Matthew Lapossie, a Canadian poker pro, became the recent World Poker Tour (WPT) champion, having won the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic tournament. He became the chip leader of the tournament after the first day and finally emerged as its champion after beating 383 poker players.
When the unofficial final table action began, Lapossie had the sixth biggest stack of chips and there were ten finalists playing for the pot. When the first five hands were being played, two players were eliminated from the table. The first player to bust was Xiaohu Chen. He bet all-in as soon as he got an Ace and a Queen, but his opponent Spiro Mikrogianakis had a better hand of pocket Jacks. Since the community cards were not in favor of Chen, he had to finish in the tenth position. John Boulougouris, the player who finished ninth, was also eliminated by Mikrogianakis.
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Fortune began smiling on Lapossie as soon as these two players were eliminated from the table. The next player to bust was Peter Labib, and it was Lapossie who eliminated him. However, Lapossie had to lose two pots before he could get lucky again. The official final table action began only when player James was eliminated from the table by Dave Graham.
Ultimately, there were six finalists left and Lapossie had the smallest stack of chips. In fact, he was the only finalist who had less than one million chips in his stack. The first finalist to leave the table after 17 hands were played was Howie Leung. He got pocket eights and bet all-in, but his hand proved no match for Dyland Wilkerson’s Ace and King. Leung won a prize of $65,373 for his efforts. The next player to bust was Josue Sauvageau, after which Lapossie began getting lucky again.
An all-in was created three ways when Mikrogianakis and Lapossie called. While Wilkerson got a Ten and a Queen, Mikrogianakis had pocket sixes and Lapossie had an Ace and a King. Owing to the King on the river, Mikrogianakis had to leave the final table with a prize of $108,956 in his pockets.
Only two players were left playing after 15 hands. When James made an all-in three-bet with an Ace and a Seven, Lapossie called with a big King and an Ace and James had to leave with $147,090. Ultimately, it was Lapossie who won the championship title, a prize of $343,266, and an entry to the WPT Championship Tournament.
