Tag: wsop online

Norman Michalek photo by Joe Giron

The 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Series has bewitched and bewildered those fortunate enough to log-in and compete for a bracelet in the land that currently bans online poker in most of its states.

But every merry dance must end.

Sweat beads have to run dry.

The Monday to Friday ‘sort of dying’ has to resume.

The climax of the series – Event #31: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship – is sitting in an Epsom salt-filled bathtub, dressing gown hanging from a hook on the door.

The event attracted 1,455 players; a gaggle that bought back in 671 times to create a final field size of 2,126 and the wealthiest prize pool of the US-based leg of the tournament series ($2,019,700).

Nahrain “2Rivers” Tamero won the bracelet as rapidly as it takes your grandma to knit a woolly jumper. Tamero, who has only $6,888 in live tournament cashes to his name, finished the thing in less than 12-hours.

The win was only Tamero’s second WSOP cash (he finished 315th in the 2018 $888 No Limit Hold’em Crazy Eights contest for a career-high $3,428), and five other players who joined him at the final table had similarly short WSOP resumes.

The two WSOP stalwarts at the final table were the ones who pushed Tamero the hardest. Runner-up, Norman “abnormality” Michalek, has 21 in the money finishes in bracelet events, but Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger was the headline act with 42 bracelet cashes, and in 2016 he won a $3,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $569,158. Last year he finished runner-up to Ben Heath in the $50,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller for $917,232. All told, Lichtenberger has won more than $14m playing tournaments live and online.

Push as hard as Michalek and Lichtenberger did, they couldn’t oust Tamero from the highest spot on the podium, and for that, he picked up $310,832, and the bragging rights that come with winning poker’s most prestigious prize.

Here are the final table results.

Event #31: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship

2,126-entrants

Results

  1. Nahrain “2Rivers” Tamero – $310,832
  2. Norman “abnormality” Michalek – $192,073
  3. Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger – $140,167
  4. Brian “foxx” Kirschhoff – $103,207
  5. Edan “goatplaya” Sucov – $76,749
  6. Greg “ Bubblealot” Wish – $57,561
  7. Arian “4632647” Stolt – $43,424
  8. Michael “merlot” Bailey – $33,123
  9. Kevin “SpecialK333” Calenzo – $25,650

Three high stakes stars who ran deeper than the poverty in Niger included Farid Jattin (16th), Ryan Riess (50th), Matt Berkey (56th), Phil Hellmuth (133rd), and Joe McKeehen (215th).

Kristen Bicknell is used to winning gold bracelets throughout the glacial slowness of live tournaments, so it must have felt slightly odd to wrap up her third gold bracelet in a little over nine hours.

That’s how long it took the Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1 Female Ranked Player to climb the granite peak of Event #44: $2,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed on GGPoker.

The event attracted 892-entrants, and Bicknell laid her elaborate traps, galvanised her GTO, and tickled her rabbits’ foot with enough gall and grace to collect the $356,412 first prize after beating Belarmino De Souza, heads-up.

The Canadian has won close to $10m playing live and online poker tournaments. Amongst that haul sits two bracelet wins. She won the 954-entrant $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Ladies Championships in 2013 for $173,922, and then beat 2,158-entrants to win the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Bounty event for $290,768.

Bicknell is also a regular in the high stakes multi-table tournaments (MTTs) on GGPoker.

The only other recognisable face on the final table belonged to Simon Higgins. The man from Britain has earned $1.1m playing live tournaments and is also a regular in the high stakes MTTs online. Higgins finished fifth.

Here are the final table results.

Event #44: $2,500 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed

892-entrants

Results

  1. Kristen Bicknell – $356,412
  2. Belarmino De Souza – $261,249
  3. Ilya Anatsky – $191,494
  4. Dong Jiang – $140,365
  5. Simon Higgins – $102,887
  6. Jerome Finck – $75,416
  7. Patrick Semrau – $55,280
  8. Paul Barnes – $40,520
  9. Nikita Kalinin – $29,701

Patrick Kennedy Wins Event #45: $840 Bounty No Limit Hold’em

Patrick Kennedy denied Josh Pollock a third gold bracelet with his victory in Event #45: $840 Bounty No Limit Hold’em. Kennedy overcame a field of 2,382-entrants to win the $245,448 first prize and his third bracelet.

