Ray Dehkharghani Wins Card Player Poker Tour Wynn Classic Championship EventDehkharghani Defeats Sam Stein Heads Up |
|
The title of Card Player Poker Tour Wynn Classic main event 2013 champion belongs to Ray Dehkharghani. The high-stakes cash-game player began the official ten-handed final table as the chip leader and went through some ups and downs before ultimately defeating Sam Stein during a heads-up match that lasted just seven hands.
The $235,931 score and title was easily Dehkharghani’s biggest no-limit hold’em win.
“I might have won two small limit tournaments at the WSOP along the way, but this is my biggest no-limit score without question,” the 42-year-old said.
As a predominately limit hold’em and mixed-game cash games player, Dehkharghani had to not only adjust to a new form of the game, he had to switch to tournament style play. He also found himself seated with players he had not played with in the past. Those factors coupled with the fact he had been suffering from insomnia and nearly missed the buy-in deadline made Dehkharghani’s win all the more impressive.
“I was at a big experience deficit and the guys at the final table, especially Sam [Stein] and Tom [Marchese], they are both very accomplished players. I just basically had a good day. I learned a lot from them, they are very technically proficient and it was just a great learning experience,” he said.
When the 207-player field with a $1,003,950 prize pool had been whittled down to just three players, Dehkharghani, Stein and 2011 Card Player Player of the Year Marchese, the soon-to-be champion held more than half of the chips in play.
With more than a 2-to-1 chip advantage over Stein, the final play of the tournament came down to pocket kings versus A-10. Stein raised, Dehkharghani three-bet and Stein moved all in. Dehkharghani snap-called and the tournament hinged on the upcoming board. The dealer spread 10 9 8 5 7 and the short-lived heads up battle was over.
For the win, Dehkharghani earned 720 Card Player Player of the Year points.
Here is a look at the final results.
Rank | Player Name | Payout | POY Points |
1 | Ray Dehkharghani | $235,931 | 720 |
2 | Sam Stein | $170,672 | 600 |
3 | Thomas Marchese | $115,454 | 480 |
4 | George Martov | $82,324 | 360 |
5 | Ben Palmer | $58,229 | 300 |
6 | Kevin Calenzo | $43,672 | 240 |
7 | Ray Qartomy | $32,628 | 180 |
8 | Soon Hwang | $27,609 | 120 |
9 | Olivier Busquet | $24,597 | 60 |
10 | Hyoung Chae | $20,079 | 0 |