22.12.2015, 13:41 | Autor: HighStakesdb.com | tisk článku | doporučit článek

Kevin Eyster ships WPT Five Diamond Classic for $1.58M

Over the weekend, Kevin ‘1sickdisease’ Eyster joined the likes of Gus Hansen, Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Eugene Katchalov, Antonio Esfandiari and Dan Smith in the pantheon of World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond classic champions by winning the 2015 edition of the prestigious tournament.

Eyster, who also took down the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown back in April 2013 for $660K (the same month he won an FTOPS event online at Full Tilt for over $330K), topped the 639-player field at Bellagio to scoop a massive $1,587,382 prize and etch his name into the WPT champions cup for the second time.

The WSOP bracelet winner came into the final table in second place of the six remaining contenders, a number that quickly became five when short stacked Eddie Ochana shoved his K-J into the A-J of chip leader Jake Schwartz.

Five handed play lasted until hand #39 of the finale, which saw Cate Hall fall at the hands of another WSOP bracelet winner in Ben Yu when her pocket fives failed to hold up against A-7 on a J-7-3-2-7 run out.

Initial chip leader Schwartz then fell soon after in 4th, with Yu again playing the role of executioner. This time though he needed a massive slice of fortune to win the pot, finding a 4-ball on the flop to crack Schwartz’s A-10 with A-4 in a pre-flop race.

Despite those two eliminations, it would be Yu next to hit the rail after a lengthy battle 3-handed against Eyster and Bill Jennings – a 49-year old trader from Florida. In his final hand, Yu decided to risk his remaining chips with K-Q off suit, which failed to get there in a race against Eyster’s pocket sixes.

That pot going to Esyter meant that he and Jennings would begin heads-up play with practically even stacks, but the pro would prove his edge over the amateur after just 38 hands.

In what proved to be the tournament’s final hand, the 187th of the final table, Eyster made a minimum raise on the button with A-Q and was called in the big blind by Jennings holding K-9.

After check calling on an A-9-4 two-spade flop, Jennings decided to check-shove the 4h turn and was snapped off by his opponent. The 5h on the river wasn’t what Jennings desperately needed to survive, and Eyster was crowned the champion.

Here’s a look at the final table payouts in full: