Gavin Cochrane is the newest member of the WPT Champions Club after he took down the WPT #03 8-Max Championship Event. Cochrane secured a gargantuan $540,664 first-place prize, a $15,000 entry to the Tournament of Champions including flights and accommodation, and a place in poker’s history books.
WPT #03 8-Max Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gavin Cochrane | United Kingdom | $540,664 |
| 2 | Thomas Boivin | United Kingdom | $388,118 |
| 3 | Lars Kamphues | Austria | $256,727 |
| 4 | Dmitry Yurasov | Belarus | $173,955 |
| 5 | Shyngis Satubayev | Kazakhstan | $123,298 |
| 6 | Daniel Colpoys | Mexico | $87,296 |
| 7 | Jiachen Gong | Canada | $61,171 |
| 8 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | $48,427 |
| 9 | Sam Grafton | United Kingdom | $40,143 |
The final day started with nine players in the hunt for the title and Cochrane in pole position with almost twice the number of chips as anyone else. Fellow British grinder Sam Grafton began the day with enough chips to place him fifth at the restart, but he was the first casualty of the night.
Grafton lost half his stack to Lars Kamphues when his 
couldn’t get there against Kamphues’ 
then got his final 12 big blinds into the middle with 
against the 
of Shyngis Satubayev. That had left Grafton with 0.9 big blinds and they went into the middle with , which lost to the 
of Dmitry Yurasov with Grafton hitting a set on the river but Yurasov improving to a Broadway straight. It just wasn’t Grafton’s day.
Dimov Misses Out on Triple Crown
Bulgarian pro Ognyan Dimov blinded down to 10 big blinds and jammed them into the middle with 
from under the gun. UK-based Belgian Thomas Boivin called with the dominating 
from the next seat along to put Dimov at risk of elimination. Dimov flopped top two but was drawing dead by the turn of the 
board.
Jiachen Gong of Canada was another short stack who had resorted to pushing all in or folding. A couple of his shoves got through with no resistance but when he pushed 9.5 big blinds under the gun with 
he found a caller in the shape of Daniel Colpoys in the big blind who had been dealt . Gong turned a flush draw but the tens held and only six players remained in contention for the $540,664 top prize.
Colpoys couldn’t put Gong’s chips to much use and he became the sixth-place finisher. Cochrane started the hand with a raise to 1,100,000 with 
before calling when Colpoys three-bet all-in for 10,300,000 with . You’ve got to win your flips to win poker tournaments and Cochrane did exactly that with the board running 
. Colpoys crashed out and his exit meant the five remaining players were guaranteed a six-figure score.
The first of these, $123,298, went to Satubayev who must be delighted after started the final table as the shortest stack. His demise was confirmed a few hands after Colpoys’ exit. Cochrane min-raised to 1,000,000 with 
and called the 9.5 big blind shove from Satubayev which he made with . Cochrane flopped a flush draw before spiking a king on the turn as the five community cards fell 
to bust the Kazakhstan grinder in fifth.
Yurasov led the final four for quite some time but lost a series of pots to leave him with a push-or-fold stack. His exit was confirmed when the action folded to Cochrane in the small blind and he raised all-in, putting Yurasov to the test for his last 10 big blinds. Yurasov called with 
only for Cochrane to show . The 
board provided little drama and Yurasov busted in fourth place.
Third place and a cool $256,727 went to Lars Kamphues who couldn’t quite match the heroics of his brother Timo who won the Shooting Stars for Charity event last week. Kamphues came unstuck during the 400,000/800,000/100,000a level. He jammed all in from the small blind for 7,400,000 with and Boivin called from the big blind with 
. The 
was safe for Boivin’s lowly pair and Kamphues crashed out.
That hand sent the tournament into the heads-up stage where Boivin held a 69,100,000 to 35,700,000 chip lead over Cochrane. The difference between first and second-place weighed in at $152,546 but there was no deal struck; both players fought it out to the death.
Boivin came out best from the early one-on-one confrontations and looked to be running away with proceedings, but he just couldn’t shake Cochrane off.
The turning point was when Cochrane flopped a straight with and the chips went into the middle with Boivin holding top pair and a gutshot straight draw. Cochrane’s hand held and he doubled up.
The final hand took place 15-20 minutes later and saw Boivin limp on the button with 
, Cochrane raised it up to 4,000,000 with before Boivin pushed all-in for 22,600,000. Cochrane called and claimed the title when the board ran 
.
Boivin collected $388,118 for his impressive runner-up finish but the day belonged to Cochrane who is now more than half a million dollars richer than he was a few days ago. Congratulations!
Ready to join the party?
If you’re ready to jump into the action, then click here to download partypoker and get started!
If you already have an account with us, click here to open partypoker and hit the tables!
