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Lubys Zanas WINS WPT National Event London for £21,500!

After just a few heads-up hands, we have a winner! Luby Zanas has triumphed here at Aspers in Stratford and toppled the brave Mo Zahour heads-up under the lights!

With the blinds going to 100,000/200,000, Mo looked up at the clock and saw that he had less than ten big blinds, so raised all-in with . Lubys called it off, turned over and instead of having two live cards like we’d imagine he thought, he had the dominating hand!

The flop of saw Mo stand up, asking for a ‘heart’, but it never came as the turn turn and river ended the tournament with Lubys Zanas winning a career-high score of £21,500 and Mo Zahour walking away with £15,000 as runner-up!

Thanks to all of you for your interactions and support all week here in London and online, and thanks f0or being part of yet another guarantee-busting few days of poker fun courtesy of WPT and partypoker! What a way to finish!

Steve O’Keefe OUT in 3rd (£9,640)

The charismatic O’Keefe lost an all-in against Mo Zahour to depart the WPT National Event here as we tick into the midnight hour. O’Keefe shoved for around 1 million chips with and was called by Mo Zahour with . To say Zahour caught the best of it as the board played out would be an understatement – quad jacks for Mo, who had lost a few hands before that.

To say Zahour caught the best of it as the board played out would be an understatement – quad jacks for Mo, who had lost a few hands before that.

Here are the heads-up chip-counts:

Mo Zahour – 6.6 million

Lubys Zanas – 4.55m

Two Quick Doubles!

O’Keefe shoves from the button with and gets a caller in Mo Zahour with . The board of sees Steve double-up and Mo drop to shortie….

…but in the very next hand, Mo shoves with and Lubys has an easy call with . The board this time favours Mo, as he hits a ten on the turn, and despite a straight shot for Zanas, that amounts to fresh air and Mo is back in it.

Chip-counts:

Mo Zahour 4.4m

Steve O’Keefe – 3.85m

Lubys Zanas – 2.7m

Chips Changing Hands

Not many confrontations so far three-handed, with a few raises met with folds like two Superbowl teams feeling each other out without a single golden hand. We just saw Steve O’Keefe shove over Mo Zahour’s 260,000 opening bet, as the blinds go up to 60,000/120,000/20,000 and players realise average stack is 29 big blinds. It will be a lot less soon.

Lubys Zanas – 5.6m

Mo Zahour – 3.6m

Steve O’Keefe – 1.95m

Xuan Nguyen OUT in 4th (£7,140)

With five players left, 40% of the field were female, and had the chance to make it back-to-back female WPT Accumulator champions! With three players left, there are only men in with a chance of being crowned king here at Aspers.

Nguyen having just lost a big pot, was down to just 550,000, and when she got it all into the middle from the dealer button, Lubys Zanas called from the big blind.

Xuan:

Lubys:

The flop of had something for everyone, with Xuan moving ahead with top pair, but Lubys holding a straight-flush draw that saw him extremely live. The turn of was no good for Lubys, but in a cruel twist of fate, the river came to give Xuan trip queens, but Lubys a flush….and with that, Xuan Nguyen was gone, albeit with £7,140 for a great weekend’s work.

Chip-counts three handed are as follows:

Lubys Zanas 5.6m (56BB)

Mo Zahour 3.9m (39BB)

Steve O’Keefe 1.6m (16BB)

Blinds will go up in 15 minutes….

Quick Double for Mo Zahour

Not one to hang around when there’s an opportunity, Mo Zahour raised to 225,000 pre-flop, and when Lubys Zanas shoved over-the-top of his raise, Zahour called it off for his entire stack of 1.7m (17BB) with . Zanas had and would need help. A clearly nervous Zahour saw his tournament life on the line, and on the flop of he looked like the chicken who knows he’s dinner. But the turn send him leaping into the air like he’d been stung on the posterior by a passing wasp, and he punched the air yelling ‘Yes!’.

Lubys Zanas was, to his undying credit, completely silent and even congratulated his opponent after Zahour faded the river to double-up.

