World Poker Tour Foxwoods, World Poker Finals: Cornel Cimpan Wins Second WPT Title
Tuesday marked the conclusion of the latest stop on the World Poker Tour, Foxwoods, with Cornel Cimpan claiming his second WPT title and more than $900k after beating an extremely tough final table.
Action started off with a bang as Lee Markholt's dream of a World Poker Tour title were flushed down the drain by Matt "Allinat420" Stout during the second hand of the day. Sitting in the cutoff position, Stout raised to 100,000 and Markholt raised all-in from the button. Stout called with A♠6♠ while Markholt held A♥K♠. The flop came Q♠5♥4♠, giving Stout the flush draw. The turn paired the board when the 5♣ fell. The river brought the 3♠, giving Stout the flush and Markholt's day was done. He collected $166,069 for finishing sixth.
Twenty hands after Markholt's was flushed, Curt Kohlberg hit the rail in fifth place. Cimpan raised to 125,000 while under the gun and got a call from Soheil Shamseddin in the cutoff. Kohlberg moved all-in for 690,000 from the small blind. After several minutes of contemplation, Shamseddin called, showing 2♣2♠ to Kohlberg's A♥Q♦. The flop came A♦Q♦5♥. The turn brought the J♠ and the river shockingly gave Shamseddin his two-outer with the 2♦ falling. Kohlberg earned $199,283 for his play.
The third player to see a tournament hope dashed was Eric "Efro" Froelich after he fell to Shamseddin. Froelich's A♣K♠ was no match for Shamseddin's pocket fours when the board came 10♠5♣2♦9♠8♦, but Froelich collected $232,496 in his first WPT cash.
The player who arguably had the roughest day was Stout. Crippled after Shamseddin hit a full house on the river against Stouts' turned king-high flush, the online ace tried to rebound but couldn't and ended busting third. In Stouts' final hand, Cimpan raised from the button, making it 350,000 to go, and got calls from Shamseddin and Stout, the latter who was all-in for his remaining 345,000. The flop came 9♥6♥6♣ and Shamseddin bet out for an undisclosed amount, and Cimpan folded. Shamseddin showed A♣6♦ for trip sixes and Stout's day was done once the turn saw him draw dead. Stout earned $265,710 for finishing third.
After several hours of heads-up play, former WPT winner Cimpan had added to his record once again by defeating Shamseddin. Despite holding a 4-1 chip lead at the start of heads-up play, Shamseddin simply couldn't fade Cimpan and finished second, which was good for $463,332.
In the final hand, Shamseddin bet 500,000, Cimpan quickly moved all-in, and Shamseddin insta-called holding K♠J♦ to Cimpan's A♠J♦. The board came 8♥7♥Q♣7♠ and Shamseddin's day was over, giving Cimpan the $910,058 first-place prize.
The World Poker Tour was recently purchased by PartyGaming. Be sure to sign up for a PartyPoker account to start your path toward a WPT title of your own.
