At the final table of the WPT Amsterdam main event, all eyes were on Ema Zajmovic, who was looking to win her second World Poker Tour title. If you recall, she took down the WPT Playground Poker Club in February 2017 to make history by becoming the first female champ. The Netherlands’ Rens Feenstra had other plans.
Gary Miller Makes Another Splash
The WPT Amsterdam saw 207 players take to the felt, which meant the winner would walk away with a €156,370 ($192,335) top prize and a $15,000 ticket to the WPT Tournament of Champions.
One man in attendance was Gary Miller, who less than two weeks prior bested a field of 1,810 entries to win the 888poker WPT500 London for £114,000 ($159,600). Miller was looking to make it two titles in April, but he came up short when he busted in fourth place.
It happened in Level 26 (20k/40k/5k) on Hand #123 of the final table when Zajmovic raised to 90,000 with the 10♠10♥ and snap-called when Miller shoved with the A♥5♥. The A♦10♦7♥ flop gave Miller a pair of aces, but unfortunately for him it also gave Zajmovic a set.
The 2♦ turn left Miller drawing dead and he headed for the payout desk in fourth place after the meaningless J♦ was run out on the river. On Hand #154, Firzo Mangroe followed him out the door in third place after his 6♣6♠ failed to hold against Zajmovic’s K♣9♣ on a J♥J♦2♠5♠K♠ run out.
Zajmovic Denied History
The tournament seemed destined to come down to Feenstra and Zajmovic from the get-go. On just the third hand of the final table, Zajmovic doubled through Feenstra in the first of many confrontations.
The heads-up match proved to be one for the ages with six doubles and numerous chip lead changes. In the final hand of the tournament, which took place in Level 31 (60,000/120,000/20,000), Feenstra had pulled out to a 6/1 chip lead when he simply moved all in holding the K♣9♦ and Zamjovic called off her short stack with the K♥4♣. The board ran out 2♠K♠8♥J♠6♣ and it was all over.
Zamjovic padded her bankroll by $123,598 for her performance, which was the second six-figure score of her career.
Meanwhile, the win was the second-largest for Feenstra’s after he won $205,879 for taking down the 2013 Master Classics of Poker. Other highlights on his poker résumé include winning the 2012 Master Classics of Poker High Roller for $190,763 and winning the 2013 Unibet Open Riga Main Event for $101,651.
Others to cash the WPT Amsterdam were Hossein Ensan (13th for $13,240), Justin Bonomo (16th for $10,916), JC Alvarado (18th for $10,916), and Marcel Luijer (26th for $6,669).
Final Table Results
1 Rens Feenstra €156,370 ($192,335)
2 Ema Zajmovic €100,260 ($123,320)
3 Firoz Mangroe €60,140 ($73,972)
4 Gary Miller €36,795 ($45,258)
5 Louis Salter €28,415 ($34,950)
6 Paul Berende €23,550 ($28,967)