Daiva Baruskaite OUT in 5th (£5,375)

Daiva Baruskaite raised to 250k pre-flop from the button, was called by Lubys Zanas in the small blind, and on the flop of , she c-bet for roughly the same amount, was raised by Lubys and then re-raised all-in. Lubys made the call and showed for two-pair. Daiva held and needed help desperately. On the turn and river she didn’t get a bit of it, and leaves so near to the five-figure payouts, but, alas for her and her fans (and husband on the rail)…so far.

Daiva held and needed help desperately. On the turn and river she didn’t get a bit of it, and leaves so near to the five-figure payouts, but, alas for her and her fans (and husband on the rail)…so far.

Break Time

Xuan Nguyen just lost a few raise-fold pots in a row. That’s led to a bit of a change in the chip-counts as we progress into the 50,000/100,000/15000 Level 28. Average stack is now just 2,228,000 (22BB)

Lubys Zanas – 3,39 million chips (chip leader)

Mo Zahour – 2.75m

Daiva Baruskaite – 2.5m

Steve O’Keefe – 1.3m

Xuan Nguyen – 1.22m

Xuan on the Rampage!

The blue touch paper has been well and truly lit here at the final table of the £100,000 WPT Accumulator National event here in London’s Aspers Casino.

Xuan Nguyen has really gone for the kill. Following an initial loss to Daiva Baruskaite, she’s hardly lost a hand she’s raised, and that has been a high percentage of the total hands dealt in the last 5 minutes.

With a pot of 440,000 to play for, Xuan led out a bet of 470,000 on the river of a board displaying . Lubys Zanas was the other player in the hand, and he called it off, turning over for the turned straight. Xuan had flopped the flush, however, with , and after that hand, she has changed the chip-counts dramatically:

Xuan Nguyen – 2.62 million (chip leader)

Lubys Zanas – 2.6m

Daiva Baruskaite – 2.5m

Mo Zahour – 2.15m

Steve O’Keefe – 1.35m

Average is now 2.28m, or 27 big blinds to you and me. Back to it…

Paul Newland OUT in 6th (£4,300)

Fresh into the level, Newland shoves all-in pre-flop for 755,000 wit and is called by Mo Zahour in the big blind, who has a stack of 1.3m and . The board of sees Newland out of his seat on the turn.

And after the river card falls, with Newland not even at the cash desk nearby, talk moves to a deal…

Level 27 Begins

With six players still in their seats, the blinds go up to 40,000/80,000/10,000 with the average stack at 1.85m chips. that’s just 23 big blinds, which should change things considerably…

All to Play For

With six players remaining, there is still £62,955 in the prize-pool. There may well come a time where some of the players will wish they were playing 30BB-stack poker later on as blinds will escalate soon. Here are the current chip-counts, though…

Lubys Zanas 2.55million

Daiva Baruskaite 2.5m

Steve O’Keefe 1.85m

Mo Zahour 1.65m

Paul Newland 1.35m

Xuan Nguyen1.15m

Find a Way to Nguyen?

Very few moves are being made right now, but we have seen the short-stacked Xuan Nguyen utilise some good spots to get her whole stack in to make a profit.

Mo Zahour just raised in the small blind to 160,000 on Xuan’s big blind. She re-raised all-in, sitting completely still and (to our eyes at least) appearing to be almost unreadable.

Zahour folded.

‘I didn’t think you’d raise-fold that.’ she says quietly, has a quick glance to her rail (the largest in the room, including pro Charles Akadiri) and gets back to watching the other players as they receive their cards.

Quiet Orbit

With a 30-big blind average stack and the difference between busting in 6th place and winning the tournament being a massive £17,200, as you can imagine, play has slowed considerably. Here’s how the last orbit played out:

Hand 1 – Xuan Nguyen raises to 685,000 all-in, everyone folds.

Hand 2 – Steve O’Keefe raises to 130,000, everyone folds.

Hand 3 – Mo Zahour raises to 120,000 from mid-position, a min-raise, everyone folds.

