If it seems like the World Poker Tour (WPT) has an event every week, it’s because it does. At least this month. During the first week of December, we had WPT Prague, won by Andrey Pateychuk. This weekend, James Dempsey won the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. And now, on Tuesday, WPT Venice began with the first of two starting days at the Casino Di Venezia in Ca’noghera. The field was very small for Day 1A with just 78 players paying the €3,000 + €300 to play. Compare this to the 571 who played at WPT Prague and the 413 at WPT Five Diamond and it is an extremely weak turnout, even considering that there is still another starting day left with re-entry allowed.
Ending Day 1A as the chip leader is Andrea Dato with 217,300 chips. With blinds and antes about to hit 500/1,000/100, his 58,300 chip advantage over the second place player, Steve O’Dwyer, is significant. But even though just 29 players remain from Tuesday and it is unlikely that there will be scores more after Wednesday, this is still poker and no lead is safe. Just look at the last two WPT final tables.
Dato has earned just shy of $300,000 on the live tournament circuit in his career. Almost half of it was won this summer when he placed 3rd in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Triple Chance event at the World Series of Poker for $138,044. His next biggest score came just last month when he finished 5th in the Main Event of the Italian Poker Tour Campione II, winning $62,264.
It is odd that so few players showed up for WPT Venice, considering this same event fielded 523 runners last season. Perhaps the fact that it followed so closely behind WPT Prague, WPT Five Diamond, and the European Poker Tour’s Prague stop made it an unfortunate victim of a mass break from poker by European players. Or, perhaps everyone went to the wrong casino. Laugh if you’d like, but that actually happened. Play started about an hour late on Tuesday because a number of players went to Casino Di Venezia Ca’Vendramin rather than Casino Di Venezia in Ca’noghera. We assume that there weren’t a couple hundred players at the wrong poker room who still didn’t make their way to the correct one, so while Day 1B’s typically have more registrants than Day 1A’s, the field still shouldn’t come anywhere close to what it was last year.
Day 1B of WPT Venice will begin at 1:00pm Wednesday.
World Poker Tour Venice – End of Day 1A Chip Leaders
1. Andrea Dato – 217,300
2. Steve O’Dwyer – 159,000
3. Wanny Piazza – 154,000
4. Michele Caroli – 132,200
5. Umberto Calabro – 124,000
6. Roger Hairabedian – 120,600
7. Alessandro Fasolis – 111,500
8. Gianluca Nardone – 110,200
9. Cristiano Guerrero – 105,900
10. Rocco Palumbo – 101,100
