This week was unlike any other for the World Poker Tour. The entire last year was one unlike any other as well because, well, you know.
The World Poker Tour finally closed out its Season XVIII, one that started in the summer of 2019. At the beginning of 2020, the WPT main tour set up two final tables to be played at the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas in May 2020. Many final tables had played there before, as it created an ideal location for filming. It was also an easy business decision since Allied Esports owned the arena and the WPT.
Since that time, much has happened. A pandemic put live poker on hold for nearly a full year, and Allied Esports put the WPT on the market for sale, at which point a bidding war began between Element Partners and Bally’s Corporation.
Meanwhile, the World Poker Tour had final tables from the 2020 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open and L.A. Poker Classic that had yet to finish. And the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown that played last month – one of the first rebound series in a post-pandemic world – needed to finish its final table.
The WPT teamed up with Poker Central and reserved the space at the PokerGO Studio at Aria in Las Vegas to play those three final tables. That happened this week.
WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Playdown
At the time this tournament happened, the talk of the live poker tournament scene was this final table. Brian Altman was a serious contender for the WPT Player of the Year and had been on a heater. He didn’t lead this WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open Main Event, but he was a heavy favorite to win.
The six final table players paused the action in early 2020 and met in Las Vegas on May 16, 2020, to play for the win. Their starting stacks were as follows:
A little older and wiser, all six players kicked off the action with some caution but also excitement. And the WPT was on hand to provide live hand-for-hand updates.
By the first break, Zakarian had only increased his lead, while Hanna lost ground. Just a few hands later, Zakarian and his pocket tens ousted Hanna and his pocket deuces.
Weng was the next to push and did so with pocket nines. But Anderson woke up with pocket kings and sent Weng out in fifth place with a turned full house. Russler was next to push and did so with K-J suited, but Zakarian called with pocket queens that only improved to a set on the flop. Russler exited in fourth place. Altman was the next short stack and tried to double with A-3 and two pair on the board, but Zakarian called with 4-2 for the five-high straight.
Heads-up play began with Zakarian holding 28,375,000 chips to the 23,125,000 of Anderson. The latter started strong and took the lead, but Zakarian came back to even the stacks. They went back and forth for about 75 hands until Zakarian doubled through Anderson and left the latter with just one chip. Anderson doubled up four times in a row to stay alive but finally lost with J-4 to the 10-5 of Zakarian and his straight on the 8-6-4-7-3 board.
1st place: Vareeb Zakarian ($674,840)2nd place: James Anderson ($449,904)3rd place: Brian Altman ($333,012)4th place: Nathan Russler ($248,913)5th place: Bin Weng ($187,900)6th place: Andrew Hanna ($143,264)
Zakarian told the WPT after the win: “Everyone always wants the bracelet, but these days, it looks like the WPT is what everyone is chasing. Because the bracelets, there’s so many of them. But the WPT is special, especially Borgata. When you think of poker on the East Coast, the first thing you think of is Borgata. Winning something like this.”
https://twitter.com/WPT/status/1394181655980494850?s=20
WPT L.A. Poker Classic Playdown
At the beginning of March 2020, six players made the final table of the famous LA Poker Classic Main Event. They ended up waiting an extra year to play for the win, but they finally had the chance to do it on May 17, 2021.
Their chip counts were:
Per the live updates, these guys also started cautiously, but Cimbolas showed determination to take the lead from Patur and did so in little more than a dozen hands.
De Silva simply couldn’t get off the short stack, and his A-2 all-in move found Patur with A-K. That sent De Silva out in sixth place on the 30th hand of the day. For the next 50-ish hands, Patur and Cimbolas exchanged the chip lead, but Carroll found a much-needed double-up through Hempel. Lau then did the same through Patur but then Hempel doubled through Lau.
