Nicolo Molinelli Wins WSOP GGPoker $2,500 LHE Championship
Almost 11 months to the day after Nicolo Molinelli won his first World Series of Poker bracelet on GGPoker.com, the Italian poker pro won his second by winning WSOP Online Event #3 ($2,500 Limit Hold’em Championship) on GGPoker for nearly $90,000.
Molinelli eliminated three of his final eight opponents after working his way through the 180-runner field to make the final table.
Mark Radoja came to the final table with the shortest stack and after just five minutes of play, made his stand. Radoja raised to 50,000 from the button and Stanislav Kuvaev called from the small blind. After the 
flop. Kuvaev checked-raised to 50,000 and Radoja re-raised for his last 7,500. Kuvaev showed 
for top pair while Radoja held 
. The turn was the 
and the 
river completed the board to eliminate Radoja in ninth.
It took another 90 minutes of action before the next player was eliminated. Blinds had gone up to 30,000/60,000. Molinelli raised to 120,000 from the small blind and Kuvaev made it three bets from the big. Kuvaev then shoved for 281,775 after Molinelli clicked it back to him. Kuvaev tabled [6[6 and would need to hold against Molinelli’s 
. The 
flop was a safe one for Kuvaev but the 
turn gave Molinelli extra out to a flush. The 
river gave Molinelli a pair of aces and ended Kuvaev’s run in eighth place.
Once again, the deep structure meant that there was a wait for the next bustout. Just over 45 minutes after Kuvaev was eliminated, current #4-ranked Joao Vieira was sent to the rail. Vieira struggled to stay afloat. Alex Fortin-Demers opened from UTG+1 and Vieira called from the big blind. After the 
flop, Vieira check-raised to 160,000 and then called all in after Fortin-Demers three-bet. Fortin-Demers showed 
while Vieira tabled 
for a wheel draw. The turn was the 
and the river was the 
to miss all of Vieira’s outs and eliminated the Portuguese pro in seventh.
Fortin-Demers carried some momentum for the next 15 minutes and in the process found another victim. Romain Dours raised to 240,000 from the big blind after Fortin-Demers had limped from the small. The flop was and Fortin-Demers check-called Dours’ bet. He then checked again after the river and Dours bet 144,000 all in and Fortin-Demers called and tabled 
. Dours showed 
and was down to two outs heading to the river. The 
completed the board and sent Dours out in sixth place.
Exactly one half-hour later, Molinelli put another player away. Vince Cavailles pushed his last 378,500 into the middle from early position with 
and Molinelli defended his big blind with 
. The board ran out 
to give Molinelli a pair of eights which were good enough to beat Cavailles’ turned pair of sixes and Cavailles was eliminated in fifth.
Despite being responsible for sending a pair of players home earlier, Fortin-Demers was the next player to go. Down to just 826,050 and with blinds at 100,000/200,000, Fortin-Demers got all of his chips in against Renan Bruschi preflop. Fortin-Demers had while Bruschi had 
. The 
flop changed nothing and all Fortin-Demers could do was watch as the 
turn and 
river cemented his fourth place elimination.
At this point, Molinelli was the shortest remaining stack but he doubled on the first hand of three-handed play to leave Milos Petakovic as the shortest remaining stack. Down to less than two big blinds, Petakovic was all in with 
against the of Bruschi. Petakovic found no relief on the flop, turn, or river and was eliminated in third place.
Bruschi began heads up play with the chip lead but with 20 total big blinds in play, it didn’t take long for Molinelli to flip the script and take out his Brazilian opponent. On the final hand of the tournament, Bruschi had just 833,300 left to play with before paying his big blind. Molinelli had taken most of Bruschi’s chip on the previous hand and collected the remainder by raising to 600,000 and then calling when Bruschi moved all in. Bruschi was ahead with 
[6] against Molinelli’s . The flop gave the Italian top pair and as the turn and 
river completed the board, Bruschi was out in second place and Molinelli laid claim to a WSOP Online bracelet on GGPoker for the second year in a row.
GGPoker WSOP Event #3 Final Table Payouts
- Nicolo Molinelli – $88,461
- Renan Bruschi – $66,336
- Milos Petakovic – $49,745
- Alex Fortin-Demers – $37,303
- Vince Cavailles – $27,974
- Romain Dours – $20,977
- Joao Vieira – $15,731
- Stanislav Kuvaev – $11,796
- Mark Radoja – $8,846