Hand 4 – Paul Newland raises to 135,000 from the button, everyone folds.

Hand 5 – Lubys Zanas raises to 175,000 from the button, everyone folds.

Hand 6 – Mo Zahour pops it to 125,000, O’Keefe CALLS! Flop: . Zahour c-bets to 225,000, O’Keefe folds. Zahour shows . Zahour absolutely loves showing his cards without getting to showdown.

Sam Macdonald OUT in 7th (£3,570)

Sam had endured a pretty torrid time on the final table, taking hit after hit. His tournament ended in typical fashion one might view, as the small blind Lubys Zanas shoved on Sam’s big blind, and the London player called it off.

Sam:

Lubys: 

The first three cards out were to which Sam sarcastically quipped ‘Nice flop.’ and stood up. The turn gave him false hope, for the river was an ace of spades, and with that, Macdonald was out.

Chrstian Scalzi announced the break for 15 minutes immediately after the hand, so the remaining six players will return to blinds of 30,000/60,000/10,000 with the average stack of 1,856,666 representing 30 big blinds.

Chip-counts: 

Lubys Zanas – 2.45 million chips (chip leader)

Mo Zahour – 2.3m

Paul Newland – 2.1m

Steve O’Keefe – 2.04m

Daiva Baruskaite – 1.72m

Xuan Nguyen – 945,000

Blinds Up

With all the action, we’ve negated to tell you what blind level we’re in, and as it has changed the chip-counts’ worth, let’s update you on everything at once.

Seven players remain, and they’re playing 25,000/50,000/5,000 with the average stack at 1,591428 (31BB)

Steve O’Keefe – 2.4million chips (chip leader)

Lubys Zanas – 1.9m

Mo Zah0ur – 1.7m

Daiva Baruskaite – 1.5m

Paul Newland – 1.3m

Xuan Nguyen – 1m

Sam Macdonald – 480,000

As you can see, Sam has it all to do. Can the London-based player get back into the reckoning?

 

Edgar Drozdov OUT in 8th (£2,855) 

Edgar Drozdov came into play with a huge amount of chips, but the overnight chip-leader is gone.

First, Edgar called Daiva Baruskaite’s raise to 110,000 pre-flop with Daiva UTG and Edgar UTG+1. The flop came and Daiva made it 225,000. Edgar shoved all-in for slightly less than Daiva’s 750,000 stack and she had an easy call, turning over . Drozdov had and was crippled once the turn and river fell.

Drozdov got his last 180,000 into the middle in the next hand, shoving UTG with and being called by Lubyz Zanas only with . An eight on the flop and nothing else left Drozdov bemoaning his “bad luck” as he climbed wearily from his seat.

Macdonald and Zanas Swap 30% (Of Their Chips!)

Sam Macdonald came into the final with 1.5 million, while Lubys Zanas had just 1.2m. They have flipped stacks after a big confrontation ended around ten whole minutes of pain for Macdonald. First, he instigated an all-in brilliantly with Paul Newland, who called Sam’s 80,000 raise pre-flop from the big blind. Macdonald, UTG, bet 40,000 on the flop of and when Newland shoved in his last 200k or so with , Sam snapped him off with . No good, a diamond on the river doubled Newland.

“We’ve played together for 2 days and I’ve see you win about twelve hands…you never lose!” Sam joked.

Sam, looking determined to force the final table issue with no-one in command of proceedings power-wise, was rivered by Edgar Drozdov in a smaller pot, then in the next hand raised to 220,000 over Lubys’ 80,000 opening bet. Zanas shoved for 665,000 and Macdonald folded it.

Sam has 1.2m or so. Zanas up to 1.5m.

Kenneth Tweets

Kenneth Lemchi may have bubbled the final table, but he was still very happy with his efforts this weekend, turning a £200 entry into a £1,560 cash.

Maybe YOU should play a partypoker/WPT live tournament!

A Big Fold 

Having just doubled up through Edgar Drozdov, Daiva Baruskaite found herself in a tricky position with eight left here in the £100,000 Guaranteed WPT National Event London.

