Fedor Holz had won nearly $2 million in 2015 before he took his seat at the final table of the WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas. The young German had been running great all year and capped off his miraculous 2015 by shipping the WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas for approximately $1.6 million. Daniel Negreanu finished in third place.
The WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas concluded its final event of the calendar year at the Bellagio. When the final table began, Fedor Holz held over 40% of the chips in play. He got off to a quick start and it was only a matter of time before he stepped into the winner's circle.
The WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas had 45 entries (including a few re-entries). The field including many of the same familiar faces you'd see at these high roller affairs despite the fact it's late in the year and a week before Christmas.
Only the top 7 players got a cut of the prize pool that was nearly $4.5 million (minus juice, of course). The top-heavy prize pool meant that the final two players were awarded a seven-figure payday. Nearly $1.6 million was set aside for first place, while second place locked up a cool $1 million. That's not a bad payout for less than three days of work.
It took 37 hands before the money bubble burst and David Peters bubbled in eighth place. Fedor Holz took him out with A-K vs. A-J. An orbit later, Daniel Negreanu issued a bad beat and flopped of set of eights with 8-8 to pick off Keith Tilston's pocket Jacks. Keith Tilston min-cashed in seventh place.
Kathy Lehne busted in sixth with A-5 against Sean Winter's Big Slick. On the next hand, Ankush Mandavia took a bad beat and busted in fifth when his 10-10 got outflopped by Nick Petrangelo's pocket eights. Another set of eights sent another player to the rail. Sean Winter was dunzo fourth place when his A-10 lost to Petrangelo's pocket sevens.
Shorty Daniel Negreanu hit the rail in third place when Nick Petrangelo picked him off. That set up a heads-up battle between Petrangelo and Holz with Holz leading 9.3M to 4.1M.
Holz only needed 23 hands to liquidate the rest of Petrangelo's stack. For a runner-up finish, Petrangelo took home $1,015,335. Holz earned $1,589,219 for first.
WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas
Buy-in: $100,000
Entrants: 45
Prize Pool: $4,414,500
Payouts: 7
Final Table Results and Money Winners:
1st: Fedor Holz - $1,589,219
2nd: Nick Petrangelo - $1,015,335
3rd: Daniel Negreanu - $646,103
4th: Sean Winter - $441,450
5th: Ankush Mandavia - $309,015
6th: Kathy Lehne - $242,798
7th: Keith Tilston - $176,580
The next big WPT high roller event will be in the Philippines in early January 2016. The swanky Solaire Casino in Manilla is hosting a $200,000 buy-in event.
