January 16-21
Hands to crown a winner after Wednesday's first elimination.
-
1ST
Giuseppe Iadisernia
$611,700
-
2ND
Jorge Gomez
$395,000
-
3RD
Thomas Boivin
$295,000
-
4TH
Martins Adeniya
$220,000
-
5TH
Anatoly Nikitin
$167,000
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6TH
Eddie Blumenthal
$127,000
-
7TH
Ted McNamara
$98,000
And what a week it was
It has been less than a week since Giuseppe Iadisernia won $187,700 for his runner-up finish at the WPT Lucky Hearts Club Open High Roller and he has achieved every possible measure of revenge for the near miss.
Six days after the High Roller, Iadisernia is the last man standing in the WPT Lucky Hearts Club Championship, good for $611,700 and a spot on the Mike Sexton WPT Champion's Cup. The Tallahassee, Florida resident who hails from Venezuela adds that to what was already over $2.9 million in career earnings, most of which was won around his stomping grounds in South Florida.
It was a familiar group of final table faces for Iadisernia, who faced off against Anatoly Nikitin and eventual winner Thomas Boivin to settle the final three spots of the $25,000 High Roller. Both foes would return among the final seven players at Wednesday's WPT final table, and they were all chasing Iadisernia's Day 4 chip lead.
The final seven returned and fought for more than two hours before Ted McNamara broke the stalemate with his elimination in seventh place. An official WPT final table of six formed with Iadisernia back in the lead after ceding some ground to Nikitin in the opening levels. Eddie Blumenthal was next to go 10 hands later, giving Boivin a jolt of chips on the way out to move him into winning contention.
Nikitin fell back after a few ill-timed three-bets and eventually faced his doom at the hands of Jorge Gomez, who had him cornered in a pocket tens vs. pocket nines showdown. The elimination set up a final four with Martins Adeniya on the bottom and in need of a lot of help against Iadisernia, Gomez, and Boivin. Help would come quickly in the form of a double against Boivin, but it only delayed the inevitable. A tough break against Iadisernia sent one player on the path to a win and the other out the door.
Defending champ clubbed on river
Iadisernia raised with 
and Adeniya called with 
. The flop gave both players a piece with 
and the chips went into the middle. The turn of was no good for the champ's straight and river draws, but the 
brought it home. Adeniya, who won last year's Lucky Hearts Open when it wasn't a WPT event, settled for a fourth-place run in his title defense.
The dust settled and three players remained. Boivin was on the bottom with just 14 big blinds left, trailing Gomez's 43 and the leader's 66, and he would show some life before shoving with ace-seven. Iadisernia ended all hope with a pair of pocket aces, but Boivin still heads home with the third-place finish and a High Roller victory.
Heads-up play started and Iadisernia held an 84-18 big blind advantage. Gomez also showed some fight, but he would never get above the 23 big blind watermark. It ended when Iadisernia shoved pocket jacks and Gomez called with an offsuit nine-five for the last few big blinds.
The World Poker Tour will take the rest of the month off before heading to Cambodia on February 4 and then the WPT Venetian Las Vegas Spring Championship, a $5,000 buy-in on February 19.
Images courtesy of Omar Sader/World Poker Tour.
