This Week's Big Winner: Nick Petrangelo Wins World Series of Poker $100,000 High Roller Event

Nick Petrangelo has won the inaugural running of the World Series of Poker $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, defeating a field of 105 total entries to secure his second gold bracelet and the massive first-place prize of $2,910,227. The 31-year-old poker pro from Feeding Hills, Massachusetts previously won the 2015 $3,000 no-limit hold’em shootout event for $201,812. He now has $14.5 million in lifetime live tournament earnings.

Petrangelo came into this event fresh off of a sixth-place finish in the $300,000 buy-in Super High Roller Bowl for $900,000. He then managed to survive to the final day of this event as the chip leader, an enviable position that brings with it a unique form of pressure.

“Sleeping on the chip lead is definitely a little more stressful,” Petrangelo told WSOP reporters after coming out on top. “It’s kind of like in a sports game. If you have the lead and there are a few minutes left, it’s more stressful sometimes because you want everything to work out. There are expectations to deal with. I’ve tried to teach myself to just be happy to be here and just be excited to be playing. Luckily for me today, it was the easiest anything has ever gone. I coolered everybody and ran super hot. No complaints. The last two days were super easy for me. The last time I played any tough pots were around the middle stages of day 2. I’m happy with my decision making, but ultimately, I just had sick cards and it worked out.”

In addition to the title and the money, Petrangelo also earned 1,200 Card Player Player of the Year points as the champion of this event. This was his first title of 2018, but it was his eighth final-table appearance. With $5,027,971 in year-to-date earnings, Petrangelo has climbed into 11th place on the POY leaderboard.
Here are five key hands that propelled Petrangelo to victory.

Tournament: WSOP High Roller
Buy-In: $100,000
No. of Entries: 105
1st Place Prize: $2,910,227
Prize Pool: $10,185,000

The Action

With just a few players away from the money bubble, Petrangelo raised on the button and was met with a three-bet shove from Marchese in the big blind. Petrangelo got the count of 1,450,000 and tanked for nearly a minute before making the call with pocket nines. Marchese held A K for two overcards, but couldn’t connect as the board fell 9 8 3 Q 6.

The Action

Now in the money, Sontheimer shoved for his last 785,000 from the hijack and Petrangelo made the call from the cutoff. Volpe then three-bet to 2,200,000 from the small blind, and Petrangelo four-bet shoved. Volpe called all-in for a total of 4,600,000 with pocket kings, but Petrangelo had him in terrible shape with pocket aces. Sontheimer needed a lot of help with his A 4 to win the much smaller main pot, but the board came ten-high, shipping the huge double knockout and the chip lead to Petrangelo. Sontheimer and Volpe were eliminated in 16th and 15th place, each earning $155,378.

The Action

Now six-handed, Petrangelo limped from the small blind and Fox checked his option. The flop fell 8 7 3 and Petrangelo led for 200,000. Fox called and the turn was the 2. Petrangelo bet 700,000 and Fox raised to 2,000,000. Petrangelo called, and then checked the 7 on the river. Fox bet 3,000,000 and Petrangelo quickly called. Fox showed 5 4 for a failed bluff, and Petrangelo rolled over Q 4 for a turned flush to drag the pot and take back the chip lead.

The Action

Petrangelo raised to 500,000 and Eiler called from the big blind. The flop fell J J 6 and Petrangelo bet 400,000. Eiler check-raised to 1,300,000 and Petrangelo called. The turn was the 4 and Eiler bet 2,200,000. Petrangelo made the call and the river was the 7. Eiler now checked, and Petrangelo moved all-in. Eiler called with K J for trip jacks, but Petrangelo had flopped a full house with 6 6 to win the massive pot. Eiler picked up $886,793 for his fourth-place finish.

The Action

After coming to some sort of arrangement with his heads-up opponent that required the players to open with a blind min-raise, three-bet, and four-bet, Petrangelo found himself with a 3:2 chip lead. He min-raised the button to 600,000, Fox three-bet to 900,000, and Petrangelo four-bet to 1,800,000. Fox called, and then checked the flop of A A 2. Petrangelo bet 1,200,000, and Fox check-raised to 3,000,000. Petrangelo called, and the turn was the 8. Fox checked, and Petrangelo bet 4,000,000. Fox called, and the river was the 3. Fox checked, and Petrangelo moved all-in. Fox called with 5 2 for bottom pair, but Petrangelo turned better with Q 8 to scoop the pot and the title. Fox earned a reported $1,798,658 for his runner-up finish, while Petrangelo earned his second bracelet and signed for the winner’s share of $2,910,227.

Final Table Results

Nick Petrangelo — $2,910,227
Elio Fox — $1,798,658
Aymon Hata — $1,247,230
Andreas Eiler — $886,793
Bryn Kenney — $646,927
Stephen Chidwick — $484,551
Jason Koon — $372,894
Adrian Mateos — $295,066