Jeff Forrest wins first WPT title

Newcomer Jeff Forrest has triumphed over many of poker’s rising stars to claim the WPT Foxwoods title and $548,752.

Forrest, playing in his first ever WPT event, was crowned champion when his pocket Queens held over satellite qualifier Dave Inselberg’s pair of nines, ten hands into their heads-up brawl. But the young pro needed a spot of luck to grab his first major title.

With three players remaining, including the talented Thomas “kingsofcards” Marchese, Forrest’s K6 outdrew Marchese’s AK to relegate the up-and-coming star to the rail, thwarting his chances of adding a WPT title to more than $2 million in earnings this year.

Away from the table, WPT organisers will be concerned about the continuing decline in attendance this year, with just 242 players stumping up the $10,000 Foxwoods buy-in, seeing 25 players walk away with a share of the £2,276,978 prize pool.

But the field was still brimming with talent, as faces from poker’s new school and old, including Gavin Smith, Jason Mercier, Hoyt Corkins and Sorel Mizzi, descended on the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1. Jeff Forrest $548,752
2. Dave Inselberg $325,608
3. Thomas Marchese $211,759
4. Nikolai Yakovenko $170,773
5. Kevin Stammen $128,650
6. Mohsin Charania $104,741

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