The World Poker Tour Finals came to a close on Friday, after a final table that was short, sweet, and to the point. This year's WPT Finals was a record-breaking event on many levels. In addition to record-breaking participation and prize pools, this year's tournament also crowned its youngest champion in history. Nick Schulman, 21 years old and primarily an online player, is now the proud owner of $2,142,000 and the title of World Poker Tour Champion.

In comparison to other major tournaments, the final table at the WPT Finals was considerably short. Whereas the WSOP Tournament of Champions, which took place a couple of weeks back, boasted an 11-hour final table, the WPT finalists spent just a bit more than three and a half hours fighting for the championship. Of the 89 hands that were played at the final table, only 18 of them even saw the flop.

The runner-up of the evening, Tony Licastro, played a ballsy game, going all-in pre-flop a total of 16 times. Licastro earned a neat little $1,035,000 for his second place finish. Both Schulman and Licastro started the final table in the exact places in which they finished, but the other final table players, namely Lenny Cortellino, Bill Gazes, Allen Cunningham, and Lyle Berman, were shuffled around a bit. In the end, Bill Gazes finished third at $759,000, Allen Cunningham fourth at $483,000, Lyle Berman fifth at $345,000, and Lenny Cortellino in sixth place at $276,000.

Source: Poker777 Staff

Sunday, 20 November 2005