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As the Poker Masters Online Series moves into the end boss stage, Artur Martirosian leads after another sterling performance saw him finish third in Event #25: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em.

The Russian has finished in the money (ITM) eight times during the series while banking $1.2m in gross earnings more than anyone else in the competition.

Martirosian finished behind Samuel ‘€urope€an’ Vousden in the $25,500 pecking order. It’s the Fin’s first cash of the series, and the most substantial of a career that has seen him earn more than $8.3m gross while taking down the Sunday Million, Spring and World Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP & WCOOP) titles.

Vousden is a coach on Patrick Leonard’s bitB Staking platform, and according to his roll call on the bitB website, he has collected $2.5m in profit during 20,000 online multi-table tournaments (MTTs) for an ROI of 86%.

Timothy Adams remains in third place on the Championship Leaderboard after cashing in both Event #25 & #26. Adams has etched up ten cashes, more than anyone else in the tournament.

Pascal Lefrancois has also thrown his chip protector into the ring adding a fourth and fifth a few events shy of picking up his second title of the series. Lefrancois becomes the second player after Martirosian to accumulate more than $1m in gross earnings.

There was also the seventh cash for Joni Jouhkimainen who has been the best performing partypoker ambassador of the series by far.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Samuel Vousden – $520,000
  2. Wiktor Malinowski – $352,000
  3. Artur Martirosian – $232,000
  4. Pascal Lefrancois – $144,000
  5. Timothy Adams – $112,000
  6. Joni Jouhkimainen – $88,000
  7. Guillaume Nolet – $76,000
  8. Elio Fox – $76,000

Mark Davis Wins Event #26: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max

Mark Davis booked his first ITM finish of the series after winning Event #26: $10,300 NLHE 6-max. Davis beat Rob Lipkin, heads-up, to collect the $284,633 first prize. Lipkin also made his first splash of the series.

The one-time leader, Pauli Ayras, squeezed into the money in 12th place, and Ali Imsirovic finished ninth.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Mark Davis – $284,653
  2. Rob Lipkin – $177,450
  3. Wiktor Malinowski – $109,200
  4. Pavel Plesuv – $79,625
  5. Pascal Lefrancois – $56,875
  6. Thomas Muehloecker – $38,675
  7. Luuk Gieles – $29,575
  8. Lukas Matthias Nowakowski – $29,575
  9. Ali Imsirovic – $29,575
  10. Nick Petrangelo – $24,932
  11. Timothy Adams – $24,932
  12. Pauli Ayras – $24,932

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Artur Martirosian – 957 pts
  2. Andras Nemeth – 807
  3. Timothy Adams – 799
  4. Pauli Ayras – 747
  5. Alex Foxen – 736

Pascal Lefrancois joined Pauli Ayras as a double Poker Masters Online title winner after topping the field in Event #24: $25,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max.

The French-Canadian previously outlasted the field in Event #9: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE), and has now earned a smidgen more than $800,000 in gross profit during the series.

Andras Nemeth finished runner-up for $343,125, and coupled to his 13th place finish in Event #24, the Hungarian has now earned more gross profit than anyone else at the series with $980,023 through eight cashes and has to be one of the favourites to win the title with six events remaining.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Pascal Lefrancois – $527,509
  2. Andras Nemeth – $343,125
  3. Andreas Torbergsen – $183,000
  4. Pedro Zagalo – $137,250
  5. Ioannis Kontonatsios – $99,125
  6. Aku Joentausta – $68,625
  7. Evan Mathis – $55,455
  8. Christopher Frank – $55,455
  9. George Wolff – $55,455

Ali Imsirovic Wins Event #24: $10,300 No-Limit Hold ’em 6-Max

When Ali Imsirovic won the 2018 Poker Masters, he did so after winning two events, and he’s bagged another one, this time, online. Imsirovic collected the win in Event #24: $10,000 NLHE 6-Max, for his seventh overall cash. The Bosnian star has now amassed close to $600,000 in gross profit.

