The World Poker Tour (WPT) Grand Prix reaches Europe in February and kicks off in Venice early in the month. The event will be held at the wonderful Casino di Venezia, on the iconic canal island from Monday, 6th February until Friday 10th February. Many of the players attending will be planning on entering the €4,950 buy-in Main Event and a shot at the winner’s big prize.
Last year’s final table attracted a field of 523 from across the continent but was naturally dominated by eager Italian players. The good turnout paid slightly less than €3,300 to join the competition and generated a €1,502,290 prize pool.
The competition saw homeboy, Alessio Isaia take first place and the €380,000 winnings, second place went to Szabolcs Mayer from Hungary with a cheque for €221,090. Third place witnessed Scotland’s David Vamplew take €147,970.
Fourth and fifth place went to Alexandre Rodrigues and Adrien Camille Garrigues from France both taking €100,650 and €72,860 respectively. Another Italian, Luca Fiorini, took sixth place with €57,080 and Russia’s Maxim Lykov took seventh with €42,810. Eighth and ninth place again saw two Italians take the winnings with Renato Paolini and Paolo Della Penna taking €31,540 and €22,530 respectively.
Last year’s main event saw plenty of interest and a number of Italian players proving the strength of the game in the country, with four gaining places at the final table. Winning, Alessio Isaia took the first place, along with a $25,500 seat at the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio and a wonderful Tiffany bracelet – he was on top of the world.
The Italian players looked pretty good at last year’s tournament but let us see what this year’s Main Event holds.
Chris
- Chris Laquinta is a magazine editor, content specialist and poker fanatic with 10+ years writing experience and over 1,500 published articles. Chris is a naitive of Southern California, where he spent his entire life learning gaming concepts and theories from relatives that had been former professional gamblers. He currently resides in Torrance, CA where he works as a professional content writer and part-time SNG professional.
