Cornel Cimpan wins L.A. Poker Classic

As reported by Card Player: "The final six players in the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic took their seats at 4 p.m. today at the final table in the $10,000 no-limit hold'em championship event of this marquee tournament series. Here is a look at the starting stacks when the final table began:

"1: Chris Karagulleyan -- 4,080,000
2: Mike Sowers -- 2,405,000
3: Pat Walsh -- 2,200,000
4: Binh Nguyen -- 1,895,000
5: Cornel Cimpan -- 1,740,000
6: Chris Ferguson -- 1,565,000

"It took 66 hands before the first player fell and it was the most notable professional at the table who was the first victim. Chris Ferguson busted in sixth place and he took home $240,538 in prize money. Pat Walsh was able to double up a few times after that on a short stack but he was the second player to leave the table in fifth place ($310,694) 96 hands into play. Things picked up in speed after that as the blinds and antes left players with 20 big blinds on average and the next two players fell quickly. Chris Karagulleyan was eliminated in fourth place ($430,963) and Mike Sowers fell in third place ($654,797).

"That left Binh Nguyen, who stormed to the chip lead heading into the heads-up match, and Cornel Cimpan who tread the path of survival to make the final two. The heads-up match lasted five and a half hours, with Nguyen running over Cimpan at the start, only to see Cimpan flop two pair when Nguyen had him dominated preflop to prolong the match. That process repeated itself three times as Cimpan continued to double up until he took the chip lead. In the end Cimpan won the tournament shortly before 3 a.m. and he walked away with $1,686,760 in prize money. Nguyen was the runner up, taking home $935,424 in prize money..."