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$15,000 NLHE
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| Champ Tommy Vedes | |
Vedes Conquers Festa Final Table
Tommy Vedes is the WPT’s newest champion! Vedes outlasted
274 players to win the Festa al Lago title and the $1,218,225 first prize.
Freddy Deeb, who began the final table with the chip lead, hoped to win his
third WPT title and tie Gus Hansen’s record. Instead, Deeb was forced to settle
for fourth place, leaving room for a new WPT champ.
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| Shawn Cunix - 6th place | |
Play began slowly and the atmosphere on the quiet set was
very tense. Jason Lavallee, who had fallen from chip leader to fifth on Day 5,
won several big pots from Tommy Vedes to regain the lead. Then came one of the
biggest, most stomach churning hands of the night. Craig Crivello raised
pre-flop, and four players called to see a K Q 6 flop. Action checked to Shawn
Cunix on the button, and Cunix made a large bet. Tommy Vedes moved all in,
prompting the WPT set to flip on the intimidating red lights. Cunix had Vedes
covered and called to put Tommy at risk of elimination.
To the cheers of the suddenly animated crowd, Vedes showed
KQ for top two pair only to discover that he trailed the pocket 6s of Cunix.
What a cooler! Vedes’ cheering section shouted for one of his four outs, and
they could hardly believe their eyes when the turn brought a King. A blank on
the river didn’t change anything, and a stunned Cunix watched as his 6s full of
Kings lost to Vedes’ Kings full of Queens. The hand put Vedes back in
contention, though he was still third in chips, and left Cunix crippled.
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| The sign made for Shawn Cunix by his kids | |
Cunix bided his time, waiting for a hand to double up. He
got one walk in the big blind, dejectedly showing AK. It just wasn’t his day.
He finally made his stand, moving all in from the cutoff with 8 6. Craig
Crivello looked him up with A Q . The flop came KT6, giving Cunix a pair but
meaning he’d need to dodge an Ace, Queen, Jack, or any diamond. The turn was
the safe 3, but the J on the
river made Crivello’s flush. After a few heartbreaking hands, Cunix finished in
6th place for $168,970. He was the only member of the final table
who considered himself an amateur and now has three WPT cashes to his name.
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| Jason Burt - 5th place | |
Only a few hands later, Jason “PlastikCards” Burt moved all
in for about 10 big blinds over a 4x under-the-gun raise from Freddy Deeb. Deeb
called with AQ, and Burt’s A J was in bad shape. The KQ4 flop gave Deeb a
pair and Burt a gutshot. The 9 on the turn and 8 on the river failed to
rescue Burt, and he hit the rail in 5th place. Still, $208,725 isn’t
bad for the 22-year old online pro’s first WPT payday. Previously, Burt’s
largest live score was $5,253 for 12th place in an EPT event.
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| Freddy Deeb - 4th place | |
Four-handed, Jason Lavallee and Freddy Deeb battled for the
chip lead for a solid hour while Tommy Vedes and Craig Crivello stayed mostly
out of the way. And then Vedes got into a raising war with Deeb, eventually
finding himself all in with Queens against Freddy’s Kings. The J 9 5 flop was
uneventful, and the 6 on the turn meant Vedes was one card away from
elimination. But the poker gods had decided that it was Vedes’ day, and a Queen
appeared on the river to save him. With the hand, Vedes took the chip lead and
left Deeb short stacked. A few hands later, Tommy picked up a big pot from
Crivello when the same river card made him the nut flush and gave Crivello
Broadway.
Freddy Deeb was down to eight big blinds when he moved all
in under-the-gun with A4. Vedes called with pocket 6s, and an unexciting board
delivered Deeb to the rail in 4th place. Freddy earned $278,300, but
not the record-tying third title he was hoping for.
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| Craig Crivello - 3rd place | |
Craig Crivello was out soon after when his KJ failed to
improve against Jason Lavallee’s pocket Tens. Crivello’s 3rd place
finish sent him home with $477,090 and left Vedes and Lavallee heads up.
Vedes began heads up play with a 9:7 lead over Lavallee, but
it was far from an easy match. The two traded the lead back and forth for an
hour and a half before Jason had Tommy on the ropes, winning a huge pot to take
a 4:1 lead in the match. It looked like it would soon be over when Vedes got it
all in with AT against Lavallee’s AJ, but Vedes flopped a Ten to double up. He doubled
again when his pocket 5s held against Lavallee’s pocked 4s.
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| Jason Lavallee - 2nd place | |
In the final hand
of the night, Jason moved all in with 86, and Vedes called with KQ. The
board came A95QQ, giving Vedes trip Queens and his first WPT title. Jason Lavallee earned $795,150 for 2nd place,
while Vedes picked up more than $1.2 million, a WPT bracelet, a Rolex, and a
$25,000 buy-in to the WPT championship event.
Here are the final table payouts:
| Place |
Player |
Payout |
| 1st |
Tommy Vedes |
$1,218,225 |
| 2nd |
Jason Lavallee |
$795,150 |
| 3rd |
Craig Crivello |
$477,090 |
| 4th |
Freddy Deeb |
$278,300 |
| 5th |
Jason Burt |
$208,725 |
| 6th |
Shawn Cunix |
$168,970 |
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