Elio Fox Captures WSOPE Main Event Championship

New York poker professional Elio Fox ran with his chip lead and stormed to victory at the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, capturing a €1,400,000 first prize and bringing the Main Event title back to the United States.

The win was the first gold bracelet for Fox, whose previous best cash had come in a $10,000 Bellagio Cup event in Las Vegas. With his win, his career winnings will move to over $2.7 million.

In order to become the WSOPE Main Event champion, Fox had to climb over many hurdles. First, Fox had to navigate the largest WSOPE Main Event in history: a whopping 592 players. Then, after battling for four days, Fox came into the final table with the chip lead – but had to face off against several great competitors at an eight-player finale that was entirely comprised of professionals.

Perhaps the most notable players were all natives of the United Kingdom. Max Silver, Jake Cody and Chris Moorman are all forces in their own rights, but Silver and Cody went out early in the tournament – taking 8^th and 7^th places, respectively. However, Moorman lasted much longer, making it to heads-up play – albeit at a severe chip disadvantage to the eventual champion Fox.

That heads-up matchup actually had drama that spread far beyond the city of Cannes, France. While Moorman would have been happy enough with the title alone, a win would also have put tremendous pressure on Ben Lamb, who was in the Player of the Year lead heading into the day. If Moorman had won the WSOPE Main Event, Lamb would then have fallen into second place, and would have needed to climb to at least 4^th at the WSOP Main Event final table when the November Nine met again next month. Instead, when Moorman fell in second place, Lamb’s title was secured.

Moorman wasn’t the only player chasing WSOP Player of the Year honors at the final table, either. Canadian Shawn Buchanan also had a shot at taking over the lead by finishing 2^nd or better, but fell in 6^th place after coming into the final table with the shortest stack.

By all accounts, the fifth WSOP Europe – the first held in France – was the most successful yet in the fledgling poker series. It set series records for prize money and attendance, both overall and in the Main Event.