Another fantastic WPTDeepStacks Johannesburg event has come to an end and after three days of intense Main Event action, it was Maria Ho who went the distance to take the title and the R1,000,000 first-place prize.
Season 5 WPTDeepStacks Johannesburg Final Table Results
1st: Maria Ho – $68,885
2nd: Riyad Khan – $49,046
3rd: Justin Uys – $31,549
4th: Joe Abreu – $19,976
5th: Robert Fenner – $15,361
6th: George Levine – $12,743
7th: Shadley Abrahams – $10,677
8th: Steve Radloff – $8,748
9th: Jarred Solomon – $7,012
It was a remarkable run for Ho who never really fell away from the top stacks from the start and came back into the final day as the chip leader with 29 players still in the hunt of victory from the 387 entrants.
When the Day 3 action got underway at 11:30 am at the Emperors Palace Casino the players were cautious and steady, but one man that was more than willing to put his chips in the middle was Justin Uys. In the first 60-minutes of play, Uys scored three eliminations to move up the chip ranks which ultimately helped with his run to the final table.
Among the early exits was David Rosenthal, who survived when all in on the money-bubble during Day 2, and ultimately found a ladder and a cash in 27th place.
Gregory Pen Lai was the last player to depart before the final two tables were redrawn and there was then a flurry of exits before the unofficial final ten was set.
Bruno Pereira then departed at the hands of Joe Abreu in 10th place, and the official final nine were confirmed.
Jarred Solomon, who is second on the South African all-time money list, exited in 9th place after Maria Ho flopped the nut flush against his pocket nines having got all his chips into the middle preflop.
Steven Radloff (8th-$8,748), Shadley Abrahams (7th-$10,677) and three-time WPT event winner George Levine (6th-$12,743) then all followed in Solomon’s footsteps to the payout desk.
Robert Fenner was unable to find much momentum on the final table and found himself the short stack and was unable to complete a turn around as he departed in 5th place for $15,361.
Joe Abreu then departed in 4th place for $19,976 after his top pair with ace-deuce was no good against Justin Uys’ ace-seven, and the final three went to battle.
The chips seemed to change hands quite regularly with each of the three holding the chip lead at one stage. Uys and Ho then doubled through each other within a matter of minutes before Ho won their third and final battle after she woke up with pocket queens in the big blind following Uys’ small blind shove and held against his king-six.
When heads-up play began, Ho and Riyad Khan had just one million between them and not much changed throughout nearly 90 minutes of action.
The big turning point came when Khan put maximum pressure on Ho, only to see her make a brave call against his ace-high.
The board was down three-five-three-six, and Khan had followed up his 700,000 flop bet with a 3.1m bet on the turn. Ho only had 3.5m behind her, and she moved all in after two minutes of thought. Khan was priced in to call, and when he did, he saw Ho held eight-five for two pair and his ace-seven found no help on the river.
Khan was left with only 1.4m compared to Ho’s 10.3m, and just a couple of hands later he called her shove with jack-eight and lost against Ho’s king-five to fall in 2nd place for $49,046.
Ho was crowned the WPTDeepStacks Johannesburg champion and banks the R1,000,000 ($68,885) first-place prize.
For now, that is all from the Emperors Palace Casino in Johannesburg! If you want the chance to follow in Maria Ho’s footsteps, and take home a WPT title of your own, then take a look at our upcoming tournaments in the events page.
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