On Tuesday, Fausto Valdez won the $1,200 buy-in LAPC Commerce Classic, topping 1,444 entries to win the tournament for a career-high $252,840.
The long-standing LA grinder and poker coach recorded his fourth overall victory and second win of the 2026 LAPC, taking his career live tournament earnings to over $1.5 million.
Unfortunately, for Valdez, his giant LAPC win was overshadowed by the very first hand of the night, when a player mucked a chop in a sizeable pot. Immediately, the entire table yelled out that all he needed to do was table his hand.
This adds to the growing debate over whether cards should play or whether a player is responsible for their own two cards.
The hand
On the very first hand of the final table, the remaining nine players were playing 100,000/200,000 blinds with a 200,000 big blind ante.
Erick Ordonez opened to 400,000 from the lojack with pocket queens. Duey Dong flatted the small blind with king-queen of clubs. Phuoc Hong Nguyen defended his big blind with six-five of spades.
The flop was Q-9-8 all diamonds, giving Ordonez top set and Dong top pair with a king kicker. With 1,400,000 in the middle, Ordonez fired a 400,000 continuation bet. Dong made the call, and Nguyen got out of the way.
The turn brought the T of diamonds, and Dong led for 500,000. Ordonez made the call.
The four of diamonds put a flush on the board. Both players checked and should have chopped the 3,200,000-chip pot, a pot which was worth more than Dong’s remaining stack and about 80% of Ordonez’s stack.
However, Ordonez tabled his hand, and Dong mucked, which saw the pot pushed to Ordonez.
This hand was a massive turning point, and Ordonez rode the gifted chips to a second-place finish worth $177,270, while Dong managed to squeak out a sixth-place finish for $52,050.
Poker community speaks out
Derek Kwan, one of the commentators on the LAPC Commerce Classic, tweeted that the pot should have been chopped, as the revealed hand was not able to beat the board flush.
“I don’t think it’s mandatory for people to speak up, but I think “cards speak” etiquette should apply to even a “board speaks” spot like this. Sucky to lose pots bc of brain farts.”
However, Matt Savage, World Poker Tour Executive Tour Director and TDA Founder, chimed in and stated that he felt the hand played out as it should have.
“It should be one player to a hand, yes, but if another player tells Duey in this case that it’s a flush on the board, then if Duey shows, he does get half the pot. The dealer is taught to kill folded hands, which they do as well, and it is correct. The dealer should not be saying the board plays unless both hands are tabled face up.”
Jared Griener, who finished in seventh place for $42,990, believed that it was out of line for other people to speak up about the hand. You can read his take in the tweet below.
On the Bally Poker Live YouTube stream, Griener told another player, “If a player accidentally mucks, don’t tell him to table his hand. I think it’s kind of dirty.”
Of course, it can be advantageous to have an extremely experienced player lose chips, plus the ICM value of your own stack can increase or decrease based on the chip distribution.
LAPC Commerce Classic 2026 results
Fausto Valdez closed out the LAPC Commerce Classic in style, turning a flush as Ordonez turned a straight on a K-Q-J-A board with three diamonds. Valdez told the floorman, “Seat open!” as the chips got into the middle.
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1st | Fausto Valdez | $252,840 |
| 2nd | Erick Ordonez | $177,270 |
| 3rd | Phuoc Hong Nguyen | $115,000 |
| 4th | Trang Tran | $85,210 |
| 5th | Lihao Shen | $64,380 |
| 6th | Duey Dong | $52,050 |
| 7th | Jared Greiner | $42,990 |
| 8th | Kevin Khuong | $34,070 |
| 9th | Kurt Esbenson | $25,290 |
