Leron Washington Takes 100K for WPT Invitational Win

For the eighth year in a row, the World Poker Tour hosted its WPT Celebrity Invitational tournament at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles amidst the L.A. Poker Classic preliminary events. The invitation-only tournament that began on February 20 brought celebrities, poker pros, media, and other invited guests to the tables for a $200K freeroll, all of which was reserved for final table players. In addition, the World Poker Tour joined with Chrysalis to raise funds for homeless and disadvantaged people in Los Angeles through a $200 single-option rebuy during the first two hours of the tournament.

All in all, there were 567 players in the event, and they raised a total of $109,700 for Chrysalis. Day 1 found many celebrities in the field, including names like Teri Hatcher, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Vartan, Shannon Elizabeth, Rebecca Gayheart, Eric Dane, Jenny McCarthy, and LeeAnn Rimes. But only 161 players made it through the day, and the majority of them were eliminated on Day 2 as the final table neared. Eventually, David Zayas put his last chips at risk with but found two callers, both of whom checked down the board. When Hansen showed for the straight, Zayas was gone in seventh place. And in a relatively short period of time, the final table was set:

Seat 1:    Steve Elliott        1,520,000
Seat 2:    Thor Hansen        1,480,000
Seat 3:    Trishelle Cannatella    1,540,000
Seat 4:    Sean Urban        2,090,000
Seat 5:    Neev Baram        1,900,000
Seat 6:    Leron Washington    1,790,000

Final table action was put on hold to allow the LAPC Main Event to play down to its final six, and the Invitational resumed on March 3 to play for the $200K prize pool and the WPT title.

Players took a bit to get comfortable on the WPT stage but the chips began moving around soon, as Urban, Cannatella, and Washington all gained ground.

Steve Elliott was not so lucky and was short-stacked 20 hands into the tournament. He finally risked it all from the small blind with , and Baram was there with . The dealer gave them Jd for the straight, and Elliott was gone in sixth place with $5,000.

Thor Hansen was also short on chips and made his move from the small blind with . Washington called with but caught cards on the board to eliminate Hansen in fifth place, which was worth a payout of $10,000.

Neev Baram took a 1.8-million chip hit courtesy of Washington, and he pushed his last chips all-in on the next hand with . Urban was the caller from the big blind and showed . The board came to give Urban the pair of aces and eliminate Baram from the tournament in fourth place with $15,000.

Trishelle Cannatella lost ground and chips but was able to score a double-up through Washington to stay alive. But she moved again soon. The hand started with Cannatella and Washington going to see a flop of . A bet from Cannatella and check-call from Washington led to the on the turn, at which point Cannatella bet all-in with pocket queens. Washington check-called with for the straight draw to go with his pair of sevens, and he hit it when the came on the river. Cannatella was ousted in third place with $20,000.

Heads-up action then started as follows:

Leron Washington    9,235,000
Sean Urban        1,085,000

Three hands into the match, Urban doubled up with J-T over the 4-3 of Washington. And two hands after that, Urban did it again with Q-J over Q-7. Urban continued to move and catch up to Washington, and though the latter stayed strong, he lost his lead.

The big hand of the match saw both players going to a flop. Washington bet and Urban check-raised, and Washington’s call led them to the on the turn. Two checks brought the on the river, and Urban moved all-in with . Washington called with for two pair, and he doubled up.

Urban had only 175,000 chips remaining and pushed them all-in blind on the next hand with . Washington called blind as well before discovering he had only . The board came , and the pair of threes gave the pot to Washington. Sean Urban was eliminated in second place with $50,000.

ClubWPT online qualifiers Leron Washington won the WPT Celebrity Invitational, which came with $100,000, a $25,000 entry to the WPT World Championship at Bellagio in April, a watch, WPT bracelet, and Commerce Casino trophy.