Sep 1 2011
Will “The Thrill” Failla Wins WPT Legends of Poker
written by: James under News Comments: Comments Off
Will “The Thrill” Failla fought his way through 756 opponents in the World Poker Tour Legends of Poker tournament before claiming victory in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. The win is worth over $758k and represents the biggest live tournament score of Failla’s professional poker career.
Failla’s deep stack heading into final table play proved to be an invaluable asset, as he lost some chip real estate to Jeff Vertes and Joshua Pollock early on in the last day of action before eliminating Owais Ahmed in 6th place and earning much of it back. Failla made a risky call with A-5 offsuit against Ahmed’s J-7 suited, but an ace-heavy board gave Failla the decisive win.
One of the day’s most exciting moments came when Adam Aronson pushed all-in with 6-6 against the pocket red aces of Jeff Vertes. A six on the flop seemed to all but secure the pot for Aronson until hearts on both the turn and the river created a flush for Vertes. A few hands later, Ken Aldridge knocked out Joshua Pollock in 4th place. Pollock drew to a flush with J-7 of diamonds, but the board was no help and Aldridge escaped with A-7 offsuit.
Failla steadily built him momentum through three-handed play, doubling up when he could and eventually sending Vertes packing in 3rd place.
Heads-up play started with Aldridge holding 10.6 million chips compared to Failla’s 13 million. After Aldridge’s deficit was pushed to roughly 16 million chips, he made a desperate play and pushed all-in with 6-4 offsuit. Although Failla barely fared better with J-6 offsuit, it was enough for the outright win thanks to a mutually unhelpful board.
The win adds to the $241k Failla already received earlier this year at the Caribbean Adventure. Failla now has $2.9 million in career earnings to his name, with $1 million coming from 2011 alone.
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