Juttelstad, who led or was in the top five in chips virtually wire-to-wire, earned $268,444 for the win – by far and away his largest live score ever.
All told, 303 hands were needed to play down from the final six but only about 30 of them were needed heads-up between Juttelstad and Gagne.
Starting heads-up play with a 6.8 million to 2 million edge, it took Juttelstad slightly longer than hoped to knock off the game Gagne although she never climbed much past the 2 million.
Gagne Comes Up Just Short
On the final hand, Juttelstad limped for 80,000 with 6♥ 4♣ and Gagne called.
The flop came 5♣ 3♠ 2♥ and Gagne bet 300,000, getting a call from Juttelstad.
The A♠ turn set off the fireworks. Gagne shoved and Juttelstad snap-called with the six-high straight.
Unfortunately for Gagne, the ace had filled her wheel draw with 8-4 and now she was on the ropes. The river blanked and Juttelstad scooped the tournament after an almost year-long hiatus from poker.
Gagne collected $158,194 for the runner-up finish but came up just short in her attempt to become the first-ever open event female WPT champion.
Florida-native Juttelstad originally busted on Day 1a but re-entered on Day 1b when his grad school interview at Florida Atlantic University ended early.
On top of the first-place money and WPT trophy, he also earned a $25,500 seat in the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio in May.
Below are the final six and their payouts: 1st: Matt Juttelstad - $268,444 2nd: Gigi Gagne - $158,194 3rd: Uri Kadosh - $105,463 4th: Sharon Levin - $73,344 5th: Todd Jacobson - $54,649 6th: Keith Ferrera - $42,185
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