WPT LA Poker Classic Down To 54; Ivey The Bubble Boy

In total, the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic attracted a top flight field of 549 players to the prestigious tournament, all hoping to walk away with the $1,370,240 first place prize.
By the end of end of Day 3, however, the 54 place money bubble burst bringing a halt to the action, whilst guaranteeing all the remaining competitors at least a payout of $21,080.
Included amongst those players hitting the rail on the day were such notable names as Phil Hellmuth, Vanessa Rousso Andrew Lichtenberger, Hoyt Corkins, Erick Lindgren, Scott Seiver, Yevgenij Timoshenko, Nick Schulman, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman and Liv Boeree.
In addition, Phil Ivey attracted quite a bit of media attention this week after entering the tournament, which was his first on U.S. soil since the start of Black Friday.
Phil Ivey then seemed to progress well until towards the end Day 3, when AJ Jejelowo (6-6) raised to 12k from the button, only then to re-re-raise Ivey (A-10) all-in for 111,500 with Ivey making the call. The K-9-8-4-Q board then reduced Ivey to 70k (14 BBs), and a few hands later he exited the competition as the Bubble Boy after being dealt pocket sixes but running into the pocket Kings of Dave Baker.
On the other side of the coin, amongst those players progressing to Day 4 at the top of the field were a whole slew of notable names, including second from top chip leader Jason Somerville, who recently became the ‘first openly gay male professional poker pro’ after announcing the news via his blog post on Valentine’s Day.
Here are the top chip counts going into Day 4:
1 Tuan Phan 1.14m
2 Jason Somerville 860k
3 Joe Tehan 831k
4 Casey Stewart 791k
5 Larry Greenberg 707k
6 Noah Schwartz 685k
7 Larry Lipman 571k
8 Tom Marchese 530k
9 Badih Bounahra 495k
Other notable names still in contention include David Sands, Joe Hachem, Matt Marafioti, Sorel Mizzi and Christian Harder.