Just over a year ago at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Ryan Tosoc finished second to James Romero at one of the biggest events on the World Poker Tour, the Five Diamond Poker Classic. It was an amazing result for Tosoc, but he did himself one better on Sunday, winning the 2017 Classic and taking home nearly $2 million for first place. The Las Vegas resident defied the odds by outlasting a tournament-record field of 812 entrees; Tosoc claimed victory after 49 hands of heads-up No-Limit Hold’em action with rising star Alex Foxen.
Tosoc was in second place when the Classic reached the final six players on Sunday, but he had over 60% of the chips in play by the time he was heads-up with Foxen. It only took seven hands for Foxen to take the lead, but eventually, Tosoc caught Foxen making a big bluff on the river, calling with second pair to take a massive chip lead that he would not relinquish. Tosoc adds his $1.96-million jackpot to the $1.12 million he earned for finishing second last year.
- The Bellagio Poker Room, one of the hottest poker spots on the Las Vegas Strip, is currently playing host to this year’s WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic.The festival has long been one of the most popular tournament poker events to be taking place within WPT’s schedule, and this year presents no exception to what has become a general rule.
- 12 December 2017. Ryan Tosoc makes it $3m in two tournaments after winning the World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic a year after finishing second, and Bruno Benveniste.
- 2.5 Day 5 Ryan Tosoc outlasted 812 players and bested his last year’s runner-up finish in this same event to claim his first WPT title when he won the 2017 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,958,065.
Complications in SLS Las Vegas Sale
2017 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event – Final Table Results. Ryan Tosoc – $1,958,065 2. Alex Foxen – $1,134,202 3. Mike Del Vecchio – $752,196 4. Ryan Tosoc Wins WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,958,065 Written by Teemu - Monday, December 11, 2017, Live poker Picture courtesy: World Poker Tour The week-long 2017 World Poker Tour.
Is the SLS Hotel & Casino Las Vegas about to go under? According to Friday’s report in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a lawsuit has been filed against the former Sahara’s owners by a group of 60 Chinese investors, who say the SLS Las Vegas is on the “verge of bankruptcy.” The investors apparently loaned around $400 million under the EB-5 Pilot Program in 2013 and 2014; this government program holds out the carrot of US citizenship in exchange for investments in “at-risk” projects, but according to the lawsuit, none of the investors has received a permanent green card yet.
This legal action complicates the pending sale of SLS to the San Francisco-based Meruelo Group, which also owns the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, but current owners Stockbridge Real Estate say they expect the deal to go forward. Meruelo is currently in negotiations with the plaintiffs, trying to strike a bargain, but the EB-5 program conditions limit what can be done – and the lack of agreement has kept Meruelo from applying to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for final approval of the sale.
Missed last week’s blog? Here is last week’s Poker News.
Let’s just say that Ryan Tosoc will be staying at the Bellagio whenever he is in Las Vegas. This weekend, Tosoc won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event and nearly $2 million, just a year after finishing this same tournament as the runner-up and earning over $1.1 million. Methinks he can splurge for the Bellagio’s Presidential Suite* during his next stay.
Last year’s event was the largest-ever for the Five Diamond, as it garnered 791 entries. This one was bigger, with the re-entry format helping the field climb to 812 $10,000 entries. If you did the math above (with my rounded-off numbers), Tosoc has now won more than $3 million at the Five Diamond, accounting for the vast majority of his live tournament earnings. He has a nice list of cashes, but only one other is even in the low six-figure range (and it is at this point that I give my usual disclaimer that I would KILL for a low six-figure poker score).
“It feels unreal,” Tosoc told WPT.com afterward. “I kind of feel like I’m in a dream right now.”
Poker can be an emotional game, especially since you can make perfect decisions and still come out on the losing end, but Tosoc tried not to get too high or too low during the Main Event.
“During the tournament, I like to just keep even-keeled,” he said. “The only time like I felt like I was going to win was when I was all in with Queen-Ten. I just felt that jack coming.”
It is not every day that players feel ultra-confident when all-in with just Queen-Ten, but I guess that’s the mojo you get when you are on your way to winning one of the World Poker Tour’s most prestigious events.
Five Diamond World Poker Classic 2017 Leaderboard
That Queen-Ten was on the final hand of the tournament and frankly, Tosoc had every right to feel that victory was coming, as he had an enormous chip lead at that point over Alex Foxen, 21.450 million chips to just 2.925 million.
Tosoc raised pre-flop with the aforementioned hole cards, as one would expect, and then Foxen shoved all-in with a dominated A-T. With little to lose by calling (and not REALLY all-in), Tosoc looked him up.
The flop was 9-3-K, a good one for Foxen, though Tosoc did gain a gutshot straight draw. As he already told WPT.com, he felt the Jack coming and it certainly did so on the turn. Foxen, though, now had a chance at a better straight. Another Jack was dealt on the river, shutting the door on Foxen’s chances and given Ryan Tosoc a one-spot better finish than last year and his first WPT title.
2017 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event – Final Table Results
1. Ryan Tosoc – $1,958,065
2. Alex Foxen – $1,134,202
3. Mike Del Vecchio – $752,196
4. Sean Perry – $504,090
5. Away Chabra – $350,500
6. Richard Kirsch – $271,736
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
*I do not know if the Bellagio has something called the Presidential Suite.