Keven Stammen Wins the #WPTChampionship ($1,350,000)

There are few soft spots in a field as talented as the 328 that entered the World Poker Tour World Championship sponsored by partypoker at the Borgata Hotel and Casino, and so it is fitting that there were no soft spots at the final table of six. The table included Keven Stammen, Byron Kaverman, Tony Dunst, Ryan D’Angelo, Curt Kohlberg, and Abe Korotki, and in the end a large starting stack proved to be the difference in a relatively even collection of top poker talent.

The chip leader Stammen led nearly wire-to-wire to win the tournament in impressive fashion. Stammen grabbed his first WPT title and scored his sixth cash of Season XII as well. According to Hendon Mob poker database, Stammen now holds lofty career earnings of $3,554,381. Congratulations to our newest Champions Club member. Here is a look at the seatng chart and chip counts when cards got into the air this afternoon at Borgata.

Seat 1.  Abe Korotki  –  2,560,000  (51 bb)
Seat 2.  Byron Kaverman  –  4,070,000  (81 bb)
Seat 3.  Keven Stammen  –  5,650,000  (113 bb)
Seat 4.  Tony Dunst  –  1,330,000  (26 bb)
Seat 5.  Ryan D’Angelo  –  1,220,000  (24 bb)
Seat 6.  Curt Kohlberg  –  1,580,000  (31 bb)

The all-in hands at the final table were kicked off by Ryan D’Angelo on the ninth hand of play. His pocket kings topped the [AsQs] of Abe Korotki on a dramatic board dealt [Ah10h3h7dKc]. That hand left Korotki quite low on chips and he got the last of his stack into the middle on Hand 34. D’Angelo raised to 130,000 preflop on the button and Abe Korotki reraised all in for 690,000 on the big blind. D’Angelo called with [AsJs] and Korotki revealed [Ac7s]. The board was dealt [10c8c4s3hJh] and Korotki was eliminated in sixth place, good for $235,341.

A long parade of double ups then took over the final table and no player was lost for quite some time. Curt Kohlberg doubled thru Keven Stammen, then Tony Dunst doubled thru Byron Kaverman. D’Angelo doubled thru Dunst next, and then Kohlberg doubled up again, this time thru Dunst. D’Angelo doubled thru Kaverman and on the 100th hand of play Kaverman doubled thru Kohlberg.

That hand left Kohlberg crippled and he was all in on Hand 102. Kohlberg moved all in for 150,000 preflop on the cutoff and Kaverman called on the button. Kohlberg showed [KdJd] but he was behind the [6d6h] of Kaverman. The board was dealt [QdJc2h8c6s] and Kaverman rivered a six to knock Kohlberg out in fifth place ($286,292).

Dunst then doubled thru D’Angelo five hands later and that left D’Angelo crippled. D’Angelo was all in on the very next hand (the 108th at the final table). D’Angelo moved all in preflop for 870,000 on the small blind and Kaverman called on the big blind after some thought. D’Angelo revealed [9s5c] and Kaverman held [Qs2c]. The board fell [As7h6c10hKc] and D’Angelo was eliminated in fourth place ($363,930).

The action continued to move quickly as four hands later there was another elimination. Dunst moved all in for 1.47 million and Stammen called after getting the exact count. Dunst held [Ac2h] and he was ahead of the [Kh6h] revealed by Stammen, but the board was dealt [Kc5h3dKd7c]. That was all she wrote for Dunst, who was eliminated in third place and took home $452,729.

At the start of heads-up play Stammen held the chip lead with 10,905,000 and Kaverman was behind with 5,505,000. Kaverman was able to even things back up pretty quick at the start of the final match, but then Stammen pulled ahead once more. Stammen won a pot worth three million to really start to pull away and 38 hands into the final match everything came to an end.

Stammen limped for 200,000 preflop and Kaverman raised all in for 3,155,000. Stammen quickly called and they flipped over their cards. Kaverman was ahead with [4d4s] and Stammen’s [Ac8s] would need some help if he was going to win the tournament then and there. The board ran out [Qh9c6s3hAh] and the ace on the river made Stammen the champion. Kaverman was eliminated in second place ($727,860) and he also scored his sixth cash of the season tonight. In addition to $1.35 million, Stammen also took home a pair of gold Monster 24K Headphones, a Hublot King Power Unico Watch, and a WPT Champions Trophy. Stammen will also have his name engraved on the one-and-only WPT Champions Cup along with all the previous champions from the past 12 seasons.

Final Table Results:

1: Keven Stammen – $1,350,000
2: Byron Kaverman – $727,860
3: Tony Dunst – $452,729
4: Ryan D’Angelo – $363,930
5: Curt Kohlberg – $286,292
6: Abe Korotki – $235,341

That concludes our coverage from the WPT World Championship in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Thanks to the Borgata for hosting a fantastic championship for the very first time, and thanks to Joe Giron for tonight’s amazing photography from the final table set. You can see more of his work here: www.joegironphotography.com. This also brings WPT Season XII to a close, we will see you in a few months for the start of Season XIII on the World Poker Tour.

We’ll leave you with Keven Stammen’s winner’s interview, just moments after he won the title: