World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and UB.compro Eric basebaldyBaldwin (pictured at right) was the runner-up in the 2010 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship. His title run ended shortly after 10:00pm PT on Saturday, as Bodogpro David Williams ousted Baldwin from the prestigious $25,000 buy-in tournament. Baldwin, the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year, collected over $1 million as a result. Saturday marked the culmination of the seven-day event, which began with nearly 200 players. Let’s recap the final table of the WPT Championship from the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Williams (pictured at left) told the WPT Live Updates team following his win, “It’s pretty awesome to have my first [WPT title] be the biggest one.” Williams had a rowdy cheering section throughout the final table: “I told everybody to come down because I was going to win today and I wanted everybody to be here and experience it.” Prior to Sunday, Williams had two fourth place finishes in WPT events and was the runner-up in the Season 3 Borgata Poker Open.
It took 136 hands of final table play for the action to come to a close. Baldwin shoved with A-5 of hearts in his final hand down 3:1 in chips and Williams made the call with pocket deuces to set up a coin flip. Baldwin took the lead out of the gate on a flop of A-7-6, but a deuce hit on the turn to ship the $1.5 million first place prize and WPT Championship title to Williams. The Championship event marked Baldwin’s first WPT final table. He won a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event during the 2009 WSOP for $521,000 and finished third in the World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em for another $259,000.

On the 14th hand of final table play, John O’Shea, who entered the final table as the tournament’s short stack, hit the rails. He shoved with just 6-3 pre-flop and received a call from decorated poker pro Billy Baxter, who held A-10. Neither player improved and O’Shea pocketed $199,000 for his efforts. Baldwin and Williams entered the final table virtually even in chips, holding 44 and 47 big blinds, respectively.

Baxter dropped in fifth place, earning $246,000. He committed his chips pre-flop with A-J of spades and Williams called with K-10 of hearts. The flop came A-Q-J, giving Williams Broadway and a commanding lead in the hand. No ace or jack came to save Baxter on the turn or river and he was eliminated. Williams held half of the chips in play after serving as the executioner of O’Shea and Baxter.

Full Tilt Pokerpro David Benyamine (pictured at right) was the next casualty of the WPT Championship final table. Benyamine committed his 16 big blind stack with Q-J of hearts and, after a four-minute deliberation, Shawn Buchanan called with A-5. Benyamine failed to improve on a board of 9-7-2-5-7 and was eliminated, taking home $329,000 for his fourth place showing. Buchanan nearly caught up to Williams in chips, with Baldwin not too far behind.

Buchanan was eliminated from the WPT Championship in dramatic fashion. He pushed his chips into the center as a 4:1 favorite, but his pocket queens could not stave off Williams’ pocket nines. The Bodog pro found a nine on the flop and the chip leader on Days 1 and 3 was sent packing. Buchanan’s departure meant that PocketFives.com member Faraz The-Toilet Jaka was crowned the WPT Player of the Year for Season 8.

Baldwin was a 7:2 underdog in chips heading into heads-up play against Williams. The battle of bracelet winners lasted 22 hands. Here were the final results from the 2010 WPT Championship:

1st Place: David Williams – $1,530,537
2nd Place: Eric basebaldyBaldwin – $1,034,715
3rd Place: Shawn Buchanan – $587,906
4th Place: David Benyamine – $329,228
5th Place: Billy Baxter – $246,921
6th Place: John O’Shea – $199,888

Next up for the WPT are two European stops. The Grand Prix de Paris returns from May 8th to 15th at the Aviation Club. From May 19th to 23rd, the WPT Spanish Championship will play out from Casino Barcelona. Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest WPT results of online poker players. Check out the WPT rail thread in Poker Discussion to extend your congratulations to Baldwin.