Victorian Poker Championship: Adrian Indovino lands his first major + other winner reviews

The 13-day 2018 Victorian Poker Championship (VPC) filled the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia from October 11 to 23 with 17 events running throughout. Buy-ins ranged from A$240 to A$5,000. The festival concluded with as many as seven happy winners walking away with their first-ever series career titles. Among them was Adrian Indovino, champion of the Main Event.

Other stories were James Broom winning the High Rollers and Jim Andreadis at the Opener; Sean Ragozzini cashing in five events; and a new event introduced, the Heads Up Teams Event. We’ve got those stories below.

Adrian Indovino wins the Main Event

The most coveted title at the 2018 VPC was none other than the A$2,300 No Limit Hold’em Main Event. 464 signed up for a prize pool of A$951,200 (~US$672,300). After four days of competition, the crowning glory went to Adrian Indovino after his defeat of Zachary Tay at heads up.

This was an immense win for Indovino who has now earned his first-ever major live tournament title. Prior to this, Indovino’s largest payout was A$13,320 for 8th place at the 2015 Crown Poker Championship Main Event. For his latest achievement, Indovino pocketed A$179,075 (~US$126,450), the first six figure live tournament score of his career. He now sits with over $150,000 in live earnings.

As for runner-up Zachary Tay, his finish must not be overlooked. Tay held the chip lead for a majority of the final table. At heads up, a deal was struck with Indovino which earned him a sizable A$169,075 after his defeat. With no prior postings on Hendon Mob, this may well be Tay’s first major live tournament score.

Among the notables in the money outside of the final table were: Jonathan Karamalikis (16th), Joe Hachem (18th), Minh Hau Nguyen (21st), Bobby Zhang (28th), Jackie Glazier (29th), James Obst (36tth), Billy Argyros (39th), and Peter Matusik (50th).

Final table payouts
Prize pool: A$951,200 – Entries: 464 – ITM: 54

1st Adrian Indovino – A$179,075 (deal made)
2nd Zachary Tay – A$169,075 (deal made)
3rd Paul Murray – A$82,760
4th Senthil Subramaniam – A$62,780
5th Khac-Trung Tran – A$45,655
6th Leigh Warne – A$36,150
7th Andrew Hinrichsen – A$28,540
8th James Broom – A$23,785
9th Monil Gohil – A$19,025

James Broom wins the High Rollers

Falling in 8th place at the Main Event was James Broom who days prior won the A$5,000 No Limit Hold’em – High Rollers Shot Clock Challenge. This event had the largest buy-in of the series drawing 56 entries for a prize pool of A$266,000 (~US$188,000). To reach the top, Broom overcame a heavily packed roster that included the likes of Jarred Graham, Daniel Laidlaw, and Aristomenis Stavropoulos at the final table. He defeated Stanley Wu at heads up to seize the A$87,780 (~US$62,500) top prize. His combined winnings put him over half a million dollars in live tournament earnings.

Payouts

1st James Broom – A$87,780
2nd Stanley Wu – A$55,860
3rd Jarred Graham – A$37,240
4th Luke Martinelli – A$29,260
5th Daniel Laidlaw – A$21,280
6th Aristomenis Stavropoulos – A$18,620
7th William Overmire – A$15,960

Jim Andreadis wins the Opener and 2nd at the 6-Max Shot Clock

The 13 day festivities kicked off with the A$300 No Limit Hold’em Opening Event. 554 jumped in to try to take a big slice of the A$100,000 guaranteed pot. Out of the 54 places paid, it was Jim Andreadis earning the lion’s share A$31,165 (~US$22,100).

Andreadis continued to run hot, falling one spot short of the A$1,100 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Shot Clock title (Event #7). He finished 2nd out of 130 runners bested only by Mitchell Bognar. As for the winner, this was Bognar’s first-ever live tournament win. Bognar earned A$35,100 (~US$25,000) while Andreadis pocketed A$24,050.

Trio: Portaro, Glazier, and O’Rourke ship in the Heads Up Teams Event

The inaugural A$5,300 No Limit Hold’em Heads Up Teams Event saw some of the biggest poker names down under field a three-man team. Bruno Portaro-Jackie Glazier-Liam O’Rourke aka “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly” topped the 16 teams to win the A$36,000 first prize. Portaro was awarded an additional A$8,000 as Event MVP for having the most heads up wins.

Coming in 2nd were another set of pros: Randy Lew-Kahle Burns-Minh Hau Nguyen for a take of A$21,600. And interestingly in 3rd place were three players Gerry Sakkas-Christian Kairouz-Daniel Varrasso who according to Hendon Mob had each just earned their first-ever live tournament cash. The team earned A$14,400 (A$4,800 each).

Sean Ragozzini cashes in five events

Sean Ragozzini may not have shipped a high amount of earnings at the series but he did visit the cage the most. He collected at five of the events:

• 43rd out of 554 entries at the A$300 Opening Event for A$690
• 17th out of 172 entries at the A$550 6-Max for A$1,505
• 9th out of 130 entries at the A$1,100 6-Max Shot Clock for A$3,900
• 15th out of 222 entries at the A$200 Hyper Turbo for A$530
• 22nd out of 225 entries at the A$550 Deepstack Big Blind Ante for A$1,010

Article by Tricia David