When the five players returned from the dinner break, Lau had only 6 big blinds and fairly quickly risked it with A-J. Cimbolas showed Q-7 but found a seven on the flop to send Lau home. Carroll doubled through Cimbolas to escape the danger zone, and he did it again a few hands later. Hempel also doubled through Cimbolas, but the latter maintained a solid second place on the leaderboard.
Hempel finally made his push with tens, but Cimbolas called with queens that only improved to a full house on the river. That sent Hempel out in fourth. Carroll was very short-stacked at that time but doubled through Patur and then CImbolas. Looking for a third one, he moved with K-9, but Patur had kings that held up to eliminate Carroll in third.
Patur had the lead going into heads-up with 11.4M chips, and Cimbolas held 8.2M. Patur got aggressive and increased his chip lead in the first few hands…and he just kept going. Cimbolas doubled once to 6.4M but dropped again. Cimbolas went for it again, that time with K-6, but Patur called with A-9. The board provided outs for Cimbolas but didn’t complete the flush. Cimbolas accepted second place.
1st place: Balakrishna Patur ($1,015,000)2nd place: Matas Cimbolas ($600,060)3rd place: James Carroll ($431,585)4th place: Scott Hempel ($323,485)5th place: Ka Kwan Lau ($243,330)6th place: Upeshka De Silva ($185,330)
Though Patur is a recreational poker player, he is no stranger to big final tables and studied hard for this one. Taking home the LAPC WPT title was a huge accomplishment for him: “It’s incredible. I can’t express my happiness right now. To be, it was such a long time… and the table with such good players. It was anybody’s game, and I played well and ran well.”
https://twitter.com/WPT/status/1394757182147624961?s=20
WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown
On May 18, the Seminole Hard Rock final tablists – who only waited a month for their chance at a WPT title – gathered at the PokerGO Studio with these chip counts:
Again, the World Poker Tour was at the scene of the action to document each hand.
Vo needed a double-up and found one through Calderon 19 hands in. Calderon soon did the same through Aldridge. Snyder scored a sizeable double through Franco, though the latter retained the overall chip lead. Aldridge was the shortest of the stacks and tried for a double through Schutten, but his K-9 found nothing on the board to beat a flopped set of fives for Schutten. Aldridge departed in sixth place.
Schutten quickly jumped into the lead. And when Calderon sought a double with A-9, Schutten called with A-K and found another kind on the flop for good measure. Calderon left in fifth place. As Schutten soared, Franco couldn’t get anything going. He finally pushed all-in with A-9 suited, but Snyder called with queens and another on the flop made a set. Franco busted in fourth place.
Just before the first break, Snyder nudged Schutten out of the chip lead. The two proceeded to exchange that lead when they returned, but Schutten ran with it. Vo, on the other hand, was short and shoved with pocket sevens. Schutten called with 10-8 suited and hit a ten on the flop. That sent Vo home in third.
Schutten took 61.8M into heads-up action against the 37.5M of Snyder. Schutten won nearly every hand of the first few rounds of play, though Snyder stepped up and stayed alive. The stacks were fairly close to their starting ones at the dinner break.
After that, however, it took only a few hands for a big one to develop. They built a sizeable pot, and when the 7 turn card followed the 10-5-5 flop, Snyder bet, but Schutten raised all-in. Snyder eventually called with A-2 of diamonds, but Schutten showed 8-5 for trips, which held up for the win.
1st place: Brek Schutten ($1,261,095)2nd place: Steven Snyder ($899,295)3rd place: Viet Vo ($593,140)4th place: Sonny Franco ($438,500)5th place: Albert Calderon ($326750)6th place: Ken Aldridge ($261,700)
As an ICU nurse treating Covid-19 patients, Schutten was relieved for the poker break: “It’s just rewarding in that sense. I’ve put in time at the hospital and saw Covid first hand quite a bit. Then, things start to open back up and to go down to Florida and win this thing is an amazing feeling.”
https://twitter.com/WPT/status/1395404185831579651?s=20
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