Max Pescatori is on the verge of being kicked out of the Pirates Union. The man dubbed “the Italian Pirate” has apparently gone legit. While his brethren are famous for their swashbuckling, underhanded ways Pescatori appears to want to earn his treasures, rather than steal them.
Saturday afternoon Pescatori won Event #24 ($2,500 Pot Limit Omaha/Hold'em) to earn his second gold bracelet and $246,509. The final table included Allen Cunningham who was gunning for a bracelet for the fourth year in a row as well as highly respect cash game player Minh Ly, who was hoping for his first.
Over the eight hours it took to play the final table Pescatori seemed to be in complete control. Short-stacked John-Paul Kelly was the first to go, followed by Ly. That’s when play slowed considerably as the chip lead changed hands multiple times. It would take nearly four hours, including the breaks, before another player hit the rail.
Lennart Holtkamp, a 21-year-old online poker player, busted during an Omaha round in seventh place. Then, in less than an hour of play, the action went4 from six-handed to heads-up as eliminations came fast and furious. Jonathan Depa went out in sixth, Kyle Hegeman busted in fifth and then Cunningham went out in fourth. Greg Hurst would be the last to go before Pescatori got heads-up with Kyle Kloeckner, who began the day as the chip leader.
The two played heads-up for nearly 45 minutes with Pescatori slowly taking control. On the final hand of the tournament Kloeckner moved all-in with two pair only to be called by Pescatori’s better two pair. The runner-up finish earned Kloeckner $152,409.