Matthew Lapossie Wins 2014 World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic for $342,266
The third and final day of play in the 2014 World Poker Tour Fallsview Poker Classic Main Event took place on Monday with 10 players returning to action. Included in the final bunch was Day 1 chip leader Matthew Lapossie, and he would be the one to go on to victory and earn the $342,266 first-place prize. Lapossie defeated Dylan Wilkerson heads up for the title and notched the largest score of his live poker career.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Lapossie | $342,266 |
| 2 | Dylan Wilkerson | $228,806 |
| 3 | Jason James | $147,090 |
| 4 | Spiro Mikrogianakis | $108,956 |
| 5 | Josue Sauvageau | $81,716 |
| 6 | Howie Leung | $65,373 |
After Xiaohu Chen fell in 10th place, John Boulougouris hit the rail in ninth and then Peter Labib was out in eighth. That set up the official final table bubble, and it would be Dave Graham busting in seventh place for $54,478.
According to the WPT live blog, Graham fell at the hands of Jason James, who began the day as the chip leader. It was by securing this seventh-place elimination of Graham that James would then enter the official final table with the chip lead holding 2.8 million to Josue Sauvageau's 2.69 million in second place. Interestingly enough, Lapossie was the only player under 1 million in chips with 885,000, well off the pace as the next closest competitor was Howie Leung with 1.405 million.
The first elimination only took 17 hands, and it happened during Level 28 with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000 when Wilkerson busted Leung. Wilkerson opened from under the gun to 120,000, and Leung moved all in for a little over 1 million in chips. Wilerson quickly called with the A♠K♦ for a flip against the at-risk Leung's 8♥8♠. The board ran out A♣7♦5♠7♦2♠, and Leung finished in sixth place for $65,373.
Hand #67 saw Wilkerson score another knockout when he busted Sauvageau in fifth place for $81,716. Once again, Wilkerson won a flip to do so, as his A♣Q♥ beat the J♥J♦ for Sauvageau.
From there, things were very quiet for quite some time, and the next elimination didn't happen until Hand #102, according to the live updates from the event. Yet again, Wilkerson was involved, although this time it wasn't him scoring the elimination.
With the blinds at 50,000/100,000/15,000 in Level 30, Wilkerson moved all in from the button with the chip lead. Lapossie called from the small blind, and then Spiro Mikrogianakis called from the big blind, creating a big three-way all-in clash. Wilkerson, who had shoved having his opponents well covered, tabled the Q♥10♠. Lapossie was the second largest stack and had the A♥K♣, while Mikrogianakis revealed the 6♠6♥.
According to the popular PokerNews Odds Calculator, Lapossie was the favorite in the hand with a 38% chance to win. Mikrogianakis would win 33% of the time, while Wilkerson's chances were at 29%. As things would turn out, the hand with the greatest percentage won after the board ran out J♠3♠3♥7♣K♦ in Lapossie's favor. This drastically changed the outlook, as Lapossie vaulted himself into the chip lead with 4.2 million. Wilkerson dropped to the short stack with 3 million, and Mikrogianakis was out the door in fourth place for $108,956. In the middle of three-handed play was James with 3.9 million in chips.
Just a handful of hands later, on Hand #117, James fell in third place for $147,090 and set up the heads-up match between Lapossie and Wilkerson. Lapossie was the player who busted James, and he began heads-up play with 8.1 million in chips to Wilkerson's 3.18 million.
Over the course of the duel, Lapossie stayed in front, with Wilkerson only getting back up to approximately 4.5 million at best. Then, on Hand #141, it was all over.
With the blinds at 75,000/150,000/25,000 in Level 32, Wilkerson moved all in for around 2 million from the button. Lapossie called with the A♠5♠ to have two over cards against the 4♥4♠ for Wilkerson. The flop, turn, and river came A♣10♥6♣6♠2♥, and that was the end of the line for Wilkerson. He scored second place and earned an impressive $228,806 for his efforts.
Lapossie, on the other hand, landed himself the victory, the largest score of his live poker career, $342,266 in prize money, and the prestigious WPT title. Not to mention, he secured a seat in the season-ending WPT World Championship to be held at Borgata in Atlantic City in April.
The next stop on Season XII of the WPT will be in Los Angeles for the 2014 L.A. Poker Classic. The $10,000 Main Event kicks off with Day 1 on Saturday, March 1 at 12 p.m. local time, and you can be sure to find a recap of each day's play right here on PokerNews.com.
*Data and photo courtesy of WPT.com.
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