The Tables are Set for the LA Poker Classic Final Table

Back in August 2002, Chris Karagulleyan was the winner of the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker during the tournament series’ inaugural season. The final table was a memorable one with the then amateur Mark Seif along with Stan Goldstein, Can Kim Hua and Hon Le. Six and a half years later, Karagulleyan has returned to the spotlight and is holding a commanding chip lead entering the final table at the LA Poker Classic.

Karagulleyan has a very impressive 4.1 million chips which is nearly double the next closest chip stack that belongs to Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers, an online poker pro who is holding 2.4 million. Karagulleyan’s Season 1 World Poker Tour victory earned his $258,000, he also took 29th in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals during Season III for $31,000 and finished 95th in the same tournament a year later for $11,000. Below are the chip stacks of the six remaining final table play on Thursday:

1st in chips: Chris Karagulleyan, 4,080,000
2nd in chips: Mike Sowers, 2,405,000
3rd in chips: Pat Walsh, 2,200,000
4th in chips: Binh Nguyen, 1,895,000
5th in chips: Cornel Andrew Cimpan, 1,740,000
6th in chips: Chris Ferguson, 1,565,000

Karagulleyan was quoted as saying on his first World Poker Tour tournament win in 2002, “There were only 157 players, but they were good. It was tough. This is going to be a challenge, but I think I’ll win. I’ll do my best to win it for my fans.” On his competition, he added, “I like everyone and they’re good players. I like the way they play because they muck fast and they don’t take a lot of time to act.” Play resumes at 4 pm Pacific Time on Thursday and will wrap up when a winner has been determined.