Harkening back to its origins over two decades ago, the World Poker Tour returned to the high seas this week. The WPT Voyage Championship, held aboard Virgin Voyages Valiant Lady, wrapped up its play on Thursday after 293 combatants had been whittled down to the final nine. In the end, it was Aram Oganyan who was able to stave off the attackers to emerge with the championship in the event.
Farid Jattin Leads to Open Action
The WPT made its venture onto the high seas aboard the Valiant Lady, reliving the “old days” of when the circuit journeyed over the oceans. In the first year of the WPT, the organization teamed up with PartyPoker when that online poker room took its PartyPoker Million to the Caribbean aboard a cruise ship. Howard Lederer won that first tournament in 2003, with Erick Lindgren winning in 2004 and Michael Gracz taking top honors in 2005. Since 2005, however, the WPT had never been back to the high seas – until 2024.
Nine players came to the felt Thursday to determine the “captain of the seas” for the WPT Voyage Championship, battling over a top prize of $285,800 and a seat to the 2024 WPT World Championship come December. Farid Jattin (3.65 million chips) was enjoying his time on the Valiant Lady, holding a slim chip lead over Austin Srur (3.41 million). Everyone else, including Dan Sepiol and Oganyan (tied for third with 1.46 million chips each), was quite a distance behind, but they were prepared to take their shots to climb the leaderboard.
That “shot” ended quickly for one combatant. Marcelo Giordano put out his short stack (655,000) and Sepiol decided to look him up. Once the cards were turned, it was the classic race; Sepiol’s A♠ K♠ was racing against Giordano’s pocket tens and the Q-Q-9 flop did not help Sepiol. There was a spade, however, which teamed with the 4♠ on the turn offered nut flush outs for Sepiol. The second part of that runner-runner came on the 9♠ river, giving Sepiol the flush and eliminating Giordano in ninth place.
Sepiol continued to run over the short stacks on the table in the early action. On Hand 23, he took out Iman Dan in eighth place after Sepiol (A-7 off suit) called Dan’s all-in (pocket fours) and caught a four-flush in diamonds to top Dan’s pair. Once Kasey Mills, the last woman standing for the tournament, was knocked off by a cooler, Carlo Basurto waking up with pocket Kings against Mills’ pocket fives, in seventh, the official six-handed WPT final table was set.
Oganyan Comes Alive
Jattin was still riding in the captain’s chair at the start of the six-handed festivities for the WPT Voyage Championship, but Oganyan was ready to begin his rise. On Hand #10 of the WPT final table, he picked up a needed double through Romulo Dorea to move into contention, but Jattin gripped the lead a bit harder in taking down Dorea in sixth place and Sepiol in fifth place to lord over the festivities with more than eight million in chips.
That was as high as Jattin would reach, and it was not through a lack of effort. Jattin tried to play the “table sheriff,” but failed to knock off Oganyan, then Basurto, then Srur. This brought Jattin back to the pack a bit and, once Oganyan found a double up through Basurto when his pocket Aces stood strong, there was a new challenger for the championship.
The news got worse for Jattin (A-J) when he doubled up Basurto (Q-J) after Basurto caught on a Queen-high all-in situation. That dropped Jattin down to 2.2 million, and his dreams of a WPT title would disappear after the dinner break. On that first hand back, Jattin went to war with Basurto and suffered a cruel bad beat:
Jattin: pocket Aces
Basurto: K♠ Q♠
Looking confident in a double, Jattin’s dreams were dashed when the K-K-6 flop smashed Basurto’s hand. Going from a 70/30 favorite to a 90/10 dog, Jattin needed one of the two remaining Aces in the deck to save him. Neither “rocket” would launch, however, as the seven on the turn and the trey on the river kept Basurto in the lead and sent Jattin out in fourth place.
Down to three players, Basurto (5.975 million) held the edge over Srur (4.575 million) and Oganyan (4.1 million). This brought discussions of a deal to the fore, and the trio did chop up the money according to ICM, guaranteeing the players the following amounts:
Basurto: $202,885
Srur: $188,670
Oganyan: $182,845
They left slightly more than $31,000 on the felt and the accoutrements that go along with the WPT victory, including the seat to the WPT World Championship and the plaque on the Mike Sexton WPT Champions’ Cup, to the eventual winner.
With the money divvied up, the players decided to end the tournament quickly to enjoy the final days at sea. They were all-in on the very first hand after the deal, with Oganyan winning to triple his stack and leave both Srur and Basurto on fumes. On the next hand, Oganyan finished off the tournament, winning a second three-way all-in to take down the WPT Voyage Championship, the extra cash, and the bonuses.
1. Aram Oganyan, $214,245*
2. Carlo Basurto, $202,885*
3. Austin Srur, $188,670*
4. Farid Jattin, $100,000
5. Dan Sepiol, $75,000
6. Romulo Dorea, $55,000
(* – reflects three-way final table deal)
Kasey Mills (seventh, $42,000), Iman Dan (eighth, $34,000), and Marcelo Giordano (ninth, $28,000), were not a part of the “official” six-handed WPT final table but were a part of the final day festivities.
Next up for the WPT will be a trip to Hollywood, FL for the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown. The Meet Up Game (MUG) will be held on April 18, with the $3000 Main Event starting on April 19. That tournament traditionally is a wild one as, with its multiple Day Ones and unlimited reentries, some of the biggest prize pools in WPT history have been built. It is just the start of the “Spring Swing” for the WPT, which will traverse the U. S. and the world over the next couple of months.
(Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour)
