A Breakout Performance Earns Tien Phung the Main Event Title
In just hit second reported Hendon Mob cash ever, Tien Phung rose the occasion to take down the Main Event. Him and Alex Liu chopped leaving Liu with $54,000. Phung took home the trophy and first prize of $56,669 to earn a mark in the PPT history book. The main had a whopping 338 entries leading to a prize pool of $317,720.
| Place | Player | Prizes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tien Phung | $65,529 |
| 2 | Alex Liu | $45,140 |
| 3 | Greg Wood | $29,340 |
| 4 | Nathan Masih | $22,570 |
| 5 | Dj Sharma | $17,380 |
| 6 | Jeffrey Weiss | $13,770 |
| 7 | Andy Truong | $10,830 |
| 8 | Ryan Smith | $8,580 |
| 9 | Thomas Taylor | $7,000 |
| 10 | David Devere | $5,640 |
| 11 | Shen Liew | $4,610 |
| 12 | Sharmark Mohamed | $4,610 |
| 13 | Naleen Narayan | $4,010 |
| 14 | Cody Goulet | $4,010 |
| 15 | Ian Alvarado | $4,010 |
| 16 | Kyle Hartree | $3,490 |
| 17 | Chris Symesko | $3,490 |
| 18 | Shane Cutinha | $3,490 |
| 19 | Alexander Richmond | $3,020 |
| 20 | Abdul Zahir | $3,020 |
| 21 | Glenn Tarasoff | $3,020 |
| 22 | Jason Pelletier | $3,020 |
| 23 | Julius Roque | $3,020 |
| 24 | Holly Berry | $3,020 |
| 25 | George Broumas | $3,020 |
| 26 | Denis Halvadzija | $3,020 |
| 27 | Johnny Dalphond | $3,020 |
| 28 | Brenda Robertson | $2,290 |
| 29 | Chris Lahey | $2,290 |
| 30 | David Ko | $2,290 |
| 31 | Jay Tran | $2,290 |
| 32 | Leo Brouwer | $2,290 |
| 33 | Ryan Parungao | $2,290 |
| 34 | Colten Yamagishi | $2,290 |
| 35 | Bowen Leung | $2,290 |
| 36 | Lonnie Hallett | $2,290 |
| 37 | Ryan Cairns | $1,800 |
| 38 | Joseph Anderson | $1,800 |
| 39 | Shawn Taghavi | $1,800 |
| 40 | Jerry Li | $1,800 |
| 41 | Kurtis Antoniuk | $1,800 |
| 42 | Jeff Forester | $1,800 |
| 43 | Dj Sharma | $1,800 |
Play was quickly down to 34 players as bust outs were rapid. Eliminations continued until three tables were left. With 21 remaining, Greg Wood was the chip leader with over 1,000,000 in chips. Chris Symesko and Kyle Hartree fell early into two tables. Ian Alvarado was next to fall along with Cody Goulet. It didn’t take long to get to a final table as Naleen Naraya, Sharmark Mohamed, and Shen Liuw left the tourney on the final table bubble. David Devere bubbled the final table scoring $5,640 for his efforts.
Phung entered the final table with 1/3 of the chips in play. He continued adding to his stack to end the break at 3,310,000 and Liu trailed in second 1,670,000. The next closest stack was under 1,000,000. Thomas Taylor was the first to fall on the final table flopping the smaller straight against Liu’s bigger flopped straight. Ryan Smith fell next after his pocket twos failed to hold against King-Jack. A four outer sent Andy Truong out next as he got it in with middle pair. Phung turned broadway to send him to the rail. Soon after, Jeffrey Weiss flopped best against pocket sevens but a turned set sent him to the rail.
Phung had 5,500,000 and Liu was at 2,900,000. The next closest player was Nathan Masih with 740,000. DJ Sharma was next out after his pocket fives shoved into Phung’s Queen’s. Nathan Masih was the next to fall after flopping top-top but fell to a turned straight. Wood made his short stack last pushing himself to third place. He shoved King-Jack into Liu’s Queens to hit the rail. With Phung having 6,085,000 and Liu 4,042,000, both players agreed to an ICM deal. This was surely a main event for the books and congrats to Phung for taking the event.
George Mounsef Wins Event #15: $340 Last Chance; Dedicates Win to Snides
It was a quick final Sunday on the Pure Poker Tour with both the Main Event and the Last Chance finishing up around 11 PM. George Mounsef took down the short-stacked Johnny Yu for the title to take home the trophy for the $340 Last Chance. It was ace over ace and Mounsef had the dominating kicker with a king.
After the tournament, Mounsef made a point to mention that he was dedicating his win to our late friend, Ryan “Snides” Snyder. He dictated a short message to Ryan through me:
“I would like to dedicate this win to the memory of my good friend Ryan “Snides” Snyder, one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. We all miss you, buddy. The Alberta poker scene isn’t the same without you. Rest in Peace brother.”
