Paul Petraglia Goes from WPT Champion to bestbet Bounty

By Sean Chaffin

With Day 1A underway in the $5,000 WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble, Season XVI champion Paul Petraglia (pictured) is among those in the field. He’s hoping to be the first player to be a repeat winner in a WPT event, but faces one obstacle as returning champion – he’s got a bounty on his head.

Anyone knocking out the champ earns an extra $2,500. In 2017, Petraglia added his name to the Champions Cup and took home $315,732 in his first-ever cash on the WPT Main Tour.

“It’s great to be back,” he says. “I’m happy to be here. It’s always going to be a challenge here, but hopefully, I’ll be the first one to go back-to-back wins here at bestbet-Jax.”

Being a bounty player has added a different element to his game, but he’s trying to adjust.

“It’s definitely going to create a different element to it,” he says. “And it’s going to be tougher to get my shoves through I think. So I’m pretty much going to have to show up with the goods whenever I decide to do it.”

A few other bounties in this flight include four-time WPT champion Darren Elias, legendary New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders defensive end Richard Seymour, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Loni Harwood, WPT Bobby Baldwin Classic runner-up Kitty Kuo, and several others. More will also be in the field of the Day 1B flight on Saturday.

The year, Petraglia qualified for this season’s WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble via satellite and is hoping to parlay that into another big score.

A pilot from St. Augustine, FL, Petraglia is a regular at bestbet. Life in the cockpit keeps him busy, but he can often be found at the tables on the weekend or an occasional night during the week.

When not playing cards or piloting a plane, Petraglia enjoys working out and hanging out with friends and family. He now has three grown children who are all now in college. They all were pleased when he took down the title in 2017.

“They were darned excited, I’m not going to lie to you,” he says laughing.

No doubt some of those winnings were handy when those tuition bills arrived.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions.

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