The World Poker Tour Jacksonville BestBet Open concluded Wednesday after Shawn Cunix defeated the likes of Will Failla and Tony Dunst and took home the $400,600 first prize and a $25,500 WPT Championship seat.
Cunix began the day as chip leader and never let up on the gas as he quickly dispatched Failla, the WPT Player of the Year points leader, on Hand #40. According to the WPT Live Updates Team, with the blinds at 20,000/40,000 and a 5,000 ante, Cunix raised to 100,000 from middle position, and Failla thought about it for a minute before calling from the big blind. The flop came down
The
Dunst, whom you may recall from the WPT’s Raw Deal segment, was the next to go later in that same level. On Hand #48, Dunst moved all in from the button for 515,000 and Darren Elias called him from the big blind. Dunst showed the
The board ran out
Daniel Buzgon fell shortly thereafter on Hand #73. With the blinds then at 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante, Buzgon shoved all in from under the gun with
The flop gave Calderaro a bit of a sweat as it came down
It was around this time that Calderaro went on a massive heater and eventually picked up the chip lead in a three-way pot. On Hand #89, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000 with a 10,000 ante, Elias raised to 125,000 from the button, Calderaro called from the small blind, and Cunix called from the big blind.
The flop came down
Twenty hands later, Elias was eliminated in third place when he raised to 150,000 from the small blind, Calderaro reraised to 375,000 from the big blind, and Elias shoved all in. Calderaro insta-called with
Then the board ran out
Here’s how things looked when heads up play started:
Player | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|
Calderaro | 5,610,000 | 93 BBs |
Cunix | 3,970,000 | 66 BBs |
On hand 138, Cunix retook the chip lead when he three-bet preflop and got Calderaro to fold. On hand 143, Cunix increased that lead even more. With the blinds at 50,000/100,000 and a 10,000 ante, Cunix limped and Calderaro checked. Both players checked the
It was on hand 154 when all the money went into the middle. Cunix moved all in for 8.1 million with
Cunix’s win came with a $25,500 buy-in to the season ending WPT World Championship later this month at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, as well as his name engraved into the WPT Champions Cup.
WPT Jacksonville BestBet Open Final Table Results
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1st | Shawn Cunix | $400,600 (includes $25,500 WPT World Championship seat) |
2nd | James Calderaro | $236,560 |
3rd | Darren Elias | $147,850 |
4th | Daniel Buzgon | $94,624 |
5th | Tony Dunst | $66,532 |
6th | Will Failla | $54,704 |
*Hands referenced from the WPT Live Updates Team.
*Photo courtesy of BJ Nemeth at WorldPokerTour.com
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