Lubys Zanas min-raised to 80,000 from his 1 million chip stack from mid-position, and Daiva re-raised to 200,000 from her stack, slightly higher at 1.1m. Zanas re-raised all-in, and Daiva had a big decision to make.

Eventually, after much thought, she open-folded and was shown by Zanas, who happily stacks his chips in the knowledge that had Daiva called, she would have mostly likely taken them all over to her pile. Instead, the pair of them each have over 25 big blinds with which to battle on.

Daiva Doubles Through Drozdov

Edgar Drozdov can afford them, and he loses them after calling Daiva’s all-in from the cut-off with Drozdov in the big blind. Daiva was well ahead with but Drozdov hit the flop when his paired up on . The turn and river were and respectively, however, and Daiva is the survivor. She jumps to over a million chips for the first time in the tournament, while Drozdov drops to around 1.6m.

Average is now 1,392,500 (34BB) after Chris Kadji’s earlier exit.

Chris Kadji OUT in 9th (£2,140)

With the final table just a single riffle of chips old, Xuan Nguyen attempts to raise in the hijack position to 45,000, but blinds are 20k/40k/5k and its obviously deemed a call. Chris Kadji in the cut-off next to her raises nice and clearly, all-in for his 15-big blind stack. It is folded around to Xuan, who calls it off.

Chris:

Xuan:

The flop brings drama as it falls , but the turn and river send Kadji out ‘set under set’, and just as the final table begins.  Before any ‘Bambi’ discussions crop up, it’s worth noting that Nguyen made a genuine mistake, and thought she was raising but got the chips wrong. She’s now up to 1.48m and is right back in the game.

Final Table Chipcounts

Here are the final nine players hoping to win the WPT National Accumulator title. With the average stack at 1,237,777 chips (30 big blinds), players have returned to the action right at the start of Level 24, with blinds of 20,000/40,000/5,000. They are next due for a break in an hour.

Seat 1 – Steve O’Keefe – 2.38million chips (59BB) (chip leader)

Seat 2 – Daiva Baruskaite – 620,000 (15BB)

Seat 3 – Edgar Drozdov – 2.31m (57BB)

Seat 4 – Paul Newland – 730,000 (18BB)

Seat 5 – Lubys Zanas – 1.275m (31BB)

Seat 6 – Sam Macdonald – 1.51m (37BB)

Seat 7 – Mo Zahour – 870,000 (21BB)

Seat 8 – Xuan Nguyen – 860,000 (21BB)

Seat 9 – Chris Kadji – 615,000 (15BB)

 

Williams and Lemchi Miss Final Table

Danny Williams saw Daiva Baruskaite raise to 60k UTG and Xuan Nguyen call two seats round, so decided to shove all-in and was called only by Paul Newland. Newlnd held and would need to improve as Danny turned over , but did so on the board of and Williams left us.

Moments later, we had our final nine after Ken Lemchi called a raise from Edgar Drozdov. Lemchi, who held , saw a flop of land and decided to get it in with his flush draw, and was called by Drozdov with the made hand of . Two sixes on turn and river, neither of them clubbed, sent Ken home. As he queued for his money at the cash desk, he mused upon the reason why drozdov got him (and countless others so far).

‘Perhaps it’s the suit!’

Both players cashed for £1,560, with the next place paid £2,140. We’re ready for the final table!

Haresh Thaker OUT in 12th (£1560)

Haresh Thaker was short enough with just 18 big blinds to necessitate a move, and he shoved from the button with . He was called by Steve O’Keefe in the big blind with and then Mo Zahour in the next seat folded his big blind (A-Q as it happened). The queen-high board brought a predictable reaction all round, but Thaker was unable to catch a four or wheel cards and departed.

O’Keefe now has the overall chip lead after winning that hand, with 2.1 million. Edgar Drozdov (same table) on 1.75m has enjoyed a post-break resurgence, too.

