Binh Nguyen raises to $250,000 on the button and Pat Walsh reraises to $950,000 from the big blind. Nguyen puts Walsh all-in and after some thought, the Missourian makes the call, turning up A 2 against Nguyen's A J.

Walsh is going to need bocoo help to stay alive, and after the flop comes T T 7 he picks up some chop outs. The turn is the 3, however, and the river the 5. The jack plays and Nguyen takes the pot, busting Walsh in fifth place for a $310,694 payday.

Action continues four-handed.

As we started writing this post, Binh Nguyen had just built his stack to above the $6 million mark, but dude just shipped a massive pot to Mike Sowers and has relinquished the chip lead.

Here's the story:

So, Nguyen was chip leader when he raised to $225,000 from the button and saw Pat Walsh make the call in the big blind. The flop came T 9 4 and Walsh checked to Nguyen, who bet $300,000. 

Walsh made the call and the turn was the 5. Again, Walsh checked to Nguyen, who this time bet out $600,000. Again, Walsh called.

The river was the 7 and both players checked. Nguyen turned up K T for top pair, tens, and it was good to take a $2.35 million pot.

Binh winning, Binh losing!

Nguyen would further bolster his advantage on the very next hand, raising from the cut-off and getting a call from Chris Karagulleyan in the big blind. 

The two players checked to the river on a K K T 2 7 board before Karagulleyan bet out $425,000. Nguyen tanked before calling and took down the pot with A-7 for two pair.

But just moments ago ...

Sowers raised to $250,000 on the button and Nguyen reraised to $750,000 in the small blind. Action folded back to Sowers, who moved all-in for $2.81 million, and Nguyen tanked for about a year before deciding to make the call.

Sowers turned up K Q and was racing for his tournament life against Nguyen's 7 7.

The board came Q 5 3 5 T and Sowers took the pot with queens-up, doubling through Nguyen and taking over the chip lead with $5,760,000 to his name.

UPDATE: Pat Walsh has been eliminated. Stay tuned.

Down to scratch not long ago, Pat Walsh has made the most of a couple of smooth double-ups and is now back to around the chip average as play continues five-handed.

First, Walsh doubled through Cornel Cimpan for $760,000 when he got all-in with A Q against Cimpan's A J.

The board came K 6 3 A T and the queen played, giving Cimpan the pot and doubling him up to $1.7 million.

Then, having seen his stack drop to $1.24 million, Walsh open-shoved all-in from the cut-off and saw Mike Sowers move all-in over the top to isolate. 

Nobody else wanted to play, and Sowers turned up A J to race Walsh's pocket tens for the latter's tournament life.

Binh Nguyen-ing plenty pots!

The flop came T 8 5, giving Walsh the set, and after the board finished out 2 5 Walsh made a boat, enough to double through Sowers and build his stack to $2.71 million.

Sowers is now down to $1.63 million.

On the topic of chip leader, however, you'll want to take a long look at Binh Nguyen, who just assumed the mantle after taking the following pot from Cimpan:

Nguyen limped in from the small blind and Cimpan checked his option in the big. The flop came Q J 8 and Nguyen led out for $125,000. Cimpan made the call and the turn was the A.

Nguyen checked this time, and Cimpan bet $300,000. Nguyen raised to $900,000 and Cimpan laid it down, conceding the pot to the boy.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson has been eliminated from this event, taking sixth place for a $240,538 payday. 

In his climactic hand, Ferguson raised to $300,000 out of the small blind and Cornel Cimpan defended in the big blind. The flop came T 8 8 and Ferguson checked to Cimpan, who put the Full Tilt pro all-in.

Ferguson tanked, giving the matter his careful consideration before ultimately making the call for his last $1,350,000, turning up A K and finding himself behind Cimpan's 4 4.

According to the world-famous PokerListings.com odds calculator , Ferguson is a 60-40 dog in this hand and will need some help to stay alive.

The turn is the 6, giving Ferguson a few more outs to stay alive, but the river card is the 3 and the fours play, giving Cimpan the pot and sending Jesus to the rail.

We're now five-handed here at Commerce.

Mike Sowers is making a strong push to take down his first-ever WPT title, having taken a massive pot from Chris "Jesus" Ferguson moments ago. In fact, the boy has been in the center of most of the most notable hands from the last few rounds of play.

