Adrian Sportelli has been crowned champion of the inaugural Treasury Brisbane Poker Festival Main Event, outlasting a field of 364 starters to score the biggest win of his career and a $76,433 first prize.
Sportelli dominated the Treasury poker room throughout the last few days with his dynamic personality and never looked in trouble at the final table, entering the final day as chip leader and eventually going wire to wire.
Speaking with PokerMedia Australia after his win, Sportelli described his win as a “huge relief”.
“It’s been a really long time coming,” he said. “I won the Gold Coast [Championships] back in 2011 and this is by far my biggest result since then.”
Asked if he’d be attending the upcoming Gold Coast Championships at The Star Gold Coast from 11 to 21 March, Sportelli said, “I do have work and family commitments so I can’t get to every event, but I’ll definitely make it for the Main Event at least – I have to when I’m running this hot!”
Sportelli had a rough start to Day 2. Coming in with a healthy 426,000, found himself down to just 82,000 in the first level of play before finding some good fortune when needed most to set him back on the right path.
“It’s very much a mental game and I had to really shift gears to get back into it,” he explained. “The huge turning point was on the bubble – I got it all in with A-J against A-K and spiked the J on the flop – we all have to get lucky sometimes I guess and it really turned my luck around.”
On his week’s experience, Sportelli said, “The team here have done a lot of work and it shows – from the staff running it to the dealers. I’d also like to thank my rail, they really came through for me with a huge positive vibe. I really appreciated it and helped me get over the line today.”
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