Timoshenko Captures WPT Championship!

Yevgeniy Timoshenko captured one of the most sought after tournaments over the weekend when he took down the World Poker Tour Championship at the Bellagio for over $2.1 million!

 

The 21-year old from Washington State has been on the scene for some time logging results around the world since 2007, which include victories and final tables from Ireland, Paris, Macau, Barcelona, London and Melbourne and now in his country of residence.

 

What is argued to be one of the toughest tournaments on the circuit, the $25,000 buy-in attracts the world’s greatest players who see this tournament as the second biggest tournament behind the WSOP Main Event. With this kind of reputation the WPT implement one of best tournament structures with a 1,000 big blind starting stack and slow levels as play stretches over seven days.

 

338 players rocked up to the Bellagio to create a prizepool of over $8.4 million, but there would be only 50 players walking away with a slice of the prizepool. With a high-class field in attendance it was no surprise to see so many notables finish in the money including David Benyamine (45^th), Boris Becker (40^th), Liv Boeree (37^th), Phil Ivey (34^th), Chris Ferguson (28^th), Jeff Madsen (18^th), Freddy Deeb (12^th) and Jennifer Harman (11^th) all falling short of the following final table:

 

Seat 1: Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier
Seat 2: Scotty Nguyen - 3,275,000
Seat 3: Shannon Shorr - 1,330,000
Seat 4: Yevgeniy Timoshenko - 13,300,000
Seat 5: Christian Harder - 7,425,000
Seat 6: Ran Azor - 2,525,000

 

Timoshenko took the chip lead into the final table when Brian Rast’s {Ac}{Kc} was unable to outdraw Timoshenko’s {Kh}{Kd} and would be locked in as favourite behind Team PokerStars Bertrand Grospellier (who had a chance of claiming WPT Player of the Year) and Scotty Nguyen (who could claim top spot on poker’s all time money list with a victory).

 

However Nguyen would be first to fall after being crippled by Shannon Shorr and was then out-kicked by Ran Azor’s Ace-Nine to Nguyen’s Ace-Four on a flop that brought both the remaining aces. Shorr busted next when his {6c}{7c} was unable to improve against Timoshenko’s pocket fours. In a rare final table occurrence Christian Harder and Grospellier fell in a double elimination at the hands of Azor. It was Harder’s {As}{8s} behind Grospellier’s {Ah}{Jh} against the completely dominated {Ad}{7s} of Azor. However a seven on the flop would see a double exit to put the tournament into heads-up play.

 

With Timoshenko holding a more than two to one chip advantage over Azor it would be a roller coaster ride for Azor climbing then falling then climbing then falling again in chips until the final hand played out. Azor called off his remaining chips holding {Qc}{Td} to be behind Timoshenko’s {As}{3c}. However the flop of {Qs}{Js}{7d} put him out in front and with a chance to stay alive. The {Kc} on the turn changed little apart from which card Timoshenko would need to catch . . . and catch it he would when the {Ts} landed on the river to make broadway for Timoshenko.

 

As Azor walked away with $1,446,265 for his second place finish, it would be Timoshenko being crowned as the 2009 WPT Champion with a padded wallet containing $2,149,960 and the respect from his peers that he has been working so hard at obtaining.

 

Timoshenko can now be regarded of as one of poker’s elite youngsters adding this title to an already impressive poker CV as he jets off to Monte Carlo for the EPT Grand Final, before returning to Las Vegas for his first taste at WSOP.

 

Even though the Northern Hemisphere may be playing host to some huge tournaments as we count down to the WSOP, back here on the home front we still have the ANZPT Sydney and Melbourne along with the Melbourne Poker Championships. So make sure to stay logged on to PokerNetwork for all the updates and news as it develops on both the local and international scene.