Tournament: Andras Koroknai wins WPT LA Poker Classic

Hungarian Andras Koroknai outlasted a field of the top players in the game to win the World Poker Tour's LA Poker Classic US$10,000 buy-in Main Event.

Koroknai went into the final table as the chip leader and went wire-to-wire to win the US$1.78 million first prize. Raymond Dolan, a Huntington Beach resident and regular on the Southern California poker scene, finished second and took home just over US$1 million.

The action at the final table started fast and furious, with the first two players eliminated in less than an hour. California native Michael Kamran, who entered the final table as the short stack, pushed in all of his chips with ten-seven suited. Fellow Angelino Gevork Kasabyan called with ace-jack offsuit. Kamran flopped an open-ended straight draw and paired his seven on the turn, but the river card was an ace, knocking out Kamran in sixth place and earning him US$246,774.

Play slowed down for several hours until the deciding heads-up match. Koroknai had an overpowering nine-to-one chip lead on Dolan at the start of heads-up play. On the first hand of their heads-up match, Dolan moved in all of his chips with queen-four offsuit and Koroknai called with queen-eight of hearts. Dolan caught a glimmer of hope on the flop when he paired his four, but Koroknai flopped a flush draw and filled his flush on the river for the win.

The victory was the first of Koroknai's career and his biggest payday by far. Many members of the Hungarian community in Los Angeles came to the Commerce Casino to watch the action and root on their native son. At times, the atmosphere resembled a World Cup soccer match rather than a poker tournament final table. With the win, Koroknai also qualified for the US$25,000 buy-in WPT Championship no-limit Texas Holdem Main Event at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas this spring.

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