This Week’s Big Winner: Ben Palmer Wins First-Ever World Poker Tour Event At Venetian

Ben Palmer has won the inaugural World Poker Tour Venetian DeepStack Showdown $3,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, defeating a field of 734 entries to secure his first WPT title and the top prize of $431,655. This was his 340th career live tournament cash and by far his largest.

The win brought his lifetime earnings to $2,732,635. Palmer was also awarded 1,368 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win, enough to see him climb into 41st place in the overall POY rankings.

This was the first WPT main event ever held at The Venetian Resort Las Vegas. The huge turnout saw the $1 million guarantee easily surpassed, with the final prize pool growing to $2,333,800.

Here are the five hands that propelled Palmer to the title.

Tournament: WPT Venetian DeepStack Showdown
Buy-In: $3,500
No. of Entries: 734
Prize Pool: $2,333,800
1st Place Prize: $431,655

The Action

Farber raised to 65,000 and Williams responded by moving all in for his last 510,000 from the hijack. Palmer then called on the button, and Farber got out of the way. Williams showed A Q, but Palmer had him in trouble with pocket queens. The board fell 10 7 3 9 8 and Williams was eliminated in 14th place, earning $26,890.

The Action

A short-stacked Yu moved all in for his last 795,000 from middle position and was called by Palmer in the small blind. Yu turned over A J, which was flipping against Palmer’s pocket tens. The board fell 9 8 3 K Q and Yu was eliminated in ninth place, banking $41,665. The pot was enough to give Palmer nearly one-fourth of the chips in play.

The Action

Palmer raised to 160,000 in early position and Wilson moved all in for his last 1,770,000 from the cutoff. The action folded back to Palmer, who made the call with A K. Wilson held pocket nines for a coin flip, but saw the bad news as the dealer produced a board of A Q 6 J 2. Wilson picked up $67,675 for seventh place.

The Action

The action folded around to the blinds and Palmer raised to 500,000. Ioli defended his big blind and the flop fell Q 9 5. Palmer continued for 350,000 and Ioli made the call. The turn was the 8 and Palmer bet 575,000. Ioli called once again and the river was the K. Palmer then went into the tank before moving all in. Ioli called off the rest of his stack with Q 9 for flopped two pair, but Palmer held 7 6 for a turned straight. Ioli was eliminated in fifth place, earning $115,105, while Palmer took the chip lead.

The Action

After a lengthy heads-up battle that saw the lead change a few times, Gargano shoved on the button for his last 16 big blinds and Palmer asked for a count. After hearing the total, Palmer opted to call with Q 10, while Gargano turned over A 4 as the slight favorite. The flop of J 10 9, however, was a big one for Palmer with middle pair and an open-ended straight draw. The 6 on the turn gave Gargano additional outs to a flush, but the Q on the river wasn’t enough, and Palmer scooped the last pot of the tournament with two pair. Gargano picked up $277,760 for his runner-up finish, while Palmer scored the title, the trophy, and the $431,655 first-place prize.

Final Table Results

1. Ben Palmer — $431,655
2. Anthony Gargano — $277,760
3. Danny Qutami — $204,810
4. Orlando Barrera — $152,690
5. Mark Ioli — $115,105
6. Will Givens — $87,760
7. Skip Wilson — $67,675
8. Jay Farber — $52,790
9. Sean Yu — $41,665