by Frank Op de Woerd
It was another big Sunday on partypoker with the WPT World Championships in full swing. The buy-in ranged from $11 to $25,500 resulting and big-name players all around. One of the biggest of them all, Isaac Haxton, took down the most expensive event around. Meanwhile, over on another table, Ali Imsirovic demolished the competition on Day 1b of the Knockout Championship. Sit back and read our extensive recap of last night’s action!
$25,500 WPT Super High Roller
Sixteen players signed up for the mind-boggling $25,500 buy-in Super High Roller, with five reentering after busting. Timothy Adams was the first one out, but he decided against giving it another try, instead considering his $25,500 a write-off.
Artur Martirosian, Michael Addamo, Ali Imsirovic, David Peters, and Vyacheslav Buldygin were in for two bullets each but failed to cash. With twenty-one entries, the top three would be in the money. Martirosian bubbled in fourth place, leaving Christoph Vogelsang, Dan Smith, and Isaac Haxton to decide who would go home with bronze, silver, and gold.
Isaac Haxton
Vogelsang eventually busted in third for $105,000. Smith and Haxton made a deal heads-up and chopped the remaining prize pool. Smith officially finished second ($204,864) as he had slightly fewer chips than Haxton ($215,135) when the two reached their agreement.
Main: $1,050 WPT Knockout Warm Up ($500K GTD)
Day 1a saw a field of 102 turn out with Nick Yunis leading the 13 survivors. On Saturday’s Day 1b, 251 entries were collected with Georgi Sandev ahead of the 31 players to make it through. Last night’s turbo flight saw another 227 entries as Alexandr Trofimov in charge of the 58 to make it through to Day 2.
Day 2 of the event got underway at 7 pm (BST) last night, with 102 players remaining and 88 making the money. Jens Lakemeier was the first to bust, getting nothing but his $1,000 in bounties collected. Teun Mulder, Antoine Saout, and Andrii Novak were amongst those to miss the money and the latter stone bubbling.
Big-name players like Dimitar Danchev (13th, $2,804 + $$3,046), Maria Ho ($3,584 + $2,882), and Ryan Riess ($3,584 + $2,093) all got close to the final table but busted out right before.
Matt Staples did make it, eventually busting in fourth place for $19,436 plus $4,632 in bounties. Boris Kolev, one of Bulgaria’s top players playing from Costa Rica, beat Andres Gonzalez De Agustin heads-up to take down the title. Kolev collected $41,160 from the regular prize pool and more than doubled that with $47,890 collected from the bounty prize pool for a combined score of $89,050. De Agustin took home $41,102 plus $14,835 for a score of $55,937.
Mini: $109 WPT Knockout Warm Up ($150K GTD)
After Day 1a (567 entries, 91 survivors), 1b (906 entries, 135 survivors), and the turbo flight (862 entries, 209 survivors), Day 2 got underway looking to pay the Top 408. Alexandru Papazian and Paul Höfer were unlucky and didn’t see a return of investment as they busted before the bubble burst.
While the event was called a warm-up, it was the real deal when the final table was getting closer with big money at stake. In the end, Artem Vezhenkov from Russia beat the 2,335-strong field for $14,274 plus $12,208 in bounties. That was over $10,000 more than runner-up Ovidiu Gigel Rosca who took home second-place for $14,248 plus $2,082. Andres Ojeda finished third for $9,521 plus $4,088.
Micro: $11 WPT Knockout Warm Up ($30K GTD)
With 1,513 entries of Day 1a and 203 surviving, 1,681 on Day 1b and 265 making it through, and 296 from 1,374 staying alive during the turbo flight’s eighteen levels, Day 2 was a crowded affair.
The second day of the event started at 7 pm (BST), and it took till after 5 am (BST) for it to finish. The $11 buy-in tournament paid out 728 players with Christopher Port the bubble in 729th place.
