The final day of the Grand Victoria Main Event started with just five players left and ended after 5 hours of play, the majority of which was a heads up battle.
Kevin Andriamahefa took down his local Chicago area circuit event stop Main Event title for his first career ring and the $173,593 grand prize which is nearly triple his previous best cash.
Andriamahefa is a stoic and focused player who gives little away at the table about himself. He has been grinding for a while, with results dating back to 2013 to accumulate for a total of $615K in career earnings, which will now add this humongous score.“I try not to think ahead and let those thoughts come in” said Andriamahefa afterwards about when he thought he could win with his big chip lead, emphasizing his focused nature at the table.
His brother, who was on the rail watching the first ring victory said afterwards with a smile “it’s about time!”.
They both talked about their unique surname of ‘Andriamahefa’. Which is Malagasy in origin and was brought over when their father immigrated to the USA in the 70s. Andriamahefa said that is something he is grateful for as he has many relatives, ten aunts and uncles who still live in Madagascar. “He is a grinder to” he said, taking a moment to appreciate his dad’s hard work.
Andriamahefa entered the day as chip leader and stayed there as play got to heads up in under an hour but that’s where the real battle began as runner-up finisher David Kowal provided stiff resistance to prevent Adriamahefa from simply running over the table and cruising to the ring.
Heads up play began with Andriamahefa holding 77% of the chips. But for the first hour or two of heads up play, Kowal dominated as he won the vast majority of hands and took firm control with the chip lead.But there were a few key hands that put Andriamahefa back ahead in important spots to swing momentum back just when he was close to completely losing it.
Those few hands wet discussed by runner up Kowal afterwards“Every time we got in big spots he had it and I was just second best. That’s just how it goes” he summarized.“He’s a great guy, great player. Couldn’t be happier for him.”
The day began with just five and was very swiftly down to four as Sye Hickey exhausted his short stack after an incredible run that saw him persist with few chips for most of the latter stages of the tournament.
Daniel Aloia started the day well and actually grew his stack to the chip lead briefly but was cut down by Andriamahefa in a big pot where his top pair was beaten by a flopped two pair. And he quickly went out after that in fourth place.
Brett Reichard was supported by his son Josh Reichard as the father part of the father/son duo was looking to add ring #20 collectively (15 for Josh,4 for Brett). But he did bow out in third place for more than double his career best score.
Final Table results:
1. Kevin Adriamahefa - $173,593
2. David Kowal - $107,290
3. Brett Reichard - $78,458
4. Daniel Aloia - $58,127
5. Sye Hickey - $43,637
6. Grad Zbigniew - $33,210
7. Joseph Elpayaa - $26,606
8. Michael Estes - $20,022
9. Dylan Wilkerson - $15,876
That wraps it up for PokerOrg’s coverage of the Grand Victoria circuit stop! Check back soon for WSOPC Tunica where yours truly will be bringing you the action once again.
.The turn was the 
and the river came the 
to bring an end to Kowal's run and confirm Andriamahefa as the champion.
