Lee Markholt has has a considerable amount of success at the World Poker Tour, having cashed a total of 14 times before he made his first final table appearance at teh 2008 WPT World Poker Challenge. In addition to being his first final table appearance it would also be his first victory, as he successfully defeated a tough final table that also included David “The Dragon” Pham, the 2007 Cardplayer Player of the Year.
Markholt started the final table second in chips, but would quickly take the chip lead when Jeff DeWitt, who was on the short stack, put all his chips into the center. Markholt raised preflop and DeWitt was the sole caller. The flop fell [Ks][7d][5d] and Markholt bet out. DeWitt thought for a moment before pushing all-in, and Markholt made the call. Markholt was holding pocket queens and held the lead over DeWitt’s [Jd][10d]. Markholt needed to dodge diamonds, and did so when the turn fell [2c] and the river fell [4c]. Jeff DeWitt exited in sixth place with $84,297.
David Pham would be the next to fall after Markholt forced him all-in on a flop of [Ad][Qh][7d]. David held [As][2c] but was dominated by Markholt’s [Ah][10h]. The [10c] landed on the turn and the [2s] on the river, giving both players two pair, but Markholt held the better two pair to eliminate David in fifth place. David “The Dragon” Pham would take home $93,664 for his performance.
Jason Potter finished in fourth place after moving all-in before the flop with [Ac][3d]. Zachary Hyman made the call with [As][5h] and the board gave no help to Potter as it ran out [Qs][8s][4s][8h][7s], as Hyman made a flush to knock out Potter. Jason Potter would win $103,030 for his fourth place finish.
Hyman would end up in third place when he lost a coin flip to Bryan Devonshire. Hyman moved all-in preflop with [Kh][Jh] and Devonshire made the call with his pocket nines. After the board fell [Qs][Qd][7d][4][10s], Hyman was officially gone, having earned $149,862.
Heads-up play between Lee Markholt and Bryan Devonshire lasted all of two hands. Devonshire pushed all-in with a pair of fours only to see Markholt turn over two pair for the hand and the victory. Devonshire earned $271,625 for his runner-up finish while Markholt was awarded $493,815 for winning his first WPT title.