Chilean Poker Pro Nick Yunis Wins WPT bestbet Scramble for $310,079
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The $5,000 buy-in World Poker Tour (WPT) bestbet Scramble Championship concluded Tuesday evening with Chilean poker pro Nick Yunis taking it down for $310,079 after defeating Yunkyu Song heads-up.
Eric Afriat entered play at the final table with a sizable chip advantage over his five competitors. He was attempting to win his fourth WPT title, which would have tied Darren Elias for the record. But his chip lead quickly fell apart a couple hours into play and the Canadian poker pro inevitably bowed out in third place for $165,000.
Afriat, who hasn't won a WPT title since 2020, has reached two final tables since May. He lost a sizable portion of his stack during three-handed play with top pair and a missed flush draw when Yunis bluff-jammed river with queen-high and a missed straight draw, a bluff that got through for the largest pot of the tournament.
WPT bestbet Scramble Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nick Yunis | $310,079 |
| 2 | Yunkyu Song | $252,059 |
| 3 | Eric Afriat | $165,000 |
| 4 | Joe Jordan | $123,000 |
| 5 | Nick Funaro | $93,000 |
| 6 | Dion Jagroo | $71,000 |
Recapping the Final Table Action
Afriat entered play as a heavy chip leader, but no player at the final table started the session with under 21 big blinds. Nearly two hours would pass before the first elimination. Dion Jagroo was first out the door in sixth place for $71,000 when he moved all in on the flop with a gutshot straight draw and failed to hit against Afriat's pocket jacks.
Nick Funaro, whose brother and fellow poker pro Frank Funaro was in attendance watching on the rail, began the final session second in chips. But he'd pick the wrong time to show some aggression when he bluffed off his entire stack less than an hour after Jagroo busted.
The action began with Yunis completing the small blind to 60,000 with 8♣5♥ after the other three players folded around. Funaro then checked 9♣3♣ in the big blind. The flop came out Q♥8♦5♣ and Yunis led for 60,000 with two pair. Funaro then decided to get a bit frisky with nine-high and raised it to 180,000, to which his opponent called.
Here's where things really started to escalate: Yunis bet 135,000 on the A♠ turn and then called a raise to 450,000. The K♣ on the river had Yunis check before Funaro bluffed his remaining 835,000 chips. Yunis took two minutes to ponder his decision before opting to correctly call off the bet. Funaro was out in fifth place for $93,000.
Joe Jordan was next go in fourth place for $123,000 when he lost a 60/40 to Yunis.
Frank Funaro Rails Younger Brother at WPT bestbet Final Table
Three-Handed Play Begins
Jordan's exit brought the $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament, which began with 361 entrants, down to the final three. Afriat was still holding steady in the lead with nearly half the chips in play. But the pendulum would swing the other way quickly.
Song, who won the WPT Prime Playground in Montreal last month, scooped a 41-big blind pot against Afriat to begin the three-time WPT champion's demise. But it was Yunis who would take over the chip lead, a lead he would hold by a wide margin when heads-up play began.
It appeared the heads-up match would be a quick one but then Song doubled back to over 30 big blinds, and it was a whole new ballgame at that point. The good fortune, however, didn't last long as he bluffed off a significant chunk of his stack moments later, and then he ran into even worse luck on the final hand when, down to 11 big blinds, he got it all in with Qx5x against Qx3x. A 3x hit on the river to put an end to the tournament.
Song, who agreed to an ICM chop before heads-up play began, received $252,059 for his runner-up finish, while the newest WPT Champions Club member took home $310,079 and seats into the upcoming WPT World Championship and the historic ClubWPT Gold $5 Million Invitational Freeroll at Wynn Las Vegas next month. Yunis now has over $2.7 million in live tournament cashes, according to The Hendon Mob, and this one is his biggest.
The World Poker Tour has two Main Tour stops left this year, starting with the $3,500 buy-in WPT Seminole Rock 'N' Roll Poker Open Championship in Hollywood, Florida starting Nov. 29, and followed by the $10,400 buy-in WPT World Championship in Las Vegas beginning Dec. 14.
*Images courtesy of Katerina Lukina/World Poker Tour.
