Ben Cade Wins the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic (R1,382,000 / $100,000)

Hand #71  –  On the first hand of heads-up play Ben Cade (pictured) raises to 70,000 and Mark Lifman quickly three-bets to 180,000. The action is now back on Cade and he puts in 375,000.

“You know what,” Lifman says with a big smile, “I’m not here to mess around.”

“All in,” Lifman then announces, and Cade snap-calls.

Both players laugh in disbelief of the hands they got dealt, as the showdown goes as follows.

Lifman:  
Cade:  

The board runs out and a loud round of applause erupts from the tournament room as Cade wins the pot — and the WPT title — with two pair, kings and nines.

Mark Lifman finishes as the runner-up, earning R797,200.

Ben Cade wins the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic, earning R1,382,000 (equivalent to US$100,000), a WPT trophy, and an Emperors Palace trophy. As part of his prize money, Cade also receives a $15,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship.

Congratulations, Ben Cade!

1st:  Ben Cade  –  R1,382,000*  ($100,000*)
2nd: Mark Lifman  –  R797,200  ($57,684.52)
3rd: Aaron Overton  –  R517,100  ($37,416.79)
4th: Nipun Java  –  R355,510  ($25,724.31)
5th: Diana Sventz  –  R273,640  ($19,800.29)
6th: Dean Doucha  –  R213,310  ($15,434.88)

* First prize amount includes a $15,400 seat into the season-ending WPT World Championship.

Note: The prize amounts listed here in the updates have been in South African Rand (which is what players receive), while the amounts on the “Payouts” page are listed in US Dollars, for consistency across all WPT events around the world. The conversion was done at the casino’s current exchange rate of 13.82 Rand per USD.

Photo: The six finalists posed for a group photograph before the final table began. From left to right: Dean Doucha, Ben Cade, Diana Sventz, Mark Lifman, Nipun Java, and Aaron Overton.