2021 WPT Tampa
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Tampa, Florida
Event 5
$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Entries:  202
Prize Pool:  $195,940
June 13-14, 2021

Event 5 ($1,100 No Limit Hold’em) was a two-day event that attracted 202 entries, and after a heads-up battle that saw several big back-and-forth lead changes, Anthony Lambert won in a heads-up deal with Thomas Boyden.

Boyden started heads-up with a slight lead, and then extended it to more than 2-to-1. But Lambert scored a key double-up when a five on the river gave both players a straight. Lambert’s eight-high straight beat Boyden’s five-high straight, and that gave Lambert the lead, which he then extended to 3-to-1.

Not long after that, they got it all in after a flop of , and Lambert showed . But Boyden flopped a straight with his , and it held up to even the chip stacks once again. Shortly after that, they agreed to a deal.

“We had been here for a while,” said Lambert. “We were both tired, and it’s been a long two days. So with even chip stacks, let’s make a deal, and we both leave happy.”

Lambert had slightly more chips, so as chipleader, he was declared the champion, receiving the title and the trophy.

“It feels great,” said Lambert, who is primarily a cash game player. “It’s been a long time since I had a big score. This will be my biggest, and it’s been a long time coming.”

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 25:  20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 202

Anthony Lambert raised to 80,000, and Thomas Boyden called.

The flop came , Boyden checked, Lambert bet 60,000, and Boyden check-raised to 175,000. Lambert moved all in, and Boyden snap-called all in for 840,000 with for a flopped queen-high straight.

Lambert turned over for an overpair with a gutshot straight draw, and Boyden needed his straight to hold to stay alive.

The turn card was the , the river card was the , and Boyden won the pot with his queen-high straight to double up in chips.

Thomas Boyden  –  1,880,000  (47 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  2,160,000  (54 bb)

Shortly after that hand, the two players agreed to an even chop of the prizepool while Lambert had a slight chip lead.

As chipleader, Lambert is declared the champion, and he received the title and the trophy.

Here are the full final table payouts, including the revised payouts for first and second:

1st:  Anthony Lambert  –  $43,103
2nd:  Thomas Boyden  –  $43,103
3rd:  Joseph Presho  –  $20,103
4th:  Aaron Thivyanathan  –  $12,236
5th:  David Shaw  –  $9,444
6th:  Mike Vela  –  $7,828
7th:  Ryan Hogan  –  $6,780
8th:  Frank Miceli  –  $5,976
9th:  Curtis King  –  $5,208
10th:  Matthew Leecy  –  $4,507
11th:  Oscar Lindo Zeledon  –  $4,507
12th:  Kenneth Taffaro  –  $4,507
13th:  Sam Panzica  –  $3,821
14th:  Andrew Kelsall  –  $3,821
15th:  Anthony March  –  $3,821
16th:  Kevin Hazzard  –  $3,174
17th:  T.K. Miles  –  $3,174
18th:  Gloria Shenefield  –  $3,174
19th:  Izadi Hamid  –  $2,551
20th:  John Gorsuch  –  $2,551
21st:  Christopher Agnello  –  $2,551

Congratulations to Anthony Lambert!

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 24:  20,000/30,000 with a 30,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 202

With the final board showing on the river and more than 800K already in the pot, Anthony Lambert moved all in from the small blind for 1,170,000.

Thomas Boyden asked for an exact count and thought for a while before he folded, saying, “I’m folding a very pretty hand,” later adding that he picked up a flush draw on the turn. But Lambert took the pot to nearly even up the chip stacks.

Anthony Lambert  –  2,000,000  (67 bb)
Thomas Boyden  –  2,000,000  (67 bb)

A short while later, the board showed on the turn with about 550K already in the pot. Boyden checked, Lambert bet 300,000, and Boyden called. The river card paired the board with the , and both players checked.

Boyden showed for two pair, aces and queens, and Lambert mucked, saying, “Flush draw. I still have not hit a single flush.” Boyden won the pot to take a lead of more than 2-to-1.

Thomas Boyden  –  2,800,000  (93 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  1,300,000  (43 bb)

A short while later, the final board showed with about 150K in the pot. Lambert bet 100,000, Boyden raised to 525,000, and Lambert three-bet all in for 1,085,000.

Boyden asked for a count and thought for a while before he called with for a rivered five-high straight, but Lambert turned over to win the pot with a rivered eight-high straight.

“That five was an interesting card,” said Lambert.

Anthony Lambert  –  2,300,000  (77 bb)
Thomas Boyden  –  1,700,000  (57 bb)

Less than 10 minutes later, they battled over a board of with more than 1.1 million already in the pot. Lambert moved all in from the small blind, and Boyden went into the tank for a long time.

“This is a crazy spot,” said Boyden. “Almost the same as that earlier three-bet.”

Boyden eventually folded, and Lambert took the pot, along with a 3-to-1 chip lead.

Anthony Lambert  –  3,000,000  (100 bb)
Thomas Boyden  –  1,000,000  (33 bb)

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  2 of 202

Thomas Boyden raised from the button to 50,000, Joseph Presho reraised from the big blind to 175,000, and Boyden tanked for a while before he moved all in for 705,000.

Presho snap-called with , and Boyden turned over . Boyden needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and Boyden paired his ace on the flop to win the pot and double up in chips.

