WPT California Swing Champion: Rainer Kempe!

Mar 14, 2017


Photo: Season XV WPT California Swing champion Rainer Kempe finished 18th at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and sixth at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star.

The WPT California Swing is a contest open to players who enter all three events on this leg of the World Poker Tour — the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, and WPT Rolling Thunder. Players earn points on a special leaderboard, and whoever earns the most points at the end of this swing wins a valuable prize package of hotel accommodations and other perks during next season’s WPT California Swing. (Check out the official rules for more details.)

Even though he busted on Day 2, Rainer Kempe held a strong lead entering Day 3 based on his deep finishes at the WPT L.A. Poker Classic (18th) and the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star (sixth). But there were still six players who could catch him. Here’s how they needed to finish to pass Kempe:

Rainer Kempe  –  212 pts  (points leader)

Brian Altman  –  115 pts  (6th or higher)
Kevin MacPhee  –  113 pts  (6th or higher)
Dean Baranowski  –  100 pts  (5th or higher)
Charlie Carrel  –  85 pts  (4th or higher)
Derek Wolters  –  84 pts  (4th or higher)
Mohsin Charania  –  65 pts  (1st or 2nd)

But none of the contenders survived to the final six, with Dean Baranowski being the last contender standing, finishing 14th. Here’s how they finished:

14th:  Dean Baranowski
20th:  Charlie Carrel
22nd:  Mohsin Charania
23rd:  Brian Altman
26th:  Derek Wolters
41st:  Kevin MacPhee

Congratulations to Rainer Kempe, the new WPT California Swing champion!

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