Chicago’s Perrone Adds WSOP Bracelet To His Two Circuit Rings

Michael Perrone has his friend to thank for him becoming a World Series of Poker champion. Chicago’s Perrone was all set to play in a tournament at the Wynn, Las Vegas, when his friend convinced him otherwise. Perrone went on to enter the $1,000 Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em event at the 2021 WSOP where he outlasted 1,639 opponents to become the tournament’s champion.

The tournament took 16 long hours from start to finish despite the fast-paced structure. Some 1,640 players bought into the event, and 246 received some of the $1,408,870 prize pool. In addition to the prize pool, players won $300 for each opponent they eliminated.

Plenty of stellar names made it into the money places. Vanessa Kade, Barry Shulman, Darren Rabinowitz, Ankush Mandavia, and four-time bracelet winner Shaun Deeb cashed. As did Brock Wilson who bowed out in tenth place and burst the final table bubble.

Calamusa Leads Final Table; Perrone Sixth

Twenty-minute blinds and such a large field meant there was not much room to manoeuver at the final table.

Gabriel Ramos was the first casualty of the final table during the 100,000/200,000/200,000a level. Paul Jain raised to 520,000 before calling Ramos’ 1,900,000 shove. Jain showed Jd-Jc and Ramos the inferior 7h-7s. A jack-friendly board reading 5c-3d-9d-As-Qh resigned Ramos to a ninth-place finish.

Perrone scored a timely double through Badr Imejjane, who fell a few hands later. Jeremiah Fitzpatrick open-shoved for 12 big blinds with 8d-8c, and Imejjane called off his seven big blind stack with Ac-Qh. The board fell 2h-Kc-Ts-9s-5h, spelling game over for Imejjane.

The double-elimination of Jain and John Moss flipped the tournament on its head. Perrone found Kc-Kd after Jain and Moss got their stacks into the middle with Ah-Ts and Qd-Js respectively. A ten-high flop sent both Jain and Moss to the cashier’s desk, and Perrone to the top of the chip counts.

Fifth place and $38,996 went to Canadian Paul Dhaliwal, who open-shoved for 7.5 big blinds with Ac-8d, and can count himself unlucky to run into the Kh-Ks of Pierre Calamusa. Dhaliwal paired his eight on the flop but did not find any additional outs on the turn or river.

Another Big Pair For the Champion Elect

Perrone found another big pair in an all-in spot against Scott Podolsky. The latter called all-in for a shade over three big blinds with Qs-9h after Perrone ripped it in with Js-Jd. The jacks held as the five community cards fell Kd-7c-6d-5s-9s.

Heads-up was set when Fitzpatrick fell by the wayside in third. Perrone raised to 1,100,000 from the button during the 250,000/500,000/500,000a level, and Fitzpatrick three-bet all-in from the small blind. Calamusa re-shoved in the big blind, and Perrone folded. Fitzpatrick showed Qh-Jh which was flipping against Calamusa’s Td-Ts. The dealer fanned the Ac-2d-4h-3d-8s board, and that was that.

Calamusa went into the heads-up battle trailing 13,500,000 to 19,500,000. He never closed the gap. The early confrontations went Perrone’s way, including the all-important final hand.

Perrone raised all-in with Qd-9c, and Calamusa called off his 6.5 big blinds with Ah-7c. A Qs-6h-9d flop gifted Perrone two pair and left Calamusa drawing thin. The 7h turn gave Calamusa some outs, but the 4d was not one of them.

Calamusa crashed out in second for $94,060 while Perrone banked the $152,173 top prize and his first WSOP bracelet

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Michael Perrone	United States	$152,173
2	Pierre Calamusa	France	$94,060
3	Jeremiah Fitzpatrick	United States	$69,454
4	Scott Podolsky	United States	$51,787
5	Paul Dhaliwal	Canada	$38,996
6	John Moss	United States	$29,657
7	Paul Jain	United States	$22,783
8	Badr Imejjane	United States	$17,680
9	Gabriel Ramos	United States	$13,861

Two More Champions Crowned

Two other players became WSOP champions recently. Jaswinder Lally triumphed in the $1,500 Dealers Choice 6-Handed event and collected $97,9115. Zhi Wu took down the $600 No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack event for a cool $281,604.

The $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo event crowns its champion on October 7, as does the $25,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em Championship, and the $1,500 Limit Hold’em event.

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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