The win puts Imsirovic in with a shot of winning his second Poker Masters title. Still, he will have to get through the likes of Alexandros Kolonias, Andras Nemeth and Artur Martirosian who finished in the money (ITM) for the ninth, eighth and seventh time respectively, and take up most of the spaces atop of the Championship Leaderboard.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Ali Imsirovic – $277,096
  2. Ben Jones – $187,000
  3. Dario Sammartino – $132,000
  4. Sam Greenwood – $93,500
  5. Vicent Bosca Ramon – $68,750
  6. Joni Jouhkimainen – $45,650
  7. Laszlo Bujtas – $34,650
  8. Luuk Gieles – $34,650
  9. Sami Kelopuro – $34,650
  10. Joao Vieira – $23,650
  11. Alexandros Kolonias – $23,650
  12. Patrick Leonard – $23,650
  13. Andras Nemeth – $20,183
  14. Ole Schemion – $20,183
  15. Darrell Goh – $20,183
  16. Artur Martirosian – $20,183
  17. Farid Jattin – $20,183
  18. George Wolff – $20,183

There is a new face on top of the Poker Masters Online Championship Leaderboard, and it belongs to Artur Martirosian. As Russia’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases surpass China’s, Martirosian is dealing with it the only way he knows how – grinding.

Martirosian took the lead from Pauli Ayras after finishing runner-up to Dan Smith in Event #21: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em. It’s the Russian’s sixth in the money (ITM) finish of the series, half of which have been Top 3 finishes. The only blot on Martirosian’s copybook is the absence of a win after finishing second on three separate occasions. Martirosian has also earned $940,540, second only to Ayras who failed to accumulate any points on Day 10 of the series.

Ayras falls to third in the Championship stakes after Alex Foxen cashed in Event #21 & #22 to move into second place.

Dan Smith Wins Event #21: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Event #21 attracted 63-entrants and created a $1.5m prizepool.

No stranger to the winner’s circle, Dan Smith, picked up the win and $511,875, enough to move his online multi-table tournament (MTT) needle over the $3m mark.

Smith doesn’t play much online poker these days. A combination of living in Nevada and winning $36.7m the reasons for that. Still, in the good old days, Smith had his moments. While his most recent score ranks as a personal best, he has accrued six-figure scores on three occasions, most notably winning the PokerStars Sunday Million (2012) and a Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) title (2014).

Timothy Adams finished third for his eighth ITM finish, a record held jointly with Jorryt Van Hoof for a single event before the Dutchman went on to record his ninth cash in Event #22. Adams sits in fourth place overall as Van Hoof skulks around on the periphery of the Top 5.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Dan Smith – $511,875
  2. Artur Martirosian – $346,500
  3. Timothy Adams – $228,375
  4. Alex Foxen – $141,750
  5. Matthias Eibinger – $110,250
  6. Steve O’Dwyer – $86,625
  7. Eelis Parssinen – $74,812
  8. Koray Aldemir – $74,812

Sebastian Lewin Wins Event #22: No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max

Canada’s Sebastian Lewin recorded the win in Event #22, his first ITM finish of the campaign. Lewin conquered Alex Foxen, heads-up, for the $240,860 first prize. The Global Poker Index #1 now sits second in the overall standings with seven ITM finishes and $792,677 in gross profit.

Alexandros Kolonias is still in the title race after finishing third for $92,400. It’s the Grecian’s eighth cash, with $683,434 in gross profit, and he sits fifth in the Championship Leaderboard.

