In Malta, the conclusion of the Portomaso Grand Opening festival was spectacular. It will surely be a day to remember for Daniele Degennaro, a Milanese resident in Malta who won both the tournament and the richest bounty on the final day of the NLH Mystery Million!
Portomaso Grand Opening: tournament and top bounty, Daniele Degennaro wins it all!
The longest day for Daniele Degennaro started with him as chip leader in a technically very peculiar context, with the €100,000 top bounty still in circulation. A decisive factor, if it is true that the payout provided for a first prize of exactly the same amount. This inevitably affected the game dynamics, especially at the beginning of the final table when the prizes were still relatively low.
Cabitza, illusion and disappointment
The first turning point at the final table was provided by Gianluca Cabitza. The Sardinian player achieved a double elimination in a spectacular three-way all-in, where his KK held up against the Turkish Basbug and the Greek Vardalis, who both had AQ and found no help from the board.
Cabitza soared to the lead but, more importantly, found himself with two chances to hit the €100,000 bounty, which however did not materialize. The Sardinian player took the chip lead, but the balance of the final table was very volatile.
Alessandro Furneri found a lucky hand with q k to eliminate Fabrizio Capillo and his a k after the most deceptive of boards: 6 2 6 4 j !
Meanwhile, Daniele Degennaro had dropped a bit, but the Greek Tampoulitis revitalized him, moving all-in with J8 offsuit for over 20 big blinds in a battle of the blinds, against the Italian’s raise. Degennaro called, showing A8 offsuit and dominating the showdown.
It was precisely Degennaro who was the protagonist of Gianluca Cabitza’s sensational exit. The two players went all-in on the flop 3 q 8 , with Cabitza showing a k and Degennaro holding his set of 8 8 . The turn and river did not help the Sardinian, who was therefore sensationally out.
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Curcio and Furneri out, Degennaro gets the top bounty
Luigi Curcio finished in fourth place. He started ahead with k j against 10 8 of the Croatian Andro Scarpa, winner of the MPF Special Edition the day before and still on a hot run. The board q 7 4 9 j was a real blow for the Calabrian pro, who had to go to the cashier. However, the top bounty had still not been claimed.
Everything changed, however, with the exit of Alessandro Furneri, who tried his luck with A5 but found Degennaro holding KK. Furneri was eliminated, and Degennaro secured the coveted €100,000 bounty, making him already the de facto winner of the event.
Heads up and conclusion
The heads-up match started with Degennaro having a chip advantage of 37 million to 26 million.
Daniele had a match point with 66 against A5, but the usual deceptive board 3-8-7-4-2 postponed the final decision. It arrived a little later, however, with an all-in on the flop 5-7-7. The Croatian player showed 45, but was drawing dead on the turn 9, because Daniele Degennaro held 87.
Final table payout
| FINAL POSITION | PLAYER | NATION | PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniele Degennaro | Italy | 100.000€ |
| 2 | Andro Scarpa | Croatia | 52.600€ |
| 3 | Alessandro Giuseppe Furneri | Italy | 35.000€ |
| 4 | Luigi Curcio | Italy | 24.000€ |
| 5 | Gianluca Cabitza | Italy | 18.000€ |
| 6 | Dimitros Tampoulits | Greece | 13.634€ |
| 7 | Fabrizio Capillo | Italy | 10.000€ |
| 8 | Cahit Yigit Basbug | Turkey | 7.000€ |
| 9 | Anastasios Vardalis | Greece | 4.800€ |
How much did Daniele Degennaro win?
In reality, we all know that Daniele Degennaro also took home the top bounty of €100,000, along with the final victory. But it doesn’t end there, because the day before he had already picked up a €20,000 bounty, and during the final table, another €5,000 bounty was added. So, doing the math, Daniele Degennaro walks away from this NLH Mystery Million with a total payout of €225,000. Not bad, for a guy who is about to become a father for the second time…
Cover image: Daniele Degennaro (thanks to Portomaso and Imperium Events)
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