began. Foxen picked off Nick Petrangelo to win the MONSTER Energy title. First place paid out $424K for Foxen, while Petrangleo walked away with $283K for a runner-up's share. Maria Ho went deep with a third-place finish and a payday worth nearly $189K.
Only seven places paid out in this $25K High Roller. Darren Elias bubbled the final table when he busted in seventh place.
Other notables who went deep, yet failed to cash included... Cary Katz, Danny Alaei, Bll Klein, Phong Turbo Nguyen, Griffin Paul, Ryan Reiss, Tim Reilly, Olivier Busquet, David Peters, and Rainer Kempe.
L.A.P.C. MONSTER Energy High Roller
Buy-in: $25,500
Runners: 50
Prize Pool: $1,250,000
Payouts: 7
Final Table Results:
1. Alex Foxen $424,625
2. Nick Petrangelo $283,250
3. Maria Ho $188,875
4. Sam Panzica $131,000
5. Eli Berg $94,625
6. Isaac Baron $71,375