The curtain came down on a massively successful APAT World Championship Of Amateur Poker (WCOAP) with the crowning of the Main Event champion. Patrick Blye of Canada is that champion, a result that saw the Canadian walk away with an impressive $27,408.

The $109 buy-in Main Event attracted a bumper crowd of 1,751 entrants who ensured the $150,000 guarantee was blown out of the water. $175,100 was shared among the top 263 finishers, a min-cash weighing in at $212 and a final table appearance boosting that prize to $2,116.

APAT WCOAP Main Event Final Table Results

Malta’s Julian Selinger was the first of the nine finalists to bust. Blinds were 300,000/600,000/75,000a and Selinger open-shoved from early position for 3,746,922 chips with . Shane Pollington called from the big blind with  and busted Selinger courtesy of an ace on the river of the  board.

The first of three British players, Stephen Prandstatter, crashed out in eighth-place for a $2,706 return on his $109 investment. Prandstatte came unstuck during the 350,000/700,000/87,500a level. Jelmer De Visser raised to 1,470,000 with , Blye three-bet to 3,150,000 with  and Prandstatter four-bet all-in for 4,236,421 with . Both players called the all-in bet.

The flop came  and De Visser checked. Blye bet 2,100,000 into the 14.45 million chip pot, which folded out De Visser. Blye won the pot and busted Prandstatter when the turn and river fell  and .

Seventh-place and $3,406 went to De Visser. The action folded to Jamie O’Connor on the button and he min-raised to 1,400,000 with . De Visser three-bet all-in from the small blind with  for 11,779,562 only to see Blye call with . O’Connor folded. The five community cards ran  and the tournament lost another player.

Austrian star Zachary Lipeles was the next player to fall by the wayside, his exit in sixth-place locking up $4,390. Michael Errington kicked off the preflop betting win a min-raise to 1,600,000 with  and Lipeles called in the big blind with . Both players check the  flop. The  turn was greeted by a pair of checks. The  river completed a wheel for Lipeles but a higher straight for Errington. Lipeles bet 1,360,000 and called off the 3,524,316 chips he had behind when Errington set him all-in. Game over for Lipeles.

O’Connor Takes Control

The final five became four with the untimely demise of Pollington. Errington followed his fellow Brit to the rail. O’Connor raised twice the big blind to 2,400,000 with  and Errington made it 5,400,000 from the small blind with . O’Connor ripped it in and Errington called off the rest of his 14,356,173 chips. Both players paired their ace on the  board, but O’Connor’s jack-kicker won him the 41.3 million chip pot.

O’Connor now had a massive chip lead and looked set for APAT WCOAP glory but it didn’t work out that way because O’Connor was the next player out of the door. Nothing went right for O’Connor while play was three-handed. His final hand saw him lose a coinflip to Blye.

Blye min-raised to 3,200,000 with , Randy Vermette folded his  in the small blind, but O’Connor jammed for 43,379,662 in total with . Blye called. The Canadian’s sevens held as the board ran . O’Connor collected $12,710 for his impressive third-place finish.

Blye Hold Huge Heads-Up Lead

Blye went into heads-up holding a 145,604,156 to 29,495,844 chip advantage over fellow Canadian Vermette. It didn’t take long for Blye to get his hands on Vermette’s chips and become the WCOAP Main Event champion.

From the button, Blye made it 3,200,000 to go with  and Vermette called with . Both players improved to a pair on the  flop, but both players checked. The turn brought the  into view, further improving Blye’s hand. Vermette bet 5,600,000 into the 6,800,000 pot, Blye raised enough to put Vermette to the test for the 24,591,688 chips he had behind and Vermette called. The river was the , which failed to change the course of the hand and a card that sent Vermette home in second-place with $18,619 to console himself with.

Congratulations to Blye who is a worthy champion, a champion with $27,408 more in his partypoker account than a couple of days ago. Blye also receives a coveted APAT gold medal and a custom WCOAP Main Event bracelet. Top work!

A Fitting End to a Superb Festival

We’re sure you’ll agree that this APAT WCOAP festival was superb. All 16 championship events were freezeouts, had incredible structures and awarded some juicy prizes.

It was amazing to see amateur poker players from all around the world head to partypoker and showcase their skills on the big stage. We can’t wait for the next edition of the WCOAP, can you?