The 30-year-old poker pro from Moldova finally took down his first-ever title from the WPT after a runner-up finish at the 2015 WPT Prague. The player notched up his win from the series a couple of days ago, and he did that in a very spectacular manner. The resident of the Czech Republic defeated a strong field of total 898 entries in the event to win his first WPT title and the top prize of $504,820.
The player entered the six-handed final table of the event as the chip leader and just lost his chip advantage for a very short time. Jim Gilbert grabbed the lead early in the day but couldn’t maintain it for long as Plesuv managed to regain the lead. From that point on, the winner kept his lead.
The final table featured only one former WPT champion – Ravi Raghavan. The Indian-origin player entered the final day of action as the short stack and could not improve. Finally, Plesuv put an end to Raghavan’s hunt for a second title. The player took home $103,310 for his 6th place finish.
Jeremy Joseph then eliminated Chris Kennedy in fifth place. He took home $135,505. Down to 4-handed play, Plesuv built a big stack and went ahead of his rivals. The eventual champion went on to take down several big pots, including one against Marius Gierse, which finally caused the latter’s elimination. Gierse earned $179,710 for his fourth place finish. After that hand, Plesuv took full control with over 2-thirds of all chips in play. Later, Joseph went out after failing to hold up against Plesuv.
Long Heads-Up
Jeremy Joseph took home $240,945 for his third place finish. Finally, it was heads-up where Plesuv started against Gilbert with an 8-1 chip advantage. Both players were battling it for their first titles from WPT and both of them had previously recorded runner-up finishes in WPT Main Events.
Despite his massive chip disadvantage, Gilbert put up some good fight during the heads-up, trying to survive for as long as possible and gain momentum in a hunt for the title. Finally, the big hand came where Plesuv moved all in with Ad-Js and Gilbert called for his final 9 million with pocket nines. The board ran out Ac Qs 3c Jc Qh and Plesuv locked up the pot and the title with two pairs. Gilbert eventually ended up his good run finishing as the runner-up for $326,565 in prize money.
“I was heads-up in WPT Prague three years ago with a big chip lead,” Plesuv said. “I lost. So, I’m really excited to come back and win.”
Final Table Payouts:
- Pavel Plesuv – $504,820
- Jim Gilbert – $326,565
- Jeremy Joseph – $240,945
- Marius Gierse – $179,710
- Chris Kennedy – $135,505
- Ravi Raghavan – $103,310
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