The World Series of Poker® is the largest, richest and most prestigious gaming event in the world, having awarded more than $2.99 billion in prize money and the prestigious gold bracelet. Event #11: $3,200 Turbo Championship was the latest event to conclude in the World Poker Tour World Online Championships (WPTWOC) at partypoker.The event was a massive success with 433 entrants.
The $5,000 buy-in Main Event of the World Series of Poker international series wrapped up on Saturday night with the top 4 finishers all taking home more than $1 million in prize money. With the typical World Series of Poker in Las Vegas postponed this year the action moved online and the World Series of Poker international series Main Event had a total prize pool of $27,559,500.
There were 5,802 buy-ins into the $5,000-entry Main Event. Notable entries included PSG star and Brazilian soccer phenom Neymar Jr. and former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe.
The final heads-up pairing came down to Bulgaria's Stoyan Madanzhiev against Wenling Gao of China. On the final hand of the Main Event, Stoyan Madanzhiev flopped a straight which took down Gao's pocket aces which is an absolutely brutal way to get knocked out heads-up. Looking down and seeing AA you think you are absolutely money and then your opponent flops a straight and poof, you're gone.
For his second-place finish, Wenling Gao won $2.7 million. Not bad. Stoyan Madanzhiev took home a record $3.9 million for first place, the ‘largest prize in online poker history'. American Tyler Rueger won $1.9 million for 3rd place and New Zealand's Thomas Ward brought home $1.35 million for his 4th place finish.
‘Poker Brat' Phil Hellmuth busted in 750th right before the money bubble. In total, 728 spots were paid out across the $27,559,500 prize pool. There were three Americans at the final table with the other two, Tyler Cornell and Sam Taylor, finishing 8th and 9th respectively for $328,305 and $230,395.
In the final hand, 2nd place finisher Wenling Gao got all his chips in with AcAd only to see her opponent (yes, her) call with 7d6h. At that moment he had his opponent completely dominated. But Bulgaria's Stoyan Madanzhiev miraculously flopped a 7-high straight and held on to win 1st place.
According to ESPN's Chalk, some American participants moved internationally for this event which also allowed them to buy-in multiple times in the early stages:
The international series was hosted on GGPoker.com after the coronavirus pandemic forced the traditional World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas to be postponed. There were 5,802 entries into the $5,000 buy-in main event, creating a $27.6 million prize pool, the largest in online poker history.
Players were allowed to buy in three times during the early rounds of the main event and were required to be physically located in a jurisdiction that allowed online poker. Tournament officials said some American participants relocated to Mexico or Canada to take part in the tournament.
The main event was narrowed to 38 players entering Saturday's final round. American Bryan Piccioli had the chip lead entering the final round but finished 23rd.
It's certainly a bummer not having the usual World Series of Poker footage on ESPN this year. It's been a staple of Summer television for most of my life and watching these tournaments unfold online just doesn't offer even a fraction of the same entertainment for me.
The $5,000 buy-in Main Event of the World Series of Poker international series wrapped up on Saturday night with the top 4 finishers all taking home more than $1 million in prize money. With the typical World Series of Poker in Las Vegas postponed this year the action moved online and the World Series of Poker international series Main Event had a total prize pool of $27,559,500.
There were 5,802 buy-ins into the $5,000-entry Main Event. Notable entries included PSG star and Brazilian soccer phenom Neymar Jr. and former heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe.
The final heads-up pairing came down to Bulgaria's Stoyan Madanzhiev against Wenling Gao of China. On the final hand of the Main Event, Stoyan Madanzhiev flopped a straight which took down Gao's pocket aces which is an absolutely brutal way to get knocked out heads-up. Looking down and seeing AA you think you are absolutely money and then your opponent flops a straight and poof, you're gone.
For his second-place finish, Wenling Gao won $2.7 million. Not bad. Stoyan Madanzhiev took home a record $3.9 million for first place, the ‘largest prize in online poker history'. American Tyler Rueger won $1.9 million for 3rd place and New Zealand's Thomas Ward brought home $1.35 million for his 4th place finish.