Pollock came into this one with two Pot-Limit Omaha bracelets at his home, somewhere. Pollock won a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha bracelet in 2013, and last year won a $600 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Handed bracelet competing on WSOP.com.

Here are the final table results.

Event #45: $840 Bounty No Limit Hold’em

2,382-entrants

Results

  1. Patrick Kennedy – $245,448
  2. Josh Pollock – $113,176
  3. Bernardo Dias – $80,303
  4. Franco Spitale – $63,078
  5. Chi Chung Ho – $40,790
  6. Arie Kliper – $45,139
  7. Ho Yin Tai – $34,918
  8. Francesco Favia – $29,350
  9. Jose Severino – $14,042

For most people who shudder at the thought of someone producing a deck of cards and set of chips, the idea of winning a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet is akin to a chimerical dream. I imagine Lev Gottlieb falls into that category.

You won’t find Gottlieb in the Hendon Mob archives. You won’t find him sitting at the tournament tables in Las Vegas hunting for gold. But a few nights ago, Gottlieb could be found at the GGPoker tables, where he participated and won the first Championship event of the series.

Gottlieb won Event #43: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold’em Championship to collect his first bracelet in his first cash, an amount worth $276,393. Based in Mexico, Gottlieb received the divine help of the Poker Gods when after coming into his heads-up duel with Mikitza Badziakouski facing a 5:1 chip deficit, the Belarusian began having technical issues. We will never know if those gremlins threw Badziakouski off-base, but Gottlieb did manage to overcome.

What’s beautiful about this story, is Gottlieb could have taken full advantage of Badziakouski’s technical challenges, but didn’t. Instead, Gottlieb agreed to sit out while GGPoker fixed the issue, a gesture of incredible goodwill given the heads-up match reportedly lasted more than eight hours!

It’s a defeat that will irk Badziakouski given his sizeable chip lead, personal drive and standing in the world of multi-table tournaments (only 12 people in history have ever won more money). However, there is plenty of time for Badziakouski to rectify the situation.

Here are the final table results.

Event #43: $10,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold’em Championship

Results

  1. Lev “LevMeAlone” Gottlieb – $276,393
  2. Mikita Badziakouski – $210,249
  3. Sergi Reixach – $159,933
  4. Nobuaki “Sasa JHR” Sasaki – $121,659
  5. Dan “oiltrader” Shak – $92,545
  6. Chi Zhang – $70,397
  7. Bjorn “wong1324” Li – $53,550
  8. Carl “Swetomir” Schrader – $40,735
  9. Ami Barer – $30,987

Three more high stakes stars who ignored the humdrum of life to run deep in this thing include George Wolff (11th), Danny Tang (12th) and Jason Koon (15th).

William Romaine

We have two more bracelet wins to catch up with at the 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Series on WSOP.com.

We begin with Event #28: $1,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 6-Max, and William “SlaweelRyam” Romaine set aside his disappointment at finishing runner-up to Michael “miguelfiesta” Lech in Event #13: $1,500 High Roller Freezeout, by claiming the victory in this one.

Romaine finished 61st in the 2019 WSOP Main Event and adds his online bracelet to an online ring, earned in the same year as his deep run in the big one. Mark Ioli finished second. Ioli came 5/734 in the WPT Venetian Main Event in 2019. Gabe Ramos, runner-up to Yueqi Zhu in 2018 Mixed $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better; Big O (5-Card PLO/8), finished sixth.

Here are the final table results.

