Lorenzo Sabato Wins Main in Venice

Thousands of hopefuls made their way to not just Italy’s, but the world’s oldest casino, for nine days days of highly-anticipated two-card action, and La Notte Degli Assi did not disappoint, with guarantees smashed, and records broken.

Casino di Venezia, whose references include EPT Venice, the PokerGo Tour, and, of course, the Guinness Book of World Records, played host to the 2,630 entries into the La Notte Degli Assi Main Event, which had a massive guarantee of €1,000,000, and took place from Sunday, October 11 – Monday, October 19.

The Main Event, which had a buy-in ranging from €400 to €600, was won by Lorenzo Sabato, who scored €114,500 following a heads-up deal.

La Notte Degli Assi Main Event Final Table Results

_{Note: *Indicates deal made}

Sabato, it’s safe to say, put on a clinic, having arrived to the final day of competition as chip leader. His 83,600,000 in chips was way out in front, and his nearest two contenders (Enrico Esposito with 69,000,000 and Marino Focarelli with 42,400,000) needing to do some real catching up.

It was an ask too big for both of the players, as Sabato went wire-to-wire on the final day of competition, and embraced the role of executioner as he sent opponent after opponent on their way.

He secured the first knockout of the final table as his pocket aces sent out the pocket queens of Emilio Izvira, before taking another soul in 6th. The last remaining lady in the field, Sabrina Corrias, went out to applause after losing a flip to Sabato.

He then sent Enrico Esposito home in third, with his pocket nines holding against big slick, to take the tournament to heads-up play. With payouts at €130,000 and €82,000, the players opted to make a deal. Sabato took €109,500, and his opponent Emanuele Biscaro settled for €98,500.

The two played on for the trophy, as well as €5,000, and Biscaro’s K♥6♥ was good enough for a raise, then a call after Sabato shoved to put him all in with Q♥J♦. The 10♦6♣J♥A♣9♥ board gave both players a pair, but it was Sabato who had the best of it, and saw himself crowned champion.

The only non-native to feature at the final table was Mariusz Czech, who is an undeniable favourite of the UK tour. The Polish national scored €13,200 for his impressive run, which came to an end in seventh.

A Tournament Like No Other

The Main Event was extremely unique for a number of reasons, and offered a total of 10 Day 1 flights for players.

The first four flights, Day 1A-1D, featured a discounted buy-in of €400, with the option of a €300 re-buy open to those who bust out. Day 1E-1I and the Last Chance flight cost €600 to enter, with a re-buy of €400.

Players sat down with a huge starting stack of 200,000 chips, and levels across all flights were 30 minutes, with the exception of the Last Chance flight, which had a 20-minute clock.

Re-buys weren’t the only unique part of the event, as players were permitted unlimited entries into all ten flights, even if they already had a qualifying stack from a previous Day 1.

Any player still with chips in their stack at the end of a Day 1 flight secured a minimum payout of €900, and could then choose and register themselves into one of the following days. The largest stack accumulated by a player across any of the flights was the one that would be brought forward to Day 2. Any other stack was then be taken out of play, and its owner received €900.