23:00
WPT Venice Day 3: Mad Marvin Leads
Day 3 of the World Poker Tour Venice Main Event has come to a close after the vast majority of the five 90-minute levels were completed. Forty players started the day and only 15 survived to make it through to the penultimate day’s play and the best placed of these is Marvin Rettenmaier who bagged up a most impressive 817,000 chips when the proverbial Fat Lady sang.
Rettenmaier’s high variance style was there for all to see today, every pot he played seemed to be massive. We saw him six-bet Giovanni Rizzo off a pot, fold to a six-bet from Andrea Bellini and then eliminate two players in one hand, that last one seeing his stack swell to 705,000 chips.
In that particular hand Rettenmaier found himself all in with 
against the 
of Rocco Palumbo and the 
of Heinz Kamutzki. The board ran out 
, Rettenmaier claimed the chiplead and there he stayed right until the death.
Hot on the German’s heels are Michele Caroli (793,000) and Alex Dovzhenko (730,000). Other notables still in the field include Arnaud Mattern (519,000) Ronnie Bardah (257,000) and Roberto Romanello (237,000). The full chip counts can be found below:
1st: Marvin Rettenmaier: 817,000 chips
2nd: Michele Caroli: 793,000
3rd: Alex Dovzhneko: 730,000
4th: Arnaud Mattern: 519,000
5th: Andrea Benelli: 516,000
6th: Christopher Creus: 495,000
7th: Alejandro Sanchez: 495,000
8th: Edoardo Alescio: 431,000
9th: Fernando Cimaglia: 356,000
10th: Wanny Piazza: 304,000
11th: Ronnie Bardah: 257,000
12th: Roberto Romanello: 237,000
13th: Dario Rusconi: 211,000
14th: Steve O’Dwyer: 186,000
15th: Andrea Dato: 132,000
These 15 players will return to the felt at 1400CET on Saturday and play down to the final table of six. Join us then for all the action, as it happens, from the WPT Venice Main Event.
21:40
Umberto Calabro Eliminated in 16th Place (€6,305)
Umberto Calabro has eventually reached his demise after losing his third all-in pot in succession. Christopher Creus raises and Calabro moves all-in for his last 25,000 chips. It is an easy call for Creus and the two flip over their cards.
Creus: 
Calabro:
Board: 
21:27
Massimiliano Rosa Eliminated in 18th Place (€6,305)
Rosa open shoves with and Rettenmaier calls with . The board contains no early Christmas presents for Rosa and he was out. Rettenmaier moves up to 820,000.
22:15
Another Hit For Calabro
Poor Umberto Calabro! He was motoring with over 600,000 chips before Alex Dovzhenko chewed off most of his stack and now Christopher Creus has also taken a bite and it could be a fatal one.
All the chips went into the middle, pre-flop, with Creus holding 
and Dovzhenko holding 
. The board ran out 
and a laughing Calabro was reduced to 25,000 chips. Creus was up to 450,000
22:09
Huge Hand For Dovzhenko
.We didn’t catch the action but we saw both stacks going into the middle with Umberto Calabro seated in the small blind and Alex Dovzhenko seated in the big blind. When the cards were turned over Dovzhenko reached for his jacket and was nearly out of the door before we even saw a flop.
Dovzhenko:
Calabro:
Flop: 
Calabro slaps the table in dismay and Dovzhenko starts to show a bit of interest in the hand. The turn was 
and river and Dovzhenko pulls one out of the bag.
Dovzhenko ~ 700,000
Calabro ~ 220,000
22:00
Rettenmaier and Bardah Split Pot
Marvin Rettenmaier and Ronnie Bardah have just split a big pot that saw Bardah freerolling on the turn. Rettenmaier opened with a raise to 13,000 from under the gun and Wanny Piazza three-bet to 28,000 two to his left. Two more sets of holecards found their way to the muck before Bardah four-bet to what looked like 72,000 but we didn’t get chance to count because in a flurry Rettenmaier moved all in, Piazza folded and Bardah called.
Bardah:
Rettenmaier:
Board: 
21:46
The Romanello Show
Roberto Romanello is back to his vocal best and is entertaining his table and anyone within earshot of it. On a board reading 
Wanny Piazza checks in the big blind and Romanello announces he is all in, a bet of around 150,000 into the 80,000 pot.
“I have a big hand,” say Romanello, “It is OK for you to fold.”
“Hmmm. Ace-king of spades?” quizzes Piazza.
