Paolo Boi Comes Back to Win Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em ($676,900)
It was difficult to pick out a winner from Event #60: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em even when only five players remained. For more than four hours, five players were still in the race to win the gold bracelet, and the chip lead exchanged hands multiple times. But after this long battle, Italy's Paolo Boi emerged as the winner and won his first WSOP bracelet, as well as $676,900.
Boi defeated a player pool of 1,773 entries, which generated a prize pool of $4,733,910. He eventually beat during the heads-up play Noel Rodriguez, who started the day as the chip leader and who took $451,299 for second place.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paolo Boi | Italy | $676,900 |
| 2 | Noel Rodriguez | United States | $451,299 |
| 3 | Juan Vecino | Spain | $326,883 |
| 4 | Brandon Mitchell | United States | $239,451 |
| 5 | Justin Belforti | United States | $177,416 |
| 6 | Marc Foggin | United Kingdom | $132,978 |
| 7 | Victor Paredes | United States | $100,840 |
| 8 | Vanessa Kade | Canada | $77,378 |
| 9 | Benjamin Gold | United States | $60,088 |
Winner's Reaction
"I still don't realize it. It's been very hard for four days," Boi said while waiting to take his winner's photos with his bracelet in his hands. He explained that he "didn't think about the bracelet" because he "was short-stacked during the whole tournament."
Things changed after he doubled up four times and eventually became the chip leader when four players remained. "I started to think I could win from this point," he said. He never relinquished the top spot until he made the winning call. "When I called, I didn't realize that I had won. It was a bit confusing in my mind," explained the Italian player, who mostly plays in Europe, especially on the EPT circuit.
Now that he has won his first bracelet, will he try to win a second one? "Well, next week, I have to go back to work," he laughed. At least he'll have a WSOP bracelet to show his colleagues!
Day 4 Action
Out of the 1,773 entrants recorded in this event, 13 players came back on Day 4 for the last day of the tournament. Jiang Pu became the first player eliminated of the day after he lost with ace-jack against Noel Rodriguez’s ace-queen. He was followed at the payout desk by Chris Klodnicki, who made Ravi Shankar double up before being sent to the rail by Juan Vecino in 12th place for $37,580. Despite his early double-up, Shankar was next to be eliminated after he ran with two pair in Vecino’s trips.
The ten remaining players then gathered at the final table of the tournament. However, Huihan Wu didn’t stay long as he was eliminated with queen-ten against ace-king after just a few minutes. The future winner Paolo Boi was more fortunate because he quickly doubled up for the first time. Vanessa Kade doubled up as well, but not Benjamin Gold who lost a flip to Brandon Mitchell to finish the tournament in ninth place for $60,088.
After the first break of the day, Victor Paredes doubled through Vanessa Kade, leaving her with five blinds. A few hands later, she didn't make it in a three-way all-in and call situation and was eliminated in eighth place for $77,378.
It was then Marc Foggin's turn to double, leaving Victor Paredes on fumes. Paredes tried to survive against Vecino, but it didn't work, and he left in seventh place for $100,840. Despite doubling up a few hands earlier, Foggin was once again at risk with sevens against Mitchell's jacks. He didn't improve his hand and left the tournament in sixth place for $132,978.
From this point, the tournament entered into a new phase as the situation remained unchanged for more than four hours. Every single one of the five remaining players doubled up at least once. After a 60-minute dinner break, Justin Belforti was eventually eliminated in fifth place for $177,416.
After being the large chip leader, Mitchell ran out of chips and lost his last ones with ace-six against Boi's ace-ten (fourth - $239,451). Moments later, Vecino (third, $326,883) saw his ace-queen being cracked by Boi's king-ten to let Boi and Rodriguez play for the bracelet.
Rodriguez quickly doubled up, then moved all in again on a river. Boi made the call with tens, catching Rodriguez bluffing and winning his first WSOP bracelet.
Thank you for reading along with PokerNews. Stay tuned for all updates from the 2024 WSOP!