Kevin Eyster Wins Second WPT Title at Five Diamond World Poker Classic

By Ryan Lucchesi (@Luccrazy)

The World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic attracted a field of 639 players, making it the second largest turnout in the 14-year history of the tournament. That meant there was a lot of prize money up for grabs tonight on the Las Vegas Strip, including $1,587,382 to the winner. After nine hours of play, the lion’s share of the prize pool, and the WPT title went to Kevin Eyster.

This was the second WPT title for Eyster, who took home his first with a victory at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown back in Season XI. He now holds $2,325,142 in career WPT earnings. Eyster also took the lead in the Hublot WPT Player of the Year race with 1,525 points. This final table had big POY implications. Cate Hall is in second place in the POY race now with 1,500 points, and Jake Schwartz moved into a tie with Stan Jablonski for third place with 1,450 points. Here is a look at the chip counts when the final six players took their seats at 4 p.m. PT at the start of play.

Seat 1.  Eddie Ochana  –  1,840,000  (31 bb)
Seat 2.  Bill Jennings  –  980,000  (16 bb)
Seat 3.  Ben Yu  –  1,965,000  (33 bb)
Seat 4.  Cate Hall  –  1,290,000  (22 bb)
Seat 5.  Kevin Eyster  –  5,890,000  (98 bb)
Seat 6.  Jake Schwartz  –  7,215,000  (120 bb)

The eliminations started a lot quicker than normal when just 14 hands in Eddie Ochana moved all in under the gun for 490,000 with K-J, but Jake Schwartz called to cover him from the big blind holding A-J. The board bricked out and Ochana was eliminated in sixth place, good for $226,238 in prize money.

The next all-in confrontation saw Bill Jennings double up at the expense of Ben Yu. The biggest hand of the tournament up to that point then took place. The two big stacks rumbled when Kevin Esyter got all in preflop with pocket aces against the pocket queens of Schwartz. The board bricked out and Eyster took the chip lead after winning the massive pot.

Cate Hall was the next player to double up, and she did so thru Yu. She lost a big hand to the chip leader Eyster a short time later, and she moved all in again on the 39th hand of play. Her pocket fives were up against the A-7 of Yu, and the board delivered two more sevens to give Yu the pot. Hall was eliminated in fifth place, good for $291,320 as the last woman standing in the tournament.

Schwartz then tripled up, and Jennings doubled up twice to keep the action four-handed. It was on Hand 75 that Schwartz was all in preflop with A-10, and he had the A-4 of Yu dominated until the board ran out K-7-4-6-Q. Schwartz was eliminated in fourth place at the hands of a bad beat, and he took home $412,187 in prize money.

Three-handed play then pushed well past 100 hands as Eyster (hit a flush on the river) and Yu (hit a straight on the river) each scored a double up before the next elimination. On Hand 149 we finally lost another player. Yu was all in with K-Q and Eyster had him covered holding pocket sixes. There were no rivered draws on this hand however, and Yu was eliminated in third place, good for $607,433.

The chip counts at the start of the heads-up final were close to even. Eyster held a slight lead with 9,875,000 over the 9,300,000 of Jennings. The final two players traded chips back and forth for just over 30 hands before their first and only all-in confrontation.

Hand 187 began with Eyster raising to 800,000 and Jennings calling. The flop came , Jennings checked, Eyster bet 600,000, and Jennings called. The turn card was the , Jennings checked, Eyster bet 975,000, and Jennings moved all in for 5,300,000. Eyster snap-called with (two pair, aces and fours), and Jennings turned over for a lower two pair, nines and fours. Jennings needed to improve to stay alive. The river card was the , and Eyster won the pot with two pair, aces and fours. Jennings finished as the runner-up, earning $929,745.

Eyster is champion of the 2015 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, earning $1,587,382, a WPT Champions Trophy, a pair of gold Monster 24K Headphones, a Hublot Oceanographic 4000 watch, and an Aurae Solid Gold MasterCard with $10,000 loaded onto it with Executive Lifestyle concierge benefits for one year. This is the second WPT title for Eyster, who joins an elite group of two-time champions.

Congratulations to Kevin Eyster!

1st:  Kevin Eyster – $1,587,382*
2nd:  Bill Jennings – $929,745
3rd:  Ben Yu – $607,433
4th:  Jake Schwartz – $412,187
5th:  Cate Hall – $291,320
6th:  Eddie Ochana – $226,238

* First prize amount includes a $15,400 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

That concludes our coverage from the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Thanks to Bellagio for hosting another great event. This is the last WPT event of 2015, but you can follow the live coverage from the WPT Alpha8 final table at Bellagio tomorrow starting at 2 p.m. PT. The 2016 leg of Season XIV kicks off with a stop in Atlantic City, New Jersey for the Borgata Winter Poker Open from January 31 – February 5, 2016.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com.