WPT – Eugene Katchalov wins
Eugene Katchalov won the WPT Championship event at the Bellagio and nearly 2.5 million dollars. Ted Kearly came in second, while David “Devilfish” Ulliott reached third place.
The 2007 WPT Championship was a very special
event. It attracted 644 players to the Bellagio, and the $15,000 buy-in produced
a staggering prize pool of almost $10 million. A lot of highly skilled and
renown players participated, but none of them got the title. Instead it was
taken by Eugene Katchalov. Not quite an unknown, he hasn't been counted among
the game's greatest either.
He returned to the final table alongside Jordan
Rich, David Ulliott, Ted Kearly, Ken Rosen and Ryan Daut. With nearly nine
million chips, Katchalov was a favourite to win, just ahead of Jordan Rich, who
had 6.5 million. The other players were already a long way behind before play
started.
The final table was very disappointing for Rich.
With about 6.5 million chips, he was apparently the only one who could stand up
to Katchalov's monster stack. Unfortunately, three hands in, he lost almost half
of his stack. It was the beginning of the end for him, as he was finished off
two orbits later. He put his money in with pocket jacks, only to find himself
against Katchalov's bullets, effectively ending his run. Rich was the second
player out, after short stacked Daut's elimination by Ted Kearly.
Katchalov continued strongly throughout the final
table. With a monster chip lead, it was only a matter of time before he took out
all of the remaining players. David "Devilfish" Ulliot played solidly, earning a
3rd place finish. The heads-up between Katchalov and Ted Kearly
lasted a record eight hands, ending with a flop all-in. Katchalov had Kearly
dominated with 
versus 
KcJs on a 
flop. The board brought no help to
the latter, and the Ukrainian born went home with $2,482,605.
| WPT Championship Event Bellagio | ||
| Rank |
Name |
Prize |
| 1 | Eugene Katchalov | $2,482,605 |
| 2 | Ted Kearly | $1,252,640 |
| 3 | David Ulliott | $674,500 |
| 4 | Ken Rosen | $433,675 |
| 5 | Jordan Rich | $289,070 |
| 6 | Ryan Daut | $192,715 |
