Yorane Kerignard Wins WPT Malta (€120,000)
The World Poker Tour Main Event has been completed after Yorane Kerignard bested a talented six-handed final table to get his hands on the title, €120,000 and a $25,500 seat to the season-ending World Poker Tour World Championship.
| *Position | Name | Prize (EUR) | Prize (USD) |
| 1 | Yorane Kerignard | €120,000 | $182,292 |
| 2 | Jackson Genovesi | €82,370 | $108,024 |
| 3 | Alessio Isaia | €52,500 | $68,981 |
| 4 | Hui Chen Kuo | €39,200 | $51,409 |
| 5 | Zeljko Krizan | €29,300 | $38,425 |
| 6 | Sampo Ryynanen | €23,300 | $30,556 |
Kerignard defeated the flamboyant Italian Jackson Genovesi heads-up in emotional scenes that showed just how important winning a WPT title is to a poker player. The final hand saw Genovesi opened to 125,000 and then called as Yorane Kerignard three-bet to 260,000. The flop came down and Kerignard continued with a 210,000 bet. Genovesi pondered his options for a while before moving all in for a shade over 1,200,000.
Kerignard removed his shades, checked his cards and smiles at Genovesi. It seemed like he honestly did not know what the best play was. He counted out the chips required to call (he would have 1,600,000 left) then stood from his seat, knelt on the said seat before sitting back down again. After almost two minutes he made the call.
"I think I got him," said Genovesi before showing and he did indeed "have him" as Kerignard turned over .
"Just blank it out. I don't care what you do just blank it out."
Both players were on their feet, each pleading with the poker gods to let them win this hand. The dealer burned a card and put out the on the turn followed by the , gifting Kerignard the win.
"NO, NO, NO, NO! Why did it have to end like this?" sobbed a very emotional Genovesi as he stormed away from the tournament area. Within seconds he was crying, distraught at coming so close to glory in such a prestigious event. Kerignard was also overcome with emotion too and headed behind the scenes to compose himself.
It has been a fantastic week of poker here at the Casino at Portomaso and everyone who has been involved has had an amazing time. The next stop on the PokerNews Live Reporting calendar is the World Series of Poker Europe then the San Remo leg of the European Poker Tour, so lock your browsers to PokerNews for the next few weeks!
Until then it is goodbye from Malta, we hope you enjoyed the ride.