Daniel Park Leads WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Final Table; $1.69 Million for the Winner

By Tim Duckworth

Day 5 of the Season XVIII WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic has concluded at the Bellagio Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, with the final table of six players set. Leading the way is Daniel Park (pictured) with 11,100,000 in chips, while Jonathan Jaffe and Seth Davies are looking to collect their second WPT title.

Also taking a seat at the final table is Alex Foxen who finished second in this event in Season XVI, while Toby Joyce is at his first WPT final table and Peter Neff is making his second WPT final table since back in Season XIII. Each of the final six players are guaranteed $355,125 in prize money, but all eyes are set on the $1,694,995 first-place prize that includes the $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions, as well as an inscription of their name on the WPT Champions Cup.

The button is on Alex Foxen and there is 60:00 remaining in Level 29 (50,000-100,000 and a 100,000-big blind ante).

From Bayside, New York, Daniel Park enters the final table with 11,100,000 in chips courtesy of a late double with a set of queens against two pair. Park has amassed over $560,000 in lifetime tournament earnings with his most notable result coming earlier this year with a WSOP Bracelet win in the $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty for $226,243. On the WPT, this is Park’s first ever cash, and if his momentum can continue, he will join the elusive list of players that have won a WPT title off their first cash.

Second overall is Alex Foxen who sits with 9,750,000 in chips. Foxen finished in second-place in the Season XVI installment of this event which could be seen as a catapult to his recent poker success. Foxen was crowned the 2018 GPI Player of the Year and won over $11.2 million since that final table. If Foxen can finish in at least second place, he will move into the GPI Player of the Year for 2019.

Third overall is WPT Champions Club member Jonathan Jaffe who finished with 9,075,000 in chips. Jaffe won the Season XIII partypoker.net WPT Montreal for $409,656, and with this result, he is registering his 11th cash and fourth final table.

Heading into the final table fourth in chips is WPT Champions Club member Seth Davies with 4,825,000 in chips. In Season XV, Davies won the partypoker WPT Canadian Spring Championship for $226,893 to claim his first WPT title. Davies has been a regular on the high roller scene both here in Las Vegas, and around the world, and has seen his lifetime tournament earnings soar to over $6.7 million. On the WPT, Davies has collected eight cashes on the Main Tour for nearly $390,000 in winnings.

Fifth overall is Toby Joyce with 4,575,000 in chips who is fresh off a 12th place finish at the WPT Seminole Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open and will be looking to make a run up the Hublot WPT Player of the Year leaderboard. Rounding out the final table is Peter Neff with 2,075,000 in chips. In Season XIII, Neff finished in fifth-place in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, and this will be his eighth WPT Main Tour cash and second final table.

Day 5 saw just 22 players return to play, and it would be WPT Champions Club members Chino Rheem (22nd), Darren Elias (14th), and Eric Afriat (9th) finding themselves short of the final table, while Kevin Albers’ run would end in 13th place seeing him climb to fifth place overall on the Hublot WPT Player of the Year leaderboard. The final six players are guaranteed 800 points while first place is worth 1,400 points. Jaffe and Joyce have both earned 200 points so far in Season XVIII, while Neff sits with 150 points. The current leader in the standings is WPT Borgata Poker Open champion Donald Maloney with 1,350 points ahead of WPT Legends of Poker champion Aaron Van Blarcum (1,275 points) and WPT Montreal champion Geoffrey Hum (1,250 points)

For a complete list of the payouts, click the “Payouts” tab here.

The final six players will return on Saturday, December 21, to play for the $1,694,995 first-place prize as the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic final table action gets underway at 2 p.m. (PT) from the PokerGO Studio with a live stream on at least a 30-minute delay on PokerGO beginning at 3 p.m. (PT). As always, keep your browsers locked right here to WPT.com for continued coverage of the World Poker Tour, and to see who will be crowned the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic champion for Season XVIII.

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive

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