Ben Wilinofsky Poker

December 6, 2018 3:08 pm

Ben Wilinofsky won his maiden WPTDS title at the WPT DeepStacks Championship Main Event for a first-place prize money of C$223,359. Ben Wilinofsky would stick with the hip-hop vibe plumping for Harmony Homicide by Kool G Rap. Nesrine Reilly is another one of those Hip Hop loving poker players. The French starlet would saunter down to the table listening to the sounds of Drake and Started From The Bottom.

Canadian pro Ben Wilinofsky has taken down the World Poker Tour DeepStacks Championship (WPTDS) Main Event in Calgary, after making his way past a field of 529 players on his way to claiming a top prize of C$223,359 (US$167,990).

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  • Heinzelmann had been the David to Wilinofsky’s Goliath. His was a spirited heads-up fight back, going into the duel with a 70-30 disadvantage and sling-shotting his way to within a double-up of the lead.

Wilinofsky Mostly An Online Pro

Ben Wilinofsky is an online pro who has amassed $5,233,921 in winnings under the screen name NeverScaredB, including $3,674,788 earned on PokerStars. In terms of live tournaments, the player’s recent victory represents just his tenth cash to date.

Ben Wilinofsky Poker Game

In 2011, Wilinofsky took down the €5,300 EPT Berlin Main Event for a whopping €825,000 ($1,174,143), and the following year recorded a 3rd place finish at the €3,500 WPT Vienna Main Event for €122,910 ($163,725). The $167,990 he recently won on his own home soil completes a trio of six figure scores for the young pro, while also bumping up his live earnings to $1,590,398. Commenting upon his WPTDS Championship title, Wilinofsky said:

“I don’t see myself playing anymore tournaments this year, and I’m not going to make a special effort to do it next year. I enjoy the Canadian stops, but mostly I travel when I want to be somewhere and see friends, and it’s an excuse to head somewhere and sometimes we pick up a bunch of money.”

WPTDS Championship Main Event

The C$2,500 (US$1,865) WPT DeepStacks Championship Main Event took place at the Grey Eagle Resort & Casino, and featured a C$1,155,867 (US$ 869,334) prize pool, meaning 67 money places were paid. As one might expect, the tournament was a mostly Canadian affair, and by the time the final table had been reached all nine remaining players hailed from the country.

Wilinofsky entered the final table as chip leader, and was cruising along smoothly until losing a huge pot against John Foley in a full-house versus full-house encounter. That’s when his momentum spiraled down for a while, before getting back on track after sending Tyler Warken to the rail in 5th.

Wilinofsky (10-9) then eliminated a short-stacked Tyler Bonkowski (A-K) in 4th, before doing likewise to John Foley in 3rd to force heads-up play against Steven Dahrouge for the title.

Heads-Up Recap

Wilinofsky started the final battle holding a 3-2 chip lead against Steven Dahrouge. Despite an initial slow start to proceedings, post-break saw all the chips soon pushed to the center of the table with Wilinofsky’s pocket tens up against the A-Q of his opponent. Wilinofsky sealed his victory after the dealer laid out a K-J-9-K-Q board, while Dahrouge had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $117,759, representing more than half of his live earnings to date. Commenting after the contest was won, Wilinofsky said:

“I don’t think I was as level headed as I would have liked to be. I was playing a little fast, I was not taking my time, not taking those deep breaths. I’m glad that we just banged it off in a lucky pot, and we didn’t have to grind it out, because it easily could have gone the other way here.”

Ben wilinofsky poker playerBen Wilinofsky Poker

Final Table Results

Ben Wilinofsky Poker Odds

1st: Ben Wilinofsky $223,359
2nd: Steven Dahrouge $156,573
3rd: John Foley $100,687
4th: Dave McLeod $70,612
5th: Tyler Bonkowski $54,222
6th: Tyler Warken $44,814
7th: Eric Wasylenko $37,277
8th: Duff Charette $29,764
9th: Raymond Trieu $22,331

Ben Wilinofsky Poker Tournaments

Next WPTDS Stop

Ben Wilinofsky Poker Player

The World Poker Tour DeepStacks has since moved onto the Casino Barrière de Deauville in the Normandy region of France. On December 6th, its €1,200 Main Event subsequently kicked off one of three starting days, with Day 2 scheduled to get underway on Saturday, and a winner crowned on Sunday, December, 9. Last year, the WPTDS Deauville Main Event attracted a total of 421 players, resulting in a €444,567 ($525,158) prize pool, and was eventually won by French player Bruno Benveniste for €93,700 ($110,686).

Ben Wilinofsky Poker Play

The WPTDS is then scheduled for a break over the holiday period, before returning to the action at the Casino Spielbank Berlin in Germany on January 11.