The Casino San Remo is the place to be between may 1 and May 10 because the Italian Poker Open (IPO) is in town and has brought with it a bustling schedule of exciting tournaments, including a €1 million guaranteed Main Event.
The€550 buy-in IPO 1 Million features eight flights. Each sees players sit down with 40,000 chips and play to an incredible blind structure with a 45 minute clock (30 minutes on the turbo-charged Day 1G). Those blinds increase to 75 minutes on Day 2 onwards, giving players plenty of room to manoeuvre as the event approaches its business end.
There are €100 satellites running throughout the festival, each feeding into the IPO Million. At least two per day run from May 1 through May 6, giving players with lesser bankrolls a shot at playing in a prestigious tournament featuring a seven-figure guaranteed prize pool.
In addition to the IPO Million, there is a daily turbo tournament at 10:00 p.m. CET each night. These €120 buy-in events are perfect to blowing off some steam at the end of a day’s grind.
Other events include the €990 buy-in IPO Master, the €666 IPO Hell 666 KO Win the Button event, and a €440 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha tournament.
IPO San Remo Million Schedule
| Date | Time | Event | Buy-in | Chips | Clock (mins) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 1 May | 3:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1A | €550 | 40,000 | 45 |
| 4:00 p.m. | Welcome Festival | €150 | 50,000 | 25 | |
| Mon 2 May | 3:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1B | €550 | 40,000 | 45 |
| Tue 3 May | 3:00 p.m. | Super Deep | €330 | 60,000 | 30/40 |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Wed 4 May | 3:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1C | €550 | 40,000 | 45 |
| 7:00 p.m. | Special Knockout 6-Max Day 1 | €230 | 30,000 | 20 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Thu 5 May | 1:00 p.m. | Special Knockout 6-Max Final Day | 30/40 | ||
| 3:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1D | €550 | 40,000 | 45 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Fri 6 May | 3:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1E | €550 | 40,000 | 45 |
| 7:00 p.m. | Pot Limit Omaha 8-Max | €440 | 40,000 | 30 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Sat 7 May | 12:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1F | €550 | 40,000 | 45 |
| 6:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 1G Turbo | €550 | 40,000 | 30 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Sun 8 May | 1:00 p.m. | IPO 1 Million Day 2 | 60 | ||
| 4:00 p.m. | IPO Hell 666 KO, Win the Button, 8-Max | €666 | 66,600 | 30/40 | |
| 6:00 p.m. | Sunday Side | €250 | 50,000 | 30 | |
| 9:00 p.m. | IPO Master Day 1 | €990 | 50,000 | 45 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Mon 9 May | 1:00 p.m. | IPO Million Day 3 | 75 | ||
| 1:00 p.m. | IPO Master Day 2 | €990 | 50,000 | 60 | |
| 5:00 p.m. | Monday Side | €150 | 40,000 | 30 | |
| 10:00 p.m. | Turbo Night | €120 | 30,000 | 15 | |
| Tue 10 May | 2:00 p.m. | IPO Million Final Table TV | 75 | ||
| 3:00 p.m. | IPO Master Final Day | 75 | |||
| 8:00 p.m. | Closer Deep | €120 | 50,000 | 20 |
Day 1A of the Main Event drew in a crowd of 226 players, and none of the surviving players bagged up more chips than Italian Alessandro Mattii, who turned his 40,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 700,500. Matti has a string of live cashes behind him, but none weigh in at five-figures or more. That fact should change if he builds on his initial success. Day 1B also attracted a total of 180 entries for a total of 406.
Gianluca Cammarata and Nicola D’Anselmo ended their flight in second and third place, respectively. Cammarata bagged up 635,000 chips while D’Anselmo returns on Day 2 armed with 572,500.
IPO regular Cristian Viali also progressed to Day 2, doing so with 230,000 chips. Viali finished fifth in the 2015 IPO Campione Main Event and walked away with a career-best €30,335.
Also safely through to Day 2 are a trio of female poker players. French ladies Elena Chiper (444,000) and Valerie Lelouche (170,000) are joined by Ukraine’s Lyudmilla Rudova (232,000).
Good luck to everyone competing in the IPO Million Main Event in San Remo over the coming seven days.