Sam Macdonald on the Rollercoaster

Some grind, some drift, and some poker players’s tournament seem to be a neverending rollercoaster. Sam Macdonald fits into the last category, as evidenced by the last three hands.

First, Paul Newland shoved al-in UTG and Macdonald called it off in the big blind, it costing him just 125k (4BB) to try to eliminate a player. Newland’s looked doomed then hit salvation against Sam’s on a dramatic board of 9c]. The dealer burned and turned so quickly from turn to river that when Newland stood up between streets and sat back down, he looked vaguely like a one man Mexican wave.

Next, Macdonald raised Daiva’s big blind fro the button to 60k, eliciting a call, then a fold after repeating a small bet on the flop.

Finally, to complete his latest burst of involvement, Sam called Paul Newland’s min-raise, but Daiva re-raised to 175,000. Undeterred, Macdonald re-raised all-in and got two folds, a quick one from Paul Newland and a slow one from Daiva.

Macdonald may have the same stack he sat down wth half an hour ago, but he’s seen it go up and down as usual.

Chip-counts in the Room

Here are the stacks as players prepare for a 15-minute recess in just a few seconds time.

Table 1

Seat 1 – Chris Kadji – 900,000

Seat 3 – Xuan Nguyen – 850,000

Seat 4 – Danny Williams – 680,000

Seat 5 – Sam Macdonald – 650,000

Seat 6 – Paul Newland – 220,000

Seat 9 – Daiva Baruskaite – 905,000

Table 2 

Seat 1 – Haresh Thaker – 600,000

Seat 3 – Steve O’Keefe – 1.85 million

Seat 5 – Mo Zahour – 1.86 million

Seat 6 – Edgar Drozdov – 850,000

Seat 7 – Ken Lemchi – 720,000

Seat 9 – Lubys Zanas – 1.0 million

Players will return to blinds of 15,000/30,000/5,000 with the average stack still 928,333 – that will be worth 30 big blinds.

 

Lemchi Doubles Through Zahour 

Ken Lemchi shoved all-in pre-flop for his stack of 356,000 and got a tank-call from Mo Zahour. Zahour held the pair, with , but Lemchi was live with , the classic race.

The board of gave Ken a vital double up.

Thaker Doubles Through Drozdov A Dozen Hopefuls 

In record time, we’re down to a dozen players. Stephen Goldings busted in 14th, shortly before Martynas Vitkauskas departed in 13th, both cashing for £1,275.

Vitkauskas jammed all-in over the top of Xuan Nguyen’s check-raise on the flop of and was in awful shape, holding to Nguyen’s . The turn and river were no help to Vitkauskas and we have two tables of six players.

Blinds are still 12,000/24,000/3,000, but with the average stack now 928,333 (38BB) there is a little more play.

Drozdov In Control

It might sound like it, but it hasn’t all been pre-flop shoves and calls or folds. Some post-flop poker broke out between three of the largest remaining stacks in the room.

We caught up with the action on a flop of as Haresh Thaker in the big blind and Steve O’Keefe UTG+1 checked to Drozdov in the cut-off. Drozdov pinged 75,000 chips into the middle to join what looked like 100k in the pot already.

Both Thaker and O’Keefe called, though. On the turn of Drozdov was checked to again, and this time, his 175,000 bet was only called by O’Keefe. On the seemingly innocuous river, O’Keefe checked and Drozdov announced that he was all-in for around 1.2million, easily covering O’Keefe’s stack.

O’Keefe couldn’t call, and the suited-and-booted Drozdov may be the first player of the 14 left to pile up two million chips.

Hanan Barzel Out in 16th, Ramkeeson Follows in 15th

Hanan had just 12.5 big blinds left when he decided to make a move al-in pre-flop with , but he ran into Sam Macdonald’s pocket jacks, and could not hit to survive.

Eric Ramkeeson had laddered spectacularly – he had just two big blinds at the time of shoving – from 18th to 15th, but got it in with ‘…the Doyle Brunson’ but was called by Daiva Baruskaite with , which eventually flushed to send Eric home with over £1200 in his pocket.

