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April 25th 2006
Joe Bartholdi wins WPT Championship
Joe Bartholdi, a California pro whose biggest tournament win stood at $71,445, yesterday won the WPT Championship at the Bellagio, pocketing $3,760,165 in the process, the biggest pay check in WPT tournament history.
6 players started the final day’s play of the 4th Annual Five-Star World Poker Classic at the Bellagio yesterday, with at least three of them guaranteed a million dollar payday.
Despite this it appeared that everyone was gunning for first place, with no-one hanging around to try and sneak up the payout positions.
It took just 16 hands for Men “The Master” Nguyen to be eliminated; he was shortstacked from the start (with over $6 million less than the chip leader) and went all-in as soon as found pocket tens. Unfortunately for The Master, Claus Nielsen had picked up pocket queens, and with no help on the board, Men left in sixth place, earning $292,915.
Amazingly the next to go was James Van Alstyne, who had started the day as chip leader with $8,070,000 in chips. He was severely damaged in the fourth hand of the day and never really recovered. In that hand Bartholdi bet $600,000 on the flop (4c-4h-3d) and was raised to $1.6 million by Van Alstyne. Van Alstyne then called when Bartholdi bet $1.4 million on the turn (the Ah) and both players checked the 6c river. Van Alstyne mucked when Bartholdi showed pocket eights for two pair. The pot was worth over $7 million and cost Van Alstyne over $3.5 million.
Twenty hands later Van Alstyne was caught on a semi-steal when his all-in bet with Ks-6s was called by Roland De Wolfe with Kh-Kc. He failed to catch the inside straight that appeared on the flop, and was left with just $10,000 after the loss. His tournament was over and he finished soon after in fifth place, earning $439,375.
A further 30 hands on and Claus Nielsen was walking home. He caught a pair of queens on the river with his A-Q but it was a killer card, as it had also made Joe Bartholdi’s king high flush. He picked up $659,120 for fourth place.
At this point Joe Bartholdi had three times as many chips as second placed David Matthews, and $6 million more chips than both Matthews and De Wolfe put together. He was walking away with it, and when his pocket queens eliminated Roland De Wolfe (with pocket sixes) in 3rd place it appeared his win was a formality. (De Wolfe picked up $1,025,205 for third).
But despite starting with $21,670,000 chips to David Matthew’s $8,350,000 Bartholdi did not have everything his own way, and at one point Matthew in the heads-up Matthew even took over the chip lead.
In the end however it was to be Bartholdi’s day, and he won the Championship with a terrific call on the final hand. With Matthew limping in on the button Joe Bartholdi checked his option from the blind and the flop came down Ah-9c-8h. Bartholdi checked again, and with Matthew betting $800,000 he raised the pot to $2.8 million. Matthew then went all-in for a further $7.3 million, and Bartholdi called. When the cards were turned Bartholdi was ahead with 9-5 for the second pair, as Matthew had 7h-5h for a flush draw with two cards to come. It didn’t materialise and Bartholdi had won the WPT Championship and the $3,760,165 first prize. David Matthews, who qualified online for $25 walked away a very happy man, with $1,903,950 for second place.
Submitted: 25/04/2006 16:27:28
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