The Season 20 edition of World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker at Parkwest Bicycle Casino has concluded with Joshua Pollock taking it down. Pollock defeated WPT mainstay Ray Qartomy (2nd for $380,000) in the heads-up to claim his spot in the WPT Champions Club and a top prize of $573,350.
This was Pollock’s first WPT title coming after a long career with two WSOP bracelets and just over $1.7 million in live cashes. His previous best finish at Legends of Poker was a 4th place for $128,500.
Running from 27th August to 1st September, the main event drew 642 entries, surpassing the $2.5 million guarantee and building a prize pool of $3,113,700 that was shared by the top 81 players.
The final day saw six players returning for the title and top prize with six-time WPT final tablist Ray Qartomy in the lead. Adam Hendrix was the clear short stack with 11 big blinds to start. He found a double-up early on but was still the first to fall. He was followed by Lei Lei (5th), Aaron Motoyama (4th) and Matthew Wantman (3rd), bringing it down to the heads-up play for the title.
Heads-up lasted for an hour and Pollock began it with a chip lead but lost his lead to Qartomy for a brief moment. He quickly fought back and got the job done when Qartomy’s ace-eight couldn’t improve against Pollock’s pocket eights. Pollock wo his first WPT title and the $573,350 top prize.
Talking about his one-hour heads-up battle against one of the tour’s best Qartomy, Pollock said, “Getting heads up against Ray (Qartomy) was pretty awesome because I think we both have similar styles. He likes to play fast and I like to play fast, so that was a really enjoyable experience.”
Final Table Results ( USD)
- Joshua Pollock – $573,350
- Ray Qartomy – $380,000
- Matthew Wantman – $280,000
- Aaron Motoyama – $207,000
- Lei Lei – $156,000
- Adam Hendrix – $119,000