Salvatore Bonavena is First Italian to Win EPT

Submitted by Guest on

Written by :

Guest

Published on :

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, December 15, 2008 -- The PokerStars European Poker Tour had its first ever Italian winner last night when PokerStars sponsored player Salvatore Bonavena from Cessaniti, Southern Italy, beat PokerStars qualifier Massimo Di Ciccoalso from Italy - to take the EPT Prague title and a first prize of €774,000. Estate agent Salvatore is also only the sixth amateur poker player to win an out of 37 previous EPT champions.

The 44-year-old father-of-two fought his way through a 570-strong field in Prague that generated a total prize pool of more than 2.7 million ($3.7 million). The tournament featured a wealth of international stars including seven members of Team PokerStars Pro and World Series of Poker champion Peter Eastgate.

Bonavena, who was the short stack at the start of Day 3, made an incredible recovery to reach second place at the start of the final table. He finally triumphed when his 8-7 gave him top pair which Massimo Di Cicco was unable to beat with his A-4.

Bonavena, who will also be competing at the PCA in the Bahamas next month, said: "I'm really happy but it hasn't sunk in yet. I actually feel like crying.  It's one of the best days of my life because I have done something no other Italian has done. I feel very proud."

The ($7,180) buy-in tournament, hosted by Golden Prague Poker at the Hilton Prague Hotel, attracted a record field from 40 countries, including 88 players who won their seats online with PokerStars.

Countless stars took part in the Prague event, including Team PokerStars Pros Noah Boeken, Dario Minieri, Marcin Horecki, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Alex Kravchenko and Katja Thater. PokerStars sponsored player Juan Maceiras, from Spain, finished 12th for €30,400 and German ShootingStar Sebastian Ruthenberg came ninth for €42,800.

The EPT founder John Duthie said: "EPT Prague has been a remarkable tournament and, as always, world class poker has been displayed by players who have travelled from all over the world to take part. It's also been great to witness the growing number of good players coming out of Eastern Europe. Poker is really taking off in this region."

 

 

Final table/payouts:

 

 

Name

Country

PokerStars status

€

1

Salvatore Bonavena

Italy

PokerStars sponsored player

774,000

 

2

Massimo Di Cicco

Italy

PokerStars qualifier

445,000

 

3

Andrew Chen

Canada

 

257,000

 

4

Konstantinos Alexiou

Greece

 

199,000

 

5

Francesco Cirianni

Italy

 

166,000

 

6

Fredrik Nygard

Finland

 

130,000

 

7

Nasr El Nasr

Germany

 

99,500

 

8

Raul Mestre

Spain

 

71,800

 

 

The next stop on the EPT is in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. This spectacular Festival of Poker which will include the $10,000 buy-in main event, a string of side events, the Battleship of Online Poker, the World Cup of Poker Final and a special $25,000 high roller event. The PCA takes place January 5-10, 2009, at the stunning 5* Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island. For more information on the European Poker Tour, please visit www.ept.com

Poker Players
Tournaments
Poker

betonline Ace Per Head BetMania 

Betus sportsbetting betphenix skybook 

Related Content

Some of the best & worst poker reactions

 

Doyle Brunson Bares All to Nude Beach Loving Lacey Jones

Doyle Brunson wasn't voted my Sexiest Poker Player of 2009 because he's dead wood.  Poker babe Lacey Jones also made the cut. 

For the most part, poker players and successful gamblers in general tend to hog the glory. While some players rise to titanic levels of popularity, others tend to fade into the background, of no fault of their own. Simply put, there is only so much attention the public can give to professional gamblers. As a result, we have gathered here today not to give even more attention to the likes of Daniel Negreanu, but to talk about the unsung heroes of the industry that deserve more attention than they are current

Gambling Heroes Who Should Be Featured Over and Over Again

For the most part, poker players and successful gamblers in general tend to hog the glory. While some players rise to titanic levels of popularity, others tend to fade into the background, of no fault of their own. Simply put, there is only so much attention the public can give to professional gamblers.

Tobey Maguire a ‘Royal Jerk at Poker Table’, Told Hostess to ‘Bark Like a Seal’

“Molly’s Game”, the new memoire from the so-called “Poker Princess” Molly Bloom, arrived in bookstores Thursday (June 12, 2014) and it’s not without its juicy tidbits blasting the likes of “Spider-Man” actor Tobey Maguire.