The most magnificent and monstrous online poker series ever held on 888Poker has ended with one of their own taking down the Main Event.
The $8m GTD Superstorm ended with the treasure reserved for the winner of the $320 buy-in, $1m GTD Main Event going the way of 888Poker Ambassador, Dominik Nitsche. The bearded beast from Edinburgh took down the 3,196-entrant field to capture the $121,146 first prize after the final four players had cut a deal.
The 480-event series came to an end after 567-players returned for a Day 2 that lasted less than eight hours. Nitsche had to put the work in, starting the day with seven big blinds. But it was a decent shift, with his $121,146 score ranking as his second-highest online score behind the $188,140 pocketed last year for finishing fifth in the $25,000 High Roller during the World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars.
Nitsche, who won the event on his 30th birthday, has earned more than $18.6m playing live tournaments, including four World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and a World Poker Tour (WPT) Main Event title, and has been an 888Poker ambassador since the summer of 2015.
Known for his powerhouse performance on the live felt, he has always held his own playing online in both tournaments and cash games. PocketFives shows him having more than $6.3m in online multi-table tournament (MTT) earnings.
Nitsche is the founder of the personal poker training app DTO Poker, and his team is currently working on a Super High Roller tier. Nitsche is no stranger to the scene collecting a series of results in the high stakes realm including more than $4m for taking down the €111,111 One Drop at the 2017 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE).
Final Table Results
Dominik Nitsche – $121,146*
GarbinaD – $112,609*
Artemka168 – $106,194*
MrMarley83 – $80,551*
Kistkutya23 – $45,000
DreamLikeMe – $30,000
Dulek_jason – $25,000
Eduardo Rocha – $20,000
Joolius – $15,000
*Indicates a four-way deal
Michael Addamo
There are two types of declarative memories. The first is known as the semantic memory, or memory of knowledge, and this is where we store memories related to philosophy, and education, such as how to play poker. Then there are episodic memories – these hang out in the limbic brain and are highly emotional in such as your first kick-in, the first time you pull on your plonker, and that moment when you turn a $109 online satellite into $620,000.
It’s not often that an article on a tournament result focuses on the player who finished third, but that’s what’s going to happen because what did happen, doesn’t happen very often.
Charlie Godwin had earned $141,466 playing live tournaments before parlaying a $109 online satellite into an entry into the $100,000 Super High Roller during the WPT World Online Championships.
She must have been pinching herself after booking a place on the final table against the likes of Isaac Haxton, Linus Loeliger and Michael Addamo. And imagine how she felt when four-handed, she saw Sergi Reixach hit the rail hard in a hand against Haxton, netting her a $250,000 pay jump.
Incredible.
Godwin eventually departed in third, and after agreeing upon a heads-up deal, that netting both Addamo and Haxton $1.2m in earnings, Addamo netted the final $30,000 and the title.
But this one’s all about Godwin.
Final Table Results
Michael Addamo – $1,284,114*
Isaac Haxton – $1,216,286*
Charlie Godwin – $620,000
Sergi Reixach – $374,000
Linus Loelieger – $276,000
Christoph Vogelsang – $229,600
Daniel Dvoress – Zip
*Indicates a heads-up deal
Artur Martirosian Wins The WPT World Online Championships Player of the Year Leaderboard
While Godwin was giant slaying in the $100,000, the title of WPT Online Championship Player of the Championship was being decided in the $10k Mini High Roller.
Going into that one, Scott Margereson and Artur Martirosian were the only people who could win the POY award, and both made the final table. Margereson finished in sixth, and the Russian went on to win the thing for $239,500, a victory that netted him an additional $50,000 for winning the leaderboard.
Mikita Badziakouski
The poker world is full of distant pinprick stars.
Mikita Badziakouski isn’t one of them.
With more than $28m in live tournament earnings to his name, a few million more playing online tournaments, and a seat in the type of cash games that burn silhouettes into your soul, the light inside ‘Badz’ is ablaze.
