Event 16, a $200 + $30 + $100 NL Hold’em 8-Max Bounty, the last Event in the 2017 Winter Festival, has delivered the Champion’s Trophy. The 245 player field allowed for 25 players to get paid, sharing a prize pool of $47,530. Players went at each other’s Bounties all night, accumulating them and keeping them in display as hunting trophies. David Bonneau is the player who got the biggest number, having single-handedly eliminated 13 players.

The final table featured Jean-Philippe Piquette, a well-known grinder here at Playground Poker Club. He had taken down the $500 + $50 Freeze in the 2016 Playground Poker Fall Classic for $28,420. He finished 7th tonight.

The final table went rather quickly, as the blinds did not allow for patience or post-flop action to come into play. The heads-up match, which started fairly even in terms of stacks but offered a total of 38 big blinds, was no different. The pair must have played about 10 hands, when Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira raised the 160K big blind to 400K. Sonny St-James reacted with an all-in bet, which was called instantly by De Oliveira, for the reason that he had opened with a real hand.

Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira:
Sonny St-James:

Board:

Since Piquette’s elimination, De Oliveira was the strongest opposition to any type of deal. The outcome of the Event came as a reward for his competitive spirit.

Congratulations!

Event 16 Champion: Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira – $10,320.00 and the Champion’s Trophy

Runner-up: Sonny St-James – $7,870.00

Last hand of play:

Albert Nguyen had much less than his 2 opponents, after his already trailing stack was hit by a couple of blinds. He found himself all-in with against .

Board:

He was happy to see that his jack high was ahead, but was out-flopped, and could not complete his double draw. Albert Nguyen leaves the hall, on his way to the cashier with a coupon worth $5,790.

Congratulations!

Karim Abdelhamid found himself all-in in a good spot with , dominating Sonny St-James’ . But St-James caught up quickly, adding more chips to his already healthy stack.

Board:

St-James now has about 3M, De Oliveira has about 2M, and Nguyen about 1M. Play goes on without any deal, despite Nguyen’s efforts to initiate negotiations.

Karim Abdelhamid cashes $4,330 for his 4th place. Congratulations!

Marcello Simonetti was down to 140K, which is less than 2 blinds at this point, and he put them in from the under-the-gun position with . Karim Abdelhamid tried to isolate him with by going all-in over the top, but Sonny St-James woke up with in the small blind.

The flop came , leaving Simonetti drawing dead, and when the turn did not show a heart, so was St-James. Abdelhamid rakes a huge pot, eliminating Simonetti in the process.

Sonny St-James still had a decent stack though, enough to cover some of the players, including Jean-Philippe Piquette. These two found themselves all-in shortly after.

Jean-Philippe Piquette:
Sonny St-James:

St-James flopped a full house, leaving Piquette far behind. David Bonneau was next to be sent home, when his fell to . Marc Piperni followed, on a hand that we unfortunately missed.

Ronaldo Uliana De Oliveira now has a substantial lead, holding almost half the chips in play. Sonny St-James has a little over the average stack.

8th: Marcello Simonetti – $1,360
7th: Jean-Philippe Piquette – $1,860
6th: David Bonneau – $2,430
5th: Marc Piperni – $3,250

Congratulations all!

Arthur W’s  was enough to go all-in with, given his somewhat short stack, but found resistance when he was called by . He was everything but dead on the flop, and the turn brought even more hope, but he could not complete his draw.

Board:

Congratulations on your final table Arthur, you cash $1,020 for your efforts!

Here is the final table seating chart:

First Name | Prénom	Last Name | Nom	Seat | Siège
Marc	Piperni	Seat 1
Ronaldo Uliana	De Oliveira	Seat 2
Karim	Abdelhamid	Seat 3
Sonny	St-James	Seat 4
Albert	Nguyen	Seat 5
Marcello	Simonetti	Seat 6
Jean-Philippe	Piquette	Seat 7
David	Bonneau	Seat 8
Arthur	W	Seat 9

 

Stéphane Chartrand suffered a brutal beat for most of his chips when his lost to . He was taken out by Albert Nguyen shortly after.

His performance is good for $760, on top of his accumulated Bounties.

Congratulations!