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Upcoming on ClubWPT: WPT Borgata Poker Open Satellite (Sunday, July 7 @ 4:00PM ET)
| Earnings | $295,575 |
| Cashes | 5 |
| Final Tables | 1 |
| Titles | 0 |
| Tournaments Played | 20 |
Est. Current Chipcount
Est. Average Chipcount
13,400,000
Current Chipleader
-
Day 1
23,025
Day 2
167,200
Day 3
586,000
Day 4
396,000
Day 5
2,555,000
Day 6
4th
Level 30: 80,000-160,000, 15,000 ante
For most 22 year-olds, the highlight of their young lives is graduating from college or moving into your first apartment by yourself. For Randal Flowers, the marquee moments of his life so far are not graduations, first jobs, or other standard milestones. The online poker pro from Greenville, North Carolina can instead hold up not one, but two prestigious records that will likely hold up for the foreseeable future.
Prior to the start of the final table, Flowers already held the record for youngest WPT winner in the tour’s nine-season history. At just 20 years-old, Flowers took down the WPT Barcelona event, besting Nick Schulman for the age record and setting a tough benchmark for future poker whiz kids to best.
Now, if an online poker wunderkind wants to one-up Flowers, they are going to have to pick up not one, but two titles and do it in short order. Flowers, better known to his friends and fellow online poker players as RandALLin, picked up title number two at Festa on Wednesday, putting him in the company of players like Cornel Cimpan, Daniel Negreanu, Erick Lindgren, Freddy Deeb, Michael Mizrachi, and Jonathan Little.
When the final table began, Flowers held a tiny chip lead, but it didn’t take too long for Flowers’ stack to start growing. It was Michael Benvenuti who dispatched with Skip Wilson in 6th place when Wilson ran top pair into Benvenuti’s overpair of queens, but from that point forward, it was Flowers in the driver’s seat.
Flowers eliminated all of his final four opponents. First, he took on Legends of Poker winner Andy Frankenberger in fifth place when Frankenberger shoved with pocket fives and Flowers called him with pocket tens. While Frankenberger exited earlier than he would have liked, his fifth place finish gives him a nice lead early in the WPT Season IX Player of the Year race.
Following Frankenberger’s fall, Flowers faced off with Jason Koon in a massive cooler of a pot. Both players rivered straights and got it all-in. Unfortunately for Koon, his nine-high straight couldn’t best Flowers’ jack-high straight, so Koon was out in fourth.
Those two knockouts gave Flowers a massive chip lead, so much so, that doubling up Noah Schwartz during three-handed play only put a tiny dent in Flowers’ pile. Flowers seemed so worse for the wear either, turning around and eliminating Schwartz just a few hands later with A
Q
to Schwartz’s KQ
.
That left just Benvenuti standing in the way of Flowers and his second title. Flowers held a substantial chip lead at the outset of heads-up play, Benvenuti’s stack was getting short, so it was no wonder that it took a little over a dozen hands before they got it all-in on a flop of 965 flop with Benvenuti holding a big draw with Q7. Flowers showed top pair with 3
9 and, after the turn and river came 4 then A, Flowers officially became the youngest two-time WPT winner ever.
Here are the final table results from the Season IX Festa al Lago Main Event:
1st: Randal Flowers - $831,500
2nd: Michael Benvenuti - $564,200
3rd: Noah Schwartz - $344,968
4th: Jason Koon - $225,680
5th: Andy Frankenberger - $161,200
6th: Skip Wilson- $112,840
Sorted In:
Featured Blog, Randal Flowers, Michael Benvenuti, Noah Schwartz, Skip Wilson, Andy Frankenberger, Jason Koon, Tournaments, Bellagio, Festa al Lago, Season IXLevel 29: 60,000-120,000, 15,000 ante
Jason Koon raises from the button to 250,000, and Randal Flowers calls in the big blind. The flop comes K88, Flowers checks, Koon bets 250,000, and Flowers calls. The turn card is the 9, Flowers checks, and Koon thinks a bit before he bets 575,000, and Flowers calls.
