Laurent Polito Wins PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Paris for €140K and Third Title
In January 2013, Laurent Polito won the World Poker Tour National Paris for €74,500, and a little over a year later he captured his second WPTN title by taking down the 2014 PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Cannes for €86,000. Amazingly, Polito took down his third WPTN title this week when he topped a field of 682 entries to win the 2014 PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Paris for €140,000. By defeating Carlo Savinelli in a short heads-up battle, Polito was able to capture the WPTN Paris title for a second time to etch his name in the record books.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurent Polito | €140,000 |
| 2 | Carlo Savinelli | €94,500 |
| 3 | Guillaume Wilhelm | €61,000 |
| 4 | Alexandre Pereira Gama | €45,000 |
| 5 | David Lascar | €35,000 |
| 6 | Stepan Ouzilou | €28,000 |
| 7 | Franck Kalfon | €22,500 |
| 8 | Omar Lakhdari | €18,000 |
| 9 | Nathalie Schaeffer | €14,000 |
The fourth and final day of action saw 14 players return to take a shot at the title. The final table of nine was reached fairly quickly as first Faouzi Degachi was eliminated in 14th when he lost a flip with the A♦Q♥ against the J♥J♣ of Tarek Bouchama.
Claudio Leonardi was next out when he shoved the Q♠9♦10♦ flop with the K♠Q♥ but lost to the flopped straight of Guillaume Wilhelm holding the K♣J♠. From there, [Removed:226] was short and shoved the J♠7♠ into the A♣10♦ of Carlo Savinelli and was the next to be eliminated in 12th after he failed to improve.
Wilhelm claimed another victim when he called a three-bet shove holding the A♥K♦ from Mohamed El Bakkouri who was dominated with the A♠Q♥. Bouchama was out in 10th when he shoved with the Q♥J♦ on a 5♥9♦10♠ flop and was called by the Q♥10♦ of Alexandre Pereira Gama. The turn A♦ and river 5♦ were no help, and that left nine for the unofficial final table.
It took a while to lose the next player and it would be short stack Nathalie Schaeffer, who played a patient game all tournament. However, her shove from the small blind with the Q♥7♥ ran into the A♣4♣ of Savinelli who stayed in front to bust her and set up the official final table of eight.
When the final table resumed they were to lose three players in quick succession. Omar Lakhdari was the short stack at the table and he picked a spot to three-bet jam the J♦6♣ over Franck Kalfon’s open with the K♠J♥. The final board was 2♦Q♥4♦7♦K♣, and Lakhdari was out in eighth for €18,000.
Kalfon was the next to go in seventh place. It happened in a cruel fashion when Stephan Ouzilou opened for 195,000 with the K♥8♥ and Gama called with the J♣J♦. Kalfon moved all in for 1,030,000 with the Q♠Q♣, and when Ouzilou folded, Gama made the call. The cards ran out 2♦J♠4♥4♠4♦ and the jack on the flop gave Gama a set and sent a crushed Kalfoln to the rail with €22,500 for his troubles.
It wasn’t long before Ouzilou became the sixth-place finisher and it would be another big pair that brought about his downfall. Opening with the K♠K♦ he called the shove from Wilhelm, who had the A♦K♥. The turn shot Wilhelm in front as the cards fell 4♣10♣5♦A♥6♥, and Ouzilou was crippled. A shove with the J♣10♣ minutes later saw Gama call with the the 9♥9♠ to finish him off. Ouzilou collected €28,000.
David Lascar was the short stack at that point and decided to shove with the 5♦4♦ after an open from Savinelli, who called with the 10♣10♦. That didn’t work out and Lascar walked away with €35,000 for fifth place.
Gama went out in fourth for €45,000 when his ill-timed four-bet shove with the A♦10♣ was called by Polito, who had three-bet with the A♣K♦. The cards couldn't help as they came out 5♥2♥8♥Q♦4♥ to set the final three. Polito continued to pick up good hands and frequent pots at this point and extended his lead, which was instrumental in finishing off Wilhelm.
Polito opened for 250,000 with the A♥5♥ and Wilhelm moved all in for 1,030,000 holding the K♣10♦. Savinelli called with the 6♦6♣ and Polito put in calling chips, too. The flop of 10♥5♦8♦ gave Wilhelm hope, though Polito tossed out a bet on the turn 5♠. Savinelli folded and the 3♣ river sent Wilhelm home in third place for €61,000.
A deal was discussed during heads-up play, but Polito eventually declared, “No deal.” He had most of the chips and it was clear he wanted all of the money too. From there Polito ran good and used his stack to better effect. Savinelli could do little to fight back and indeed barely won a pot worth mentioning. It was all over in just half an hour with the final hand occurring with Savinelli moving all in with the A♦9♥ and Polito snap-calling with the A♥A♠. The board ran out a clean 4♠7♣J♣7♦K♠ and Polito went to celebrate with his ecstatic supporters.
After four days of gruelling poker Polito had finally done it. He led from Day 2 and played fantastic poker, barley putting a foot wrong, and was rewarded with €140,000 and an unbelievable third WPT National title.
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