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The first-ever PokerStars Open proved to be a huge success. The €1,100 Main Event attracted a record-setting 2,324 entries to Casino di Campione in Italy, more than doubling the guarantee and generating a prize pool of €2,326,080. During four long days of poker, the massive field was whittled down to only one player, Adrian State.

The Romanian regular was declared the winner after a short but eventful heads-up battle against the last Italian standing,Giorgio Soceanu. State took home €363,000 for his victory, the largest cash of his already-accomplished career. Soceanu was awarded €225,000 for his runner-up performance, more than doubling his total live earnings.

PokerStars Open Campione Final Table Results

Winner’s Reaction

“It’s a big privilege to win,” a grateful State stated after he had received the trophy. “This tournament was huge, and I have had a difficult period, running under EV. I was preparing a lot for this tournament, so when this win came to me, I was very happy.”

State’s victory put him in a good spot on the newly introduced PokerStars Live League, but State told PokerNews he is not planning to expand his schedule for the sake of ending the year as number one on the leaderboard. “I gladly participate when I have free time, but I would like to spend more time at home with my wife and my little daughter.”

Although the Main Event attracted about double the number of entries the organization had expected, the tournament was still finished according to schedule. “We put some bets on if the tournament would finish Monday or Tuesday,” State jokingly said. “The staff is amazing, they managed extremely well to finish the tournament in time.” State finished the interview with three words describing his feelings toward the new PokerStars Open series: “I love it.”

Final Day Action

State was one of 26 contenders when Day 4 kicked off, and he started in the middle of the pack. The final three tables were quickly reached as Michael Desiderio and Luca Bartolacci lost their short stacks, picking up the €8,600 they were guaranteed. State cruised along for the next three hours, not getting involved in any of the eliminations. Eventually, Day 1 chipleader Darius Neagoe was left without chips in 17th for €14,680, and the final two tables were set.

After a quiet start of the day, State came into the picture when he knocked out Christian Andronicoin 12th (€21,380) with a flopped set. His momentum continued as he eliminated Friedrich Raez (10th - €25,650) on the final table bubble, allowing State to start the unofficial final table second in chips behind Barnaba Perone.

State maintained his position near the top by knocking out the short-stackedAndreas Putz in eighth, while the chip lead become a close affair when Soceanu eliminated UKIPT London champion Gaspare Sposato in seventh in a huge cooler. State finally conquered the lead when he kicked Jakub Sterba out in sixth, but could not hold onto it for long as Soceanu won a flip for over 100 big blinds to eliminate Salvatore Russo in fifth.

State Unleashed

Not much later, State and Soceanu played what might be the deciding hand of the tournament. Both players rivered a full house, but State had the higher one and won an enormous pot. State solidified his lead by knocking out online qualifier and start-of-day chipleaderManel Montalban, who satellited his way to a fourth place and a six-figure score.

Soceanu tried to battle back, but State proved to be unstoppable three-handed, growing his chip lead further with nearly every hand. Meanwhile, Perone had become almost invisible and missed out on the heads-up as he called off his final seven big blinds with nine-deuce.

State’s dominance across the latter half of the final table awarded him with a six-to-one lead to start the heads-up. Soceanu appeared to start a comeback after doubling up once, but it was cut short as he was soon back down to his original deficit. Eventually, State put Soceanu at risk for his final 16 blinds preflop and won when his ten-eight made a straight against Soceanu’s ace-nine.

An elated State jumped out of his seat and ran to his rail to celebrate his new lifetime best score and his first PokerStars Main Event win. Casino di Campione poker room manager and former Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano awarded State his beautiful trophy as cheers and well-earned applause was heard throughout the venue.

That concludes the first-ever PokerStars Open event here in Campione, but many more are scheduled throughout the year. If PSO Campione is anything to go by, huge fields and massive payouts await those who participate. The next stop will be at EPT Monte Carlo, where the PokerStars Open will run from April 30 to May 4.

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