The former Poker Masters winner, Ali Imsirovic, finished ITM for the sixth time.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Sebastian Lewin – $240,860
  2. Alex Foxen – $150,150
  3. Alexandros Kolonias – $92,400
  4. David Peters – $67,375
  5. Ali Imsirovic – $48,125
  6. Joni Jouhkimainen – $32,725
  7. Dario Sammartino – $25,025
  8. Georgios Zisimopoulos – $25,025
  9. Patrick Leonard – $25,025
  10. Mark Radoja – $21,096
  11. Jorryt Van Hoof – $21,096
  12. Kristen Bicknell – $21,096

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Artur Martirosian (798 pts)
  2. Alex Foxen (736)
  3. Pauli Ayras – (722)
  4. Timothy Adams (721)
  5. Alexandros Kolonias (684)

As any kid who has spent time in a rock pool knows. It helps if there are more than one of you sifting through the pebbles and the sand looking for errant crabs, sea urchins and whelks. 

We learn the importance of networking from an early age. Before you’ve even pushed north of your fourth birthday, you are feeling a biological urge to become tribal. It’s a feeling that mounts in pressure, only subsiding if you find a way to numb the pain of loneliness. 

While systems might not feel biological pain, there is still suffering as a result of an inability to communicate effectively and create networks that create value either through more epic meaning and purpose or increased EBITDA.

GGPoker is a system and one that’s growing. 

It began serving punters in the East, and as we did with Coronavirus, most of us assumed it would stay there. 

Then came the signing of Bryn Kenney.

Given Kenney’s ‘lone wolf’ persona, it was a signing that was as unusual as it was inspiring. 

Then the signings stopped at the All-Time Money Earner. 

Were they hoping that Kenney’s experience and influence would be sufficient enough to crack the Western world?

Learning From The Competition

The signing of Kenney was the ladder that GGPoker used to climb out of the trenches, and into a No-Mans Land where partypoker and PokerStars were busy lobbing grenades at each other.

PokerStars had the most impressive artillery, but there was something savvy and sleek about the way partypoker went to war. You were never going to see partypoker stuff a chloroform soaked rag into PokerStars’ mouth. They were always going to beat them through their mission, purpose and relationships. 

With COVID-19 crushing live tournaments, sending the morose and marvellous to online poker in their droves, partypoker has busted out the moves, leveraging their carefully carved relationships to provide their players with a wide variety of value at either end of the buy-in spectrum.

PokerStars?

Not so much.

If GGPoker is going to get into this war, it’s not bad timing, because they get to learn from the victories and defeats of the PokerStars v partypoker clash, and it will be interesting to see how that develops.

GGPoker’s Ever-Evolving Relationships

After waiting an eternity to add to their ambassadorial ranks, GGPoker’s foot has stepped on the accelerator pedal. 

Daniel Negreanu’s signing was even more shocking that Kenney’s. Negreanu is one of the few professional poker players whose popularity and presence transcends the game. But he was recently divorced from PokerStars, and newly married to Amanda Leatherman and his duties as a husband and hopeful father. 

It was a powerful statement. 

With North America nicely covered, GGPoker focused attention on the South by hiring the Brazilian star Felipe Ramos. A man who has the likes of Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario on his speed dial. 

With the Americas in the bag, GGPoker turned to Europe, and Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier joined the crew from partypoker. ElkY and Negreanu had both worked together at PokerStars, so I am sure the Canadian gave the hirers his wink of approval. 

ElkY has strong ties with Leon Tsoukernik and the King’s Resort & Casino. The Frenchman calls Prague his home and tutored Tsoukernik through last summer’s Triton Million London event.

Another poker entity that has ties with Tsoukernik is the World Series of Poker (WSOP). GGPoker joined that threesome, by inking a deal with the WSOP to host an 18-gold ring World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Online Series, and will most certainly be a favourite to host online bracelet events in the coming months. Today, GGPoker announced a partnership with Tsoukernik’s live card room.

And the ranks of the ambassadorial team have also risen.

Tennis legend Boris Becker is the newest brand ambassador for GGPoker and King’s Resort & Casino. Negreanu, Ramos and ElkY have worked with Becker in the past, and it’s the third online poker room that has turned to the youngest person ever to win Wimbledon to try and promote the game to the mainstream after PokerStars and partypoker.