Thomas Boyden  –  1,450,000  (58 bb)
Joseph Presho  –  975,000  (39 bb)

Twenty minutes later, Boyden raised from the button to 50,000, Anthony Lambert called from the small blind, and Presho reraised from the big blind to 200,000.

Boyden thought for a while before he moved all in for 1,060,000, and Lambert folded.

Presho asked for an exact count, saying something like, “I don’t think I’m ever supposed to fold here.” Presho had 1,040,000, and was covered by just 20K in chips.

Presho calls with , and Boyden turned over .

The board came , and Boyden paired his ace on the flop and his king on the river to win the pot with two pair, eliminating Presho in third place.

Joseph Presho  –  Eliminated in 3rd Place  ($20,103)

Here are the updated chip counts for the start of heads-up play, followed by the final table payouts:

Thomas Boyden  –  2,175,000  (87 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  1,865,000  (75 bb)

1st:  $52,083
2nd:  $34,123

3rd:  Joseph Presho  –  $20,103
4th:  Aaron Thivyanathan  –  $12,236
5th:  David Shaw  –  $9,444
6th:  Mike Vela  –  $7,828
7th:  Ryan Hogan  –  $6,780
8th:  Frank Miceli  –  $5,976
9th:  Curtis King  –  $5,208

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  3 of 202

Aaron Thivyanathan was all in from the small blind for about 425,000 with , and he needed his hand to hold to stay alive against the of Anthony Lambert on the button.

The board came , and Lambert paired his jack on the flop to win the pot and eliminate Thivyanathan in fourth place.

Anthony Lambert  –  1,900,000  (76 bb)
Aaron Thivyanathan  –  Eliminated in 4th Place  ($12,236)

With three players remaining, the average chip stack is about 1,350,000 (54 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $20,103.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 23:  15,000/25,000 with a 25,000 ante
Players Remaining:  4 of 202

David Shaw moved all in under the gun for 315,000, and Anthony Lambert called from the small blind with .

Shaw turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came — Shaw paired his four on the flop, but improved no further. The pocket queens held up for Lambert to win the pot and eliminate Shaw in fifth place.

Anthony Lambert  –  1,250,000  (50 bb)
David Shaw  –  Eliminated in 5th Place  ($9,444)

With four players remaining, the average chip stack is about 1,010,000 (40 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $12,236.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 22:  10,000/20,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players Remaining:  5 of 202

Aaron Thivyanathan raised under the gun to 40,000, Mike Vela reraised from the cutoff to 125,000, and Thivyanathan quickly moved all in for 295,000.

Vela quickly called with , but Thivyanathan turned over .

The board came , and the pocket queens held up for Thivyanathan to win the pot and double up in chips.

Aaron Thivyanathan  –  620,000  (31 bb)
Mike Vela  –  130,000  (7 bb)

Two hands later, Vela moved all in under the gun for 130,000, and it folded to David Shaw in the big blind. Shaw peeled a look at one of his cards, and called based on that one card as he flipped it over — the .

Then Shaw flipped over his other card and woke up with .

Vela turned over , and he needed to improve to stay alive.

The board came , and the pocket aces held up for Shaw to win the pot and eliminate Vela in sixth place.

David Shaw  –  1,115,000  (56 bb)
Mike Vela  –  Eliminated in 6th Place  ($7,828)

After the hand, Vela smiled and said, “When I saw the ace of spades, I figured the worst case was that we were tied. Oops.”

With five players remaining, the average chip stack is about 810,000 (41 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $9,444.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 202

Anthony Lambert raised from the cutoff to 35,000, Mike Vela moved all in from the big blind for 210,000, and Lambert thought for a while before he called with .

Vela turned over , and needed it to hold to stay alive.

The board came , and Vela won the pot with his ace to double up in chips.

Mike Vela  –  445,000  (30 bb)
Anthony Lambert  –  945,000  (63 bb)

With six players remaining, the average chip stack is about 675,000 (45 big blinds), and the next player to bust will earn $7,828.

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 21:  10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 202

The six remaining players were sent on a 15-minute dinner break as the 1K chips were taken out of play and the 100K chips were introduced. Anthony Lambert grabbed the lead from David Shaw but the tournament is still deep.

Blinds increased to 10,000/15,000 with 15,000 ante and the averages stack is 675,000 (45 bb).

Seat 1: Michael Vela – 480,000 (32 bb)
Seat 2: Joseph Presho – 735,000 (49 bb)
Seat 3: Thomas Boyden – 365,000 (24 bb)
Seat 4: Anthony Lambert – 1,080,000 (72 bb)
Seat 5: Aaron Thivyanathan – 495,000 (33 bb)
Seat 8: David Shaw – 885,000 (59 bb)

Remaining payouts:

1st: $52,083
2nd: $34,123
3rd: $20,103
4th: $12,236
5th: $9,444
6th: $7,828

$1,100 No Limit Hold’em (Re-Entry)
Structure | Payouts
Level 20:  6,000/12,000 with a 12,000 ante
Players Remaining:  6 of 202

David Shaw opened to 27,000 from under the gun and picked up calls from Michael Vela in the hijack and Thomas Boyden on the button. The flop came , Shaw checked, Vela bet 35,000 and only Boyden came along.

The turn was , Vela bet another 45,000 and Boyden called. The prompted a check from Vela and Boyden thought for a minute before announcing “all in”. Vela took his time, Boyden would be at risk for ~235,000 but Vela opted to fold.

Thomas Boyden – 475,000 (40 bb)
Michael Vela – 460,000 (38 bb)