Italian Poker Tour Sanremo Main Event Down to the Final Nine
Prior to the EPT10 Sanremo Main Event, the Italian Poker Tour (IPT) kicked off their €700 buy-in Main Event, which attracted 1,124 players and created a prize pool of €763,196. That was to be distributed to the top 167 players, with €137,100 reserved for the eventual winner. That tournament is now down to the unofficial final table of nine.
Among those who cashed were Tam Truong (166th - €1,220), Max Pescatori (160th - €1,220), Sergio Aido (158th - €1,220), Marcin Horecki (150th - €1,220), Alex Kravchenko (135th - €1,345), Casey Kastle (129th - €1,345), Vitaly Lunkin (107th - €1,500), and Alessandro Basile (78th - €1,660), Andrea Dato (59th - €1,980), Kitty Kuo (34th - €2,800), Ben Yu (27th - €3,815), Pratik Ghatge (22nd - €4,550), and Franco Berlingieri (10th - €8,480).
UKIPT Marbella champion Ludovic Geilich, who won the Super Tuesday last week for a career best online cash of $101,325 and was fourth at EPT London, narrowly missed the final, finishing 11th for €8,480.
Leading the final nine is Marcello Miniucchi. All the remaining players, who will be back today at 12:30 p.m., are guaranteed at least €13,000 but it's the IPT6 Sanremo trophy and €137,100 first prize they have in their sights.
In addition to Miniucchi, who was runner-up at the IPT Saint Vincent Main Event last month, some other notables remain including APPT Cebu champion Jae Kyung Sim, 2012 Swedish Champion Alexander Norden, and WPT Venice runner-up Alex Longobardi. Fellow finalist Niccolo Ceccarelli has already won an event here at the EPT Sanremo Poker Festival when he beat a 75-strong field to take down the €200 NL Turbo (Unlimited RB/AO) for €8,620.
Here's a look at the unofficial final table of nine:
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seat 1 | Marcello Miniucchi | Italy | 4,540,000 |
| Seat 2 | Alessandro Borsa | Italy | 820,000 |
| Seat 3 | Fabio Scepi | Italy | 2,750,000 |
| Seat 4 | Nicolo Ceccarelli | Italy | 2,260,000 |
| Seat 5 | Adel Kabbani | France | 2,020,000 |
| Seat 6 | Alessandro De Fenza | Italy | 3,855,000 |
| Seat 7 | Alex Longobardi | Italy | 2,200,000 |
| Seat 8 | Jae Sim | Korea | 1,980,000 |
| Seat 9 | Alexander Norden | Sweden | 1,955,000 |
The IPT Main Event attracted 1,124 entries over three accumulator start days. There were 609 unique players with Italians accounting for more than half (51% with 308 players) that field. In total, players from 49 countries took part.
