All French Affair: Pierre Calamusa Tops Field of 959 to Win 2015 WPO Dublin Main Event
Pierre Calamusa went into the final day of play with double the amount of chips of any of his 24 opponents, and it's safe to say he made the most of that advantage as he was ultimately crowned the champion of the 2015 Winamax Poker Open Dublin Main Event champion — a tournament that attracted 959 entrants and created a prize pool of €467,513 — an accolade that came with a €70,000 prize.
The win brought Calamusa's lifetime tournament earnings up to $350,274, while the €70,000 (USD $78,012) first-place prize marked the third-biggest of his career behind the $89,974 he received for finishing third in the 2012 Euro Finals of Poker High Roller, and the $81,702 he banked for finished runner-up in the 2014 PMU.fr World Poker Tour National Cannes Main Event.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Calamusa | €70,000 |
| 2 | Louis Le Brouhis | €50,000 |
| 3 | Guillaume Diaz | €36,000 |
| 4 | Louis Linard | €27,800 |
| 5 | Jean-Francois Combe | €21,372 |
| 6 | Jerome L’Hostis | €16,500 |
The final day’s action began with 25 players in contention for the title, and while Calamusa was the runaway chip leader, the majority of the eyes around the room of the Regency Hotel were fixated on Davidi Kitai, the highly-decorated Belgian Team Winamax Pro.
Unfortunately, Kitai’s run came to an end in 19th place when he check-raised all in with the 10♥4♥ on a K♥Q♠J♥ flop and was called by the last remaining Irish player, Eoin Malone. Malone held the Q♦J♦ for two pair and when the 8♦ turn was followed into play by the 5♣ river, Kitai was crippled. He busted the very next hand.
One by one the players crashed out, but Malone was still there, flying the flag for Ireland and giving hope that the winner’s trophy would remain in the Emerald Isle. It wasn’t meant to be, however, as Malone’s superb run ended with an eighth-place finish worth €13,000.
Malone came unstuck when he committed his 17.5 big blind stack from the button with the 10♦9♥ and Guillaume Diaz looked him up from the small blind with 10x10x. A final board reading 5♣6♠J♥9♦A♠ failed to come to Malone’s rescue, and the tournament became an all-French affair.
The final table was set in stone when Jeremy Guilbault's A♣K♦ lost to Diaz’s A♠J♣ when the latter spiked a jack on the river.
Here's a look at how the final table stacked up:
| Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pierre Calamusa | 2,955,000 |
| 2 | Louis Le Bourhis | 5,030,000 |
| 3 | Guillaume Diaz | 4,930,000 |
| 4 | Louis Linard | 1,370,000 |
| 5 | Jerome L’Hostis | 1,550,000 |
| 6 | Jean-Francois Combe | 3,330,000 |
Final tables of major live main events can often run for several hours, but that wasn't the case here as it took just 153 minutes for Calamusa to be crowed champion.
The first to fall was Jerome L’Hostis, who got his chips in with the A♠10♦ and ran into the dominating A♣J♣ of Louis Le Bourhis. Neither player improved on the 4♥2♠8♠2♣9♣ board, and L’Hostis became the sixth-place finisher.
Jean-Francois Combe was the next player to bust, again at the hands of Le Bourhis. Combe raised to 200,000 and called when Le Bourhis three-bet to 450,000. Both players checked the J♠10♥6♦ flop and the dealer placed the Q♥ on the turn. Combe led for 375,000 and called when Le Bourhis raised to 800,000. The 3♥ completed the board and Combe jammed for two million chips and was instantly called due to Le Bourhis holding 9♦8♥ for a straight, a much stronger hand than the JxJx that had flopped a set.
Fourth place went to Louis Linard when his Ax10x couldn’t get there versus Le Bourhis’ AxQx when the five community cards fell 5♥6x2♥5♠9♦.
The dangerous Guillaume Diaz then suffered a major bad beat at the hands of his fellow Team Pro, Calamusa. A preflop raising war saw Calamusa five-bet all-in with 6x6x and Diaz make the call with QxQx. Calamusa went on to spike a set of sixes to send Diaz to the sidelines and leave Calamusa with a massive chip lead.
Four hands into the heads-up battle the tournament was over. All the chips went into the middle of a 4♦8♦5♠K♣ board with Le Bourhis holding Q♦8♣ for a pair or eights and Calamusa the monster that was A♥A♦. The 10♠ river was no help to Le Bourhis, and he had to settle for runner-up and a €50,000 consolation prize.
Congratulations to Pierre, Calamusa, the 2015 Winamax Poker Open champion!
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