Blake Ellinghaus wins WPT Bestbet Scramble title, earning $294,900
Regional newsBlake Ellinghaus has won the WPT bestbet Scramble tournament, taking home $294,900 and his first WPT title. He qualified through a satellite tournament ($580) and defeated Jared Reinstein heads-up. Ellinghaus hit a straight on the river in heads-up play, becoming the newest member of the WPT champions club and winning $294,900. The Illinois player also won the $5,000 WPT bestbet Scramble tournament in bestbet Jacksonville, North Florida, a guaranteed prize of $1 million. He defeated Jared Reinstein to win his first World Poker Tour (WPT) title, the biggest prize of his poker career. Ellinghaus, the chip leader, maintained his advantage. Previously holding only a 1TP 4T 140,000 live tournament winnings record, he maintained a large chip stack for most of the 294 entries in this event. He finished Day 1, Group A, second in chips, and remained second on Day 2, before becoming the chip leader on Wednesday's final table. However, the final table wasn't easy for him. Bryan Paris—one of the greatest online poker pros of all time—gained an early chip lead. Reinstein then won a large pot against Ellinghaus, giving Paris a commanding lead. Hugh Membrino further complicated things, doubling up to double his chip lead at 60/40. But Ellinghaus never fell too far behind. When he hit the flop with top pair and a top kicker, he eliminated Membrino, who held top pair but had a weaker kicker, finishing in sixth place (1TP 4T 57,000) and winning back all his chips. Final Table Results: Rank Player Prize 1st Blake Ellinghaus 1TP 4T 294,900 2nd Jared Reinstein 1TP 4T 184,000 3rd Bryan Paris 1TP 4T 135,000 4th Skyler Dennis 1TP 4T 100,000 5th Michael Macchia 1TP 4T 75,000 6th Hugh Membrino 1TP 4T 57,000 Reinstein's pocket aces successfully held, eliminating Michael Macchia for fifth place (1TP 4T 75,000), meaning the final four players were guaranteed sixth place.
