Sam Panzica and Richard Malone, Jr. started the final table of the 2016 World Poker Tour bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event in nearly a dead heat for the chip lead, so it only seemed natural that the tournament came down to the two of them. And boy, did it come down to the two of them. It took Panzica and Malone nearly 150 hands during their heads-up match to finish the deal, but in the end it was Panzica who nabbed the title and $354,335.
Here are how the chip stacks shaped up to begin final table action on Tuesday:
1. Sam Panzica – 2,970,000
2. Richard Malone, Jr. – 2,950,000
3. Paul Balzano – 1,865,000
4. Tyler Patterson – 1,405,000
5. Noah Schwartz – 1,095,000
6. Ankush Mandavia – 1,030,000
Right off the bat – on literally the first hand of the final table – Malone took out Paul Balzano. On a board of J-6-4-T, Balzano moved all-in for 1.18 million chips and Malone called him with K-Q, giving him an open-ended straight draw. Balzano had pocket Kings and was in the lead, but the river was a 9, completing Malone’s draw and eliminating Balzano in sixth place.
Just nine hands later, Noah Schwartz moved all-in pre-flop for 870,000 chips with K-Q and Malone looked him up with A-K. The better kicker held and just like that, there were four players left and Malone was in first place with 5.71 million chips.
As long as the heads-up portion took, the rest of the final table was extremely fast. On Hand 40, Malone scored a double elimination to set up his heads-up match with Panzica. Malone had raised pre-flop, following by an all-in from both Tyler Patterson and Ankush Mandavia. Malone pondered his decision and finally called with A-Q of spades. Patterson had Kings and Mandavia had Tens. Nothing changed on the flop, but an Ace on the turn gave Malone a pair of Aces and after a low card on the river, the tournament was suddenly heads-up.
Malone had nearly a 2-to-1 chip lead on Panzica at that point, 7.365 million to 3.95 million chips. And so the marathon one-on-one session began.
It certainly looked like Malone was going to run away with the tournament early on. Panzica was offering little resistance and on the 21st hand of heads-up play, Malone had grown his stack to over 10 million chips, about eight times as many as Panzica. Even after a double-up by Panzica, Malone still had more than 8 million chips, but Panzica kept hanging on.
The turning point came on Hand 73 of heads-up. Malone had gotten back over 9 million chips, but Panzica doubled-up to trim the deficit to 7.265 million to 4.050 million. From there, Panzica whittled away at Malone’s lead and on the 83rd hand of their battle, he took over the chip lead. Malone regained the lead briefly, but for the most part, it was all Panzica after that. On the final hand, the 185th of the final table, Panzica moved all-in pre-flop for nearly 9 million chips with K-9 and Malone called with A-3. The board came down 8-7-5-9-K; Panzica scored two pair and his the first World Poker Tour title of his career.
2016 World Poker Tour bestbet Bounty Scramble – Final Table Results
1. Sam Panzica – $354,335
2. Richard Malone, Jr. – $237,616
3. Ankush Mandavia – $152,766
4. Tyler Patterson – $100,643
5. Noah Schwartz – $77,499
6. Paul Balzano – $64,183
