It’s been a whirlwind for all of us following the World Poker Tour (WPT) in the last few weeks, as the popular poker tour winds down its 2012 schedule, with multiple tournaments running at the same time in different locales around the world. This past weekend we saw two WPT champions crowned, one in Prague and one at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamonds World Poker Classic in Las Vegas –which in 2002 was the birthplace of the World Poker Tour.
WPT Prague
Despite competition all over the world for tournament players, including the WPT Five Diamonds, the WPT Prague Main Event proved to be one of the most popular European stops for the WPT, attracting 567 players over the course of the three starting days. When all was said and done the title went to Marcin Wydroski, who became the first polish poker player to lift a WPT trophy.
Prague is quickly becoming one of the major poker hotspots in Europe, with excellent attendance numbers for both WPT and EPT tournaments in recent years.
Here is a look at the final table payouts from the WPT Prague Main Event:
1. Marcin Wydrowski — $423,957
2. Alexandr Lahkov — $278,866
3. Bodo Sbrzesny — $179,246
4. Tony Chang — $132,736
5. Michael Gagliano — $99,506
6. Alin Grasu — $79,723
WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamonds World Poker Classic
The WPT Five Diamonds started off with a controversy surrounding the decision to allow unlimited reentries into the tournament over the first 8 levels of the Main event (which lasted all of Day 1 and into Day 2) but in the end it was the play at the poker tables that captured the headlines.
Among the 503 entries were a slew of poker’s biggest names and top talent, and thereof those players worked their way to the final table of six: Antonio Esfandiari, Andrew Lichtenberger, and Shawn Buchanan. Esfandiari made WPT history with his final table run, making his third consecutive final table at the WPT Five Diamonds –which includes a win in the 2010 tournament.
Despite the big names, they couldn’t seal the deal, as it was Ravi Raghavan who dominated the final table after starting out the day as the short-stack. Esfandiari’s 4th place finish makes his remarkable three-year run in this tournament the icing on the cake of perhaps one of the greatest single year’s any tournament player has ever had. Here is a look at the final table payouts from the tournament:
1. Ravi Raghavan — $1,268,571
2. Shawn Buchanan — $746,502
3. Thomas Winters — $483,031
4. Antonio Esfandiari — $329,339
5. Andrew Lichtenberger — $234,197
6. Jeremy Kottler — $187,845
