WPT Amneville Champion: Adrien Allain

Adrien Allain just elevated his status from very big in France to very big in the world when he was crowned the latest WPT champion.

Allain was one of the favourites heading into this final table of six, but at the start of the day all eyes were on the chip leader Scott Baumstein. Baumstein was on a fantastic WPT voyage, one that he had been captain of since the end of Day 2, and everyone was wondering who could stop him. Then out of the depths of the murky waters came PartyPoker qualifier Jordane Ouin. Ouin did not lose a pot of note and it seemed whenever the cards were turned over, he had the goods, and most of the time his luckless opponent was Scott Baumstein.

It wasn’t only Ouin that Baumstein was losing pots too. Our eventual champion also doubled up through Baumstein in the early levels when he moved all in with pocket aces and was called by the [Ah] [10h] of Baumstein.

"This is a set up," said Baumstein.

It was tongue in cheek, but at the rate he was losing pots we could see exactly what he was thinking. Then after 2 hours and 20 mins we lost our first player. The first player out was our eldest and least experienced player Arnaud Trouer. Trouer moved all-in with [Ad] [Qc] and he was called by Allain holding [Ah] [Jh]. Trouer was not to know that Allain’s name was on the trophy and the flop of [Ks] [Jd] [Js] was only a surprise to Trouer!

The next player to exit through stage door left was Michel Konieczny. He squeezed out a three-bet shove but Baumstein was laying a trap for him. The [As] [10s] of Konieczny did not find the community cards they were looking for and the pocket ladies of Baumstein held true.

Step forward and take centre stage Adrien Allain and Scott Baumstein. In a huge pot Allain moved all in on a [Ad] [Qs] [5c] [Ah] [9h] board and Baumstein made the call. Allain’s [Ac] [3c] was stronger than Baumstein’s [Qc] [8d] and the crowd went absolutely mental with excitement.

Despite doubling up, immediately, Baumstein could not get back into the action and Jordane Ouin eliminated him in 4th place. That left Jordane Ouin, Adrien Allain and Thibaud Guenegou to battle it out for the title, and with the absence of Baumstein the play slowed down to that of a snail. It was Guenegou with the short stack, and after moving all-in, uncontested, several times Allain found a hand worthy of the call and his [Ac] [Qh] outlasted the [Ah] [7d] of Guenegou and he was our third place finisher.

Heading into the heads up encounter it was Allain who had stolen the momentum from Ouin. At one point it looked like a one-horse race until Ouin made an inspirational call to haul himself back into the match. On a board of [8c] [7d] [4d] Ouin bet 620,000 and Allain moved all-in. A Ouin fold at this point would have given Allain a huge advantage in the match but he found the courage to make the call and Allain was stunned. Ouin had [Ac] [9c] and Allain had [Jd] [Ts], Ouin’s hand held and the stakes were even again.

After that hand, the pendulum seemed to swing back into the direction of Ouin until Allain won yet another huge pot. On a board of [Kd] [Qd] [9c] [9d] Ouin bet 950,000 and once again Allain moved all-in. The room went deathly silent before Ouin eventually called. Allain held [6d] [5d] for the flush and Ouin held [Ac] [9s] for trips. Ouin needed the board to pair or the case nine to show up and he would have been crowned the new champion. Instead the [6s] showed up and Allain was the player looking more likely to take the title.

A few hands later and the chips were all-in once again and Allain’s [10s] [10d] finished off the [Kh] [9d] of Ouin and he was crowned our latest WPT Champion.

Here are the final table results:

1st – Adrien Allain – €310,633
2nd – Jordane Ouin – €170,365
3rd – Thibaud Guenegou – €113,580
4th – Scott Baumstein – €80,640
5th – Michel Konieczny – €60,196
6th – Arnaud Trouer – €47,700