Here's a rundown:

First, Sowers defended his big blind against a preflop raise by Cornel Cimpan, and both players checked to the river when the board came A K Q K 3.

On fifth street, Sowers bet out $325,000 and got a call from his opponent, who mucked when SowersUNCC turned up A-7 for aces-up.

A few hands later, Sowers gave it back to Cimpan, plus interest.

No miracles!

The kid raised to $200k from middle position and Cimpan called in the small blind. The flop came K 3 2 and Cimpan check-called a $325,000 bet from Sowers.

The turn was the Q and both players checked, but when the river brought the K, Cimpan again check-called, this time for $520,000.

Sowers turned up 9 8 for nine-high, and Cimpan showed pocket sevens for two pair to take the pot.

Then, just moments ago, Sowers raised to $200k in the cut-off and Ferguson made the call in the small blind.

The flop came J 8 2 and Ferguson checked to Sowers, who bet out $250,000. The Full Tilt pro moved all-in over the top and Sowers snap-called for his last $1,090,000, turning up a pocket pair of kings to counter Fergie's Q J.

The turn was the K, ending the suspense early, and Sowers had doubled through Ferguson to the tune of $2,920,000. Ferguson is down to his last $990,000.

Chris "Jesus" Ferguson has pulled himself back out of the danger zone here at the final table of the World Poker Tour's Los Angeles Poker Classic, showing no fear when it comes to getting his short stack in the middle preflop, and thus far avoiding getting looked up when he does so.

Ferguson has managed to pull his stack up to just below $2 million, having picked up $260k from Pat Walsh by shipping over the top of Walsh's preflop raise.

Later, he also scooped $200k from Mike Sowers after defending his blind against SowersUNCC and inducing a fold by betting the river on a Q 4 3 K 7 board.

Meanwhile, Chris Karagulleyan has taken the biggest pot of the final table thus far, also at Walsh's expense.

Walsh raised to $290,000 from the cut-off, and Karagulleyan made the call on the button. The flop came T T 4 and Walsh led out for $300k. Karagulleyan made the call and the turn was the 4, prompting cheers from the spectator gallery, most of whom, it seems, had never seen a double-paired board before.

Walsh checked to Karagulleyan, who bet $500,000 into the $1.6 million pot. After some thought, Walsh folded out and C-K took the pot.

We've just had a tape-change break, but the cards are back in the air from the Crowne Ballroom at Commerce.

 

Chris Ferguson opened the first big hand of the final table with a raise to $160,000 and was called by Cornel Cimpan in the cut-off. The flop came J 8 2 and both players checked.

The turn was the 6, and Ferguson check-called a $175,000 wager from his rival.

The river was the T and again Ferguson check-called, this time for $225,000. Cimpan turned up a pocket pair of queens and the Full Tilt pro mucked, conceding the pot and diminishing his stack to less than $1 million.

Ferguson would move all-in twice in a row a few hands later, getting no callers and taking down the blinds and antes. He's still the short stack, but the blinds and antes are still small enough that Jesus is in no grave danger yet.

Meanwhile, Chris Karagulleyan has relinquished the chip lead to Binh Nguyen. Nguyen took a big pot from Cimpan on the 12th hand at the final table when the two players got into a raising war on a 9 7 4 flop that saw Cimpan check-raise Nguyen's $200k c-bet to $600k.

Undeterred, Nguyen moved all-in over the top for $1.735 million, and Cimpan was forced to lay it down.

Nguyen has since added a number of small pots and is the chip leader with more than $3 million to his name.

Mike and Vince have done their bit and the cards are now in the air from the final table in Commerce. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion to this marquee event!

Welcome back to the Commerce Casino and the TV final table of the 2009 Los Angeles Poker Classic. From an initial starting field of 696 souls, we've distilled the field down to the final six, an exclusive contingent that includes Jesus, an Internet whiz kid and a throwback WPT champion.

WPT Season 1 Legends of Poker champ Chris Karagulleyan enters the day as chip leader, and Team Full Tilt pro Chris "Jesus" Ferguson brings up the rear, with online sensation Mike "SowersUNCC" Sowers second in chips as we prepare to get under way.

Cards will be in the air in about a half-hour, so keep it locked on PokerListings.com and we'll make sure you've got all you need from the final table of the LAPC!