PartyPoker Premier League III Final Table Set
The lineup for the six-player final of the PartyPoker Premier League III has been completed after Tony G and Roland de Wolfe claimed the final two seats in heads-up playoff matches, joining JC Tran, Peter Eastgate, Juha Helppi and Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who locked up the four guaranteed final-table seats based on their performances in the six rounds of qualifying heats.
Tran led the way into the final with 45 overall qualifying points, including three heat wins, two second-place showings, and a fourth. Peter Eastgate finished in second qualifying position overall with 39 points, followed by Juha Helppi with 34 points in third. Helppi is the only one of the six finalists to have previously won the PartyPoker Premier League and will look to become the series' first two-time winner.
The fourth spot was tied at 26 points between Tom Dwan and Tony G, but a secondary tie-break procedure based on heat performances gave the final guaranteed seat to Dwan, with Tony G forced to try to win one of the remaining two seats in a heads-up duel against Vicky Coren, which he won 2-0 in a best-of-three showdown. Roland de Wolfe claimed the other seat by knocking off Annette Obrestad in another best-of-three match, which also ended with a similar 2-0 score.
Each qualifying point in the preliminary heats translates into 10,000 in chips entering the final, and the draw for seats produced this lineup:
Seat 1: Tom Dwan (United States) - 260,000
Seat 2: Juha Helppi (Finland) - 340,000
Seat 3: Tony G (Australia) - 260,000
Seat 4: Roland de Wolfe (United Kingdom) - 230,000
Seat 5: JC Tran (United States) - 450,000
Seat 6: Peter Eastgate (Denmark) - 390,000
Scheduled Payouts:
1st - $300,000
2nd - $150,000
3rd - $80,000
4th - $50,000
5th - $40,000
6th - $30,000
Besides Coren and Obrestad, the other four players eliminated outside the final table included Phil Hellmuth, Andy Black, Nenad Medic and David "Devilfish" Ulliott.