The third event of the 2024 World Series of Poker Europe festival was won by a surprise player as King’s Casino dealer-turned-player Christopher Campisano took down the €1,350 ($1,500) buy-in Mini Main Event for $240,000. In doing so, the underdog, who was down by 9:1 heads-up, proved everyone bar his friends and family wrong and won the biggest title of his poker career by far, achieving a lifelong dream.
Ramos Hits the Rail
The third event of the 2024 WSOP Europe had a whopping 1,286 entries, meaning a prizepool of €1.5 million was on offer to 195 players who made the money. Among their number were stars such as WSOP bracelet winner Ran Koller (154th), Anson Tsang (148th) and Artan Dedusha (133rd), all of whom won $2,675.
A little higher up the payouts, the Event #4 winner Vivian Saliba cashed deep again, winning $2,970 in 90th place, before Tobias Peters (69th for $3,525), Stephen Nahm (25th for $7,340), Florian Duta (23rd for $8,940) and the Day 2 chip leader Candido Cappiello (17th for the same amount) all missed out on the eight-handed final table.
Chip leader when the final began was Belgian player Frederic Marechal, who sat behind 43 million chips, good for 86 big blinds. His nearest challenger at that stage was Luigi Pignatoro from Italy with 35 big blinds but it would be another Italian who would come from the outside rail to win on the home straight.
The first person to leave the final table was Swiss player Luc Ramos. He cashed for $34,700 in eighth place when he shoved for around seven big blinds with 
. Sadly for Swiss fans, Chinese player Xiaohua Yang called with the superior and 
and held through the slightly tricky board of 
, sending Ramos home with $34,700.
Yin and Yang
With seven players remaining, it was the Italian Pignatoro who left for $42,100. A disastrous final table saw him go from second in chips to out in seventh. All-in with 
, Pignatoro shoved only to be called by Greek player Dimitrios Anastasakis with 
and ejected from the reckoning when a board of 
sent the Italian home, catapulting the Greek player up the chipcounts.
Of the remaining six players, two of them were German but they were unable to survive as both fell in successive positions. Frederick Thiemer shoved with 
and was called by Yang with pocket jacks. A jack on the flop of 
also gave Thiemer a gutshot straight draw but across the 
turn and 
river, the German couldn’t survive, busting for $52,350 in sixth.
Next to go was Thiemer’s fellow German Andreas Krause, the only player who had previously appeared at a WSOP final table. Finishing second for a bracelet way back in 1999, the German was unable to finish the four places higher he needed to completely bury that memory, his pocket jacks losing to Marechal’s 
.
The Chinese player Yang was the player who departed in fourth place, winning $87,900 in the process. All-in with 
against the 
of Campisano, Yang was up against the odds from the start but a flop of 
gave the at-risk China-born pro a chance. The 
turn helped in no way, however, and a on the river ended matters for Yang as he departed just before the podium places.
The Dealer Decides
“Tonight, I will celebrate with my friends, they stay here and I live here.” ~ WSOP bracelet winner Christopher Campisano
Three-handed, play went on for a long time without anyone departing. The key hand came when Frederic Marechal shoved with 
and held against the of Dimitrios Anastasakis. The Greek player ended the hand on just two big blinds, while Marechal had 25 big blinds after raking in the majority of his opponent’s chips.
Soon, the Greek player was on the rail in third place, cashing for $118,300. Calling off his stack with , Marechal was ahead with and stayed there when an ace on the turn ended up being the death knell for Anastasakis’s ambitions of glory.
Heads-up, Campisano was the leader with 74.2 million ahead of 54.4 million belonging to the Belgian Marechal, but it was the latter who got off to the best start, making hay with bottom pair to take the lead. A hand for Campisano left the stacks exactly level but several sizeable pots for the Belgian gave him a better than 3:1 chip lead. Two double-ups then top pair against a busted straight draw helped Campisano take the same lead himself a short while later.
Holding the advantage, Campisano shoved with 
and was called by Marechal with 
. The Italian flopped a flush draw as it came 
and a on the turn paired the Italian’s top pair. Only an ace would save Marechal’s tournament life and it didn’t come on the 
as Campisano completed his flush and took the first WSOP bracelet of his career and the top prize of $240,000, as Marechal went away with $162,650 for coming second.
Delighted with victory, Campisano told PokerNews of his pride and surprise at the event going his way.
“I don’t believe it!” he said. “I feel very good. When I won ace-three against ace-queen, I said OK, maybe this is my tournament. I made a lot of hands today. When I made the first double-up, I said OK, it’s possible. Tonight, I will celebrate with my friends, they stay here and I live here. I play almost every day so next up will be the Main Event, and I already have a ticket!”
With the top fourteen places all winning a €10,350 WSOPE Main Event ticket, some of the best in the business will be lying in wait when the big one kicks off.
| WSOP Europe €1,350 Event #3 Mini Main Event Final Table Results: | |||
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1st | Christopher Campisano | Italy | $240,000 |
| 2nd | Frederic Marechal | Belgium | $162,650 |
| 3rd | Dimitrios Anastasakis | Greece | $118,300 |
| 4th | Xiaohua Yang | China | $87,900 |
| 5th | Andreas Krause | Germany | $67,000 |
| 6th | Frederik Thiemer | Germany | $52,350 |
| 7th | Luigi Pignataro | Italy | $42,100 |
| 8th | Luc Ramos | Switzerland | $34,700 |