That’s how one became six. 

Bryn Kenney, Felipe Ramos, Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier and Boris Becker form an impressive spine. Partnerships with The World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the King’s Resort & Casino strengthen things even more. 

GGPoker is becoming a more impressive animal daily. 

If they ever get to the top, it will be interesting to vivisect to see how vital these early relationships have been.

State of enmity?

Glad of the break?

Who knows how the high stakes phenoms and shot takers felt when partypoker shoved a bookcase in front of the door leading to the Poker Masters Online Series, but who cares, it’s back, and anyone writing about poker these days is mighty glad about that.

Tom Waters’ butler has the results of a third of seven $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) events, and it was the predatory urges of Pauli Ayras that came out on top.

Ayras became the first player in the series to win two games, and his latest #1 finish saw him rise to the top of the Championship Leaderboard with five cashes and close to a million dollars in earnings.

Sam Greenwood finished runner-up, the second time that’s happened, and although he doesn’t feature in the Top 5 positions on the Championship Leaderboard, he sits third in gross profit with $677,625 amassed over the series.

Justin Bonomo finished in the money (ITM) for the fifth time, and the one-time leader, Andras Nemeth, did the same for the sixth time.

Results

  1. Pauli Ayras – $548,625
  2. Sam Greenwood – $375,375
  3. David Peters – $259,875
  4. Luuk Gieles – $173,250
  5. Matthew Wantman – $134,750
  6. George Wolff – $105,875
  7. Guillaume Nolet – $91,437
  8. Bartlomiej Ryszard Machon – $81,812
  9. Justin Bonomo – $77,000
  10. Andras Nemeth – $77,000

Steve O’Dwyer Wins Event #20: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max

Steve O’Dwyer topped the 86-entrant field in Event #20: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max. It’s a significant win for O’Dwyer who sees his all-time online multi-table tournament (MTT) winnings exceed $6m. The $269,013 that O’Dwyer binked is his second most substantial online score after winning the 2018 $25,000 POWERFEST No-Limit Hold’em event on partypoker for $896,610.

It was a good day for David Peters, who finished third in Event #19, and then came runner-up to O’Dwyer in this one – his first two ITM finishes of the series.

Jorryt Van Hoof moved into fourth place on the Championship Leaderboard after becoming the first player to finish ITM an impressive eight times in 20 events.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Steve O’Dwyer – $269,013
  2. David Peters – $167,700
  3. Jake Schindler – $103,200
  4. Guiseppe Iadisernia – $75,250
  5. Jorryt Van Hoof – $53,750
  6. Dario Sammartino – $36,550
  7. Artur Martirosian – $27,950
  8. Ali Imsirovic – $27,950
  9. Eelis Parssinen – $27,950
  10. Adrian Mateos – $23,562
  11. Joni Jouhkimainen – $23,562
  12. Michael Addamo – $23,562

Championship Results

  1. Pauli Ayras – $943,117 (722 pts)
  2. Alexandros Kolonias – $591,034 (592)
  3. Artus Martirosian – $594,040 (590)
  4. Jorryt Van Hoof – $584,462 (585)
  5. Timothy Adams – $583,575 (584)

The corpses of small businesses litter the ring, but there is one still slugging it out, and that’s Poker Central.

Despite COVID-19 turning his live tournament business into dust motes, Cary Katz and his team dove into the lab and came out with a rapid-fire response. 

Katz partnered with partypoker to create the Poker Masters Online. With 18-games cut to ribbons, the results have been outstanding with $17.8m dished out to an average field size of 88-entrants, and given that buy-ins have ranged between $10,000 and $25,000 you know the high stakes brethren have not been sitting on their arse picking toe jam. 

In addition to moving his live empire online, Katz has hurried to provide his PokerGO subscribers with a reason to stop watching ‘The Tiger King’.

