Dylan Wilkerson Wins WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic for $147,509
Over the weekend, the World Poker Tour Emperors Palace Poker Classic �� a tournament that attracted 166 players and created a prize pool of $475,836 �� played out in South Africa. After three days of play, poker pro Dylan Wilkerson emerged victorious to capture the $147,509 first-place prize.
The third time proved the charm for Wilkerson, who previously finished runner-up at both the Season XII WPT Fallsview Poker Classic and Bay 101 Shooting Star. In addition to the six-figure score, Wilkerson etched his name on the WPT Champions Cup, was awarded a pair of Monster DNA headphones, and earned a $15,600 entry into the WPT World Championship.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dylan Wilkerson | $147,509 |
| 2 | Richard Barnard | $85,651 |
| 3 | Diane Crous | $54,721 |
| 4 | Chris Convery | $38,543 |
| 5 | Aaron Overton | $29,740 |
| 6 | Darryn Lipman | $22,602 |
According to the WPT live blog, the first elimination of the final table came in Level 24 (12,000/24,000/4,000) on Hand #19 when Darryn Lipman shoved all in for 283,000 from the small blind and Chris Convery called him from the big.
Lipman: A?2?
Convery: J?J?
Lipman was in need of some help, and he got a little as the 7?5?4? flop delivered him a wheel draw. Unfortunately for him, the 7? blanked on the turn followed by the 5? on the river, and he had to settle for sixth place and $22,602.
Ten hands later, Aaron Overton got his short stack all in preflop holding the 10?9? only to run into the A?K? of Diane Crous. The board ran out a clean 7?3?2?Q?8?, and Overton was bounced in fifth place for $29,740.
On Hand #100, which happened in Level 26 (20,000/40,000/5,000), Convery was felled in fourth. It happened when Wilkerson min-raised to 80,000 from the button and then called when Convery three-bet all in for 415,000 from the big blind.
Convery: 10?8?
Wilkerson: Q?9?
Neither player paired after the board ran out K?J?5?J?4?, which meant Wilkerson��s queen high was enough to score the knockout. Convery was followed out the door four hands later by Crous, who got her stack all in holding the A?K? against the 9?9? of Wilkerson. Crous managed to take the lead when a king appeared on the flop, but the board four-flushed with diamonds and Wilkerson took it down with a flush.
Wilkerson began heads-up play just two big blinds behind Richard Barnard, but over the course of 61 hands he pulled out to a nice lead. Then, on Hand #165 in Level 27 (25,000/50,000/5,000), Barnard opened for 175,000 and then called off for roughly a million after Wilkerson three-bet all in.
Wilkerson: A?Q?
Barnard: K?Q?
Barnard was way behind, and he failed to catch up as the board ran out 10?6?6?Q?5?. Barnard finished as runner-up for $85,651, while Wilkerson became champion and captured the $147,509 first-place prize.
The next WPT Main Event will take place from Nov. 18-23 at the partypoker WPT UK at From Dusk Till Dawn, which the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand to live report.
*Photos courtesy of WPT.
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