The WPT Fallsview Poker Classic wrapped up a record-breaking event with another Canadian stepping into the winner’s circle. Demo Kiriopoulos is now a WPT Champion! Kiriopoulos topped a field of 602 entries to win the CAD $517,424 first-place prize and a $15,000 entry into the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.
Just a few months ago, Kiriopoulos had a chance to win his first major title but finished sixth in the partypokerLIVE Millions event at Playground Poker Club in Montreal. Today, Kiriopoulos completed the job and won the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic and earned a career-high payout.
Kiriopoulos described the win as “amazing” and noted how joyous it felt to close the event out after a few close calls. “This one is special because it’s homecourt,” he added.
Season XVII WPT Fallsview Poker Classic Final Table Results
1st: Demo Kiriopoulos – CAD $517,424*
2nd: Wing Yeung – CAD $362,853
3rd: Andrew Pantling – CAD $233,339
4th: Jake Schwartz – CAD $167,388
5th: James Morgan – CAD $128,471
6th: Noeung Troeung – CAD $105,170
*Kiriopoulos also earned a $15,000 seat into the season-ending Baccarat Crystal WPT Tournament of Champions.
The road to victory was from easy for Kiriopoulos, who entered the final day of play 14th out of the final 19 players remaining. Kiriopoulos found a double-up through fifth-place finisher James Morgan early in the day and worked his way to the final table third in chips. Leading up to the final table, Kiriopoulos eliminated Mark Zadjner in 13th place and Yuri Siniak in 10th place to put himself in a position to win down the stretch.
Andrew Pantling started the final table as a dominating chip leader but eventually ceded his lead to Kiriopoulos. After starting the final table fourth in chips, Kiriopoulos took the lead in the 33rd hand and held the lead for most of the 145-hand affair.
In Hand #108, Kiriopoulos took down a huge pot against runner-up Wing Yeung to increase his advantage to two-thirds of the total chips in play. To close out the title, Kiriopoulos called with and held against the
of Yeung to close out the title.
Hublot WPT Player of the Year Implications
With the win, Kiriopoulos earned 1,200 points and is now 12th on the Hublot WPT Player of the Year leaderboard. Kiriopoulos could soon add more points to his total when he travels to WPT Barcelona in March powered by partypokerLIVE.
Fourth-place finisher Jake Schwartz (1,650 points) is now in third place behind Tony Ruberto (1,850 points), and Ping Liu (1,900 points). Schwartz placed second at the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble for 800 points earlier in Season XVII.
WPT L.A. Poker Classic Up Next
Next up for the World Poker Tour in Season XVII is the WPT L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 Main Event.
The event starts on Saturday, March 2 and plays until March 6 before play pauses for a week and the final table plays to a winner on March 11 at HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas at Luxor Hotel & Casino. The event has a single starting day and is the only $10,000 buy-in freezeout on the Season XVII calendar. For the 17th consecutive season, the WPT L.A. Poker Classic takes place at Commerce Casino.
Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com
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