Final Table Bios – WPT World Championship

Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

Seat 1: Jonathan Roy – 1,900,000


Jonathan Roy was the winner of the inaugural WPT Montreal stop back in November 2012. He took home a top prize worth $784,101 and 1,200 Player of the Year points. He has two other cashes during Season XI, an 80th-place finish at the Borgata Winter Poker Open and a ninth-place finish at WPT Malta. Those two cashes gave him 50 POY points each so Roy is still within striking distance to catch Matt Salsberg for Season XI POY honors. He will have to win the WPT World Championship to take home POY but Roy still has a chance entering the final table in third chip-position. His run on Friday will be one of the most interesting storylines to track. Roy is a 26-year-old pro poker player and baseball coach from the Montreal area in Quebec. His career earnings are $1,487,996. Roy will have his parents and a close circle of friends at the final table to cheer him on in his quest for a second WPT title this season.

Seat 2: David Peters – 1,085,000


David Peters is a 26-year-old pro poker player who has been playing the game for nine years. He is from Toledo, Ohio but spends much of the year traveling the tournament trail. He has $2,535,825 in career earnings and despite coming in as the short stack he has the experience and skill to pull off a comeback here at Bellagio. Peters has cashed half-a-dozen times at WPT events but this is his first final table on tour. Peters has won a Heartland Poker Tour event at Mount Pleasant and he has a runner-up finish at a World Series of Poker event, good for $350,000.

Seat 3: Erick Lindgren – 3,355,000

Erick Lindgren is attempting to become the third player in WPT history to win three titles. He would join Gus Hansen and Carlos Mortensen in that elite group if he wins on Friday. Lindgren’s previous WPT wins came at the PartyPoker Million and Ultimate Poker Classic during Season II of the tour (Lindgren won WPT POY honors that season). Lindgren has $8,569,334 in career earnings. The 36-year-old has also won a gold bracelet at the WSOP, and he was WSOP POY in 2008. Lindgren comes into the final table in second chip-position despite being the short stack in the tournament for the majority of play on the money bubble. Lindgren will have his wife and pro poker player Erica Schoenberg on his rail at the final table.

Seat 4: Brandon Steven – 1,210,000


Brandon Steven is a 39-year-old businessman and poker player from Wichita, Kansas. He has been playing poker for eight years and his career earnings are $996,026. The largest cash of his career came at the 2010 WSOP Main Event, where he bubbled the final table in 10th place and took home $635,011. He has four cashes on the WPT, including a ninth place finish here at Bellagio at the Festa al Lago event during Season IX. Stevens also has five children and he earned a bachelor degree from Southern Illinois University.

Seat 5: Matt Hyman – 1,560,000

If you think Matt Hyman has made a WPT final table before you would be mistaken, but that is forgivable because his identical twin brother Zach Hyman made the final table of the World Poker Classic back during Season VI. Matt is from San Francisco, California and the 36-year-old is married with three children. Hyman founded the companies Central Payment and SpotOn with his brother Zach. Matt has been playing poker for ten years and he has $250,895 in career earnings. His largest previous cash came at the 2011 World Series of Poker, where he took 10th place in a six-handed no-limit hold’em event, which was good for $73,695. He will top that cash no matter where he finishes at Friday’s final table. Matt will be supported at the final table by his brother Zach and WPT Anchor and sister-in-law Kimberly Lansing. 

10 players left in the @wpt World Championship and my brother-in-law Matt @spoton is one of them!Fingers & toes crossed.

— Kimberly Lansing (@KimberlyLansing) May 22, 2013

 Seat 6: Chino Rheem – 5,495,000


Chino Rheem is the chip leader coming into Friday’s final table after a dominant run during the play-down stretch of this tournament. He will take 5,495,000 into the final day of play. The 33-year-old professional poker player has been playing the game for more than a decade and his poker career has kept him on the road much of the time. He is originally from Los Angeles, California. Rheem has $5,966,174 in career earnings and the bulk of that came when he finished in seventh place at the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table – good for $1,772,650. Rheem also won a $20,000 six-handed no-limit hold’em event at the now-defunct Epic Poker League that was good for $1 million. With the amount of experience Rheem has in high-pressure situations and the large chip stack he has at his disposal, Chino has to be the favorite to win the WPT World Championship title on Friday. 

Negreanu Falls Short as Lindgren Goes For Title #3

Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

Recap by BJ Nemeth
Photography by Joe Giron (www.JoeGironPhotography.com)



It was a short day for the WPT World Championship, but only six of the eight players would survive to reach the televised WPT Final Table.

