J.C. Tran Moves into Second in POY RaceJumped to Second Place After Two Final Table Performances at Five-Diamond World Poker Classic Preliminaries |
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Just when it seemed that David Pham was pulling himself further and further away from his competition and the victory was soon to be his, J.C. Tran emerged from the shadows and into second place, just a mere 814 points away from the lead.
Tran made the final table of the last two preliminary events of the Five-Diamond World Poker Classic to boost his POY score by 1,290 points. In event No. 11, a $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, Tran finished eighth for 174 points and more than $27,000. This was enough to move him past Tom Schneider and into fifth place but not quite into contention. It was when he won event No. 12, another $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, that he was launched into second. The event had 307 entrants, building a prize pool of almost $1.5 million. Tran won more than $523,000 and 1,116 points for defeating a stacked final table in the event.
The players at that final table and their finishing positions were as follows:
Last week, the already No. 1-ranked Pham added 1,152 points to his total when he won event No. 8, a $2,500 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, distancing himself from the then No. 2-ranked player Jonathan Little.
Tran has had a taste of what owning the top spot is like, as he broke out at the beginning of the year by making three World Poker Tour main event final tables and winning a preliminary event at the Five-Star World Poker Classic in the first four months. After being so hot, Tran's winning-streak slowed down, and he has added just 90 points to his total in the nearly seven months following his big scores.
Players eventually surpassed Tran, and, until yesterday, he was sitting in sixth place. Like any players who have shown the world how dangerous they can be, you can't sleep on them for one second, and Tran has proven that. He made the moves just in time to put himself in a position to take over the lead with only days remaining in the competition.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com to see how these players fair in the $15,000 buy-in no-limit hold'em Doyle Brunson Classic Championship, which starts today at noon.
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