Stanciu Bags Chip Lead for WPT Prime Sanremo Championship Final Day
Day 2 of the WPT Prime Sanremo Championship Event has concluded here at Casino Sanremo, with eight players left standing to battle it out for the title when play is reconvened at 1:00 p.m. local time on Monday June 10.
Romanian Traian Stanciu (10,650,000) is the chip leader going into the final day, with a significant lead over his nearest challengers, Italians Giuseppe Zarbo (7,475,000) and Priamo Carta (6,750,000).
Stanciu will be aiming to better his career-best score of $40,249, while Carta is already close to securing his biggest individual pay day, currently standing at $16,360. Zarbo has two top-400 hundred finishes in the WSOP Main Event to his name, and will be hoping to bag a career-best score with victory here.
Final Table Seating Draw and Chip Counts
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Priamo Carta | Italy | 6,750,000 | 45 |
| 3 | Vladas Burneikis | Lithuania | 2,025,000 | 13 |
| 4 | Erico Iervasi | Italy | 2,075,000 | 13 |
| 5 | Traian Stanciu | Romania | 10,650,000 | 71 |
| 6 | Giuseppe Zarbo | Italy | 7,475,000 | 49 |
| 7 | Luigi Pignataro | Italy | 2,975,000 | 19 |
| 8 | Uladzimir Luchkou | Belarus | 2,575,000 | 17 |
| 9 | Kym Nguyen | France | 4,525,000 | 30 |
€1,100 WPT Prime Sanremo Championship Event Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €124,700* |
| 2 | €77,000 |
| 3 | €57,000 |
| 4 | €43,000 |
| 6 | €32,500 |
| 7 | €24,700 |
| 8 | €19,000 |
(*Includes seat at WPT World Championship in December 2024 at The Wynn, Las Vegas valued at €9,700).
Day 2 Action
98 players returned for Day 2, all of whom were guaranteed the minimum cash of €1,880, and it was a frantic start to the day as the knockouts came quickly, with almost half the field gone by the first break. Players such as Wim Verhaegen, Adrian Chua and Florian Dos Santos Pires departed at this stage.
Players such as Chris Dowling, Fabio Peluso and Tomas Patka then departed before the dinner break, and will no doubt have been hoping for a deeper run.
Stanciu was among the chip leaders at dinner, which took place after the final three table redraw, and on the resumption of play chips went flying round the room as the field was quickly reduced to sixteen, with the two table redraw set when Stanciu bust Michael Uguccioni in a flush over straight cooler, after which Stanciu never looked back.
Day 2 chip leader Mario Adinolfi exited in 15th place after becoming short, after which the knockouts started to slow.
There was a bit of spice in consecutive hands between Anas Belatik and Gabriele Lepore, which led to Lapore's departure, and the final table of nine was set when Belatik busted to Carta.
Play was due to conclude when eight players remained, and Antonio Iannei was the last player to depart in the day in ninth when Zarbo turned top pair against Iannei's pocket deuces.
The players will be returning at 1:00 p.m. local time Monday 10 June with 34 minutes left of Level 27, featuring blinds of 75,000/125,000, with a 125,000 big blind ante.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all your coverage of what is sure to an exciting final table, as we see who takes the trophy and title of WPT Prime Sanremo 2024 champion.