The fisherman has hooked the fish.

ALL the fish.

Max Pescatori of Milan, Italy, whose last name means “fisherman” in Italian, has beaten out 456 others and won Event #24 at the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

The event was a $2,500 buy-in, mixed tournament that alternated between pot-limit Omaha and pot-limit Texas hold ‘em.

A total of 457 entrants vied for 45 payouts and a total prize pool of about $1 million.

For the win, Pescatori’s “catch” was $246,509.

The runnerup in the tourney was Kyle Kloeckner of St. Louis, Missouri, USA, who clocked out with a $152,410 payoff.

Third was Greg Hurst of Tazewell, Tennessee, USA, who grabbed $94,599.

Fourth was Allen Cunningham of Las Vegas, who collected $76,204.

Fifth was Kyle Hegeman of New York, New York, USA, who hogged $62,014. It is believed to be the first time ever in a WSOP event that two players named Kyle finished among the Top 5.

Sixth was Jon Depa of Chicago, Illinois, USA, who departed with $48,876.

Seventh was Lennart Holtkamp, of Utrecht, the Netherlands, who earned $38,365.

Eighth was Minh Li of Temple City, California, USA, who pocketed $30,482.

Ninth was John-Paul Kelly of Aylesbury, England, who tallied $22,598.

Tenth was Dave Penly of England, who picked up $14,175.

Finishing in 12th place was famed poker pro Howard “The Professor” Lederer, brother of equally-famed poker pro Annie Duke.

(E-mail Tom Somach at tomsomach@yahoo.com.)