Justin Smith wins WPT London Poker Classic High Roller


22-year-old beats TonyG for the main prize 
 
Internet poker whiz Justin ‘BoostedJ’ Smith won the inaugural GBP15,000 buy-in WPT London Poker Classic High Roller event at the Palm Beach Casino, Mayfair in the early hours of Monday morning after over 12 hours of action and eight and a half hours of eight handed play.
 
In the final stages of the match the 22-year-old from Los Angeles eventually beat veteran poker pro TonyG heads-up to win GBP141,000 and the title.
 
It was one of the longest final tables in WPT history, but Smith finally finished top of the pile after finishing second and third in WPT Bellagio Cups in the last two years.
 
“It is brilliant to finally get a first place on the WPT after my near misses at the Bellagio, “ said Smith. “This was quite some battle – the line-up was so tough. I am satisfied but completely exhausted!”
 
Runner-up Tony G, was clearly very disappointed to bust out so close to the title.
 
“For me it wasn’t about the money it was about the pride of taking first place but what will be will be,” he said. “I needed plenty of heart and commitment to stay at the table that long but luckily my Egyptian friends had a sisha pipe waiting for me around the corner for every break. It’s a shame my chances of winning went up in smoke.”
 
The final table of the event was a star studded occasion and four-handed the players had a total of over $15 million in tournament winnings between them. The unfortunate bubble boy was Bruno Fitoussi, while the recent winner of the WPT High Roller in Paris Freddy Deeb finished third.