The preliminary heats of the PartyPoker Premier League V have all been completed and the eight final table participants are now set at the Montesino Casino in Vienna. In what would have to be considered one of the bigger surprises in recent memory, qualifier Mathew Frankland was the top points earner in the prelims and will go into the final table as the big stack.
Play began last week as two eight-player groups embarked upon a series of Sit-and-Go’s. Unlike last year, all eight players in each group played in all of their group’s single table tournaments, four total for each player. Players earned points based on their order of finish, from 16 points for first place down to zero for eighth. At the end of the preliminary heats, the top three points earners from each group moved on to the final table. The fourth and fifth place finishers in each group then competed in best-of-three heads-up matches to determine the last two final tablists.
Below are the final standings for each of the two groups. Automatic final table qualifiers are in bold and the best-of-three playoff qualifiers are in italics.
Group A
1. Mathew Frankland – 40 points
2. Sam Trickett – 33 points
3. Tony G – 30 points
4. Phil Laak – 29 points
5. Andy Frankenberger – 28 points
6. Erik Seidel – 24 points
7. Eugene Katchalov – 9 points
8. Luke Schwartz – 7 points
Group B
1. Daniel “Jungleman” Cates – 38 points
2. Patrik Antonius – 32 points
3. Scott Seiver – 30 points
4. Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 29 points
5. Tom Dwan – 28 points
6. Vanessa Selbst – 23 points
7. Bertrand“ElkY” Grospellier – 18 points
8. Ben Wilinofsky – 2 points
Even those who did not qualify for the final table were not left totally high and dry (aside from the $125,000 buy-in they had to shell out). For every point earned during the preliminary heats, players won $2,000. Thus, Frankland, whose biggest live tournament cash was the $119,409 he earned for a third place finish at the 2010 English Poker Open, has already banked $80,000 for the 40 points he accumulated in his four heats.
Frankland will also begin the final table with 400,000 chips, or 10,000 for each point. It is a tight race, though, as Daniel “Jungleman” Cates has 380,000 chips, Sam Trickett holds 330,000, and Patrik Antonius has 320,000. Everybody at the final table is one hand away from the chip lead; short stack Tom Dwan has 280,000 chips.
The final table will play out tomorrow as the eight remaining players go at it for the $500,000 first prize and a $25,000 seat in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship at the Bellagio in May.
PartyPoker Premier League V Final Table Starting Chip Stacks
1. Mathew Frankland 400,000
2. Daniel “Jungleman” Cates – 380,000
3. Sam Trickett 330,000
4. Patrik Antonius – 320,000
5. Tony G 300,000
6. Scott Seiver – 300,000
7. Phil Laak 290,000
8. Tom Dwan – 280,000
