For someone who only stepped into a couple of events on the schedule, Michael Addamo certainly made the most of those opportunities.
Addamo on Saturday won the championship of Event #11 on the 2021 Poker Masters schedule, the $50,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament, which for most would have been a great achievement. Addamo was not happy with just that, however, jumping right into the $100,000 Main Event with some of those winnings. It proved to be the right move as Addamo rode the rush to the Main Event title on Sunday and captured the Purple Jacket signifying the overall champion of the series.
Start-to-Finish Victory
Addamo did not just eke into the Main Event final table. He dominated en route to the baize, holding more than half the chips in play (3.545 million). The four men that were tasked with catching him – Nick Petrangelo (1.225 million), Stanley Tang (525,000), Alex Foxen (405,000) and Mikita Badziakouski (215,000) – did not even total 2.5 million chips between each other. Thus, it was certainly Addamo’s title to lose, and he did not do that.
Addamo would first eliminate the only other contender at the table who could catch him for the Purple Jacket. On the short stack Badziakouski, who himself won an event on the 2021 Poker Masters schedule, made his move and Addamo was there to look him up when he did it. After knocking off Badziakouski, Addamo was guaranteed the overall championship of the series (more on this in a bit).
Addamo’s rampage would continue in knocking off Tang in fourth place. Along with his earlier elimination of Badziakouski, Addamo had eliminated six straight competitors during his earlier victory and the fight at the Main Event final table. Putting an end to that streak was Petrangelo, however, who would take down Foxen in third place to go to heads up play at more than a 4:1 disadvantage.
With such an edge, it did not take long for Addamo to close the deal. On the final hand Petrangelo, with a dwindling stack, put out a bet of 70K and Addamo made the call. An ugly 7-2-2 flop would hit the felt, which Addamo checked but Petrangelo fired at. Addamo now woke up with a check raise that Petrangelo called. A ten on the turn brought another check out of Addamo, but he just called the turn bet of 250K from Petrangelo. A five on the river completed the ghastly array (7-2-2-10-5) and Addamo checked his option again.
Reading it for weakness, Petrangelo moved all in for his remaining chips and Addamo went into the tank. After some contemplation, Addamo made the call and saw Petrangelo turn up a K-8 off suit for only a pair of deuces with a King kicker. Addamo turned up the winner, a 7-3, for two pair to capture the title of the 2021 Poker Masters Main Event.
1. Michael Addamo, $1,160,000
2. Nick Petrangelo, $754,000
3. Alex Foxen, $464,000
4. Stanley Tang, $319,000
5. Mikita Badziakouski, $203,000
Asked by PokerGO’s Donnie Peters how his two-day heater stacked up for him, Addamo seemed a bit surprised by it himself. “This is definitely up there…I don’t think I’ve won two tournaments in quick succession of this size before, so this is definitely probably the biggest one, I’d say.”
Back-to-Back Wins Lock Up Overall Championship
The two wins on successive days took Addamo from nowhere in the thoughts of winning the 2021 Poker Masters Purple Jacket to being measured at the final table for his new coat. Between those two victories, Addamo racked up 808 points to win the overall championship going away. His closest competitor, Petrangelo, did not win any events during the schedule but used three cashes to win nearly a million dollars. The points were what counts, however, and there Petrangelo was more than 400 points behind Addamo.
1. Michael Addamo, 808 points ($1,840,000 plus $50,000 for winning overall title)
2. Nick Petrangelo, 402 ($929,800)
3. AP Louis Garza, 376 ($550,200
4. Daniel Negreanu, 372 ($433,400)
5. Brock Wilson, 358 ($414,300)
With the conclusion of the Main Event, the 2021 Poker Masters has ended. The “High Rollers” will have one more chance to gather for the 2021 Super High Roller Bowl, which will run from September 27-29. That $300,000 buy in tournament will come right before the start of the 2021 World Series of Poker, meaning that many of the usual suspects will already be in town and ready for action.
