The Colossus has been one of the most greatly celebrated tournaments on the WSOP schedule since its introduction in 2015. The third annual edition of the $565 buy-in event drew a staggering field 18,054, thus becoming the third largest tournament to have taken place within the Series.
Thomas Pomponio, a New Jersey-based player, was the one to take down the colossal field, scooping a first-place prize of $1 million as part of the process. The Colossus victory was his best poker accomplishment. Prior to that, the player had a little more than $100,000 in live tournament earnings.
Commenting on his triumph, the player said that there was something surreal about his accomplishment. He further noted that although he enjoyed the hefty payout, the fact that he had finally won a WSOP gold bracelet was what made him even happier.
This year’s Colossus event featured an increased guaranteed prize pool of $8 million and a first-place prize of $1 million. In comparison, the 2016 Colossus event, which was taken down by Ben Keeline, featured a $7-million guaranteed prize pool and the same $1-million prize for the winner.
The 2017 Colossus exceeded its guarantee by more than a million, eventually topping the prize pool of $9,027,000. The tournament was played over six days, the first three of which featured two starting flights each. Players were able to enter and re-enter the event multiple times, and according to information by the WSOP, there was a player who entered the event 12 separate times.
The Colossus differs from the other WSOP events in its payout structure, as well. Players in each of the six flights were able to scoop a payout, with the number of cashes available being based on the number of entries in each separate flight. The money remaining from the flights was then added to the prize pool for Day 2 onwards.
The tournament’s final day saw nine players returning to finish off what they had started and to determine the winner. Pomponio was fourth in chips at the time. Action unfolded quite rapidly with two players leaving the final table in a quick succession. It did not take long before the nine-person field was reduced to the two heads-up opponents – Pomponio and Taylor Black from California.
The match began with Pomponio being at chip deficit, which he managed to overturn within four hands. The winner of the heads-up duel and the tournament as a whole emerged after 29 hands of battling.
The final hand saw Black shove all-in pre-flop with [Js][8c] and Pomponio calling with [Ad][6d]. A [Qd][Qs][4d][3c][7s] board determined the winner. Finishing as a runner-up, Black took home $545,480, which was his largest tournament cash ever.
