2017 Poker Year In Review: Tournament Recap Part 1Check Out The Highlights From The First Half of the Year On The Tournament Circuit |
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Tournament poker has long been the most exciting and approachable form of the game, capturing the imaginations of both the top players and brand new fans around the globe. 2017 was an incredible year for poker tournaments, with prestigious established events showing staying power while new and exciting tournaments helped spread the love of poker to new corners of the world. This article will take a look at the key events of 2017 that helped define the year on the international poker tournament circuit.
Winter
This year kicked off at a familiar locale: the Atlantis Resort in The Bahamas. The PokerStars Championship Bahamas played host to a number of massive events, starting with the $100,000 buy-in super high roller. In the end, Jason Koon emerged victorious, earning $1,650,300 for the win. 2016 champion Bryn Kenney came close to defending his title, but ultimately finished in seventh place.
Just a day later Kenney won the $50,000 buy-in single day high roller at the same festival, defeating a field of 69 entries to win $969,075. Two days after that he outlasted a field of 59 entries in a $25,000 single-day high roller, securing his second title of the year and the top prize of $392,876.
The $5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event at the PSC Bahamas drew 738 total entries. Christian Harder emerged victorious with the title and $429,664.
While the events in the Bahamas exemplified the high rolling side of tournament poker, the WSOP Circuit Choctaw was evidence of the healthy state of lower buy-in events. A $365 buy-in preliminary event there drew 5,280 entries to create a $1,584,000 total prize pool, while the $1,675 buy-in main event attracted 1,451 entries. Grant Hinkle came away with the gold ring and the $375,427 first-place prize.
Across the globe, the high roller scene made its way to Australia for the 2017 Aussie Millions. Nick Petrangelo won the $100,000 AUD super high roller for $665,734. The main event drew 725 entries, with local Shurane Vijayaram taking home $1.6 million AUD as the champion.
The World Poker Tour held a number of exciting events in the early months of 2017. Daniel Weinman defeated a field of 1,312 entries to win the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open $3,500 no-limit hold’em main event for $892,433. A few weeks later, Ema Zajmovic took down the WPT Playground $3,500 CAD no-limit hold’em main event title, becoming the first female player in WPT history to win an open main event on the tour.
Darren Elias kept the history-making streak alive in the next WPT event. He won the WPT Fallsview Poker Classic $5,000 CAD main event for his third WPT title, which saw him enter a five-way tie for the record of most wins on the tour. The WPT closed out the winter months with the L.A. Poker Classic $10,000 main event. Daniel Strelitz outlasted a field of 521 players to win his first WPT title and the top prize of $1,001,110.
Spring
The 2017 WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star main event drew 806 entries, the largest turnout ever for the event. Sam Panzica came out on top with the $1,373,000 top prize. The three-stop “California Swing” of the WPT that began with the LAPC came to a close with Michael Del Vecchio winning the WPT Rolling Thunder, defeating Sorel Mizzi heads-up to win $284,638.
For the second year in a row, the WPT’s season came to a conclusion with a trifecta of events held at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Tony Sinishtaj was the last player standing from a field of 1,207 entries in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown $3,500 buy-in. He took home $661,283 for the win. A few days later 2013 WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess emerged victorious in the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Finale $10,000 buy-in event for $716,088. Riess overcame a 349-entry field to win his first title on the World Poker Tour.
Daniel Weinman took down the second annual WPT Tournament of Champions for a $381,500 payday, putting an end to the tour’s 15th season. Weinman won his way into the event by taking down a WPT title earlier in the season and was part of a 66-player field that included his fellow season 15 winners and the champions from previous season who were able to buy-in, rake-free, for $15,000. The event also had $100,000 added to the prize pool and plenty of added bonuses, like the 2018 Audi S5 coupe Weinman was awarded as the champion.
Up next was the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo. Bryn Kenney continued his dominance of the high roller scene by winning the €100,000 super high roller event, topping 61 entries to win €1,784,500 and his fourth title on the year.
Just days later Adrian Mateos outlasted 64 entries to win the €50,000 super high roller. For the win he earned €908,000. This was only the third largest score of Mateos career, which is somewhat incredible considering that he was only 22 years old at the time. The young Spanish tournament star was only getting started with this win, so expect to hear more about him in the recap of the second half of the year.
Raffaele Sorrentino closed out the PSC Monte Carlo festival by topping the 727-entry field in the €5,300 main event to win €466,000.
Part 2 of the 2017 Poker Year In Review: Tournament Recap on CardPlayer.com will be posted on Wednesday, Jan. 3.
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