Quite the same Wikipedia. Volpe bests a stacked field in Event #13. Volpe means 'fox' in Italian. As a surname, it may refer to: Alessandro Volpe, Italian footballerFrancesco Volpe, Italian footballerJohn A. Volpe (1906–1994), former Governor of Massachusetts and U.S. Secretary of TransportationJoe Volpe (born 1947), Canadian politicianJoseph Volpe (opera.

At the beginning of the final table in last night’s World Series of Poker $10K NL 2-7 Draw Lowball Championship, Paul Volpe was both the chipleader and the only person at the table without a World Series of Poker bracelet. This morning, he’s swimming in the over $253k first place prize, his first gold bracelet and the title of champion.

As we mentioned on F5 yesterday, the 2-7 final table was just loaded with sick talent and Volpe would need every bit of skill and luck to make it through. The drama intensified as pro after pro bowed out, leaving a dream heads-up match.

Volpe would then face off against the last player in his path, Daniel Negreanu, who was in prime position not only go after bracelet number 7 but also to net an extra rumored $300K in side bets should he (or Ivey) win a bracelet.

Just as the action was getting good on the WSOP live stream, and with the poker world watching the multi-level drama online, the Rio convention center suffered a massive internet outage – pulling the plug on the whole show.

During the outage, the match continued and word trickled in via Twitter that Daniel hit the cage, looking to claim his 2nd place prize and Volpe was our $10K NL 2-7 Lowball Champion.

Volpe, while not yet a household name, is very well known in the world of poker as an elite talent, a player with millions in winnings, and the guy who made back-to-back World Poker Tour final tables just last year.

The internet returned to the Rio a short time later and word was that in-booth personality David Tuchman had completed the commentary for the match so fans can watch the end of the tournament in the archives.

A dramatic start

The 49th Annual World Series of Poker is in full swing, with seventeen bracelet events out of the record total of 78 already in the books out in Las Vegas.

It’s been a dramatic start to the series, with all the excitement we’ve come to expect from the big dance at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

Highlights of the thrilling opening fortnight have included Justin Bonomo continuing his insane run of form by winning the Heads-Up No-Limit Championship, the 2009 WSOP Main Event Champion Joe Cada taking down the No-Limit Hold’Em Shootout, and Paul Volpe defeating Eli Elezra heads-up to win the bracelet in Event #9: $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.

Superstar team

But here at My partypoker LIVE we might be slightly biased. What do you mean, I hear you cry? Well, to steal a line from football fans all over the country, we’re supporting Team partypoker, which is, I’m sure everyone would agree, by far the greatest poker team the world has ever seen. So, how has our stable of superstars been getting on out in Vegas?

Well, there have been no bracelets yet, but there have been a couple of near misses.

The action so far

Jason Koon continued his red-hot form in huge buy-in events and backed up a recent Aria $100K High Roller victory for over $1M and a stunning win in the Triton Super High Roller Series for $3.6M with a seventh place finish in Event #5 $100,000 High Roller for $372,894. Koon recently spoke to Paul Seaton in a cracking podcast about his winning streak.

Paul Volpe Wsop Tournament

Rising star of the game Kristen Bicknell has already racked up two cashes in the WSOP so far, firstly with a min-cash in the monstrous Colossus event, which had 13,070 entries. The Canadian finished 631st in that, but went much closer to winning a coveted bracelet in Event 20: $5,000 No Limit Hold’em, where she finished 24th for $14,572.

Bicknell recently gave the partypoker blog her top tips for moving over from cash games to tournaments, so she’s clearly been following her own advice!

One of Bicknell’s best pals Natalia Breviglieri also made the money in the Colossus event, finishing 778th for $1,315 in the first tournament she played at the WSOP.

Paul Volpe Nova Home Loans

German wunderkind Fedor Holz went close in the $100,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event, just missing out on the final table with a ninth place finish for $240,265.

Argentinian star Richard Dubini may not have cashed yet, but he does have some great tips for those of you heading out to Las Vegas. Likewise, Anatoly Filatov hasn’t added to his Hendon Mob page yet at the Rio and will be hoping to change that in the coming weeks.

The legend goes on

Meanwhile, Team partypoker Chairman, Mike Sexton, has extended his extraordinary record of cashing at every World Series since 1988, with a min-cash in the $1,500 Dealer’s Choice tournament. The legendary American Poker Hall of Fame member has shown remarkable longevity in his amazing career, and will be looking to add more cashes in the coming weeks.

Overall, it’s been a positive start for Team partypoker at the 2018 WSOP. Jason Koon came closest to getting his hands on a bracelet with his seventh place finish, though the team will be encouraged by the cashes they’ve managed to rack up in the first few weeks of the series. There are still over 60 events to go, so there’s plenty of time for Team partypoker to bring home that bracelet bacon. We’ll keep you updated throughout the series on their progress.

Good luck team!

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