Julio Belluscio Wins PokerStars Festival Uruguay Main Event ($66,748)!
It didn’t take long for a winner to be crowned in the PokerStars Festival Uruguay Main Event after eight players returned on Day 4. It was Julio Belluscio’s tournament to lose and he closed out the final table in astounding fashion, taking only five levels to win the whole tournament. Not only that, he also eliminated every single player at the final table.
Belluscio eliminated Renan Toniolo first. Toniolo shoved with pocket tens but they were no match for Belluscio’s queen-jack. Belluscio flopped a pair and rivered a second to send Toniolo home as the first player of the day in eighth place. Next to go was Alejandro Garcia. Garcia shoved all in with nearly 20 big blinds from under the gun. Belluscio called in the next seat over and was happy to see his pocket tens dominating Garcia’s pocket sixes. Garcia didn’t catch up and he hit the rail in seventh.
For most of the final table, it was a shoving fest. Belluscio just managed to come out on top of most of the all-ins. Juan Perez hit the rail in sixth. He shoved all in with 
and was called by Belluscio’s 
. The board was safe for Perez, but the 
fell on the river to give Belluscio the best of it. Osvaldo Naves fell in fifth soon after that. Naves moved all in from under the gun with 
but Belluscio woke up with 
in the big blind and Naves couldn’t catch up. That would be it for him.
Next, Ernesto Panno and Hector Barua fell in quick succession. Panno shoved his 
into Belluscio’s and couldn’t catch up, leaving him as the 4th place finisher, while Barua tried to make a move on Belluscio on a flop of 
. Barua shoved with 
but Belluscio was holding this time. Barua turned a flush draw, but didn’t get there on the river and he hit the rail in third place.
Belluscio brought a massive chip advantage into heads-up play of almost five to one. Julio Arocena was able to battle back and even out the stacks, which earned him a deal, but eventually, he too fell to Belluscio. For a short time, Arocena battled into the chip lead, but a massive pot swung the tables back in Belluscio’s favor. On the final hand, Belluscio limped in on the button, then called a shove from Arocena. Belluscio’s ace-high held up against Arocena’s king-high through the flop, turn, and river and with that, he was crowned as the champion.
Final Table Full Results:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julio Belluscio | $66,748* |
| 2 | Julio Arocena | $60,027* |
| 3 | Hector Barua | $37,020 |
| 4 | Ernesto Panno | $29,880 |
| 5 | Osvaldo Naves | $23,440 |
| 6 | Juan Perez | $17,740 |
| 8 | Alejandro Garcia | $13,020 |
| 9 | Renan Toniolo | $9,560 |
This is the 51-year-old Bellucio’s largest cash ever. Belluscio has been playing poker for over eight years and was definitely the most recognized and accomplished player of the final eight, with nearly $300,000 in recorded live tournament earnings and results from both the EPT and the WSOP. This marks Bellucio’s first victory at a PokerStars Festival as well as in a Main Event. For his win, he locked up $66,748 after an ICM chop.
That will wrap up our coverage of the PokerStars Uruguay Festival Main Event, but the PokerStars Festival Uruguay High Roller is still ongoing and we’ll be here covering the entirety of that event as well, so don’t click away yet.