Demo Kiriopoulos was the last person standing out of 602 entries at the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic on Monday. He earned $382,894 for his first World Poker Tour title.
The tournament, which began on Saturday, took place in Niagara Falls, Canada. A good mix of pros and recreational players competed in this CAD $5,000 buy-in event.
Not the Usual Suspects
You won’t find many household names who finished in the money. But there is one player who, of course, cashed – Darren Elias.
Elias, with a 30th place finish ($10,500), scored his 33rd career WPT cash, extending his record over Anthony Zinno and Mohsin Charania who are tied for second with 29. He also holds the record for most World Poker Tour titles with four.
Chanracy Khun, who finished in 11th for $31,927, was the only past WPT champion in the top 20 at WPT Fallsview.
As is customary in WPT Main Tour events, the final table began with six players. After Day Two on Sunday 19 players remained with Garrett Dansereau in the chip lead. Kiriopoulos had a below-average stack with just 14 big blinds. But he ran it up quickly on Monday.
Jake Schwartz, a skilled mid-stakes tournament grinder with over $2.3 million in lifetime earnings, went from one big blind to the final table. He finished in fourth place for $123,867. This was his 19th WPT cash and fifth final table but he still has yet to win that elusive Hublot Trophy.
Kiriopoulos ran so hot on Monday that at one point during heads-up play against Wing Yeung he had a 15-1 chip advantage. That lead was never relinquished.
WPT Fallsview Poker Classic Final Table Results
- Demo Kiriopoulos ($382,894)
- Wing Yeung ($268,511)
- Andrew Pantling ($172,671)
- Jake Schwartz ($123,867)
- James Morgan ($95,069)
- Noeung Troeung ($77,826)
Upcoming WPT Events
The 2018-2019 World Poker Tour season is well past its midway point. With 12 completed events and only seven remaining, the Player of the Year race is still anyone’s game.
Ping Liu leads the way with 1,900 points but has Tony Roberts (1,850), Jake Schwartz (1,650), and Dylan Linde (1,400) on his heels. Linde, who won the WPT Five Diamond Poker Classic in December for $1,631,468 – his only cash this season – has the highest earnings on tour during the 2018-2019 schedule. Milos Skrbic, runner-up at the Five Diamond, is the only other player with over $1 million in cashes ($1,087,603).
Los Angeles, home of the $10,000 buy-in L.A. Poker Classic, and also one of the WPT’s biggest events, is the next stop. That event, which will certainly attract some of the biggest stars in the game, begins March 2. It takes place at the legendary Commerce Casino, also home to some of Southern California’s highest stakes games.