“Yes. You’re right. I have a big hand, lots of outs. You can fold,” says Romanello before adding, “Even if you have a pair I am probably ahead with all my outs. Three aces, three kings, and all the spades. That’s like half the deck.”
“Two kings,” corrects Piazza, claiming to hold a king. A few moments later he folds.
“Show me both of your cards and I’ll let you pick one,” informs the WPT Bratislava champion and Piazza responds by showing 
. He then chose the right-hand card of Romanello and it was the . Romanello pretended it was not his card and looked under the arm of Marvin Rettenmaier.
He then claimed to be the boss of the table and said Piazza was a “pussycat” before meowing at everyone. “The boss is going to eat all the pussycats now,” before bursting into a full rendition of Tom Jones “What’s New Pussycat.”
21:40
Johan Guilbert Eliminated in 18th Place (€6,305)
Johan Guilbert’s WPT Venice Main Event is over and done with. We are trying to find out the details of the hand so please bear with us.
21:30
The New Revised Table Two
Seat 1: Edoardo Alescio – 430,000
Seat 2: Alejandro Sanchez- 415,000
Seat 3: Christopher Creu – 257,000
Seat 4: Steve O’Dwyer – 184,000
Seat 5: Umberto Calabro – 512,000
Seat 6: Alex Dovzhenko – 362,000
Seat 7: Fernando Cimaglia – 203,000
Seat 8: Andrea Benelli – 635,000
Seat 9: Johan Guilbert – 70,000
The New Revised Table One
Seat 1: Marvin Rettenmaier – 720,000
Seat 2: Roberto Romanello – 175,000
Seat 3: Michele Caroli – 623,000
Seat 4: Wanny Piazza – 581,000
Seat 5: Dario Rusconi – 176,000
Seat 6: Arnaud Mattern – 527,000
Seat 7: Ronnie Bardah – 116,000
Seat 8: Andrea Dato – 181,000
Seat 9: Massimiliano Rosa – 83,000
21:23
O’Dwyer Doubles Up Through Guilbert
Steve O’Dwyer has been nursing a short stack all day long but now he has a little more room to manoeuvre after doubling through Johan Guilbert.
Andrea Benelli opens to 14,000 from middle position and Guilbert is to his direct left. He places both cards out in front of him as he would if he was on a televised final table, face down obviously, and three-bets to 30,000. The action then folds around to O’Dwyer who has been staring intently at Benelli ever since he raised.
He continues to stare for another 35 seconds before moving all in for 133,000 chips. Benelli quickly folds but Guilbert calls.
Guilbert:
O’Dwyer:
There was no ace on the 
flop, or the 
turn nor on the river and O’Dwyer doubles up whilst Guilbert drops to around 70,000.
21:05
Giovanni Rizzo Eliminated in 19th Place (€5,705)
PartyPoker pro Giovanni Rizzo has been eliminated from the tournament in 19th place after a clash with Edouard Alescio. Rizzo moved all in preflop for around 110,000 with and Alescio made the rather loose call with 
.
Rizzo took the lead on a flop and stayed ahead on the turn, though Alescio picked up outs to a heart flush. The dealer burned a card and put out the on the river, completing the aforementioned flush draw and sending a dejected Rizzo to the rail.
We have now had a pay jump and everyone has now locked up €6,305.
19:52
Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Batman
Guess what? The players are on a 60 minute dinner break. When they return they will play one more 90-minute level or down to 14 player whichever comes first.
19:45
Taylor von Kriegenbergh Eliminated in 20th Place (€5,705)
Roberto Romanello is the lone former WPT champion in the field after Taylor von Kriegenbergh was eliminated over on Table 3 at the hands of Arnaud Mattern. We missed the action but the hands and board were as follows:
Mattern: 
von Kriegenbergh:
Board: 
19:35
Heinz Kamutzki Eliminated in 22nd Place (€5,705) and Rocco Palumbo Eliminated in 21st Place (€5,705)
Marvin Rettenmaier has just taken the chip lead in spectacular fashion after eliminating both Rocco Palumbo and Heinz Kamutzki in the same hand. Johan Guilbert raises to 11,000 in late position and Marvin Rettenmaier calls.Next to act is Kamotzki and he moves all in for 73,000 only to see Palumbo shove for 190,000 in the small blind! Rettenmaier instantly calls and we have a massive pot brewing here.
Kamutzki:
Palumbo:
Rettenmaier:
The flop causes Guilbert to say “this is sick” and he claims to have folded [Kx][Jx]. The turn is the which locks up the hand for Rettenmaier and when the lands on the river two players are eliminated and Rettenmaier sees his stack swell to 705,000!
