Aristoteles Neto Wins PPC Aruba For $62,764

The 2014 PPC Aruba World Championship was held at the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino on the small island paradise located in the southern Caribbean Sea. There was nothing small about the turnout, however, after 138 competitors put up $2,200 a piece to enter the Main Event, a record for this particular event. Five days of action later, and it was Aristoteles Neto who topped the field to capture the title, and collect the $62,764 first place prize.
Aristoteles Neto’s impressive result was made even more remarkable by the fact the commercial truck driver from Boston qualified for the $2,200 Main Event via a $65 satellite at Foxwoods. After subsequently winning the biggest score of his poker career, US player Neto commented:
“The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.”
Wait a moment, whoops, that was another famous Aristotle who said that, what Aristoteles Neto actually said after his five-figure score was “We [girlfriend] had a blast down here. We’ll definitely be back next year. Everyone was great.”
By the time the final table had been reached, Aristoteles Neto was the chip leader. Neto then scored his first elimination after being dealt A-K and sending Richard Bowers (8-8) to the rail in 9th ($6,518), before being dealt the same hand (A-K) and  doing likewise to Jimmy Pashaj (A-10) in 7th for $10,394.
Continuing his assault at the final table, Neto (A-J) eliminated Joe Ebanks (10-7) in 5th ($17,685), and his A-8 was then good enough to send Ryan Franklin (K-Q) from the competition in 3rd ($31,194) to herlad in heads-up play against Steve Karp for the title.
After a see-saw affair, the deciding hand was eventually played with Karp all-in preflop holding pocket queens to Neto’s A-K. Unfortunately for Steve Karp, a K on the flop ended his tournament hopes and he had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $50,000, while Aristoteles Neto was crowned the 2014 PPC Aruba Main Event Champion.
Final Table Results:
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