Daniel Strelitz Triumphs at WPT L.A. Main Event for $1M

The 2017 World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic Main Event was held at the Commerce Casino, with a total of 521 people paying a $10,000 entry fee to create a prize pool worth $5,001,600. Six days of action later, and it was Southern California resident Daniel Strelitz who would eventually take down the title, and its $1,001,110 top prize, after which he commented:
“I feel amazing, it’s really unbelievable. Me making this run just feels so good, especially since I’ve been living in SoCal my whole life. This is the biggest tournament you can win in SoCal and to just win it is unbelievable.”
Amongst Strelitz’s previous biggest cashes was a 24th place finish at the 2012 WSOP Main Event for $294,601, and a runner-up finish at the 2016 WSOP $5k No Limit Hold’em event for $338,774. Following his victory in Los Angeles, Strelitz now increases his career earnings to $2,664,160.
The WPT L.A. Main Event was packed with talented pros, and amongst those finishing in one of its 68 paid money spot was Maria Ho in 61st ($17,150), Mohsin Charania in 41st ($23,990), Gavin Griffin in 30th ($27,780), Rainer Kempe in 18th ($53,760), Dzmitry Urbanovich in 11th ($80,280), Joseph Serock in 8th ($128,650), and Matt Berkey in 7th ($161,320).
The final table of six also featured a slew of notable pros, including WSOP bracelet winner Jesse Martin, and poker Hall of Famer Mike Sexton. In the end, however, it was left up to Daniel Strelitz to duke it out with Bulgaria’s Simeon Naydenov for the title, a player who in 2013 won a gold bracelet at the WSOP $3k No-Limit Hold’em Shootout event for $326,440.
As the final battle commenced, the players were fairly even in chips, but 40 hands later and Strelitz had managed to move in front to a 2-to-1 lead when the deciding hand was played. Naydenov (K-Q) reraised all-in on a Q-7-6-8 board, prompting a swift call from Strelitz (5-4) who had just made a straight. With no way to improve, Simeon Naydenov had to then settle for a runner-up finish worth $672,190, while Daniel Strelitz captured his first ever major title, as well as his biggest score to date.
Final Table Results:
1: Daniel Strelitz $1,001,110
2: Simeon Naydenov $672,190
3: Jared Griener $431,340
4: Mike Sexton $300,690
5: Jesse Martin $230,380
6: Richard Tuhrim $191,490