Three short poker tales including Dario Sammartino taking the lead in the 2017 Global Poker Index Player of the Year race, Javier Gomez winning the $2m GTD Card Player Poker Tour Main Event at the Venetian, and an underwater poker game.
Dario Sammartino has sprayed gravel in the face of Nick Petrangelo in the race to become the 2017 Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of th
e Year (POY).
The Italian ranked #4 in the ranking has taken the lead after an incredible performance at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
The top ranked Italian in the GPI cashed in eight events, securing over $2.1m in earnings, with the competition barely registering a whimper. Seven of Sammartino’s cashes came in events with a buy-in exceeding $10,000, and a raft of different disciplines.
The finishes that captured the most points were third in the $111,111 One Drop High Roller for $1.6m (312.36 pts), a 43rd place finish in the Main Event for $176,399 (312.12), an eighth place in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed (268.90), and sixth in the $25,000 Pot-Limit High Roller for $197,007 (286.43).
Petrangelo only cashed in two events: 527th in the Main Event and 19th in the One Drop High Roller, but I’m not sure if Petrangelo served the same amount of time as the Italian.Here is that leaderboard:
2017 GPI POY Leaderboard
1. Dario Sammartino (2,928.47)
2. Nick Petrangelo (2,881.97)
3. Dan Smith (2,841.98)
4. Bryn Kenney (2,840.97)
5. Koray Aldemir (2,833.85)
6. Sergio Aido (2,695.82)
7. David Peters (2,684.63)
8. Ari Engel (2,652.80
9. Charlie Carrel (2,618.77
10. Justin Bonomo (2,616.70
Nick Petrangelo may have lost his footing at the summit of the GPI POY charts, but he still has a firm hold as the GPI World #1; Sammartino sits in the tenth spot.
Global Poker Index Top Ten
1. Nick Petrangelo (3,465.26)
2. David Peters (3,294.37)
3. Ari Engel (3,267.94)
4. Adrian Mateos (3,177.14)
5. Bryn Kenney (3,166.75)
6. Fedor Holz (3,121.07)
7. Steve O’Dwyer – (3,047.42)
8. Justin Bonomo – (3,042.65)
9. Sergio Aido (3,025.39)
10. Dario Sammartino (3,024.41)
Javier Gomez Wins the Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Main Event
Only America has more players in the GPI Top 10 than Spain, and they once again proved their class when two Spaniards made the final table of the $5,000 buy-in $2m GTD Card Player Poker Tour Venetian Main Event, with one of them walking away with the lot.
The six-day event, aiming to mop up WSOP Main Event stragglers, attracted 688 entrants, easily beating the guarantee by $1.2m, and Javier Gomez began the final table with the chip lead; Santiago Bernabeu also made the final nine.
Things went according to the Card Player script until the event was three-handed. Javier Gomez, WSOP bracelet winner, Paul Hoefer, and the former WSOP Main Event Champion, Martin Jacobson, agreed on a three-handed even split leaving $135,000 in the middle.
Eager to get to a winner, all three players decided they were playing too deep, and increased the blind structure from 50,000-100,000 to 100,0000-200,000, something Jacobson also pushed for during his European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event loss to Toby Lewis in Season 7, Vilamoura.
The Swede bowed out in third place, and Gomez and Hoefer increased the blind levels once more, including adding a mandatory button bet, and Gomez eventually took the additional prize money when his QJ beat the Q3 of his German opponent.
Final Table Results
1. Javier Gomez – $561,349
2. Paul Hoefer – $393,621
3. Martin Jacobson – $398,303
4. Yan Shing Tsang – $220,745
5. Ankush Mandavia – $166,358
6. Bobby Suer – $125,769
7. Renick Patterson – $95,976
8. Dimitar Danchev – $76,781
9. Samuel Bernabeu – $57,586
Underwater Poker Game Brings a New Meaning to the Word ‘Fish.’
Six players who aren’t afraid to go deep in a poker tournament, are the finalists of the Lady Luck Underwater poker event.
The tournament, which began online, moves into a six-handed final table that takes place on the sunken 324ft long, 50ft wide: Lady Luck. The tanker was decommissioned in 2014 and deliberately sunk in 2016, so artist Dennis McDonald could help turn the ship into an underwater casino.
The tournament marks the first anniversary of the sinking. Players will compete 80 feet underwater, with special chips and playing cards. The whole thing will be featured on Scuba Nation TV.
I will leave you to make your own witty jokes about fish, whales, and sharks.
