Congratulations to Chanracy Khun Winner of WPT Barcelona (€200,000)

The Season XI World Poker Tour (WPT) stop at Barcelona has reached its conclusion and it’s the Canadian, Chanracy Khun, who is the newest member of the WPT Champions Club after defeating Benjamin Pollak in heads-up action.

Here are the highlights of the final table…

It was only natural that an event that had whizzed by in breakneck speed would drag its heels when the final table waltzed into town. When Antonio Alfaia moved all-in during the very first hand we thought the pace would be set, but it turned out to be a quagmire.

But despite the slow pace, one man who was moving pretty quickly was Alfaia; the Portuguese professional doubling up through Najib Tahiri in the first full level of the day – Alfaia moving all in on a flop of [Kd] [3c] [2d], holding [Ks] [Td], and Tahiri calling with [Kh] [6s]. It would be the first of three major double ups for Alfaia has he fought and scratched his way to a third place finish.

The star of the show was Najib Tahiri. The Moroccan was loving life as he played nearly every single pot. He rarely won any of them, but he didn’t seem to care, and with the Moroccans chip stack heading south – and Fernandez apparently frozen – it was left to Khun and Pollak to lead the way after the first full level with barely anything separating them.

Level 24 saw Alfaia’s second double up and this time it was Benjamin Pollak who took the hit. Alfaia moved all-in on a flop of [Jd] [8h] [4h] holding [Qh] [Jh] for top pair and the flush draw, and Pollak called with [Kh] [Jc] for top pair with a better kicker. The turn, [5s], giving Pollak just one more card to sweat, but the [2h] turned up on the river to give Pollak an headache and suddenly Alfaia was second in chips. Khun remained the chip leader.

Two eliminations in consecutive hands as we reached the 25th level of the day. The man with more support than anyone was the first to go. Sergio Fernandez moving all-in with [Ac] [9h] and Chanracy Khun calling with pocket sixes. The rail were baying for an ace, but five community cards came and went, and the ace was nowhere to be seen. Fernandez was out and Bruno Garcia Cotelo followed him in the very next hand; once again it was that man Khun wielding the hatchet. Khun opened, Cotelo shipped with [Ah] [6d], Khun called with [As] [9s] and proceeded to river a full house to send the final Spaniard to the rail.

Level 26 and a vital double up for Pollak. The Frenchman flopping tens full of twos and Alfaia moved all-in on the turn of [Qd] whilst holding [Ks] [Qs]. Alfaia was dead in the water, without a lifejacket, and suddenly Pollak was back in the game. The level ended with Khun still in the lead.

The 27th level was the period that Najib Tahiri started to wilt under the pressure. Once again it was that man Alfaia who was causing the misery as he doubled up through the Moroccan to send him on his spiral of descent. This time it was a flop of [Ac] [Qc] [5s] and Alfaia shoved with [Tc] [7c] for the flush draw; Tahiri called with [Qd] [Js] for second pair, but the [3c] on the turn gave the hand to Alfaia. A few orbits later and the Moroccan was out in fourth spot. Khun opened the action; Tahiri moved all-in holding [Ah] [6s] and Khun called with [Kh] [Th]. Khun wasn’t in the mood to lose a showdown, and the [Qc] [Jc] [9h] arrived right on cue to send Tahiri packing.

The three-handed action took about 40-minutes before Alfaia started to lose his grip on the match. If anyone was going to beat Alfaia in a showdown it was going to Khun; and that’s exactly what happened. Alfaia open shoved with pocket nines, Khun called with [Ad] [5h] and an ace on the river set up a heads-up encounter between the two best players at the table.

So it would be Benjamin Pollak (1,630,000) versus Chanracy Khun (5,840,000) for the title and it wouldn’t take long before Jesse May was celebrating a new champion. You can read all about the final hand just below this recap. Chanracy Khun replicating the feat of Lukas Berglund when he also eliminated every single player on his way to be crowned champion.