19:22
Leonard Berti Eliminated in 23rd Place (€5,705)
Arnaud Mattern raises from the cutoff and Leonard Berto moves all-in from the small blind. Mattern calls and we have a showdown with Berti at risk.
Mattern:
Berti:
Board:
19:10
Andrea Benelli Six-Bet Bluffs Rettenmaier
Earlier today Marvin Rettenmaier six-bet Giovanni Rizzo and managed to get the Italian to fold and now he has been given some similar treatment by Andrea Benelli.
Benelli opened with a raise from early position only to see Rettenmaier three-bet to 22,500. Banelli then four-bet to 57,000 which seemed to really give Rettenmaier something to think about. And think he did, for well over two minutes before taking back his bet and replacing it with 106,500 worth of chips!
Another minute or so passed before Benelli six-bet to 170,000! Rettenmaier goes back into the tank. He stays here for over four minutes before grabbing a couple of piles of red chips worth 200,000 and counting them out in front of him. The German has around 260,000 behind and Benelli covers him by around 90,000 chips.
Rettenmaier cannot pull the trigger and mucks his hand, much to the delight of Benelli who turns over ! Wow!
19:03
Xia Lin Eliminated in 24th Place (€5,705)
Xia Lin has been eliminated at the hands of Wanny Piazza. Roberto Romanello told us that Lin moved all in for 80,000 with [Tx][Tx] and Piazza called with [Qx][Qx]. The board ran out [Ax][Ax][3x][Ax][Qx] to send Lin home for an early bath.
18:53
Riccardo Marchini Eliminated in 25th Place (€5,705)
Andrea Dato opens the betting with a raise to 8,000 and Riccardo Marchini moves all-in blind from the big blind for 16,000. Dato has the easy call of his life and he makes it.
Dato:
Marchini: 
Board: 
18:32
Leonard Domi Eliminated in 26th Place (€5,705)
Christopher Creus raises to 8,000 in early position and Umberto Calabro three-bets to 30,000 in middle position. A few folds later and Leonard Domi moves all-in for 45,000 in the big blind. Creus folds but Calabro makes the call with pocket nines.
Calabro: 
Domi:
Board: 
Domi shakes everyone’s hand and Calabro is really starting to grow that stack of his with 468,000
18:24
Dario Alioto Eliminated in 27th Place (€5,705)
Andrea Benelli raises to 8,500 and Dario Alioto cold calls on the button. The flop is 
and Benelli bets 8,500 once more and Alioto calls. The turn is the and Benelli check-calls a 21,000 Alioto bet. On the river we see the and Benelli checks, Alioto bets 50,000, Benelli moves all-in and after a few minutes thought Alioto calls.
Benelli:
Alioto: [Ax][Kx]
So Benelli catches the perfect card on the river and Alioto is out.
17:50
Dato Adds To Stack
Andrea Dato opens to 8,000 from UTG+1 and finds callers from the blinds. Michele Caroli calls in the small blind and Wanny Piazza in the big blind. The flop comes down and Caroli checks. Piazza bets 10,000 but quickly folds when Dato raises to 26,000.
17:35
Aelscio Doubles Through Domi
We did not see the hand take place but heard a cheer from Edourd Alescio. Upon arriving at his table we saw in front of him and 
in front of Leonard Domi and a board reading
17:08
Ladies And Gentlemen Your Bubble Boy: Nicola Ricciardelli
Nicola Ricciardelli in the bubble boy of WPT Venice, the last player to go home empty handed. After being crippled in the hand described below, Ricciardelli open-shoved for 11,500 and Taylor von Kriegenbergh three-bet to 22,000. Nobody else called and there was a showdown.
Ricciardelli:
von Kriegenbergh: 
The board runs out 
and Ricciardelli earns a mini reprieve.
The very next hand he open-shoves for 39,000 and Alexander Dovzhenko calls. Nobody else gets involved and there is a third showdown involving Ricciardelli in three hands.
Ricciardelli:
Dovzhenko:
The board runs out and the bubble has now burst. Ricciardelli leaves to rapturous applause whilst anyone else who is eliminated will pick up €5,705.
16:52
Ricciardelli Crippled!
From under the gun Alejandro Sanchez raises to 8,500 and Nicola Ricciardelli three-bet to 21,000. The action folds back to Sanchez and he moves all in and is instantly callled!
Sanchez:
Ricciardelli:
The board runs out 
and when the tournament director counts out the chip stacks Ricciardelli is left with just 12,000 chips.
