Raffaele Sorrentino won the PokerStars Championship Monte-Carlo Main Event on Friday (Neil Stoddart/PokerStars)

When the PokerStars Championship Monte-Carlo Main Event final table kicked off on Friday afternoon, all eyes were on Andreas Klatt as he attempted to win his second event of the week. Italy’s Raffaele Sorrentino had other ideas though and eliminated the final four players, including Klatt, to grab the first major title of his career.

Things got hectic quickly, as a short-stacked Diego Zeiter found a hand he wanted to go to battle with just over an hour after the final table began. After Klatt folded from UTG, Zeiter moved all in for 1,120,000 and action folded to Michael Kolkowicz on the button. He called and after both blinds folded, showed AsQd which was bad news for Zeiter who tabled AdJs. The AhQc[3]d flop seemingly ended early, but the 3h turn gave Zeiter two chop outs. The 6c river however wasn’t one of them and Zeiter was out in sixth.

The remaining five players continued without elimination for nearly four hours before Sorrentino got busy and laid waste to everybody else in his way.

Action folded to Sorrentino on the button and he raised to 330,000. Kolkowicz, who began the day as chip leader, moved all in for 1,970,000 from the small blind. Sorrentino called and showed Ac5c, while Kolkowicz sheepishly turned over 6s2h. The flop cam 5d5h4d giving Sorrentino trip fives and leaving Kolkowicz hoping for running sixes or a three to complete gutshot. The 7d turn wa no help and neither was the 7s river to eliminate Kolkowicz in fifth.

Just 30 minutes later, Sorrentino again raised to 330,000 from the button before Maxim Panyak raised all in for 1,900,000 from the small blind and Sorrentino called. Panyak was ahead with AhTh against Sorrentino’s KsJs. The Kd4s2s flop changed that and put Sorrentino ahead. Neither the 5h turn or 7c river were enough to save Panyak from a fourth place finish.

It didn’t take long for Sorrentino to find another victim. Sorrentino raised to 370,000 from the small blind and Andrey Bondar defended his big blind. The flop came 8h5d4d and Sorrentino bet 425,000 and then called after Bondar raised to 1,200,000. The turn was the 6s, Sorrentino checked, Bondar moved all in for 3,410,000 and Sorrentino called instantly. Bondar showed Jc8c for top pair but Sorrentino showed 6c5h for two pair. The river was the 9c to eliminate Bondar in third and send Sorrentino to heads up with a nearly 3-1 lead over Klatt.

Klatt and Sorentino then decided to talk deal and after just a few minutes came to an agreement that saw Sorrentino take home €451,714 while Klatt earned €402,786, leaving €15,000 and the title to play for. Original payouts were supposed to pay €500,800 for first and €368,700 for the runner-up.

After making the deal the final two players played 30 hands over a little over two hours before Sorrentino finished off his amazing run – but it took a cooler.

Klatt raised to 450,000, only to have Sorrentino three-bet to 2,205,000. Klatt four-bet all in for 5,590,000 total and Sorrentino called. Klatt turned over QhQs but got bad news when Sorrentino showed AdAs. The board ran out Qd2h2sKd2d to eliminate Klatt in second place and give Sorrentino his first major title.

Klatt, who won the PokerStars National Championship Monte-Carlo earlier in the week, now heads to Amsterdam to attempt to cash in either the WPTDeepstacks event or World Poker Tour event to win the MonteDam Swing promotion put on by both tours.

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS

  1. Raffaele Sorrentino – €451,714
  2. Andreas Klatt – €402,786
  3. Andrey Bondar – €271,500
  4. Maxim Panyak – €199,900
  5. Michael Kolkowicz – €147,120
  6. Diego Zeiter – €108,300