Thursday had something for everyone on the Pure Poker Tour at Pure Casino Yellowhead. Whether you like two cards or four, there was poker action to suit your desires in the Pearl Room on Thursday.
The main game of the day was the $450 PLO. The action kicked off at 1 PM, and the game drew 61 entries for $28,975 in total prizes by the time entries closed. Local grinder Benny Sarnelli took down the top prize in this one.
Later in the day, across the Pearl Room, the $280 Bounty played on the side. That game got 94 entries for prizes of $17,860 ($13,160 prizes, $4,700 bounties), with Brian Wells bagging his first trophy at the end of the night.
Benny Sarnelli Bags the Four-Card Trophy
- Event #12: $450 PLO
- Entries: 61
- Prizes: $28,975
- Winner: Benny Sarnelli ($8,345)
Benny Sarnelli picked up his fifth live win and third PPT trophy on Thursday at Pure Casino Yellowhead. It was his second four-card trophy as well, after winning the PLO Deepstack Hyper in May of this year.
Sarnelli made his way through the 61-entry field as a bit of a wrecking ball. He scored four out of six eliminations at the final table, watching as some tough competition fell by the wayside on a final table that included Leo Zhang, Mo Alamelhuda, Zeyu “Skytrain” Huang, Eric Wasylenko, and Frank Urbanovitch, who is a bit of a new face here at the deep end of PPT events, but this week he’s turned into a regular feature after chopping the PLO Bounty and final tabling Event #8 earlier in the week.
This was Sarnelli’s second cash of the series, and he’s been coming on strong recently. With his first recorded Hendon Mob result in 2023, he has since put up 26 cashing results, with his results so far this series bringing that to 28 total. This week’s earnings will also push his lifetime winnings to more than $50k.
Sarnelli booked the title this time heads up over Eric Wasylenko. The former online HU specialist has more than $1.15 million in earnings on Hendon Mob, but rather astonishingly, his second place in last night’s $450 PLO looks to be his first ever cash in a live 4-card tournament.
Brian Wells Scores His First Live Win in $280 Bounty
- Event #13: $280 NLH Bounty
- Entries: 94
- Prizes: $17,860 ($13,160 prizes, $4,700 bounties)
- Winner: Brian Wells ($5,114)
The side game on Thursday was the $280 Bounty, featuring $50 bounties. With 94 entries on the board by the time registration closed, the prizes were $17,860 ($13,160 prizes, $4,700 bounties).
Brian Wells is a regular face in the PPT games here in Edmonton. He has a slew of cashes on the PPT with multiple final table finishes since 2022, including a second place and five 3rds, but this is the first time he’s found himself with all the chips and the trophy.
Wells was short when they got to the final table, but after laddering a few times early, he stepped on the gas, busting 5 of the final 6 players. He got to heads up with the chip lead, and they quickly found a cooler to get it in. Brendan Harden woke up with jacks, while Wells called off with ace-ten. He flopped two pair and held for his first win on the live felt.
