Utilizing the chip lead at the final table, the current Global Poker Index Player of the Year leader, Keven Stammen, dominated on his way to capturing the World Poker Tour World Championship at the Borgata in Atlantic City on Saturday night.
Stammen, who captured the lead from Byron Kaverman in knocking out television table bubble boy Anthony Gregg on the final hand of Friday’s play, held a sizeable 1.6 million chip lead over Kaverman as the final table began. The other four men on the felt – Abe Korotki, Curt Kohlberg, Tony Dunst and Ryan D’Angelo – were quite a distance back, but all had the skills to get back into the match with the turn of a friendly card. From the start, it seemed as if it were Stammen’s tournament to lose and he didn’t let that happen.
Only nine hands into play, one of those shorties was able to make their move up the leaderboard. D’Angelo, holding pocket Kings, called off his stack after Korotki bet, D’Angelo three bet and Korotki moved all in with A-Q. It looked as if Korotki would earn the first knockout of the final table when the flop came A-10-3, but the board opened up a flush draw for D’Angelo in addition to his two King outs. A seven on the turn did nothing, but a King on the river allowed D’Angelo to slip out of the grasp of Korotki and rocket into contention in the tournament. Korotki would never recover from that devastating blow, eventually giving up the rest of his chips to D’Angelo 25 hands later in exiting in sixth place.
The remaining five players then started the task of chopping the field down, but the skills of the players instead saw several double ups. On Hand 100, Kaverman and Kohlberg battled it out pre-flop with Kaverman at risk. That risk was minimized a bit as Kaverman’s A-J was ahead of Kohlberg’s A-8 and the 9-4-3-A-3 board didn’t offer Kohlberg any support. A couple of hands later, Kaverman completed the knockout of Kohlberg in fifth place.
While the battle raged around him, Stammen kept his head above the fray. After Kohlberg’s elimination, Stammen sat with 9.3 million chips while his remaining opponents (Kaverman, Dunst and D’Angelo) could only muster about 7 million chips between them. Over the span of four hands, those four contenders for the WPT World Championship would become two.
Kaverman would once again play the role of the Grim Reaper, this time against D’Angelo. After D’Angelo moved all in pre-flop, Kaverman made an arguably loose call with only a Q♠ 2♣. It proved to be the right call, however, as D’Angelo could only turn up a 9♠ 5♣ on the steal attempt. After an A-7-6-10 rainbow flop and turn brought a bit of excitement, a King on the river ended D’Angelo’s hopes, sending him to the exit in fourth place.
Dunst, who was looking to win his second WPT title of this season, was the next to go. Moving all in from the button, Dunst was challenged by Stammen in the big blind with the call. This time around, Stammen was on the short end of the stick with his K-6 against Dunst’s A-2, but the board would change the duo’s fortunes. A King on the flop pushed Stammen to the lead and another King on the turn had Dunst drawing dead as he was dispatched in third place.
As heads up play began, Stammen held almost a 2:1 lead over Kaverman, but it turned out not to be an easy fight. Only seven hands into heads up action, Kaverman was able to eke out a slim lead, only to see Stammen take it back on the next hand. At that point, Stammen stomped on the gas and began to put Kaverman in his rear-view mirror. Only thirteen hands after Kaverman held the lead, he suddenly was looking at a 13.83 million to 2.58 million chip disparity. Although he treaded water over the next 20 hands, it would be too much for Kaverman to overcome.
On the final hand, Stammen limped in only to see Kaverman pound the pot with an all-in bet. Stammen immediately made the call, tabling an A-8 off suit against Kaverman’s pocket fours, and the twosome were off to see five cards. The Q-9-6-3 flop and turn kept Kaverman in the lead for his much-needed double up, but the Ace on the river completely changed the tables, earning Keven Stammen the WPT World Championship.
1. Keven Stammen, $1,350,000
2. Byron Kaverman, $727,860
3. Tony Dunst, $452,729
4. Ryan D’Angelo, $363,930
5. Curt Kohlberg, $286,292
6. Abe Korotki, $235,341
With Stammen crowned as the WPT World Champion, there was only one bit of business left to take care of. After virtually sealing it during the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown with his runner up finish to Eric Afriat, Mukul Pahuja was able to withstand the challenges of Shaun Suller and Dylan Wilkerson to take down the WPT Player of the Year award. After an exciting week of poker in Atlantic City, the crowning of both Stammen and Pahuja puts the coda on Season XII of the World Poker Tour.