The poker pro from New Berlin, Wisconsin more than doubled his lifetime live tournament earnings, defeating Scottish pro David Vamplew heads-up to earn $553,906 in Las Vegas Saturday.
Pope used his giant stack to tame an all-star final table that included respected online pros, an EPT champion and a WSOP bracelet winner.
Between them the eight final-table players have over $30 million in live and online earnings.
“I ran extremely well. Anyone can see that and I'm not going to deny it,” Pope told the poker media moments after his victory.
“I've had a couple close calls in the past and I came up short on those but I came in here with half the chips and I was pretty confident that I was going to win,” he added.
Pope's biggest score heading into this final table was a sixth-place in the 2010 WPT Championship, good for $153k.
He also made a final table previously here at the World Series of Poker in a $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event.
“I always felt that I was good enough to win a bracelet but tournaments involve a lot of luck so I just wasn't as lucky in past situations as I was here,” said Pope.
Pope Runs Hot to Beat Top Pros, Friends
On the way to his wire-to-wire victory Pope had to battle through a lineup of tough professionals and even a few personal friends.
Pope told the media he knew every member of the final table personally with the exception of his heads-up opponent David Vamplew.
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“Darryl Fish is one of my best friends and I was just living with him a few weeks ago in Costa Rica so it's really cool to be able to share this experience with everyone,” he said.
Pope eliminated Fish himself in a preflop all-in with pocket nines besting jack-nine.
But Pope said that former WSOP bracelet winner Dan Kelly was his biggest fear.
“Dan Kelly is just so good. He's able to do things and put pressure on you like no one else can,” said Pope.
Luckily when Pope found himself all-in on the turn with a pair against Kelly's pocket aces he nailed trips on the river to bust his fellow American.
The heads-up match was a short affair with David Vamplew lasting only seven hands before succumbing to Pope's onslaught.
Here are the full final-table results:
1st: Trevor Pope - $553,906 2nd: David Vamplew - $342,450 3rd: Darryll Fish - $215,286 4th: Jared Hamby - $154,518 5th: Jamie Armstrong - $112,695 6th: Dan Kelly - $83,552 7th: Brandon Meyers - $62,915 8th: David Peters - $48,130For a full rundown of the entire final table click through to our Live Coverage from Event 2: $5,000 8-Max No-Limit Hold'em event.
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