3: Barrels of World Poker Tour good stuff including a victory in Brussels for Sergio Castelluccio, a win in Philadelphia for James Poper, and Mike Sexton is in contention in Los Angeles.
A collection of stories from the World Poker Tour (WPT) and we begin in Brussels and the National Tour.
Italian professional, Sergio Castelluccio, is a prominent member of the European live poker circuit, having collected over $2m in earnings since he started racking up scores in 2009.
In 2010, the Italian defeated 396 entrants to win the €2,200 Italian Poker Tour (IPT) Main Event in San Remo for €200,000. Two years ago, he beat 612 competitors to win a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring and €114,100 after victory in Campione. And earlier this week he made it a hat-trick of major tour undercard wins when he defeated 489 entrants to win the World Poker Tour National Main Event in Brussels for €105,000.
Final Table Results
1. Sergio Castelluccio – €105,000
2. Dimitrios Kalaroutis – €73,515
3. Michal Mrakes – €46,220
4. Slaven Popov – €34,500
5. Osman Ihlamur – €26,140
6. Victor Choudeaux – €21,025.
You sense Castelluccio is on the cusp of making the leap into a new league. In 2013, he finished 14th in the WSOP Main Event for $451,398, and he has twice gone deep in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Grand Final in Monte Carlo finishing 16th in 2009 for €64,000 and fourth in 2012 for €400,000. His victory in Brussels was the first time he had cashed in a major WPT final. I think he should play more.
James Poper Wins WPTDeepstacks Big Stax
James Poper had the final say of Season 4 WPTDeepstacks Big Staxx XX Festival by taking down the $1,600 Main Event.
660 entrants turned up at the Parx Casino in Bensalem, PA in the hope of taking down a juicy six-figure score, and only two of them managed that feat. Poper taking down the $201,991 first prize after beating DJ MacKinnon in heads up action. MacKinnon earned $127,800 for his troubles. WSOP bracelet winner, Justin Liberto, came third for $83,285.
It was the first significant score in Poper’s career. His previous best score was $22,163 for a runner-up spot in a Mid-States Poker Tour Event in the Venetian. It was his third cash of the festival including a 17th place finish from a field of 1,153 entrants in a $550 side event for $4,053.
Final Table Results
1. James Poper – $201,991
2. DJ MacKinnon – $127,800
3. Justin Liberto – $83,285
4. Philip Hui – $60,980
5. Thomas Maguire – $45,567
6. Jay Sharon – $34,271
7. Jason Ritchie – $26,326
8. Raffaello Locatelli – $20,199
9. Bob Vernarec – $15,987
Can Mike Sexton Make it Title #2?
Just days after Mike Sexton spent the evening celebrating Linda Johnson’s inclusion into the WPT Honours List, the man with the WPT running through his DNA is looking mighty fine with 25 remaining in the $10,000 buy-in WPT LA Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino.
It is the World Poker Tour’s honor to have presented WPT family member Ms. Linda Johnson with the inaugural WPT Honors Award. #WPThonorspic.twitter.com/zVrmBQ0dDr
— World Poker Tour (@WPT) February 28, 2017
The prestigious Freezeout event attracted 521 runners, and according to the WPT Live Updates Chip Counts, Sexton was tenth in chips at the time of writing after doubling through the Super High Roller Bowl champ Rainer Kempe AA>TT.
There is a cool million up top for the winner. The remaining players are guaranteed $32,610. Leading the way is the high stakes cash game grinder Matt Berkey with 1.4m chips. The other heroes in the mix include Daniel Strelitz (1.2m), Bart Hanson (1m), Joe Serock (1m), Jesse Martin (843k), Sexton (635k), Kempe (515k), James Calderaro (500k), Simeon Naydenov (348k), and Dzmitry Urbanovich (210k).
