This past weekend, Farid Yachou made history for himself as he took home his first victory at the Monster World Poker Tour Tournament of Champions. He walked away from the final table with the title and $381,600 cash prize, as well as a lot of different prizes that made that night memorable, including:
- 2016 Corvette, courtesy of Monster.
- A Hublot King Power Unico Titanium
- An Aurae® Solid Gold MasterCard.
- A pair of gold Monster® 24K Headphones.
- A custom premium poker table from BBO Poker Tables.
- A seat in Tiger’s Poker Night Presented by World Poker Tour.
- A round of golf for you and two guests at the world-class Shadow Creek Golf Course with Matt Savage.
Not a bad takeaway, seeing as how it is an estimated worth of over $150,000. The experience alone would have been enough for Yachou, who played fiercely until the end.
Overcoming Fear to Win
Yachou did a lot more than just sit down and play poker, as it would seem he has an intense fear of flying, he actually had to overcome his fear in order to play. In May 2015, he won WPT Amsterdam, which gave him a seat at the Tournament of Champions, but it would be hosted here in the United States. On top of it all, he had to get a visa and nearly missed his chance to play. He has only won two live tournaments so far in his career, the two we have just mentioned.
Final Table Showdown
The final hand of the night came when Yachou would go heads-up against Vlad Darie. Yachou had an 
while Darie held a 
. They went back and forth, betting, calling, and raising. The flop showed 
, followed by a 
on the turn, and finally 
on the river, ultimately giving Yachou the Full House, deuces over eights, and had taken Darie for everything. The final table results ended up being:
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Farid Yachou | $381,600 |
| 2 | Vlad Darie | $224,190 |
| 3 | Michael Mizrachi | $140,450 |
| 4 | Jonathan Jaffe | $95,400 |
| 5 | Noah Schwartz | $74,200 |
| 6 | Darren Elias | $58,300 |
We hope to see much more from Yachou, as he has only won a little over $600,000 in career live tournament winnings, but he has finished first in both tournaments he has participated in. If he can continue to overcome his fear of flying, we may see his name at the top of the winners circle more often.