The Caribbean Party Poker has come to an end, and Filipe Oliveira has managed to distinguish himself at the $5,3000 Main Event. The upshot? He’s leaving the tropical destination $1.5 million richer.
The Crowning Caribbean Poker Event is Over
In the past two or so weeks we have seen quite a few developments in the Caribbean. Poker professionals descended on the destination to try their hand at multiple competitions all backed by PartyPoker, one of the world’s best-known card rooms. Apart from the great atmosphere and aptly-picked destination, however, it was reported that PartyPoker may struggle to cover some of the prizing money from buy-ins alone, prompting the card room to pay out of its own pocket.
But this didn’t mar the competition in the slightest, with professionals staying busy at the tables and kicking back with beach volleyball in the hours after. Filipe Oliveira, one of the most upbeat contestants in the tournament, quickly distinguished himself at the crowning event, the $5,300 Main, outpacing a number of worthy opponents.
And we have a winner! Congratulations to Filipe Gonzaga Oliveira on winning $1,500,000 and the title of champion at the #CPP2018 after coming back from 3 big blinds on the final table. Congratulations also to Craig Mason for his 2nd place finish and for winning $1,200,000. pic.twitter.com/fEtj1guRNK
— partypokerLIVE (@partypokerlive) November 18, 2018
In a field with well over 1,800 entries, it was Oliveira who managed to muster up the courage and fight through to the end. The final table landed him in direct head-to-head competition with 7 renowned players from the world of poker.
Admittedly, his face-off with Craig Mason was one of the most challenging ones. The Portuguese started strong, but temporarily lost the lead, as Mason continued to add to his bankroll. Then, fortunes were reversed when it mattered, and Oliveira saw himself carry on to victory.
The final table definitely did see more worthy names flocking. Marc MacDonnel, who managed to finish third, landed $1 million in cash prizes, an excellent amount for any competitor. His success was followed by that of Pascal Hartmann who got himself $800,000 and Konstantin Maslak from Russia both of whom competed until the very end but were sent packing in 4th and 5th position respectively.
The rear was brought up by another Portuguese and two Americans, to name Diogo Veiga, Alex Turyansky and Joe Kuether.
The events of the day were quite challenging, too. Oliveira was humble all throughout the race, exchanging the occasional friendly banter when asked and never missing a chance to crack a joke himself.
He stood out from many other poker professionals by continuously acknowledging that chance has had quite a bit to do with the final outcome of the game. While not selling himself short, Oliveira noted that he had been fortunate enough to overcome a number of opponents and the luck of the draw played no negligible part in it all.
Craig Mason was dominating the playfield and nobody would have thought that Oliveira would be actually able to challenge him. If anything, Mason seemed confident and prepared to methodically excise players out of the race.
Mason was then caught in a battle with Oliveira who appeared to be bluffing way too often. However, what Mason misconstrued as bluffs were very fortunate cards for Oliveira which helped him conclude the game and win the Main Event, cheered by his fellow countrymen plumping for him.
