Luke Roberts Wins 888PL Grand Final

It has been a blockbuster weekend of poker action throughout Victoria and Tasmania. We were pleased to learn of Wrest Point Casino’s return to the major tournament scene with the Tasmanian Poker Championships, as well as the 2010 Victorian Poker Championship in full swing over the weekend.

But as the players were just approaching the money bubble down of the Main Event in the Crown Poker Room, a poker tournament champion had already been crowned in Victoria, with Melbourne’s Luke Roberts having run and won what almost seemed like a one-horse race in the 888 Poker League Grand Final Main Event.

420 players from all around the country descended upon the Caulfield Racecourse on Saturday for the chance to win a share of the $210,000 prize pool. A vast majority of players had qualified via the network of pub poker tournaments throughout Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland, while others had either won their ticket online through 888poker or bought in directly.

The order to shuffle up and deal was given just before 11am and after an exhausting 12-hour grind, the field was whittled down to just 73 after day one, with Roberts topping the chip counts with 373,000. 888poker sponsored player and Aussie boxing legend Jeff Fenech was also inside the top ten chip counts with 201,000, while Vicki Fiasco (290,000) and Trish Braddock (268,000) were the highest placed females after Day 1.

Day 2 proved to be a day of carnage, with the money bubble bursting after only two hours of play with the final table lineup decided just after 4.00pm when William McBride was sent to the rail in 11^th place.

Final Table Seat Draw and Chip Counts

Seat 1: Jeff Fenech - 1,485,000
Seat 2: Kon Konoreos - 450,000
Seat 3: Billy Oggero - 215,000
Seat 4: Brad Warner - 1,245,000
Seat 5: Gary Beck - 750,000
Seat 6: Matt Moate - 495,000
Seat 7: Mike Subacius - 870,000
Seat 8: Mike Raines - 620,000
Seat 9: Jo Zupanic - 650,000
Seat 10: Luke Roberts - 1,610,000

Billy Oggero was eliminated in the very first hand of the final table in 10^th place ($3150) after calling Kon Koroneos all-in with , but lost the flip for his tournament life against Koroneos’ .

Gary Beck then open-shoved from early position with but ran into of Jo Zupanic. Despite picking up a flush draw, Beck failed to double up after Zupanic made a full house on the board of and was eliminated soon after in 9^th place ($4200).

Matt Moate was then busted in 8^th place ($6300) before Jeff Fenech was given the ol’ one-two by Brad Warner and Mike Raines and departed in 7^th place {$8300}. Fenech was first crippled when he ran his into Warner’s and then Raines finished him off when his hit a set on the flop against Fenech, who had moved all-in with .

888PL Dream Team Member Mike Subacius was sent to the rail in 6^th place ($10,500) after moving all-in with before the flop, only to run into Brad Warner’s . Jo Zupanic then collected $12,600 for 5^th place when he open-shoved preflop with ; despite hitting a set on the board of , he was vanquished by Kon Koroneos’ .

From there, Luke Roberts took control of the final table. With almost half of the chips in play, Roberts first sent Mike Raines to the rail in 4^th place ($14,700) after his managed to hit a straight on the board of against Raines’ .

Kon Koroneos then bowed out in 3^rd place ($18,900) after he moved all in with , only to see Roberts wake up with . With the 888PL Grand Final defending champion out of the way and Roberts holding over a four-to-one chip lead, the heads-up battle was short-lived.

On the third and final hand of heads-up play, Mark Warner found himself all-in with on flop of against Roberts’ , but the turn and river came running , to eliminate Warner in 2^nd place ($33,600).

Roberts takes home $54,600 in prize money, entry into the 888PL Dream Team and of course the 888PL Grand Final trophy. It was a breakthrough moment for the 27-year-old, who almost didn’t play in this tournament after just falling short in a satellite for the Victorian Poker Championship Main Event, but ended up winning a seat via a Last Chance Satellite for just $90. Roberts summed up his game plan at the start of the day in just one word – WIN – and he did just that.

PokerNetwork is now bringing you live updates from the final table of the 2010 Victorian Poker Championship Main Event – for all the latest, plus our full coverage from the 888PL Grand Final Main Event, click here.