Photo Credit: Bluff.ccom
Anthony Zinno captures the top prize of $399,579, and his second World Poker Tour Main Event title after defeating Mark Bailey, in heads-up action, at the Fallsview Poker Classic.
Anthony Zinno is a two time World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event champion.
The 33-year old from Cranston, Rhode Island, overcame a field of 419 players to take the CAD$399,579 first prize, after a tough heads-up encounter, with Mark Bailey, that lasted 75 hands.
He looked every inch the winner. The shades, the suit, the tie; with nearly twice as many chips as his nearest rival, Corey Hochman, one could say he was confident. And why not? He was a WPT Champion. Now he’s done it twice.
“Everything has been going so well,” Zinno told the WPT after his win. “It’s a combination of blessing, luck and hard work. The win is huge for me.”
When the action started it was a case of ‘Falling From View’ as both Erik Cajelais and Jeremy Halaska were eliminated in the first two hands of play. Zinno would have been particularly glad to see the back of Cajelais. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner is a tough opponent. But it doesn’t matter how big your guns are. If you get it in with A2 v A8 you are going to end up on the losing end more often than not.
One hand later and Jeremy Halaska was chasing after the coat tails of Cajelais. A slowly played ace-king spiking a king on [Th] [Tc] [9s] [Ks] only for Zinno to be sat holding [Ts] [8s]. The money went in on the turn, and Halaska left the building one card later.
Zinno was zooming, but Hochman would make up some ground with the elimination of David Cloutier. The latter moving all-in with [Qh] [5h] and the former calling with pocket eights. The snowmen don’t like to sweat. A third eight on the flop making sure that stayed the case.
Zinno and Hochman held the two biggest stacks at the start of the action. There had to be a confrontation at some point. Instead, they had two. The first came when Hochman five-bet shoved pre-flop, holding [Ac] [5c], and Zinno doubled up with pocket kings. That left Hochman with 16bb. They went in, during the next hand, and once again Zinno was lying in wait. It was KT v AQ and the best hand won. Hochman was out in third.
That knockout blow gave Zinno a huge chip lead, all of the momentum, and all of the experience.
Speaking afterwards, Zinno said of his heads-up opponent, “I had 9 million and he had 3.5 million. I had a very big chip lead and he is a recreational player. But he is an extremely talented guy. I under estimated his heads-up play. I thought I could bully him but he fought well.”
He did fight. It took 75 hands for Zinno to get into that all too familiar winning shot pose. Bailey moving all in on [8h] [4c] [2c], holding [Ac] [Qc] for the flush draw, and Zinno had once again found those cowboys. There was only ever going to be one suit winning this thing and it wasn’t clubs. Instead, it was the grey suit of Zinno.
A first prize of $399,579, a seat at the WPT Championships, a set of Monster 24K Headphones, a Hublot King Power Unico watch, and the lead in the Season XIII Player of the Year race.
Not a bad days work son.
WPT Fallsview Poker Classic Final Table Results (CAD)
1st. Anthony Zinno – $399,579
2nd. Mark Bailey – $266,394
3rd. Corey Hochman – $171,294
4th. David Cloutier – $126,674
5th. Jeremy Halaska – $95,100
6th. Erik Cajelais – $76,194
