Brady Holiman is the brand new WPT champion after the player outlasted the 755-strong field of the WPT Choctaw $3,700 Main Event for his career’s largest cash of $469,185 and the chance to compete in the season-ending Tournament of Champions.
Holiman entered the official six-handed final table of the prestigious tournament holding a commanding chip lead, and held on to it until the very end. The player was responsible for four of the five eliminations during that final stage of the game, which helped him cement his chip leader position.
Winning his first WPT title did not take that long on the final day of the WPT Choctaw at Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma. The six finalists returned for action at about noon local time and the whole ordeal lasted less than four hours.
The official final table of the event included two former WPT champions – Anthony Zinno, who was looking to scoop his record-tying fourth-title from the series, and Tony Ruberto, who was vying for title number two. The two players were both short-stacked at the beginning of the final table. And they were both eliminated by the eventual champion.
Zinno went out in fifth place, good for $125,630, while Ruberto was eliminated in fourth for a cash prize of $166,605. Timothy Domboski, who entered the final table second in chips, was actually the first to leave that final stage of the tournament. The player was, too, busted by Holiman to hit the rail in sixth place, good for $95,780.
Holiman then gave Day 1A chip leader Viet Vo the chance to perform the fourth elimination of the day. The player busted Christopher Smith in third place to secure himself with a spot in the head-up match. Smith took home $223,370 for his deep run.
Two-Handed Action
Heads-up only took 16 hands. The match began with Holiman holding 17.775 million in chips to his final opponent’s 12.425 million. Despite his efforts, the latter never managed to take the lead during the short duel. At one point, he nearly evened the stacks, but Holiman quickly doubled through him to make sure that he maintained his lead.
Hand #122 turned out to be the final one of the final table. It saw Vo raise to 450,000 from the button and Holiman three-bet to 1.2 million from the big blind. Vo four-bet to 2.7 million after taking some time to decide on his move.
Holiman then, too, gave it some thought before announcing all in for 20 million with [As][Js]. Vo called instantly for 9.9 million, tabling [Kd][Kh]. The board ran out [Jc][Jh][6d][3h][7d] to secure Holiman with the coveted title and send Vo in second place, good for a cash prize of $302,725,
The fourth-ever edition of the WPT Choctaw Championship drew a field of 755 entries who generated a prize pool of $2,548,225. The top 96 finishers received a share of the money, with min-cashes starting from $2,932.
Next up on the WPT Main Tour schedule is the WPT Borgata Poker Open at Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa. The $3,500 Main Even part of the festival’s schedule is slated to take place on September 16 through September 21.
