The World Poker Tour Amsterdam Main Event wrapped up over the weekend and it was a wild ride to the final table. Six players wound up in the group at the Holland Casino Amsterdam to decide a champion. An amount of $226,000 was on the line for the winner as part of a total prize pool that was just over $1.3 million.
Andelko Andrejevic of Serbia was in the lead when the final table started, followed by Tomas Fara of the Czech Republic, Anthony Zinno of the United States, Hans Bosman of the Netherlands, Senh Ung of the United Kingdom and Emrah Cakmak of France. One of the key moments that led to that was when Andrejevic made a shrewd play to take out another popular player, Joep van den Bijgaart of the Netherlands (who finished fifth at this event last season), which gave him a huge lead of just over 1.2 million chips over second-place Fara heading into the final table.
There are some who thought Zinno, a three-time WPT champion, was the favorite at the final table because of his experience – especially after he knocked out Bosman. Bosman was the first to go at the final table as Zinno knocked him out and sent him home with about $46,000 for his efforts. Next to be eliminated was Ung, who was taken out by the chip leader and he ended up with a prize of just over $57,000. Cakmak took the final table down to three after he was eliminated, receiving over $76,000. The action stalled out for a bit as the players sized each other up, but surprisingly it was Zinno who would receive his walking papers next with a parting gift of around $102,000, but no title to add to his resume.
It was down to Andrejevic and Fara, and it was a marathon as the two were in their zone, playing 82 hands of head-to-head poker before a winner was decided. Each man had the upper hand at some point in the game as the battle see-sawed back and forth. It was Andrejevic who made the big move, going all in on a hand where he would end up with three 8’s. Fara called but had nothing, and had to bow out. Don’t feel too bad for Fara, though, as he still took home around $162,000 along with the title of runner up.
The tournament belonged to the Serbian, who won his first WPT title after coming close on a number of occasions, notably in Maryland and San Jose. He also gets to play at the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions next April. The next event will be held July 29 to August 2 at Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma as the WPT returns to North America. Jason Brin of the United States won over $682,000 in this event last year as the top five was filled with Americans. The action is only getting started as the tour heads into the summer months and the action is really going to heat up.