Daniel Negreanu and Rocco Palumbo started the day as the short stacks, though Negreanu got off to a hot start, doubling his stack in the first half hour without ever putting himself all in.



Rocco Palumbo (pictured above) never had any momentum at all, as he only played two pots and lost them both. In the 16th hand of the day (Hand #50 from the start of the 10-handed final table), Palumbo got it all in from the small blind with J8, but ran into Brandon Steven's KJ and never improved.

With seven players remaining, David Peters was the short stack, though Negreanu's momentum started to swing the other way as he slipped down the leaderboard.



In Hand #67, David Peters (pictured above) got it all in on the turn with a full house against Brandon Steven's two pair to double up to more than a million in chips, and that put all of the short-stack pressure on Negreanu.



Daniel Negreanu (pictured above) lost six of the seven pots he played after Palumbo's elimination, and got so short that when he finally doubled thru Matt Hyman (all in preflop, his A-Q outflopped Hyman's A-K), he was still the short stack.

Six hands later, Negreanu got it all in after the flop with top pair, but his close friend Erick Lindgren had pocket jacks for an overpair. Negreanu never improved, and he bubbled the TV final table in seventh place.

That locked in the final six for Friday's WPT Final Table:

Seat 1.  Jonathan Roy  -  1,900,000  (47 bb)
Seat 2.  David Peters  -  1,085,000  (27 bb)
Seat 3.  Erick Lindgren  -  3,355,000  (83 bb)
Seat 4.  Brandon Steven  -  1,210,000  (30 bb)
Seat 5.  Matt Hyman  -  1,560,000  (39 bb)
Seat 6.  Chino Rheem  -  5,495,000  (137 bb)

7th:  Daniel Negreanu  -  $137,085
8th:  Rocco Palumbo  -  $101,935



As you can see, Chino Rheem (pictured above) retains his big lead from the start of the day, though Erick Lindgren has closed the gap a bit. The other four players are much further back.

The three players at the top of the leaderboard are all former WPT winners: Chino Rheem, Erick Lindgren (2 WPT titles), and Jonathan Roy.



Erick Lindgren (pictured above) hopes to become just the third player in WPT history to win three titles, joining an elite group that includes Gus Hansen and Carlos Mortensen.



This season's WPT Player of the Year race is still undecided, as WPT Montreal champion Jonathan Roy (pictured above) is third in chips and can pass POY points-leader Matt Salsberg if he wins this event. If Roy falls short of a victory, Salsberg will win the Player of the Year title.

The other three players are all making their first appearance at a WPT Final Table.

David Peters has come the closest, just missing the TV final table in this event two years ago by finishing seventh. This is the seventh WPT cash for Peters.



Matt Hyman (pictured above) is the second in his family to reach a WPT Final Table -- his twin brother Zach made one back in Season VI, which makes them the first set of twins to make final table appearances on the World Poker Tour.



The highest WPT finish for Brandon Steven (pictured above) before this was ninth place in the 2010 WPT Festa Al Lago here at Bellagio, though he is probably best known within the poker world for bubbling the 2010 WSOP Main Event final table by finishing 10th.

The players have a day off tomorrow before returning to action at 4:00 pm PT on Friday for the televised WPT Final Table. Return to WPT.com for complete hand-for-hand coverage, with every check, bet, call, raise, and fold, along with updated chip counts after every hand.

WPT Final Table: Official Chip Counts

Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

The final six players will have a full day off tomorrow before returning to action at 4:00 pm PT on Friday for the televised WPT Final Table. (The WPT stage will be in use tomorrow for the final table of the WPT Super High Roller.)

Here are the official chip counts:

Seat 1.  Jonathan Roy  -  1,900,000  (47 bb)
Seat 2.  David Peters  -  1,085,000  (27 bb)
Seat 3.  Erick Lindgren  -  3,355,000  (83 bb)
Seat 4.  Brandon Steven  -  1,210,000  (30 bb)
Seat 5.  Matt Hyman  -  1,560,000  (39 bb)
Seat 6.  Chino Rheem  -  5,495,000  (137 bb)

And the prizepool they'll be playing for:

1st:  $1,150,297
2nd:  $650,275
3rd:  $421,800
4th:  $289,988
5th:  $223,203
6th:  $173,993

Hand #79: Daniel Negreanu Out in 7th Place ($137,085)

Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

Photo: Erick Lindgren (left) hugs his friend Daniel Negreanu after eliminating him on the TV bubble.

Hand #79  -  Chino Rheem raises UTG+1 to 85,000, Erick Lindgren calls from the button, and Daniel Negreanu calls from the big blind.

