Zamani and Cheong Shine at WSOPC Planet Hollywood

The WSOPC Planet Hollywood has just completed its 12-day run in Las Vegas, during which time 14 gold rings were awarded across a number of different tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $250 to $2,200 for its High Roller event.
Amongst the notable pros winning accolades at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino was 2-time WSOP bracelet winner Benjamin Zamani, and Joseph Cheong, who is currently ranked at number 4 on California’s ‘All Time Money List’.
$1,675 Main Event
The $1,675 Main Event attracted 610 players, resulting in a prize pool almost double its $500,000 guarantee, with Benjamin Zamani eventually winning its $192,152 top prize after four days of play. By the time the final table of nine had been reached, Zamani was just one of a number of recognizable pros to have enjoyed deep runs in the event, with other finalists including WSOP bracelet winner Barry Hutter, 2010 WSOP Main Event finalist Joseph Cheong, as well as Benjamin Palmer, and Jesse Yaginuma.
Zamani then went on to dominate the proceedings, first by eliminating Cheong in 8th place, before picking up pocket kings and doing likewise to Aaron McEvoy (10-10) in 5th. Four-handed play subsequently saw Zamani increase his chip count to 10 million, while his opponents had a combined 2 million between them, enabling him to make a call holding 8-4 against the short-stack all-ins of Scott Powrie (K-Q) and Barry Hutter (A-7). The 10-4-3-3-9 board which ensued was good enough for Zamani to score a double elimination, and take a commanding 20-to-1 chip advantage over Benjamin Palmer into heads-up play.
The action swiftly concluded on the very first hand, with Zamani moving all-in holding 10c-7c and receiving a call from his opponent with Jh-2h. The dealer then laid out an Ac-Kd-Jd-Qh-3s board to hand Zamani the win and take his career earnings to $4,746,713, while Palmer collected $118,849 for his hard fought efforts, and now has amassed $1,928,142 from live tournaments.
Final Table Results:
1: Benjamin Zamani $192,152
2: Benjamin Palmer $118,849
3: Barry Hutter $86,907
4: Scott Powrie $64,489
5: Aaron McEvoy $48,522
6: Jesse Yaginuma $37,012
7: Hank Mlekoday $28,621
8: Joseph Cheong $22,436
9: Stephen Nussrallah $17,824
$2,200 High Roller
Following Joseph Cheong‘s Main Event final table appearance on Monday, the Californian pro was one of 109 players to enter the $2,200 High Roller, meaning a $218,000 prize pool was up for grabs. In addition to the money, Cheong was looking to find a replacement for the WSOPC ring which he won in 2010, but was recently stolen from his vehicle.
After reaching the final table, Hyon Kim sent Ankush Mandavia and Dylan Wilkerson to the rail in 9th and 8th place respectively. All the while, Cheong’s stack was diminishing, but he soon scored a valuable double-up and elimination when his pocket kings held against a short stacked Patrick Colceri (10-10) who exited in 7th place.
Next, Hyon Kim (A-K) knocked out Michael Benko (Q-Q) in 6th, while Cheong subsequently went on a heater, taking out Steve Foutty in 5th, Eric Baldwin in 4th, and Hassan Tahsildar in 3rd to usher in heads-up play against Cheong for a coveted ring.
At this stage, Cheong held a more than 2-1 chip advantage over Kim, and continued to pile on the aggression by shoving on the button frequently, and regularly presenting Kim with decisions which placed his whole stack at risk. In the end, the deciding hand was played with Cheong shoving preflop holding K-10 and Kim calling for his remaining chips with Q-J. A king on the river then put paid to Kim’s tournament hopes, with the $40,422 runner-up prize the South Korean player received increasing his career winnings to $1,407,068, placing him at number two on his country’s winner’s list.
Joseph Cheong’s winning performance, on the other hand, boosted his live earnings to $12,204,338, and now increases his WSOPC ring tally to two. Commenting upon the strategy he employed during the latter stages of the event, Cheong stated:
“I had a decent stack at the beginning of the final table. Enough that I just sat there and played patiently. And I just got a little heater started. And when I got chips, I just started pushing the action.”
Final Table Results:
1: Joseph Cheong $65,399
2: Hyon Kim $40,422
3: Hassan Tahsildar $28,780
4: Eric Baldwin $20,906
5: Steve Foutty $15,487
6: Michael Benko $11,691
7: Patrick Colceri $8,933
8: Dylan Wilkerson $7,044
9: Ankush Mandavia $5,614
Next Stop
Next stop on the WSOP Circuit is Harrah’s Cherokee in North Carolina from April 12-23, followed by the Horseshoe Baltimore in Maryland from April 26-May 7, and then Harrah’s New Orleans in Louisiana from May 18-21.