Poker record book writers etched another seven-figure score in Badziakouski’s impressive CV, after the partypoker sponsored pro made embers of the 199-entrant field in the $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the World Poker Tour (WPT) World Online Championships on partypoker.
The three-day event ended after Badziakouski cleaned the clock of Jason Koon after the pair agreed upon a heads-up deal that satisfied both parties.
Badziakouski has never made money in a live WPT event.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
Mikita Badziakouski – $1,062,730*
Jason Koon – $810,869*
Alexandros Kolonia – $$548,794
Mark Demirjian – $380,652
Daniel Rezaei – $259,979
Aleksei Barkov – $197,667
Ali Imsirovic – $155,061
*Indicates a heads-up deal
Steve O’Dwyer Wins The Heads-Up
Well before Badziakouski was busy taking down the $25k, Steve O’Dwyer had already locked up the $3,200 WPT Online Championship Heads-Up tournament. The American was the top dog in a field of 166 barking duelists, beating Artem Akhmetvaleyev in the final bracket, earning $135,000.
It’s not the first time that O’Dwyer has won a WPT title.
In 2012, the American won a 289-entrant WPT National in Denmark for €159,227, a few months shy of finishing runner-up to Edoardo Alescio in the Main Event at WPT Venice.
Here are the top eight payouts
Top 8 Payouts
Steve O’Dwyer – $135,000
Artem Akhmetvaleyev – $$75,000
Jorma Nuutinen – $40,000
Allan Berger – $40,000
Joao Vieira – $17,500
Arnaud Enselme – $17,500
Niko Koop – $17,500
Eugenio Peralta – $17,500
The two Pot Limit Omaha Main Events are enshrined in PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) folklore, with ‘jedimaster82’ and Kahle Burns breezing through the both, breathlessly.
We start with the Daddy.
Event #73: {H} $10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha, 6-Max Main Event attracted 135-entrants like a ball of string to a pawing cat, and after a mere three hours on Day 3, the Swedish online cash game mysteron, ‘jedimaster82’ had the final bow after beating the Norwegian star Ola Amundsgard in heads-up action.
Coming into the final table, all eyes were on the former PocketFives World #1, Andras Nemeth, whose whip snap form had seen him bag two titles before settling in his Herman Miller for his attempt at a third. Ironically, it was his compatriot Laszlo Bujtas that cut that headline to ribbons taking Nemeth apart over a pair of hands.
However, Bujtas was unable to convert those chips into a timeless win, and when the action fell into the four-handed period, ‘jedimaster82’ had more than half of the chips in play. PLO is as swingy as a swing in the middle of a hurricane, but not for the ‘jedimaster’, not on this day.
Final Table
Jedimaster82 – $283,368
Ola Amundsgard – $217,808
D.apollo777 – $167,416
Laszlo Bujtas – $128,683
Andras Nemeth – $98,911
RObetOblancO – $76,027
Sintoras – $59,486
Kahle Burns Wins Event #73: {M} $1,050 Pot Limit Omaha, 6-Max Main Event
Onto the {M} Pot Limit Omaha Main Event, and high stakes star, Kahle Burns, took that one down to Melbourne town. The event pulled in 788-entrants, and the fight from 18 to 1 lasted a mere five and a half hours.
It’s been a cracking 18-months for Burns. He entered the Australian Hall of Fame, won the Global Poker Index (GPI), Player of the Year, for that part of the world, won the AUD 100,000 Challenge at the Aussie Millions for $1.2m, and also collected two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet events in Rozvadov during the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) event.
Burns this is getting boring.
Give someone else a shot.
Final Table Results
Kahle Burns – $133,757
Guilherme Decourt – $94,178
Ludovic Geilich $66,311
Klem90 – $46,690
ZipOhoy – $32,874
Fish_san – $23,147
The uppercuts, hooks and jabs kept coming in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on this week, and an online cash game star put a few of the best tournament players in the business on their backs with nothing but stars for company.
