James Dempsey wins WPT Five Diamond

James Dempsey wins WPT Five Diamond

Monday, 12 December 2011

James Dempsey has become the latest WPT champion after beating a tough final table at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, defeating former November Niner Soi Nguyen heads-up to take home almost $800k.

The big story was defending champion Antonio Esfandiari, though his stay at the final table was a short one after Dempsey’s A-4 bested his A-T to send the reigning champ home in sixth place. Andrew Lichtenberger ran a pre-flop bluff with eights and Soi Nguyen made a good call with nines to bust the LeggoPoker coach.


Vanessa Selbst couldn’t find any momentum at this final table and wound up getting it in with K-9 and running smack into Dempsey’s A-9 to bust in third. The final hand, after a long heads-up battle, saw Dempsey and Nguyen get it in with K-Q and K-J respectively. The board ran out J-9-x-x-T to give Dempsey an eleventh hour straight and the title.


The full payouts were as follows:


1. James Dempsey - $796,112
2. Soi Nguyen - $517,478
3. Vanessa Selbst - $338,351
4. Andrew Lichtenberger - $218,933
5. Vitor Coelho - $159,224
6. Antonio Esfandiari - $119,418


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Tags: James Dempsey, Antonio Esfandiari, Soi Nguyen, Vanessa Selbst, Andrew Lichtenberger, Vitor Coelho, World Poker Tour, WPT Five Diamond