Campomanes Win First Platinum Pass For PSPC In Barcelona
PokerStars made a big announcement in December, when 21 live events were introduced for 2020. What’s more important is that 24 players in these events will have the opportunity to receive the exclusive Platinum Pass.
All players with the pass will be able to take part in the 2020 PokerStars Players Championship in Barcelona, which will take place this August.
The first player in 2020 to receive the pass was Florencio Campomanes, who took part in the Main Event of the PokerStars Red Dragon Manila tournament. However, he didn’t have to win the event to win the pass. Instead, it was pure luck that decided how he would be chosen to pass.
The Virtual Wheel Decides the Table
The first thing needed to narrow down the potential candidates for the pass was to choose one of the tables. The organisers used a virtual wheel that landed on table 7, and players were then moved to the table so that the entire poker room could watch the show.
However, not all players were present. In fact, one of the quite familiar faces at Red Dragon, Campomanes, was almost late for the show.
Who would have thought that he would be the one to actually win the Platinum Pass? Super High Roller runner-up and winner of the 201st APPT Manila Main.
Revealing the First Card – Cruz in the Lead
The first thing the dealer did was deal the flop, which showed the jack of spades, ace of diamonds, and seven of clubs. At this point, John Dela Cruz was the only leader, as he had the ace of clubs.
On the other hand, Campomanes had the queen of clubs, and he didn’t seem to be in a good position compared to the other players. Nevertheless, he has the second highest card of all after Cruz’s ace.
The next thing the dealer did was to show a card on the turn, which turned out to be the queen of hearts, giving Campomanes a slight boost, as he now had a pair of queens. Nevertheless, Cruz still led with a pair of aces.
Revealing the Second Card – Campomanes Wins with Two Pair
After revealing the turn, the dealer instructed the players to reveal their second cards. At that point, it was clear that Campomanes improved considerably, as his second card was the ace of hearts.
Therefore, he now had a pair of aces and a pair of queens – much better than his main opponent in this short but sweet hand that made him the Platinum Pass winner.
River eventually showed the nine of clubs, but that didn’t change anything in the hand rankings, meaning that Campomanes was the winner. He immediately rushed to his mates, and they all started celebrating his success.
Campomanes Talks About His Plans
After winning the Platinum Pass, the player from the Philippines was eager to share his enthusiasm with the press. He stated that he was a “lucky box.”
Moreover, he added that he needed to change his plans since the original one was to retire from playing poker.
Therefore, winning the Platinum Pass completely disrupted his plans, as he will be one of the select few who will be able to take part in the 2020 PokerStars Poker Championship, which will take place in August in Barcelona. Until then, let’s wait and see who else wins this big prize!
