Roberly Felicio Wins 2018 World Series of Poker Colossus Event

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The fourth annual running of the World Series of Poker’s $565 buy-in Colossus wrapped up late Thursday night, with Brazilian restaurant owner Roberly Felicio coming from behind to defeat Sang Liu for the bracelet and the $1 million first-place prize.

Felicio, whose only previous cash at the WSOP was a 501st showing in last year’s Monster Stack, had a loud and supportive rail, despite having only one friend in Las Vegas with him. Although strangers, his fellow countrymen cheered him on to victory.

“That was the best part,” Felicio told WSOP reporters. “I came here to Vegas with only one friend and being here, I had a lot of Brazilians cheering for me and also some professionals. I think that was the difference heads-up. When I was down, I would look at the rail and the people that are there cheering for me. I’m sure that is what made the difference for me to get the title.”

Of course, a little luck doesn’t hurt either.

Sang Liu was just one card away from the win, holding J10 on a board of J73K against Felicio’s J8. Unfortunately for him, the river was the 8, giving Felicio two pair and a commanding chip lead.

Liu ultimately earned $500,000 for his runner-up finish, a slight victim of a top-heavy prize structure that awarded Felicio twice as much for the win.

The reason for the payout discrepancy was the $1 million guarantee for first place, and a disappointing turnout of just 13,070. While that field size is undoubtedly one of the largest in WSOP history, it’s a far cry from the first three showings of Colossus, which saw 18,054 (2017), 21,613 (2016), 22,374 (2015) entries.

This year’s Colossus was run concurrently with a $365 buy-in online bracelet event, a $365 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event, and a $1,100 MSPT event as part of the Venetian’s DeepStack Championship Poker Series that saw 4,411 entries.

Notables who made a deep run in this event included Scott Margereson (4th), Tim Miles (5th), John Racener (8th), Kurt Jewell (26th), Craig Chait (35th), Kevin Eyster (42nd), Tony Gargano (45th), Andrey Zaichenko (50th), Alex Foxen (59th), Eric Hershler (66th), Valentin Vornicu (77th), Michael Gagliano (79th), Ben Zamani (83rd), and Joe Cada (97th).

Here is a look at the final table results.

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2018 WSOP landing page complete with a full schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

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