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Live: $25,000 WPT World Championship
Upcoming: $100,000 WPT Super High Roller
| Earnings | $409,636 |
| Cashes | 3 |
| Final Tables | 2 |
| Titles | 0 |
| Tournaments Played | 31 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
9,600,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 1-A
213,600
Day 2
636,000
Day 3
262,000
Day 4
1,280,000
Day 5
3rd
Level 30: 50,000-100,000, 10,000 ante
Photo: Will Failla (center left, in black) retook the WPT Player of the Year lead tonight, and joins in the celebration for WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open champion Shawn Cunix (center, in blue).
If you don’t think poker has a physical element to it, you probably didn’t see Shawn Cunix at the final table of the Jacksonville bestbet Open Main Event. The longtime recreational player had to play his second career final table with a broken collarbone, fighting the pain all afternoon.
Battling with some pain and discomfort was well worth it for Cunix though. The reason he sported a sling throughout the tournament was because he broke his collar bone saving his son from an oncoming four wheeler. Cunix isn’t exaggerating when he says he saved his son’s life.
If Cunix is any indication, good deeds do get rewarded. Cunix has always taught his children to be passionate about what they do and he was able to show his son and his other children that theory in practice as he played his way to his first WPT title and a more than $400,000 payday.
When the final table began, Cunix was chip leader and he spent the early goings of the final table building his stack even bigger while the rest of his opponents struggled. As he chipped up to more than 4 million, everyone else save for James Calderaro dropped below a million chips.
These short stacks meant most players at the table were getting pretty desperate for a double up. Daniel Buzgon and Tony Dunst managed to find doubles early, but Will Failla was not so fortunate. He took a stand against Shawn Cunix on a 10
97 flop holding QJ
for an open-ended straight draw and a flush draw against Cunix’s J10
for top pair. Failla failed to catch and he was out in sixth, but did get a nice consolation prize as he regained the lead in the Season X WPT Player of the Year race with his second final table appearance of the season.
Tony Dunst got a bit of a consolation prize as well as the Raw Deal correspondent and WPT Live Strea Host managed to log the best finish of a WPT personality in a WPT Main Event. He amanged to get one spot higher than Mike Sexton did at Bay 101 back in Season IX, but exited in fifth place when he shoved the button with K
3 only to run into Darren Elias A9.
Buzgon failed to improve upon his third place showing at the Borgata Poker Open earlier this season, but he did manage to improve his standing in the WPT POY race with his fourth place finish. Buzgon’s pair of final table appearance pushed him to third in the ranks with 1,750 point.
Once play got three-handed, Cunix started to lose momentum and it looked as though his shot at the title might be in jeopardy. He went from top of the counts to short stack after he made two pair and paid off Elias’ flush in a big pot early in three-handed play. Then it looked like Cunix might end up the third place finisher when he got in a preflop raising ware against Elias that resulted in them getting it all-in preflop with Elias holding AQ to Cunix’s J9. Cunix managed to river a flush to double up and then it was Elias who was the low man on the toem pole.
Things only got worse for Elias from there as a series of cold decks and frustrating beats whittled his stack down. The bad luck culminated in being on the wrong end of a coin flip against Calderaro and exiting in third place.
That left Cunix and Calderaro heads-up for the title—a spot both players were ecstatic to be in. The two celebrated their good fortune with a shot before play began and the tone of heads-up action was jovial and fast paced. The two battled back and forth with Cunix erasing Calderaro’s chip lead after just six hands of play. Eventually, Cunix began to pull and away and, after a while, Calderaro was in all-in or fold mode.
On the final hand of play, Cunix shoved with pocket threes and Calderaro called with J10. Cunix flopped a set and had to sweat a couple of backdoor draws for his opponent, but that was more than enough to give him the hand, the match, and his first WPT title.
As he was presented with his trophy and snapped photos with friends, fans, and the WPT crew, Cunix could not hide his emotion.
A few weeks ago, Cunix’s life could’ve taken a disastrous turn Instead, he is one of the happiest men in Jacksonville tonight with great friends, an amazing family, and a WPT title that validates his passion for the game.
Here are the final table results for the Jacksonville bestbet Open:
1st: Shawn Cunix - $400,600 (includes $25,500 WPT World Championship seat)
2nd: James Calderaro - $236,560
3rd: Darren Elias - $147,850
4th: Daniel Buzgon - $94,624
5th: Tony Dunst - $66,532
6th: Will Failla - $54,704
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Darren Elias raises from the small blind to 150,000, James Calderaro reraises from the big blind to 375,000, and Elias moves all in.
Calderaro snap-calls with 1010, and Elias turns over AK. It's a race situation, and Elias needs to improve to stay alive.
The board comes 95276, and James Calderaro wins the pot with his pocket tens to eliminate Darren Elias in third place.
