For a while there, it looked as if we were going to witness poker history as Theo Jorgensen (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-251st) seemed unbeatable and held a stranglehold on Matthew Salsberg (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-72nd) and looked like a lock to win his second WPT Grand Prix de Paris title in three years.
But, Salsberg refused to give in and, despite holding only a few chips at one point, doubled-up a few times to regain the chip lead and finally win his major poker Championship.
The key hand came around 3AM Paris time. After a few double-ups, Salsberg hit the mother of all rivers as Salsberg, in awful shape as his A-10 was up against Jorgensen's A-Q, hit a fourth diamond hit the board to give Salsberg a ace-high straight and the chip lead.
Two-time EPT High Rollers Champ Philipp Gruissem (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-221st) gave it the old college try on Saturday, actually holding the chip lead at one point during three-handed play, but, bowed out in third as it seemed as if Jorgensen had his number.
Successful tournament pros Timothy Adams (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-17th) and Mohsin Charania (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: 15th) didn't win the tournament, but, did gain ground in the Player of the Year race.
German Fabian Quoss (2012 QJ/PTPR Rank: T-973rd) was the first man eliminated at the final table.
After hosting the Partouche Poker Tour final last week and the Grand Prix de Paris this week, the country of France isn't done hosting major poker events as the scene shifts back to Cannes next week for the start of the World Series of Poker Europe festivities.
As for the WPT, the next tour stop hits Malta starting tomorrow. The Borgata Poker Open starts Sunday as well - it's a double-dose of WPT action on either sides of the world.
EVENT PAYOUTS (EURO) 1st Matthew Salsberg - €400,000 2nd Theo Jorgensen - €264,600 3rd Philipp Gruissem - €170,065 4th Timothy Adams - €125,775 5th Mohsin Charania - €94,615 6th Fabian Quoss - €75,765 7th Jerome Douieb - €62,575 8th Idris Ambraisse - €50,010 9th Kyle Cheong - €37,640 10th Joe Serock - €27,445 11th Gregoire Boissenot - €27,445 12th Raphael Abitbol - €27,445 13th Daniel Amara - €22,595 14th Jacques Enjoubault - €22,595 15th Bryan Colin - €22,595 16th Michael Kwiek - €19,240 17th Florian Leconte - €19,240 18th Kyle Julius - €19,240 19th Jean Philippe Rohr - €16,835 20th Juha Helppi - €16,835 21st Bruno Lopes - €16,835 22nd Dan Djorno - €15,065 23rd Andrew Lichtenberger - €15,065 24th Nicolas Cardyn - €15,065 25th Giacomo Fundaro - €13,305 26th Sean Jazayeri - €13,305 27th Jason Mericer - €13,305 RELATED POSTS > SALSBERG GOES BIG NAME HUNTING > WAXMAN WINS WPT PARIS DEFENDING CHAMPION Matthew Waxman 2012 PTPR Points: 26 | PTPR PREMIER EVENT WORLD POKER TOUR POKER TOUR WPT Grand Prix de Paris September 10-15, 2012 Aviation Club de France | Paris Buy-in: $9,680 | Prizepool: $2,097,390 Entries: 228 PTPR POINTS DISTRIBUTION MATTHEW SALSBERG 127 THEO JORGENSEN 77 PHILIPP GRUISSEM 47 TIMOTHY ADAMS 37 MOHSIN CHARANIA 32 FABIAN QUOSS 27 JEROME DOUIEB 27 IDRIS AMBRAISSE 12 KYLE CHEONG 12 JOE SEROCK 12 GREGOIRE BOISSENOT 12 RAPHAEL ABITBOL 10 DANIEL AMERA 10 JACQUES ENJOUBAULT 10 BRYAN COLIN 10 MICHAEL KWIEK 7 FLORIAN LECONTE 7 KYLE JULIUS 7 NEXT WPT EVENT: WPT Malta September 16-20, 2012 2011: Matt Giannetti |