‘I’m really happy, I never thought I’d get that far!’ said the partypoker qualifier afterwards. Great to hear.

Tant and Cristinel Bust – Two Tables Remain

After Sonny Tant left the party in 18th, Costin Cristinel shoved 15 big blinds all-in pre-flop with and was called by Edgar Drozdov, who held . The board gave Cristinel no luck, and on the rail while waiting for his cash, he was disappointed with himself.

‘Maybe I should wait, with two tables left, eight-handed is different. I should wait, I think.’

He didn’t, made the move for a thirty big-blind stack and now has the roundest number of chips possible. Zero. That’s poker.

Blinds are about to go up to 12,000/24,000/3,000, meaning the average stack of 696,250 equates to 29 big blinds.

Au Revoir Pierre

No sooner has Pierre Morin busted Dervis Sam has he been eliminated himself. There’s a possibility it could have been avoided, too, as the Frenchman open-shoved 22 big blinds with and was immediately called by Mo Zahour with . It’s a cooler, but with 45 big blinds in the pot pre-flop Morin was looking at an early exit for just £955  unless he could spike an ace. As it happened, two spades on the flop gave him a scintilla of hope in the direction of a flush, but no further help came, and he was soon bidding farewell.

Zahour couldn’t quite believe his luck to simply have to call off 22 bigs with pocket kings. He now has around 1.6 million chips, and sits second in chips with 18 left, marginally behind the elegantly-dressed Edgar Drozdov, who came into play with 1.76 million and has maintained that stack. We won’t go down to two tables until 16 remain, as play is 8-handed on the final day.

Dervis Sam Crashes Out Early

One of the most charismatic players left in the field is first to depart, Dervis Sam shoving all-in from mid-position with for 183,000 and being called only by French player Pierre Morin on the button with . Both suits blocked and a higher pair was not good news for Dervis, who confidently predicted that he’ll ‘hit on the turn anyway’.

The flop of wasn’t the worst it could be with straight possibilities opening up, but after Dervis’ prediction failed to materialise on the turn of , he was up and out of his chair, with no cause to sit back down after the on the river ended his tournament.

Is This Snap?

Two all-ins in the first two hands as on chip leader Edgar Drozdov’s table, Sonny Tant goes all-in for 314,000 over the top of Drozdov’s 40k, and the big man call it off. Both men have the same hand, with Drozdov’s up against Tant’s .

‘It’s only fifteen big blinds, after all. I have to call!’ said Drozdov, after a dry board saw the pot chopped.

‘And I had to push.’ said Tant.

Elsewhere, Daiva Baruskaite raised to 50,000 pre-flop from UTG+1, and was immediately raised by Hanan Barzel to her left. His tack was 218,000 (just under 11BB with blinds at 10,000/20,000/2.000) and she called it off with . Barzel flipped and despite a sweat on the board of survives to shove again as tey split the proceeds from the blinds and antes.

Let’s Find a Champion! 

Welcome back to London as we complete our coverage today of the partypoker WPT Accumulator National Event at Aspers Casino in Stratford.

A couple of changes, with blinds now going fro 30 minutes on Day 1, 40 minutes on Day to ONE HOUR today.

Here are the chip-counts as play begins:

Day 3 Chip-counts: 

Edgar Drozdov 1,764,000

Mohammed Zah0ur 1,171,000

Lubys Zanas 998,000

Steve O’Keefe 817,000

Chris Kadji 807,000

Xuan Nguyen 608,000

Kenneth (Chukwuemeka) Lemchi 598,000

——– Average = 567,000 chips ——-

Daiva Baruskaite 545,000

Martyna Vitkauskas 490,000

Haresh Thaker 454,000

Danny Williams 438,000

Sam Macdonald 431,000

Stephen Goldings 330,000

Sonny Tant 314,000

Eric Ramkeesoon 271,000

Paul Newland 260,000

Pierre Morin 214,000

Costin Cristinel 198,000

Dervis Sam 190,000

Hanan Barzel 185,000

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