PokerGo Tour Italy Wraps Up High-Stakes Poker Festival In VeniceThe Series Included Five High Roller Tournaments From May 26-28 |
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The PokerGO Tour made its way to the historic Casino Di Venezia in Venice, Italy for its latest high-stakes tournament series during the final days of May. The PGT Italy featured a total of five high roller tournaments that ran from May 26-28.
The festival kicked off with the highest buy-in event that ran, a €25,500 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament. A total of 11 entries were made, building a prize pool equivalent to $288,365 USD. The top two finishers made the money in the PLO, with Finland’s Lauri Varonen emerging victorious in the end.
Varonen took home €188,650 ($201,856 USD) for the win. He also secured 113 PGT rankings points for as the champion. This was his largest recorded live tournament score ever, surpassing the $148,566 he secured as the runner-up in the PLO event at The Big Wrap in 2019.
Antanas ‘Tony G’ Guoga finished second in this event for $86,510 USD. This was his third cash of the year, all of which came in the month of May. He now sits in 41st place in the PGT standings as a result, with more than $1.7 million in year-to-date cashes.
The second event on the schedule was a €10,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. The event attracted 18 entries, building a prize pool equivalent to $188,748.
The Netherlands’ Teun Mulder came out on top, taking home $101,864 USD for the win. This was his third title of the year, but it did not qualify for 2022 Card Player Player of the Year race points. He remains in 24th place in the overall standings there, and now sits inside the top 30 on the PGT leaderboard.
Danny Tang finished third for $30,174 USD. Before this, he had already accrued eight final-table finishes with more than $3.3 million in cashes along the way in 2022. He sits in eighth place in the current POY rankings.
Next up on the agenda was a €10,200 short deck event. With 13 entries, the prize pool grew to $136,318 USD. Like event #2, this also did not build a sufficiently large prize pool to qualify for POY points.
Santi Jiang came away with the title and the top prize of $95,391 USD. This was his second career live title, with his first being a $756,000 win at the Super High Roller Bowl Europe last August.
Paul Phua, who is second on the short deck tournament earnings list with nearly $10.2 million, finished as the runner-up for $40,928 USD.
The penultimate offering for the PGT Italy was the €15,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em event. Wayne Heung emerged victorious, earning $172,270 USD after topping a field of 24 entries.
Jiang backed up his victory with a runner-up finish for another $107,000 USD. Patrik Antonius finished fourth for $37,771 USD. The Finnish high-stakes star now has nearly $12.5 million in career tournament earnings.
The final event was a €15,300 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament. Aku Joentausta was the last player standing, earning $110,210 USD. Runner-up Samuli Sipila took home $47,080 USD.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded during the series:
PGT Italy Event #1
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Lauri Varonen | $201,856 | 168 | 113 |
2 | Antanas Guoga | $86,510 | 140 | 49 |
PGT Italy Event #2
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Teun Mulder | $101,864 | 0 | 95 |
2 | Samuli Sipila | $56,710 | 0 | 53 |
3 | Danny Tang | $30,174 | 0 | 28 |
PGT Italy Event #3
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Santi Jiang | $95,391 | 0 | 89 |
2 | Paul Phua | $40,928 | 0 | 38 |
PGT Italy Event #4
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Wayne Heung | $172,270 | 216 | 161 |
2 | Santi Jiang | $107,000 | 180 | 100 |
3 | Derk van Luijk | $60,455 | 144 | 57 |
4 | Patrik Antonius | $37,771 | 108 | 35 |
PGT Italy Event #5
Place | Player | Earnings (USD) | POY Points | PGT Points |
1 | Aku Joentausta | $110,210 | 0 | 103 |
2 | Samuli Sipila | $47,080 | 0 | 44 |