Victory for Dan Shak at PartyPoker Premier League

Posted on: March 26, 2013, 04:34h. 

Last updated on: March 26, 2013, 04:35h.

Kevin Horridge Read More

Wall Street mogul Dan Shak has emerged as the victor of the PartyPoker Premier League VI at the Aspers Casino near London, taking the title after days of action and a tough heads-up round against Sam Trickett to finish up this exciting tournament.

As well as the prestigious title, Shak has walked away with a cool $450,000, leaving the British runner-up with a pleasing $200,000 prize for second place.

And…Action!

Starting the final table in third position behind chip leader Tobias Reinkemeier and Jonathan Duhamel, Shak demonstrated great poker skills and patience as the hedge fund manager took down the chip leaders and emerged victorious.

Talal Shakerchi was first to leave the final table when actress Jennifer Tilly sent him packing, picking up a pair of aces on the flop to beat out his pocket kings. But Tilly’s luck ran short as she was the next to hit the rail, and was taken out of the race by Duhamel. Shakerchi walked away with $45,000 while Tilly took home a prize of $60,000.

Eliminations Continue

Finishing in sixth place and taking home $70,000, Reinkemeier was also eliminated by Duhamel, despite his starting in the pole position. This elimination play thrust Duhamel into the position of chip leader and it began to look as though he could not be beat.

Fifth place went to Daniel Cates, the runner-up of last year’s tournament, after he was eliminated by this year’s winner. “I’m sorry, man,” announced Shak as he sent Cates home with $100,000 in his pocket.

Despite his impressive performance, it was Duhamel who finished in fourth place after Trickett left his chip stack dwindling. The Canadian can’t complain too much however as it was the soon-to-be champion Shak that beat him out and he still pocketed a nice $125,000.

Antonio Esfandiari then left the table, also at the mercy of Shak, and left Shak and Trickett to duke it out in the final heads-up, albeit with $150,000 in his pocket.

The Final Showdown

Shak went into the heads-up with a lead of 1.7 million to Trickett’s 871,000 chips. However, Trickett hammered away at Shak and actually stole the lead from the American.

But alas, it was not to be Trickett’s night, as a later flush saw Shak sitting pretty with virtually every chip on the table in his possession. After that, there was little hope for the Brit and Shak emerged victorious as the winner of the PartyPoker Premier League VI.

This win brings Shak to an impressive $1.4 million in tournament wins so far in 2013, and sits him firmly in third position in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. However, this Premier League win will not count towards the standings.