Event 15
‘WPT BPO Championship’
Level 29 (40,000/80,000/10,000)
Total Entries: 1,179
Players Remaining: 7
Average Stack: 5,055,000
Phong VIP Nguyen (Bristow, VA)
Phong VIP Nguyen is a name and face we have seen at the top of the leaderboard since the start of Day 3. Nguyen came into the play today with 2,000,000 and peaked near 6,000,000 during earlier levels. Once Level 29 kicked off, Nguyen went only downhill culminating in his elimination to put the WPT final table bubble in play.
After losing medium size pots to Farid Jattin and Zach Gruneberg, Nguyen was down to under 2,500,000. In his last hand, Nguyen opened to 180,000 from the cutoff and got calls from Chris Limo and Simon Lam on the button and in the small blind, respectively. From the big blind, Taha Maruf three-bet to 780,000. Nguyen announced “all-in” for the remainder of his chips.
Thinking there was an all-in and call already in play Limo showed his {ah}{qh} before realizing his mistake and apologizing to the table. Once Limo officially folded, Lam got out of the way and Maruf called to put Nguyen at risk.
Maruf was ahead with {kd}{kh} and Nguyen was down to one less out after turning over {ad}{qs}. The {6c}{6d}{6h} flop helped no one and the {js} kept the status quo. Nguyen needed one of the two aces left in the deck but it did not come on the {3h} river and he hit the rail.
Maruf nearly doubled his own stack with the hand and is up to about 6,300,000 on the verge of the final table.
1st Place – Marshall White
This is the biggest cash of Marshall White’s career as well as his first poker title. White played solid throughout event 15 which happened to be a very stacked final table. White will take home $79,134 for his 1st place finish here in event 15.
2nd Place – Jacob Ostrander
Jacob Ostrander battled hard throughout the final table and eventually shot up in the chip counts when he doubled through Danny Lee 5 handed when his {Ad}{Ac} held against the {10d}{10s} of Lee. Ostrander will take home $48,452.
3rd Place – Christian Harder
Christian Harder finishes in 3rd place in the $1000+90 Six Max. Harder will take home $36,823 for his deep run here in event 15.
4th Place – Mike Linster
Despite being the short stack for majority of the final table, Mike Linster managed to ladder his way up to 4th place. He told the table he set a goal for himself to take 5th after being in the tournament for 3 bullets and was more than happy to take 4th. He will collect $29,878 for his 4th place finish.
5th Place – Danny Lee
Danny Lee just went from 2nd in chips to out in 5th after back to back coolers.
In the first hand Jacob Ostrander opened to 105,000 and action folded to Danny Lee in the small blind. Lee put in a three bet to 265,000 and Ostrander went into the tank. After a minute or so Ostrander announced all in and Lee snap called.
Ostrander : {Ad}{Ac}
Lee: {10d}{10s}
The board ran out {8c}{8d}{9c}{Qh}{6d} and Ostrander would double through Lee to 1,800,000.
On the very next hand Lee found himself all in and at risk with {Ad}{Qd} against the {Jh}{Jd} of Marshall White. After the board ran out clean, Lee would be sent to the rail in 5th place, collecting $23,095.
6th Place – Cornel Andrew Cimpan
We say goodbye to Cornel Andrew Cimpan in 6th place. Cimpan will take home $16,635 to add to his already impressive 3.2 million in lifetime earnings.
We have reached our official final table of 6 players in Event 15.
Players:
Seat 1 : Marshall White 1,500,000
Seat 2: Danny Lee 1,020,000
Seat 3: Cornel Andrew Cimpan 375,000
Seat 4: Christian Harder 1,600,000
Seat 5: Mike Linster 550,000
Seat 6: Jacob Ostrander 1,300,000
Payouts:
1. $79,134
2. $48,452
3. $36,823
4. $29,878
5. $23,095
6. $16,635
Level 24 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 333
Players Remaining: 7
Christian Harder remains unfazed.
We caught up to the action after Christian Harder checked his option on a {Js}{7d}{8h}{Qs} board. Danny Lee slid forward a bet of 130,000 and Harder quickly asked him to lift his hands so he could see how much Lee was playing behind. After a slight deliberation, Harder announced he was all in and Lee snap called.
Harder: {Qh}{Jh}
Lee: {8d}{8c}
Lee was way ahead with his set of eights, but Harder had outs to a higher full house with a queen or a jack on the river. Neither came as the {9h} completed the board and Lee would double to 1,200,000 as Harder dropped to 800,000.
On the very next hand Cornel Andrew Cimpan opened the action from the cut-off with a raise to 55,000. Harder called on the button, Mike Linster called from the small blind, and Jacob Ostrander also called from the big blind.
The four players saw a flop of {9c}{10s}{5h} and the action would check around to Harder who put out a bet of 100,000. Both blinds got out of the way as Cimpan called and the pair would see a turn card heads-up.
The {7s} hit the turn and Cimpan again checked his option. Not to be deterred, Harder slid forward a bet of 205,000 and again Cimpan called. The dealer burned the final card and placed the {Qc} on the river as Cimpan quickly checked one last time. Harder tanked for around 45 seconds before announcing all in. After a minute or so Cimpan tossed his cards into the muck and Harder would rake in the pot, building his stack to back over 1,200,000.
Level 24 (Blinds 12,000/24,000/3,000)
Total Entries: 333
Players Remaining: 7
After the loss of Harada in 8th place, play has slowed down in event 15. Majority of the action has been pre-flop raises taking down the blinds and antes and we are still 7 handed. Marshall leads the way with around 1,600,000 and Christian Harder is not far off his heels with 1,400,000.