WPT LAPC: Ivey, Esfandiari, Tilly Among Day 2 Chip Leaders

Maybe allegedly blowing his entire Full Tilt Poker bankroll was exactly the motivation Phil Ivey needed to start dominating tournament play again.

Or maybe not. But Ivey has pwned the early stages of many-a-tournament over the past year and hasn't captured a victory, much to the dismay of his many fans.

After two days, Ivey has put himself in position again to make a run at that elusive first WPT title, ending play stacked at 279,000 (fourth overall). Having made six seven WPT final tables (BJ Nemeth, please confirm), Ivey is certainly deserving of a WPT crown. Kind of like how Tilda Swinton was deserving of that Best Supporting Actress win last night for her role in Michael Clayton. Seriously, a Ginger playing a non-Ginger? Someone without a soul playing someone who has a soul? That, our friends, is some serious acting.

Moving on, all LAPC'ers are chasing Daniel Fuhs, who brings the big stack of 397,100 to Day 3 play.

Among the chip leaders include recently named face of the WPT Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari (do people still call him that?), with 245,000. Other big stacks included the big racked Jennifery Tilly (218,700), Haralabos Voulgaris (203,900), Theo Tran (177,500), Mark Seif (145,800), last year's LAPC winner Eric Hershler (129,600), Svetlana Gromenkova, a woman (128,000), Action Dan Harrington (122,700), Anna Wroblewski, a woman (115,000), Toto Leonidas (112,300), David Singer (109,500), Kenna James (104,300), and Mark Newhouse (99,300).

Get full chip counts here.

Comments

[BJ Nemeth]

Thanks for picking up my slack, Slim. Wicked Chops is usually my first-in-the-morning stop rather than my last-at-night stop. Of course, Slim is correct.

Phil Ivey has made seven WPT final tables, finishing in every spot from 2nd to 6th without ever finishing first. Even more unusual, he's never finished in the money at a WPT event *without* reaching the final table. Ivey has cashed seven times, and reached seven WPT final tables -- winning zero.

At the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in December, Ivey was a dominant chipleader heading into the money day, and somehow flamed out three spots away from the money. When he goes deep in a WPT event, he goes all the way. Well, *almost* all the way.

In my mind, one of Phil's most impressive feats was making four final tables in a row in major championship events. From March '05 to May '05, Ivey final tabled the WSOP Circuit Championship at the Rio (8th place), the WPT World Poker Challenge in Reno (3rd place), the WPT World Championship at Bellagio (6th place), and the WSOP Circuit Championship at Lake Tahoe (2nd place). While the WSOP Circuit has lost a lot of luster in recent years, that year featured $10,000 entry fees, ESPN coverage, and fields packed with the best pros in the world.

Ivey's string of final tables isn't as impressive as Johnny Chan's poker dominance of 1987-1989, but remember that Ivey was also facing larger post-Moneymaker fields.

Okay, I'll stop now.

[slim]

Ivey = 7 final tables. He final tabled the Mirage this season.