Edmonton-based poker pro Tony Comely won CA$81,200 and the championship title when he triumphed over a field of 420 players at the DeepStacks Edmonton Spring Main Event. The DeepStacks Poker Tour festival took place April 6 to April 16 at Casino Yellowhead and culminated with Monday’s Main Event which gathered a total prize pool of $399,000.
The large entry field of mostly Canadian poker players gathered for the 10-day festival held in the beautiful Western-themed Casino Yellowhead in Edmonton, Alberta. A total of 420 poker pros and enthusiasts paid the $1,100 buy-in for the festival’s Main Event and after two Day 1s, only 89 of them remained for Day 2 on Sunday. Despite the nice total prize pool of $399,000, some of the survivors went home empty-handed and 53 left in the money bubble. By the end of Day 2, nine players had survived for the final table.
In order to come out victorious, Comely had to survive and top the final heads-up battle against Andrew Goertz on Monday. Goertz was defeated, taking $56,940 in prize money, while Comely took the first place cash prize ($81,200), along with a $3,000 DSPT Championship package. He won a seat in the DeepStacks Championship that takes place in Calgary this December. The win he scored on Monday is his largest live cash ever, bringing his total live poker tournament earnings to US$300,000. He took another large prize at the CA$1,000 Western Canada Poker Classic Main Event in May 2014 when he banked $56,600.
Final Table Action
The nine players who made it through Day 2 returned Monday for the final table and play started with Haven Werner as a chip leader, having a stack of 1,920,000. She was followed by Andrew Goertz (1,730,000 in chips) and Tony Comely (1,695,000). Damian Minev was eliminated first when his pair of Jacks had no chance against Goertz’s King-King on a board of King-10-2-4-8. Minev left with $8,130 in prize money, while Goertz took the chip lead with 2.33 million. The second quick bust came when Goertz sent Tony Nguyen (8th place) home with $10,620.
After a break, Ian Alvarado was eliminated in 7th place by Dwayne Reid Lacombe and took home $13,130. The next casualty of the final table was Brieanne Chetek (6th place, $15,640), followed by Kris Steinbach who was out in 5th place ($18,870). Dwayne Reid (4th, $24,540) and Haven Werner (3rd, $36,610) followed, leaving Comely and Goertz for the final heads-up. In the final hand, Goertz raised to 300,000 preflop, Comely called, and 9-5-4 was dealt. Goertz bet another 300,000 and Comely called before the turn fell (King).
Finally, Goertz continued with the last of his chips (4,350,000), Comely covered and the two tabled their cards. With a King-4 and a King in the river, Comely eliminated Goertz (9-8). For the second place, he received a consolation prize of $56,940, while the newly crowned champ took $81,200.
