Overcoming daunting odds, Darren Elias made World Poker Tour history in coming from behind to win the WPT Caribbean in St. Maarten Friday evening.
At the start of action on Friday, Elias was in second place but that wasn’t much consolation. With his 495K in chips, Elias was almost four times behind chip leader Christophe Rosso (1.932 million). Rosso, who had dominated the Day 3 action to garner those chips, actually held more chips than those in front of Elias and his fellow contenders George Griffith (349K), Mike Linster (329K), Ziga Jamnikar (314K) and Dan Murariu (122K). With such a commanding lead, it was thought that Rosso would make quick work of his opponents as the cards went to the air.
Rosso came out of the gates quickly, winning seven of the first 14 hands before the first elimination would occur. After a raise out of Linster from under the gun, Murariu decided to take a stand with his short stack off the big blind. Unfortunately Murariu didn’t have enough of a stack to persuade Linster to lay his cards down and, in all likelihood, he wouldn’t have gone anywhere; Linster made the call and tabled pocket Queens against Murariu’s A-9 off suit. After a King high board didn’t improve either player, Linster scooped the pot as Murariu headed for the doors of the Casino Royale in St. Maarten in sixth place.
Only two hands later, Rosso would extend his lead. After opening the betting, Rosso saw Jamnikar make the call and the duo saw a J-10-7 flop. Out of position, Rosso made a continuation bet of 100K and, after Jamnikar moved all-in, immediately called and showed a pocket pair of sevens for a flopped set. Jamnikar’s pocket Aces had been out flopped and, after a deuce came on the turn and another ten hit the river, Jamnikar was gone in fifth place.
“The Rosso Express” would continue to roll as he knocked another player out of contention for the title. Raising again from under the gun, Rosso found a combatant in Linster in the big blind and the twosome saw an intriguing rainbow board of A-10-7. Linster checked his option to Rosso, who tossed out a 50K bet, and then came alive with a min-raise to 100K. An undaunted Rosso made it 300K to go and Linster plopped the rest of his stack in the center, which Rosso called.
When the hands were turned up, it was obvious to see why the action exploded. Linster had hit gold with his A-10 for top two pair, but Rosso had pocket sevens to once again flop a set. After a King and an eight completed the turn and river, Rosso had eliminated his second player at the final table, sending Linster out of the tournament in fourth place.
It didn’t seem that anyone was going to stop Rosso from his march to the title. He would win the next five hands uncontested to add to his already humongous lead. On Hand 37, that ruthless aggression led to the elimination of Griffith, who would move all in pre-flop against Rosso. Griffith held the lead going to the flop with his K-10 over Rosso’s Q-6, but a 6-5-5 flop changed everything. Another five on the turn gave Rosso a full house and, once no King or ten came on the river eight, Griffith was gone in third place.
Down to heads up, Rosso’s domination was plainly evident. His 2.922 million chip stack dwarfed that of Elias (619K) and he continued to hit the gas pedal, winning the first five hands of heads up action. After about ten more hands of play, Elias had gained back some chips but was still facing a huge 3.5:1 deficit (2.7 million/800K) as the levels moved up.
Elias found what he was looking for after about 40 more hands of chipping at Rosso’s advantage. After a raise from Rosso, Elias reraised him to 130 and Rosso fired back with 538K in chips of his own. Elias took his stand, moving all in, and Rosso called with an A-J. Elias had pocket sevens and, with his tournament life on the line, saw the board come sans an Ace or a Jack to get a double up. With that key double, Elias pulled the chip stacks to nearly even as the battle continued.
Another 50 hands would take place before what would be the eventual game changer. After Elias limped off the button and Rosso checked, a J-7-5 board would bring a check-raise from Rosso that Elias called. On a ten turn, Rosso fired out another big bet and, after Elias called, the men saw another ten complete the board. Rosso once again pulled the check-raise out of his arsenal, putting Elias to a decision for his tournament existence. Elias mulled the decision on the dangerous board before making the call and tabling a 9-8 for the Jack-high straight; Rosso could only muster a J-8 for two pair as the chip lead swung to Elias (3.2 million/350K).
Although Rosso would double up twice over the next ten hands, it wasn’t enough to get him back in the game. On the final hand, Rosso moved all in and Elias immediately called, his pocket Aces in a dominating position over Rosso’s 7-6 off suit. A six on the flop brought some hope to Rosso and a seven on the turn made that hope a reality in giving Rosso the lead with two pair. Those hopes were dashed on the rocks of the river, however, when it came with a five to give Elias a better two pair and the WPT Caribbean championship.
1. Darren Elias, $127,680
2. Christophe Rosso, $64,900
3. George Griffith, $42,100
4. Mike Linster, $28,950
5. Ziga Jamnikar, $22,280
6. Dan Murariu, $17,370
In winning the WPT Caribbean, Elias etched his name not only on the WPT Champions’ Cup but also in the annals of WPT history. In September, Elias was the victor at the WPT Borgata Poker Open and, by winning the WPT Caribbean, became only the second man to win back-to-back WPT titles (Marvin Rettenmaier was the first). Elias bettered Rettenmaier in that he became the first man to win those back-to-back titles in the same season (Rettenmaier won the WPT World Championship in 2012 to conclude Season X before coming back to a couple months later to win the WPT Cyprus to start Season XI). Although the check from the WPT Caribbean may be small, it does push Elias up to nearly $1 million in tournament poker earnings for 2014.