The Italian poker player captures his first WPT Prime title
Simone Andrian from Italy clinched the title of World Poker Tour (WPT) Prime San Remo champion on June 11. By emerging victorious at the Casino San Remo, located on the Italian Riviera, Andrian earned a top prize of $157,973, as well as his first WPT Prime championship. He also secured a $10,400 slot for the WPT World Championship taking place at Wynn Las Vegas in December.
Andrian secured his first career title by clinching the gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker Europe in 2021 through his triumph in a Hold ’em Six-max Event. His latest victory was an even bigger success and not only earned him the coveted bracelet but also pushed his career earnings beyond the $500,000 mark.
Across four flights, 838 players participated in the €1,100 buy-in tournament. The total prize pool amounted to €846,404, and the minimum prize money awarded to the top 106 players was €1,880. On Day 2, all of the players that reached the cash reconvened to compete for a spot at the final table of nine.
On the second day, Alessio Isaia, a member of WPT Champions Club, had an outstanding decline in the ranking, ending up in the 71st position. Sandro Pitzanti, a WPDeepStacks champion, also faced a significant drop, settling for the 20th position.
With double the chips of his nearest competitor, Andrian led the final table. As the game progressed, he further solidified his position, eliminating Ivan Kuziv in seventh. Among the players he outlasted was the renowned American pro Kevin O’Donnell, who finished in fifth and took his total cash winnings above the $2-million mark.
Andrian took a 2:1 lead in the final against Aristidis Theodoridis after scoring his second-last shot to defeat Giussepe Zarbo in third place. Theodoridis, on the other hand, had already managed to eliminate numerous players on the last day of play and worked his way up to the final heads-up battle.
However, Andrian continued to run away with the game, gaining an 8:1 chip lead before dropping a major hand to Theodoridis. He bounced back, though, when he hit a flush on the river of what turned out to be the final hand of the event.
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