The river card is the 7, Flowers checks, and Koon thinks a bit before he bets 1,500,000. Flowers thinks for about 20 seconds and says, "All in." Koon doesn't seem pleased, but he reluctantly calls anyway.
Koon shows 65 for a nine-high straight, but Flowers turns over J10 to win the pot with a jack-high straight. Jason Koon is eliminated in fourth place, while Randal Flowers catapults to a massive chip lead -- he has much more than the other two players combined.
Seat 2. Michael Benvenuti - 2,705,000
Seat 3. Jason Koon - Out in 4th Place ($225,680)
Seat 4. Noah Schwartz - 2,860,000
Seat 5. Randal Flowers - 7,865,000
Level 29: 60,000-120,000, 15,000 ante
Noah Schwartz raises under the gun to 275,000, Randal Flowers calls from the button, and Jason Koon thinks for a bit before he moves all in from the big blind for 1,805,000. Noah Schwartz thinks for more than a minute before he moves all in over the top, and Flowers folds.
Koon shows QJ, but he'll need to improve to survive against Schwartz's 88.
The board comes Q62J9, and Koon pairs his queen on the flop and his jack on the turn to win the pot with two pair. Koon doubles up in chips.
Seat 2. Michael Benvenuti - 2,315,000
Seat 3. Jason Koon - 4,005,000
Seat 4. Noah Schwartz - 3,070,000
Seat 5. Randal Flowers - 4,040,000
Level 27: 40,000-80,000, 10,000 ante
The story of the tournament and maybe the year is 37 year old equity derivatives trader Andy Frankenberger who is poised to do what few have ever done before; win two titles in the same season on the WPT. Only five men, Gus Hansen, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Daniel Negreanu and Tuan Le have ever won two in a single season and no one has accomplished the feat since Season Three when both Negreanu and Le bagged two titles. What makes Frankenberger's results even more astounding is that Festa al Lago is only the fourth WPT tournament he has entered. The key to the former Wall Streeters success is being "consistently inconsistent", a counter strategy attack that more often than not leaves his opponents fuming at his unconventional play. When Frankenberger won the Legends of Poker title in Los Angeles in August, former WPT Player of the Year Jonathan Little called Frankenberger a " table clown" on Twitter. No one questions his ability now as Frankenberger is poised to not only match Little's record of two WPT titles but also finds himself only four tournaments into season nine with an almost insurmountable lead for WPT Player of the Year.
That is not to say there are not other stories at the table. Randal Flowers is the youngest WPT champ in history having won the WPT Spanish Championship in Barcelona at the age of twenty. Now 22, Flowers is the chip leader and favorite to become the youngest two-time WPT title holder. Also of note, while in Las Vegas, Flowers is staying at the home of WPT analyst Tony Dunst.
Twenty-seven year old Noah "McLovin" Schwartz is making his second WPT final table alongside first timers Jason Koon and Michael Benvenuti both of them emblematic of the young guns that have taken over live tournament poker. The odd man out at the table is 62 year old Skip Wilson, an inventor and retired businessman from Cincinnati who at first glance would seem to be the soft spot at the table, but looks can be deceiving as Wilson has 16 cashes and 5 final tables in his WSOP resume.
All eyes at the final table today will be on Frankenberger but for Andy it may seem oddly familiar. Just as at the Legends final there will be a 62 year old in the final six (Tom Lee at Legends, Skip Wilson at Bellagio), a hotshot young player with a raucous fan base in the audience (Kyle Wilson/ Randal Flowers), a tough player with previous WPT experience (Jared Jaffee/Noah Schwartz), and a tough young online pro (Tom Braband/Jason Koon). The New Yorker just hopes that it's deja vu all over again.