16:50
Guilbert Active On The Bubble
Johan Guilbert is playing very aggressively on the button and seems to be playing every hand. The latest one was with Marvin Rettenmaier where we joined the action on a flop. Guilbert leads out with a 11,000 bet and Rettenmaier makes the call.
The turn is the and when Guilbert checks Rettenmaier quickly checks behind, leading the dealer to put out the on the river. Guilbert bets 13,500 and Rettenmaier grabs a pile of red chips as if to raise but he actually just calls.
Guilbert:
Rettenmaier:
Third pair is good for the German and he wins the pot.
16:46
Bubble Time – Hand For Hand
We are now down to 28 players which means we are on the bubble and will be playing hand for hand until it bursts.
16:35
Romanello Bursts The Damme
Ernesto Damme was down to his last 38,000 chips when he open-shoved from middle position and Roberto Romanello called in the small blind. Damme held [Ax][9x] and Romanello held and the board was no help to Damme and he was sent to the rail.
16:18
Eye-Catching Dealer
Some of the players have had the pleasure of having their cards dealt to them by this young lady:
15:36
Mattern Four-Bet Takes Down Pot
Arnaud Mattern raises to 6,500 from under the gun and the action passes all the way around to the button where Marvin Rettenmaier is seated. He peels back his cards and makes the call. To his direct left is Heinz Kamutzki and he pauses for a few moment squeezing to 21,500.
Now it is Mattern’s turn to act and he counts out a pile of red chips, then stacks them back up and places a purple 500 chip on top. He then moves the stack forward and topples them over. Rettenmaier instantly folds but Kamiutzki tanks for close to three minutes before relinquishing his hand.
Maybe if there were more than 33 players remaining we would have seen a shove from Kamutzki?
15:10:
Break Time
The players are on a 15-minute break.
15:00
Dato Folds To Bardah Again
Just before the break our roving cameraman caught a hand involving Andrea Dato and Ronnie Bardah which can be seen here:
And just now he folded to his American opponent once again. Dato opened to 6,000 from late position and Bardah three-bet to 16,500 from the hijack seat. Dato has a quick look at Bardah’s stack, then glances at his face before flicking his cards towards the muck.
14:40
O’Dwyer Goes From Micro Stack To Short Stack
Marvin Rettenmaier opens to 5,200 from early position and after two players fold the action is on Steve O’Dwyer and he moves all in for what turns out to be 43,000. Everyone folds back to Rettenmaier and he calculates the pot odds and makes the call.
Rettenmaier:
O’Dwyer:
A typical coinflip situation and O’Dwyer needs to hit or he will be eliminated. The dealer puts out the flop, catapulting O’Dwyer into the lead and when the turn and river are the and respectively and O’Dwyer doubles up.
14:32
Rizzo And Rettenmaier Clash In Six-Bet Pot
Marvin Rettenmaier and Giovanni Rizzo have been at each other constantly this level and a hand just went down that saw Rizzo fold to a six-bet from his German opponent.
Rettenmaier made it 5,200 to play from middle position and when the action folded around to Rizzo in the big blind he three-bet to 12,600. Rettenmaier continued to riffle black 100 chips for almost exactly 60 seconds before putting in a four-bet to 28,200.
Rizzo, hoodie over his head and sunglasses covering his eyes sits playing with 1,200 worth of black chips, putting them into six piles of two then stacking them back on top of each other again but he will need more than those if he wants to call. he reaches for chips and makes a five-bet to 66,300 putting the action back on Rettenmaier, who has remained in the same pose, riffling black 1,000 chips throughout the hand.
After a minute of thinking Rettenmaier verbally announces “one hundred and eleven thousand” before putting in the required chips. This last bet sends Rizzo deep into the tank and he stays here for over four minutes occasionally shaking his head and sighing and eventually apologising for taking so long, saying, “Sorry guys.”
Eventually he folds and Rettenmaier lets him choose one card. He picks the one on the right and discovers it is the .
“Are you kidding me?” says Rizzo softly as the dealer sends the massive pot to Rettenmaier. He now has around 500,000 chips.
14:13
Domi Utilises Power Of Position
Everyone says that position is key ion No Limit Hold’em and Leonard Domi just showed this.
Alexander Dovzhenko opens to 4,800 from under the gun and the Russian is called by Riccardo Marchini to his direct left, Domi two seat to his left and Luigi Sacca in the big blind. A flop that reads sees everyone check to Domi and when he bets 15,400 everyone folds! Strange!
