The final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open has been established and Vanessa Selbst is the favorite to win the $825k first prize sitting second in chips behind the less experienced Cong Pham.
She’s never far from the poker news, but you have to go back two years for the last time Vanessa Selbst found her way to the final table of a WPT Main Event. That time she finished third in one of the toughest final tables in WPT history, as James Dempsey triumphed over a final six that included Soi Nguyen, Selbst, Andrew Lichtenberger, Vitor Coelho and Antonio Esfandiari at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic at the Bellagio.
Since that disappointment, Selbst has brushed it aside to win $2.6m in live poker tournament earnings, including a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $25k High Roller victory, and her second World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet…and she somehow found time to get hitched.
Selbst spent most of the day chasing the coat tails of the chip leader Cong Pham, but when the final table starts in earnest, her experience and aggression, must place her as the favorite to take down her first WPT title.
When Day Four began, it was Selbst who came out of the traps faster than anyone else after she took three streets of value from Jake Schwartz on [Kc] [Ks] [Jd] [2s] [5c] whilst holding the juicy looking [Ah] [Kh], to take the chip lead away from Pham.
The recent Legends of Poker runner up, Dan Heimiller, was searching for back-to-back final tables and made a great start after eliminating She Lok Wong: AK v A8, but unfortunately Heimiller would not be able to see the day through and would bow out in 13th place.
With the exception of Day Two, Cong Pham has been pretty much in charge of this competition, and the bolt from Selbst sent Pham into overdrive. First he eliminated Joshua Gibson when the pair got it in with Pham holding a set of queens, and Gibson holding an open-ended straight draw. The draw missed and Gibson was out. Next Pham eliminated Edwin Torres AA v 66 and just like that the chip lead was his again.
Cliff Josephy has had a number of deep runs in WPT Main Events, but has never quite had the staying power to make that final table. Josephy also starting well after eliminating Billy Pilossoph: AQ v 88, with a queen on the river. Matt Glantz was not so fortunate when he ran his ace-ten into the pocket jacks of Anthony Zinno to see hs hopes dashed.
Josephy was never far from the cameras, and he would soon be involved in two doubles ups. In the first he doubled up Fields when he lost a flip with AK v QQ; but he would scoop some back through Daniel Howe after ace-eight hit two pair on the flop against pocket nines.
Cong Pham would find pocket aces to eliminate Jake Schwartz who was holding the unfancied [Kd] [5d]; Eric Fields would eliminate the Day Two chip leader Raj Vohra when his two little ducks managed to cross the road without getting mowed down by ace-jack, and Josephy was at it again after he eliminated Jack Rolintzky, JT v QJ, with another river card {ten} coming to the aid of the multiple WSOP bracelet winner.
The field was soon condensed to the final two tables and history was made, as Zac and Jeremy Kottler became the first brothers to make it this deep in a WPT Main Event. Eric Fields would make sure there would be no family blood sharing the final table after eliminating Zac – AK v KQ – but Jeremy did manage to make it through to the final table.
Josephy continued to find those river cards when he eliminated Victor Figueroa: KQ v AK, when another queen hit the river, and Selbst doubled through Tyler Gaston after the pair got it in on [Jc] [8c] [6c]. It was Gaston with the lead holding [Kc] [Kd], and Selbst chasing with [Ac] [Qh], an ace on the turn sending an unfortunate Gaston to the rail.
Then Alex Rocha decided to get tricky and ended up with egg on his face. Rocha limping into the pot from early position with pocket kings and both blinds made the call. The play checked through to the turn on [Kh] [3c] [2d] [7d], Rocha was first to bet when he made it 85k, Jeremy Kottler folded and Cong Pham check-raised to 300k. Rocha called and the pair were soon staring at the [9d] on the river. Pham moved all-in, Rocha called and was devastated to see the [Kd] [3d] in Pham’s hand for the flush.
Then Cliff Josephy once again ran out of steam, just a few places from the final table this time losing a flip against Selbst. Josephy out in ninth for $69,528. Selbst would make it two on the spin when her ace-ten dominated the king-ten of Richard Tatalovich, and the final table was set when Kottler found pocket kings in a cooler against the ace-king of Dan Howe to leave the former as the final table bubble boy.
Final Table Seat Draw and Chips
Seat 1. Eric Fields – 3,150,000 (31 bb)
Seat 2. Anthony Zinno – 6,935,000 (69 bb)
Seat 3. Vanessa Selbst – 7,910,000 (79 bb)
Seat 4. David Randall – 3,520,000 (35 bb)
Seat 5. Jeremy Kottler – 3,925,000 (39 bb)
Seat 6. Cong Pham – 10,190,000 (101 bb)
