Esfandiari beat French player Remi Bollengier heads-up to claim the €126,207 first-place prize in Event 2 €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em. Esfandiari now owns three gold bracelets.
With the victory Esfandiari moved past Greg Merson into the 2012 WSOP Player of the Year lead (Merson will have to finish fourth or better at the Main Event final table in October to re-take the lead).
Esfandiari took the chip lead into the final table of Event 2 with 393,000 chips although he did have to compete with noted pros McLean Karr, Antonin Teisseire and Salvatore Bonavena.
Karr, who won WPT Bay 101 in 2010, finished in sixth place when he shoved with queen-ten and Esfandiari called with ace-eight.
Close Call as Bollengier Nearly Becomes First French WSOPE Winner in Cannes
Bollengier could have become the first French winner since the WSOPE moved to France but was instead forced to settle for second place and the €78,059 that came with it.
To put things in perspective Esfandiari has eight WSOP cashes this year, including winning the biggest poker tournament in history – the $18 million Big One for One Drop.
According to the record books Esfandiari has won more than $18.5 million playing WSOP events this year (although he has admitted he didn’t have all of himself in the Big One).
Several poker players have criticized the WSOP’s decision to include the Big One for One Drop for POY points because there were only 48 entrants.
Here’s a complete look at the final-table payouts for Event 2 €1,100 No-Limit Hold’em:
1st: Antonio Esfandiari - €126,207 2nd: Remi Bollengier - €78,059 3rd: Salvatore Bonavena - €57,079 4th: Antonin Teisseire - €42,356 5th: Valentin Detoc - €31,869 6th: McLean Karr - €24,309 7th: Ashly Butler - €18,798 8th: Jamel Haddad - €14,736 9th: Florian Ciuro - €11,707Visit www.pokerlistings.com