Local man near top of poker championship

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Posted By BRUCE URQUHART, SENTINEL-REVIEW

Updated 1 month ago

The reality sounds more like a movie script.

Five days into the most prestigious poker tournament in the world, with only 200 players left at the tables, an unheralded amateur had played his way to the top of the leaderboard. Movie executives love these kinds of underdog-makes-good pictures, but for 21-year-old Evan Lamprea, this wasn't the scribblings of some Hollywood screenwriter.

"I had some fortunate spots, picked up pocket kings against ace-queen in a 1.1-million chip pot, and obviously, the biggest hand I played, a guy played pocket jacks fast and I had two aces, that got me to 3 million," Lamprea told Bluff Magazine on Wednesday.

At press time, Lamprea had dropped on the leaderboard, falling to 72nd with about 1.25-million chips, but was one of the final 115 in the marathon competition. At the very least, Lamprea is guaranteed about $60,000 in winnings.

But the goal for Lamprea is still to earn a spot in the tournament's final table by the end of this weekend's play at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino. These nine players then return for November's final and a chance to win the $9 million grand prize. Whatever happens in the next few days, Lamprea has already turned some heads. Earlier in the week, PokerStars. net approached Lamprea with a small endorsement deal.

"This is unbelievable," father John Lamprea said in a Thursday phone interview. "This is out of this world."

Adding to the surrealism of Evan Lamprea's ascendance to the top of the chip count is how he got there. When he arrived in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, he didn't have enough cash to afford the $10,000 buy-in for the main event. After winning $5,400 in another tournament, the young poker star decided to enter a WSOP qualifier and, what started as a two-day trip for Evan Lamprea and girlfriend Sam Ypma, has become a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"He's been playing since he was 15," John Lamprea said. "He just turned 21. He just made the (age) cut line for the tournament by a month and a half.

"He must be the youngest guy there."

After five days of play, Evan Lamprea has outlasted about 6,800 other players and some of the biggest names in poker, including superstars and legends like Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and fellow Canadian Daniel Negreanu. The biggest names still on the leaderboard are Johnny Chan, a two-time former champion, and Michael Mizrachi, who has more than $8.6 million in live tournament winnings.

But playing against the professionals, even at the sixth day's feature table, hasn't fazed the young man, his father said.

"He's holding up very well," John Lamprea said. "He's very confident, even with pros at his table. He's very cool and collected.

"He wants to make that final table, and he knows he can do it."

While Evan Lamprea is playing for poker immortality, his parents have made a conscious decision to stay in Woodstock. With his son in a "zone," John Lamprea said the family doesn't want to become a distraction.

"It's like staying away from a pitcher who's throwing a no-hitter," he said.

John Lamprea also said his son was enjoying the live-tournament setting. As a student of the game, Evan Lamprea is used to spending hours playing in online tournaments. The face-to-face of this tournament results in a much different dynamic.

"He's always had a gift for numbers," John Lamprea said of his son's poker success, "(but) he likes playing live because he can read the players."

For more details on Evan Lamprea's quest to become the 41st poker world champion, the WSOP leaderboard can be viewed by visiting http://www.wsop.com .

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