Alex Foxen Wins Record-Breaking WPT; Secures GPI POY

Alex Foxen gave himself the best Christmas present ever by taking down a World Poker Tour title. Foxen triumphed in the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic and padded his bankroll with $1,694,995. His impressive victory also locked up the Global Poker Index Player of the Year award.

Foxen was in impressive form throughout the festival, cashing five times for $424,677. This latest prize is his third seven-figure prize and his second-largest score ever.

This year’s event attracted a record-breaking field of 1,035 entries showing live poker tournaments are still big business. Each buy-in weighed in at $10,400 resulting in a $10,039,500 prize pool. This was shared among the top 130 finishers.

Byron Kaverman burst the money bubble when he crashed out in 131st place on Day 3. Roland Rokita raised enough on the button to set Kaverman all-in. Kaverman called with ace-king and failed to melt the snowmen of Rokita.

Kaverman’s exit locked up at least $18,350 for the surviving players. The likes of Justin Bonomo, Mike Leah, partypoker’s Jeff Gross and Dzmitry Urbanovich all cashed. As did Jesse Sylvia, Yengeniy Timoshenko, Ali Imsirovic, and Darren Elias.

Foxen With Work to Do At Unofficial Final Table

Final tables on the WPT are played six-handed so the final nine was called the unofficial final table. Foxen started the penultimate day with the second-shortest stack, or 31 big blinds. He never panicked, Foxen instead remained calm and collected as he rebuilt his stack.

Foxen doubled early on when his king-queen got there against Daniel Park’s ace-nine. The former college tight end flopped a king and rivered a third to drag himself back into contention.

Eric Afriat, a former WPT champion, was the first of the final nine players to bust. Afriat got it in with pocket tens against the queens of Joe Serock. He flopped a set of tens, but Serock also flopped a set. Afriat couldn’t find the final ten in the deck and fell in ninth-place.

Queens were good for Serock on that occasion, but they bit him on the ass soon after. Jonathan Jaffe opened with a 190,000 raise at the 40,000/80,000/80,000a level. Serock responded with a 2,310,000 all-in three-bet and Foxen cold-called in the big blind. Jaffe raised all-in, covering both players, and Foxen folded.

It was ace-king for Serock and red queens for Jaffe. The community cards ran void of aces or kings and the player count reduced by one.

Germany’s Timo Kamphaus was the player who bust in seventh-place to set the official final table. He and Foxen entered a raising war that resulted in Kamphaus four-betting all-in and Foxen calling. Foxen flopped over pocket jacks and needed help against Kamphaus’ dominating kings. Help arrived in the shape of a jack on the flop. Game over for Kamphause and the official final table was set.

Final Table Set: Foxen Second in Chips

Foxen knew victory won him the Global Poker Index Player of the Year title along with the $1,694,995 prize. His goal drew closer when Jaffe busted in the 32nd hand of the final table. Park raised to 275,000 from late position, Foxen called in the cutoff and Jaffe moved all-in from the big blind for 2,250,000. Park folded, but Foxen called.

Jaffe showed king-queen and was flipping again Foxen’s pocket nines. The five community cards ran kindly for Foxen and Jaffe bowed out in sixth-place for $355,125.

Park crashed out 19 hands later. Seth Davies made it 350,000 to go from under the gun. Ireland’s Toby Joyce three-bet to 1,150,000 in the cutoff and Park four-bet jammed on the button for 4,000,000. Davies ducked out of the way, but Joyce called. Joyce’s hand was ace-queen while park’s tournament life hinged on a pair of tens. Those tens remained best right up to the queen of hearts appearing on the river. The final five became four.

Four became three with the elimination of Peter Neff. He moved all-in for 3,875,000 with king-queen and Davies looked him up with ace-jack. An ace on the flop left Neff drawing thin. He was drawing dead after the turn. The $617,480 Neff won is by far his largest-ever tournament score.

Heads-up was set on the 156th hand of the six-handed final table. Davies was down to 12 big blinds and they went into the middle holding ace-five. Foxen called with ace-queen from the big blind. The Jd-3s-Jc-As-8d board hinted at helping Davies. But, alas, it didn’t and Foxen when into heads-up with a 29,500,000 to 11,900,000 chip lead over Joyce.

Seven-Figure Prizes Guaranteed

It only took nine hands of one-on-one action to see the crowned champion. The final hand saw Foxen limp on the button and Joyce check. The Jc-5s-3d flop was greeted with a check from Joyce, and a bet of 400,000 from Foxen. Joyce check-raised to 1,100,000 only to see Foxen make it 2,200,000. Joyce called.

The Kc turn saw Joyce check and Foxen move all-in for 31,700,000. Joyce used four time extension before calling off his last 4,500,000 chips. Joyce revealed jack-nine and Foxen ace-jack. The river had to be a nine to see the tournament continue, but it was a four. This busted Joyce in second-place and left Foxen to add yet another major title to his already incredible resume.

WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Alex Foxen	$1,694,995
2	Toby Joyce	$1,120,040
3	Seth Davies	$827,285
4	Peter Neff	$617,480
5	Danny Park	$465,780
6	Jonathan Jaffe	$355,125
7	Timo Kamphaus	$273,695
8	Joe Serock	$213,225
9	Eric Afriat	$168,005

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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