It wasn’t exactly a wire-to-wire victory for Anthony Ruberto, but the final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Jacksonville stop was about as comfortable as a final table can be for a champion. The man from Everett, Massachusetts was never in any real danger of being eliminated, starting with the top stack at the final table and either being chip leader or close to it the whole way through. That’s not to say it was easy, however, but in the end, Ruberto accomplished what he set out to do, winning WPT Jacksonville and a $25,500 seat in the WPT World Championship.
Here were the chip counts to start the six-handed final table Tuesday:
Anthony Ruberto – 4,500,000
Vitor Coelho – 2,570,000
Lisa Hamilton – 1,901,000
Sam Soverel – 1,432,000
Artie Rodriguez – 797,000
Darryll Fish – 641,000
It took a while to see the first elimination, as the short stacks were able to stay alive by doubling-up through the bigger stacks, but eventually, on the 52nd hand of the final table, the field was pared from six to five. After Lisa Hamilton raised pre-flop, Darryll Fish moved all-in for 575,000 (blinds and antes were 20,000/40,000/5,000 at the time) with 3-3. Hamilton called with 7-7 and knocked out Fish when the community cards came out blank for both players.
Thirteen hands later, it was time for Artie Rodriguez to hit the rail. He had been crippled by Sam Soverel a couple hands prior, and with just 100,000 chips, shoved pre-flop with 9-7. Hamilton did the deed once again, calling from the big blind with K-4. Rodriguez couldn’t find one of his outs while Hamilton turned a pair of fours, sending Rodriguez home in 5th place.
From here, the game got very competitive. Going into four-handed play, Ruberto had a nice lead with 4.475 million chips, but the rest of the players will all in the mid-two million range. On hand 77, Ruberto finally lost the chip lead, falling to 2.945 million (after having slowly seen his stack chipped away), while Soverel took over the top spot with 3.355 million. Ruberto grabbed the lead back just seven hands later, rising to 3.635, just 400,000 ahead of Soverel. Chips kept moving around the table for the first couple orbits and after hand 97, the final table was in a virtual four-way tie. Hamilton was now in the lead with 3.1 million, but the other three stacks were perhaps as close as we’ve ever seen at a four-handed final table: 2.99 million (Vitor Coelho), 2.885 million (Ruberto), and 2.87 million (Soverel). We had a game on our hands.
The deadlock didn’t last for long, though, as Ruberto nabbed a 2.37 million from Soverel, taking him back up over 4.5 million chips. From that point, there was no looking back for Ruberto. On hand 119, he knocked out Coelho in 4th place with pocket Aces over pocket fours and ten hands later, took out Hamilton with A-K versus A-3, ending the hopes of Hamilton becoming the first woman to win an official WPT title.
Going into heads-up play, Ruberto had an overwhelming chip lead on Soverel, 9.745 million to 2.1 million. And really, it was no contest. Soverel did climb to almost 4 million after a double-up, but he couldn’t maintain that momentum, quickly dropping back to around 2.5 million. On the 20th hand of heads-up, Ruberto finished off Soverel. Ruberto raised pre-flop to 200,000 and Soverel shoved for a bit over 2 million. Ruberto called with K-J, putting himself in fantastic shape against Soverel’s K-7 of hearts. When the flop came out Qc-Js-Tc, Soverel’s flush chances were out the window; he now needed runner-runner sevens or an Ace or nine for a chop. After the 5 on the turn, the runner-runner shot was gone and he was unable to hit the straight on the river, giving Ruberto the championship.
World Poker Tour Jacksonville – Final Table Results
1. Anthony Ruberto – $325,928
2. Sam Soverel – $187,762
3. Lisa Hamilton – $112,657
4. Vitor Coelho – $75,105
5. Artie Rodriguez – $55,077
6. Darryll Fish – $46,315
