Kevin ��1sickdisease�� Eyster Wins WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,587,382
In April 2013, Kevin "1sickdisease" Eyster topped a field of 542 to win the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown for $660,395, which came the same month he won the FTOPS XXII Event #34: No-Limit Hold'em Six Max Reentry for $333,680. This weekend, Eyster etched his name on the WPT Champions' Cup for a second time by taking down the 14th edition of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio.
The tournament attracted 639 entrants �C making it the second largest in event history �C and awarded Eyster a career-high $1,587,382 first-place prize. That brought his lifetime earnings up to $4,040,031, and puts him first on Louisiana's all-time money list. In addition, Eyster won a pair of Monster 24K Headphones, a Hublot Oceanographic 4000 watch, and an Aurae Solid Gold MasterCard. He also moved atop the Hublot WPT Player of the Year leaderboard with 1,525 points.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Eyster | $1,587,382 |
| 2 | Bill Jennings | $929,745 |
| 3 | Ben Yu | $607,433 |
| 4 | Jake Schwartz | $412,187 |
| 5 | Cate Hall | $291,320 |
| 6 | Eddie Ochana | $226,238 |
Notable Finishes: Billy Baxter (56th - $21,074), Scott Seiver (52nd - $23,554), Daniel Negreanu (48th - $23,554), Isaac Haxton (35th - $31,611), Fedor Holz (30th - $31,611), Phil Laak (22nd - $37,190), Paul Volpe (12th - $68,181), and Lauren Roberts (7th - $173,552)
According to updates from the event, the first final table elimination came on Hand #14 when a short-stacked Eddie Ochana shoved all in under the gun for 490,000 and the start-of-the-day chip leader, Jake Schwartz, called from the big blind.
Schwartz: A?J?
Ochana: K?J?
Ochana had some kicker issues, and they failed to get resolved as the board ran out a clean 7?6?4?4?9?. Ochana took hom $226,238 for his sixth-place finish.
From there, Cate Hall fell on Hand #39 when her 5?5? failed to hold against Ben Yu's A?7? after the board ran out J?7?3?2?7?, and then Schwartz fell on Hand #75 after Yu shoved all in for 2.675 from the button and Schwartz called off for 2.125 million from the big blind. Schwartz's A?10? was ahead of Yu's A?4?, but the K?7?4? flop was a dagger through Schwartz's heart. Neither the 6? turn nor Q? river allowed him to catch back up, and Schwartz had to settle for fourth place and $412,187 in prize money.
Three-handed play proved to be an extended affair, and eventually Yu would fall on Hand #149 after his K?Q? failed to get there against Eyster's 6?6?. Eyster and 49-year-old Bill Jennings, a trader from North Palm Beach, Florida, began heads-up play essentially even in chips, and the two would battle for 38 hands.
On Hand #187, which took place in Level 36 (200,000/400,000/50,000), Eyster raised to 800,000, Jennings called, and the flop came down A?9?4?. Jennings check-called a bet of 600,000 and then checked the 4? turn. Eyster bet 975,000, Jennings shoved all in for 5.3 million, and Eyster snap-called with the A?Q?. Jennings showed the K?9? and was in need of some major help. The 5? river wasn't it, and Jennings had to settle for second place and a $929,745 consolation prize.
As you can see, Eyster added his name to a prestigious list of Five Diamond winners:
| Season | Entries | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | 146 | Gus Hansen | $556,460 |
| II | 314 | Paul Phillips | $1,101,980 |
| III | 377 | Daniel Negreanu | $1,795,218 |
| IV | 555 | Rehne Pedersen | $2,078,185 |
| V | 584 | Joe Hachem | $2,182,075 |
| VI | 64 | Eugene Katchalov | $2,482,605 |
| VII | 497 | Chino Rheem | $1,538,730 |
| VIII | 329 | Daniel Alaei | $1,453,930 |
| IX | 438 | Antonio Esfandiari | $870,124 |
| X | 413 | James Dempsey | $821,612 |
| XI | 503 | Ravi Raghavan | $1,268,571 |
| XII | 449 | Dan Smith | $1,161,135 |
| XIII | 586 | Mohsin Charania | $1,477,890 |
| XIV | 629 | Kevin ��1sickdisease�� Eyster | $1,587,382 |
The WPT will return on January 31 with the Borgata Winter Poker Open.
*Lead photo courtesy of WPT.
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