Poppa PokerRoad Barry Greenstein was oh-so-close to walking away from a tournament without having to give away a copy of his classic tome “Ace On The River” yesterday, during a $2,000 preliminary event at the LA Poker Classic, but unfortunately the last man he had to beat, beat “The Bear” instead. 

Despite entering the final two tables yesterday as the shortest stack in the field, Greenstein still managed to outlast 16 tough players including Rick Fuller, Chris Bjorn, and PokerRoad blogger Amit Makhija before finally falling to the winner of the event, Thang Huynh.   

According to informal reports provided by Tournament Director extraordinaire Matt Savage, Barry entered heads-up play with a chip deficit but eventually pulled to nearly even with Huynh before finding pocket Kings in the hole.  The premium holding resulted in a series of raises and reraises until Barry was eventually all-in and facing Huynh’s  Ace of hearts- Nine of spades.  Once the cards were turned up, the dealer dealt a flop of all spades and yet another on the river giving Huynh a flush, the victory and a first prize worth $117,000.  For second Barry Greenstein earned $62,000. 

The World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic Main Event begins at noon on February 21st, with exciting preliminary events running nearly every day until then.  For more info on the LAPC visit www.commercecasino.com. 
 

Story by Mark Anderson