Mohsin Charania Wins World Poker Tour Bellagio Five Diamond Main Event

A total of 586 players turned out to the 2014 World Poker Tour Five Diamond Poker Classic $10,400 no-limit hold’em main event at Bellagio, the largest turn out for this event since 2007 when the then $15,000 buy-in event drew 626 players. As a result the prize pool grew to $5,684,200. As a result the event awarded the biggest first-place prize so far this season on the WPT: $1,477,890. That massive seven-figure payout was eventually awarded to 29-year-old poker pro Mohsin Charania after he emerged victorious from the field.

The poker pro from Chicago, Illinois added this massive accomplishment to his list of prestigious titles that includes wins in the 2012 European Poker Tour Grand Final as well as the 2013 WPT Grand Prix de Paris. With this latest win he increased his lifetime live tournament earnings to $4,802,584.

Charania may into this event with a championship pedigree but he did not necessarily come into the later stages of the event with a lot of chips. In fact, he was the shortest stack among the 78 players to return at the start of day 4 in this event. Entering the televised final table of six he was in fifth chip position, but managed to hang on and make it to heads-up play for the title against Garrett Greer.

After scrapping for most of the final days of the event it seemed only fitting that Charania entered the final showdown at a 9-to-1 chip disadvantage. As he had for days, Charania eventually found a way to survive and thrive.

The hand of the night took place after Charania had battled his way back to nearly even in chips. Greer, who had him covered by just over a million, raised to 750,000 from the button. Charania then moved all in for a total of 8,225,000 and Greer made the call with the AK. Charania held the 33 for a classic race situation. The board ran out 952J2 and Charania doubled up to take a dominating lead with more than 16.5 million.

Several hands later it was all over, with Charania securing the title and Greer sent to the rail as the runner up. For his impressive run Greer earned $869,683 and 1,750 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his second WPT final table appearance of the year and as a result he climbed to 49th place in the overall POY standings. Charania, who had no prior final tables in 2014, moved to 64th place in the standings as a result of the 2,100 he earned for capturing this prestigious title.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at this final table:

Photo courtesy of WPT / Joe Giron.

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