Dan Colman, who took down the WSOP Big One For One Drop event in Las Vegas in the summer, is on a winning streak at the moment having emerged triumphant in the WPT Alpha8 at the Palm Beach casino to extend his earnings to almost $22 million in 2014 – and there are still two months of the year remaining.
The £60,000 buy-in super high-roller event from 6-7 October saw 23 buy-ins taken, two of those coming from Colman, who used his second bite at the cherry to devastating effect.
It was British hedge fund manager Talal Shakerchi who went into the second and final day of the Alpha8 with the chip lead, followed by Isaac Haxton and Colman in third place as 11 players sat down at the start of Day 2, with three more - Sorel Mizzi, Faisal Alfalasi and Max Altergott - taking advantage of the extra late registration period to take the total number of players in the Palm Beach casino to 14.
Those 14 were whittled down over the course of three levels to leave eight vying for the £600,000 first place prize with Shakerchi still out in front on 615,500, followed by Colman on 421,500 and Haxton on 305,500.
Vladimir Troyanovskiy came next on 232,000, with Christoph Vogelsang with 220,500, Sam Trickett on 203,500 and Altergott 178,500. Mizzi on 93,000 was the short stack at the table.
The first elimination was Trickett who raised to 12,000 from early position and found a three-bet to 33,000 from Shakerchi. Trickett responded with an all-in four-bet and Shakerchi snapped him off.
Trickett had AH-KH but the hedge fund manager had the rockets and although the KD-4D-3C flop gave Trickett a sweat, his hopes were soon dashed by the 4C on the turn and 6D on the river.
Vogelsang was the next to fall, becoming a victim of Mizzi after a pre-flop raising war saw the German all-in with AD-KD and Mizzi behind with the QC-JH. But the 10C-9C-4D flop gave Mizzi plenty of hope and the JS on the turn put him in front with the 6S on the river sending the German to the rail.
Shakerchi claimed the next scalp after Troyanovskiy three-bet all-in for 126,000 following Shakerchi's initial raise with AS-QH. Troyanovskiy’s tournament hung in the balance, his AH-9S in need of help from the KD-JS-5S-8S-KS board which provided none.
Mizzi had been relying on his all-in bets getting through in order to stay ahead of the increasing blinds and antes for the most of the day but his luck gave out when he moved all-in with QS-10S. Colman called in the big blind with KD-QD to put his Canadian opponent at risk of bubbling.
The KH-JH-3C was of little aid to Mizzi, who did pick up some outs to a straight, but they failed to materialise as the 4D on the turn was followed by the QC on the river sending Mizzi out on the bubble.
Haxton exited in fourth place at the hands of Shakerchi after his opening bet of 16,000 from under the gun saw Shakerchi set him all-in and Haxton call. Shakerchi had pocket kings and a despondent Haxton turned over KH-QC, with the 7S-5H-5S-3H-8D on the board providing no rescue.
Shakerchi went out in third after making an ill-timed move against Colman. After opening to 32,000 from the button, Colman instantly called with pocket queens when Shakerchi re-raised all-in for around 300,000 chips with AD-6H. The 7C-4H-2S-KH-2C on the board providing no salvation for the British financial expert.
Entering heads-up play Colman held a 1.6m to 687k lead over Altergott, who gave a great account of himself and proved to be a formidable foe before Colman eventually claimed the title when his JD-8H outflopped Altergott's KS-4C. The QH-8D-5H putting Altergott's tournament life in danger and the AH on the turn and 9S confirming him as the runner-up.
WPT Alpha8 London
1 Dan Colman £600,000
2 Max Altergott £350,000
3 Talal Shakerchi £224,000
4 Isaac Haxton £160,000