‘2020 Hindsight’ is the new PokerGO Original due to start Tuesday 21 April. 

The concept is a simple one.

Solve For Why founder, Matt Berkey, will guide viewers through the ins and outs of six of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event’s most celebrated episodes.

The series begins with the event that thrust Jonathan Duhamel into the limelight – the 2010 WSOP Main Event. 

Here is a look at the final standings of that event.

Results

  1. Jonathan Duhamel – $8,944,310
  2. John Racener – $5,454,955
  3. Joseph Cheong – $4,130,049
  4. Filippo Candio – $3,092,545
  5. Michael Mizrachi – $2,322,992
  6. John Dolan – $1,772,959
  7. Jason Senti – $1,356,720
  8. Matt Jarvis – $1,045,743
  9. Soi Nguyen – $811,823

Berkey’s Credentials

Berkey’s tongue won’t turn to stone in this one because he featured heavily in it. The Nevadan based star finished 43rd and will have picked up plenty of insight into the inner workings of the minds of these incredible players.

The appointment is no surprise. Berkey is Vegas-based, so he can waltz into the Poker Central Studios to get to work. Despite making his living playing high stakes live cash games, Berkey has earned $4.1m playing live tournaments. 

Amongst Berkey’s tournament highlights are a fifth-place finish in the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) for $1.1m, a win in a $25,000 Aria High Roller, and bubbling the final table of the 2017 World Poker Tour (WPT) LAPC, and finishing third in the $1,111 Little One for One Drop at the WSOP, the same year.

Most critically, Berkey is a top-rated poker coach.

PokerGo costs $10 per month or $8.25 if you buy an annual pass for $99. If you get behind the paywall you can watch High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark, and footage of various live tournaments (remember them).

Other PokerGO originals include The Big Blind, Pokerography, Stories From The Felt, Insiders, The Championship Run, Dead Money, The Super High Roller Club, Deep Issues and Poker Nights.

With church pews empty due to the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) for some, the poker table became the place to say their prayers, three of whom received answers.

The Poker Masters Online Series had a bumper Sunday on partypoker with three events falling like dominos, and the first to tumble in this omnibus is Event #16: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE).

Heading into the weekend, the names ‘Jason Koon’ hadn’t graced the headlines during the Poker Masters Online Series, but he burst into song taking down the most substantial single payout of the series so far.

The charm and challenge of a $25,000 event attracted 72-entrants like hatboxes on Derby Day, and it was the partypoker ambassador who lasted longer than anyone to bank the $549,000 first prize.

Koon defeated Justin Bonomo, heads-up, and although the former All-Time Money List leader will be disappointed to finish as the bridesmaid for the second time during the series, he has now earned more de Niro’s than anyone in the tournament ($606,974), so he won’t be threading a needle through his eyeball just yet.

Other notables names in the money (ITM) included the first score for Dan Smith and a sixth score for Juan Pardo Dominguez.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Jason Koon – $549,000
  2. Justin Bonomo – $369,000
  3. Steve O’Dwyer – $252,000
  4. Conor Beresford – $162,000
  5. Juan Pardo Dominguez – $126,000
  6. Dario Sammartino – $99,000
  7. Joni Jouhkimainen – $85,500
  8. Dan Smith – $81,000
  9. Ole Schemion – $76,500

Eelis Parssinen Wins Event #17: $10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max

Eelis Parssinen moved into the highest seam of the Championship Leaderboard after winning Event #17: $10,300 PLO 6-Max. The Finnish star has now finished in the Top 3 spots, on three separate occasions, suitable for a fourth-place berth overall.

