Tournament Details

The LA Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino has long been an important stop on the tournament circuit, but this year the event became something more. Thanks to the coverage on the World Poker Tour, the event became a lesson in "the art of the bluff."

One hundred thirty-six players reached into their pockets for just over $10,000 apiece to create a prize pool of over $1.3 million. The Final Table made for an interesting day, complete with a WPT third place runner-up trying to make it to the winner’s circle, a champion looking for a repeat win, and an amateur/underdog to root for.

"Underdog" is a little misleading since Daniel Rentzer came to the table as chip leader, but everyone in attendance figured he’d need all of his chips to fend off the likes of pros Andrew Bloch, David "The Dragon" Pham and the hard charging Dane, Gus Hansen, winner of the WPT’s inaugural event.

Hansen set the tone of play early. Bloch, with an A,8 off-suit raised the blinds to $18,000. Hansen, with just a 4,2 off-suit, called. After the flop and turn gave a 9,8,5,10 Hansen bet another 18 thousand, and Bloch called. The river was a J, a 4-card straight showing, and Hansen, with absolutely nothing, bet $36,000. Bloch folded his hand. Thus the bluff-fest began.

Las Vegas casino developer Bob Stupak was the first to go. Short-stacked, Stupak went all in with pocket 5’s only to see Bloch turn over pocket J’s which held up. Stupak walked from the table in 6th place with almost $47,000 in prize money.

Next was the other amateur at the table, Steve Shkolnik, a film industry production manager. Steve couldn’t afford to wait for a better hand and went all in with a Q,8 of hearts. He was called first by Rentzer, with a pair of 7’s, and then by Hansen with a 5,3 off suit! WPT host Mike Sexton decided Hansen’s nickname should be "Flop" because of the player’s propensity to play through the flop. Once again it proved wise as the flop came 10,3,3. Hansen’s set held up as he added Shkolnik’s chips to his own. Steve went home in 5th place with just over $53,000.

In the next hand, Hansen scored a back-to-back knock-out when his A,Q held up against David Pham’s A,8 all-in bet. Pham’s 4th place finish rewarded him with $80,000 for his troubles.

Now three-handed, the play was fast and loose, each player taking turns winning hands--sometimes bluffing, sometimes sandbagging, sometimes staving off disaster with great reads.

Finally, Hansen took all of Bloch’s chips and Bloch had to be satisfied with his second WPT third-place finish, and the $125,460 that came with it.

At this point, heads up, Hansen was the chip leader, but the 25 year-old engineering student could not be intimidated and would not go without a fight. Matching the Dane’s bluffing bravado, and seeing his own luck on the community cards, Rentzer eventually re-took the chip lead over Hansen by a margin of 8:5.

But the day was not to be one for an upset. On the very next hand, with both players having a pair of A’s after the flop, Hansen’s second card, a 6, paired up as Rentzer’s Jack went unmatched. The $800,000 pot went to Hansen, who regained a 3:1 advantage in chips.

After all of the exciting, bluff-filled play, it was Hansen’s successive strong hands that beat Rentzer’s own playable hands, as Hansen became the first WPT repeat champ, pocketing over half a million in first prize money.

Rentzer was a winner in his own right, though, walking away not only with over a quarter of a million dollars and the $25,000 seat in the WPT finals (usually given to the champion, who in this case already had one), but also with the respect of some seasoned pros.

That kind of haul will buy a lot of pizzas for a college.

This tournament is included in the World Poker Tour Season One DVD Collection.