The hat dipping is reserved for ‘RaulGonzalez’ after the cash game player trounced a star-studded final table in Event #69: {H} $10,300 8-Game High Roller. The two-day event attracted 67-entrants, and ‘RaulGonzalez’ outlasted the likes of Stephen Chidwick, Joao Vieira, Mike Leah and Andrew Pantling on the way to a $235,531 score – chickenfeed for one of his cash game sessions. Still, an amount not to be sniffed at for an outlay of $10k and change.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
“RaulGonzalez” – $235,531
Stephen Chidwick – $156,001
Joao Vieira – $103,325
Hotmark777 – $68,436
Mike Leah – $45,328
Andrew Pantling – $33,290
No Shock – $28,088
Main Event Update
The Main Events continue across the board, and here are the updates after Day #2.
The $55 buy-in event attracted 38,660-entrants, and ‘benton24’ leads the final 159 players with the most notable name in the top ten chip counts belonging to Akira ‘Clutch Hero’ Ohyama, sitting in the fifth place. The winner gets $186,841.
The winner of the $530 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event will collect a $504,584 first prize before migrating to somewhere in the world where there is no lockdown, killer diseases, and plenty of sunshine. The event pulled in 7,107-entrants, and at the end of Day #2, ‘Pentakilator’ leads the way. The former PocketFives World #1: Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver sits in the fifth place in that one.
The $5,200 No Limit Hold’em Main Event attracted 1,977 entrants like a coalface to a Welsh miner. Seventy-one remain in the hunt for the $1.5m first prize. Russia’s ‘rzr1st’ leads the way, and Teun Mulder sits in the fourth spot. Robin Ylitalo, Sergio Aido and Simon Mattsson are also in the top end of the thing.
On the Pot-Limit Omaha front, Ludovic Geilich continues his excellent series, leading the final 18 players in the $1,050 Main Event. The winner will pick up $133,757 in that one. Seven hundred eighty-eight entered.
Finally, the former PocketFives World #1, Andras Nemeth, is gunning for his third WCOOP title of the series, leading the final table in the $10,300 Pot Limit Omaha Main Event. The Hungarian will have to dispose of the likes of Laszlo Bujtas and Ola Amundsgard if he is to achieve the triple dribble. 135-entrants have created a $283,368 first prize in that one.
When it comes to knitting together a series of streaks, Steve O’Dwyer is one of the best in the business. Still, when Fabiano Kovalski duelled with him, heads-up, in Event #59 {H}: $5,200 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, Midweek Freeze, the Brazilian had a streak of his own to protect.
Kovalski entered the 2020 PokerStars World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) with wins in each of his two previous series and made it number three after putting O’Dwyer into his grave at the death knell.
Event #59 attracted 97-entrants. More of a robin birdsong than an eagles shriek, but that won’t spoil Kovalski’s enjoyment of seeing his PokerStars bankroll rise by $119,483. It’s not Kovalski’s largest score. That came in 2018 when he won his first WCOOP title, beating 2,077-entrants in a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em event for $310,739.04. His second title came last year when he conquered a field of 767-entrants in a $530 4-Max No Limit Hold’em event for $64,912. Now he has #3.
Kovalski has earned close to $5m playing online multi-table tournaments (MTTs) with the bulk of that dosh coming on PokerStars. He has also won the Sunday Supersonic, the Super Tuesday, and last year, he booked a win in partypoker POWERFEST for a piece of coal shy of $200k.
Kovalski’s win prevented O’Dwyer from winning his third major PokerStars title of the year after adding two Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles to his name earlier this year. In 2018, O’Dwyer bagged a WCOOP title, winning the $2,100 No Limit Hold’em, the same year he won the POWERFEST Main Event for $900,000.
