Chanracy Khun Wins 2013 World Poker Tour Barcelona for $258,488

April 10, 2013

Chad Holloway PR & Media Manager

The Season XI World Poker Tour Barcelona, which attracted 249 players to the Gran Casino in Barcelona, Spain, concluded on Wednesday as the final six players returned to battle for the $258,448 top prize. Chanracy Khun began the final table as chip leader, and after seven levels of play, he single-handedly eliminated all of his opponents to emerge victorious.

2013 WPT Barcelona Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1st	Chanracy Khun	$258,448
2nd	Benjamin Pollak	$162,822
3rd	Antonio Alfaia	$107,256
4th	Tahiri Hassani Najib	$80,119
5th	Bruno Garcia Cotelo	$59,443
6th	Sergio Fernandez	$47,813

Action recommenced in Level 22 with the blinds at 8,000/16,000/2,000, and things heated up right away. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, on the very first hand of play Tahiri Hassani Najib opened from under the gun and Antonio Alfaia called from the small blind. After the flop came down A♥9♥2♣, Alfaia shipped his stack and Najib insta-folded.

Despite the fast start, the first elimination wouldn’t come until Level 25 (15,000/30,000/5,000) when the man who finished as the chip leader on both Day 1b and Day 3 lost a race when Khun opened and then called when Sergio Fernandez moved all-in.

Khun: 6♣6♦
Fernandez: A♣9♥

According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Khun was a 55.78% favorite, but Fernandez had a 43.83% chance of surviving the hand. The 7♥3♠5♣ flop saw Fernandez’s chances drop to 21.11%, and the K♦ turn dropped it to 13.64%. The crowd was chanting for an ace, but Fernandez would come up empty as the 6♥ blanked on the river. With that, the 23-year-old Spaniard was eliminated in sixth place for $47,813.

On the very next hand, Khun opened and once again called a shove, this time by Bruno Garcia Cotelo. Khun tabled the A♠9♠ and was well out in front of Cotelo’s A♥6♦. The 10♦9♣8♥ flop extended Khun’s lead by pairing his nine, but it also gave Cotelo a gutshot straight draw. Unfortunately for him, the 9♦ appeared on the turn followed by the A♣ on the river. Considering he got into the tournament through a €190 satellite, Cotelo was no doubt pleased with his $59,443 payday.

Khun continued to roll and scored his next knockout in Level 27 (25,000/50,000/5,000) when his K♥10♥ was up against the A♥6♠ of Tahiri in an all-in confrontation. The 60-year-old Tahiri got it in good, but the Q♣J♣9♥ flop gave Khun the nuts. Neither the 3♠ turn nor 8♦ changed a thing, and Tahiri hit the rail in fourth place for $80,119.

Chanracy Khun Wins 2013 World Poker Tour Barcelona for 8,488 101 — The 2013 WPT Barcelona final table

In the next level (Level 28: 30,000/60,000/10,000), 40-year-old Alfaia moved all in for 890,000 from the small blind and Khun called. The former was ahead with the 9♥9♣ while the latter was looking to run him down with the A♦5♥. The Q♥10♥4♠ flop wasn’t particularly interesting, but the 10♣ turn opened up some counterfeiting options. Khun needed either an ace or queen on the river to eliminate his opponent, and he found the A♠. Alfaia’s elimination in third place for $107,256 left Khun (5.84 million in chips) to do battle heads up against Benjamin Pollak (1.63 million in chips).

From there, it didn’t take long for Khun to complete the clean sweep of the final table. On the final hand, Khun opened and then called when Pollak moved all in.

Pollak: K♦7♦
Khun: 8♣8♥

The A♦9♦9♠ flop made things interesting as Pollak picked up a flush draw plus counterfeit outs, meaning he’d win with a king, non-eight diamond or an ace. The J♠ turn wasn’t what he needed, so it was down to the river. The dealer burned one last time and put out the 7♣. Pollak, who had previously final tabled the WPT EFOP Diamond Championship in Paris and took fourth in the Season X WPT Prague, earned $162,822 for his runner-up finish.

Meanwhile, Chanracy Khun, a 22-year-old full-time student who actually bubbled a satellite for the $1 million Big One for One Drop this past summer, took home the $258,448 first-place prize, added his name to the WPT Champions Cup, and earned a seat into the season-ending $25,000 WPT World Championship.