WSOP Europe Main Event Won by Simone Andrian for Career High Score

Three years ago, Simone Andrian was an online poker player who was playing in one of his first live tournaments, the €1,650 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Event #11 of the 2021 WSOP Europe. Amazingly, he won it for $179,653. Since then, the former online player has adapted his skills brilliantly to the live felt and just six years after he started playing, Andrian has won the signature tournament of his career for $1.42 million at the same venue – King’s Casino in Rozvadov.

One Italian Leaves, The Other Survives

With 768 entries in total, the penultimate day of the five-day WSOP Europe Main Event ended with Italian professional Simone Andrian in the lead. It was a big one too, with Andrian holding more than double anyone else’s stack at the final table. One Italian was leading the way but the other was struggling at the lower end of the chipcounts.

As Andrian thrived, Enrico Camosci was struggling to survive at the other end and when the final table of six began, he didn’t last long. Out for a score of $237,300, Camosci moved all-in with ace-jack of diamonds but would need to pair up at least as Urmo Velvelt turned over pocket eights in making the call. A flop of K-5-2 with two diamonds was almost ideal for Camosci as it added nine outs as he chased survival but none of the cards he needed came on the river.

Down to five, it was the turn of the German player David Hochheim to leave, busting as he did for $324,750. All-in pre-flop with ace-four, he was crushed pre-flop and post-flop by Andrian’s pocket queens, with a board of K-8-2-K-9 sending him home and propelling the Italian Andrian further away from his foes.

Ran Ilani Crashes Short of the Finish

There were four players left and while two – Andrian and Velvelt – had plenty of chips, the other two players eyed their stacks enviously with only a fraction of their stacks. All-in for just 12 big blinds, Polish pro Mariusz Golinski hoped ace-jack would get him back into the action, but Andrian called with ace-queen and a flop of Q-9-7 gave him top set. An eight on the turn gave Golinski the chance of a gutshot straight but missed it and busted in third place for $453,800.

Both Andrian (39.3m) and Velvelt (31.4m) were miles ahead of Ran Ilani (6m) and the Israel player needed to double quickly. That he managed, but after five-bet shoving with ace-king, he lost a flip for his tournament life against Velvelt’s pocket queens. A board of J-4-4-T-3 sent the Israeli home with $645,150 in third place.

Velvelt Misses Out on Victory 

With 40,375,000 chips to Andrian’s 36,425,000, Velvelt’s elimination of Ilani gave him a marginal chip lead. The heads-up battle would go back and forth, however, as Andrian took the lead before Velvelt drew level. Andrian lost a big chunk of his chips when he three-bet with ace-eight but he made the correct fold to Velvelt’s pocket eights.

Velvelt, now with double the chips of his opponent, went for it in a big way with a huge bluff but Andrian plucked a call out of the air and with just a pair of fives on the river, it put him back in control. Andrian reestablished a 4:1 lead and when he four-bet with pocket tens, he lured Velvelt into a shove with ace-ten which the eventual winner called off. As a board of 9-6-2-7-K came, it confirmed Simone Andrian as the 2024 WSOP Europe Main Event champion and the winner of the $1.42 million top prize and the WSOP bracelet. The result alone more than doubled his career earnings.

“It’s amazing [and] by far the biggest score of my career,” the newest WSOP champion told PokerNews after victory. “I couldn’t be [happier]. I’ve been playing here a lot and to have that kind of score here feels special. Playing heads-up super deep, with 100 big blinds each, it’s tough. Usually, you don’t get to play super big pots.”