The flop comes 1085, and action checks to Lindgren, who bets 120,000. Negreanu check-raises all in for 605,000, and Rheem folds.

Lindgren calls with JJ for an overpair, and Negreanu turns over A10 for a pair of tens. Negreanu will need to improve to stay alive.

The turn card pairs the board with the 8, the river card is the 7, and Erick Lindgren wins the pot with two pair, jacks and eights, to eliminate Daniel Negreanu in seventh place on the TV bubble.

Erick Lindgren  -  3,355,000  (83 bb)
Daniel Negreanu  -  Out in 7th Place  ($137,085)

The remaining six players are verifying their chip counts and filling out their WPT bio sheets. Official chip counts will be posted soon.

Hands #77-78: Final Seven Players

Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

Hand #77  -  Jonathan Roy min-raises from the button to 80,000, and Erick Lindgren calls from the big blind. The flop comes 532, Lindgren checks, Roy bets 70,000, and Lindgren folds. Roy takes the pot.

Hand #78  -  Erick Lindgren completes the small blind to 40,000, and Brandon Steven calls from the big blind. The flop comes AJ8, Lindgren bets 60,000, and Steven folds. Lindgren takes the pot.

Level 22 Begins; Official Chip Counts

Level 22: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante

The players return from break to begin Level 22, with increased blinds of 20,000-40,000 and a 5,000 ante. With seven players remaining, the average chip stack is about 2,085,000 (52 big blinds).

Here are the official chip counts from the break:

Seat 1.  Jonathan Roy  -  1,780,000  (44 bb)
Seat 2.  David Peters  -  1,120,000  (28 bb)
Seat 3.  Erick Lindgren  -  2,545,000  (63 bb)
Seat 4.
Seat 5.  Brandon Steven  -  1,285,000  (32 bb)
Seat 6.  Daniel Negreanu  -  705,000  (17 bb)
Seat 7.  Matt Hyman  -  1,575,000  (39 bb)
Seat 8.  Chino Rheem  -  5,595,000  (139 bb)

Hands #74-76: Final Seven Players

Level 21: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante

Hand #74  -  Daniel Negreanu raises from the button to 65,000, and Matt Hyman calls from the small blind. Both players check to the river on a board of K7742, Hyman bets an unknown amount, and Negreanu folds. Hyman takes the pot.

Hand #75  -  David Peters min-raises under the gun to 60,000, and Chino Rheem calls from the small blind. Both players check to the turn on a board of A967, Rheem checks, Peters bets 80,000, and Rheem folds. Peters takes the pot.

Hand #76  -  Brandon Steven min-raises under the gun to 60,000, winning the blinds and antes.

Level 21 comes to an end, and the players take a 15-minute break.

Hand #73: Daniel Negreanu Doubles Thru Matt Hyman

Level 21: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante

Hand #73  -  Daniel Negreanu moves all in from the small blind for 325,000, and Matt Hyman calls from the big blind with AK. Negreanu turns over AQ, and he's dominated as he faces elimination.

The board comes Q7578, and Negreanu pairs his queen on the flop to win the pot and double up in chips.

Daniel Negreanu  -  785,000  (26 bb)
Matt Hyman  -  1,430,000  (47 bb)

Hands #70-72: Final Seven Players

Level 21: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante

Hand #70  -  Chino Rheem raises from the cutoff to 65,000, David Peters calls from the small blind, and Erick Lindgren calls from teh big blind. Both players check to the turn on a board of QQ4K, Peters bets 125,000, and Lindgren and Rheem both fold. Peters takes the pot.

Hand #71  -  Daniel Negreanu raises under the gun to 65,000, Brandon Steven reraises from the big blind to an unknown amount, and Negreanu folds. Steven takes the pot.

Hand #72  -  Matt Hyman raises under the gun to 65,000, winning the blinds and antes.

Hands #68-69: Final Seven Players

Level 21: 15,000-30,000, 5,000 ante

Hand #68  -  Chino Rheem completes the small blind to 30,000, and Jonathan Roy checks his option in the big blind. Both players check to the turn on a board of 10667, Rheem checks, Roy bets an unknown amount, and Rheem folds. Roy takes the pot.

Hand #69  -  Erick Lindgren min-raises under the gun to 60,000, Chino Rheem calls from the button, and David Peters calls from the big blind.

The flop comes K97, Peters checks, and Lindgren bets 95,000. Rheem folds, and Peters calls. The turn is the 10, and both players check. The river is the 6, Peters checks, Lindgren bets 155,000, and Peters folds. Lindgren shows one card -- the A -- as he collects the pot.

Erick Lindgren  -  2,700,000  (90 bb)