The third season of the WPT500 poker tour began with a $1 million guaranteed event at the Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
Andreas Olympios from England triumphed over a field of 3,956 entrants to secure the first place in a tournament that almost doubled its $1 million guarantee. His $565 buy-in was transformed into a first prize of $260,000.
Olympios bests Hickey in just nine hands
Wesley Hickey began the final table of nine players with the most chips, while the eventual winner was significantly trailing in ninth place.
However, when Drazen Ilich left in third place, Olympios was holding 43 million chips compared to Hickey’s 16 million. This was the result of an impressive turnaround at the final table.
Starting with just 15 big blinds, he was able to reach the heads-up stages with a substantial chip lead due to a series of double-ups and eliminations. He successfully built up a large stack, enabling him to knock out Jonathan Opas and Robby Suerynck, who ended up in fourth and fifth places respectively.
Following Olympios and Hickey’s progression to heads-up, the tournament concluded merely nine hands later. It took a total of 134 hands to narrow down the final table to these last two players.
In the last round, Olympios finished the small blind at 600,000 and responded to a raise to 2 million. The flop of Ks-9s-2s turned out to be a game-changer when Hickey went all-in with 9d-8d, but his chances of winning drastically fell to just 11.92% when Olympios responded with Kd-Js. Olympios successfully averted a catastrophe on the turn and the river, securing his victory.
“Still in disbelief over yesterday’s events! Immensely grateful to everyone for their kind wishes and support,” Olympios tweeted following the victory.
About the WPT500
The WPT500, a tournament series that happens twice a year in the US and Europe, features a modest buy-in of $565. Despite the low entry cost, the event offers a prize pool in the millions and attracts thousands of participants. This makes it an excellent opportunity for both professional and amateur poker players.
The subsequent WPT500 event is scheduled for October 24 at the Dusk Till Dawn casino in Nottingham, UK. In the previous year’s fall event, 1,616 participants competed, culminating in Richard Harris beating Yani Yanev to secure a first-place prize of £150,000.
Just like the action in Season III’s Aria, the heads-up match in that event was quick yet exciting: Harris defeated Yanev in only two hands to claim the title.
WPT500 Season III – Aria final table
- Andreas Olympios – $260,000
- Wesley Hickey – $185,000
- Drazen Ilich – $135,000
- Robby Seurnyck – $100,000
- Jonathan Opas – $75,000
- Sanjay Mayekar – $58,000
- Khoan Ho – $45,000
- Guy Gorelick – $35,000
- Guy Cicconi – $27,100
Photo courtesy of WPT500
