A field of 259 players turned out for the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Foxwoods Poker Classic. In the end, Vadim Trincher stood tall above the rest, taking home $731,000 for his efforts. The tournament sported a rare five-handed final table.
Trincher ousted both Joe Raposa and William Botchis on the final table bubble in the same hand, leaving only the second five-man final table in WPT history. Trincher had a commanding chip lead entering the featured table as a result. Fifty-five hands into play on Wednesday, Alex Perelberg was eliminated in fifth place after pushing with a short stack over the top of a raise by Amnon Filippi. Perelberg showed 10-7 of spades, while Filippi revealed K-8. The flop came Q-J-9 with two spades, giving Perelberg both an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw. However, neither hit and he was sent packing in fifth place, $106,007 richer for his efforts.
It took more than 100 hands for the next player to be ousted from Foxwoods. Finishing in fourth place was Matt Casterella, who cashed for $138,905. Filippi was once again the executioner. This time, Casterella called Filippi’s all-in for his tournament life holding A-K and found himself in a race against Filippi’s pocket sevens. The flop came a benign 9-8-2. The turn came a three, leaving Casterella drawing to six outs, but a deuce on the river sealed his fate.
Six hands later, Filippi sent Lenny Cortellino packing in third place, cashing for $214,449. On a board of A-Q-6-8, Cortellino pushed with A-7, only to see that he was outdrawn on the turn by Filippi’s 8-6. Cortellino needed an ace, queen, or seven to make a better two pair or trips. However, the river came the king of diamonds, boosting Filippi into the chip lead after eliminating every member of the final table. Filippi held a 4.2 million to 3.7 million edge heads-up.
On the 195th hand of final table play, Trincher took down a 2.8 million chip pot after exposing K-J on a board of K-6-2-6-7. Filippi mucked and found himself as a 3:1 underdog after the loss. His slow burn of chips would continue until the 221st hand of final table play. Filippi pushed all-in on a flop of J-5-5 with two spades. Trincher called, turning over 6-7 of spades for a flush draw, while Filippi revealed J-4 for a made hand. The turn and river both came spades, emphatically giving Trincher a flush and the win in the 2009 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic.
WPT Champion Nick Schulman appeared with Trincher after his victory and told Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman, “He would watch me play before he really knew how to play. I’m not taking any credit. I’m just saying that it’s amazing because this was only a couple of years ago. Now, I want to watch him.” When asked if the final table was difficult, Trincher candidly responded, “Not so tough.”
Here were the official payouts from the massive Connecticut casino. The top 30 players finished in the money in the $10,000 buy-in tournament:
1st Place: Vadim Trincher – $731,079
2nd Place: Amnon Filippi – $409,405
3rd Place: Lenny Cortellino – $214,449
4th Place: Matt Casterella – $138,905
5th Place: Alex Perelberg – $106,007
The WPT staff now takes a well-deserved nine day break. The action resumes on April 18th from the Bellagio for the WPT Championship. The $25,000 buy-in tournament crowns a winner on April 25th. Last year, the tournament was won by David Chiu, who grabbed $3.4 million for his efforts. The event marks the final stop for Season VII of the roving poker tour, which will air on Fox Sports Net. The cable station also holds the rights to Season VIII.