We began Event #40, the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship, with 136 players. After 135 matches, only one emerged with an undefeated record. 25-year-old Davide Suriano outlasted the field, capturing his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet and a $335,553 pay day. While Suriano was not among the elite names at the start of the event, he beat his fair share of the game's best to capture the title.
Let's recap his road to victory, shall we?
Suriano received a bye in the play-in round, automatically sending him to the round of 128 where he faced Scott Seiver. A short-stacked Seiver got his chips in with against Suriano's . A king on the river fell to give Suriano the victory, setting up a match against Dan Cates in the Round of 64. The chips went in very early and Suriano trailed with against Cates' , but the board ran out , giving Suriano a set to earn a seat against Shane Moran in the Round of 32. After gaining the upper hand, Suriano locked up the min-cash when his held up against Moran's .
With Day 1 in his rearview mirror, Suriano began Day 2 by facing Serkan Kurnaz. In what turned out to be the longest match in the Round of 16, Suriano closed it out when Kurnaz shoved the river of a board with . Suriano called with for a full house to advance to the Round of 8 for a date with online heads-up specialist Ankush Mandavia. Suriano made relatively quick work of Mandvaia, sealing the deal when his held against Mandavia's . The next round brought another heads-up phenom in Daniel Colman, but once again Suriano controlled the pace of the match. He locked up the victory when his topped Colman's . Suriano flopped a set, turned a full house and was on his way to the final for a match with Sam Stein.
In what many expected to be a slow, long and drawn out heads-up duel, Suriano put the pedal to the medal immediately. He never once surrendered the chip lead and closed it out in just 36 hands.
"This victory is going to change my life," Suriano told our own Remko Rinkema after the match.
Here is complete look at Suriano's path to victory:
Round
Opponent Defeated
Round of 128
Scott Seiver
Round of 64
Dan Cates
Round of 32
Shane Moran
Round of 16
Serkan Kurnaz
Round of 8
Ankush Mandavia
Round of 4
Daniel Colman
Finals
Sam Stein
Congratulations to Davide Suriano on his excellent achievement and thank you for following our hand-for-hand coverage of his victory!
Hand #36: Davide Suriano raised to 125,000 and Sam Stein moved all in for 1,175,000 from the big blind. Suriano gave it some thought before eventually making the call to put his opponent at risk.
Stein:
Suriano:
"If I win this one it's going to be all over," Stein said with a smile before the flop came down .
The board ran out , and Stein was knocked out. Suriano's friends jumped all over him to celebrate the seventh bracelet for Italy in World Series of Poker history.
Hand #24: Davide Suriano raised to 125,000 and Sam Stein called from the big blind. The flop brought out and Stein checked to Suriano who bet 150,000. Stein called and on the turn the popped up. Stein checked and Suriano grabbed more chips, as he bet 600,000. Stein folded and Suriano picked up this pot.
Hand #25: Sam Stein raised to 125,000 from the button and Davide Suriano called. The flop brought and Suriano checked to Stein who bet 125,000. Suriano called and on the turn the popped up. Suriano checked again and this time Stein checked behind. The fell on the river and both players checked. Suriano showed and raked in another pot.
Hand #26: Davide Suriano called from the button and Sam Stein checked. The flop brought on which both players checked. The turn was the and both players checked again. Stein bet 50,000 on the river and Suriano called showing , which was enough to take down this pot.
Hand #27: Sam Stein raised to 125,000 from the button and Davide Suriano called. The flop brought and Suriano checked to Stein who bet 150,000. Suriano called and on the turn the hit. Suriano checked again and Stein bet 425,000 this time around. Suriano called and the river completed the board with the . Suriano checked and Stein checked behind. Suriano showed and Stein mucked his cards once again.
Welcome to Day 3 of PokerNews' coverage of Event #40: $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship. After seven rounds of matches, only two players remain from the starting field of 136 entrants. What's on the line? A coveted World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Each player is guaranteed $207,347 as of now, but going along with a bracelet is a first-place prize of $335,553.
Both Sam Stein and Davide Suriano beat stiff competition to reach the championship match. Here is a look at their respective roads to get here:
Round
Sam Stein
Davide Suriano
Round of 128
David Schnettler
Scott Seiver
Round of 64
Bryn Kenney
Dan Cates
Round of 32
Sam Trickett
Shane Moran
Round of 16
Max Silver
Serkan Kurnaz
Round of 8
Scott Baumstein
Ankush Mandavia
Round of 4
Scott Davies
Daniel Colman
For Stein, it's a chance to capture his second bracelet. His first came in 2011, winning a $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event. Meanwhile, this marks Suriano's fourth-career WSOP cash and first above four figures. Suriano is set to blow that number out of the water with today's result.
Play is scheduled to begin at noon, so be sure to keep it locked here at PokerNews as we provide hand-for-hand coverage of the championship match!