With the PokerStars Players’ No-Limit Hold’em Championship just around the corner, Lee Davy, takes a look at ten Platinum Pass winners who could win the Last Longer bet.
There are those that think that life isn’t fair. The cynics. The pessimists. The misery guts. I come from a different stock; one that believes that you receive the same energy that you put out in the world, and that’s why I’m not surprised that these ten fantastic poker players won a Platinum Pass in 2018.
1. David Peters
During the first live tournament held after PokerStars announced plans to give away 300 $30,000 Platinum Passes, David Peters won one in a random draw while competing at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).
Peters would go on to earn $10.7m playing live tournaments in 2018, a career-high for the man from Ohio, including seven wins, and six seven-figure scores!
2. Mikita Badziakouski
Only Justin Bonomo earned more than the $14.5m that Mikita Badziakouski pulled off the tables in 2018.
The Belarusian earned a Platinum Pass for taking down the Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau Poker Cup HKD 80,000 High Roller in February, one of five tournament victories in 2018 including back-to-back Triton Poker Series Main Event victories in Montenegro and Jeju for a combined haul of $8m.
3. Stephen Chidwick
Stephen Chidwick spent most of 2018 as the Global Poker Index (GPI) #1 until Alex Foxen took over with a third of the year remaining. The UK pro earned a career-high $10.1m playing live tournaments in 2018, including winning the Poker Central US Poker Masters title. Chidwick earned his Platinum Pass playing in an online satellite.
4. Maria Lampropulos
If you’re going to have a punt on a female to win the PSPC, then look no further than Maria Lampropulos. The Argentine star earned her Platinum Pass by beating 582-entrants at the PCA Main Event, including a final table that housed Shawn Buchanan, Koray Aldemir, and Adrian Mateos. It was her second seven-figure score within 12 months after taking down the partypoker MILLIONS UK for $1.2m back in April 2017.
5. Paul Tedeschi
It’s always better to enter a major tournament series on heat, and Paul Tedeschi has flames coming out of his backside after a fantastic time in the Bahamas recently. The Frenchman earned his Platinum Pass winning the Day 2 Flipout contest at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in Monte Carlo. Tedeschi has collected a career-high $878,291 in 2018, including finishing fourth in the $25,500 partypoker MILLIONS World for $700,000 and then finishing 12th in the partypoker Caribbean Poker Party (CPP) for another $85,000.
6. Guillaume Diaz
The second Frenchman who earned a Platinum Pass during a sterling 2018 was Guillaume Diaz. The London resident won a career-high $677,880, including a victory in the EPT Monte Carlo National for $305,444 (and a Platinum Pass), and sixth in a $10k event at the partypoker CPP for $100,000.
7. Kalidou Sow
The final Frenchman in with a chance of winning the Platinum Pass Last Longer is Kalidou Sow. The man from Lhay Les Roses won three live tournaments back-to-back in 2017/2018 beating 855-entrants to take down the PokerStars Championship in Prague for €675,000, 852-entrants to win the PokerStars Festival Main Event in London for £121,803, and then 376-entrants to capture the €100,000 first prize in a Winamax Poker Tour High Roller event. Sow also win the 60-entrant High Roller at the WPTDeepStacks event in Vilamoura back in September adding another €34,080 to his purse.
8. Pim De Goede
What a year for Pim De Goede.
The man from the Netherlands booked his passage into the PSPC after winning the 2018 Turbo Series $55 Main Event, and then went on to finish runner-up to Manuel Ruivo in the $5,300 buy-in partypoker MILLIONS Online for $2,309,995.
Let’s hope he’s been in the casino working on his ring rust as he only cashed in five live events in 2018.
9. James Chen
The PSPC will be chocked full with high rollers, and one of them, James Chen, got into this thing on the cheap after winning the APPT HKD 100,000 High Roller in Macau for $512,411 back in March. Chen is Taiwan’s #2 All-Time Money Earner and will be a force to be reckoned with.
10. Joao Simao
It would be interesting if a partypoker ambassador were to take down the biggest PokerStars event of the year, and if anyone has the momentum, it’s Joao Simao. The Brazilian has had an outstanding year, banking a career-high $1.3m including a fantastic run in the partypoker MILLIONS Germany festival where he made the final table of both €25k events.
The PokerStars’ Player’s No-Limit Hold’em Championship takes place in the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas January 6-10, and 320 people will take a seat courtesy of winning a $30,000 Platinum Pass throughout 2018.
Here is the full list of winners.