Event #28: $1,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 6-Max

525-entrants (425-unique, 100 re-entries)

Results

  1. William “SlaweelRyam” Romaine – $110,673
  2. Mark “victb” Ioli – $68,478
  3. Vasu “kheescoopy” Amarapu – $45,287
  4. Stephen “Chippingggup” Tyson – $30,474
  5. Kyle “Ksparks740” Sparks – $21,047
  6. Gabriel “NJ_FittyFish” Ramos – $14,813

Two high stakes stars that went deeper than therapy were Brian Rast (69th) and Anthony Zinno (81st).

Nick “shadowjacker” Guagenti Wins Event #29: $2,000 No Limit Hold’em DeepStack

Nick “shadowjacker” Guagenti joined Romaine on the podium. Guagenti has finished in the money in 37 bracelet events. Last year he finished third in the $3,000 H.O.R.S.E behind Denis Strebkov and Paul-Francois Tedeschi, and fourth in the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.

The prognosis didn’t look good for Guagenti given the amount of quality at the final table, but the man from Westerville, Ohio, overcame. Matthew Parry finished fifth in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship in 2016, James Gilbert is a gold ring winner, and Ryan Tosoc, Ari Engel and Thomas Cannuli all have gold bracelets hidden somewhere in their homes.

Here are the final table results.

Event #29: $2,000 No Limit Hold’em DeepStack

747-entrants (580-unique, 167 re-entries)

Results

  1. Nick “shadowjacker” Guagenti – $305,433
  2. Matthew “EarvinMagic” Parry – $189,193
  3. Ari “philivey” Engel – $130,292
  4. Brian “BD_out” Deutschmeister – $91,261
  5. Ryan “toosick” Tosoc – $65,004
  6. Vinny “brownmagic” Pahuja – $47,121
  7. Rory “peeeeeeeeno” Brown – $34,773
  8. James “DanFriel” Gilbert – $26,115

High stakes stars who went deeper than a stiletto into the groin of a sexual masochist include Shaun Deeb (36th) and Joe McKeehen (42nd).

On the day that 38-acres of prime Las Vegas Strip sold for $108m in a virtual auction, two peeps hopped onto WSOP.com, each bagging a virtual bracelet.

We start with Event #26: $500 No Limit Hold’em Grand Finale, and a 22-year-old from New Jersey walked away with the bracelet and $164,494 in prize money.

Ethan “RampageP’ Yau is a $1-$3 cash game grinder who owns the ‘RampagePoker’ YouTube channel, meaning fans of Yau got to witness the misfortune of 1,676 of his opponents as he streamed the whole thing live.

It was the first time Yau had cashed in a WSOP event. Joining him at the final table was Blake Whittington, who won the 2019 World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in Tunica for $151,789. Whittington finished fourth.

Here are the final table results.

Event #26: $500 No Limit Hold’em Grand Finale

2,502-entrants (1,677 unique, 825 re-entries)

Results

  1. Ethan “RampageP’ Yau – $164,494
  2. Brian “LakersGTD” Patrick – $101,669
  3. Mohammad “Tmomoney” Mufti – $74,647
  4. Blake “shampainpopn” Whittington – $55,282
  5. David “reallytight” Kim – $41,321
  6. Jason “TATTOOMONEY” Scott – $31,075
  7. Matt “OMG_Obama” Iles – $23,531
  8. Joon “jykpoker” Kim – $18,014

The only high stakes player who ran deep in this one was Daniel Negreanu (92nd).

Ian Steinman Wins Event #27: $400 No Limit Hold’em Freezeout

The man who achieved global notoriety for folding a set of kings to Joe McKeehen’s Broadway straight on his way to a second-place finish at the 2018 WPT Rolling Thunder, has found his way to the top spot.

Ian “Apokerjoker2” Steinman placed a telephone cord around the necks of the 1,940-entrant field on his way to his first-ever bracelet win. Steinman is no stranger to WSOP success, winning four gold rings, and the 2016 WSOP.com Player of the Year.

Here are the final table results.

