World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic: Bubble Bursts and Newhouse Ends Day in the Top Spot
Day 3 of the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic Main Event began with 186 players, and by the time it ended, 72 remained and all the players were in the money.
The chip leader going into the fourth day of play is Mark Newhouse. If Newhouse rides out this chip lead to the end, he will capture his second WPT title. With two double-ups early in the day, holding ace-king both times, Newhouse increased his stack and held on to it from there, ending the day with 498,000. Close on his heels, however, are Chris Moore, Masa Kagawa, John Cautela, and Shawn Pilot, who are all over the 400,000 chip mark.
Joining them in Day 4 and still in the hunt for the $1.7 million first-place prize are Vanessa Rousso, Erica Schoenberg, Hoyt Corkins, Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, Carlos Mortensen, Johnny Chan, Prahlad Friedman, and Vivek Rajkumar.
Plenty of recognizable faces began the day; however, not all would reach Day 4 or the money. Howard Lederer, Jennifer Tilly, Barry Greenstein, and Paul Wasicka, among others, are all out of the hunt.
Thomas Fuller earned the "Bubble Boy" title when he was eliminated in 73rd place. His A♠K♠ was no match for his opponent's A♦A♥. Fuller's elimination guaranteed the rest of the field at least $18,595 each.
A look at the top ten chip counts:
1. Mark Newhouse - 498,000
2. Chris Moore - 489,000
3. Masa Kagawa - 432,000
4. John Cautela - 417,000
5. Shawn Pilot - 400,500
6. Millad Jorshari - 386,000
7. Gevork Kasabyan - 378,000
8. Tim Begley - 369,500
9. Tri Huynh - 353,000
10. Dan Martin - 335,000
Play resumes at noon at the Commerce, where they will be playing down to 27. You can follow the action at WorldPokerTour.com.
