Dylan Wilkerson had made it all the way to the final heads-up match at a World Poker Tour event twice before, but he was still in search of his first WPT title at the start of the final table at the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic. He took second place at the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic and the Bay 101 Shooting Star during Season XII. Both of those deep runs are impressive, but you knew that Wilkerson was not going to settle for a runner-up finish again when he was one of the final two players once again tonight in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Wilkerson made sure that he would join the WPT Champions Club on his third try by winning the final match tonight. Wilkerson topped Richard Barnard in the final match to win the title that eluded him before. He was the last man standing in a field of 166 players, and even though Wilkerson took home the largest chunk of the prize pool, this is surely one player who appreciates the title more than the money he won.
Here is a look at the chip counts and seating chart at the start of the final table.
Seat 1. Chris Convery – 1,059,000 (52 bb)
Seat 2. Richard Barnard – 1,322,000 (66 bb)
Seat 3. Dylan Wilkerson – 1,294,000 (64 bb)
Seat 4. Aaron Overton – 465,000 (23 bb)
Seat 5. Diane Crous – 541,000 (27 bb)
Seat 6. Darryn Lipman – 298,000 (14 bb)
The eliminations at the final table began on the 19th hand of play. Darryn Lipman moved all in preflop with Ac2s and Chris Convery called holding JcJh. The board was dealt 7h5d4s7c5s and Lipman was out in sixth place, good for $22,602. Ten hands later it was Aaron Overton who moved all in preflop and he held 10c9c in the hole. Diane Crous called with AhKs and the board fell 7s3d2hQd8d. Overton fell in fifth place, good for $29,740.
There was a lull in the elimination action while Richard Barnard and Convery took turns doubling up. The final table reached Hand 100 when Convery was all in with 10h8h in the hole. Dylan Wilkerson called with Qc9c and the board ran out KsJc5hJd4h. Convery busted in fourth place and took home $38,543.
Just four hands later Crous shipped her chip stack into the middle preflop with AsKs in the hole. Wilkerson called with 9s9d and the board fell Kd7s2d4dJd. Crous was eliminated in third place, good for $54,721.
That gave Wilkerson a chip stack worth 2,460,000 for the start of the heads-up final, but he was slightly behind the stack of 2,520,000 that Barnard was taking into battle. The heads-up match took 60 hands to complete, but there were really no major confrontations hands before the final hand of the tournament. Wilkerson applied consistent pressure to take the chip lead and he steadily increased it as Barnard began to dwindle.
On Hand 165 Barnard raised to 175,000 preflop on the button and Wilkerson reraised all in. Barnard called all in for his tournament life and the two players flipped over their cards.
Wilkerson: AhQh
Barnard: KhQc
Board: 10h6c6sQd5d
Wilkerson had his opponent dominated and none of the three outs that Barnard needed to survive arrived. Barnard was out in second place, good for $85,651. That made the third try the charm for Wilkerson, and he took home the top prize worth $147,509, the WPT Champions Cup, and a pair of Monster DNA headphones. Congratulations to the newest member of the WPT Champions Club – Dylan Wilkerson.
Final Table Results:
1st: Dylan Wilkerson – $147,509
2nd: Richard Barnard – $85,651
3rd: Diane Crous – $54,721
4th: Chris Convery – $38,543
5th: Aaron Overton – $29,740
6th: Darryn Lipman – $22,602
That concludes our coverage from the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic. Thanks to the Emperors Palace for hosting a great event. Be sure to stay tuned for updates from partypoker WPT UK and partypoker WPT Montreal this week!