Ian Otobo Takes Down the World Poker Tour Deepstacks Malta Main Event
A last minute change of plans worked out perfectly for Ian Otobo as it led to him becoming the latest World Poker Tour Deepstacks champion.
Otobo and his friend, Carl “Rastafish” Harris, were all set to head to London for the United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour series at the Hippodrome until they discovered it was cheaper for them to fly to Malta for the WPT Deepstack event taking place there. It turned out to be a great decision because Otobo topped a field of 174 players to scoop the €20,300 first-place prize, the WPTDeepStacks trophy and a $3,000 Championship package.
2016 WPTDeepStacks Malta Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ian Otobo | €20,300 |
| 2 | Roberto Campo | €14,220 |
| 3 | Dario Marinelli | €9,146 |
| 4 | Marco Putin | €6,772 |
| 5 | Gregoire Auzoux | €5,083 |
| 6 | Joseph Dunning | €4,063 |
| 7 | Marco La Grutta | €3,378 |
| 8 | Timo Hirvola | €2,709 |
| 9 | Timothee Marlin | €2,023 |
It took three hours of play at the final table before a player was eliminated, Timothee Marlin being that player. After seeing his stack decimated when his flopped straight fell foul to the turned flush of Roberto Campo, Marlin pushed all in with the K♥4♥ and lost to the A♠A♥ of Campo.
Shortly after Marlin’s demise, Timo Hirvola fell at the hands of Dario Marinelli. At the 12,000/24,000/4,000 level, Marinelli opened to 48,000 from the cutoff and called when Hirvola three-bet all in from the small blind for 95,000 in total. Hirvola showed Q♦9♣ and Marinelli the K♦J♦. A final board reading 6♦5♠7♣2♣J♣ sent Hirvola home in eighth place.
A similar hand sent Marco La Grutta to the sidelines a short time later. Otobo pushed all-in from the button for 12 big blind with what turned out to be K♦K♥. La Grutta called off his last three big blinds with Q♥9♥ and when the dealer fanned the A♠9♠6♥5♣3♣ board it was game over of La Grutta.
The flurry of eliminations continued with the bust out of Joseph Dunning in sixth place. Dunning three-bet all in with the A♣8♦ after Campo had opened from early position. Campo called with the dominating A♥J♣, which held as the five community cards fell K♣10♥5♠A♦3♣.
Half an hour later, Gregoire Auzoux and Compo were involved in a raising war on a 3♣7♣4♦ flop that resulted in the former being all-in with 9♦7♦ and Campo the 4♠3♠. A J♣ turn and A♦ river kept Campo’s hand best and left only four players in the hunt for the title.
Campo continued in his role of executioner by sending Marco Putin to the rail. Putin, down to 1.5 big blinds, moved all in with the Q♠9♥ and Campo called with the A♥5♣, which improved to quads when the board ran out K♣5♣3♣5♥5♠.
Marinelli then fell victim to Campo’s run good after he jammed all in for 11 big blinds with the K♦7♣ and ran straight into the A♣A♠ of Campo. The J♦6♠2♠2♥7♥ board didn’t even hint at coming to Marinelli’s rescue and heads-up play was set.
Otobo trailed two-to-one chips at the start of heads-up play, but his A♦6♠ held against Q♦10♦ with the chips going in on a K♦6♦6♣ flop to switch the stacks around. Fifteen minutes later, the final hand of the tournament took place.
On a J♠10♠Q♦ flop, Campo checked, Otobo bet 150,000, Campo raised all in for 1.5 million and Otobo called. It was J♥2♠ for Campo versus the Q♣2♦ of Otobo. The turn brought the 3♣ into play with the K♥ leaving Otobo’s hand the best, which meant he had become the WPTDeepStacks Malta champion.
Lead image and data courtesy of the WPT live reporting team
Want to stay atop all the latest in the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
