This Week’s Big Winner: Dylan Linde Wins World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event

The 2018 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic $10,400 no-limit hold’em main event attracted 1,001 entries, setting the record as the largest ever field in a $10,000 buy-in event on the WPT. The huge turnout built a prize pool of $9,709,700. After five full days of intense poker action, the lion’s share of that money was awarded to Dylan Linde. The poker pro from Coeur d’Alene, ID emerged victorious with his first WPT title and the $1,631,468 first-place prize.

“I’m stunned,” Linde told WPT reporters. “I was in for five bullets and all I wanted to do is get even. I was like, ‘Okay, I just want to get 24th place and make $8k, that’s great.’ And then I got there and it just felt like freerolling. And I was confident, played my game, and I’m still in shock.”

In addition to the hardware and the money, Linde was also awarded 2,400 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his second title and fifth final-table finish of the year, and this huge win was enough to see him climb into 30th place in the overall POY race standings for 2018.

Here are the five biggest hands that propelled Linde to the title.

Tournament: WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic
Buy-In: $10,000
No. of Entries: 1,001
Prize Pool: $9,709,700
1st Place Prize: $1,631,468

The Action

Linde raised to 50,000 from the hijack, and Kay three-bet shoved for his last 420,000. Linde made the call with A J, which was ahead of Kay’s K Q. The dealer rolled out a board of A 9 2 A K, and Linde made trip aces to scoop the pot, moving into the top five on the leaderboard. Kay was eliminated in 28th place, earning $49,840.

The Action

In a battle of the blinds, Linde raised to 150,000 and Mantin shoved for 2,250,000 with pocket threes. Linde made the easy call with pocket kings, which were a big favorite over Mantin’s pocket threes. The board ran out A K 9 9 7, giving Linde a full house and the elimination. Mantin, an 85-year-old satellite winner who tried to sell his seat, picked up $163,142 for tenth place.

The Action

Linde raised to 350,000 from under-the-gun and Hamilton three-bet shoved for her last 2,500,000 from the big blind. Linde thought it over for a bit before making the call with A 10, which was racing against Hamilton’s pocket fives. The flop came down 10 7 3, giving Linde top pair and leaving Hamilton drawing to two outs. The turn was the 10, giving Linde trips. Hamilton needed a five on the river to stay alive, but the 3 hit instead, sending her to the rail to collect her $451,880 fifth-place payout.

The Action

The action folded around to Linde in the small blind and he moved all in. Liu looked at his cards in the big blind and then went into the tank. He looked over at fellow short stack Lichtenberger and saw that Lichtenberger had slightly more chips. Eventually, he made the call for his last 2,475,000 with A 4. Linde held J 2, and connected with bottom pair on the flop of K 7 2. With his flush draw and overcards, Liu was a slight favorite in the hand, sitting 55 percent to win according to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator. The turn was the 3, and the river was the K, however, leaving Linde with the best hand. Liu pocketed $599,147 for fourth place.

The Action

After falling behind 7:1 on the leaderboard, Skrbic had the button and open-shoved his last 4,925,000. Linde looked down at pocket jacks and quickly made the call. Skrbic was a 4:1 underdog holding pocket fives, and continued to trail as the flop fell K 9 9. The turn was the 9, giving both players a full house and Skrbic some chop outs. The river was the A, however, and Skrbic was eliminated, earning $1,087,603 for his runner-up finish. Linde meanwhile picked up the final pot of the tournament, the title, and the huge $1,631,468 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Dylan Linde — $1,631,468
2. Milos Skrbic $1,087,603
3. Andrew Lichtenberger — $802,973
4. Ping Liu — $599,147
5. Lisa Hamilton — $451,880
6. Barry Hutter — $344,529
7. Patrick Mahoney — $265,570
8. John Dibella — $206,982
9. Joe McKeehen — $163,142