Quail Hunts Down WPTDeepStacks Title in Pittsburgh
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WPTDeepStacks Pittsburgh wrapped up on Monday at Rivers Casino, and Ryan Quail emerged as champion. He conquered a field of 386 for a first-place prize of $77,001 in prize money, plus a $3,000 package to the WPTDS Championship next April.
Going by his record of live tournament cashes, Quail may be considered a somewhat surprising champ as he had under $5,000 in recorded scores. However, he said he's been getting coaching and it paid off.
"I have a coach — Mr. Brigade — we have been working quite a bit on some ICM stuff, and it helped me quite a bit at the final table for sure," he told tournament staff.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ryan Quail | $80,001* |
| 2 | William Reilly | $53,919 |
| 3 | Ryan Ashman | $34,665 |
| 4 | Stan Lee | $22,917 |
| 5 | Jamie Rotellini | $17,642 |
| 6 | Jared Jaffee | $14,615 |
| 7 | Mark Milburn | $12,238 |
| 8 | Jaynesh Patel | $9,961 |
| 9 | Matthew Radcliffe | $7,700 |
The tournament's 386 entries across three starting days enabled it to fly past its guarantee of $300,000 fairly easily. Some of the 49 players finishing in the money included Ping Liu, Zach Gruneberg, James Pupillo and recent MSPT champ Bobby Noel, who busted in 17th.
Jaffee Finds No Traction
Quail held the chip lead heading into the final table, according to the live updates, narrowly ahead of William Reilly.
However, the headliner was certainly WSOP bracelet winner and WPT champion Jared Jaffee, entering in third place with about 30 big blinds. Jaffee's credentials easily outpaced the other players, but he'd bust out during the second level of Day 3 play to make it a short stay at the final table.
After Reilly scored two of the first three eliminations, Quail caught up to him when Jaffee got it all in from the small blind for 930,000 at 25,000/50,000/50,000 holding A♥J♠. Unfortunately for him, he was completely smashed by Quail's A♠A♣, and while a jack on the turn gave Jaffee a tiny sweat, he wouldn't get there on the river.
Quail's Run Continues
Quail then cemented his lead with three more knockouts.
First, he busted Jamie Rotellini with pocket sevens over pocket deuces after a six-high flop.
Then, Stan Lee got it in with J♣9♣ for a flush draw on Q♥Q♣6♣. His overcards were also good as Quail looked him up with K♥6♥, but the turn and river didn't improve Lee and he had to settle for fourth.
Quail then outkicked Ryan Ashman on an eight-high board as Ashman got it in with eight-three against king-eight on the turn.
Long Heads-Up Match
Quail seemed all set to roll for the title has he had 9 million of 11.5 million in play heads up.
However, Reilly had other ideas. He started a comeback with a lucky hand. On a Q♦J♦5♥ flop, the two got stacks in with Reilly's Q♣4♣ behind Q♥7♦. While Reilly had a decent shot at a chop, he'd get the whole pot when a four arrived on the river.
Three more doubles would follow, including one nasty cooler in Reilly's favor where he made a wheel against a set of fives for Quail.
"I just kept applying pressure to chop his stack down"
However, between each one, Quail would distance himself from Reilly and keep his lead.
Finally, after four hours of play, Reilly check-raised all in with sixes and fives on 9♥5♦3♣6♥. However, that very card that brought him two pair gave Quail a winning straight, and he avoided the board pairing on the river to give Reilly a full house.
"I just kept applying pressure to chop his stack down as much as I could so whenever he did double it didn't hurt as bad, and I finally found the right spot," Quail said.
