Ben Wilinofsky Wins WPTDS Championship Main Event For C$223,359

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  • Attreyee Khasnabis December 6, 2018
  • 4 Minutes Read

The WPT DeepStacks Championship Main Event that played out at the Grey Eagle Resort & Casino in Calgary, crowned a winner in online poker pro, Ben Wilinofsky (cover image). Wilinofsky overcame a field of 529 entries that generated a prize pool of C$1,155,867, to claim C$223,359 in first-place prize money.

His best performance till date was in the €5,300 No Limit Hold’em – EPT Main Event at the 2011 EPT – 7 – Berlin where he had won his maiden live title for a massive €825,000. Wilinofsky`s current total live earnings stand at $1,590,398.

“I don’t see myself playing any more tournaments this year, and I’m not going to make a special effort to do it next year,” Wilinofsky told tournament reporters when asked about his plans going forward. “I enjoy the Canadian stops, but mostly I travel when I want to be somewhere and see friends, and it’s an excuse to head somewhere and sometimes we pick up a bunch of money. But mostly I’m done chasing the dream, I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago and go out on top.”

Talking about his run on the final table, Wilinofsky said, “I was really in cruise control for most of that final table. I felt like I was collecting all the easy chips. And it just felt like it was fated, but then I flopped a set and lost to an over-pair, and then it spiralled down on me for a bit.”

He said he had to claw his way back after that blow, and it wasn’t such easy cruising as before. “I don’t think I was as level-headed as I would have liked to be. I was playing a little fast, I was not taking my time, not taking those deep breaths.”

“I’m glad that we just banged it off in a lucky pot, and we didn’t have to grind it out, because it easily could have gone the other way here,” he told tournament reporters regarding his final hand against runner-up Steven Dahrouge.

With the top 67 places assured payouts, some notables who finished in the money were Kevin Blake (17th for C$12,449), Michael Smith (18th for C$12,449) and Indian origin players Srinvas Gottiparthi (27th for C$7,536), Mrityunjay Jha (36th for C$6,403) and Umang Dattani (28th for C$5,525).

Mohammed Alamelhuda (10th for C$18,552) bubbled the final table.

WPT DeepStacks Championship Main Event Final Table
WPT DeepStacks Championship Main Event Final Table

Final Table Recap

The first elimination on the final table was that of Raymond Trieu, who moved all-in preflop for 240,00 from the cutoff and was called by Ben Wilinofsky from the big blind. Trieu tabled against Wilinofsky’s . The board ran out and finding no help, Trieu was eliminated in ninth place.

Sometime later, Dave McLeod raised to 90,000 from late position with and Duff Charette re-raised all-in from the button for 495,000 holding . McLeod rivered a straight on the runout , which sent Charette to the rail in eighth place.

Finishing in seventh place was Eric Wasylenko. During level 28, Wasylenko jammed from the button with and McLeod called from big blind holding . The community cards brought . While Wasylenko flopped a pair of kings, it wasn’t enough to beat McLeod’s set of aces, prompting the former to leave the felt.

The two Tylers (Warken and Bonkowski) were then eliminated one-after-the-other by Wilinofsky. First to go was Tyler Warken when he pitted his against Wilinofsky’s . The board fanned out and Wiliinofsky had the better flush, resulting in Warken’s sixth place exit.

Tyler Warken
Tyler Warken

Thereafter, Tyler Bonkowski found himself entangled in a three-way hand with McLeod and Wilinofsky. With the board open , all three players were all-in and tabled their cards.

Ben Wilinofsky

Dave McLeod

Tyler Bonkowski

Wilinofsky picked up two pairs of tens and nines on the flop and was in the lead, while Bonkowski was drawing dead. on the river was inconsequential and sent Bonkowski packing in fifth place.

Tyler Bonkowski
Tyler Bonkowski

Down to the last four players, on the flop with 500,000 already in the pot, Dave McLeod shoved all-in from the small blind with . Wilinofsky called from the big blind and showed . The turn and river completed the board and Wilinofsky turned a straight to eliminate McLeod in fourth place.

With the blinds at 60,000/120,000 and a big blind ante of 120,000, Wilinofsky opened from the button with and John Foley called from big blind holding . The flop fell and Wilinofsky c-bet 250,000, while Foley check-called to see the turn . Wilinofsky fired once again this time for 675,000 and Foley yet again check-called before the river revealed . Wilinofsky moved all-in and Foley check-called. Wilinofsky`s flopped a pair of aces did the job of eliminating Foley in third place.

Ben Wilinofsky began heads-up play against Steven Dahrouge with a 3-2 chip lead. The action started off slow, but quickly escalated with all the chips going into the middle on a big flip. Wilinofsky held against Dahrouge’s . The dealer turned over on the board and Wilinofsky rivered a king-high straight to win his first WPTDS title for a top prize of C$223,359.

Ben Wilinofsky
Ben Wilinofsky

Final Table Results (CAD)

1. Ben Wilinofsky – C$223,359

2. Steven Dahrouge – C$156,573

3. John Foley – C$100,687

4. Dave McLeod – C$70,612

5. Tyler Bonkowski – C$54,222

6. Tyler Warken – C$44,814

7. Eric Wasylenko – C$37,277

8. Duff Charette – C$29,764

9. Raymond Trieu – C$22,331

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