LAPC

With almost 700 players, the WPT L.A. Poker Classic is proof poker is dead.

The fad, that is poker, could barely eke out just short of 700 runners in a $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. The end must be nigh.

The Commerce Casino in Southern California played host to the event. After some stellar day 1 tournament poker play highlighted by Daniel Negreanu surging near the top of the leaderboard the field has slowly dwindled. Antonio Esfandiari made a run up the leaderboard on day three only to fall back to pack a little bit later.

Just before the money bubble, the magician had finished his disappearing act and headed for the rail. His AK got bested by AQ... of course. Negreanu also got knocked out when he rivered trips and lost to a Broadway straight. Both players will probably fire up their laptops on the way home to play poker tournament back.

A progressing story is the run made by amateur Kofi Farkye. He finished the second day on the heels of the Magician but it wasn't long until he took over the chip lead. Several of these names on the leader board are probably more recongizable when they play online poker tournaments, but the online handles weren't listed with their generic real life names.

The field is being slowly whittled and it's still anybody's game. More updates to come. Looking to play an online tournament of your own. Bwin has some action here.