Gioco Digitale WPT Venice Carnival Day 2: Andrea Dato Leads Final 47
Day 2 of the �3,000 Gioco Digitale World Poker Tour Venice Carnival saw 105 players return to action, and after five levels of play the field was whittled down to the final 47. Only 18 players are slated to get paid a minimum of �5,000, but the winner will ultimately take home the �105,000 top prize and a $15,400 seat into the WPT Championship.
The man best positioned to make a run at the title is Italian pro Andrea Dato, who bagged up the chip lead with 243,300. However, he has some stiff competition nipping at his heels, most notably Sam Trickett, who finished third in chips with 201,000.
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Dato | 243,300 |
| 2 | Antonio Buonanno | 205,200 |
| 3 | Sam Trickett | 201,000 |
| 4 | Simon Hemsworth | 173,100 |
| 5 | Mario Vojvoda | 153,600 |
| 6 | Giacomo Fundaro | 148,300 |
| 7 | Ivan Gabriell | 142,500 |
| 8 | Max Pescatori | 136,600 |
| 9 | Victor Nikolaevich Ilyukhin | 136,600 |
| 10 | Jan Olav Sjavik | 134,700 |
According to the WPT Live Blog, action resumed in Level 7 (250/500/75) on Wednesday and it didn��t take long for a notable to hit the rail.
According to Dato, Liv Boeree opened for 1,100 from early position. Another player three-bet to 3,900 from middle position, Dato flatted, and Boeree popped it to approximately 17,000. The other player folded, Dato moved in, and Boeree called off what little she had behind with AxKx. She was racing against Dato��s J?J?, but a jack on the flop was the final nail in her coffin.
As the day wore on many others hit the rail, including Paul Tedeschi, Vladimir Bozinovic, Vasili Firsau, Sigurd Eskeland, Gabriele Lepore, Giovanni Rizzo, and defending champ Rocco Palumbo.
Palumbo��s demise came in Level 9 (400/800/100) when he got his stack of 25 big blinds all in preflop with 9x9x only to run into the JxJx of Luigi Circo. The board ran out clean and Palumbo��s elimination ensured that a new champion would be crowned.
Among those still in contention for the title are Sotirios Koutoupas (132,800), Alessio Isaia (110,000), Marko Mikovic (109,300), Steve Watts (77,000), Luca Moschitta (68,400), Marcello Montagner (66,500), Kara Scott (56,100), Tim Finne (51,900), William Dorey (47,000), Charles Chattha (38,000), and Antonio Buonanno (205,200).
Buonanno eliminated one of the toughest players in the field in the last level of the night. It went down in Level 11 (600/1,200/200) when, on a board reading K?5?3?6?, Roberto Romanello jammed for 30,000 and Buonanno tank-called.
Buonanno: 4x4x
Romanello: A?J?
Romanello had several outs, but he failed to catch as the 5? blanked on the river. Romanello, the Season IX WPT Bratislava champ, was eliminated from the tournament while Buonanno went on to bag the second-biggest stack in the room.
The remaining 47 players will return at 14:30 local time on Thursday, and of course PokerNews will bring you a recap of the action upon completion of play.
*Photos and data courtesy of the WPT Live Blog.
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