Alessandro Pichierri Wins First WSOP Bracelet in Event #15: €3,000 NLH Closer (€148,008)

After a full 12 hours of poker, Alessandro Pichierri has closed things out in the last few minutes of the night to win his first-ever gold bracelet in the 2020 World Series of Poker Europe Event #15: €3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Closer. Pichierri outlasted 228 total entries and defeated Timo Kamphues heads up to take home the first-place prize of €148,008.

The clock was ticking down to 10 p.m. when the tournament would be halted due to the government restrictions, but Pichierri went on a late-night heater and accumulated a massive heads-up chip lead. The Italian poker player, who said he mostly plays online, wasn't about to let another opportunity pass by after finishing fourth in Event #3: €1,350 Mini Main Event. That was Pichierri's first six-figure score and now he has recorded his second just two weeks later.

WSOPE Event #15 Final Table Payouts

"I finished fourth in the Mini Main and winning this bracelet means so much to me," Pichierri mumbled through his tears as he held on to his new piece of jewelry. "I know you need some luck in tournaments but I was really focused today."

Pichierri gave a shout-out to his opponents who put up a strong fight and admitted he might be the underdog despite having a chip lead throughout much of the day: "This was a tough field. These guys on my left and my right, they are all regulars, so it's special to come through a field like this."

This was Pichierri's first stop competing for a WSOP title and said it definitely won't be his last going forward.

"I've never been to Las Vegas before, and it's the first time I have come here. My friend told me to go take a shot in Rozvadov so here I am," Pichierri has to fight back some more tears as he gathered his thoughts. "I will definitely be in Las Vegas this summer, this feeling is amazing."

Day 2 Action

There were 50 players who returned to the felt for the start of Day 2 but only 35 of them would make the money and a min-cash of €5,029. It was a fast-paced start to the day as the short stacks continued to fall by the wayside. In fact, there was no hand-for-hand process necessary as two players were eliminated at the same time, making Saeed Rehman the bubble boy.

Some of the notables to finish in the money include Tobias Peters, Antoine Vranken, Julien Sitbon, Vadzim Lipauka, and Maria Teixeira, who bubbled the official final table. Once the final nine players were formed, the pay jumps became more significant and the action seemed to screech to a halt. An average of 45 big blinds also gave the players a lot of room to maneuver their way around.

Slowly the chip stacks got shallower and the short stacks started to bow out. Thomer Pidun came into the final table as one of the chip leaders but he could only last until sixth place after a couple of coolers decimated his lead. Pichierri was, if not the chip leader, at least among the top three throughout the entire day and it was quite an impressive showing.

Despite getting lucky in monster three-handed pot that eliminated Manuel Fischer in third place, Pichierri said he was rather proud of how he played. He took a commanding five-to-one chip lead into heads up with Kamphues and wrapped things up in just a few hands. Kamphues found himself at risk with ace-high but Pichierri had two live cards and managed to hit one of them on the flop. He held on through the turn and river and the Italian was left stunned when the dust settled.