Candio Crushes at the WPT Venice Grand Prix

(Photo: Filippo Candio)

155 players battled through the chilly Venetian air in order to compete in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Venice Grand Prix. In fact it was so cold, sheets of ice were floating down the canal. Deep inside the world’s oldest casino, the action in and around the tables was providing plenty of heat for everyone.

So we had a magical game, being played in a magical casino lying in a magical city – all we needed was a magical person. Step up to the plate Steven Frayne aka Dynamo! The 30-year old from Bradford, England is fast becoming one of Europe’s hottest magicians and is was fitting that he should be the one to help Mike Sexton kick off this wonderful tournament.

When the tournament started the pick of the tables was table ten. It was crammed full of quality players with the likes of young Moorman protégé Mathew Frankland, Simon Ravnsbaek, Jack Ellwood, WPT Champions Club Winner Guillaume Darcourt and recent Sunday Million winner James Akenhead. As the tournament progressed we lost Jack Ellwood but he was replaced by one of the hottest men on the WPT circuit Arnaud Mattern. Then just before the end of the level Tony G brought the crowds around the table when he plonked his bottom in seat ten. In the end the sparks that we thought would light some fires, never materialized, as the table ran through the day seemingly card dead. The only superstar, out of that group, not to make it to Day 2 was Arnaud Mattern.

Elsewhere in the tournament the early bustees included Scott Montgomery and our reigning champion WPT Champions Club member Alessio Isaia. Both players able to make early preparations for the carnival, and we can’t wait to see Isaia’s outfit considering the fact that he turned up today with a pink feathery boa draped around his neck.

As we approached the dinner break the runaway chip leader was Marcel Bjerkmann. Bjerkmann is widely known as being one of the worlds top online tournament pros and he was wearing his gold WCOOP bracelet to prove it. But Bjerkmann also has previous in the brick and mortar world earning over $500,000 in tournaments during 2010. Bjerkmann was holding onto 150,000 chips as we approached level six but lost a 100,000 pot just before being moved to Filippo Candio’s table, a move that was going to cause all sorts of problems for the Norwegian.

After the break, we lost WPT Champions Club member James Dempsey after his pocket eights lost a race against the ace-king of WPT Prague 4th place finisher Benjamin Pollak. Then fellow Brits David Nicholson and Chazz Chattha also followed Dempsey out of the door.

But the main drama continued to centre on the battle between Bjerkmann and Candio. It is a very interesting sight when aggression meets aggression, and it usually ends in a fatality. Today was different though, and despite Candio getting the better of Bjerkmann, they both managed to make it through the day with Candio eventually finishing as the chip leader with 227,900 chips.

The day ended with 89 players on the clock and we will commence Day 2 at 13:00 (CET) Tuesday 7th February so please make sure you follow all of the action at www.WPT.com.