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 5,860,000
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 3,920,000
Seat 6. Darren Elias - Out in 3rd Place ($147,850)
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Shawn Cunix completes the small blind to 60,000, and Darren Elias checks his option in the big blind. The flop comes 543, Cunix checks, Elias bets 80,000, and Cunix calls.
The turn card pairs the board with the 5, Cunix checks, Elias bets 225,000, and Cunix quickly calls.
The river card is the Q, Cunix checks, Elias bets about 500,000, and Cunix snap-calls. Elias turns over 52 for trip fives, but Cunix turns over 85 to win the pot with trip fives, higher kicker.
Pot Size: 1,760,000
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 4,220,000
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 3,930,000
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 1,630,000
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Darren Elias raises from the button to 125,000, Shawn Cunix reraises from the big blind to 500,000, and Elias moves all in for nearly 4 million.
Cunix quickly calls all in for 1.48 million with J9, and he'll need to improve to stay alive against the AQ of Elias.
The board comes 77263, and Shawn Cunix wins the pot with a heart flush to double up in chips.
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 4,230,000 (70 BBs)
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 3,045,000 (50 BBs)
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 2,505,000 (41 BBs)
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Darren Elias raises from the small blind to 150,000, James Calderaro reraises from the big blind to 350,000, and Elias calls. The flop comes K87, Elias checks, Calderaro bets 225,000, and Elias thinks for a bit before check-raising to 650,000. Calderaro thinks for more than two minutes before he calls.
The turn card is the 10, Elias bets 700,000, and Calderaro thinks for more than a minute before he folds. Darren Elias takes the pot worth more than 2 million in chips.
Pot Size: 2,030,000
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 4,550,000
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 1,565,000
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 3,465,000
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Shawn Cunix raises from the button to 150,000, Darren Elias calls from the small blind, and Darren Elias calls from the big blind. The flop comes 522, Elias and Calderaro both check, and Cunix bets 275,000. Elias calls, and Calderaro folds.
The turn card is the Q, and both players check. The river card is the 4, Elias bets 625,000, and Cunix tanks for more than a minute before he calls.
Elias shows A3 to win the pot with a five-high straight, and Cunix mucks.
Pot Size: 2,280,000
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 5,245,000
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 1,685,000
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 2,650,000
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Darren Elias raises from the button to 125,000, James Calderaro calls from the small blind, and Shawn Cunix calls from the big blind. The flop comes 886, Calderaro and Cunix both check, and Elias bets 160,000. Calderaro and Cunix both call.
The turn card is the 3, and all three players check. The river card is the 7, and they check again. James Calderaro shows 98 to win the pot with trip eights, and the others muck.
Pot Size: 885,000
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 5,145,000
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 2,545,000
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 1,890,000
Level 28: 30,000-60,000, 10,000 ante
Darren Elias raises from the button to 125,000, James Calderaro calls from the small blind, and Shawn Cunix calls from the big blind. The flop comes 973, Calderaro and Cunix both check, and Elias bets 160,000. Calderaro and Cunix both call.
The turn card is the 6, Calderaro checks, Cunix bets 500,000, and Elias thinks for about 45 seconds before he calls. Calderaro thinks for about 30 seconds before he reraises to 1.1 million, and Cunix and Elias both quickly fold. James Calderaro takes a huge pot.
Pot Size: 2,385,000
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 4,700,000 (78 BBs)
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 2,705,000 (45 BBs)
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 2,175,000 (36 BBs)
Level 27: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Darren Elias raises from the button to 110,000, James Calderaro calls from the small blind, and Shawn Cunix calls from the big blind. The flop comes A102, Calderaro checks, and Cunix bets 275,000. Elias calls, and Calderaro folds.
The turn card is the 3, Cunix bets 500,000, and Elias thinks for about 30 seconds before he calls.
The river card is the 5, Cunix bets 700,000, and Elias calls with 86 for an eight-high flush. Cunix mucks, and Elias takes the pot -- and the chip lead.
Pot Size: 3,295,000
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 2,510,000
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 2,395,000
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 4,675,000
Level 26: 20,000-40,000, 5,000 ante
Tony Dunst moves all in from the button for 515,000, and Darren Elias Elias calls from the big blind with A9. Dunst turns over K3, and he'll need to improve to stay alive.
The board comes 1065Q2, and Elias wins the pot with ace high to eliminate Tony Dunst in fifth place.
Seat 1. James Calderaro - 2,020,000 (50 BBs)
Seat 2. Daniel Buzgon - 835,000 (20 BBs)
Seat 4. Tony Dunst - Out in 5th Place ($66,532)
Seat 5. Shawn Cunix - 5,195,000 (129 BBs)
Seat 6. Darren Elias - 1,530,000 (38 BBs)
