Scott Eskenazi Holds on to Win WPT Rolling Thunder ($361,660)
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There's a brand new member of the World Poker Tour Champions Club and his name is Scott Eskenazi, who took down the $3,500 buy-in WPT Rolling Thunder on Tuesday for $361,600.
At that six-player final table, WPT commentator Tony Dunst, who entered the finale second in chips, had a bad run of cards and was out in sixth place ($73,400). In his last hand, early at the final table, the long-time poker pro had turned a flush draw and then picked up top pair on the river where he called off an all in wager from the eventual champion who had flopped a straight.
Dunst was attempting to win his second World Poker Tour title, but it wouldn't happen on this day. Still, Vince Van Patten's TV co-host ran deep in a field of 590 entrants, most in the tournament's history by a long shot (465 was the previous record in 2014).
WPT Rolling Thunder Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott Eskenazi | $361,600 |
| 2 | Jeremy Joseph | $234,000 |
| 3 | Alejandro Jauregui | $172,000 |
| 4 | Albert Tapia | $128,000 |
| 5 | Victor Paredes | $97,000 |
| 6 | Tony Dunst | $73,400 |
Started Near the Bottom, Now He's Here
When play began on Tuesday afternoon at Northern California's Thunder Valley Casino Resort, Alejandro Jaurequi held a sizable lead over Dunst and the rest of the table with more than 100 big blinds. Eskenazi, however, was second-to-last at the table and only had about one-fifth the size of the chip leader's stack.
Eskenazi would quickly move up the leaderboard before the massive pot against Dunst put him in an even stronger position. But with five players remaining, Jauregui would increase his lead after winning a race to bust Victor Paredes in fifth place ($97,000). At that point, the four remaining players were guaranteed a six-figure payday.
Moments later, Eskenazi would begin to take control of the final table. He won an large pot against Jauregui when he jammed all in after facing a three-bet (cards weren't exposed). Then he won an even bigger pot against the same player when he hit the nut flush to increase his chip lead.
Albert Tapia was up next to be eliminated when he lost a race to, you guessed it, Eskenazi. Tapia was the fourth place finisher and received $128,000 for his efforts. Jaurequi would inevitably bust in third place ($172,000) to Jeremy Joseph, who began the day with the smallest stack.
That created the start of heads-up play between the two smallest stacks when the session began. Both players had gradually increased their stacks throughout the day.
At the start of heads-up play, Joseph held nearly a 2-1 chip advantage. But after winning three consecutive decent-sized pots right off the bat, the roles were quickly reversed. Eskenazi would then grind down his opponent's stack and at one point held a 4-1 lead.
Joseph wouldn't give in, however, and would just about even things up when he was all in preflop with J♠J♥, which held up against A♣6♦. But Eskenazi would turn it back around in his favor and then hold on when he called an all in wager with A♠K♠ and was way out in front when his opponent tabled A♣2♣.
The board would run out 9♠7♥7♦4♣3♣ and Joseph was eliminated in second place ($234,000). Eskenazi became a World Poker Tour champion, earning $361,600 and now has over $1.2 million in live tournament cashes.
On top of the money, he will also receive a free entry into the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December, and of course have his name added to the Mike Sexton WPT Championship cup alongside many legends of the game such as Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, and Darren Elias.
Congratulations to Scott Eskenazi on becoming the newest World Poker Tour champion.
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*Images courtesy of WPT/Joe Giron.
