Matt Salsberg hit a head-up deal at Commerce Casino, which rocketed him to the first position of the 2017 California Poker Tour championship, earning him $164,870 in cash money and a free seat in the L.A. Poker Classic.
Salsberg appeared on the top of the list of all players in the event at Commerce Casino, which opened with four flights. It should be mentioned that this is his sixth or more win of over $100,000 in cash. Salsberg managed to outperform his opponent Fredrick Arni, who was awarded $160,000.
After the end of the starting flight stage, there were around 50 players, who managed to reach the poker table on Day 2 of the championship. Some of the players, who stood out among the rest were David “The Dragon” Pham, Thayer Rasmussen, Mike Shariati and Billy Baxter, who showed skills during the game, but the cards were not well-disposed to them. It was Eddy Sabat, who appeared to take the upper hand during Day 2 of the event, reaching the final table by winning against his opponent with a set against aces.
Saya Ono was the other player with a significant stack of chips, but Arni outplayed her with trips. He also managed to eliminate John Hulett with [A][K] over [A][Q], which gave him the chance to reach the final table of the championship.
Salsberg took the lead against his opponent Thomas Zanot, who after a spectacular play of the cards lost the game. Salsberg continued to play in a reasonable way, which helped him eliminate Douglas Lada and other opponents.
The 2015 winner of the same event, Eddy Sabat, was also one of the players, whose game was worth to be seen. He played against Thu Nguyen, leading him in most of the time, till Nguyen stroke the lucky pair of tens. Further on, Nguyen played against Arni. During the course of the game, it seemed that Nguyen will win, when a dramatic turn of the game tilted the scales in favor of Arni, who was lucky to have a flush of diamonds.
At the final round of the championship, Arni appeared to lead Salsberg with a slight difference in terms of heads-up. Thus, the two players agreed on a deal to grant $160,000 for every of them and compete for the remaining money, the title and the free seat for the L.A. Poker Classic in 2018. Salsberg marked a great goal by winning a big head with making a flush. The last day of the championship took place on Monday, when Salsberg stood strongly at the first position, snatching the title right under the nose of Arni.
The game was outlined by many dramatic moments and interesting turns. The final players had almost equal results and it remained unclear to the last moment who will be the next champion. Once Salsberg affirmed his position as the next champion of California State Poker Championship, he directly ensured himself a seat in the L.A. Poker Classic, which saves him $10,000 buy-in.
