[+] Enlarge
LA Poker ClassicCarlos Mortensen won a preliminary event at the LAPC and has already secured another solid cash in the main event.

1. The North American Poker Tour Venetian main event: 872 participants, more than 400 of whom qualified online at Poker Stars. The prize pool was more than $4 million, with first prize more than $827,000. Finally, ESPN2 will televise the main event starting in mid-April.

2. WSOP Circuit main event in Council Bluffs, Iowa: 46 participants. Yes, that's it for a "major" title. The prize pool was about $212,000, with first prize more than $95,000 and a seat into the 2010 main event. There will be no television coverage and, in fact, no outside poker media source was even sent to Iowa.

Of course, Las Vegas draws more players than most locations … but not 19 times the number of players. Online registration for the NAPT created a solid base of players, which in turn created a buzz for others to flock to the Venetian to buy in directly or try to satellite into the event (about 250 players qualified via live satellite on the property).

Another incredible statistic is if you added up all the registrants who have played in the WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs main event from its inception, the total number does not exceed the 400 people that qualified online for the one NAPT Venetian event! With the declining numbers at Council Bluffs (2008: 99 players, 2009: 67 players and 2010: 46 players), the WSOP will have to take a hard look at the viability of this event for the future. Will they need to lower the buy-in to $2,500-$3,500? Will they be able to utilize online registration for their WSOP Circuit events? Only time will tell.

The unbelievable turnout at the Venetian also had a side effect on another tournament, the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic. Even with a $10,000 buy-in, the turnout was outstanding for this event, as 745 players registered, creating a $7.15 million prize pool in which both the first- and second-place finisher will become millionaires.

Over the past couple of years, the LAPC has seen increased registration, despite the recession that affected the rest of the country. However, this year the numbers were up 7 percent, whereas last year the numbers were up 4.5 percent. The difference between the two years is simply the NAPT Venetian event. Since Los Angeles is relatively close to Las Vegas, numerous players trekked to L.A. to play in the LAPC, including the NAPT Venetian champion, Tom Marchese.

As I mentioned on ESPN Inside Deal, online registration will help increase the number of registrants and will be critical for the future success of poker. I am confident that the WSOP main event will surpass its record number of participants (8,773 in 2006). However, I predict that having more than 10,000 players relies solely on whether online play will be a viable option to qualify for the WSOP main event.

LAPC Update by Andrew Feldman: 22 remain

It wasn't even by the time that Monday's blog was posted that Carlos Mortensen was accumulating chips left and right from the remaining field at the LAPC. Mortensen knocked out Daniel Negreanu during the first level of play and slowly accumulated chips for most of the day. During the very last level, Mortensen took his stack from $600,000 to the $1.6 million he currently has, with a significant chunk coming from a very interesting hand.

According to the LAPC blog and WorldPokerTour.com, David Woo and Mortensen got all their chips in after a board of J-8-4-3. Mortensen showed J-J for top set and Woo, holding Q-Q, would need a queen to remain alive. The river was an ace and Woo was eliminated, vaulting Mortensen to the top of the chip counts during the very last hour of play. Heading into Day 5, Mortensen holds a stack of $1.6 million, about $300,000 more than his nearest competition -- Day 4 chip leader Mark Newhouse ($1.3 million).

Day 5 will begin with blinds at $6,000/$12,000 and a $2,000 ante, which is offering enough play even for the short stacks. Annie Duke and John Cautela are the only two players under $250,000 and will be looking for a spot to double up during the first level of play Tuesday. In the middle of the pack are Jamie Brown, Johnny Chan and Danny Fuhs, but one player I'm watching is Steve Sung. Currently in ninth place, Sung is one of the most dangerous players nobody really mentions. With three WPT final tables already behind him, Sung knows how to play during these late stages and is primed to make another televised appearance.

The field will play down to the final six players Tuesday, take a day off Wednesday for the final table of the WPT Celebrity Invitational and then play out the televised final table Thursday.

Here are the top 10 entering Day 5:

1. Carlos Mortensen -- $1.6 million
2. Mark Newhouse -- $1.3 million
3. Raymond Dolan -- $1.2 million
4. Masa Kagawa -- $1.1 million
5. Andras Koroknai -- $1.0 million
6. Tri Huynh -- $942,000
7. Dan Martin -- $684,000
8. Jean-Claude Moussa -- $672,000
9. Steve Sung -- $671,000
10. Jim Casement -- $609,000

High Roller update: Six left

Jason Mercier is a machine. The third-ranked player in ESPN.com's The Nuts started off Day 2 as one of the shortest stacks. He ended Day 2 in the money and third out of the six players remaining.

Scott Seiver, who earned a nice $100,000 bonus during the high-roller event at the NAPT, leads the final table with a small lead over ESPN.com's seventh-ranked poker player, Daniel Alaei. Mercier, who eliminated Steve Billirakis to end the night, is in third, followed by Lee Markholt, Tommy Vedes and Will Molson. Seiver and Alaei have nearly three times as many chips as Mercier, but there is a lot of play left with Molson, the short stack, having 20 big blinds to work with.

These six are some of the most talented young players in the game, and each of them is ready to add another big score to his bankroll. Here are the payouts for the $25,000 high roller event:

1. $425,330
2. $222,790
3. $141,780
4. $101,270
5. $70,890
6. $50,640

Bernard Lee is the official spokesperson of Foxwoods Resort and Casino, co-host of ESPN Inside Deal, columnist for the Boston Herald and host of "The Bernard Lee Poker Show."