14:02
Rettenmaier Does Not Hit Set!
Marvin Rettenmaier opens to 5,200 from under the gun and the action folds around to Giovanni Rizzo on the button and he makes the call. Both blinds fold and it is heads up to the flop. “Mad” Marvin makes a continuation bet of 5,600 and Rizzo quickly calls. The turn is the and Rettenmaier bets again, setting the price to play at 11,400. Again Rizzo calls. The river is the and Rettenmaier tries to get three streets of value by betting 24,600 which rocks Rizzo.
“I guess I played it bad,” says the Italian before adding, “How do you do it?” as he folds.
“I didn’t even hit my set this time,” Rettenmaier jokes before adding, “I can’t show that one though” and he mucks his hand.
13:46
Rizzo Rivers Rettenmaier
We did not see the hand but “Mad” Marvin Rettenmaier just told us that he turned a flush against Giovanni Rizzo only for the PartyPoker pro to hit a boat on the river.
We asked Rettenmaier to confirm he turned the flush and Rizzo piped up, “Of course he turned a flush. He’s Marvin!” referring to the belief Mr Rettenmaier runs better than Usain Bolt. Marvin responded by saying something along the lines of “he is saying how well I run when he just rivered a boat.”
It’s all friendly though but there could be an interesting dynamic forming on that table.
13:32
Damme Wins Under Watchful Eye Of Kamutzki
Ernesto Damme opens to 5,000 from middle position and after two players fold Heinz Kamutzki calls from the cutoff seat and the dealer gets busy putting out the flop. Whilst Damme is thinking about what to do he must be aware of Kamutzki burning a hole in the side of his head with his intense and quite scary stare. Damme bets 9,000 and his German opponent tosses two red 5,000 chips into the pot and makes the call.
The turn brings the into play and Kamutzki is still staring at Damme as he bets 25,000. Kamutzki makes the call and gets back to focussing on Damme and is still carefully watching him as he takes a secon from rapidly chewing his gum to bet 30,000. Kamutzki has seen enough and he folds, but not before taking another glance at his Italian opponent.
13:15
Giovanni Rizzo Doubles Up!
Play may have only just started here in Venice but PartyPoker pro Giovanni Rizzo is certainly not sleepy and has just doubled up to more than 300,000.
Heinz Kamutzki opens to 4,800 and next to act is Steve O’Dwyer and he make it 13,000 to play. The next players fold but Rizzo four-bets from the big blind to 31,200. This folds out Kamutzki but O’Dwyer makes the call. A flop reading sees Rizzo lead out with a half pot-sized bet, O’Dwyer shoves and Rizzo snaps his hand off!
O’Dwyer:
Rizzo:
Rizzo is well in front and on course to double up to 315,000! The dealer burns a card and puts out the turn followed by the river and Rizzo doubles up and is amongst the chipleaders.
13:05
Shuffle Up And Deal
The cards are in the air here at the WPT Venice Main Event. We have been told there is a slight change of plan to how today will run. We will now either play a full schedule of five 90-minute levels or down to 16 players, whichever comes first.
11:07
WPT Venice Main Event Day 3: Live Updates
The World Poker Tour Venice Main Event has reached Day 3 and matters are starting to become real serious as the money bubble rapidly approaches. The 213 players who exchanged €3,300 for 30,000 tournament chips and one of the best blind structure in world poker at the start of the week have been whittled down to just 40, and with just 27 spots being paid there are going to be some very disappointed people by the time today’s play draws to a close.
The man everyone has to catch is Wanny Piazza who has so far managed to turn his original starting stack into one more than ten times larger, 373,500. Piazza usually plays tournaments with buy-ins between €100-€500 and mainly in neighbouring Slovenia but for the time being it appears he has chosen the right tournament to take a shot in!
Hot on Piazza’s heels are a splattering of well-known faces and dare we say it stars of poker. Second place when play resumes at 1300 CET belongs former WPT champion in Taylor von Kriegenbergh (326,900) but he will be pushed all the way by the likes of Marvin Rettenmaier, Roberto Romanello, Steve O’Dwyer, Arnaud Mattern and PartyPoker pro Giovanni Rizzo.
The plan for today is to play down to the final 18 players meaning the money bubble will burst. Of the 40 who will retake their seats on 27 will be paid so expect reports of some very disappointed players to emanate from the Casino Di Venezia Ca’noghera! When the bubble does burst everyone will be guaranteed at least €5,705 for their efforts over the past week.
Join us shortly after 1300CET for all the updates from the WPT Venice Main Event.
