Sam Panzica Wins First WPT Title at bestbet Bounty Scramble

Most of the final table at the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble was heads-up play between Sam Panzica and Richard Malone Jr., but after several hours and over 145 hands of heads-up play, Sam Panzica completed a huge comeback heads-up to win his first WPT title.

The Michigan native and professional poker player bested a field of of 379 to earn his name on the Champions Cup, $354,335, a seat into the season-ending Tournament of Champions, a Hublot King Power Unico Carbon and Red Watch, and a pair of gold Monster 24k headphones.

At the outset of the final table, everything was going Malone’s way. Malone, who came into the final table second in chips, just a couple big blinds behind Panzica, eliminated Paul Balzano on the first hand of play. Balzano moved all in on the turn with pocket kings and Malone called with king-queen after turning an open-ended straight draw. Malone hit a nine on the river to make a king-high straight and keep Balzano’s time at the final table very brief.

It wasn’t even a full two orbits later that more chips found their way into Malone’s stack. Malone eliminated Noah Schwartz in fifth after Schwartz got his stack into the middle preflop with king-queen against Malone’s ace-king. Schwartz was one of two players who was looking to win this event for the second time.

Tyler Patterson was the other player looking to earn his second WPT title at this venue. Patterson won this event last year and was looking to be the first player in WPT history to successfully defend his title of a specific event. Unfortunately for Patterson, he ran into the buzzsaw that was Malone in the early part of the final table.

Malone knocked out Patterson and Ankush Mandavia on the same hand in a dramatic double knockout. Mandavia got all in with pocket tens, Patterson got his chips in the middle with pocket kings, and Malone called with ace-queen, having both players covered. The flop kept Patterson in the lead, but an ace came on the turn to give Malone the lead and eliminate both players. Mandavia started the hand with more chips and took home a third place finish.

In just 40 hands, the final table had been trimmed from six players down to two. Malone had eliminated every player at the final table to that point, while Panzica avoided any large pots. Malone started heads-up play with better than a two-to-one chip advantage, and slowly extended it to better than a five-to-one lead by the first break.

But Panzica didn’t quit and scored two double ups to climb back into the match. It was a long, slow process, but without very many showdowns, Panzica pulled even with Malone and eventually surpassed him. After taking the chip lead, Panzica continued his small ball approach and slowly extended his lead.

Eventually, Panzica moved all in on the button and Malone called for his last 10 big blinds with ace-three. He was in the lead against Panzica’s king-nine, but a nine came on the turn and a king on the river to secure Panzica’s first major title and eliminate Malone in second place. This was Malone’s first WPT cash and he takes home $237,616 for his runner-up finish.

Here are a look at the final table results:

1st: Sam Panzica – $354,335
2nd: Richard Malone Jr. – $237,616
3rd: Ankush Mandavia – $152,766
4th: Tyler Patterson – $100,643
5th: Noah Schwartz – $77,499
6th: Paul Balzano – $64,183

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoAcrhive.com