This Week's Big Winner: Dietrich Fast Wins WPT L.A. Poker Classic Main Event

The L.A. Poker Classic main event is one of the marquee tournaments on the World Poker Tour and the 2016 edition was no exception, drawing a field of 515 entrants and generating a prize pool just shy of $5 million.

In the end, the title went to German poker pro Dietrich Fast, who took home the trophy and the $1,000,800 first-place prize. Fast defeated Mike Shariati heads-up, who was trying to win his second WPT title of the season after he took down the Legends of Poker main event last August.

The victory tripled Fast’s career earnings to $1.5 million. His previous best score was for $179,077 after he won the €500 buy-in event at the 2015 World Series of Poker Europe. Here’s a look at five hands from the final table that propelled him to the win.

Tournament: WPT L.A. Poker Classic
Buy-In: $10,000
Entries: 515
Prize Pool: $4,944,000
1st Place Prize: $1,000,800

The Action

On the fifth hand of the televised six-handed final table, Anthony Spinella raised from under the gun to 90,000 and Dietrich Fast reraised from the cutoff to 265,000. Spinella called and the flop came down J 9 4. Spinella checked and Fast bet 275,000. Spinella then check-raised to 920,000 and Fast called after a couple minutes in the tank. The turn was the A and both players checked. The river was the 2, putting four hearts on board, and both players checked again. Spinella showed J 9 for flopped two pair, but Fast revealed A A for a turned set.

The Action

Dietrich Fast completed from the small blind and Sam Soverel checked his option from the big blind. The flop was 8 4 4 and Fast bet 110,000. Soverel called, and the turn was the 6. Fast bet 225,000 and Soverel called. The river was the A and Fast bet 450,000. Soverel tanked for about a minute before deciding to move all in for 2.75 million. Fast asked for a count and tanked for more than three minutes before eventually calling with pocket jacks. Soverel could only produce 5 3 for a busted straight draw and he was eliminated in fourth place.

The Action

On the very next hand, Alex Keating raised to 250,000 in the cutoff and Dietrich Fast three-bet to 675,000 from the button. Keating then moved all in for a total of 4.88 million. Fast immediately called with A K and was pleased to see he had Keating’s A Q dominated. The flop of 8 5 4 was good for Fast, but the 8 on the turn gave Keating a flush draw and some chop outs. The river was the J, however, and Keating was eliminated in third place. The pot gave Fast more than a 2:1 chip lead on his heads-up opponent, Mike Shariati.

The Action

Mike Shariati raised to 225,000 on the button and Dietrich Fast called. The flop came down Q J 5 and both players checked. The turn was the 2 and Fast bet 300,000. Shariati quickly called and the river was the 7, putting four spades on board. Fast bet 550,000 and Shariati quickly moved all in for 2.52 million. Fast thought about it for 15 second before mucking his cards, showing the K for the second nut flush. Shariati took the pot without showing.

The Action

Dietrich Fast raised to 450,000 on the button and Mike Shariati moved all in for his last 4.85 million. Fast tanked for about a minute before calling with A 9. Shariati showed a dominated A 8, and needed help to stay alive. According to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator, Shariati was 28 percent to win, but would also chop about 15 percent of the time. The flop came down A J 4, dropping his chances to just 11 percent. The turn, however, was the 8, vaulting Shariati into the lead. All of a sudden, Shariati was an 86 percent favorite to take a 2:1 chip lead of his own. Instead, the river was the J, counterfeiting Shariati and giving Fast a superior two pair and the title.

Final Table Results

1. Dietrich Fast — $1,000,800
2. Mike Shariati — $656,540
3. Alex Keating — $423,890
4. Sam Soverel — $316,440
5. Farid Jattin — $238,070
6. Anthony Spinella — $191,250
7. John Hennigan — $160,190
8. Binh Nguyen — $127,660
9. Tyler Reiman — $96,120