J.C. Tran Wins PartyPoker.com Premier League III; Tony G Comes in Second

Published on December 1st, 2008 3:01 am EST

J.C. Tran overcame an incredibly tough final table to take down the PartyPoker.com Premier League III title on Sunday.

Tran took home $300k for his victory, while the second-place finisher (Tony G) took home $150,000.

The final table was full of well-known names, including: Juha Helppi, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Roland de Wolfe and 2008 World Series of Poker champion Peter Eastgate.

Eastgate was the first player eliminated, succumbing to the pocket Aces of J.C. Tran. Eastgate took home $30,000 for his efforts.

Roland de Wolfe went out in fifth place after his pocket Kings proved to be no match for the A-Q offsuit of Juha Helppi. Roland was sent to the rail $40,000 richer.

Tom "durrrr" Dwan was the next player eliminated. Dwan and Tony G found themselves all-in on a flop of 7-8-5 rainbow. Dwan showed 8-6 for top pair and an open-ended straight draw, while Tony G showed J-8 for top pair, better kicker. The turn and river missed both players, and Tom Dwan was sent to the rail with $50,000.

Juha Helppi was the next player to be eliminated from the tournament. Helppi pushed holding A-10 offsuit, and Tony G called holding A-Q offsuit. The better hand held up, and Helppi was sent to the rail in third place, and taking home $80,000 for his efforts.

The final hand of the tournament came when J.C. Tran limped in on the button holding 9-7 offsuit, and Tony G checked in the BB with his K-8 offsuit.

The flop came 5-7-6 with two hearts, giving J.C. Tran top pair and Tony G an open-ended straight draw. The two players got the rest of their chips into the middle after the flop - the turn and river missed both players, and J.C. Tran took down the PartyPoker.com Premier League III title.





The tournament featured twelve of the best players in the world playing in a "league" format. The six players with the most number of points after a handful of "preliminary heats" would eventually make up the final table.

The players who didn't make it to the final table were: David "Devilfish" Ulliott, Andy Black, Annette Obrestad, Phil Hellmuth, Nenad Medic and Vicky Coren.

This is Tran's third major title in the past 12 months - he took down a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2008 World Series of Poker for $631k, and a $5k NLHE preliminary event at the 2007 Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $523k.

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Filed Under: Tournament Results