With 13 players remaining in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Festa al Lago, a familiar face sits perched atop the leaderboard. Full Tilt Poker pro Annette Obrestad, the winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, is the lone player over two million chips in the Bellagio tournament.
The final elimination of Monday’s action belonged to Lauren Kling, who ran pocket tens into pocket queens on her final hand. The talented youngster watched as the board fell K-Q-2-Q-J and that was all she wrote. Play ended shortly thereafter and Kling picked up over $32,000 after bring trumped by quads.
Fifteenth place went to Mark Newhouse, whose A-J could not draw out on the pocket queens of Andy Frankenberger. The latter is fresh off a win in the WPT Legends of Poker in Los Angeles, where he bested a final table that included Kyle Wilson and Jared Jaffee to walk away with three-quarters of a million dollars. As a result of the elimination, Frankenberger is second to Obrestad on the Festa al Lago leaderboard.
Chad Batista, known in online circles as “lilholdem954,” exited in 16th place from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Batista ran pocket eights into the pocket tens of Obrestad on his final hand and neither player improved when the board came A-7-4-J-3. Batista picked up $25,000 for his run, his third in the money finish on the WPT circuit. Batista finished 10th in the 2009 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $57,000, his largest WPT cash to date.
McLean Karr, who came out on top of the pack in the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star event in March, took 17th on Monday. Karr met a similar fate as Batista, running pocket eights into a larger pocket pair. This time, Bobby Suer had him covered with pocket kings and Karr could not improve. Karr won the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) London High Roller Turbo tournament for over $400,000 two weeks ago.
Online poker veteran Matt “All In At 420” Stout finished in 18th place after moving all-in pre-flop with K-10. Suer called and showed A-J; the board ran dry for Stout, who watched as Suer spiked an ace on the river to add insult to injury. Stout made the final table of the Season 8 Foxwoods World Poker Finals, taking third place for $265,000.
The blinds will be 10,000-20,000 with an ante of 3,000 when play picks back up today at Noon PT. If you’re at the Bellagio and want to stop by, you’ll need to head to the poker room, as WPT officials are busy constructing the televised final table set in the Fontana Lounge, which overlooks the fountains. Here’s how the final 13 look:
1. Annette Obrestad – 2,009,000
2. Andy Frankenberger – 1,820,000
3. Jeff Madsen – 1,500,000
4. Allen Kessler – 1,275,000
5. John Monnette – 1,271,000
6. Noah Schwartz – 1,137,000
7. Bobby Suer – 1,129,000
8. Brandon Steven – 977,000
9. Randal Flowers – 691,000
10. Skip Wilson – 531,000
11. Michael Benvenuti – 530,000
12. John Krpan – 397,000
13. Jason Koon – 396,000
Other players relegated to the rail on Monday included Andreas Hoivold, Jeremy Rafalowicz, Kaied Barkho, and Matt Affleck. Every player left is assured $32,000, while players who make the final table will take home at least $112,000. The winner of the WPT Festa al Lago will earn $831,000, while the runner-up in the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament nabs $564,000. The action concludes tomorrow, so keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT headlines.