UK pro-Scott Margererson has taken down the Main Event at the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, and Rens Feenstra has done likewise in Amsterdam.
Scott Margereson holds the queen of hearts and jack of spades aloft. A ridiculously expensive Hublot watch sits in the middle of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship, and Seminole Hard Rock trophies, and high above his head is a Dr Pepper banner. The fizzy drink manufacturer escaped the recent sugar-tax in the UK, after reducing sugar content by 32% (replaced with artificial sweeteners), but this was a sweet, sweet moment for Margereson.
There is nothing artificial about the UK-pro.
Margereson may not be a wholesale name on the live circuit (the amount of his WPT win exceeded his entire live tournament winnings stretching back to 2012), but he has been known to take off a head or two in the online realm. Margereson has accrued more than $4.1m playing online as “Aggro Santos.” His most significant score being $244,174.92 after winning a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title back in 2014.
And how he has a major live win with the word ‘World’ in the title.
Margereson topped the 1,309 entrant field in the $3,500 WPT Showdown Championship at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown in Florida.
The UK-pro overcame a difficult final table that included the Season 8 WPT Player of the Year and the 2014 WPT Emperors Palace High Roller winner, Faraz Jaka, the multiple WSOP bracelet winner, Brian Hastings, and recent WPTDeepStacks winner Jeff Fielder.
It was Jaka who took Margereson all the way to the wire, but once again, Jaka came up short with a major title a chipped fingernail away. It’s Margereson’s second live tour victory after beating 53 entrants to win a side event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) in 2016 for $39,230.
Final Table Results
1. Scott Margereson – $696,740*
2. Faraz Jaka – $454,496
3. Brian Hastings – $336,466
4. Joey Couden – $251,523
5. Jeff Fielder – $144,775
*Also wins a seat in the WPT Tournament of Champions
Other popular hustlers who nearly made the final table include Joseph Cheong (11th), Nick Schulman (12th) and Victor Ramdin (14th).
Rens Feenstra Wins WPT Amsterdam; Denies Ema Zajmovic a Second Title
Rens Feenstra denied Ema Zajmovic a second World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event title after the Dutchman beat the Canadian in the heads-up phase of the Season XVI Main Event in Amsterdam.
The Holland Casino played host for the third successive season, and for the third time, the numbers dropped, which is a shame, as Amsterdam remains one of the most exciting cities to explore when you’ve recovered from rail concussion.
Farid Yachou came from relative obscurity to beat 341 entrants in Season XIV, before going on to claim the title at the inaugural WPT Tournament of Champions later that year. Last year, Daniyar Aubakirov became the first person from Kazakhstan to win the title when he defeated 224 entrants. This year the number dropped to 207; not exactly a cliff face dip, but worrying all the same.
The final table of this one was a beaut.
Zajmovic was trying to win her second title in two years. Gary Miller‘s decision to have a punt at a higher level after winning WPT500 London last month paid off. Last year’s runner-up, Louis Salter made the final for the second successive year, and the man who should have won WPT Baden in 2013 if it wasn’t for the misfortune handed out by the deck, Paul Berende, was also back for another shot.
In the end, it was Feenstra and Zajmovic standing fingers to fingers in the end zone. The pair began the final table with the largest stacks, with Feenstra’s towering over everyone else, so the final went to form. That said, Zajmovic started heads-up with the chip lead (3.91m v 2.13m), but after 89 hands, the Dutchman managed to fight back and take the title and €156,370 first prize.
The win takes Feenstra’s live tournament earnings over the $1.1m mark. It’s his fifth live tournament win, including a Unibet Open title and several Master Classics of Amsterdam side event results where he clocked his most significant win to date of $205,879 in 2013.
Final Table Results
1. Rens Feenstra – €156,370*
2. Ema Zajmovic – €100,260
3. Firoz Mangroe – €60,140
4. Gary Miller – €36,795
5. Louis Salter – €28,415
6. Paul Berende – €23,550
*Includes a seat into the WPT Tournament of Champions
Three more top pros who went deep but failed to fill out the final table application form were Hossein Ensan (13th), Justinin Bonomo (16th) and JC Alvarado (18th).
