Marvin Rettenmaier joins Party Poker, wins WPT Championship

German poker pro “Mad” Marvin Rettenmaier has recently had a very eventful couple of weeks. First of all he signed a contract with Party Poker and will represent them both on and off the felt; and, more recently, the 25-year-old won the prestigious 2012 WPT Championship.
Marvin Rettenmaier is one of the most popular poker players in Europe, so it was only natural that Party Poker wanted to sign him. He has $2.9 million in live tournament winnings and is also a very successful online poker player. After inking a contract with Party, Rettenmaier said, “It feels like a natural move for me and I am looking forward to representing them in WPT events and beyond.”

He joins Kara Scott, Mike Sexton, Tony G, and fellow German Bodo Sbrzesny on Team Party. Tony G made an inside joke once he heard about the Rettenmaier deal by saying, “He has the German mathematical game and he has heart, he is winning, he gets drunk, he loses his passport – he is running good.”

The stars really came out for the $25,000 buy-in WPT Championship, and this was reflected on the final table. Some of the notable pros who made the six-player table included Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, Nick Schulman and Steve O’Dwyer; Mizrachi was especially worth watching here because he was chasing his third career WPT title.

However, The Grinder will have to win his third title elsewhere because Rettenmaier and Philippe Ktorza met heads-up to decide the championship. Marvin held a slight chip lead with 8.6 million compared to Ktorza’s 6.7 million, which set both players up for an exciting match. In fact, their match-up lasted over 190 hands and didn’t end until Rettenmaier’s pocket kings bested Ktorza’s pocket jacks.

With the victory, the German collected almost $1.2 million and added to his impressive tournament resume. He’s also won the 2011 France Poker Series ($332,470), Spanish Poker Tour Grand Finale ($150,696), and an EPT Grand Finale side event ($156,186). Now here’s a quick look at the 2012 WPT Championship final table:

1. Marvin Rettenmaier – $1,196,858
2. Philippe Ktorza – $805,310
3. Michael Mizrachi – $424,618
4. Nick Schulman – $256,235
5. Steve O’Dwyer – $192,176
6. Trevor Pope – $155,571