Dominik Nitsche Wins 2012 WPT South Africa

German pro Dominik Nitsche has won the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic, after overcoming a field of 230 players over four days on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the $206,153 first place prize. With his latest victory in Johannesburg, South Africa, the 22 year-old now takes his live career earnings to $2,211,486 to go with his $2,893,049 won online under the screen name “bounatirouIMO.”
By the time the $3,600 buy-in Main Event reached its six-handed final table, Nitsche was way out in front a the chip leader with around 40 percent of the chips in play. First player to then leave the arena was a short-stacked Andrew Anthony in 6th ($32,394), who pushed his Kh-Qh pre-flop into the pocket tens of Jerome Bradpiece, with the board rolling out 6-5-4-6-J.
Next, Dominik Nitsche (J-J) eliminated Jason Strauss (2-2) in 5th for $41,965, while William Ross (Q-Q) then dispatched Wesley Weigand (A-9) to the rail in 4th for $56,321. However, William Ross (Ad-10d) then found himself on the wrong side of pocket queens and subsequently was eliminated by Jerome Bradpiece in 3rd ($80,985) to herald in the heads-up phase of the tournament.
At this stage, Dominik Nitsche held a 4,050,000 to 2,800,000 chip advantage over the UK’s Jerome Bradpiece, who proceeded to take the lead for a short while before Nitsche (A-K) was able to get value on all streets from Bradpiece (A-J) on a A-Q-6-7-2 board. The final hand was then played with Nitsche (Ac-4c) all-in pre-flop against the Jc-10c of his opponent with the 7-6-5-6-7 board subsequently sealing the deal to relegate Bradpiece to a runner-up finish worth $121,477, while Dominik Nitsche was crowned the WPT Emperors Palace Poker Classic champion.
The final table payouts were as follows:
1. Dominik Nitsche, $206,153
2. Jerome Bradpiece, $121,477
3. William Ross, $80,985
4. Wesley Weigand, $56,321
5. Jason Strauss, $41,965
6. Andrew Anthony, $32,394