Anthony Ruberto Captures 2011 World Poker Tour Jacksonville Title

The fourth and final day of the World Poker Tour Jacksonville Main Event concluded on Tuesday as the final table of six played down to a winner. After some volatile action, which lasted 149 hands, Anthony Ruberto emerged victorious over a total field of 393 players to become the latest WPT Champion and capture the $325,928 first-place prize.

Here’s a look at how things looked at the start of the action:

Final Table Seat Draw

Action started off fairly slowly at the final table, with preflop raises usually enough to take down the blinds and antes. Then, according to the World Poker Tour Live Update Team, on hand No. 34, Vitor Coelho raised to 90,000 under the gun and received a call from Ruberto in the small blind. Both players proceeded to check the flop, leading to the turn. Ruberto took the opportunity to bet 155,000, Coelho called, and the appeared on the river. Ruberto wasted little time in moving all-in and Coelho snap-called for his last 455,000, with . Ruberto mucked and Coelho doubled.

The first elimination of the day occurred on hand No. 52. According to the WPT Live Reporting Team, Lisa Hamilton raised to 90,000 from the cutoff only to have Darryll Fish move all-in from the button for 575,000. Hamilton made the call and discovered she was in a dominating position.

Showdown
Fish:
Hamilton:

Fish was in desperate need of a three but could not find salvation as the board ran out an uneventful . Fish became the sixth-place finisher and took home $46,315 for his performance.

The next elimination came a short time later when Artie Rodriguez moved his short stack all-in preflop after action folded to him in the small blind. Hamilton made the call from the big and was ahead once again.

Showdown
Rodriguez:
Hamilton:

The flop was no help to either player, but the on the turn paired Hamilton and left Rodriguez in need of either a nine or seven on the river. Unfortunately, the was not what he was looking for, and he was eliminated in fifth place for $55,077.

The remaining four players battled for quite some time, each laying claim to some notable pots. On hand No. 119, Coelho found himself as one of the two short stacks and moved all-in under the gun for 1.85 million. Ruberto woke up with the granddaddy of all hands and made the call from the small blind.

Showdown
Ruberto:
Coelho:

The board ran out and Coelho was sent home in fourth place with $75,105 to help ease his pain.

Three-Handed Chip Counts

Ten hands later, Ruberto raised to 200,000 from the button and received a call from Hamilton in the big blind. When the flop fell , Hamilton checked, Ruberto continuation-bet 400,000, Hamilton check-raised to 800,000, and Ruberto moved all-in. Hamilton thought for a few moments and then called off her stack.

Showdown
Hamilton:
Ruberto:

It was a bad spot for Hamilton, although she did pick up a straight draw on the turn. Unfortunately for her, the was no help and she met her demise in third place for $112,657.

Hamilton’s elimination brought about heads-up play, which saw Ruberto enter with a commanding chip lead of 9,745,000 to Sam Soverel’s 2.1 million. Ruberto took down the first six hands of heads-up play before Soverel doubled on the seventh to over 3 million. It looked like Soverel might actually make a comeback, but that hope was quickly laid to rest.

On hand No. 149, Ruberto raised to 200,000 and Soverel moved all-in for 2,165,000. Ruberto asked for a count before making the call.

Showdown
Soverel:
Ruberto:

The flop gave Soverel an open-ended straight draw to a chop, but neither the turn nor river were what he needed. Soverel finished in second place, good for $187,762; Ruberto captured the $325,928 first-place prize, not to mention a $25,000 seat into the WPT World Championship.

Final Table Payouts

_{*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.}

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