In a stunning surprise over larger stacked opponents, Italy’s Giacomo Fundaro came from the middle of the six player final table to take down the championship of the World Poker Tour’s stop at the Mazagan Beach and Golf Resort in Casablanca, Morocco, last night.
This particular final table had something for everyone. If you wanted high profile professional players on the table, there were French poker legend Bruno Fitoussi and the monster chip leader (1.94 million) in Davidi Kitai. The online poker world was represented by Jeremy Nock and Clement Beauvois, while those who prefer the “old style” approach to the game had Frederic Brunet to root for. There was even a touch of villainy on the tables with Fundaro, who has a poker style that aggravated many players already in the event.
It was thought that Kitai, with his huge chip stack (nearly 50% of the chips in play), would rest on the sidelines while the others fought it out for the right to face him. From the first hand of play, however, Kitai came out on the attack. He three-bet Fundaro off the very first hand and then would get Brunet to drop a hand after seeing the flop. To prove he was an equal opportunity “table bully,” Kitai would then push Beauvois off a hand on the turn with an all-in move to push his stack to 2.25 million.
Fitoussi would attempt to keep pace with Kitai, moving his stack upwards after finding pocket Aces against Kitai. In a battle with Fundaro that ended on the turn, Fitoussi would continue that momentum by pushing out a big bet on a K-J-6-10 board that Fundaro couldn’t call to get his stack to almost 800K. Fundaro would get a measure of revenge against Fitoussi, however, getting a key double up as the level came to a close.
It was at this point that the wheels came off for Kitai. After raising the pot from the hijack seat, Fundaro made a three bet against Kitai and Kitai moved all in. Fundaro deviated from his normally slow pace of play, immediately making the call and tabling his pocket tens against Kitai’s A♠ J♠. When the board could only muster a high card of eight, Fundaro rocketed into second place with 1.2 million chips and knocking Kitai down to 1.65 million.
The chips would continue to slip through Kitai’s fingers as the afternoon wore on in Morocco. Fundaro would take a hand against the poker “Triple Crown” winner when, on an A-10-6-8-A board, his pocket Queens were good against Kitai. On that hand, Fundaro assumed the lead with 1.3 million while Kitai slipped under the million chip mark.
Kitai would get some of those chips back in eliminating Fitoussi from the tournament in sixth place, but Fundaro maintained the lead by knocking out Beauvois in fifth moments later. It seemed inevitable that the two men would clash again and, once they did, it led to one player’s demise.
After a Brunet bet, Kitai made it 200K before Fundaro upped the stakes with a four bet. Brunet got out of the way, but Kitai would jam his remaining stack into the center of the felt. Fundaro made the call and displayed the cooler to Kitai; Kitai’s pocket Jacks were way behind Fundaro’s pocket Kings and, once the board failed to bring one of his two outs, Kitai was out of the tournament in fourth place and Fundaro held an insurmountable lead.
Brunet would bring the match to heads up when he dispatched Nock in third place to enter into battle with a million chip deficit against Fundaro. Although he would chip up slightly in the early segment of heads up play, Fundaro had the ammunition to push Brunet around the felt. Within an hour of play, Fundaro had extended his lead to over 1.3 million but Brunet wouldn’t go quietly into the night.
Over another 45 minutes of play, Brunet would actually work into the lead against Fundaro and the duo would continue to parry. After being down to only a million in chips, Fundaro caught a lucky break in the hand that changed the course of the tournament. Pushing all in with a 7♥ 6♥, Fundaro was looked up by Brunet, who held a dominant A♥ 10♥. The board didn’t come down well for Brunet, however, with the 9-7-6 flop squarely nailing Fundaro. Another nine on the turn brought some drama, but a blank four on the river pushed the pot to Fundaro, giving him two million in chips against Brunet’s 2.3 million.
From there, Fundaro couldn’t be stopped. Hand after hand went to the Italian as he retook the lead before administering the coup de grace against Brunet. After Brunet opened the action, Fundaro moved all in and was called by Brunet. His Q-9 was in tough shape against Fundaro’s A-3 and, once an Ace hit on the flop and he missed on the turn, Brunet was eliminated in second place and Fundaro took down the latest WPT championship.
1. Giacomo Fundaro, $168,207
2. Frederic Brunet, $99,082
3. Jeremy Nock, $64,048
4. Davidi Kitai, $47,279
5. Clement Beauvois, $35,518
6. Bruno Fitoussi, $28,531
With the close of the festivities in Morocco, the WPT has two stops left before taking a break for the holidays. Tomorrow, the WPT Prague will kick off at the Kings Casino at the Corinthia Hotel in the Czech Republic and, on Tuesday, the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Challenge will open up action at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. These two tournaments will have an effect on many of the Player of the Year races in the poker world and both should have outstanding fields in their respective areas.
