Well known poker players such as David "Chino" Rheem, Maria Ho, and John "The Razo" Pham sat face-to-face across the felt with the good, the bad, and the ugly on February 4, 2010, for a shot at being declared a heads-up champion. Both rank amateur and celebrity poker pros alike turned out for the affordable Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em tournament during the 2010 LA Poker Classic held at Commerce Casino and competed for the $71, 680 prize pool.
It was a tough field, and several popular pros did not make it past the first round. The bad beat stories where buzzing in the ballroom, and the chief complaint overheard was, "he just wouldn't fold." Those skilled or lucky few (depending on who is telling the story) that survived the 3rd match up were in the money, and the prize pool paid 32 players a minimum of $900 each. Play continued until two o'clock in the morning, until there where only 4 players left.
Michael Kamran of Los Angeles, CA; Dash Dudley of Manhattan Beach, CA; Josh Cheong of La Mirada, CA; and, the only out-of-towner, Nick Civitarese of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, returned in the early evening on Friday, February 5th to determine who would take home the $17,860 first place prize money, the coveted Trophy, the watch, and a $10,000 seat to the WPT LAPC Championship event.
In the end, Michael Kamran (who simply could not loose against Dash Dudley) took it down and will soon have his picture posted among the others along the winners' wall in the ballroom at the Commerce Casino. Congratulations Michael, well played.
The next heads-up event is the $10,000 Commerce Heads-Up No Limit Championship on February 23, 2010 at 4:00 p.m. There is a $1,300 8-handed qualifier set for 8:00 p.m. on February 21, 2010 and a $2,550 4-handed qualifier set for 8:00 p.m. on February 22, 2010.
Commerce Casino is the largest poker casino in the world with more than 200 poker tables and is located at 6131 East Telegraph Rd., Commerce, CA 90040, just off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway at the Washington Blvd. exit. The phone is (323) 721-2100.
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