Big Double for Romanello as He Chases WSOP Gold and Triple Crown
On this hand, there was some confusion as to who was the big blind and Julien Varin, who was actually the big blind, folded and his 2,400 was forfeited before Roberto Romanello could act under the gun. Romanello then raised to 5,200 to start things off. Action then folded to Mendel Benoit in the small blind and he reraised to 11,500. Romanello reraised all in for 79,700 and Benoit called.
Romanello: 
Benoit: 
The flop came down 
and so far everything was in order for Romanello to double up. The turn brought the 
to give him an unbeatable set and then the river completed the board with the 
. Benoit shipped over the chips and Romanello doubled up.
Romanello has been a well-known face on the poker scene for several years now. At the end of 2010, Romanello earned the largest win of his career after taking down the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event for €640,000. He scored his third and fourth largest scores earlier this year in March and September, respectively. In March, he won the World Poker Tour Bratislava Main Event for €140,685. Then in September, he won the €5,000 Six-Max Turbo side event at EPT Barcelona for €110,250. In total, Romanello has $2,225,742 in live tournament earnings.
Even with all his tournament accolades, Romanello has never won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. The closest he has ever come was in 2009 at the WSOP Europe where he finished seventh in the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet event. That's his only WSOP final table, but he's looking to make this one his second and get that coveted gold bracelet.
If Romanello can win this event, he'll complete poker's Triple Crown achievement; a WSOP gold bracelet, an EPT Main Event title and a WPT Main Event title. What will be unique about Romanello's is that it'll be the first Triple Crown won all on European soil.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
164,600
64,600
|
64,600 |
|
||
|
142,000
-73,000
|
-73,000 |