Piccioli Claims First WSOP APAC Bracelet; Players Close in on WPT Barcelona Finale

Bracelets and Final Tables at WSOP APAC

It’s been a weekend of intense action inside Melbourne’s Crown Casino this weekend as the WSOP APAC kicked off its first two events.

Having attracted 1,085 runners the AUD$1,100 tournament came to a conclusion earlier today with final table chip leader Bryan Piccioli holding his nerve to claim the first ever WSOP APAC bracelet.

After watching established names such as Jeremy Ausmus and Jonathan Duhamel hit the rail, Piccioli eventually overcame Jonathan Karamalikis after hitting an unlikely straight.

After falling short on chips, Karamalikis found a way to get his stack in the middle after a three-bet induced a shove from Piccioli.

Holding pocket tens, Karamalikis made the call and was comfortably ahead of Piccioli’s [Ac] [8d] but after the board ran out: [9d] [4h] [3h] [5d] [2s], the final pot went to Piccioli, along with a shiny WSOP bracelet and AUD$211,575.

While prize money was being distributed to the final few in Event 1, the last nine players in the PLO tournament bagged up their chips ahead of tomorrow’s showdown.

Amongst those in contention for the $69,662 top prize and second piece of WSOP APAC silverware is Jim Collopy, Dan Shak and Marvin Rettenmaier who will be looking to claim his first WSOP title.

 WSOP APAC $1,100 No Limit Hold’em Accumulator Final Result:

WPT Barcelona Finale Draws Closer

As chip stacks went up Down Under in the last 24 hours, the WPT’s Barcelona leg drew closer to a final table. Having started with 249 players three days ago, yesterday’s session saw Anaras Alekberovas dominate the chip chart at the close of the second session.

Having played a confident game all day, Alekberovas enjoyed a healthy slice of luck in the final stages of the day with pocket threes.

A rush of adrenaline saw the Lithuanian player five-betting all-in with treys. Within an instant Yigit Aktulga had called with pocket aces, but despite having the lead, he soon found himself heading for the rail after Alekberovas hit a three on the flop.

Time was called on the session soon after the pot, leaving Alekberovas to bag 467,000 chips and the lead in the race for the $258,448 top prize.

Today’s session began earlier and already a number of players have been eliminated, including: Steve O’Dwyer, Victor Ilyukhin and Robin Ylitalo.

At the time of writing 27 of the 32 remaining players will earn a return on their €3,500 investment.

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