La Notte Degli Assi 1+1: Jo Lifts the Trophy With a 700.000€ Payday!

Arena Casino in Tirana, Albania, served as the venue for its most ambitious poker event to date, hosting the La Notte Degli Assi 1+1 with a massive guarantee. This special tournament promised a guaranteed prize pool of 2.000.000€ for a buy-in of 1.150€, with a full 1.000.000€ of that set aside for first place.

A total of 2.319 entries were registered, driving the final prizepool to 2.192.220€. Only 183 players made it "In The Money," out of 331 who survived to Day 2. The min-cash was worth 1.500€, but everyone in the room had their sights set on the 1.000.000€ up top.

The tournament's lucrative structure gave players plenty of room to maneuver, and it took until late on Day 3 to set the official final table. When the last table got underway, the chip stacks stood as follows:

• Florian Bock — 44,075,000
• Nguyen Phi Hung — 13,150,000
• JO — 12,450,000
• Sasa Maksic — 12,100,000
• Lama Sokol — 10,875,000
• Sebastiano Bagatin — 9,250,000
• Kevin Dauti — 7,950,000
• Tomasz Piotr Brzezinski — 6,000,000

It's safe to say that Germany's Florian Bock won't be sleeping soundly after this one. He arrived at the final table as the overwhelming chip leader, in prime position to claim the seven-figure payout. As play developed, though, the chip distribution evened out, and while Bock can take solace in making a four-way deal at the end, he'll surely wonder what might have been.

As the deal was struck, the mysterious Jo had seized control of a massive chip lead. That leverage paid off in spades—he locked up a stunning 700.000€ from the deal and went on to close it out, securing the title and a trophy that will serve as a lifelong reminder of his biggest poker achievement.

Sources – FB, lanottedegliassi