This Week's Big Winner: Asher Conniff Wins WPT World Championship

Asher Conniff never intended to play in the 2015 World Poker Tour Championship, but fresh off a victory in the kickoff event of the Borgata Spring Poker Open, the Brooklyn, New York native was feeling good about his game and registered for a $1,000 online tournament on BorgataPoker.com.

The only problem was that he signed up for the wrong tournament and instead found himself in a $1,600 satellite to the WPT Championship. It could have been a costly misclick, but instead Conniff won the seat and ultimately, the title along with the $973,683 first-place prize.

Here’s a look at the five biggest hands that propelled Conniff to victory.

The Tournament: WPT Championship
Buy-In: $15,000 • No. of Entries: 239 • Prize Pool: $3,462,050 • 1st Place Prize: $973,683

Conniff Gets A Huge Gift To Surge Up The Leaderboard

The Action

Asher Conniff raised to 26,000 from middle position, and Simon Lam reraised behind him to 76,000. Conniff reraised to 171,000, and Lam five-bet all in for a total of 430,000, or 35 big blinds. Conniff snap called with pocket kings, and Lam could only show down A 9. The board ran out 8 3 2 7 4 and Lam was eliminated in 23rd place, earning $31,297. The massive pot gave Conniff nearly 1.7 million chips and a top three spot on the leaderboard.

Conniff Dominates O’Hara To Increase His Overall Chip Lead

The Action

With 17 players remaining, Brock Parker raised to 35,000 from the hijack, and Ian O’Hara moved all in from the small blind for 403,000. Asher Conniff then reraised all in from the big blind to isolate against O’Hara. Parker folded, and O’Hara showed A 8. Conniff had him dominated with A Q, and his hand held as the board ran out J 10 3 Q 6. O’Hara was eliminated in 17th place, banking $34,775. Conniff increased his stack to 2.6 million, which at the time was about a million more than his closest opponent.

Conniff Ends Parker’s Misery On The Final Table Bubble

The Action

With seven players left on the official final table bubble, Brock Parker was having a miserable time. He first got his pocket kings cracked by Brian Yoon’s A J to crippled him down to just 14 big blinds. Then on the very next hand, he moved all in from under the gun for 560,000 only to get called by Asher Conniff on the button. Parker held A K and was racing against Conniff’s pocket nines. The board fell Q Q 3 7 4 and Parker was eliminated in seventh place, earning $139,098. Meanwhile Conniff increased his stack to more than 2.3 million, which was good enough for second place going into the televised final table.

Conniff Picks Off Lakhov’s Bluff To Take Control Three Handed

The Action

With just three players remaining, Asher Conniff held 54 percent of the chips. The second biggest stack at the table, Alexander Lakhov, raised to 175,000 on the button, and Brian Yoon called from the small blind. Conniff reraised to 545,000 from the big blind, and Lakhov called. Yoon folded, and the flop came down K 9 2. Both players checked, and the turn was the K. Conniff checked again, and Lakhov bet 500,000. Conniff thought it over for 30 seconds, then called. The river was the 2 and Conniff checked again. Lakhov bet 700,000, and Conniff called again, tabling 9 7. Lakhov could only show down Q 10 and Conniff collected the pot, which increased his stack to nearly 8.4 million, or more than 70 percent of the chips in play.

Conniff Finishes Lakhov To Earn The Title

The Action

After 13 hands of heads-up play, both players were more or less where they started. Asher Conniff raised the button to 175,000, and Alexander Lakhov moved all in for his last 1,655,000. Conniff immediately called with A Q, but Lakhov was at least pleased to see he was drawing live with 10 6. According to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator, Lakhov would double up 36 percent of the time. The flop came down 7 5 2, dropping his chances to 30 percent. His odds slightly improved when the 4 on the turn gave him an open-ended straight draw, but the river was the K, ending his tournament run in second place. He picked up $573,779, but the $973,683 first-place prize went to Conniff, who was ecstatic about locking up the title. ♠

Final Table Tournament Results
1 Asher Conniff $973,683
2 Alexander Lakhov $573,779
3 Brian Yoon $330,358
4 Carlos Mortensen $267,764
5 Ray Qartomy $208,647
6 Tony Dunst $173,873
7 Brock Parker $139,098
8 Jake Schindler $104,324
9 Keven Stammen $69,549