Bodog Beat

Poker pro Phil Ivey collects the $1.6 million dollar first-place prize for winning the 2008 WPT LA Poker Classic. (Bodog Beat Image)

It only took two hands of heads-up play and seven previous WPT final table appearances for Phil Ivey to take down his first WPT title, and now he will forever be known as the champion of the 2008 WPT LA Poker Classic. It really seemed destined to happen. Even when Ivey lost half of his stack early in this final table, it just seemed like he would find a way to pull it out, and that he did.

After slipping out of his initial chip lead, Ivey shifted down into what WPT announcer Mike Sexton referred to as "neutral," content to pick up smaller pots here and there and reestablish himself at the table. He then changed gears again and became the aggressor, steamrolling over the other players and sending Nam Le and Charles "Woody" Moore home in consecutive hands.

The last hand, however, proved to be the exclamation point on what was a masterclass in patient final table dominance. For the last time tonight here are the details courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com:

Hand #100: Quinn Do has the button, he limps for 160,000, Ivey raises to 560,000, and Quinn calls. The flop comes A86, Ivey bets 700,000, and Quinn thinks for about 30 seconds before he calls, leaving himself just 1.02 million behind. There is already 2.92 million in the pot.

The turn card pairs the board with the A, and Ivey moves all in. Quinn goes into the tank, shuffling his chips as he ponders the situation.

After four minutes, Quinn quietly says, "I call."

Ivey shows A8 for a full house, aces full of eights, and Quinn dejectedly shows 98 for two pair, aces and eights. No card can help Quinn here; he is drawing dead. (The meaningless river card is the 4.)

Ivey didn't need the full house to win, he had put Do in a position where he had to make the call. But why not? Like we said, it was the exclamation point on a dominant performance.

Ivey takes home $1,596,100 for the win, while Do gets $909,400 for second. Not too shabby for six days work.

The toasts have now been made and the interviews and photo ops are fully underway, putting an end to a relatively short night of poker. Thanks for checking out the Beat for live updates from the 2008 WPT LA Poker Classic. We're headed to bed and then the beach.

If you want the chance to become the next WPT-made millionaire, then head over to Bodog and check out the WPT Online Poker Qualifiers.