Michele Di Lauro raises to 44,000 on the button and Steve Billirakis three-bets to 130,000. The Italian doesn't think about his decision for too long before making the call.
Flop:
Everyone in the room could sense that this was going to be the pivotal moment in this fantastic tournament and we were not disappointed.
Billirakis bet 70,000 and Di Lauro took a few moments to compose himself before moving all in for the remainder of his stack. Billirakis calmly called and you knew he was ahead by the way he turned his cards over.
Billirakis
Di Lauro
Just a few cards for Billirakis to dodge and he would win his second WSOP bracelet.
Turn: & River:
Billirakis got up off his seat and shook the hand of Di Lauro and the photographic mayhem ensued.
Everyone who knew anything about poker, knew that Steve Billirakis was one of the favourites to win this event when it started today. In 2007, he became the youngest person to ever win a WSOP bracelet and since then the young man has won over $2 million, throwing cards around tables, all around the world.
Billirakis never, ever seemed phased or in danger during the entire final table. He started the day in 2nd place behind Sam Trickett and he just bided his time until eventually taking control of the table during the latter stages of the day. Billirakis eliminated Jerome Bradpiece and Ramzi Jelassi before finally getting heads up with Michele Di Lauro. The heads up action didn't last long, with Billirakis winning every pot of note, and he was crowned the WSOP Event #3 €5,300 PLO Champion after calling the all-in of Di Lauro on a flop of whilst holding . His hand held up handing him his 2nd bracelet, €238,140 and a deserving round of applause from the audience and media.