Samuel Vousden and Sam Greenwood also made the final table.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
Fabiano Kovalski – $119,483
Steve O’Dwyer – $92,338
Filipe Oliviera – $71,360
MaxHendrix – $55,148
Samuel Vousden – $42,619
Sintoras – $32,936
Tomi Brouk – $25,453
Sam Greenwood – $19,671
In 2016, Phil ‘philroyal888’ Mighall shared his delight in a PocketFives interview after entering the top ten of the World Rankings for the first time while lamenting his lack of a big win.
“I have a lot of results, but not significant wins,” Mighall told his interviewer. “I mean a big title. The Warm-Up win was big, but I mean a prestigious title like a SCOOP event or WSOP bracelet or an EPT win. I came very close during this year’s SCOOP to taking a tournament down.”
Now, I am sure that when Mighall went through his list of big titles, a World Poker Tour (WPT) title must have slipped down the back of his mental sofa. Because, as we all know, it’s a big deal, and right now, because he has just won one, Philip Mighall is also a big deal.
Mighall took down the 1,011 entrants $10,300 World Poker Tour (WPT) World Championships Main Event for a whopping $1.5m in prize money after cutting a heads-up deal with Teun Mulder. The win cements Mighall’s place in the WPT Champions Club and nets him a seat in the Tournament of Champions.
But who cares about that stuff?
$1.5m!
That’s what I call a ‘significant win.’
Here was the picture at the starting blocks.
Final Table Chip Counts
Damian Salas – 37,041,854
Philip Mighal – 34,700,063
Akseli Paalanen – 26,271,276
Blaz Zerjay – 24,168,634
Victor Simionato – 20,057,907
Teun Mulder – 19,652,002
Dzmitry Urbanovich – 18,333,036
Laszlo Molnar – 11,542,750
Bert Stevens – 10,432,478
The Nutshell Action
Laszlo Molnar was the first person to climb into his grave.
With blinds at 250k/500k/62.5k ante, Salas opened with Ah7s in the hijack position for a cool million. Molnar three-bet from the button, shifting half of his stack across the virtual line (4m), holding AdJc, Victor Simionato raised to 7m from the big blind, holding pocket jacks, Salas folded, Molnar moved all-in, and Simionato called. The board offered no solace to Molnar who left with $127,386 whizzing towards his bank account.
Simionato became a serious contender when he eliminated Paalanen in eighth place. With blinds the same as above, Mulder opened to 1.1m holding AdQs, Simionato raised to 3.8m holding pocket queens in the small blind, Paalanen moved all-in for 22.6m from the big blind holding AsKs, Mulder ditched his hand, and Simionato called and held.
At the first break, Simionato was the new chip leader.
Bert ‘Girafganger7’ Stevens is one of the best in the business, and the table would have been glad to see him hit the rail in seventh place. With blinds at 300k/600k with a 75k ante, Stevens moved all-in for 15 bigs holding QcTh in the small blind, and Zerjav called and won with As5h in the big blind.
From one of the best online players in the business to one of the best in the land of bricks and mortar, and with blinds at 300k/600k and a 75k ante, Salas opened to 1.2m from early position, holding pocket sevens, Mulder called on the button with AsQd and Urbanovich raised to 7.2m (leaving 3.4m behind) from the big blind holding AhKc. Salas folded the sevens, and Mulder looked him up. Urbanovich was in great shape to double-up only for a second queen to land on the flop sending the Pole packing.
At the second break, Philip Mighall led the final five players.
The one-time leader, Simionato exited next.
With blinds at 350k/700k and an 87.5k ante, Zerjav limped into the action from the small blind holding Ac3s and called a 2.5m raise from Simionato from the big blind holding QcJh. The virtual dealer planted 9c5h2c onto the flop, and Zerjav check-called a 2.9m Simionato c-bet. The Kh hit the turn, and the same action ensued, this time for 6.9m. The 4h hit the river to hand, Zerjav a wheel, and all the money went in on the river. Simionato had chip dust and busted in the next hand.
