WPT Legends of Poker Belongs to Josh Hale

By Diana Cox

On Day 1 of the WPT Legends of Poker professional head hunter Josh Hale was just one of 622 players taking a shot at the top prize of $500,000 and a WPT Title. When the final card was dealt, Hale was all that remained.

After five days of play it came down to Hale, who began the final table with a massive chip lead of 7,325,000, and 2012 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold’em bracelet winner Max Steinberg, who came in as the shortest stack in play.

Hale may have had the chip advantage, at one point holding nearly 60 percent of the chips in play while five handed, but he had to last through a final table that not only included Steinberg, but Jeff Madsen, tGreg Mueller and Ali Eslami.

When heads-up play began, Steinberg, having eliminated Madsen, Mueller, Eslami and Raouf Malek, had a massive chip lead with 14,150,000 compared to Hale’s 4,550,000. But Hale quickly doubled through on a rivered flush and the tournament came down to Steinberg’s decision to move all-in for his last 3,250,000 with [AcKs]. Hale called with [JsJh] and the board ran out [9h8d8s5sJc] to eliminate Steinberg as the runner up and secure Hale’s first major live tournament.

After the final card was dealt, Mike Sexton took to the stage and asked Hale if he thought back on Day 1 he had a chance to win it all.

"Of course Mike," Hale said.

The first to go was Madsen, who was seated at his first WPT Final Table after coming close on three other occasions. After starting the day with only 1,035,000, Madsen moved all-in from the big blind with [Ad3d] and found a caller in Steinberg from the small blind with [AhAs]. Madsen’s hand never improved and he became the sixth place finisher.

Mueller, who had made his second WPT Final Table, soon followed when his pocket sevens failed to hold up against Steinberg’s [AcKs] after a King on the flop.

Out in fourth was Eslami, who was crippled early on by Malek but managed to make a substantial comeback by tripling up then doubling up more than once. But Eslami’s comeback was cut short when he lost a race with pocket twos versus Steinberg’s [KdJd] on a [kcQc4dAc5s] board.

Malek, after having cracked two pairs of pocket tens held by Eslami and Hale in the same hand with [Ah10d], saw his tournament come to an end in nearly as dramatic fashion. Malek met his demise when he flipped over [Js6s] for a King-high straight on a [10s9d2dKhQc] board only to be met with Steinberg’s [AsJh] for an Ace-high straight.

WPT Legends of Poker Final Table Results:

1.  Josh Hale  –  $500,000
2.  Max Steinberg  –  $293,490
3.  Raouf Malek  –  $192,400
4.  Ali Eslami  –  $133,700
5.  Greg Mueller  –  $97,100
6.  Jeff Madsen  –  $75,400