UK Pro Gavin Cochrane Wins WPT World Online 8-Max Championship
The ongoing World Poker Tour (WPT) World Online Champions has just crowned a new champion!
Gavin Cochrane triumphed in the first No-Limit Hold’em event of the festival – the WPT World Online Championships 8-Max Championship and took home a cool $540,664.
The event drew a total of 1,062 entries, to generate more than $3 million in total prize pool. Cochrane defeated fellow countryman Thomas Boivin in a fast-paced heads-up battle to secure the title.
It wasn’t an easy final battle for Cochrane. He was leading the chips when the final table kicked off, but that was only short-lived as he turned a missed draw that led Dmitry Yurasov to double up and become the dominant player during the early stages of action. Cochrane worked harder and eventually regained the lead until the end.
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Final Table Recap
The first casualty of the final table was Sam Grafton who initially had his pocket kings cracked by Shyngis Satubayev‘s ace-queen, leaving him with less than a blind. On the very next hand, the Brit got pocket kings and got his remaining chips in against Yurasov’s ace-ten. The Belarusian ultimately made a straight leading to Grafton’s exit in ninth place for $40,144.
The next player to go was Bulgarian player Ognyan Dimov who failed in his bid to secure a Triple Crown glory after busting in eighth place for $48,427. He was followed by Canada’s Jiachen Gong who finished seventh for $61,171.
From there, Cochrane ran hot, scoring two successive eliminations – first, he eliminated Mexican Daniel Colpoys in sixth place for $87,296, and then went on to finish off Satubayev in fifth place. The player from Kazakhstan received the first six-figure score of the final table, amounting to $123,298.
Unfortunately for Yurasov, his early lead dwindled away and he was eventually eliminated after losing a hand against Cochrane. The former chip leader collected $173,956 for finishing fourth. Austrian player Lars Kamphues left the game shortly after, placing third for $256,728.
Regaining The Lead
A heads-up battle then ensued between Cochrane and Boivin, with the latter holding the chip advantage. The eventual winner scored a double-up, and grabbed the lead for the first time since losing it early in the game. He never relinquished that position until sealing a remarkable win with ace-jack, picking a jack on the river, against Boivin’s ace-four. Bolvin took home $388,119 for his runner-up finish.
Apart from winning the top prize, Cochrane’s name will also be engraved on the Mike Sexton Champions Cup. He also earned automatic entry to the prestigious WPT Tournament of Champions, and received a luxurious watch from Swiss watchmaker Hublot, alongside an Everyday Tumbler set from Baccarat Crystal.
The WPT World Online Championships continue on partypoker until September 8.