Ireland’s Daniel Smyth proved the poker dream is still well and truly alive by turning a mere $33 investment into a colossal $428,391 and the well-deserved title of WPT Champion.
Smyth bought into a WPT satellite for $33 and turned that into a $320 ticket. The Irishman then parleyed that $320 into a $3,200 WPT Knockout Championship seat before going all the way and taking it down for $208,803, an additional $204,588 worth of bounty payments, plus a seat to the next WPT Tournament of Champions worth a cool $15,000.
It’s a fantastic story and one made possible by the sweeping changes partypoker and the WPT made for this epic festival. We’ve limited re-entries and reduced late registration to level the playing field. You don’t need to worry about having to compete against opponents with essentially unlimited bankrolls who can afford to fire multiple bullets. At partypoker, you can take a shot, chase your dreams and become a true champion of poker.
WPT #05 Knockout Championship Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | Bounties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Smyth | Ireland | $208,803 | $204,588 |
| 2 | Manig Loeser | United Kingdom | $208,492 | $70,866 |
| 3 | Joao Maureli | Brazil | $142,061 | $32,449 |
| 4 | Pim Gieles | Netherlands | $95,502 | $23,478 |
| 5 | Pedro Marques | Croatia | $66,687 | $22,382 |
| 6 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | $47,281 | $16,593 |
| 7 | Ryan Riess | Canada | $29,699 | $18,562 |
| 8 | Shyngis Satubayev | Kazakhstan | $23,504 | $750 |
| 9 | Matheus Resende | Brazil | $19,483 | 13,242 |
The final day started with nine players in the hunt for the title but were reduced to eight with the early exit of Matheus Resende. The hand basically played itself. Joao Maureli opened to 733,000 with 
and called when Resende three-bet all-in for 4,400,000 with 
. A king on the flop saw Resende bust in a clash of the table’s Brazilians.
Eighth-place went to Shyngis Satubayev. The Kazakhstan grinder, who reached the final table of the 8-Max Championship, started the final table as the short stack and never managed to improve his situation. His final hand saw him jam for 2,100,000, a shade under six big blinds, with 
from the cutoff and Pedro Marques called on the button with 
. Both blinds folded, Marques flopped an ace and Satubayev crashed out of the tournament.
Smyth was hovering around 20-25 big blinds and cruising along. He lost a huge flip with 
versus the 
of Pim Gielses to be left with a 10 big blind stack and Smyth’s dream of having his name engraved on the Mike Sexton Champions Cup looked to be turning into a nightmare.
His stack whittled further to 2,300,000 (5.7 big blinds) when he took a stand against Artur Martirosian. The latter min-raised to 800,000 with 
and called when Smyth jammed all-in for 2,300,000 with 
. Smyth flopped a king but Martirosian had a nut flush draw. Martirosian paired his three on the turn but Smyth faded a plethora of outs on the river to secure a much needed double.
That key hand gave Smyth a little more breathing room and ultimately led to him laddering two spots because Ryan Riess and Martirosian crashed out soon after.
Riess crashed out at the hands of Smyth. Smyth open-shoved for 5,600,000 at the 250,000/500,000/62,500 level from the button with 
. Riess called off his 4,200,000 stack from the big blind with 
only to watch on as Smyth flopped a flush. Riess had out to a full house but he couldn’t get there and had to make do with a seventh-place finish.
Martirosian crashed out before Riess’ seat had the chance to go cold. He raised to 3,000,000 from under the gun with 
which left him only 200,000 chips behind. Those went into the middle of the table when Marques three-bet all-in for 14,600,000 with what turned out to be 
. Martirosian had ten outs going to the river but he couldn’t melt Marques’ snowmen so crashed out in sixth.
Smyth’s stack dropped to 10 big blinds at the 300,000/600,000/75,000a level but he secured a double when he three-bet all-in over the top of a Marques opening raise of 1,300,000. Marques called and showed 
and Smyth held a narrow advantage with the 
. Neither player improved, but Smyth didn’t need to and he was now armed with 21 big blinds.
A huge hand went Smyth’s way, you could say he had the luck of the Irish on his side. Marques opened to 1,300,000 from under the gun with 
and Manig Loeser called from the next seat with the dominating . Gieles called with 
on the button before Smyth ripped it in for 11,900,000 with 
. Only Loeser made the call and Smyth proceeded to flop a deuce on the flop to see his stack swell to 27,000,000, which put him second in chips.
Marques’ impressive run ended in fifth place after a clash with Loeser didn’t go to plan. Marques opened to 1,500,000 on the button with , leaving himself 15 big blinds behind. Loeser set Marques all-in with 
and was called. Loeser turned a queen and the player count reduced by one.
The final four became three with the elimination of Gieles. Loeser raised three-times the big blind to 2,100,000 from the small blind with . Gieles responded by three-betting to 13,100,000 leaving himself only 12,000 chips behind. Gieles made this move with . The rest of the chips went in and both players flopped an ace. There was no seven for Gieles and he busted in third.
Heads-up was set when Smyth busted Maureli in third. Maureli jammed all-in for 14,200,000 from the small blind with 
and Smyth snapped him off with . The board ran out ten-high to bust Maureli.
It was an incredible run from the Brazilian who played in this tournament for free! He won a $3,200 seat that we added to the $22 Mini Masters earlier this month as part of our WPT Ticket Drop promotion. That free ticket netted him more than $174,000!
Loeser held a 63,400,000 to 36,900,000 chip lead over Smyth going into heads-up but Smyth’s stack contained 53 big blinds so he was anything but short stacked. That lead didn’t last long because Smyth doubled through the talented German.
Smyth limped on the button with 
and Loeser checked his option with 
. The flop fell . Loeser led for 1,100,000 and Smyth raised to 3,500,000. Loeser called. The turn brought the into play and Loeser greeted it with a check before calling a 5,300,000 vet from Smyth. The 
completed the board and Loeser checked gain. Smyth shoved for 26,600,000 and Loeser eventually took the bait and called.
That hand put the ball firmly in Smyth’s court and he now held a 103 big blind to 45 big blind advantage.
Loeser managed to claw his way back into contention before reclaiming the lead for himself. Loeser looked set to win the title. Smyth was having none of it and he grabbed the chip lead once again.
The final hand took place during the 500,000/1,000,000/125,000a level and saw Loeser move all-in for 14,100,000 with . Smyth called with and when the board ran 
it was game over for Loeser and Smyth had managed to turn a $33 investment into almost $430,000!
An absolute incredible result for Smyth. Why not try following in his footsteps and win your way into a $3,200 WPT Championship event via our many Mega Sats or our WPT SPINS. Smyth is living proof that anyone can win at partypoker. If he can win, why can’t you?
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!