‘Poker Brat' Phil Hellmuth busted in 750th right before the money bubble. In total, 728 spots were paid out across the $27,559,500 prize pool. There were three Americans at the final table with the other two, Tyler Cornell and Sam Taylor, finishing 8th and 9th respectively for $328,305 and $230,395.
In the final hand, 2nd place finisher Wenling Gao got all his chips in with AcAd only to see her opponent (yes, her) call with 7d6h. At that moment he had his opponent completely dominated. But Bulgaria's Stoyan Madanzhiev miraculously flopped a 7-high straight and held on to win 1st place.
According to ESPN's Chalk, some American participants moved internationally for this event which also allowed them to buy-in multiple times in the early stages:
The international series was hosted on GGPoker.com after the coronavirus pandemic forced the traditional World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas to be postponed. There were 5,802 entries into the $5,000 buy-in main event, creating a $27.6 million prize pool, the largest in online poker history.
Players were allowed to buy in three times during the early rounds of the main event and were required to be physically located in a jurisdiction that allowed online poker. Tournament officials said some American participants relocated to Mexico or Canada to take part in the tournament.
The main event was narrowed to 38 players entering Saturday's final round. American Bryan Piccioli had the chip lead entering the final round but finished 23rd.
It's certainly a bummer not having the usual World Series of Poker footage on ESPN this year. It's been a staple of Summer television for most of my life and watching these tournaments unfold online just doesn't offer even a fraction of the same entertainment for me.
The official in-person 2020 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas hasn't been rescheduled yet and with this year waning down they're running out of time. Next year seems likely (to me) at this point.
For more on this largest win in online poker history, you can head on over to ESPN's Chalk.
The numbers are in for the ‘Internation Tournament' segment of the 2020 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event. A total of 674 entries were made across three starting flights, creating a prize pool of $6,470,400.
The 2020 WSOP $10,000 main event features an unprecedented live-and-online hybrid model, and will essentially play out as two separate events that each begin online and will play until two separate live final tables are set. The two eventual champions determined at those final tables will then square off to determine which will win the championship WSOP gold bracelet and an added bonus prize of $1,000,000 to go along with whatever they won at their initial final table.
The top 80 finishers will make the money in the ‘International Tournament', with a min-cash being worth $15,277. The final nine players will all earn at least $75,360, with the eventual champion set to take home $1,550,969 along with their chance at the title and the bonus million that is up for grabs.
A total of 179 players survived the three starting flights to make Day 2, which resumes at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, December 7. Play will continue until the nine-handed final table is set. Those players will then reconvene in person to play down to a winner at King's Casino in Rosvadov, the site of the WSOP Europe for several years now.
World Poker Championship Prize Money Winner
The overall chip leader heading into day 2 is Senthuran Vijayaratnam, who bagged up 966,714 at the end of the third and largest starting flight. Day 1C drew 257 entries, with 1A adding 246 and 1B another 171.
Plenty of accomplished players have made it through to day 2 with healthy stacks, including day 1B leader Blaz Zerjav (639,394), Viacheslav Buldygin (480,671), Preben Stokkan (446,677), Christopher Puetz (394,051), Laurynas Levinskas (389,628), Damian Salas (266,036), and Toby Joyce (243,195).
2020 WSOP Online main event champion Stoyan Madanzhiev was eliminated from this event on Day 1C. Madanzhiev voiced his frustration with this tournament being marketed as the ‘main event' after he had already won a tournament that was described as such earlier this year. In a Twitter post he said, 'Looking back, If I had known I wasn't playing the ‘actual' world series of poker, I probably wouldn't have reentered. Or maybe even played.'
World Poker Championship Prize Money Winners
The counterpart to the ‘International Tournament' segment of this hybrid event is the ‘Domestic Tournament'. That will begin on Dec. 13 with a single starting flight. The final table will be set the following day, with the in-person finale taking place on Dec. 28. The winners of the two tournaments will then meet on Dec. 30 for a final battle for the bracelet and the added $1,000,000 in prize money.
