The final table is set for the World Poker Tour’s Venice Grand Prix, with several surprises that unfolded as the Day Four play determined those six players.
At the start of play on Friday, Erion Islamay was at the top of an eighteen player field that saw a host of top pros looking to take him down. Poker Hall of Famer and WPT announcer Mike Sexton lurked back in the middle of the Top Ten, and the final two women in the field, Kara Scott and Giorgia Tabet, held strong stacks to make a run at the final table. Unfortunately, only one of those three would make it through the day’s action.
From the start of play on Friday, Scott’s chip stack was in reverse mode. She doubled up Matteo Fortunato who, as his name indicates, got very fortunate to hit a nine with his A-9 against Scott’s pocket sevens. Still sitting over 300K, Scott next tangled with former World Series of Poker Championship Event runner-up Martin Staszko and came out on the losing end again when her pocket sixes were run down by Staszko’s J-9. She would hang around for a bit longer after that, but the wind was essentially pulled from her sails.
Islamay was responsible for the first knockout of the day, sending a short-stacked Angel Recchia out the door when his A-7 was able to find a straight against Recchia’s A-K. As Islamay padded his lead, Tabet was able to get a key double up through Sexton that put her in contention. It was a big hand that resulted in a double knockout that got the crowd buzzing in the Casino di Venezia Ca Vendramin Calergi, however.
After an initial raiser from Giuseppe Pastura, Ivan Gabriele made the call but saw Antonino Zito move his short stack of 100K to the center of the felt. Pastura was confident with his hand, re-raising to push Gabriele out of the hand, but Gabriele changed the script on Pastura by moving all in himself. Pastura, with two players all in and a huge stack of chips in front of him, made the reluctant pot odds call and was way behind.
Gabriele’s pocket Aces were not only dominating Zito’s pocket Kings but also Pastura’s meek K-9 offering, but fortune sometimes favors the meek. The Q-10-10 flop gave Pastura some outs for the straight, but none would come on the seven turn. Lightning would strike, however, on the Jack river to give Pastura that straight. With that miracle river card, Pastura performed the double knockout of Gabriele and Zito and surged to the lead.
Pastura added to that lead in knocking out Gianluca Speranza in 14th place, once again hitting a saving card on the river to make a set of sevens over Speranza’s pocket Jacks. Scott’s day would come to a close soon after that as she got her final chips in against Roberto Begni but was unable to outrun his A-K with her K-8. Once Ludovic Lacay (12th), Fortunato (11th) and Staszko (10th) were eliminated, the unofficial nine handed final table was set.
The run to eliminate three more players went fairly quickly and with a great deal of drama. Sexton moved into the chip lead after battling against Islamay, while the final lady in the field headed to the rail. Tabet would fall victim to Sexton’s run on the felt, his A-10 defeating her pocket nines, while Pastura’s fortunate run would end at the hands of Begni. Once Matt Salsberg was eliminated in seventh place after Marcello Montagner rivered a straight against his flopped set of threes, the final table was set for today’s play.
1. Marcello Montagner, 1.805 million
2. Roberto Begni, 1.203 million
3. Mike Sexton, 1.079 million
4. Erion Islamay, 406,000
4. Rocco Palumbo, 406,000
6. Xia Lin, 309,000
The championship will be determined between the top three players as the bottom of the survivors has a very unlikely chance of making a run. Sexton would seem to be the dominant player on the table, but Begni and Montagner will not roll over for the poker legend. It should be a fantastic table that plays out today and the latest champion on the World Poker Tour is crowned.
