This Week's Big Winner: Ben Diebold Wins 2020 bestbet Jacksonville Fall Frenzy II Main Event

The 2020 bestbet Jacksonville Fall Frenzy II $1,500 no-limit hold’em main event was held in late November, with 182 entries building a prize pool of $243,880. The top 23 finishers made the money, with the largest share being awarded to Ben Diebold. The Charleston, South Carolina resident earned $63,182 for the win.

This was Diebold’s second major victory at bestbet Jacksonville, having won the Card Player Poker Tour main event at the property back in 2018. In that tournament, Diebold overcame a field of 373 entries to win $75,655.

Stephen Strout entered the final day as the chip leader, with Diebold not too far behind. Fall Frenzy II warmup event champion Dhimitri Lleshi came into the final table looking for his second title of the series, but was sitting with the shortest stack when play resumed.

Here are five key hands from the final table.

The Action

With seven players remaining, Dhimitri Lleshi raised to 120,000 from the small blind with A-Q and Eddy Mroczkowski called from the big blind with Q-J suited. Lleshi bet 60,000 with his top pair, top kicker and Mroczkowski moved all-in for 250,000 with his top pair and slightly worse kicker. Lleshi quickly called with the best hand and held through the turn and river. Mroczkowski hit the rail in seventh place for $8,292, while Lleshi continued to climb up the leaderboard after starting the day as the shortest stack.

The Action

With four players remaining, Guy Caudill made it 125,000 to go from the small blind with A-K offsuit. Lleshi defended his big blind with J-9 suited and promptly flopped a flush. Caudill had two overcards to the board, but with no flush outs of his own, was already drawing dead on the flop. Caudill bet 100,000. Lleshi called and the 8 hit the turn. Caudill shoved all-in for 640,000 and Lleshi snap-called with his flush. Caudill had nothing to root for heading into the river, but did earn $15,206 as the fourth-place finisher. Lleshi took down the largest pot of the tournament, chipping up to over 2.6 million after the hand.

The Action

Three-handed action began with Lleshi in a dominant lead, which he only extended during the first few orbits. He sat with over 52 big blinds to start this hand, while Diebold had the next largest stack with roughly 14 big blinds. Diebold picked up K-Q offsuit on the button and moved all-in for 845,000. Lleshi called in the small blind with pocket queens and Patrick Pigford folded from the big blind, leaving himself with just over five big blinds. Diebold picked up a gutshot straight draw on the flop to go along with his outs to a pair of kings. The J on the river completed Diebold’s draw to earn him the double up to over 1.8 million. Lleshi remained in the lead despite losing the sizable pot, but Diebold had closed the gap considerably.

The Action

Shortly after doubling up through Lleshi, Diebold picked up a pocket pair in the big blind facing the short-stack shove of Pigford from the small blind. Pigford had an overcard with A-6 up against the pocket eights of Diebold, but this time around the pair held up and Pigford was sent packing in third place. He earned $24,998 for his strong showing in this event. With that heads-up play was set, with Lleshi holding roughly a 5:4 chip lead over Diebold with the title on the line.

The Action

A stone-cold preflop cooler helped propel Diebold into the outright chip lead. Lleshi was dealt pocket jacks on the button and he raised to 125,000. Diebold had been dealt an even bigger pair in pocket kings. He three-bet to 425,000 and Lleshi quickly announced that he was all-in. Diebold instantly called with the second-best starting hand possible in hold’em and saw that his opponent had been dealt a smaller pair. The board brought a pair of aces to give each player two large pair, but Diebold’s remained best through the river. Lleshi was left with just a few big blinds. He managed to double up once, but just a few hands later was eliminated as the runner-up, cashing for $42,374. Just like that, Diebold secured his second big title at bestbet Jacksonville and the top prize of $63,182.

Final Table Results