15 Jul
We anticipated that the final day of play at the Bellagio XI Main Event would likely be the most competitive one of the entire event, and that turned out to be the case.
It took a little over two and a half hours for the first final table player to be eliminated from the event and a four-handed deal took place near the end of the event as it seemed neither of the top four would bow out quickly.
At the end of it all though, it was Sean Winter who emerged as the Main Event winner, having topped a total field of 301 players.
The previously stated deal means that that he took home less than the original $US788,318 prize that was reserved for the first place. However, he is likely to be unfazed by that as his bank account still grew by US$562,772 thanks to his big win.
Winter took to Twitter to express his happiness about the victory, having Tweeted I got 570k and the trophy! This feels good!
He beat one of the most accomplished players to have played in this year’s final table, German poker shark Dominik Nitsche, in the heads-up play.
It wasn’t all bad news for Nietsche, however, as he still took home a very respectable US$479,732 for his stellar play over the five-day Main Event.
Third place went to Byron Kaverman, who won US$409,219 for his solid efforts throughout the tournament.
Nick Petrangelo entered the final table as the chip leader, and while he did well throughout most of the final day, he ultimately had to settle for fourth spot. While it wasn’t first place, it was still good enough for a US$321,994 payday.
Another famous final table face, Joseph Cheong, finished in fifth place, taking home US$124,087 for his time and play at the Bellagio XI Main Event.
All in all it was a strong event, especially considering the WSOP Main Event was taking place at the same time in the same city.
