J.C. Tran runs away with Premier League III

The PartyPoker.com Premier League III belonged to newcomer J.C. Tran. The California pro made this abundantly clear by beating Tony G in heads-up play yesterday to win the prestigious series of tournaments.

Tran, who was representing PKR poker at Premier League III, not only won the final table but also put on a dominating display of poker over the week of events in London. Over the span of six heats Tran won three, finished second once and added a third-place finish in the last preliminary heat.

"This is brilliant and I am so happy," said Tran. "I have been feeling good all week and it is amazing to win this event. Until this week I had never played in Europe before - I really couldn't ask for more! Perhaps I should move here! I would like to thank everyone who has made my trip to London such a wonderful experience."

The final table started with a bang as action junkie Tom "durrrr" Dwan played a massive pot against Tony G. Dwan got a little too aggressive with a flush draw and doubled up Tony G to $434,000 chips.

Perhaps the biggest surprise at the final table was the early exit of recent 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate. The young Dane came into the final double with the second-most chips, and many expected him to battle Tran for the title heads-up.

Unfortunately for Eastgate, it was not to be, as he unsuspectingly ran his K♠ 9♠ into Tran's pocket aces and went out first.

After Eastgate's elimination there was a parade to the payout booth, with Roland De Wolfe going out fifth, Dwan fourth and Juha Helppi finishing third, narrowly missing out on the chance to become the first two-time Premier League winner.

At the start of heads-up play Tony G had the advantage and held $1.15 million chips to Tran's $780,000.

The pivotal hand of heads-up came when Tony G played 8♠ 6♠ particularly hard and Tran managed to hit the flop with his T♥ 8♣. Finally Tony G finally had to surrender the hand and Tran, for the first time in heads-up, held the chip lead.

In the final hand Tran hit top pair on a flop of 7♥ 6♥ 5♦ while Tony G held K♠ 8♦ for the overcard and open-ended straight draw. It was enough to get all the money in the middle and after both the turn and the river bricked out, the chips, the title and the cash were all shipped to J.C. Tran.

"I brought my best game but it wasn't good enough," said a surprisingly humble Tony G immediately after the final table concluded.

Tran takes down $300,000 for winning first place at the final table, but also earns $76,000 for his success in the preliminary heats.

This year's edition of the Premier League will be seen on international television sometime next year. The event was originally scheduled to take place in 2009 but had to be pushed forward to accommodate broadcasters.

Here are the final-table results from Premier League III:

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• Final table set for Premier League III
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• Tran goes 2-0 at Premier League III
• Tony G, J.C. Tran strike first at Premier League III