Chip Counts at the Break
Phillip Mighall – 79,485,094
Blaz Zerjav – 59,685,094
Damian Salas – 33,390,504
Tuen Mulder – 29,638,638
With blinds at 600k/1.2m and a 150k ante, Zerjav moved all-in for 13.5 bigs holding pocket sixes, and Mighall woke up with pocket kings in the big blind to take a three-handed lead.
One level up and Mighall got it in with pocket treys in the small blind and won the race versus the KsQs of Salas to set up a heads-up confrontation with Teun Mulder holding a 3:1 chip lead.
Mulder fought back to take the chip lead.
Mighall ripped it back.
Then this happened.
With blinds at 700k/1.4m and a 175k ante, Mulder flopped a set of aces on AdJh9s only for Mighall to hit a gutshot straight on the turn holding Ts7d. The money went in on the river, and Mighall, not Mulder, saw his name etched into the ‘Mike Sexton WPT Champions Cup.’
Final Table Results
Phillip Mighall – $1,550.298*
Teun Meulder – $1,396.968*
Damian Salas – $814,663
Vlaz Zerjav – $552,006
Victor Simionato – $391,257
Dzmitry Urbanovich – $277,014
Bert Stevens – $194,112
Akseli Paalanen – $153,672
Laszlo Molnar – $127,386
*Indicates a heads-up deal
When PokerStars rolls out the World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) red carpet, there’s always someone, swooping in a peregrine blur, catching titles galore in his claw. This year, it’s Yuri ‘theNERDguy’ Dzivielevski.
If you know anything about poker, you know this is a guy you want to swerve on a poker table full of armpit hair or virtual, and he’s pretty nifty in all facets of the game. Dzivielevski collected his third WCOOP title of the series, fourth in total, and his first in the Cadillac of Poker.
The Brazilian star, who calls the online realm his coal face, battled through a field of 192 unique & 75 re-entries to win Event #48 (H): $5,200 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, Progressive KO, Sunday Slam. Dzivielevski defeated his compatriot Bruno Botteon in heads-up action. Botteon has been in scintillating form himself recently, finishing sixth and second in $25,000 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet events on GGPoker for a combined million buck haul.
Back to the former PocketFives World #1, and he adds this NLHE title to wins in Event #9 (H) $1,050 No Limit 2-7 Single Draw for $21,938, and Event #20 (H) $1,050 HORSE for $31,115. In 2015, he won a $1,050 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo title for $59,840, and his largest score to date also came in WCOOP when in 2014 he finished runner-up to Fedor Holz in the WCOOP Main Event locking up a $1.2m prize.
Final Table Results
Yuri Dzivielevski – $245,535
Brunno Botteon – $150,536
Jakob Miegel – $115,269
Anatoly Filatov – $93,506
Christopher Frank – $67,177
Fabio Freitas – $36,953
Talal Shakerchi – $22,535
Boerni21 – $23,447
Thomas Muehloecker – $20,231
Philipp Gruissem Second in Event #48 (M): $530 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, PKO, Sunday Slam
High stakes star, Philipp Gruissem rolled back the years to finish runner-up in Event #48 (M): $530 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, PKO, Sunday Slam. ‘Philbort’ waded through a field of 3,856-entrants before losing to Vitor Moreira.
Moreira’s win is the 12th WCOOP title of the series for Brazil, and 25th of all time, to put this year’s showing into perspective.
Final Table Results
Vitor Moreira – $210,237
Philipp Gruissem – $122,786
MrNorberto – $76,852
Tauan Naves – $51,476
Maksym Mamonov – $48,979
Andrey Parugaev – $41,149
Marlon Wilhelms – $22,599
Xnrobix – $20,389
Bruna_bsb – $14,148
Adrian Mateos
Adrian ‘Amadi_017’ Mateos once again underlined his supreme artistry in the field of No Limit Hold’em multi-table tournaments (MTTs), by taking down two World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) titles on PokerStars last week.
