Vanessa Selbst wins controversial PPT Final

Vanessa Selbst has won the the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event for €1,300,000, but her victory was overshadowed somewhat by the disqualification of German pro Ali Tekintamgac.

With the final table decided back in October, remaining players took a WSOP-style break till early November. During this time Tekintamgac, who was due to take his seat fourth in chips, became embroiled in a cheating scandal which questioned his play during this year’s WPT Spanish Championship victory and a deep run in EPT Tallinn.

Tekintamgac had reportedly hired a team to pose as credited journalists and monitor opponents’ hole cards, providing him with valuable information throughout both events. As a result, a PPT spokesman revealed that Tekintamgac had been disqualified from the event due to ‘fraudulent actions’.

But Selbst was unflapped by all the commotion, her victory cementing her place alongside Annette Obrestad as one of modern poker’s leading female stars.

The Team PokerStars Pro added the career-best prize to her NAPT Mohegan Sun and WSOP victories earlier this year, pushing her past $3.8 million in live tournament winnings, and she now sits third behind Kathy Liebert and Annie Duke in the all-time female money winners list.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1. Vanessa Selbst  €1,300,000
2. Raphaël Kroll  €800,000
3. Fabrice Soulier  €500,000
4. Mickael Etelapera  €360.000
5. Ibrahim Raouf  €300,000
6. Soren Konsgaard  €240,000
7. Cyril André  €187,500
8. Tobias Reinkemeier  €110,300