Jorryt Van Hoof continued his impressive series with his seventh ITM finish, good for a sixth-place standing in the Championship Leaderboard.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Eelis Parssinen – $287,781
  2. Bengt Sonnert – $179,400
  3. Aku Joentausta – $110,400
  4. Jorryt Van Hoof – $80,500
  5. Andreas Torbergsen – $57,500
  6. Tobias Ziegler – $39,100
  7. Andrew Moseley – $29,900
  8. Pedro Zagalo – $29,900
  9. Ferenc Deak – $29,900
  10. Carlo Van Ravenswoud – $25,206
  11. Niko Soininen – $25,206
  12. Joao Vieira – $25,206

Linus Loeliger Wins Event #18: $10,300 NLHE Six-Max

Linus Loeliger joined Koon in the ‘one-time’ club after taking down Event #18: $10,300 NLHE Six-Max. The prodigious talents of the Swiss star overcame the in-form Artur Martirosian, heads-up, to claim the $202,800 first prize.

The Russian moves into third place overall after finishing in the Top 3 spots three times in four ITM finishes. A hat tip to Chris Hunichen who recorded his sixth ITM finish, although he’s yet to find the luck needed to place higher than he has been.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Linus Loeliger – $325,318
  2. Artur Martirosian – $202,800
  3. Darrell Goh – $124,800
  4. Niklas Astedt – $91,000
  5. Ole Schemion – $65,000
  6. Edwin Villalobo Amaya – $44,200
  7. Adrian Mateos – $33,800
  8. Chris Hunichen – $33,800
  9. Sergi Reixach – $33,800
  10. Aliaksandr Hirs – $28,493
  11. Luc Greenwood – $28,493
  12. Nick Petrangelo – $28,493

Poker Masters Online Championship Standings

  1. Alexandros Kolonias $591,034 (592 pts)
  2. Timothy Adams $583,575 (584)
  3. Artur Martirosian $566,090 (562)
  4. Eelis Parssinen $536,131 (537)
  5. Andras Nemeth $539,715 (535)

“Sports don’t build character; they reveal it.”

Whether the quote came from John Wooden or Heywood Hayle Broun is bye the bye, it’s a quote that cuts right to the core of humanity because ever since Homosapien’s held Mammoth bone hurling contests, sports has been an essential ingredient in a fulfilling life.

Yeah, some people don’t care much for sports, but far more see it as a religion, so when the organisers of some of the most emotionally charged events in the world amputate them from the schedule, you know that there’s a reason we’re all folding that one sheet to wipe our arse.

Ever since COVID-19 stopped being a Chinese problem, and became an everyone except the two cosmonauts and one astronaut living on the MIR Space Station problem, sporting events worldwide had been falling like Amazonian trees, with one exception. 

The World Series of Poker (WSOP).

The Mystery Ends

It’s the most hotly anticipated event in the poker calendar, and as the weekend ended, officials still kept their powder dry on the future of the 2020 fixture. 

The mystery ended on Monday afternoon.

PokerNews and other media outlets began reporting that Caesars Entertainment Corp., had postponed the 2020 series, with a Fall renewal the latest earmark. 

Here is the word from the chief.

“We are committed to running the World Series of Poker this year but need additional time to proceed on our traditional scale while prioritising guest and staff well-being,” said Ty Stewart, Executive Director of the World Series of Poker. “In the interim, official WSOP competitions are expected to be played online this summer, and we will soon announce details of an expanded series of tournaments to be played on WSOP.com and through partnership with international operators, which will allow players to chase WSOP glory from their homes.”

The WSOP Moves Online

The WSOP planned to handout more than 100 bracelets this summer, and while their goldsmith will be kept busy, he or she won’t be that busy. It’s not startling to learn that the 14 online bracelet events go head on WSOP.com for players residing in Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware, but it is interesting to note that WSOP plan to bed down with global online partners.

While the reporting doesn’t directly stipulate that the poker community will have the opportunity to win a WSOP bracelet playing online at one of WSOP.com’s competitors, you can now start to believe it’s more probable than possible. 

Who will be WSOP.com‘s partners?

Two immediate choices stand out.

