Winner James Dempsey – Brighton UK, outlasted a 413 field of talented tournament players at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond $10,000 buy-in event. The final table included, 2010 amateur November Niner Soi Nguyen-Santa Ana Ca, who went heads up with Dempsey -Brighton UK, the reigning champ Antonio Esfandiari- Las Vegas, WSOP-bracelet winner Vanessa Selbst- New Haven CT, who was looking to add a women for a first ever WPT title, young tournament player from N.Y. Andrew Lichtenberger, and Vitor Coelho from Tampa Fl. who took 4th in the WPT Jacksonville. 1st: James Dempsey $821,612 (includes $25,500 WPT World Championship seat) 2nd: Soi Nguyen $517,478 3rd: Vanessa Selbst $338,351 4th: Andrew Lichtenberger $218,933 5th: Vitor Coelho $159,224 6th: Antonio Esfandiari $119,418 Press Release JAMES DEMPSEY WINS THE DOYLE BRUNSON FIVE DIAMOND WORLD POKER CLASSIC AT BELLAGIO IN LAS VEGAS Stacked WPT Final Table Featured Defending Champion Antonio Esfandiari and Vanessa Selbst Twitter: @WorldPokerTour Facebook.com/WorldPokerTour Las Vegas (December 12, 2011) As one of the worlds most prestigious poker events, the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic once again attracted the biggest players in the game. 413 runners, including nearly 40 WPT Champions Club members, created a prizepool of more than $4 million. A week of phenomenal action at Bellagio led to an impressive final table featuring Vanessa Selbst and defending champion Antonio The Magician Esfandiari. However, only one player could claim victory in this historic tournament and in the end, James Dempsey triumphed over the talented field to etch his name on the WPT Champions Cup. Day 1 commemorated the tenth edition of the first event ever on the World Poker Tour as Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten, Kimberly Lansing, the Royal Flush Girls and Tournament Director Jack McClelland celebrated this legacy before announcing Shuffle Up and Deal. The most famous names in poker including Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Phil Hellmuth and the tournaments namesake Doyle Brunson turned out in force as players registered through the opening eight levels. The money bubble burst during the middle of Day 3, and by the end of the day, five WPT Champions had hit the rail, including Will The Thrill Failla (93rd $11,942) who picked up 50 more points to extend his lead for WPT Season X Player of the Year. WPT Raw Deal Analyst Tony Dunst made his first deep run at a WPT Main Event, busting late on Day 4 (18th $31,845) to eventual champion James Dempsey. WPT Season IX Ones to Watch William Reynolds (13th $39,806) and WPT Season VIII World Champion David Williams (10th $47,767) couldnt survive the final playdown day, and when Soi Nguyen knocked out Larry Wells (7th $91,554), the WPT final table was set. In World Poker Tour history, no player has ever won the same event twice, let alone in consecutive seasons, but defending champion Antonio Esfandiari nearly pulled off this heroic feat. During the WPT final table, The Magician came out swinging, and moved all-in on just the tenth hand. While Esfandiaris Ah10s had James Dempseys Ad4h dominated, an unlucky Four on the turn eliminated The Magician in sixth place. The action had begun at a feverish pace and did not let up. Two hands later, Soi Nguyen busted Vitor Coelho in a three-way pot involving Vanessa Selbst. Vitor not only picked up $159,224 for his fifth place finish, but also 900 WPT Player of the Year points to push him into 2nd in the Season X POY race. Vanessa Selbst was looking to become the first woman to win an open WPT Main Event, and soon after Coelhos elimination, Selbst doubled through WPT Season IX Ones to Watch Andrew LuckyChewy Lichtenberger. Once again, only two hands later Soi Nguyen eliminated another challenger as his pocket nines held up against Lichtenbergers pocket eights. Three-handed play did not last long. Just fifteen minutes after LuckyChewy hit the rail, Vanessa Selbst would fall to Dempsey, ending her bid to make WPT history. To get his name onto the Cup, James Dempsey had to overcome a strong challenge from Soi Nguyen. The two players entered heads up play nearly even as both held slightly over $8 million in chips. Nguyen went up early and maintained the lead during a stretch of back and forth action. However, after doubling up, Dempseys KhQc held up against Nguyens KcJd as Dempsey made a straight on the river. James Dempsey claims $821,612 for the win, in addition to receiving the Tiffany and Co. WPT Champions Award, the WPT Champions Trophy, and entry into the WPT Champions Club. Final Table Standings 1st James Dempsey $821,612 2nd Soi Nguyen $517,478 3rd Vanessa Selbst $338,351 4th Andrew Lichtenberger $218,933 5th Vitor Coelho $159,224 6th Antonio Esfandiari $119,418 Player of the Year Standings 1st Will Failla 1,650 2nd Vitor Coelho 1,500 3rd James Dempsey 1,400 3rd Bobby Oboodi 1,400 5th Vanessa Selbst 1,300 6th Soi Nguyen 1,250 7th Andrey Pateychuk 1,200 7th Jin Hwang 1,200 7th Matt Waxman 1,200 10th Daniel Buzgon 1,150 The final WPT Main Event of 2011 kicks-off tomorrow from Italy. WPT Venice runs from December 13 18 at Casino di Venezia. The 3,300 re-entry tournament is poised to attract a strong turnout of local and well-known professionals. Coming up in 2012, WPT Season X will feature many of pokers biggest events. WPT returns in February to Commerce Casino for the world-renowned Los Angeles Poker Classic. In March, Season X visits San Jose, CA for the popular Bay 101 Shooting Star. April will become a milestone month for Florida poker, as WPT arrives for back-to-back televised Main Events the second-ever Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown and the debut WPT tournament in the brand new Jacksonville Poker Room. WPT Season X concludes in May with the WPT World Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas. WPT Media Contact: Max Sloan About World Poker Tour World Poker Tour (WPT) is the premier name in internationally televised gaming and entertainment with brand presence in land-based tournaments, television, online and mobile. Leading innovation in the sport of poker since 2002, WPT ignited the global poker boom with the creation of a unique television show based on a series of high stakes poker tournaments. WPT has broadcast globally in over 150 countries and territories and is currently airing the ninth season on FSN in the United States. Season X of WPT is sponsored by ClubWPT.com, a unique online membership site which offers inside access to the WPT as well as a sweepstakes-based poker club and is available in 35 states across the U.S. WPT participates in strategic brand license, partnership and sponsorship opportunities. WPT Enterprises Inc. is a subsidiary of bwin.party digital entertainment plc. For more information, go to WorldPokerTour.com.

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