Philipp Gruissem’s stellar year continued last night in the Caribbean as he took down his second consecutive WPT Alpha8 tournament. The German has now won two out of the first three WPT super high-roller tournaments.
The field was pretty tough, as you might have come to expect in these huge buy-in events. With 28 entries (a slight improvement on London), five players would make the money and earn themselves a six-figure score.
Previous winner Steven Silverman and One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiari were amongst those to bust before the final table, which included big hitters Scott Seiver, Mike McDonald and Isaac Haxton.
Haxton eliminated Fabian Quoss with pocket Jacks against pocket Tens early in the final table, but he didn’t put those chips to good use. According to WPT live updates Haxton bet around half the pot on a 9♦-8♠-6♣ flop and called when Mike “Timex” McDonald check-raised him all-in. The Team PokerStars Online pro had Jacks again, which failed to hit the two-outer against McDonald’s set of Sixes.
Timothy Adams was the man to bubble, and what a painful bubble these $100,000 events must be. He shoved his button with 17 big blinds only to run into Timex’s A♦–K♥ and his K♠–Q♥ failed to improve.
Scott Seiver has played all three Alpha8 events and cashed again in St. Kitts. Unfortunately for the American he immediately ran into Gruissem’s full house after the bubble to walk away with $217,280.
We had barely seen Jason Koon before he’d walked out the door in fourth. Having sneaked into the money he lost that all important flip with A♠–K♥ to Mike McDonald’s pocket Nines. However the Canadian’s good run didn’t continue for much longer, running pocket Sixes into Gruissem’s Kings.
One player we’re not used to seeing in these tournaments is the UK’s Tom Macdonald. Usually seen playing high-stakes cash games in Macau, the man from Hull made the trip halfway across the world and found himself three-handed! He took the rest of Timex’s chips in a standard flip, A♠-7♠ besting pocket Twos.
Gruissem had the lead going into heads-up and it would take some effort wrestling it off him in this form. After one double for the Brit, Gruissem made a big shove with A♠–5♦. It was called by A♦-6♣ but a flopped Five handed him the victory and a massive $1,086,400!
WPT Alpha 8 St. Kitts results:
1. Philipp Gruissem – $1,086,400
2. Tom McDonald – $679,000
3. Michael McDonald – $434,560
4. Jason Koon – $298,760
5. Scott Seiver – $217,280
Photo courtesy of WPT
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