The WSOP Circuit crowned yet another ring winner and 12 players inched toward being the next one to pose as a champion at the Caribbean festival, held on the isle of Sint Maarten. Daniel Azancot was pronounced gold ring winner at the WSOP Circuit Caribbean $365 No-Limit Hold’em Monster Stack after an intense head-to-head battle with opponent Ingrid Etienne.
The Canadian, who was visiting Sint Maarten for a vacation, heard about the poker tournament and decided to participate. It took him 12 hours to emerge a champion. In addition to the coveted WSOP Circuit gold ring, Azancot secured a first-place prize of $11,400.
As many as 29 players returned to the tables to compete for the champion title. Stevan Prager was the first player to get eliminated as he busted in the very first hand. Augusto Cavazzini soon followed in his footsteps with an ace-king against rival Dueval Fenton’s ace-queen.
The last two tables were set after a roller coaster of eliminations as players Dominick French, Hamy Wuhjadi and Jean Mrakic all left the game. Herve Bourgois ended up as the event’s bubble boy after he shoved with pocket tens and his opponent Chan Ping Hsiung responded with nines only to improve his hand with yet another nine on the turn. Sint Maarten’s native Christophe Entici’s elimination resulted from a three-way all in and he left the table with a $840 prize.
After an hour of short-handed play, Marvin Browne ended up in tenth place. He was followed by Layne Flack who raised with the seven-five suited and flopped a gutshot and flush draw to finish in ninth. Shortly after, the ace-king of Azancot sent Hsing to eight place.
Willie Janssen, who had already competed on the final table of the Six-Handed event, came in seventh after he pushed his short stack with ace-four suited. Puerto Rican Jose Delgado claimed the $2,130 sixth-place prize after he three-bet shoved ace-six and Ingrid Etienne responded with pocket aces.
Azancot claimed the lead over his remaining opponents after Stephen Saleh lost a flip with eights against the Canadian’s ace-queen. Dueval Fenton was the next to drop out as his queen-seven suited was powerless against Azancot’s pocket eights. Fenton finished fourth with a prize of $3,750. He was soon followed by Martinique native Cedric Cavalier who came in third and went home with a price of $5,100.
Azancot led the heads-up battle with Etienne with 2 to 1 advantage and managed to maintain his position until his nut flush failed him and his opponent doubled with top pair. However, the Canadian regained his lead despite a second double up on behalf of Etienne. The game ended with a king-ten flip for Azancot and pocket fours for Etienne. A king on the river for Azancot earned Etienne the runner-up position with a second-place prize of $7,060.
