The Ups and Downs of Daniel Santoro

There are a lot of memories that could sum up Daniel Santoro’s first World Poker Tour victory.  You could call it a whirlwind, a rollercoaster, a yoyo, or a comeback and all would fit just fine.  There were highs, lows, and surprises as the New Yorker battled his way through the finl table and on to the Foxwoods World Poker Finals title.

When the final table began, Santoro was third in chips and one of three players with a big stack.  One of the short stacks, Eli Berg, exited on the third hand of play when he flopped top pair on a [Kc7s7d] board and check-raised all-in when the turn brought the [10d], only to run into Christian Harder’s pocket aces.  The river couldn’t save Berg and his [KhQd] and he was out in 6th minutes after taking his seat.

Ten hands later, Andy Frankenberger faced a similar fate when he moved all-in over the top of a Harder reraise with [Ac10c] and ran into Harder’s kings.  Frankenberger exited his third career WPT final table in 5th place and Harder took the chip lead.

It seemed like all the momentum was in Harder’s corner until a pivotal pot on Hand 23 changed the entire dynamic of the final table. The other two big stacks, Santoro and Steven Brackesy, got into a preflop raising war that resulted in a six-bet shove with [Ac4c] from Brackesy.  Santoro called all-in with [QhQd], having Brackesy covered.  Santoro’s hand held when it mattered most and Brackesy exited in 4th place.  The hand was a game-changer, as it vaulted Santoro up to the chip lead and way out in front of Harder and amateur player Bob Carbone.

With three players left, the otherwise quiet Carbone started to play a few more hands and seemed ready and willing to push all-in.  He doubled thru Harder to stay alive, but the next time he got it all-in, he wasn’t so fortunate.  Carbone ran pocket tens into Santoro’s pocket aces to send the final table into heads-up action with Santoro holding a nearly 4-1 chip lead over Harder.

While the play from six to two players went by in a flash, heads-up play was a much different story.  In fact, the heads-up match between Harder and Santoro is arguably one of the more back and forth matches the WPT has ever seen.  

Even though Santoro had a big lead that just got bigger as he grinded Harder’s stack away, Harder kept doubling up to stay in contention.  He doubled thru Santoro on three separate occassions to go from having a short stack to taking the chip lead away.

In the late stages of play, the chip lead flip flopped back and forth as the duo neared the 200-hand mark.  After Harder’s third double up, it was Santoro’s turn to worry, but his fretting didn’t last long, as he doubled back thru his friend and opponent just four hands later.

This back and forth battle continued a while longer and ended in a fitting manner for a duel that appeared to be too close to call.  The final hand came down to a coin flip, with Santoro holding [AcKs] to Harder’s [10c10d].  Harder stayed out front after a jack-high flop and remained ahead with the [2h] on the turn.  The river was a dramatic one though, as it brought the [Kc], giving Santoro the pot, the match, and his first WPT title.

If you had to sum up Santoro’s run in a single word, it would likely be unpredictable.  With emotions swinging from one pole to the other and back again over the course of a 200-hand final table, Santoro managed to keep a level head and his eye on the prize.  As a result of that resolve, he is now the latest WPT champion and the winner of the top prize of $449,910.

Here are the final table results from the Season X World Poker Finals:

1st: Daniel Santoro – $449,910
2nd: Christian Harder – $248,962
3rd: Bob Carbone – $166,271
4th: Steven Brackesy – $129,816
5th: Andy Frankenberger – $99,585
6th: Eli Berg – $83,580