David Sands Wins WPT World Championship Super High Roller ($1,023,750)

By Ryan Lucchesi
Photos by Joe Giron

It is very rare that you make a World Poker Tour televised final table and still walk away empty handed, but that was what happened to three players on the final day of the World Poker Tour World Championship $100,000 Super High Roller event. The high buy-in tournament attracted 21 players and so only the top three would walk away with prize money at Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament attracted some of the top poker players in the world so it came as no surprise that the final match that decided the title late tonight, after a long period of play to bust the $409,500 money bubble, came down to two of the best young players in the game – David Sands and Joseph Cheong. The final match was a short one, which as you will read below was in stark contrast to the rest of the final table, and it was Sands who won his first WPT title after coming so close during Season X (runner-up finish at the L.A. Poker Classic). The win took Sands up to $5.5 million in career tournament earnings.

Here is how the table looked when cards got into the air tonight:

Seat 1.  Joseph Cheong: 1,646,000 (102 bb)
Seat 2.  Andrew Robl: 169,000 (10 bb)
Seat 3.  Jim Courtney: 1,690,000 (105 bb)
Seat 4.  Steven Silverman: 1,339,000 (83 bb)
Seat 5.  Daniel Perper: 164,000 (10 bb)
Seat 6.  David Sands: 1,286,000 (80 bb)

The first stretch of play at the final table was defined by a series of double ups. The two short stacks Andrew Robl and Daniel Perper each doubled up, and Perper actually doubled up twice to stave off elimination. Robl wasn’t so lucky the second time he moved all in. Cheong raised to 48,000 from the cutoff and Andrew Robl reraised all in from the button for 204,000. Jim Courtney called from the small blind and Cheong mucked. Robl held [KcQc] but he was behind the [KdKh] of Courtney. The board was dealt [10h9s4s8h6c] and Robl was eliminated in sixth place.

That first elimination took place on Hand 28 but thanks to another rash of double-ups it wasn’t until Hand 99 that we lost another player. That hand started with Cheong raising to 100,000 on the cutoff. Steven Silverman reraised all in for 685,000 from the small blind and Perper moved all in over the top of him to isolate. Cheong folded and Silverman showed [Kc5c]. Perper held the lead with [QcQs] and the ladies held up on a board reading [Js6d2h6h10c] to eliminate Silverman in fifth place.

That put play on the dreaded TV final table money bubble and the theme of the final table continued to be defined by the unusual number of double-ups for any player who was all in. The number of double up reached double-digit territory before the next player fell on the 146th hand of play. Perper raised to 120,000 under the gun and Cheong called from the small blind. Courtney also called from the big blind and the flop was dealt [Js8d6c]. Action was checked to Perper and he bet 160,000. Cheong folded while Courtney made the call. The turn fell [9c] and Courtney moved all in for 660,000. Perper called with [Jc8h] and Courtney held pocket sevens. The river was the [Kd] and Perper won the pot to eliminate Courtney on the money bubble in fourth place.

The battle for third place was shorter than the previous forays at the final table. On Hand 176 Perper moved all in on the button for 1,170,000 and Sands moved all in over the top of him to isolate. Cheong got out of the way and Perper revealed [Kh7s]. Sands held pocket fives and the board was dealt [8h5d4dJs8s]. Perper was eliminated in third place and he took home $409,500.

The chip counts at the start of heads-up play had David Sands (4,765,000) holding a 3-1 chip advantage over Cheong (1,530,000). The final match was different than the previous long stretches of play at the final table, lasting just four hands. On the final hand of the tournament Cheong moved all in preflop for 1,135,000 with [As3d] and Sands called with [Ah8d]. The board fell [Qs5d2sAd9s] and Cheong was eliminated in second place, good for $614,250. That made Sands the Super High Roller champion. He was awarded $1,023,750 and one-of-kind trophies from the WPT and Bellagio.

Final Table Results:

1: David Sands – $1,023,750
2: Joseph Cheong – $614,250
3: Daniel Perper – $409,500
4: James Courtney – $0
5: Steven Silverman – $0
6: Andrew Robl – $0

Tune back in tomorrow at 4 p.m. PT to follow along with the hand-for-hand live updates and real-time chip counts from the WPT World Championship main event here at Bellagio.