Playground Winter Festival: Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira Wins Final Event
The Playground Winter Festival 2017 came to a close last night, wrapping up another stellar festival hosted by Playground Poker Club. Over the course of 16 events, the festival handed out a total of $2,218,385 in prize money.
The final event of the festival kicked off on Wednesday evening. When registration closed for Event #16: $330 NL Hold’em 8-Max Bounty, 245 entries were all looking for their final shot at a champions trophy. A little less than 11 hours later, the final hand played out and Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira captured the title and a first-place prize of $10,320.
Final Table Results:
| Place | Name | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira | $10,320 |
| 2 | Sonny St James | $7,870 |
| 3 | Albert Nguyen | $5,790 |
| 4 | Karim Abdelhamid | $4,330 |
| 5 | Marc Piperni | $3,250 |
| 6 | David Bonneau | $2,430 |
| 7 | Jean-Philippe Piquette | $1,820 |
| 8 | Marcello Simonetti | $1,360 |
| 9 | Arthur W | $1,020 |
The final event of the festival is always one of the most enjoyable at Playground. Staff, who work extremely hard during the festivals, finally get a chance to let loose and perhaps show the players who they have served for the last couple of weeks, what they have learned.
A number of notable players put their bounty up for grabs including Daniel Le, Nick Nickoletopoulos, Bill Kontaratos, William Blais, Jonathan Bussieres and Alex Fitzgerald. All busted before the business end of the tournament.
David Bonneau and Oliveira were the most active, it seems, according to the Playground live blog. Bonneau was among the leaders for the majority of the event, scoring 13 bounties along the way including that of Raphael Ohayon on the bubble. After opening the pot, Bonneau called a three-bet jam from Ohayon for not much more.
Bonneau tabled eight-six of clubs, way behind Ohayon’s pocket tens. Ohayon faded the flop but Bonneau picked up a gutshot on the turn. Sure enough, the dealer delivered one of Bonneau’s four outs on the river and Ohayon left empty-handed.
Oliveira sprung up the leaderboard midway through, backed by a big hand against Andy D’Alessandro. With a sizable pot in the middle, D’Alessandro shoved on the river with trip jacks but Oliveira made a flush on the turn and scooped the monster pot, leaving D’Alessandro with crumbs.
Jean-Philippe Piquette led for the majority of the event but found himself sitting third in chips when the final table of nine was formed. Oliveira was in the lead with Bonneau not far behind. With most of the players short-stacked by the time the final table began, it wasn’t long before the table was cleared.
Karim Abdelhamid scored a huge triple up early on, eliminating Marcello Simonetti and putting a dent into the stack of Sonny St-James. St-James then knocked out Piquette after winning a race with pocket eights to Piquette’s ace-king. Bonneau and Marc Piperni were the next casualties to fall, leaving the event four-handed.
Deal talks brought up were quickly dismissed by Oliveira. Soon after, Abdelhamid found a good spot to double up, getting his chips in with king-ten and dominating the king-nine of St-James. Unfortunately, St-James found a nine on the flop and held to scoop the bounty. Albert Nguyen also found a good spot to double up but was betrayed by the run-out, exiting in third.
With only 38 blinds in play, Oliveira and St-James began their heads-up battle similarly stacked. About 10 hands into action, the drama unfolded. Oliveira opened from the button and St-James jammed all in. Oliveira made the call with pocket tens, having St-James covered. St-James tabled queen-nine and needed some help. No assistance would come and Oliveira scooped the final pot.
The Playground Winter Festival has come to an end. For event coverage, check out PokerNews for daily updates of all the happenings throughout the festival. For full coverage and details check out the Playground event blog here.
