In August of 2011, Joshua Pollock made his first major poker tournament last table on the planet Casino Poker Excursion Legends of Online poker main event, ending up 4th for the initial six-figure payday of his job. Since that deep run, he has actually taken place to have plenty of success on the circuit, including winning 2 World Collection of Texas hold’em gold bracelets.
Almost 11 years to the day given that making that very first WPT last table, Pollock once again made it to the last 6 players in the 2022 WPT Legends of Poker $5,250 buy-in no-limit hold ’em centerpiece. This time about, he was able to liquidate the win, emerging victorious from an area of 642 entrances at the Parkwest Bike Casino near Los Angeles to gain his initial WPT title and also the leading prize of $573,350.
” This event was a desire,” Pollock informed WPT press reporters after triumphing. “I ran fine on day one as well as just ran extremely well on day two, particularly on the last level. I went from one of the bottom heaps to chip leader. Possibly this is the very best I have actually ever run in an event.”
This was the biggest score of Pollock’s job, and also it saw him increase his lifetime competition profits to just shy of $2 million. The triumph additionally saw him secure 1,680 Card Gamer of the Year points. This was his initial POY-qualified score of the year, however it alone was enough to catapult him inside the leading 150 in the 2022 POY race, which is sponsored by International Poker.
This event ranged from Aug. 27 via Sep. 1. An overall of 642 entrances were made across the 3 starting flights, going beyond the $2.5 million warranty to construct a prize pool of $3,113,700. The top 81 finishers made the money, with notables among those that made it deep including two-time WPT champ J.C. Tran (36th), WPT winner Ryan Tosoc (35th), arm band winner Stephen Song (21st), WPT champion Nam Le (20th), two-time arm band victor Michael Wang (19th), and 2013 champion of this occasion Jordan Cristos (11th).
The last day began with just 6 players remaining and also six-time WPT last tablist Ray Qartomy in the lead. Adam Hendrix was the clear short pile with 11 large callous start. He located a double-up on the second offer of the day but was still the very first to drop.
Simply 3 hands after doubling, Hendrix relocated all-in on a 10Diamond Suit4Heart Suit2Club SuitJDiamond Suit board with ADiamond SuitKDiamond Fit for an imperial flush draw. He got a quick call from 2019 WPT Venetian centerpiece champion Matthew Wantman, who rolled over 4Spade Suit4Diamond Fit for a set of fours. The 3Club Match on the river was a blank and also Hendrix was eliminated in sixth area, making $119,000 for his deep run. This was Hendrix’s ninth final-table finish of the year, with two titles won and greater than $1 million in year-to-date earnings. With 4,049 overall POY points he currently sits in 9th area in the overall standings.
The next elimination took place simply three hands after Hendrix was sent packing. Wantman min-raised to 300,000 from the cutoff and also Bouquet moved done in for around 2,100,000 from the huge blind. Wantman snap-called with KHeart SuitKClub Fit. Lei showed AClub SuitJDiamond Fit. Wantman flopped a set of kings and held from there to narrow the area to 4. Bouquet gained a career-best payday of $156,000 for his fifth-place proving.
The knockout spree was not yet ended, though. The 11th hand of the day saw Aaron Motoyama min-raise from under the gun with 9Heart Suit9Club Match. Pollock called from the large blind with QDiamond Suit10Diamond Suit and also the flop brought the 8Diamond Suit3Club Suit2Diamond Match. Pollock check-raised all-in over the minimum continuation bet of Motoyama, who called all-in with a solitary large blind less than Pollock and also his overpair to the board. Pollock enhanced to a pair of queens on the QHeart Suit turn, leaving Motoyama in dire straights with one card coming. The 8Spade Fit was no aid and Motoyama was gotten rid of in 4th location ($ 207,000). This was his largest rating ever before on the tournament circuit. It increased his lifetime earnings to greater than $1.2 million.
Three-handed play began with the last trio all within striking distance of each other, and all sitting on more than 65 huge blinds. Considered that, it took markedly much longer for the next removal hand to get here.
As short-handed activity continued, Wantman started to fall back the remainder of the pack. On the 80th hand of the day, he pushed his last 5 big blinds preflop with A-2 fit from the tiny blind. Pollock got up with A-9 fit in the big blind and flopped a nine to leave Wantman drawing slim. The turn as well as river really did not bring the called for wonder for Wantman and also he was sent home in third area ($ 280,000). This was his seventh final-table look of the year. With $844,666 in POY incomes up until now this year and also 2,778 points, he currently beings in 33rd location in the POY race heading right into the last third of the year.
After knocking out Wantman in third, Pollock took much better than a 3:2 chip introduce heads-up have fun with Qartomy, that went to his 6th occupation WPT last table and second of this year, having actually likewise put 3rd in the WPT Choctaw main event earlier in 2022. Qartomy was able to battle his method into the lead during the early heads-up action, yet Pollock ultimately re-established himself on top of the leaderboard. Quickly, Pollock had stretched his advantage to 2:1.
In the last hand, Pollock elevated to 1,300,000 from the switch with 8Spade Suit8Club Suit while both were playing 250,000-500,000 limits with a large blind stake of 500,000. Qartomy three-bet pushed for 10,600,000 from the big blind with ADiamond Suit8Diamond Suit. Pollock swiftly called with his pocket set and also the board boiled down 9Heart Suit5Heart Suit4Club SuitJHeart SuitQClub Suit to secure the pot as well as the title for Pollock. Qartomy made $380,000 as the runner-up, the second-largest rating of his profession. He now has greater than $5.1 million in life time pays to his name.
Qartomy was also awarded 1,400 POY points, enough to see him move into 57th position on the POY leaderboard when integrated with the 912 he took home for his third-place coating at Choctaw earlier this year.
Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:
Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
1 | Joshua Pollock | $573,350 | 1680 |
2 | Ray Qartomy | $380,000 | 1400 |
3 | Matthew Wantman | $280,000 | 1120 |
4 | Aaron Motoyama | $207,000 | 840 |
5 | Lei Lei | $156,000 | 700 |
6 | Adam Hendrix | $119,000 | 560 |