British online poker ace Chris Moorman nailed the major live tournament victory that has eluded him for so long this week, taking down the $10,000 buy-in NLHE World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic main event for $1,015,460.
Although he has made the final tables of numerous major live tournaments in his outstanding career, earning around $4 million in the process, Moorman had yet to actually take home a first prize prior to his big win in the early hours of Friday morning.
He remedied that in spades, with the million dollar first prize boosting his combined online and live tournament career winnings to $15 million.
534 players entered for this year’s Classic main event at the Commerce Casino in LA, generating a prize pool of $5,126,400, from which 63 finishers would ultimately cash.
After five days the final table featured Moorman and Glenn Lafaye, Michael Rocco, Patrick Bruel, Josh Neufeld and Adam Friedman. At the start Michael Rocco held an impressive chip lead, hotly pursued by a very aggressive Moorman.
By the time the action reached the three-handed stage it was Rocco, LaFaye and Moorman squaring off. The Brit pro almost immediately took a massive 6.6 million chip hit that would have destroyed many players, but he fought back to quickly recover the lost ground and eliminate Rocco at third for $423,000.
That left Moorman facing Glenn LaFaye in the heads up with about a million chips distance between the two in favour of LaFaye.
Moorman quickly neutralised that to take the lead himself, and from there on it all went his way until he eliminated LaFaye at hand 164 and claimed the main prize, leaving his opponent with the not inconsiderable runner up prize of $662,840.