Top poker pro Andrew Lichtenberger showed once again what a consummate poker ace he is at the Bellagio over the weekend, claiming the main prize of $2,104,245 after taking down the World Poker Tour Alpha8 Las Vegas.
His victory over Tom Marchese in a hard-fought heads up was the highlight of an endurance test of a final table that featured formidable competitors and lasted for an energy-sapping 246 hands.
This $100,000 buy-in tournament attracted 55 entrants and created a prize pool of $5,395,500.
The final table consisted of Lichtenberger and Tom Marchese, Brian Rast (chip leader), Noah Schwartz, Jason Les, Bryn Kenney, Brandon Steven and Phil Laak.
By the dinner break the field was down to four survivors with Lichtenberger firmly in control, and shortly after the break Schwartz was eliminated for $539,550, leaving three-stage action to Lichtenberger, Marchese and Rast.
As the hours ticked by Marchese closed the gap between himself and chip leader Lichtenberger, whilst Rast fell further behind and was eventually sent to the exit around the 200 hand mark for $755,370, clearing the way for the heads up between Marchese and Lichtenberger.
Lichtenberger held the lead at 9.3 million vs. 7.2 million, but Marchese staged an epic response to draw level and then go into the chip lead, starting several lead-swapping sequences before hand 246 went the wrong way for him and he was sent home with the runner up prize and a consolatory $1,240,965.