Results

  1. Ian “Apokerjoker2” Steinman – $110,557
  2. Satoshi “Godzilla” Tanaka – $68,373
  3. Mahyar “Pscyho101”Ebrahimi – $49,796
  4. Nicholas “Got_The_Glow – $Brancato – $36,526
  5. Cameron “crezident” Rezale – $27,028
  6. Lokesh “lanku111” Garg – $20,254
  7. Alida “av1925” Veliu – $15,295
  8. Huiwen “HLM99” Liu – $11,663

The only high stakes poker star to go deep in this one was Shaun Deeb (13th).

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) continues to run unabated on GGPoker without a DDoS attack in sight.

Phew!

We have three Pot Limit Omaha games to bring you up to speed on, and the high stakes fraternity endowed the final tables of all three with their presence.

We start with the 328-entrant Event #35: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha, and Juha Helppi procured his second bracelet after beating the Spaniard Jesus Cortes, heads-up, to claim the $290,286 first prize.

High stakes stars littered the final table like spelling mistakes in my articles pre-Grammarly inspection with Mike Watson (4th), Jens Kyllonen (5th), Yuri Dzivielevski (6th) and Sergio Reixach (7th) all bowing down to Helppi.

It’s the second successive bracelet win for Helppi after taking down the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship in 2019 for $306,622.

Here are the final table results.

Event #35: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha

328-entrants

Results

  1. Juha Helppi – $290,286
  2. Jesus Cortes – $213,270
  3. Belarmino De Souza – $156,688
  4. Mike Watson – $115,117
  5. Jens Kyllonen – $84,576
  6. Yuri Dzivielevski – $62,137
  7. Sergi Reixach – $45,651
  8. Marija Andrijasevic – $33,540

Event #37: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha

Australian high roller, Hun Wei Lim, won the 971-entrant $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha contest. Lim beat Janne Peltoniemi, heads-up, to win his maiden bracelet, eight years after finishing runner-up to Aaron Lim in an AUD 5,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Handed event at the World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP-APAC) in 2013.

Lim also won an AUD 20,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) event in Sydney in 2017 and finished runner-up to Jorryt van Hoof in the AUD 25,000 Pot Limit Omaha during the Aussie Millions in January.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Hun Wei Lee – $161,886
  2. Janne Peltoniemi – $64,246
  3. Craig Timmis – $66,836
  4. Bradley Ruben – $39,472
  5. Paul Teoh – $37,083
  6. Attila Kuna – $25,287
  7. Nikolaus Eigners – $14,537
  8. Shaul Meir – $12,031

Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha

Simon Lofberg cast his spell on the 532-entrant field in Event #40: $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha, and it held them in a gaze long enough for him to bag the $224,493 first prize and his first bracelet.

Lofberg beat Triton regular, Andreas Torbergsen, heads-up, to take the title. Kings Casino owner, Leon Tsoukernik, made an impression finishing in the fourth place.

Here are the final table results.

Results

  1. Simon Lofberg – $224,493
  2. Andreas Torbergsen – $164,553
  3. Shyngis Satubayev – $120,617
  4. Leon Tsoukernik – $88,412
  5. Sai Wah Shek – $64,806
  6. Arvi Vainionkulma – $47,502
  7. Paul Teoh – $34,819
  8. Benjamin Juhasz – $25,522

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, Disneyland and Christmas Eve rolled into one. But not everyone looks forward to the annual trek to the desert with the overexuberant enthusiasm of a child.

Roberto Romanello, for example.

The Welsh wizard has always felt homesick during his times in Vegas. Add a set of twins into the equation, and it makes the ordeal even harder peas.

As much as Romanello would have preferred to stay at home, serving fish, chips and the mushy things to Gorseinon punters, he had the little problem of a Triple Crown to solve.

Nine years after adding a World Poker Tour (WPT) title to his European Poker Tour (EPT) title, Romanello filled the Triple Crown lacuna, and he didn’t even have to leave his house.

