Salvatore Bonevana wins EPT Prague

Salvatore Bonevana wins EPT Prague

Monday, 15 December 2008

The PokerStars.com EPT Prague Main Event is now over and the tour sees its first ever Italian champion. And no, it’s not Dario Minieri.

Salvatore Bonevana, one of the most stereotypically Italian-named men we’ve ever heard of, took down the tournament and a €774k first-place prize after a rollercoaster of a final table that saw the chip lead change hands more times than the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

The first to go was short-stack Raul Mestre who got all his chips in with A7s only to be called by the 99 of Fredrik Nygard. The flop came innocuously with two hearts and the Ah turn seemed to seal the deal. However, Nygard held the 9h and the river completed a four-flush to ship him the pot.

Amusingly-named Nasr El Nasr fell next when he moved all in with Kd-Jd and was called by the TT of Andrew Chen. The Td-4d-2c flop had something for everyone but Chen faded a diamond on the turn and river.

Chen then went on something of a heater, busting out first Nygard when he moved all-in with A-8o and was called by big stack Chen’s Q2o, which made a pair. Then Francesco Ciranni moved all in with Ah-8h but suitedness couldn’t help this time as Chen called with AQ for the win.

Alexiou Konstantinos' aggressive play caused headaches for his final tablemates and saw his chipstack constantly swinging. Eventually Bonevana busted him holding KQo to the 48-year-old Greek’s 33.

Andrew Chen eventually came in third, adding a second major final table this year after making a strong showing in the LAPT San Jose last month. He moved all-in with KQo and was called by Bonevana’s A6o which made a straight on the turn, leaving Chen dead to a chop.

After an hour of back and forth play which saw Di Cicco come from behind to briefly claim the chip lead, Bonevana eliminated Di Cicco as the runner-up in a raised pot on an 8d-3h-2h board. Di Cicco continued his pre-flop aggression by moving in on the flop only to be called by Bonevana’s 8-7. Di Cicco couldn’t hit his overcard or gutshot and came a commendable second to his countryman.

The full list of final table players and their payouts is as follows:
1. Salvatore Bonavena -- €774,000 ?2. Massimo Di Cicco -- €445,000 ?3. Andrew Alan Chen -- €257,000 ?4. Francesco Cirianni -- €166,000 ?6. Fredrik Nygard -- €130,000 ?7. Nasr El Nasr -- €99,500 ?8. Raul Mestre -- €71,800



Tags: Poker News, Salvatore, Bonevana, wins, EPT, Prague