WPT Global goes OnLive in Mexico City with World Poker Tour
WPT Global generated 514 entries from 10 online Day 1 flights and 59 of those entries advanced to Day 2. A final Day 2 flight took place in Mexico City. In total, WPT500 Mexico City attracted a field of 763 and generated a prize pool of $500,000 that paid out the top 91 finishers.
Shaw earned $88,690 as the newest WPT500 Champion, marking Shaw’s largest live poker score and his first WPT cash.
“We’ve had a large and vibrant community for a long time,” Shaw told WPT's reporting team after his win. “We’ve never really had a big stop here, definitely not in Mexico City so there’s this hope that there’s going to be more WPT's here. I think there’s a big untapped market here.”
Jaun Jose Cepeda Dirzo ($59,000) finished as the runner-up. He was preceded by Santiago Gonzalez (3rd , $44,000), Jonathan Miguel Aburto Solis (4th, $33,000), Angel Guillen (5th, $25,000), and Cesar David Reynoso Arredondo (6th, $18,700).
You can find the entire WPT500OnLive results here.
"The OnLive event was cool, to have the online part of the WPT500 tournament join the live part in Mexico City," said Matt Savage, WPT Executive Tour Director. "As WPT Global grows bigger, those types of OnLive tournaments are going to be more common."
Weekend of Poker Fun
The WPT Mexico City festival also featured a live WPT Mystery Bounty tournament taking place alongside WPT500 Mexico City at Fronton Mexico. The $5,000 buy-in event drew a field of 69 entrants and boasted a top bounty prize of $75,000. The field included WPT Ambassadors Phil Ivey and Brad Owen, and WPT Anchor Lynn Gilmartin, among others.
Ivey fell just short of victory with a fourth-place finish and a $19,000 cash plus the bounties he won. Luis Gonzalez defeated Tomas Szwarcberg in a heads-up battle to secure the top prize of $62,100 to go along with his additional mystery bounty winnings.
Sports journalist and television personality Ines Sainz was on hand, bringing players and fans into the action at Fronton Mexico. Here's a look at her view of all the fun.
