Will The Thrill Poker
It's been nearly two decades in the making, but finally, professional poker player Will 'The Thrill' Failla earned his first major title with a victory at the World Poker Tour's Legends of Poker.
While most of the poker universe was fixated on the World Series of Poker Main Event final table Monday night, poker pro Will 'The Thrill' Failla took down the $2,700 Foxwoods World Poker Open Main Event. The always-animated Failla was the chip leader when he and two other players agreed to a three-handed deal, and therefore Failla was officially named the champion while securing a $128,306 payday.
- But even though quite a few notables took part in the tournament it ended up being an anonymous final table. Will 'The Thrill' Failla arrived at the final table with the largest stack. Read more » Will 'The Thrill' Failla won the 2011 WPT Legends of Poker ($758,085).
- By Will “The Thrill” Failla. I’m on a tear, a blazing heater, I’m riding high and fast and as a native New Yorker I feel like I’m carrying the hopes of Atlantic City on my shoulders. It’s Day 4 and we’re down to fourteen from a massive field of 1,313 players. My table is six-handed when UTG limps into an 80K big blind.
- Will 'The Thrill' Failla Wins Foxwoods World Poker Open Main Event for $128,306 November 05, 2013 Brett Collson 0 While most of the poker universe was fixated on the World Series of Poker Main.
- Jessica Welman awards the ClubWPT.com Player of the Day to Will 'The Thrill' Failla on Day 3 of the WPT Legends of Poker.
Tom Thomas was second in chips at the time of the deal and locked up $120,000. Chris Orme finished third for $100,000.
Foxwoods World Poker Open Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Will 'The Thrill' Failla | $128,306* |
| 2 | Tom Thomas | $120,000* |
| 3 | Chris Orme | $100,000* |
| 4 | Daniel Chan | $34,870 |
| 5 | Carlos Chadha | $40,572 |
| 6 | James Magner | $32,443 |
| 7 | Bob Ricciuti | $26,950 |
| 8 | Steve Dakota | $21,605 |
| 9 | David Paredes | $16,201 |
| 10 | Ramy Ibrahim | $11,790 |
*Denotes three-handed deal
The tournament began with just under 270 players, including top pros like Vanessa Selbst, Roland Israelashvili, Chad Brown and Jeff Gross. After three days of play only 12 remained with David Chan leading the way.
Chan kept his lead to the 10-handed final table, and after the elimination of Ramy Ibrahim in 10th place, well-known pro David Paredes exited in ninth. Shortly after losing a massive pot to Chan, Paredes was all-in preflop with against the of Tom Thomas, and the board gave Thomas a full house to send Paredes to the rail.
Failla began his big final table rush by eliminating Bob Ricciuti in eighth place. With the blinds at 25,000/50,000, Failla raised to 110,000 and Ricciuti moved all-in for around 600,000. Failla admitted that he had only looked at one card before putting in the original raise, and upon peeking at his second card he called Ricciuti's shove instantly.
Failla:
Ricciuti:
The board came up empty for Ricciuti, sending him out the door in seventh place.
Will The Thrill Poker Net Worth
After James Magner was sent packing in sixth place for $32,443, Failla got busy again versus Carlos Chadha. Failla raised to 175,000 with , and Chadha moved all in for his last 700,000 with . Failla called, and the board gave Failla a winning two pair to eliminate Chadha.
Chan was no longer the chip leader at this point and eventually found himself as the short stack before falling to Thomas in fourth place. On his final stand, Chan moved all in from the small blind for around 1.3 million with , and Thomas called from the big blind with . The provided a bit of a sweat, but Chan failed to improve.
That left three players taking a break to discuss a deal, and they came to friendly agreement a short while later. For Failla, the victory marked his fourth of the year. His most recent win came at the Borgata Poker Open where he collected his record-setting fifth career series title.
*Data and photos courtesy of FoxwoodsPoker.com.
For news, updates, and more follow PokerNews on Twitter and Facebook.
Will The Thrill Poker Twitter
Tags
FoxwoodsWill FaillaPoker TournamentsTournament ResultsRelated Players
Will Failla
$2,200 Eight-Handed NLH (Single Re-Entry)
$200,000 Guaranteed Structure
Level 9: 500/1,000 with a 1,000 ante
Entries: 151
A player in late position opened to 2,000 and Will Failla defended his big blind.
The flop came , Failla checked, and his opponent bet 3,000. Failla called and said “Flush draw.”
The turn brought the and Failla check-called 3,500. The river was the and Failla led out 20,000.
His opponent thought a while before electing to let it go. Failla said “Ace was a bad card..” as he raked in the pot.
Will Failla – 65,000 (65 bb)