Four-way Preflop All-In Results in Three Early Eliminations
Paul Smith opened the pot with an all-in raise from early position for about 17,000. Sitting to Smith's immediate left was fellow short stack Ray Qurtomy who made the call for all of his chips -- approximately 8,000. Action then folded to Alberto Cerdeiro, Commerce's last remaining First Steps qualifier, who made the call. Two more folds brought the action to Poker Battle's Nenad Medic, who considered a call but eventually folded. Next to act was Bryan, who opted for a reraise, making it 60,000 to go. No newcomers joined in, so the action returned to Cerdeiro who decided to move all in for about 110,000. Bryan made the call, setting the stage for the following four-way preflop showdown:
Smith:
Qurtomy:
Cerdeiro:
Bryan:
The board then ran out and Bryan's aces held strong to take down the pot, sending Smith, Qurtomy and Cerdeiro to the rail. The win shot Bryan a little further up the leaderboard as he now sits with approximately 340,000 in chips. Cerdiero, Smith and Qurtomy finished in 59th, 60th and 61st place respectively and each will take home $23,052 in prize money.
As a participant in Commerce's First Steps promotion, Cerdeiro also won a $10,000 seat into the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic for being the last First Steps qualifier standing. Were he to have gone on to win the championship, he would've received an additional $50,000 from Commerce, in addition to the seat. After the buzz from the hand simmered down, Tournament Director Matt Savage informed the room that Cerdeiro is officially the first player registered for the 2010 L.A.P.C.