When the World Poker Tour ( WPT ) first announced it would be adding a stop in Slovakia for its eighth season, it was unclear how many big name pros would be willing to travel to Bratislava to participate in the event. The final numbers for last week’s Main Event were at a modest 100, but there were still some recognizable faces in the field and at the final table.
The €4,400 buy-in event was held at the Golden Vegas Casino in Bratislava in tandem with the Slovak Poker Sport Federation. The event will not be televised in the United States, but the WPT did add a little taste of the States to the event by flying in noted tournament director Steve Frezer and his crew to oversee all the tournament action.
Some of the other imports who came in for the event were American PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, Full Tilt Pro Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen, DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Peter “Belabacsi” Traply of Hungary.
Both Torelli and Traply found themselves at the final table of the event, which is familiar territory for the two pros. Torelli finished in 4th place at the WPT season-opening Bellagio Cup V, earning $271,165 and made an appearance at the televised final table of the $40,000 buy-in anniversary event of the WSOP back in May. He finished in 6th place in that event for $329,730. So far this year, Torelli has won $695,291.
Traply has had an equally successful run. In April of this year he made the final table of the European Poker Tour’s Grand Finale at Monte Carlo, finishing in 8th place for $241,238. Then, in June, the young Hungarian took down the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout Event at the WSOP for $348,755. The achievement was a benchmark not just for Traply, but for his country as it was Hungary’s first-ever WSOP title.
Hungary had a strong showing in Slovakia as well. Traply was joined at the final table by fellow Hungarian Richard Toth. According to Czech poker site Pokerzive.cz, Traply was the extreme short stack heading into final table play while Torelli came in with the chip lead. Here are the complete chip counts from the start of the final table:
Seat 1: Alec Torelli (1,064,000 chips)
Seat 2: Richard Toth (781,000 chips)
Seat 3: Boris Zelený (469,000 chips)
Seat 4: Saŝa Stenčič (439,000 chips)
Seat 5: Marec Tatar (160,000 chips)
Seat 6: Peter Traply (63,000 chips)
An early double up by Traply kept him alive long enough to avoid going out in 6th place. Marec Tatar, the other short stack at the table, was less fortunate and was the first to fall in 6th place. Traply’s comeback would be short-lived and he would be the next player eliminated. Despite beginning the day with the chip lead, Torelli made his exit in 4th, matching his previous WPT final table performance at the Bellagio. In the end it was the other Hungarian, Toth, who would emerge victorious at his first WPT final table. He earned €104,000 for the win and added a WPT victory to the rapidly growing list of Hungarian poker achievements.
The complete results from the final table are as follows:
1st: Richard Toth – €104,000
2nd: Boris Zelený – €66,000
3rd: Saŝa Stenčič – €42,000
4th: Alec Torelli – €31,000
5th: Peter Traply – €25,000
6th: Marec Tatar – €20,000
The next WPT international stop in Cyprus is already underway and after only one of two starting days, it appears as if it will draw a substantially larger crowd than its Slovakian counterpart.
