Dylan Rowe wins WPT500 at partypoker

New Zealand’s newcomer Dylan Rowe finished ahead of 2,420 entrants and won the WPT #01 WPT500 at partypoker for $181,545. This was a major win for Rowe, who didn’t have many live results recorded. His only recorded win was in a WPT side event, when the tour visited the SkyCity Casino in New Zealand in 2019, and he went on to win the No Limit Hold’em – WPT New Zealand Six Max Shot Clock for $16,640. 

This event was one of two $530 buy-in tournaments with $1 million guarantee on the WPT500 schedule, with the other being the WPT #13: WPT500 Knockout, which took place between March 15 and 23, and finished with Armin Rezaei on top of a field of 2,601 entrants, for $139,971.

Both events were a success, and smashed the $1 million guarantee – the former generated a $1,211,000 prize pool, while the latter generated a $1,300,500 pool.

WPT #01

The event began with 2,420 entrants, and only 361 players advanced to Day 2 on March 15. For the final table, the field trimmed down to nine contestants, with Andrii Novak holding the chip lead, followed by Lukas Wimmer, Stoyan Kitanov and Dylan Rose.

David Singontiko was the first player eliminated at the final table, in ninth place for $13,802, after calling off four big blinds and failing to beat Rowe’s ace-four suited. The following elimination featured a huge hand for three players, with Kitanov holding two kings, Deividas Kvaselis with two queens, and Rowe with a suited ace-king, in preflop. Kvaselis had already locked down the main pot earlier in the hand, so Kitanov had to fade a flush draw to stay alive. However, Rowe completed the draw to send Kitanov off in eighth place for $17,716.

Brandon Adams was sent home by Andrii Novak’s tens, in seventh place for $22,358, followed by Aaron Been in sixth, with $28,887. Later, Pedro Padilha Chaves’ king-six couldn’t beat Rowe’s eight-seven, as he was eliminated in fifth place, for $37,895. After a good start at the final table, Deividas Kvaselis fell short to Novak’s pocket aces, and finished fourth with $55,719.

From there, Dylan Rowe went on a streak and won several consecutive hands to take the lead and over half of the chips in play. He then eliminated Lukas Wimmer in third place for $84,064, after turning over an ace-four for a bicycle.

The heads-up action began with Rowe holding a 3-to-1 chip advantage against Novak. He extended this lead, and cleared the board with a suited king-four, to eliminate Novak and win the WPT #01 WPT 500 at partypoker, for $181,545. This is his second recorded result and the first win, and could lead him to be Americas Cardroom new poker star, as, according to a reliable source for gaming information, the company is looking for the “next Chris Moneymaker”.

WPT #13 Knockout

The other $1 million guarantee event in the schedule, the WPT #13 WPT500 Knockout at partypoker was a progressive knockout tournament, with half of the buy-ins going towards the prize pool and the other half placed as progressive bounties.

The final table began with three quick eliminations, as the shortest stacks in the final table, Gediminas Uselis, Robert Svedin and Jeroen van Dijck, were sent home in the early rounds. David Lopez Llacer took the lead when he eliminated Aliaksei Boika, who finished in sixth place for $25,261.

This was followed by a few cool hands, with the lead changing between Llacer and Armin Rezaei, and after the Austrian player sent Benjamin Chalot home, in fifth with $28,454, he took the lead for the last time. Duff Charette was unable to beat Rezaei’s suited ace-four, and finished fourth, for $37,307. Brazil’s Gustavo Mastelotto was also eliminated by Rezaei, when his king-jack didn’t hold against Rezaei’s ace-nine suited, and finished third with $54,392.

The heads-up action between Rezaei and David Lopez Llacer began with a 2-to-1 chip advantage for Rezaei. After some cooler rounds, Llacer lost most of his stack when his king-queen couldn’t beat the opponent’s cowboys. Llacer then went all-in with a suited ten-four, only to be eliminated by Rezaei’s suited ace-jack. This was Armin Rezaei first recorded win, and he netted $76,275 in prizes and $63,696 in bounties, for a total $139,971.