Courtesy of: Aruba Daily
It was a record turnout for the 2014 PPC Aruba World Championship $2,200 Main Event with a total of 138 entrants taking part in the poker action in beautiful Aruba. Ten of those players returned Monday, already in the money, with their eye on the $62,764 that would be handed out for first place.
Aristoteles Neto came into the final table with the chip lead and he would assume command from the very get go. It was a lead he would not relinquish until play was heads up. He battled his way back against eventual runner-up Steve Karp to claim the title and the first place prize money as well as a guaranteed return trip to the 2015 PPC Aruba Main Event.
Neto became a poor man’s Chris Moneymaker story, turning a $65 satellite entry into this impressive score. “I played a $65 satellite at Foxwoods into their $450 PPC Aruba qualifier and was able to win a package to come down here,” Neto explained. The commercial truck driver from Boston said he plays poker, mainly cash games, four nights a week.
“We had a blast down here,” said Neto as his girlfriend nodded in agreement. “We’ll definitely be back next year. Everyone was great.”
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aristoteles Neto | $62,764 |
| 2 | Steve Karp | $50,000 |
| 3 | Ryan Franklin | $31,194 |
| 4 | Josh Kay | $23,656 |
| 5 | Joe Ebanks | $17,685 |
| 6 | Aftab Shakoor | $13,445 |
| 7 | Jimmy Pashaj | $10,394 |
| 8 | John Ott | $8,165 |
| 9 | Richard Bowers | $6,518 |
| 10 | Ted Ely | $5,283 |
