WPT -- LeRon Washington Wins the Celebrity Invitational

The World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational final table took place last night at Commerce Casino. The event began on Saturday, Feb. 20 and attracted 567 players. Along with a host of poker stars, celebrities that played in this year’s event included Teri Hatcher, Jenny McCarthy, Jade Nicole, Sam Simon, Jerry Buss, and Dick Van Patten.
The field played down to the final six by Sunday, Feb. 21 and then the survivors were given a week-and-a-half break before returning last night to decide who would walk away with the title of WPT champion.

Here were the chip counts when the final table began:

Seat 1: Steve Elliott — 1,520,000
Seat 2: Thor Hansen (pictured right) — 1,480,000
Seat 3: Trishelle Cannatella — 1,540,000
Seat 4: Sean Urban — 2,090,000
Seat 5: Neev Baram — 1,900,000
Seat 6: LeRon Washington — 1,790,000

Steve Elliot was the first player to fall at the final table when his K-Q was sucked out on by the K-10 of Neev Baram. The board ran out J-J-8-Q-A to give Baram a straight and send Elliot home in sixth place ($5,000). The best poker player at the table was the next person to risk all of his chips and it was professional Thor Hansen. He moved all in preflop with A-6 and LeRon Washington made the call with 8-6. The board fell Q-Q-8-5-8 and even though Hansen had his opponent dominated to start the hand he was eliminated in fifth place ($10,000).

Just five hands after that Baram moved all in preflop and Sean Urban made the call with A-K. Baram could only muster Q-10 in the hole and the board ran out 10-5-2-9-A to send him home in fourth place ($15,000). Reality television star Trishelle Cannatella was next on the chopping block. She managed to double up once through Washington but the next time she moved all in she was not so lucky. She committed the last of her stack on an 8-7-5-5 board with pocket queens in the hole. Washington called her down with 7-6 and a 4 fell on the river to give him a straight and eliminate Cannatella in third place ($20,000).

The most exciting battle at the final table was saved for the end of the tournament. Washington held a large chip lead with 9,245,000 over the 1,075,000 of Urban when the heads-up final began, but Urban doubled up through Washington twice to even the score and take a slight chip lead. Washington struck back quickly though and doubled up. His gain was Urban’s demise. Urban held just 175,000 after the hand compared to his opponent’s 10,150,000. The penultimate hand saw Urban move all in on a K-J-10-J-2 board with Q-5 in the hole. Washington looked Urban up on his bluff with K-5 in the hole and it all but ended the match when he won the pot.

The very next hand was the last of the match. Urban shoved his very short stack into the middle with 9-6 in the hole and Washington made the call holding 3-2. The board ran out 7-5-3-Q-7 and Washington won the tournament. Urban was awarded $50,000 in second place and Washington took home the top prize of $100,000 ($25,000 WPT Championship seat included), along with a WPT bracelet, a watch, and a Commerce trophy for the win.

Here is a look at the final results for the tournament:

1: LeRon Washington — $100,000 (includes WPT Championship seat)
2: Sean Urban — $50,000
3: Trishelle Cannatella — $20,000
4: Neev Baram — $15,000
5: Thor Hansen — $10,000
6: Steven Elliott — $5,000

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