Poker History Made As Slovenian Wins First Ever WPT Title

Local man Miha Travnik has triumphed at the WPT Slovenia, after overcoming a field of 141 players over four days to lift the prestigious trophy, and collect the  €102,700 ($144,399) first place prize.
As well as the huge boost to his bankroll, the 20 year old now has the honour of becoming his country’s first ever player to win a major live poker tournament. Miha Travnik’s feat is made all the more remarkable considering the €3,300 buy-in event was his first ever forage into the live big league.
The WPT Slovenia took place in the town of Portoroz, a picturesque coastal resort with just 2,849 inhabitants. However, despite becoming a local hero after winning the tournament, the young man seemed overawed by the attention and after shunning all interviews called his mother to collect him.
Whatever reservations he may have had after his triumph, none were apparent as he set about his work in an aggressive style throughout the tournament.
By the time the final table of six had been reached, Travnik found himself battling it out against three Italians, a Swede and a Romanian. Eventually, after seven hours of play Travnik (1.204m) would go heads-up against Italian player Vincenzo Natale (3.15m)
However, Travnik soon went behind by a massive 10 to 1 as the Italian rode roughshod all over him, before he managed to mount a phenomenal comeback. Eventually, Travnik took a huge lead after drawing level before then being 4-bet into while holding J-J to Natale’s 9d-8d. Soon after the final hand of the competition came with Natale all-in preflop holding K-8 to Travnik’s A J.
With the board then falling J-7-5-2-10 Natale collected $99,481 for his runner-up finish, while the top prize, plus a $25,500 ticket to the 2012 WPT Championship in Las Vegas went to the young champ and local hero Miha Travnik.