Miracle Run at King’s Resort
Genoa’s Matteo Intiso completed one of the most dramatic comebacks of the series at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, capturing Event #11: €777 No-Limit Hold’em Lucky 7’s at the 2023 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).
After being reduced to just a single big blind, Intiso battled back through multiple double-ups before sealing victory in a spectacular three-way all-in finale, earning his first gold bracelet and €82,350 in prize money, including a €10,350 Main Event ticket.
Final Table Payouts
| Rank | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matteo Intiso | Italy | €82,350* |
| 2 | Catalin Diac | Romania | €58,200* |
| 3 | Or Nezer | Israel | €42,800* |
| 4 | Algirdas Saveikis | Lithuania | €32,825 |
| 5 | Heinz Traut | Germany | €26,250 |
| 6 | Jose Puertas | Spain | €11,500 |
| 7 | Tobias Peters | Netherlands | €8,550 |
| 8 | Florin Bilan | Romania | €6,450 |
| 9 | Miguel Angel Alvarez | Spain | €4,990 |
* includes €10,350 Main Event ticket
Day 2 Action Recap
Day 2 began with 84 players returning from a 553-entry field, with the average stack just 20 big blinds. Eliminations came quickly, with notable bustouts including Dinesh Alt (67th), Alessandro Pichierri (63rd), Aaron Duczak (61st), Pawel Wojciechowski (48th), Fabio Peluso (41st), and bracelet winner Shaun Deeb, who finished 38th in pursuit of his eighth title.
Vivian Saliba (23rd), start-of-day chip leader Milan Aloric (35th), and chess grandmaster Ivo Donev (18th) also fell short of the final table.
Intiso nearly joined them after losing with jacks against queens to drop to just 25,000 chips — one big blind. But a series of timely double-ups kept him alive, and by the time the final table began, he had climbed back to 1.8 million.
Final Table Drama
At the final table, chip leader Catalin Diac (3.8M) and online bracelet winner Or Nezer (2.85M) set the pace, but the spotlight quickly shifted to the “Good machine” — the automatic shuffler. Players joked after each hand, and Algirdas Saveikis even offered €10,000 to buy it.
- 9th place: Miguel Angel Alvarez’s king-nine lost to Nezer’s ace-seven, which made a wheel.
- 8th place: Florin Bilan shoved with ace-seven but fell to Tobias Peters’ ace-king.
- 7th place: Peters, chasing back-to-back bracelets, ran ace-king into Diac’s ace-queen and was eliminated when Diac hit trips.
- 6th place: Jose Puertas bubbled the Main Event ticket, losing with top pair to Saveikis’ flopped straight.
- 5th place: Heinz Traut spiked a king, but Nezer rivered trips queens to end his run.
- 4th place: Saveikis fell to Intiso’s ace-king over ace-seven.
- 3rd & 2nd place: The finale saw Nezer (Q5) and Diac (A6) all-in against Intiso’s (AT). Intiso held, eliminating both in one hand to clinch the title.
Champion’s Reaction
“Maybe I’m still not realizing it, because I was focused on playing the final table. But it’s a good feeling,” Intiso said.
Reflecting on the decisive hand, he added: “When we turned over the cards, it was very satisfying. I was like, okay, let’s do it. I was the favorite. To finish in one hand is the best thing ever.”
Now holding his first bracelet, Intiso looks ahead to the future: “Just keep grinding. Let’s see what’s waiting for me.”