Romanello cast a sinister spell over the 922-entrant field in Event #39: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, beating the former PocketFives World #1, Niklas Astedt, heads-up, to claim the bracelet and $216,213 in prize money.

It’s the first time a Welshman (or Welshwoman) has earned a bracelet. He becomes the ninth person to win the Triple crown since Gavin Griffin became the first to achieve the feat in 2008 (interestingly, four of the nine are from the British Isles, with only Northern Ireland missing from the radar).

Romanello’s victory in EPT Prague to his online bracelet win spans nine years and seven months making it the most extended wait for a Triple Crown of the nine. Jake Cody holds the speed freak record winning all three in a halcyon space of one year and four-months back in 2010/11.

Here are the final table results.

Event #39: $1,500 No Limit Hold’em

922-entrants

Results

  1. Roberto Romanello – $216,213
  2. Niklas Astedt – $156,905
  3. Paul Barnes – $113,866
  4. Aleksandr Trofimov – $82,633
  5. Thomas Cazayous – $59,966
  6. Hannes Speiser – $43,518
  7. Ravali Krishna – $31,581
  8. Orkhan Allahverdyiev – $22,918

Triple Crown Club

  1. Gavin Griffin
  2. Roland De Wolfe
  3. Jake Cady
  4. Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier
  5. Davidi Kitai
  6. Mohsin Charania
  7. Harrison Gimbel
  8. Niall Farrell
  9. Roberto Romanello

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Series has managed to ingratiate herself into our lives solidly for the past few weeks, but there is barely any air left in those hefty lungs of hers.

Two more bracelet wins to bring you up to speed on before she croaks, and we begin with a second sliver of gold for Nick ‘samadhi’ Binger. The poker coach won his first bracelet in 2011 after ousting 352-entrants over the rail in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo encounter.

Binger had to beat another bracelet winner, heads-up, to bag his brace. Ryan “Adopt_aDogg0” Leng won a 1,983-entrant $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Bounty event in 2018 for $272,765.

A third star shone brightly in this event with Matt ‘Berkey11_S4Y’ Berkey finishing seventh.

Nicholas ‘mrfinalt’ Kiley is the other bracelet winner after making fastidious work of the 2,155-entrant field in Event #25: $500 No Limit Hold’em Summer Saver. Kiley beat Guo Liang ‘Ct188’ Chen, heads-up, for the title, Berkey made his second final table appearance in the same number of days, finishing in the fifth position.

Here are the final table results.

Event #24: $400 No Limit Hold’em 8-Handed

2,408-entrants (1,590 unique, 818 re-entries)

Results

  1. Nick ‘samadhi’ Binger – $133,413
  2. Ryan ‘Adopt_aDogg0” Leng – $82,440
  3. Philip ‘eric_shun’ Beesley – $60,161
  4. Ian ‘aullululululu’ Waldron – $44,298
  5. Mark ‘bansman’ Bansemar – $32,941
  6. Norman ‘abnormality’ Michalek – $24,706
  7. Matt ‘Berkey11_S4Y’ Berkey – $18,638
  8. Christian ‘CalcFather’ Calcano – $14,217

Event #25: $500 No Limit Hold’em Summer Saver

2,155-entrants (1,484 unique, 671 re-entries)

Results

  1. Nicholas ‘mrfinalt’ Kiley – $149,245
  2. Guo Liang ‘Ct188’ Chen – $92,223
  3. Weiyi ‘wymoney’ Mo – $67,301
  4. Stephen ’S.Dot22’ Russo – $49,554
  5. Matt ‘berkey11_s4y’ Berkey – $36,851
  6. Kevin ‘SpecialK333’ Calenzo – $27,638
  7. Richard ‘Daddyp69’ Perrin – $20,850
  8. Michael ‘ha8me’ Policastro – $15,904

Two high stakes stars who followed a deep trajectory in this one were Joe McKeehen (57th) and Brian Rast (87th).