888Poker is a longtime sponsor of the WSOP, and the only viable way to win a bracelet via the online satellite route outside of the USA – so maturing that marriage makes sense. 

The WSOP also entered into a relationship with GGPoker recently with a WSOP Circuit event going ahead on the burgeoning platform in May with 18 gold rings up for grabs – so that also seems like a logical choice. 

Outside of those two, partypoker has a relationship with WSOP.com and given the teams’ drive to do the right thing for the game; you could see those two agreeing on an interim arrangement to provide value for the community. 

PokerStars remains the outside bet.

It Had to Happen

With the number of COVID-19 cases approaching 2.5m, worldwide, with close to 165,000 deaths, and close to 760,000 cases and over 47,000 deaths in the USA alone – this decision had to happen.

The Olympics.

The European Championships.

Wimbledon.

None of the titans of the world of sport has stood up to this beast.

None of them. 

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

If you look on Eric Idle’s ‘bright side of life,’ at least when live poker does return to our itineraries we can bank on a spick and span set of chips and tables. It won’t last though. It’s not in our nature to be so thorough. If it were, we wouldn’t be hiding in our homes, praying for a vaccine. 

The ‘bright side of life,’ is that poker players are returning to the online game in their droves, and that must feel like eating James’ giant peach for those plying their trade in the online realm. 

Online poker is supposed to be dead, and yet, because of Mother Nature’s dart throw into the bullseye, live tour operators are forced to connect to their online competitors to make things happen. If these alliances remain, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t if online poker keeps putting on a show, and the community keeps showing up, then poker will come out the other end a lot stronger than before it went in. 

The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, once said that “quality is not an act, it’s a habit.”

Fellow Grecian, Alexandros Kolonias, made money in both Day 7 events to take the lead at the Poker Masters Online. Both were ‘acts’, but it’s Kolonias’s habits off the felt that’s the backbone for his most recent success.

Event #14: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) attracted 114-entrants to the felt like discarded In-N-Out boxes to a conspiracy of ravens, and Mustapha Kanit roosted higher than any of them.

There are no weak spokes in Kanit’s online game.

Check this out.

The $279,300 that Kanit earned for his win is his ninth six-figure score, and only his third-highest rout.

The most significant amount of dosh wired to Kanit’s online account came in 2015 when he won the Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event [H] on PokerStars for $1,304,720 (Kanit also won the FTOPS Main Event on Full Tilt in the same year earning $239,400).

Kanit’s second most substantial score came one year earlier when he finished third in a $10,300 NLHE event at the World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars for $392,375.

In 2016, Kanit also won the PokerStars Sunday Million for $177,299.79.

The man is a monster.

Kolonias finished runner-up to become the second man to register six in the money (ITM) finishes alongside Timothy Adams (although the pair had more to say before the sun went down).

Other notable finishes include Artur Martirosian claiming his second top-three finish, Mike Watson cashing for the fifth time, Alex Foxen cashing for the fourth time, and the PocketFives World #1, Niklas Astedt, finishing ITM for the first time.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Mustapha Kanit – $279,300
  2. Alexandros Kolonias – $199,500
  3. Artur Martirosian – $142,500
  4. Brunno Botteon De Albuquerque – $99,750
  5. Christoph Vogelsang – $74,100
  6. Edwin Villalobo Amaya – $57,000
  7. Simon Pedersen – $45,600
  8. Alex Foxen – $37,050
  9. Simon Higgins – $28,500
  10. Lucas Reeves – $28,500
  11. Jake Schindler – $28,500
  12. Christoper Malcolm Fraser – $28,500
  13. Mike Watson – $22,800
  14. Nick Petrangelo – $22,800
  15. Niklas Astedt – $22,800
  16. Kahle Burns – $22,800

Timothy Adams Wins Event #15: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max

Timothy Adams moved ominously into second place in the Poker Masters Online Championship Leaderboard after taking down Event #15: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max.

