Bonevana Winner

December 23, 2008

The European Poker Tour is proud to announce that their first Italian Champion, Salvatore Bonevana is the winner of their tournament. Bonevana was not the favorite to win, and at certain times in the poker tournament it seemed that he would not win, and therefore they would be right. But when all was said and done he was the one holding the top prize.

With an Italian in one of the top spots at many times many thought it was impossible for him to win – as no Italian has ever won the poker tournament before. However, when it came down to the final two, they were both battling to be the first Italian winner in history.

Bonevana came to the final table with the chip lead, lost it, took it, lost it, over and over until finally taking down the tournament all together. He took out fellow Italian Massimo Di Cicco after an hour of hard poker playing, to become the first Italian to win the poker tournament ever. He also took home €774,000 for his troubles.

During the final poker showdown, the two switched places several times with one up then the other, and finally Bonevana called on a hand with 8-7 for top pair against a straight draw and overcard. Bonevana prevailed and took the win.

DiCicco took home €445,000 for second place, and Andrew Alan Chen took €257,000 for third place. Francesco Cirianni, Fredrik Nygard, Nasr El Nasr, and Raul Mestre rounded out the top winners with €166,000, €130,000, €99,500, and €71,800 respectively.