By Ryan Lucchesi
When cards got into the air today at the final table of the World Poker Tour bestbet Open in Jacksonville, Florida no one had any idea that the final heads-up battle for first place would last longer than the rest of the table combined, but that is exactly the way things played out. Mike Linster came into the final table in second chip-position and he played well to advance to the final against David Bell. Bell started the day in third chip-position and he came out playing very aggressive to make a run at the tournament championship. He nearly made it too, but Linster persevered on a short stack heads-up to stage a comeback and win his first WPT title. Linster now holds $772,817 in career earnings and he will have a chance to increase that total even further at the WPT World Championship at Bellagio in a few weeks.
Here is a look at the chip counts when the final table began:
Seat 1: Pete Tinnesz – 1,035,000
Seat 2: Danny Schechter – 3,825,000
Seat 3: Mike Linster – 2,150,000
Seat 4: Pete Chwala – 1,180,000
Seat 5: David Bell – 1,980,000
Seat 6: David Diaz – 375,000
David Diaz had less than 10 big blinds when the final table began and he wasted no time getting those chips into the middle. Diaz shoved all in on the very first hand of play. No one called him that first time, but seven hands later Diaz was all in preflop for his tournament life against the initial chip leader Danny Schechter. Diaz held [Qs10d] but Schechter was in the lead with [KhKs]. The board was dealt [Ac8h7d3hQc] and Diaz was eliminated in sixth place ($46,673).
The order of eliminations followed the path of shortest stacks at the table when Pete Tinnesz was the next to fall in fifth place ($58,754). In that hand Bell raised to 110,000 on the button and Tinnesz reraised to 225,000 from the small blind. Bell called and the flop rolled out [8h6h5s]. Tinnesz checked, Bell fired out 450,000, and then Tinnesz check-raised all in for his final 835,000. Bell called with [8c6c] and Tinnesz held [AsQc]. The turn and river fell [4c2s] and that was it for Tinnesz.
It proved to be a tough stretch for Pete’s at the final table as Pete Chwala was up next on the chopping block. He managed to double up once, but the next time he moved all in he wasn’t so lucky. Chwala moved all in on a short stack of 510,000 from the big blind on Hand 53 after Schechter raised to 105,000. Linster reraised to 255,000 from the small blind ahead of him. Schechter folded but Linster called with [AcQh]. Chwala was behind with [KhJd], and after the board ran out [10c4h2d6d4c] Chwala was eliminated in fourth place ($79,619).
Schechter may have started the final table with the chip lead but when play reached three-handed action he was behind his more aggressive opponents Linster and Bell. Hand 68 began with Bell raising to 150,000 from the small blind. Schechter three-bet to 405,000 and then Bell moved all in for 4.6 million. Schechter made the all-in call with pocket kings only to learn he had run into a cooler. Bell held [AdAs] and the [Qd7d5sJd8c] board brought no rescue for Schechter, who was eliminated in third place ($115,311).
When heads-up play began Bell was out in front with 6,245,000, but Linster wasn’t too far behind with 4,300,000. The final match proved to be the longest one of the final table. Linster was close to elimination twice, but each time he doubled up to bring the chip counts back to even. Bell then got short but he doubled as well to push the heads-up final past 100 hands in length.
It all finally came to a close on Hand 180. Bell raised to 400,000 and Linster reraised to 1 million. Bell moved all in for 3,775,000 and Linster called with [AhQc]. Bell was behind with [8d6d] and after the board ran out [Js5h2c4d10d] he was eliminated in second place ($175,712). That made Linster the WPT bestbet Open champion and he was awarded $321,521 (which includes a $25,500 seat in the WPT World Championship next month). He will also get his name engraved on the WPT Champions Cup.
Final Table Results:
1: Mike Linster – $321,521
2: David Bell – $175,512
3: Danny Schechter – $115,311
4: Pete Chwala – $79,619
5: Pete Tinnesz – $58,754
6: David Diaz – $46,673
The WPT heads to the Great White North later this week for the WPT PartyPoker Canadian Spring Championship in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The tournament starts on Friday, May 3 and the final table will crown a champion on Thursday, May 9. The WPT Live Updates team will be there to bring you all of the action and you will also be able to watch the final table on Live Stream.
@WPT