Ray Dehkarghani Wins 2013 CardPlayer Poker Tour Wynn Classic Main Event
The 2013 CardPlayer Poker Tour Wynn Classic Main Event began on Sunday, March 17, in Las Vegas. The inaugural $5,180 buy-in event boasted unlimited re-entries during the first four levels of play on both Days 1a and 1b, and a total of 207 entrants generated a prize pool of $1,003,950.
When the tournament ended on Thursday, Ray Dehkharghani had won and walked away with the $235,931 top prize. Dehkharghani earned the largest score of his career, netted his second career six-figure cash and pushed his live tournament earnings to over $1 million.
Wynn Classic Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ray Dehkharghani | $235,931 |
| 2 | Sam Stein | $170,672 |
| 3 | Thomas Marchese | $115,454 |
| 4 | Gheorgui Martov | $82,324 |
| 5 | Ben Palmer | $58,229 |
| 6 | Kevin Calenzo | $43,672 |
| 7 | Ray Qartomy | $32,628 |
| 8 | Soon Hwang | $27,609 |
| 9 | Oliver Busquet | $24,597 |
| 10 | Hyoung Chae | $20,079 |
Players began the tournament with 30,000 in chips, and levels were scheduled for 60 minutes. Day 1a brought about a turnout of 86 players; Day 1b saw an influx with 120 players. Rodrigo Mars Callahan (198,700) and James McCarrel (203,200) were the chip leaders from Day 1a and Day 1b, respectively. Other notables advancing to Day 2 included Sam Stein (173,200), David “Doc” Sands (24,900), Erick Lindgren (104,500), Scotty Nguyen (44,600) and Nick Schulman (45,000).
Day 2 began on Tuesday with 78 players combined from the two Day 1s, and only 23 would secure a minimum payday of $12,047. The day ended with the elimination of Lindgren on the money bubble. Lindgren's set of kings was unable to defeat Tom Marchese’s straight, and he walked away as the final empty-handed player.
Day 3 commenced on Wednesday with 23 players still vying for the top prize. Ray Qartomy began Day 3 as the chip leader with 755,000 in chips. Trailing close behind was Marchese with 693,000 in chips. Play was scheduled to continue until the final table of 10 was determined.
Early in the day, short-stacked Hein Nguyen doubled through Qartomy when the board provided him with a full house, kings full of eights. However, the luck did not continue and Nguyen was soon eliminated in 20th place by Hyoung “Tom” Chae. Chae later went on to win the biggest pot of the tournament when his A♦A♠ defeated Quartomy’s A♣K♣. At that point, Chae’s stack had reached over 1.1 million.
As play continued toward the final table, Loren Klein was eliminated in 16th place and cashed for $14,055. Christina Lindley, one of only two female poker players who entered the event (the other was Jennifer Harman), was eliminated in 15th place when her pocket jacks ran into Ben Palmer’s pocket kings. Play finished for the day when Sorel Mizzi busted out in 11th place, cashing for $18,071.
Here's how the final table stacked up on Thursday:
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ray Dehkarghani | 1,374,000 |
| 2 | Ray Qartomy | 263,000 |
| 3 | Gheorgui Martov | 494,000 |
| 4 | Olivier Busquet | 488,000 |
| 5 | Kevin Calenzo | 166,000 |
| 6 | Soon Hwang | 760,000 |
| 7 | Sam Stein | 621,000 |
| 8 | Tom Marchese | 838,000 |
| 9 | Ben Palmer | 574,000 |
| 10 | Hyung "Tom" Chae | 625,000 |
Play on Day 4 began with the double elimination of Olivier Busquet and Chae, both by Stein. While Busquet held the K♠K♥ and Chae showed 10♦9♥, the board only provided help for Stein (QxQx) who flopped a full house, queens full of nines. Hwang was also eliminated early in the day by Marchese. He was awarded $27,609 for his eighth-place finish.
Qartomy experienced many ups and downs throughout the day but fell short when his ace-jack ran into Marchese’s ace-queen. Qartomy was eliminated in seventh place and walked away with $32,628.
Calenzo was later knocked out in sixth place, cashing for $43,672. The elimination of Palmer occurred shortly after. Two hours later, Gheorgui Martov’s Q♣10♠ fell short against Dehkharghani’s A♠4♠ when the board showed A♦10♣4♣8♥7♦. Martov’s fourth-place finish paid $82,324.
The battle between the three remaining players continued until Marchese endured a massive chip loss against Dehkharghani and then was eliminated when his 7♣7♦ could not hold up against Dehkharghani’s 10♣10♦. He walked away with $115,454.
The winner of the CPPT Wynn Classic Main Event was Dehkharghani, who began the day fifth in chips. He had a 2-1 chip advantage over Stein when heads-up play began. In the last hand of the tournament, Stein went all in with the A♦10♥, but could not defeat Dehkharghani’s K♠K♣. Stein was eliminated in second place and cashed for $170,672. Dehkharghani was awarded the $235,931 top prize and the title of CPPT Wynn Classic Main Event champion. This was Dehkharghani’s largest no-limit hold’Em win to date.
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