Brett Faustman Wins the World Poker Open

Faced with the task of taking on two former World Poker Tour champions and the World Poker Open best all-around player, Brett Faustman definitely had a lot on his plate. But the former collegiate wrestler had no problem navigating a tough final table filled with some of the poker world’s most interesting personalities. When the smoke cleared, and the chatter subsided, Faustman was the last man standing, having pinned his competition in not-so-record time.

Coming into the final table, the player’s chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: Freddy Deeb -- 1,345,000
Seat 2: Brett Faustman -- 1,282,000
Seat 3. Men "The Master" Nguyen -- 729,000
Seat 4. Gabe Costner -- 1,181,000
Seat 5. Hoyt Corkins -- 395,000
Seat 6. John Spadavecchia -- 256,000

It didn’t take long to lose the first player. Spadavecchia came in with an extremely short stack, and just five hands in he got into a coin flip with fellow short stack Corkins. Corkins raised to 54,000, and Spadavecchia reraised his last 206,000 all in. It was folded back around to Corkins, who eventually decided to make the call, showing Q J. Spadavecchia turned over pocket sixes, but the board came K 9 5 Q 5, giving Corkins a winning pair of queens to go with the board pair. For his effort, the one-time World Series of Poker Circuit event winner took home $96,477.

It took some time, but eventually the verbal sparring between Nguyen and Deeb took center stage in one of the biggest hands of the tournament on hand 16. Deeb raised under the gun to 60,000, and Nguyen called from the button. The flop came 10 9 5 and Deeb bet 150,000. Nguyen announced, “All you can eat, baby!” for the second time in a row, and shoved his last 641,000 into the pot. Deeb thought for about a minute before making the call, showing A 7. Nguyen turned over Q Q, and his overpair held up to double him into the chip lead.

Deeb took a few more hits but doubled through Costner to give himself some more breathing room. Costner’s final hand came when he raised to 100,000 from the cutoff, and Corkins came over the top for 200,000 more. Costner then moved all in for an additional 390,000. Corkins called, showing A J, and Costner turned over 5 5. The board ran out A 86 6 7 to eliminate Costner in fifth place and earn Corkins his second elimination of the day. Costner was awarded $123,008 for his finish.

Now four-handed, each player took turns as the chip leader. Corkins had just taken a decent lead when a confrontation developed between him and Faustman. Faustman blinded himself down to under a million in chips when he got it all in with A 4 against Corkins’ A K. The board ran out 3 2 2 5 6 and Faustman took the chip lead with a drawout.

Corkins was left as the short stack, but with the blinds escalating he made a series of all-in shoves hold up to put himself back into contention. Deeb then took a few hits at the hands of Nguyen to cripple his stack. His final hand came when he moved all with 8 7 and was instantly called by Faustman’s A K. The board came 6 6 4 6 9 and Deeb headed out the door as the fourth-place finisher, taking home $168,835.

The remaining three players took turns trading blinds back and forth until the next elimination hand came up. With their stacks close to even, Nguyen and Corkins got it all in preflop. Nguyen turned over K 10, but Corkins held the J J for the lead. He had to sweat a board of 9 8 3 7, but the Q on the river took him into the heads-up match all square with the former dealer.

Here’s how the stacks looked going into heads-up play:

Brett Faustman – 2,715,000
Hoyt Corkins – 2,470,000

For 43 hands, the two players traded chips back and forth. Corkins took down most of the smaller pots, but Faustman had a stronghold on the big ones to maintain his lead. After a big hand where Corkins lost half of his stack without ever getting to showdown, Faustman held a 2-1 chip lead.

The final hand came when Corkins limped in on the button for 80,000. Faustman raised to 250,000, and Corkins thought for nearly two minutes before calling. The flop came 9 9 3, and Faustman bet 280,000. Corkins pushed all in, and Faustman stood up before quietly announcing a call. Corkins showed pocket deuces and was way behind to Faustman’s pocket queens. The turn and river were no help, and Faustman, an amateur from Michigan, took down the title, $892,413, a gold and diamond bracelet, and an entry into the WPT Championship in April.

Corkins, who described finishing in second like “a kick in the gut,” earned $458,267 for his fourth WPT final table. Corkins has now finished third, second twice, and first in his appearances.

Here are the final results:

1. Brett Faustman -- $892,413

2. Hoyt Corkins -- $458,267

3. Men Nguyen -- $241,193

4. Freddy Deeb -- $168,835

5. Gabe Costner -- $123,008

6. John Spadavecchia -- $96,477

Our next tournament stop will be the Borgata Poker Classic in Atlantic City. Stay tuned for all your live updates, photos and videos from the tournament floor.

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