Gioco Digitale WPT Venice Carnival Day 1a: Tigran Yazychyan Leads
Day 1a of the €3,000 Gioco Digitale World Poker Tour Venice Carnival, the final European event of Season XII, attracted 51 players, and after six levels of play, Russian Tigran Yazychyan topped the leaderboard with 91,525 in chips. Others who survived the fray with decent stacks were Andrea Dato (69,875), Sotirios Koutoupas (50,150), and Steve Watts (46,000), just to name a few.
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tigran Yazychyan | 91,525 |
| 2 | William Dorey | 81,475 |
| 3 | Alberto Fiorilla | 71,800 |
| 4 | Andrea Dato | 69,875 |
| 5 | Roberto Masullo | 68,595 |
| 6 | Claudio Di Giacomo | 66,850 |
| 7 | Sergio Castelluccio | 56,300 |
| 8 | Sotirios Koutoupas | 50,150 |
| 9 | Steve Watts | 46,000 |
| 10 | Georgios Karakousis | 43,700 |
According to the WPT Live Blog, things heated up straight out of the gate. In Level 1 (50/100), Sebastiano Giudice became the first player to fall after he opened for 700 from early position only to have Koutoupas, who recently defeated Eugene Katchalov in heads-up play to win the European Poker Tour Deauville, three-bet to 1,700 from the button. The blinds folded, Giudice four-bet to 7,000, and Koutoupas minimum five-bet to 12,300. Giudice proceeded to move all in and Koutoupas snap-called.
Koutoupas: A♦A♣
Giudice: A♥K♠
Giudice’s big slick was in bad shape, and he failed to find any help as the board ran out an uneventful Q♥5♣3♣2♠8♥. Koutoupas vaulted into the early chip lead with 65,000, but by the end of the night he dropped to 50,150.
In between, Koutoupas scored another elimination, that of WPT Prague champ Julian Thomas. It happened in Level 4 (100/200/25) when Thomas opened from the button with QxJx and Koutoupas three-bet from the small blind with the Q♠10x. Thomas called, the flop came down K♠J♠8♣, and Thomas check-called a continuation-bet. The 7♠ turn saw Thomas check-call another bet, and then Koutoupas checked when the 6♠ river gave him a flush. Thomas moved all in, Koutoupas called with his queen-high flush, and Thomas was eliminated from the tournament.
In Level 5 (150/300/50), former WPT finalist Mario Adinolfi joined Thomas on the rail. It happened when Adinolfi got the last of his chips all in on an A♠7♦5♠ flop with the 5♥2♥ only to run into an opponent’s AxKx. Both the turn and river bricked, and Adinolfi’s came to an end in the penultimate level of the evening.
Some players who fared a bit better and made it through to Day 2 were Corbin White (37,275), Marcello Montagner (35,100); defending champ Rocco Palumbo (24,000); and PokerStars Team Pro Liv Boeree (22,000).
Day 1b will kick off at 14:30 local time on Tuesday. PokerNews will bring you a recap of the action upon its completion.
*Photos and data courtesy of the WPT Live Blog.
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