The garden gate to a life of glamour and gladrags is blocked to the manic socialites of Las Vegas and New Jersey, but they still have the World Series of Poker (WSOP) – for a little while at least.

WSOP.com has six bracelet events left on the menu after Event #23: $500 No Limit Hold’em Knockout ended up in the record books. The bracelet and $93,776+$1,700 in prize money ended up on the person of one Raymond “avant9201” Avant.

Before this event, ‘Avant the Savant’ had never made money in a WSOP bracelet event, and his Hendon Mob wrap sheet…well… there isn’t one. The New Jersey native pistol-whipped Scott “intheblack14” Epstein in the final duel of an 11-hour this and that. Epstein has made three previous WSOP final tables including a 4/831 finish to Scott Fischman in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event in 2004.

Three more men are worthy of mention at the final table.

Ryan “im.sorry” Torgersen added a third to his second in Event #9: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max, and his win in Event #10: $600 No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack.

Upeshka De Silva is a three-time bracelet winner with more than $3m in live tournament earnings. Last year, De Silva won a $600 No Limit Hold’em bracelet playing on WSOP.com.

Finally, one of the stars of the 2019 series also featured on the final table. Dan Zack made the money 14-times last year, including winning a Triple Draw bracelet.

Here are the final table results.

Event #23: $500 No Limit Hold’em Knockout

1,452-entrants

Results

  1. Raymond “avant9201” Avant – $93,776+$1,700
  2. Scott “intheblack14” Epstein – $58,074+$500
  3. Ryan “im.sorry” Torgersen – $41,243+$1,100
  4. Upeshka “gomezhamburg” De Silva – $29,690+$700
  5. Byung Jun “YESUM1987” Kim – $21,693+$900
  6. Zachary “kings702” Grech – $15,995+$900
  7. Dilip Kumar “dogmai” Natarajan – $12,023+$2,900
  8. Michael “mikeob81” O’Brien – $9,095+$400
  9. Dan “pepperprince” Zack – $7,004+$400

Daniel Negreanu finished 25th.

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) used to be known for its marathons, but, today, there are also sprints. Allan ‘Treeoflife’ Cheung is a bracelet winner after zipping speedboat-like through Event #22: $500 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Deepstack, signalling much chinking of fluted glasses.

The whole thing took a prematurely ejaculative seven hours from start to finish, netting Cheung $120,083 in his fourth in the money finish of the series. Myles “Shipthemoney’ Kotler finished second, as he did in Event #18: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Deepstack, four days prior. I wouldn’t like to be in earshot of Kotler for a few days.

The final table was devoid of bracelet winners but did include three gold ring winners. Brian Altman was the biggest draw. The man who won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Lucky Hearts Open, twice, earned his ring at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Main Event in Montreal back in 2016. His third-place finish is the closest he has come to the sumptuousness of a gold bracelet. The other pair of gold ring winners were Daniel Buzgon and Robert Natividad.

We should also give a hat tip to Terrell ‘heezahustla’ Cheatham, who finished fifth. Cheatham shipped a Turbo bracelet earlier in the series.

Here are the final table results.

Event #22: $500 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Deepstack

1,579-entrants (1,082 unique, 497 re-entries)

Results

  1. Allan ‘Treeoflife’ Cheung – $120,083
  2. Myles “Shipthemoney’ Kotler – $74,039
  3. Brian ‘JackBogle’ Altman – $53,291
  4. Daniel ‘juice’ Buzgon – $38,725
  5. Terrell ‘heezahustla’ Cheatham – $28,493
  6. Louie ‘ pongpong’ Valderrama – $21,174
  7. Derek ‘this1smyvice’ Salgals – $15,916
  8. Kara ‘theLMY90’ Denning – $12,079
  9. Robert ‘Nvrstsfied’ Natividad – $9,308

High Rollers who went deeper than an over-exuberant father buries his three-year-old daughter in the sand at the seaside were Daniel Negreanu (32nd) and Anthony Zinno (93rd).