Christopher Franco is the PokerStars Festival Chile Main Event Champion ($97,360)!
After 112 hands at the final table today, and just 10 hands of heads-up play, Chile's own Christopher Franco has taken down the PokerStars Festival Chile $500,000 guaranteed Main Event for $97,360! Franco made his way past 328 players over four days of play at the beautiful Casino Enjoy Viña del Mar in Viña del Mar, Chile to win his first major title.
Franco has had success in live tournament play, with multiple cashes over the last four years, including a win last year in Las Vegas. His tournament win came from a Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza Bounty Event and netted him $11,517. His previous best cash was in 2013, where he finished in 20th place in the Latin America Poker Tour Main Event in Lima, Peru for $4,780. Today's victory surpasses all of his previous results and now puts him into six-figures for his career live earnings. Franco has impressive online stats where he has amassed $843,979 in online career earnings. His PokerStars handle is 'KhrizPkR23' and his largest cash was for just over $11,400.
The runner-up was Colombia's Juan Sebastian Gomez after getting his remaining stack in the middle with ace-seven against the ace-eight of Franco. The board ran out clean and low, sending Gomez to the rail in second place for $61,900. Gomez booked his best cash in this event, adding an impressive milestone to his professional poker career.
Here are the final table results:
| Place | Player Name | Country | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Franco | Chile | $97,360 |
| 2 | Juan Sebastian Gomez | Colombia | $61,900 |
| 3 | Sergio Dario Tello | Argentina | $46,400 |
| 4 | Andres Vega | Chile | $37,560 |
| 5 | Amos Ben | Chile | $29,600 |
| 6 | Rodrigo Zambra | Chile | $22,600 |
| 7 | Oscar Toloso | Argentina | $16,600 |
| 8 | Diego Lizana | Chile | $12,200 |
Team PokerStars Pro and High Roller champion, Leo Fernandez finished on the money bubble on Day 2 after getting his stack in the middle with pocket fives against Andres Vega's pocket jacks. He won't be going home empty-handed though, as he took down the $3,300 High Roller event for $20,360 earlier in the week. Fernandez added to his impressive resume with over $2 million in lifetime earnings in the live arena.
Final Table Action
The final table of eight began with just five minutes remaining in level 23. Chile's Diego Lizana was the player who got involved the most early on, and won a big pot against Franco before proceeding to lose three in a row, folding aces along the way. He was eventually the first player to be eliminated in eighth place ($12,200) at the hands of Vega in a double-elimination hand. Oscar Toloso, a recreational player from Argentina, was the other player involved. He had more chips than Lizana and finished in seventh place for $16,600. Vega held pocket tens while his two opponents held the same hand with ace-queen. The board ran out clean and Lizana and Toloso headed for the rail. Vega soared towards the top of the counts and was just a few big blinds behind chip leader Ben.
A short while later, Sergio Dario Tello doubled his short stack through Vega with aces. It was then Gomez's turn to double up after chopping a lucky pot with Franco. Franco also won a big pot from Ben and took over the chip lead, dropping Ben down to the middle of the pack.
In the midst of that action, Rodrigo Zambra was the next to go in sixth place for a payout of $22,600. The Chilean dwindled down to just six big blinds and got it in with jack-high. He was unable to improve against Gomez's ace-high and was sent to the rail.
Next to go was Ben, after he got his remaining 25 big blinds in the middle with ace-king of diamonds, racing against Franco's two black jacks. The board ran out dry, and the two-time LAPT High Roller champion settled for fifth place, pocketing $29,600 for his deep run. In the very next hand, Franco five-bet shoved with two red jacks and Vega called off his stack of 2,100,000 with ace-king off suit. The board ran out dry for him also, and Vega hit the rail in fourth place for an impressive $37,560.
Three-handed play did not last long, with Tello going out in third place for $46,400. Franco defended his big blind and flopped trips, and was lucky enough to get Tello to shove his stack into the middle with pocket jacks, sending him home and leaving just two players to battle it out. Heads-up play lasted just ten hands, and Franco won with a better ace-high than Gomez to secure the win.
As expected, Chile has turned out to be a popular poker destination for South Americans, but plenty of players from other countries around the world have joined in on the action.
Of the 224 unique entries in the Main Event, Chile made up 133 of these, with Argentina having the second-best showing with 63. Brazil had six entries, and Mexico attracted five. There were 17 players from other countries, including one a piece from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States and Canada.
Some of the notable players who made the money included Martin Pineiro (12th place - $7,400), Tomas Carvallo (15th place - $6,660), Roberto Andres Finkelberg (21st place - $4,660), Joaquin Barcena (23rd place - $4,660), Nicolas Malandre (26th place - $4,160), Richard Dubini (29th place - $3,660), and Javier Swett (35th place - $3,200).
The field was most certainly a strong one, and while many players had success, many players also fell short. Some of those players included Team PokerStars Pro, Leo Fernandez, Chilean brothers Fabian and Ricardo Chauriye, Alex Manzano, Oscar Alache, Alex Vega, and Jorge Postigo.
PokerStars Festival Chile has almost come to an end, with a couple of side events wrapping up later tonight. The next PokerStars Festival will be happening from June 19th through the 25th in Marbella, Spain at the beautiful Casino Marbella. More information is available on the PokerStars Live website.
Thank you for following along as the PokerNews team reported all of the live updates during this festival!
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and Gomez showed 
. 
and Franco was still in the lead with his eight kicker. 
and got rid of Gomez's opportunity to have chop outs on the river. He now needed one of the three remaining sevens or a four for a straight or he would be our runner-up.
and Gomez could not improve. Heads-up play lasted ten hands and Gomez battled it out against a stacked final table. He fell just short of the title, but will surely be seen more of in the future.
and Tello tabled 
. Tello needed a jack or this would be the end of his day.
and the river was the 
and Tello could not improve, sending him to the rail and bringing the Main Event down to just two players remaining.
and Vega was eliminated in fourth place.
, and the river was the 
, and Zambra was unable to catch up, sending him to the rail in sixth place.
and Vega secured the double elimination, sending Lizana home in eighth place and Toloso in seventh place.
and Vega check-called a bet of 65,000 from Lizana. The turn was the 
and both players checked to the river, which was the 
. Vega led out for 130,000 and Lizana snap-called. Vega tabled 
and Franco checked. Lizana bet 65,000 and Franco check-raised to 205,000. Lizana snap-called. The turn was the 
and Franco asked to see Lizana's stack before moving all in. Lizana went into the tank and put his hands on his head, clearly in agony. After about two minutes, he open-folded 
and Franco scooped the pot.