Wilson Calixto Takes Out Brazilian Series of Poker

The Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) has grown and grown since its first event back in 2006.

The series has become so successful that its Main Event has now become the second largest in the world in terms of entrants, with 2,749 participants this year.

At the end of it all, it was a home player, Brazilian pro Wilson Calixto, who won the top prize as well as the R$1,050,000 (around US$420,000) prize for the first place.

While ten players made it to the final day of play, that was quickly reduced to eight following the eliminations of Marcel Carli and Adecir Cassol from the event. From this point it became a closely fought contest for the chip lead as no player thoroughly dominated at the official final table.

Calixto showed he was force to be reckoned with early on as he knocked Humberto Meireles out of the final table in eighth place. With pocket Sixes, Meireles was ahead of the eventual winner’s Pocket Fours before the flop, but Calixto hit a set to win the hand.

Ednei Carrilho then displayed his poker brilliance as he eliminated Sebastian Ruiz in seventh place. The Chilean player went all in pre flop with Pocket Fours, but unfortunately for him Carrilho had Pocket Aces, which held to the river to win him the hand.

Carrilho then made it two in a row as he sent Nenem Brito to the rail. Brito moved all in with 97 after the flop (which contained two diamonds) gave him a flush draw.

It was purely bad luck for him, however, as Carrilho had a better flush draw with Ace Eight of Diamonds. No other diamond came on the turn or the river, but the Ace of Spades on the turn gave Carrilho Trip Aces, which cemented his win and put the event down to its final five players.

Calixto then claimed his own second final table scalp when he eliminated Anderson Cruz out in fifth spot. Cruz had a solid hand in Ace Jack, but he was dominated by Calixto and his Ace Queen, which held on the board.

While Carrilho started the final table strong, his fall from grace was swift and dramatic. He went all in with Queen Ten and was called by Luiz Ferreira Duarte, who had the strong hand in Ace Eight.

Lucas Iglesias settled for the third place after he called Calixto’s all in on the turn with Pocket Aces. It was bad timing and bad luck for Iglesias as Calixto turned a Straight, which left Iglesias drawing dead.

His elimination put Calixto and Duarte in heads-up play, with Calixto holding a slight lead when play began. In the final hand of the event, Duarte bet after the turn only for Calixto to move all in. He was called by Duarte, who had a Pair of Queens to give him top pair. It was not enough, however, as Calixto turned two pair with Jack-Five, which won him the hand and, consequently, the event.

Image: www.bsop.com