Alexandros Kolonias Wins $1.2M After Placing First in WSOPE
It has been a long five days, and a champion has emerged in the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event. Alexandros Kolonias has snagged the first-place prize, after beating out a field of over 540 runners.
After winning over $1.2 million in the WSOPE this year, his total live earnings now total $3,729,554. Before today, his biggest cash came in2016, when he earned $930, 117 for his second-place finish in the €25,000 NLHE High Roller in Monte Carlo.
The Greek poker player has been competing in live tournaments since 2011, but doesn’t play many events in brick-and-mortar venues. So, this is a huge accomplishment to have under his belt. He says:
“I never played many live events per year, and it was, of course, great to make this one count. I think I will do the same and play online, and do five or six live tournaments a year.”
We wonder whether he’ll head to the WSOP in Las Vegas next year. He seems to be very selective in the live tournaments that he plays, but it could certainly be worth it to ride the wave of his WSOPE this year and vie for a top spot in Vegas in 2020.
Kolonias was up against some very fierce competitors at the final table, but he managed to come out on top. He got himself into a heads-up battle with Claas Segebrecht, which didn’t last very long. It was Segebrecht’s pocket threes against Kolonias’ ace-king suited that won him the tournament, as the board granted him a flush.
The final table payouts are as follows:
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize |
| 1 | Alexandros Kolonias | Greece | $1,258,383 |
| 2 | Claas Segebrecht | Germany | $777,709 |
| 3 | Anthony Zinno | United States | $538,673 |
| 4 | Dario Sammartino | Italy | $379,289 |
| 5 | Anh Do | Czech Republic | $271,565 |
| 6 | Rifat Palevic | Sweden | $197,770 |
| 7 | Julien Martini | France | $146,539 |
| 8 | Jakob Madsen | Denmark | $110,506 |
What Does This Mean for POY?
The Player of the Year race was a tight one, and it couldn’t have been anyone’s game if any of the top ten players on the leaderboard managed to make the final table of the main event. That wasn’t the case, however, and Daniel Negreanu still sits that the top.
Since there are no more WSOP events for the year, this means that Negreanu will be the Player of the Year. It will be his third time winning the title – a very impressive feat.
So, our congratulations go out to both Daniel Negreanu and Alexandros Kolonias for their achievements this week!