Ben Wilinofsky Claims WPTDS Championship Main Event Title in Calgary
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Better known as an online poker pro, Ben Wilinofsky captured his first WPTDS title on Monday in the DeepStacks Championship Main Event held at Grey Eagle Resort & Casino in Calgary. Despite some adversity at the final table, Wilinofsky navigated his way to his first WPTDS title along with the first-place prize of CAD $223,359 (~$168,634 USD), bringing his live earnings up over $1.6 million.
“But mostly I’m done chasing the dream, I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago and go out on top.”
It’s the biggest cash since 2011 for the former full-time grinder, but don’t expect to see him on the regular live tournament grind again any time soon.
“I don’t see myself playing any more tournaments this year, and I’m not going to make a special effort to do it next year,” Wilinofsky told tournament reporters when asked about his plans going forward. “I enjoy the Canadian stops, but mostly I travel when I want to be somewhere and see friends, and it’s an excuse to head somewhere and sometimes we pick up a bunch of money. But mostly I’m done chasing the dream, I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago and go out on top.”
WPTDS Championship Calgary Main Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Country | Prize (CAD) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Wilinofsky | Canada | $223,359 | $168,634 |
| 2 | Steven Dahrouge | Canada | $156,573 | $118,211 |
| 3 | John Foley | Canada | $100,687 | $76,018 |
| 4 | Dave McLeod | Canada | $70,612 | $53,311 |
| 5 | Tyler Bonkowski | Canada | $54,222 | $40,937 |
| 6 | Tyler Warken | Canada | $44,814 | $33,834 |
| 7 | Eric Wasylenko | Canada | $37,277 | $28,144 |
| 8 | Duff Charette | Canada | $29,764 | $22,472 |
| 9 | Raymond Trieu | Canada | $22,331 | $16,860 |
2018 WPTDS Championship Main Event Final Table Action
Raymond Trieu went into the final table as the shortest stack by far, according to the WPT live updates. He stuck around with a few doubles but was still the first to fall in ninth. Duff Charette, a previous winner of the event, followed him to the payouts.
With seven left, Wilinofsky, who came in with the chip lead and had been cruising along, hit a wall. On a board of jack-eight-five, Wilinofsky had John Foyer all in and at risk for over 2 million chips.
"It just felt like it was fated, but then I flopped a set and lost to an over-pair, and then it spiraled down on me for a bit.”
The pot was for around 88 big blinds, and Wilinofsky was in great shape to win it with pocket fives for a set against Foyer’s pair of aces. A runout of ace-eight completed the board to give Foyer a better full house though, and Wilinofsky was back around his starting stack for the day, just over 4 million.
In his winner interview, he told WPTDS reporters, “I was really in cruise control for most of that final table. I felt like I was collecting all the easy chips. And it just felt like it was fated, but then I flopped a set and lost to an over-pair, and then it spiraled down on me for a bit.”
He said he had to claw his way back after that blow, and it wasn’t such easy cruising as before.
“I don’t think I was as level-headed as I would have liked to be. I was playing a little fast, I was not taking my time, not taking those deep breaths.”
Eric Wasylenko, a recent guest on the LFG Podcast, was next to go, shoving his short stack with king-ten and running into Dave McLeod’s ace-seven that made trip aces on the board, and they were down to six.
Wilinofsky Eliminates his Last Five Opponents
Despite the big hiccup and some doubling of opponents along the way, Wilinofsky would go on to send all five players remaining in his way to the rail. Tyler Warken was the next shortie eliminated when his ace-five failed to hold against Wilinofsky’s eight-six.
Tyler Bonkowski got his remaining 11 big blinds all in from the big blind with ace-king suited, but couldn't get through two players. The ten-nine-deuce flop favored Wilinofsky, who got in there with ten-nine suited, and he got a full double in the side pot through McLeod, who held pocket jacks. The five-seven runout changed nothing and Bonkowski finished in fifth.
McLeod doubled through Wilinofsky, but then busted to him blind vs. blind on a 7♣5♣3♦ flop. All the chips went in, McLeod holding four-deuce for open-ended against Wilinofsky’s six-three of clubs. The four turn gave Wilinofsky a straight, good to send McLeod out in fourth.
“I’m glad that we just banged it off in a lucky pot, and we didn’t have to grind it out, because it easily could have gone the other way here.”
Down to three, Wilinofsky held two-thirds of the chips in play, but stacks began to even out. Still the short stack, Foley check-called three streets against Wilinofsky on a runout of A♦Q♣5♥9♥7♠. Foley’s queen-jack was second-best to Wilinofsky’s ace-eight and Foley, who got his seat in the event through a $2.50 entry drawing promotion held at the casino, collected six figures for third place.
Wilinofsky began heads-up play against Steven Dahrouge with a 3-2 chip lead. The action started off slow, but quickly escalated with all the chips going into the middle on a big flip. Wilinofsky held pocket tens while Dahrouge needed some help with ace-queen suited.
The K♠J♠9♥ flop blocked some of Dahrouge’s outs. The K♦ turn changed nothing and the Q♣ sealed it for Wilinofsky as he made a straight. After a turbulent final table, Wilinofsky was glad to get it over with in a big flip.
“I’m glad that we just banged it off in a lucky pot, and we didn’t have to grind it out, because it easily could have gone the other way here,” he told tournament reporters.
Lead image courtesy of WPT.
