A special moment occured at Pure Casino in Edmonton, Canada during the 14-event 2024 Pure Poker Tour Series #1 Edmonton when a pair of identical twins were facing off heads-up for the title in the PPT Edmonton Event #4: $250 Tag Team on Sunday. While this wasn’t the biggest moment of the day in terms of cash prizes, it will certainly be the most remembered by those at Pure Casino Edmonton on Sunday.
Identical twins vs. twins battling heads-up might be a first in the history of poker and certainly is for this author when twins Kyle Strap and Ryan Strap (leading image) were facing off against an older set of identical twins in Keith Graham and Kim Graham for the title. The younger twins in the Strap brothers defeated the Graham duo to win the $3,326 top prize in a heads-up battle lasting over two levels.
The event took about nine hours from start to finish and the heads up was a battle that either team could have won. The runner-up Graham twins advanced to heads-up play with the disadvantage after the Strap brothers sent Antoine & Duke to the rail in 3rd place.
The Graham twins managed to chip back into the lead shortly before the final hand was played. It was close, but when they tangled during the final hand, the Grahams were ahead for what would have amounted to a massive double for most of the chips, but the Straps got there with their jack to take it all down.
PPT Edmonton Event #4: $250 Tag Team Results
Event #4: $250 Tag Team attracted 54 teams to create a $11,286 prize pool. The top six teams went home with at least a $1,130 payout.
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle & Ryan Strap | Canada | $3,326 |
| 2 | Keith & Kim Graham | Canada | $2,220 |
| 3 | Antoine & Duke | Canada | $1,800 |
| 4 | Geronimo & Lynne | Canada | $1,520 |
| 5 | Brent & Arman | Canada | $1,290 |
| 6 | Kris & Ryan | Canada | $1,130 |
Antonio Basile Wins Mystery Bounty for $15,170
Antonio Basile was another star of the day after turning a massive heads-up chip lead into a trophy after defeating the start of Day 2 chip leader Eric Josselyn heads up to win the two-day Event #3: $670 Mystery Bounty.
This was Basile’s first win on the live felt according to The Hendon Mob, though he had two second places in Asia in 2010. The $15,170 prize tonight will be bigger than his previous lifetime wins of $7,148 USD.
PPT Edmonton Event #3: $670 Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
Event #3: $670 Mystery Bounty attracted 213 entries during two opening flights to create a $121,410 prize pool. The top 27 players went home with at least a $1,090 prize. Check out the final table results below:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonio Basile | Canada | $15,170 |
| 2 | Eric Josselyn | Canada | $10,770 |
| 3 | Denis Halvadzija | Canada | $7,250 |
| 4 | Herbert Zamora | Canada | $5,290 |
| 5 | Mo Alamelhuda | Canada | $4,180 |
| 6 | Christopher Lawson | Canada | $3,510 |
| 7 | Mehar Kammili | Canada | $3,000 |
| 8 | Nicholas Peterson | Canada | $2,530 |
| 9 | Somsanouk Sitthammavoung | Canada | $2,060 |
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Mystery Bounty Action
After two opening flights, the Mystery Bounty game got a total of 213 entries. Eventual runner-up Eric Josselyn bagged the big stack on Day 1a with more than 300k, and he proved to be the only player capable of bagging more than 300k in either Day 1 flight. Chris Lawson, who took sixth place, bagged the Day 1b leading stack for second place on Day 2.
Neither Day 1 played down to 14% of the field, and 39 players returned on Day 2 to fight for 27 paid spots. It only took about 90 minutes on Day 2 to play into the money spots, and another two hours of so to hit the final table.
Things slowed a bit at the final table and it took another four hours or so to play it down to the winner. Along the way there were a few crazy spots.
Nicholas Peterson was the first to head off the final table when he got his money in pretty strong with ace-queen, but got smashed by the aces of Mo Alamelhuda. Mehar Kammili followed shortly in seventh after Herbert Zamora got there with his dominated king, hitting a straight to send Kammili out.
The second-place stack to start Day 2 was Chris Lawson, but he hit the rail in 6th place when he flopped an ace and got his money in, only to run into two pair for Basile.
Busts from Mo Alamelhuda and Herbert Zamora bracketed the dinner break to bring the game to three. Denis Halvadzija followed about 45 minutes later to set up the two-handed game, sending his chips to Basile and giving him the big stack for heads-up.
Heads up went quickly after the players returned from a short break. It only took a few hands before the money went in with Eric Josselyn in good shape for a double, holding pocket sevens against king-four, but a king in the window was enough to give Basile the win.
Kyle Hartree Wins 8-Max for $15,920
Kyle Hartree has been away from the poker felts for a number of years. He reminded the Canadian poker community that he still has the skills after winning Event #5: $450 8-Max for $15,920. Hartree compiled more than $350,000 in lifetime earnings from live poker and this is his sixth win on the live felt in his first The Hendon Mob result since 2020.
He ran “Pure” in the final few hands, getting two quick doubles after they got heads-up to take the lead. In the first of two pivotal hands, his ace-three held over king-queen for runner-up Colin Armstrong. Then shortly after, both players hit a ten on an ace-ten-ace flop with Hartree holding the best kicker.
That gave Hartree a huge lead and it all ended when his ace-ten held against ace-nine for Armstrong in the final hand.
Read more about how the action went down in Event #5 at our dedicated blog at PokerPro.cc.
PPT Edmonton Event #5: $450 8-Max Final Table Results
Event #5: $450 8-Max attracted 163 entries during two opening flights to create a $61,940 prize pool. The top 16 players went home with at least a $1,040 prize. Check out the final table results below:
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Hartree | Canada | $15,920 |
| 2 | Colin Armstrong | Canada | $9,880 |
| 3 | Thomas Taylor | Canada | $7,540 |
| 4 | Justin Pennell | Canada | $6,000 |
| 5 | Mal Hagan | Canada | $4,760 |
| 6 | Ki Lee | Canada | $3,860 |
| 7 | Andrew Taylor | Canada | $2,960 |
| 8 | Cameron Phillips | United Kingdom | $2,060 |
Authors: Lyle Bateman and Jason Glatzer