The event attracted 78-entrants with Adams ousting Joao Vieira, heads-up, to bank the $243,988 first prize. It’s Adams seventh cash of the series, equal with Kolonias, who finished seventh in this event. Jorryt Van Hoof sits sixth in the Championship race with six ITM finishes, and Alex Foxen and Juan Pardo Dominguez picked up their fifth cashes of the series.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Timothy Adams – $243,988.68
  2. Joao Vieira – $152,100
  3. Dario Sammartino – $93,600
  4. Alex Foxen – $68,250
  5. Ben Heath – $58,750
  6. Ali Imsirovic – $33,150
  7. Alexandros Kolonias – $25,350
  8. Yahia Fahmy – $25,350
  9. Jorryt Van Hoof – $25,350
  10. Sami Kelopuro – $21,370
  11. Elias Talvitie – $21,370
  12. Juan Pardo Dominguez – $21,270

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Alexandros Kolonias – (592 pts)
  2. Timothy Adams – (584)
  3. Andras Nemeth – (535)
  4. Alex Foxen – (493)
  5. Luuk Gieles – (492)

When it comes to creative thought, the mighty Magyars have a rich history.

Erno Rubik created the Rubik Cube.

Imre Brody invented the Krypton Electric Bulb.

Laszlo Biro patented the biro.

And on Day 6 of the Poker Masters Online Series, another Laszlo from that neck of the woods used his creativity to carve out a $272,141 paycheck.

Laszlo Bujtas won Event #12: $10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max, making him the second Hungarian to win an event after the current Championship leader, Andras Nemeth.

You can find Bujtas banishing bodies throughout online poker rooms around the world trading his wares under the monicker ‘omaha4rollz.’ Bujtas has earned $4.2m playing online multi-table tournaments (MTTs), and this is his sixth six-figure score and the most substantial of the lot.

Bujtas wasn’t the only Hungarian make money in this one.

Nemeth extended his lead with his fifth in the money (ITM) finish of the series. Many have both the ability and the form to catch Nemeth, including Jorryt Van Hoof whose fourth-place finish is his fifth cash overall.

Here are the results

Results

  1. Laszlo Bujtas – $272,141
  2. Ami Barer – $169,650
  3. Carlo Van Ravenswoud – $104,400
  4. Jorryt Van Hoof – $76,125
  5. Bengt Sonnert – $54,375
  6. Andreas Torbergsen – $36,975
  7. Ali Imsirovic – $28,275
  8. Adam Hendrix – $28,275
  9. George Wolff – $28,275
  10. Jean Carlos Rincon De La Hoz – $28,836
  11. Andras Nemeth – $23,836
  12. Christopher Frank – $23,836

Luuk Gieles Wins Event #13: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max

If there was any penance after Luuk Gieles’ runner-up finish to Kahle Burns in Event #10 it’s over as the Dutchman cleared the cobwebs in time to take down Event #13: $10,300 NLHE 6-Max.

Gieles beat Timothy Adams, heads-up, to claim the title, and that means the Canadian becomes the first player to add six ITM scalps to his belt buckle. It’s his first six-figure score of the campaign, and he becomes one of the early favourites for the title.

Joining Adams in the race to catch the coattails of Andras Nemeth at the top of the Championship Leaderboard, are Alexandros Kolonias (5th score), Mike Watson (fourth), and Alex Foxen (third). Not amongst that bunch, but making his first dent in a Poker Masters Online event is Steve O’Dwyer, who finished ninth.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Luuk Gieles – $235,217
  2. Timothy Adams – $153,000
  3. Ludovich Geilich – $81,600
  4. Kahle Burns – $61,200
  5. Alex Foxen – $44,200
  6. Mike Watson – $30,600
  7. Lukas Matthias Nowakowski – $24,727
  8. Alexandros Kolonias – $24,727
  9. Steve O’Dwyer – $24,727