Gianluca Speranza is 30 years of age and was born in L'Aquila / Italy, but currently resides in Vienna / Austria along with other Italian poker pros such as Mustapha Kanit. The poker pro has already racked up more than $880,000 in cashes on the international poker circuit, including 11 WSOP cashes for a total of $221,288.
Speranza already came close to winning a WSOP bracelet in 2011 after finishing 2nd to Andrew Hinrichsen in a €1,000 Event of the WSOPE in Cannes, taking home €91,262 for his efforts.
Road to the Final Table:
Day 1: 119,800 – 48/337
Day 2: 408,000 – 6/135
Day 3: 655,000 – 14/46
Day 4: 1,070,000 – 10/12
Maria Ho is 34 years old, born in Taiwan and lives in Los Angeles / USA. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego in the summer of 2005 with a major in Communications and a minor in Law, and started playing poker in her second year of college.
Ho is a professional poker player and TV host for eSports and poker. She has three prior WSOP final table appearances to her name and came close to a victory in Event #4: $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em back in 2011 after finishing runner-up to Allen Bari for a career-best score of $540,020.
Twitter: @MariaHo
Road to the Final Table:
Day 1: 88,900 – 101/337
Day 2: 51,000 – 128/135
Day 3: 391,000 – 32/46
Day 4: 3,575,000 – 1/12
Robert Bickley is 29 years old and works in the manufacturing industry. He was born in Bristol, and currently lives in Manchester / United Kingdom. With the new structure of the WSOPE Main Event in Rozvadov, players were able to re-enter once and enter the tournament before the start of Day 2. The Brit was among those to take advantage of that and signed up before the cards got underway for Day 2.
Bickley has three WSOP cashes for a total of $9,654 and his total live earnings include $75,871 with all results split between Las Vegas and two tiny scores in Recurring Tournaments in Manchester back in 2016.
Road to the Final Table:
Day 1: 50,000 - Registered before Start of Day 2
Day 2: 195,000 – 63/135
Day 3: 1,431,000 – 1/46
Day 4: 2,885,000 – 4/12
Dutchman Mathijs Jonkers lives in his home country in Ermelo and is 27 years old. He is the owner of the open Dutch Championship of Poker, an amateur poker championship with more than 10,000 players competing each year in an individual and team championship. Jonkers is friends with Marcel Luske, who was on the rail for the late stages of the tournament to support his countryman.
Jonkers doesn't have any WSOP cash yet and mostly plays in €100-€500 tournaments with cashes of $8,580 so far. He was one of the most interactive and talkative players at the tables, exchanging jokes and banter with his opponents.
Twitter: @mathijsjonkers
Road to the Final Table:
Day 1: 102,100 – 71/337
Day 2: 367,500 – 12/135
Day 3: 659,000 – 13/46
Day 4: 1,850,000 – 9/12
Marti Roca De Torres is a 36-year-old former economics teacher and poker pro, born in Barcelona and currently lives in Matarzo / Catalunya. He has earned $30,712 for his efforts so far with a biggest payday of $7,866 and qualified for the event through online satellites at 888poker.
Roca De Torres has one prior WSOP cash to date after finishing 114th in the € 1,100 No Limit Hold'em - Little One for One Drop (Event #8) for €1,660, and he will best that score by far at this final table.
Twitter: @IquinzePuigmal
Road to the Final Table:
Day 1: 55,100 – 198/337
Day 2: 148,500 – 83/135
Day 3: 524,000 – 23/46
Day 4: 3,260,000 – 3/12
Thirty-year-old poker pro Jack Salter from London / United Kingdom considers himself as a “gambler” and the Brit is third on the British all-time money list with more than $6.3 million in cashes. With several wins in Side Events, Salter is still looking for a big victory on the live poker circuit despite all of his success thus far.
Salter has three previous WSOP final table appearances to his name with cashes totaling $2,341,642. He finished runner-up to Scott Davies in the 2014 World Series of Poker Asia Pacific Main Event for A$516,960. In 2016, the Brit came 6th in Event #39: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship and 4th in Event #67: High Roller for One Drop - $111,111 No-Limit Hold'em for $1,536,666, his biggest payday so far.
Twitter: @jackziyang
Road to the Final Table:
Day 1: 48,400 – 221/337
Day 2: 345,000 – 15/135
Day 3: 1,396,000 – 2/46
Day 4: 2,125,000 – 6/12
It took 42 hands to get down to the official final table of the last eight.
Hand #43: Gianluca Speranza raised to 165,000 with the and Marti Roca de Torres called with the in the big blind. The flop fell and the Spaniard checked, Speranza bet 145,000 and won the pot.
Hand #44: Roca de Torres in the small blind asked for a count on the stack of Jack Salter and limped in with the . Salter raised to 260,000 with the in the big blind and won the pot.
Hand #45: Maria Ho raised to 175,000 with from early position and won the blinds and antes.
Hand #46: Roca De Torres opened to 160,000 from the cutoff with and Luis Rodriguez shoved all in for 1,010,000 with . Roca De Torres called.
The board ran out and Rodriguez earned the double-up with a ten-high straight.
Hand #47: Robert Bickley shoved with the for 580,000 and Gianluca Speranza gave it some thought in the big blind with only the showing before letting go.
Hand #48: Luis Rodriguez limped in with the from the cutoff, as did Speranza in the small blind with . Maria Ho in the big blind checked her option with and flopped the nuts on .
All three players checked to see the turn and Speranza checked. Ho bet 225,000 and Rodriguez called, Speranza folded. The on the river was a complete blank and Ho bet 500,000 and Rodriguez quickly called to see the bad news.
Hand #49: Jack Salter raised to 165,000 in early position with and Robert Bickley called from the big blind with .
The flop came , Bickley shoved all in for 595,000 and Salter called. The turn was the and the river was the .
Bickley doubled up to 1,600,000.
Hand #50: Marti Roca De Torres opened to 165,000 with from under the gun and Jack Salter shoved all in with for 920,000. Luis Rodriguez shoved all in for 1,335,000 with and the remaining players folded.
The board ran out and Salter doubled up. Rodriguez was left with only five big blinds.
Hand #51: Maria Ho raised to 175,000 with the and Roca De Torres called in the big blind with . On the flop, Roca checked and called a bet of 225,000 by Ho before checking again the turn.
Both players checked and the appeared on the river. Again both players checked and the Spaniard won the pot before heading into a 30-minute break.
Hand #52: Luis Rodriguez shoved all in under the gun with for 315,000. Niall Farrell shoved over the top with for 1,080,000. Mathijs Jonkers folded pocket tens, , and Jack Salter tanked a little but decided to fold.
The board ran out and Rodriguez was eliminated the first hand back from break. He left in eighth place and will take home €97,344.
and Marti Roca de Torres called with the 
in the big blind. The flop fell 
and the Spaniard checked, Speranza bet 145,000 and won the pot.
. Salter raised to 260,000 with the 
in the big blind and won the pot.
and Luis Rodriguez shoved all in for 1,010,000 with 
and Rodriguez earned the double-up with a ten-high straight.
for 580,000 and Gianluca Speranza gave it some thought in the big blind with only the 
showing before letting go.
from the cutoff, as did Speranza in the small blind with 
. Maria Ho in the big blind checked her option with 
on the river was a complete blank and Ho bet 500,000 and Rodriguez quickly called to see the bad news.
and Robert Bickley called from the big blind with 
, Bickley shoved all in for 595,000 and Salter called. The turn was the 
. 
and Roca De Torres called in the big blind with 
turn.
appeared on the river. Again both players checked and the Spaniard won the pot before heading into a 30-minute break.
