World Poker Tour – Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic 2010

Antonio Esfandiari has won the World Poker Tour – Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2010 and $870,000 for his second largest payday ever.

He now has two WPT titles under his belt and has cemented his place as one of the top players on the tournament circuit.

To win the event, he had to battle his way through a massive field of 438 players who each spent $10,000 to take part at the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas.

The big win fell on his birthday making it a very special occasion for him.

He was stoked to win the title and exclaimed “I can’t tell you how good it feels to be back. It’s just amazing.”

In addition, the heads-up battle for the title was against his good buddy Andrew “Good2CU” Robl.  The two good friends enjoyed some shots of liquor to celebrate before proceeding to battle it out for the title.

The Final Table

Antonio enjoyed the chip lead for most of the tournament but relinquished it prior to the televised final table that featured the remaining six players facing off for the title.

When the final table got underway, he had dropped to 5th place in chips but was determined to win this event and battled back.  It would not be an easy task however as the table was stacked with an impressive line-up of poker talent.  Fans of the game would watch as he faced off against one of the toughest final tables in WPT history.

World Series of Poker Main Event 2010 runner-up and WSOP Circuit winner John Racener was in form with the 2nd largest chip count at the final table.

High stakes cash game player Andrew Robl was slightly behind Racener in chips and is a very dangerous player.

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso held a dominating chip lead at the start of the final table action and was a top contender for the title.  She has proven herself on many occasions.  She won the EPT European High Roller Championship in Monte Carlo in 2009 and finished as the runner-up at the NBC National Heads-Up Championship that same year.

The first player to fall as the action got underway was the short-stacked Ted Lawson who got all-in with 99 only to face Rousso’s QQ.  It looked like Lawson would double-up when a 9 came on the flop to give him three-of-a-kind.  It was not to be his day as the turn brought a Q to help Rousso end Lawson’s tournament run.

The next elimination hand would see Kirk Morrison fall.  Racener raised to 225,000 and got calls from Morrison on the button and Robl in the small blind.  The flop fell AhTh5c and was checked to Morrison who bet 225,000. Robl check-raised to 550,000 and Morrison called.  The turn was a 9s and Robl moved all-in.  Morrison was not happy but was forced to make the call anyway with his AsJh.  Robl held 55 and sent Morrison to the rail.

Now it was Antonio’s turn to join in on the action by eliminating the remaining three players.

With the action down to the final four, he would take down John Racener in 4th place.  Racener moved all-in from under-the-gun for 1,000,000 in chips and Esfandiari called him from the small blind and was in a dominating position holding KcQh to Racener’s Qc8c.

Vanessa Rousso was next on the Magician’s hit list after a long three-handed battle that left her short on chips.  She would be forced to move all-in with Qh2h and would be in very bad shape against Antonio’s AcQs .

Heads-up Action – Antonio Esfandiari vs. Andrew Robl

Andrew Robl would have a slight chip lead at the beginning of heads-up play holding 9.5 million chips to Antonio’s 8 million.

Antonio would turn the tables and eventually have a 2-to-1 chip lead when the final hand of the tournament developed.

He raised to 800,000 to have Robl push all of his chips into the middle.  He made the call and tabled KcJd to Robl’s QdTc.  The flop fell AdKd6d to give him top pair while giving Robl a lot of outs with a flush draw combined with a gutshot straight draw.

The turn was a 6c and the river brought a 5s to give Antonio Esfandiari his second World Poker Tour title!

He received $870,000 in cash as well as a $25,000 entry into the WPT Championship event.

His buddy Andrew Robl would receive a nice $550,000 payday for second place.

The final table payouts are:

1st	Antonio Esfandiari	$870,000
2nd	Andrew Robl	$550,000
3rd	Vanessa Rousso	$359,000
4th	John Racener	$232,000
5th	Kirk Morrison	$169,000
6th	Ted Lawson	$127,000

This win was pure magic for Antonio Esfandiari as he celebrated his 32nd birthday with his good buddy Andrew Robl.