German poker pro Dietrich Fast emerged victorious in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Main Event late on Thursday to collect the amount of $1,000,800, his biggest career cash by far, and to have his name inscribed on the WPT Champions Cup. In addition, the player also received a Hublot King Power Unico watch and Gold Monster 24K headphones. Winning the prestigious tournament, the player secured a seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.
The WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event is traditionally a tournament that attracts quite a lot of attention. Hosted by the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, as usual, the event drew a field of 515 entries this year. The top 63 positions were paid, with min-cash totaling $18,240. And it took six days of play before the name of the champion became known.
Day 6 of the event saw six players return at the tables of the Commerce Casino, known to be among the most popular poker destinations in the area, to play the official final table and eventually determine the big winner. All six hopefuls were guaranteed a minimum payout of $191,250.
Six-handed action kicked off with Anthony Spinella holding the greater part of chips in play. The player had a total of 3,705,000 in chips, good for 93 big blinds. Fast was 5th in chips at that point with 2,365,000 or 59 big blinds. However, on Hand #5, the German won a massive pot that secured him with the lead.
The first elimination for the day occurred on Hand #27, when Spinella was busted by Sam Soverel. The player scooped the amount of $191,250 for his performance in the tournament. Farid Jattin was the next to go. The player was eliminated in 5th place by Alex Keating on Hand #58. His share of the prize pool amounted to $238,070.
Twelve hands later, Sam Soverel hit the rail in 4th place after he could not hold up against Fast. Soverel took home $316,440 for his efforts. Another player left the table on the very next hand. Alex Keating, too, fell victim to Fast. His share of the entire prize pool totaled $423,890.
After Keating’s elimination, there were only two players left at the table – Fast and Mike Shariati. Two-handed action started with the German holding almost four times more chips than his opponent. The two players took their time and play lasted more than 50 hands, during which chips swung back and forth.
Hand #127 turned out to be the last hand in play. Fast raised to 450,000 pre-flop and Shariati moved all in for his last 4,850,000. Fast took a little time to decide on his next move and called eventually. The player turned over [Ac][9h] against Shariati’s [Ad][8d]. The board ran out [As][Js][4c][8c][Jh], securing Fast with the better two pair and the tournament title. As for Shariati, he collected $656,540 for his runner-up finish.
Fast denied his opponent the chance to win a second WPT title this season. Last August, Shariati topped the field of the WPT Legends of Poker $3,700 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event for a payout of $675,942.