With four WCOOP titles to his name, the Winamax pro proves that using the away changing rooms presents no problem for a man of his stature. The first of Mateos’s victories came when he stomped all over the 201-entrant field in Event #28 (H) $2,100 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, Turbo PKO Freezeout. He then followed that up with a whopper.
Event #25 (H): $25,000 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, Super High Roller Sunday Slam attracted 71-unique entrants, and 35 re-entries and Mateos defeated Fedor Holz, heads-up, for the title, after the pair had secured a pretty even-steven heads-up deal.
The win means Mateos joins Dzmitry Urbanovich, ‘nilsef’, Andrey Zaichenko, Gleb Tremzin and Joao Vieira as a four-time WCOOP champion. The Spaniard has also won three World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and a European Poker Tour (EPT) title.
Mustard.
You don’t just see it on slices of roast beef.
In taking second, Holz continued his impressive streak of running well that has seen him collect a second WSOP bracelet after winning the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up title on GGPoker for a million bucks. In 2014, Holz won the WCOOP Main Event, so PokerStars is a happy stomping ground for the young German star.
A special shoutout also goes to Luke ‘Bit2Easy’ Reeves who booked a third-place win for $353,117 while finishing second to the PocketFives World #1: Conor Beresford in Event #33 (H): $5,200 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, High Roller.
Final Table Results
Adrian Mateos – $543,686*
Fedor Holz – $515,294*
Luke Reeves – $353,117
Kahle Burns – $271,111
Tzuzteutezu – $208,149
Wiktor Malinowski – $159,810
Pauli Ayras – $122,696
Artur Martirosian – $94,202
Chris Hunichen – $78,787
*Indicates a heads-up deal.
If there was any heartache over his failure to win a World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) title, it’s ash as Conor Beresford adds those five words to his resume.
PokerStars is a happy hunting ground for the PocketFives World #1, winning more than half of his $14m online fortune on the world’s largest online poker platform. Included in that haul are three Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles, and now this damsel in distress.
Beresford vanquished a field of 155-entrants to claim victory in Event #33 (H): $5,200 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max, High Roller, including beating his compatriot Luke Reeves, in heads-up action.
Final Table Results
Conor Beresford – $162,674
Luke Reeves – $125,932
Boootsy – $97,488
Mike Watson – $75,469
Alexandru Papazian – $58,423
Mirza Muhovic – $45,228
Sergei Koliakov – $35,012
David Cabrera – $27,104
Ole Schemion – $22,312
Preben Stokkan Wins Event #21: $5,200 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max, Progressive KO
Preben Stokkan locked up his second career WCOOP title after taking down the 108-entrant Event #21: $5,200 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max, Progressive KO. The Norwegian star overcame a final table glimmering with stars like Talal Shakerchi, Michael Gathy and Alexandru Papazian (who finished fifth in Beresford’s triumph).
Stokken adds this win to the WCOOP title he collected in 2017 after taking down the much larger 976-entrant field in a $2,100 buy-in of similar DNA that netted him a $160,824 windfall.
Final Table Results
Preben Stokkan – $140,110
Alexandros Theologis – $75,813
Passiveaggro – $44,844
Talal Shakerchi – $35,820
Michael Gathy – $26,001
Zas91 – $23,607
Michel Dattani – $19,228
PedersenC – $9,474
Alexandru Papazian – $19,162
Leslie Groves Wins Event #16: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max Progressive KO, High Roller
Finally, a Russian-based player going by the name of ‘LeslieGroves’ earned a WCOOP stripe after disappearing the souls of 95-entrants in Event #16: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em 8-Max Progressive KO, High Roller. Once again, the cream rose to the top in that one with the likes of Adrian Mateos, Artur Martirosian and David Peters all making the final table cut.
