On Sunday, Philipp Gruissem took down his second WPT Alpha8 event after his victory in London. The German pro won $1,086,400.
WPT has launched this year a brand new high roller series, the Alpha8. The first stop was held in Florida, starting on 26 August and the title going to Steven ‘Zugwat’ Silverman, along with the $891,660 first prize. Two more stops have since taken place and both were won by Philipp Gruissem. In London, 20 players entered and Gruissem faced Scott Seiver heads-up, defeating him in a huge battle for $1,379,840.
The WPT Alpha8 St. Kitts stop in South Africa was held on 16-17 November with 23 participants. 16 of them made it to Day 2 and Isaac Haxton was in the chiplead, followed by Mike McDonald and Seiver. Gruissem had only 18 Big Blinds but started the eight-handed finale with a considerably better stack size.
Seat 1st: Scott Seiver – 325,000 (54 BBs)
Seat 2nd: Isaac Haxton – 288,000 (48 BBs)
Seat 3rd: Tom McDonald – 660,000 (110 BBs)
Seat 4th: Timothy Adams – 161,000 (26 BBs)
Seat 5th: Philipp Gruissem – 274,000 (45 BBs)
Seat 6th: Mike McDonald – 448,000 (74 BBs)
Seat 7th: Fabian Quoss – 285,000 (47 BBs)
Seat 8th: Jason Koon – 360,000 (60 BBs)
Not even the Final Table meant an in the money finish, only the top five positions paid. Fabian Quoss, Haxton and Timothy Adams bubbled the field. Seiver finished in 5th place, meeting Gruissem’s full house, and then McDonald eliminated Jason Koon in a flip. In the three-handed game, Gruissem doubled up through McDonald with pocket kings, after which the two McDonalds clashed. Tom’s A-7 prevailed and Mike was out in 3rd place.
Tom McDonald – 1,110,000
Philipp Gruissem – 1,691,000
Gruissem managed to put and keep his opponent under pressure in the heads-up. Tom McDonald had 590,000 left in chips by the last hand and he called all-in preflop on Gruissem’s 3-bet all-in.
Gruissem: A:s 5:d
McDonald: A:d 6:c
Board: J:h 5:h 4:c K:s T:h
Gruissem’s out arrived and he won the tournament.
The German pro earned $1,086,400, making his lifetime total live tournament winnings grow to an impressive $7,976,294.
The end results are as follows:
1st: Philipp Gruissem – $1.086.400
2nd: Tom McDonald – $679.000
3rd: Mike McDonald – $434.560
4th: Jason Koon – $298.760
5th: Scott Seiver – $217.280
