Sean Jazayeri Trumps Pros to Win L.A. Poker Classic

by Mario Alfonsi  |  Published on Mar 1, 2012  |  Updated on Mar 1, 2012

The final table of the World Poker Tour’s L.A. Poker Classic featured four professional players with long resumes of success in the poker world. But ultimately, it would be the amateur chip leader who walked away with his first major title.Sean Jazayeri, a veteran amateur poker player from Washington, defeated a tough final table to walk away with a prize of $1,370,240. Jazayeri defeated David “Doc” Sands after a relatively short heads up battle, completing an improbable run from the WPT Boot Camp to the LAPC Main Event title.The final table action moved quickly, especially as two players came into the final table with less than 15 big blinds. It took just two hands for New York pro Jason Somerville to be eliminated on a coin flip to finish in 6^th place. Somerville took home $202,910.Not long after, the short-stacked Jason Burt would be the next to hit the rail. Burt made $252,980 in his second ever WPT final table appearance. That would leave three tough young pros to battle with Jazayeri: Noah Schwartz, Dan Kelly and Sands.Schwartz’s run came to an end when he made a push with AJ, only to run into Jazayeri’s pocket kings. For his 4^th place finish, Schwartz took home $355,750. That gave Jazayeri a massive chip lead going into three-handed play, and it looked as though it was his tournament to lose.But Sands would make a run, taking his short stack and doubling up a couple times before finally eliminating Kelly (who won $521,770 for 3^rd place) to take a slight chip lead heading into heads-up play.In a battle between a seasoned pro and an experienced amateur, Sands began to open up his lead by taking a few small pots. But as is so often the case at the end of a tournament, the key hand would ultimately be a coin flip, as Jazayeri got his money into the middle with AK against Sands’ pocket queens. When Jazayeri won that encounter, it left Sands with just 15 big blinds, and he would ultimately be eliminated on the next hand to give Jazayeri the title.Sands took home $806,370 for second place, the largest payday of his career.