Dylan Wilkerson Wins WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic for $147,509
Over the weekend, the World Poker Tour Emperors Palace Poker Classic — a tournament that attracted 166 players and created a prize pool of $475,836 — played out in South Africa. After three days of play, poker pro Dylan Wilkerson emerged victorious to capture the $147,509 first-place prize.
The third time proved the charm for Wilkerson, who previously finished runner-up at both the Season XII WPT Fallsview Poker Classic and Bay 101 Shooting Star. In addition to the six-figure score, Wilkerson etched his name on the WPT Champions Cup, was awarded a pair of Monster DNA headphones, and earned a $15,600 entry into the WPT World Championship.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Wilkerson | $147,509 |
| 2 | Richard Barnard | $85,651 |
| 3 | Diane Crous | $54,721 |
| 4 | Chris Convery | $38,543 |
| 5 | Aaron Overton | $29,740 |
| 6 | Darryn Lipman | $22,602 |
According to the WPT live blog, the first elimination of the final table came in Level 24 (12,000/24,000/4,000) on Hand #19 when Darryn Lipman shoved all in for 283,000 from the small blind and Chris Convery called him from the big.
Lipman: A♣2♠
Convery: J♣J♥
Lipman was in need of some help, and he got a little as the 7♥5♦4♠ flop delivered him a wheel draw. Unfortunately for him, the 7♣ blanked on the turn followed by the 5♠ on the river, and he had to settle for sixth place and $22,602.
Ten hands later, Aaron Overton got his short stack all in preflop holding the 10♣9♣ only to run into the A♥K♠ of Diane Crous. The board ran out a clean 7♠3♦2♥Q♦8♦, and Overton was bounced in fifth place for $29,740.
On Hand #100, which happened in Level 26 (20,000/40,000/5,000), Convery was felled in fourth. It happened when Wilkerson min-raised to 80,000 from the button and then called when Convery three-bet all in for 415,000 from the big blind.
Convery: 10♥8♥
Wilkerson: Q♣9♣
Neither player paired after the board ran out K♠J♣5♥J♦4♥, which meant Wilkerson’s queen high was enough to score the knockout. Convery was followed out the door four hands later by Crous, who got her stack all in holding the A♠K♠ against the 9♣9♦ of Wilkerson. Crous managed to take the lead when a king appeared on the flop, but the board four-flushed with diamonds and Wilkerson took it down with a flush.
Wilkerson began heads-up play just two big blinds behind Richard Barnard, but over the course of 61 hands he pulled out to a nice lead. Then, on Hand #165 in Level 27 (25,000/50,000/5,000), Barnard opened for 175,000 and then called off for roughly a million after Wilkerson three-bet all in.
Wilkerson: A♥Q♥
Barnard: K♥Q♣
Barnard was way behind, and he failed to catch up as the board ran out 10♥6♣6♠Q♦5♦. Barnard finished as runner-up for $85,651, while Wilkerson became champion and captured the $147,509 first-place prize.
The next WPT Main Event will take place from Nov. 18-23 at the partypoker WPT UK at From Dusk Till Dawn, which the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to live report.
*Photos courtesy of WPT.
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