Level 27: 40,000-80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #185 - Noah Schwartz checks a board of KKT8. Randal Flowers bets 220,000 and Schwartz calls. The river is the J and both players check. Schwartz shows 99 and takes the pot.
T.K and Koon shows AA--a reversal of fortune from the last time these two were all-in against each other,642Q and Koon's aces hold to eliminate Kessler in seventh place and bring Day 5 of play to a close.Level 27: 40,000-80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #150 - Noah Schwartz gets a walk in the big blind.
Hand #151 - Randal Flowers gets a walk in the big blind.
Hand #152 - Skip Wilson raises to 225,000 in middle position, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #153 - Noah Schwartz raises to 195,000 from the cutoff, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #154 - Jason Koon raises to 180,000 from early position, Noah Schwartz calls from middle position, and Randal Flowers moves all-in from the cutoff. Koon moves all-in over the top of Flowers and Schwartz folds.
Koon shows AQ, while Flowers has the better hand with AK. The board runs out T84A9 and Flowers doubles through Koon to vie for the chip lead with 3,385,000.
Randal Flowers - 3,385,000 (42 big blinds)
Jason Koon - 855,000 (11 big blinds)
Level 27: 40,000-80,000, 10,000 ante
Hand #147 - Jason Koon raises to 180,000 from early position, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #148 - Noah Schwartz raises to 180,000 from middle position, winning the blinds and antes.
Hand #149 - Michael Benvenuti moves all-in for 755,000 from the small blind and Jason Koon calls out of the big blind. Benvenuti shows J6 and Koon has him dominated with A6.
The KK9 flop favors Koon, but the Q on the turn gives Benvenuti a gutshot straight draw. The river T completes Benvenuti's straight and he takes the pot.
Michael Benvenuti - 1,600,000 (20 big blinds)
Jason Koon - 2,400,000 (30 big blinds)
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Jason Koon raises to 145,000 from under the gun and Andy Frankenberger calls from the cutoff. Allen Kessler moves all-in from the button and Koon reraises all-in as well. Frankenberger folds and Koon is visibly frustrated when Kessler shows AA. Koon holds AK and fails to improve as the board runs out 986J5. Kessler takes the pot.
Allen Kessler - 1,770,000 (30 big blinds)
Jason Koon - 2,600,000 (43 big blinds)
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Andy Frankenberger raises to 60,000 from middle position, Allen Kessler calls from the cutoff, and Jason Koon comes along from the big blind.
All three players check as the flop and turn run out KQ3K. The river is the 8 and Koon open folds. Floorman Craig Lumpp, who is temporarily filling in as dealer, tries to stop Koon from mucking his hand, but it is too late. Lumpp mucks Koon's cards and gives him a stern look, indicating Koon should not have checked out of the hand.
Andy Frankenberger is next to act and bets 125,000. Kessler throws his hands in the air in frustration to how the action has transpired and Tournament Director Jack McClelland is quickly called over to the table. Lumpp tells McClelland what happened and McClelland issues Koon a warning and tells the table it is against the rules to check out during tournament play. Kessler folds and Frankenberger takes the pot.
After the hand, Koon tells the table, "I don't get how that affects the action."
Frankenberger disagrees. "Oh, it's huge," he tells him.
Kessler agrees. "If you check, it makes it much harder for Frankenberger to bet because you might check-raise." Koon buys Kessler and Frankenberger's argument and apologizes for his action.
Level 25: 25,000-50,000, 5,000 ante
Michael Benvenuti moves all-in for 160,000 from middle position and Jason Koon reraises to 320,000 from the cutoff. Everyone else folds and Koon turns over AQ to Benvenuti's A2.
The flop falls AQ3 and the 5 on the turn gives Benvenuti additional outs with a gutshot straight draw. The 4 on the river completes Benvenuti's straight and he doubles up.
Michael Benvenuti - 450,000 (6 big blinds)
Jason Koon - 3,500,0000 (58 big blinds)
