Mere hours ago, poker pro Franco Ivan Luca bested the field of the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em or Event #30 in the 46th Annual WSOP schedule to capture his first-ever gold bracelet, thus becoming the first Argentinian to win the coveted piece of jewelry.
The event attracted 2,150 entries and a prize pool of $1,935,900 was distributed among the top 216 finishers. Luca was paid the amount of $353,391 for his victory.
The player has had quite a profitable year so far. In March, he finished 2nd in the EPT Season 11 Malta €10,000 + 300 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for €397,000 ($434,607). In May, he took €121,700 ($136,221) for his 8th place in the EPT Season 11 €49,000 + 1,000 No-Limit Hold’em Super High Roller 8-Handed. And he collected his first WSOP cash only a few hours ago. Luca’s live tournament earnings currently amount to $1,585,178.
Although the WSOP $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em was scheduled to continue three days, it ran into a fourth one so as for a winner to be determined. On the final day, Luca had to face Artur Rudziankov from the Czech Republic in a heads-up play that lasted more than two hours. The chip lead switched back and forth between the two players, until the name of the champion was eventually announced.
On Hand #156, the last one in play, Rudziankov called on the button and Luca raised to 480,000. Rudziankov moved all-in and his opponent called. Luca turned [As][10s] against the Rudziankov’s [Ah][3s]. The board ran out [8h][8d][Jd][Ac][Jc], giving the eventual champion aces and jacks with a ten.
Rudziankov added the amount of $219,976 to his bankroll for his runner-up finish. Similarly to Luca, he cashed in a WSOP event for the very first time.
Travis Case from Los Angeles, California scooped $152,907 for taking 3rd place in the event. Frenchman Pierre Horaud finished 4th to capture his second WSOP cash of $110,123.
Bruce Angeski from Sacramento, California took 5th place to be paid the amount of $80,485. David Chase from Alameda, California took 6th place for $59,538. The player also cashed in the MILLIONAIRE MAKER event, which was completed a few days ago.
Bulgarian Viliyan Petleshkov, too, cashed for the second time in this year’s WSOP. The player added $44,622 to his bankroll for finishing 7th in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em.
Kai Yang, originally from Taiwan, took 8th place in the event to scoop a $33,868 payout. Rounding up the final table, Omri Sabach from Israel was paid $26,008 for his 9th place.
