Jacksonville Local Paul Petraglia Flies High in WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Victory

The World Poker Tour proudly welcomes Paul Petraglia (pictured), Jacksonville local, to the prestigious WPT Champions Club!

Petraglia topped the 323-entry field in the Season XVI WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event to capture his first WPT and the $315,723 first-place prize. Petraglia defeated Sam Panzica in heads-up play and denied the defending WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event champion his third WPT title.

On the final hand, Petraglia opened with a raise to 350,000 with the blinds at 75,000-150,000 with a 25,000 ante. Panzica made the call, and the flop came down . Panzica checked, Petraglia bet 400,000, and Panzica check-raised all in for 2.35 million. Petraglia made the call with the for a flopped straight, and Panzica was on the ropes with the . The turn was the and the river was the to give Petraglia the victory.

Season XVI WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event Final Table Results

1st: Paul Petraglia – $315,732*
2nd: Sam Panzica – $210,783
3rd: Darren Elias – $135,548
4th: John Esposito – $86,440
5th: Gaurav Raina – $66,674
6th: Shankar Pillai – $55,191

*First prize includes a $15,000 seat into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions.

“It’s surreal right now,” Petraglia said after the win. ‘It hasn’t sunk in, but it’s a great feeling. I’m just so happy that I was able to do it for my hometown crowd here at bestbet [Jacksonville]. Great group of people, and I’m just happy to bring it home.”

A pilot by trade, Petraglia was by far the least experienced player to reach the final table if you only looked at the tournament résumés of the final six competitors. Petraglia had never cashed in a WPT event – just a WPTDeepStacks event – and his largest live tournament score was for a little more than $20,000.

“Incredibly tough field all around,” Petraglia said. “The final table was stacked with pros, multiple awards to their claim. Got lucky on a couple runouts, obviously. Just great players, but I like to know that I can hang out with the best of them.”

As a corporate pilot, Petraglia was undoubtedly flying high after the win, but he doesn’t see himself leaving his career to become a poker player anytime soon.

“Flying is my passion; it’s always been my passion,” the new WPT Champions Club member said. “Poker’s always been more of a … I’m a huge fan. I love playing the game. Could I do it for a living? I don’t know if I could deal with the pressure to do that. I’d rather fly airplanes for a living, but this is just a great outlet, and it’s a lot of fun to do.”

Petraglia told WPT.com that he has played a few WPT events before. He just hasn’t cashed in one yet. His first World Poker Tour cash is now a victory, and he joked that his coworkers probably won’t believe them when he tells them.

“They’re probably not gonna believe me,” Petraglia said. “I wouldn’t believe me. I might carry my [WPT Champions trophy] around with me.”

In addition to winning the lion’s share of the prize pool, Petraglia won a $15,000 entry into the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions. With a payday of more than $315,000 and a chance to go on to do even bigger things in the season-ending WPT Tournament of Champions, there isn’t much that would make this victory sweeter. For Petraglia, though, winning the tournament at his home casino proved the icing on the cake.

“Bestbet Jacksonville is home for me,” Petraglia said. “This is where I come to play all the time. Cash, tournaments … mostly tournaments now. I used to be a cash player, transitioned over to tournaments, but this has always been where I play.”

Photography by Joe Giron / PokerPhotoArchive.com

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