Redemption for Gaetano Di Maria as he Takes Home Event #8: $1,000 NLH
An eighth circuit ring winner has been crowned here at the 2024 World Series of Poker Circuit Playground. After eight hours of play Event #8: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em has come to a close and Gaetano Di Maria was the last player standing from the 40 players who began Day 2.
Maria will take home the top prize of $50,000 as well as his first WSOPC ring. “I’m feeling spectacular, it's like a dream come true… I came in second at Verona in their circuit. I kind of blew it there so it’s fitting I won it here," Maria had to say upon winning the tournament.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | City | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gaetano Di Maria | London | $50,000 |
| 2 | Dustin Melanson | Toronto | $35,000 |
| 3 | Arash Shahi | Markham | $22,000 |
| 4 | Anthony Bakri | Laval | $14,000 |
| 5 | William Pettersen | Burlington | $11,000 |
| 6 | David Quang | Guelph | $9,150 |
| 7 | James Gall | Ottawa | $7,630 |
| 8 | Gurtej Toor | Oshawa | $6,300 |
| 9 | Tyler Warken | Medicine Hat | $5,000 |
Final Day Action
The eighth of 15 circuit events attracted a field of 261 entrants, eclipsing the $100,000 guarantee to generate a total prize pool of $243,680. Sandy Lam came into Day 2 with the chip lead. However, her run was cut short as she failed to make it to the three table redraw. The next closest starting stacks belonged to Maria and William Pettersen. Pettersen finished in 5th place while Gaetano’s run continued further.
Meanwhile, Gaetano did well to keep his stack heading into Day 2 healthy as the three table redraw occurred. Dustin Melanson stuck close to Gaetano vying for the chip lead. He entered the three table redraw with the second largest stack although there stood a large gap between him and Maria. He found a few eliminations to add to his stack as the field dwindled to 18 players.
Maria followed suit and added to his stack with a few eliminations to maintain his chip lead as one of two players above the 1,000,000 chip threshold with 13 players remaining. Play tightened as both players allowed others to find eliminations collecting ladder ups with minimal risk.
Maria found a crucial double to survive but was still one of the shortest stacks even after the double up. Maria commented that “I was down to about 200,000 chips at one point, but I crawled back. Only because I was disciplined enough to fold and wait for premiums.”
Maria avoided all in’s and kept patient to chip up back to a dominant stack with three remaining. He didn’t have to wait long as he found the perfect flop to again double and leave Arash Shahi short stacked. Shahi busted shortly after, and Maria kept momentum up hitting a flush to increase his chip lead.
Soon after he eliminated Melanson when both players flopped middle pair, but Maria’s kicker played. Much like the ending to the tournament, Maria ended the winners interview by giving “Thanks to the poker gods.”
That concludes our coverage for this event but stay tuned as the PokerNews team continues to bring you all the updates from the WSOP-C Playground series.