Coming up one spot short of the win in a big poker tournament is certainly a significant accomplishment, but a bitter-sweet one. And poker pro Alex Foxen knows very well how it feels.
Two years ago, the player finished second in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event, a tournament that always attracts some of poker’s best. A title that previously eluded him was his to win last night.
After a stacked final table that included two former WPT Champion Club members, Foxen emerged victorious to claim a first-place prize of just under $1.7 million and to join that exclusive club of players who have won WPT Main Tour Main Events.
This year’s $10,400 buy-in WPT Five Diamond attracted a record-smacking field of 1,035 entries who generated a prize pool of $10,039,500. The top 130 finishers received a share of the money, min-cashes starting from $18,530.
The final day of the tournament was played on Saturday. Foxen entered the final table of the event that was played at the Bellagio second in chips, behind only Danny Park. Former WPT champs Jonathan Jaffe and Seth Davies were among the final six who had made it to that final stage of the tournament.
However, Jaffe was the first to leave the final table, good for $355,125, while Davies was eliminated in third place for $827,285, leaving it to Foxen and Irishman Toby Joyce to square off for the title.
A Quick Heads-Up
By the time the final table was whittled down to just two players, Foxen had built a solid stack of 29.5 million in chips. The player entered the heads-up match with a massive chip lead over his final opponent. Joyce had 11.9 million at that point.
Foxen never relinquished his lead over the course of the short two-handed duel that only lasted nine hands.
Hand #165 was the final one to be dealt within the final table. It saw Foxen limp the button and Joyce check in the big blind. The flop delivered [Jc][5s][3d] and Joyce checked. Foxen bet 400,000 and Joyce check-raised to 1.1 million. Foxen three-bet and Joyce called as the [Kc] landed on the river.
Joyce checked and Foxen moved all in for 31.7 million. Joyce took a while before announcing that he would call, shoving his 4.5 million. Foxen turned over [Ac][Js] and Joyce showed [Jh][9c]. The river landed the [4c] to send Joyce to the rails, good for $1,120,040, a career’s best for the Irish player.
As for Foxen, he collected a $1,694,995 payday, including a $15,000 entry into the season-ending Tournament of Championships. He also had his name engraved in the WPT Champions Cup.
Asked how it felt to join the WPT Champions Cup, Foxen said that it was surreal and that the last time he made it to the heads-up match of the WPT Five Diamond, he was a bit disappointed in how he played. He went on that it felt incredible to “get the opportunity again and be fortunate enough to pull out the win.”
Source: Outfoxed Them All: Alex Foxen Wins Record-Breaking WPT Five Diamond
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