Team Ivey Pro Dan Smith Wins 2013 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond for $1,161,135
Ship the $1,161,135 first-place prize to Dan Smith!
After 157 hands at the 2013 World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event final table, Smith secured his first WPT title and third seven-figure score — the second largest of his career.
2013 WPT Five Diamond Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan Smith | $1,161,135 |
| 2 | Gary Benson | $672,685 |
| 3 | Eddy Sabat | $436,160 |
| 4 | Shaun Suller | $303,793 |
| 5 | Barry Hutter | $219,165 |
| 6 | Joe Serock | $175,766 |
Action kicked off with the final six players returning to get the cards in the air at 4 p.m. Las Vegas time at the Bellagio, and it would take just 21 hands before the first player was eliminated.
The first to go was former WPT Player of the Year Joe Serock, falling on Hand #21 with the blinds at 20,000/40,000/5,000 in Level 26. According to the WPT live updates, Smith opened from the button with a raise to 90,000 and Serock reraised all in from the big blind for around 700,000. Smith called and showed the A♥J♠. Serock had the Q♠10♥. The board ran out A♣6♦4♦3♥7♥ to leave Serock dead on the turn and send him out the door in sixth place for $175,766.
Then, on Hand #29, which happened during the same level, Barry Hutter was eliminated. Smith had opened to 90,000 from under the gun before Eddy Sabat flat-called out of the small blind. In the big blind, Hutter reraised to 275,000. Smith made the call, and then Sabat reraised to an even 1,000,000. Hutter moved all in for a little over Sabat's reraise, Smith folded, and Sabat called.
Hutter showed the A♠K♣, but his big slick was dominated by the K♦K♥ for Sabat. The 9♠9♦7♥10♠J♠ provided no help for Hutter, and he was left with a fifth-place payday worth $219,165.
Despite the first two eliminations coming rather quickly into play, the third one took a bit longer to happen. On Hand #90, Shaun Suller fell in fourth place for $303,793 after he moved all in from the button during Level 29 with the blinds at 40,000/80,000/10,000 holding the A♦9♦. Sabat called from the small blind with the Q♠Q♥ and held after the board ran out K♦4♣2♣10♦7♥.
Another big chunk of hands played out before Sabat eventually fell on Hand #148. Sabat had worked his way into the chip lead before Smith doubled through him on Hand #132. That gave Smith back the lead, and left Sabat just about tied in chips with Australian Poker Hall of Fame member and World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Gary Benson before his final hand came up.
During Level 31 with the blinds at 60,000/120,000/20,000, Sabat raised all in from the button with a little over 1,700,000 in chips. Smith called from the small blind, and then Benson tank-folded from the big blind. Sabat tabled the A♣9♦ and was ahead of Smith's K♠Q♠. On the K♦J♣6♠ flop, Smith took the lead and Sabat was now on the ropes for his tournament life. The 3♣ turn didn't give any help to Sabat, and the 10♠ on the river finished him off. Sabat took home $436,160 for his third-place finish.
At the start of heads-up play, Smith had nearly a 7-1 chip lead with his 11,955,000 up against Benson's 1,720,000. This was just 14 big blinds for Benson, and things didn't last much longer from there.
Benson was only able to win one hand during heads-up play, and on Hand #157, it was all over.
Benson moved all in from the small blind with just over five big blinds left. He had the 4♦4♣ and was racing with the K♠10♦ after Smith called from the big blind. The 10♣9♣5♦ flop gave Smith the lead and left Benson behind. The 9♦ on the turn meant only a four on the river would save Benson, but the 7♥ was the final card off the deck to secure the victory for Smith. For his runner-up finish, Benson earned $672,685 — the largest score of his long poker career.
With the victory, Smith captured the $1,161,135 first-place prize that included a $15,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship to be held at Borgata in Atlantic City in April. Congratulations to him on his first WPT title.
There are two more stops on the 2013 WPT schedule, both starting on Dec. 15. One will be in Korea running Dec. 15-19 at the WPT Club Phoenix Ramada Plaza Jeju with a buy-in of $3,000. The other will be in Prague at Card Casino Prague running Dec. 15-21 with a buy-in of €3,300. Both events feature a reentry format and you will be able to find daily recaps right here on PokerNews.com.
*Data courtesy of WorldPokerTour.com.
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