Online Poker Pro Jeremy 'thechemist83' Gaubert Wins World Poker Open

Poker pro Chad Brown was one of the recognizable names at the final table of the 2009 World Poker Open."]

The $5,000 2009 World Poker Open championship event wrapped up last night and crowned an online poker pro from Thibodaux, LA, Jeremy "thechemist83" Gaubert, as it's new champion. Gaubert has a relatively anonymous field to deal with, but sat down at the final table against a couple of the biggest names in the field Chris Moneymaker and Chad Brown.

Moneymaker entered the final table with an overwhelming chip lead but would go on to finish third place in the event, making his World Poker Open pretty profitable as he won the Pot-Limit Omaha preliminary event earlier in the series. Brown fared only a little worse, finishing fourth.

That left the heads-up battle between amateur poker player Steve Hamontree from Chattanoogaa, TN and Gaubert. In the end, the much-maligned pocket Aces actually held up for Gaubert, giving him the final hand and the title.

The $192,953 that Gaubert won for his efforts is his largest live tournament cash to date and puts his lifetime earnings over $300,000, on top of countless online poker winnings. While not as big a payout as he received in this event, he already has an impressive 58th place finish at the 2008 WSOP Main Event as well as a final table in the Pot-Limit Omaha preliminary event earlier in this same World Poker Open to his name.

Here are the full final table payouts and placings:

1. Jeremy Gaubert — $192,953
2. Steve Hamontree — $109,400
3. Chris Moneymaker — $60,110
4. Chad Brown — $48,088
5. Thomas Creel — $36,066
6. Gil George — $30,055
7. Tommy Vedes — $24,044
8. Jerry Milanos — $18,033
9. Paris Heard — $12,022

Qualify online for the WPT through Bodog Poker.