Nicolás Pañiagua from Argentina was crowned the champion and he turned his $11 investment into $4,640 ($2,727 + $1,913). Antonios Triantafyllakis from Greece took home the silver ($2,718 + $566) while Vitor Barbosa from Brazil received bronze ($1,807 + $66).
Main: $1,050 WPT Knockout Turbo ($150K GTD)
The $1,050 turbo knockout got underway a little after 10 pm last night, and it was all over just five hours later. With 148 entries and 21 making the money, it was Ognyan Dimov to bubble in 22nd place. Partypoker pro Jeff Gross squeezed into the money in 21st place.
The list of players cashing reads as a who’s-who of online poker with Jamy Staples (20th, $1,209 + $1,750), Anton Wigg (19th, $1,209 + $1,125), Scott Margereson (12th, $1,496 + $875), Preben Stokkan (10th, $1,796 + $1,375) and Thomas Boivin (6th, $ 3,534 + $1,437) amongst those to cash.
Oliver “sk2ll_m0dR” Weis was the first from the top five to go, receiving $4,641 plus $3,687. Istvan Habencius ($6,749 + $562) fell one spot shy off the podium in fourth while Fauto Tantillo ($9,715 + $4,687) took home the bronze.
Patrick Leonard
The title fight was between two of the greats; Patrick Leonard against Kristen Bicknell. The equestrian facility owner against the number one of the WPT leaderboard; it was a fight for the ages. Bicknell eventually got out on top, taking home $13,835 from the regular prize pool, $19,375 in bounties, and 23 leaderboard points. Leonard received $13,820 plus $8,343 in bounties.
Kristen Bicknell
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Mini: $215 WPT Knockout Turbo ($100K GTD)
The mini edition of last night’s Turbo Knockout attracted 533 entries, good for a prize pool of $106,600. With $100 of each buy-in going towards the regular prize pool and the other $100 on people’s heads as a bounty, action was guaranteed from the get-go.
Seventy-seven players earned a spot in the money, with Roman Matveichuk being the last unlucky soul to depart before the regular prize pool was distributed.
Matas Cimbolas (55th, $240 + $337), Robert Heidorn (37th, $288 + $125), Rainer Kempe (30th, $331 + $50), Dzmitry Urbanovich (27th, $395 + $703), and Fabio Sperling (20th, $481 + $337) were amongst those to make a deep run but ultimately fall before the final table.
Canadian player Harpreet Padda took down the title for $7,679 and $11,703 in bounties. He beat Stefan Schillhabel heads-up. The German high roller had to settle for second place worth $7,668 plus $868 in bounties.
Micro: $22 WPT Knockout Turbo ($30K GTD)
The $22 version saw 1,666 entries sign up, easily surpassing the $30,000 guarantee. When the dust had settled after five and a half hours of play, one player remained standing in Vojtěch Šusta from Germany. He collected a first-place prize of $2,163 and got $1,377 in bounty-payments on top. Andres Ojeda from Canada finished runner-up for $2,159 plus $522 in bounties.
Robson Wasem Da Silva from Brazil bubbled the event sometime before that, busting in 232nd place with only $5 in bounties to show for his effort. Max Oliver Dowdall was the first to bust in the money for $22 plus $25 in bounties.
Event #5 – Main: $3,200 WPT Knockout Championship ($3M GTD)
Chance Kornuth had a great day on Saturday, finishing atop the leaderboard after Day 1a of the Knockout Championship with 2.5 million in chips. Well, Ali Imsirovic topped him by quite some margin on last night’s Day 1b, turning 100,000 into 4.3 million in chips. Imsirovic is the runaway chip leader going into tonight’s Day 2 with well over 300 big blinds.
Ali Imsirovic
With 457 entries on Day 1a and 57 surviving, and 578 entries on Day 1b and 80 making it through, Day 2 will be interesting. Seventeen players will start tonight at 7 pm (BST) but will close the tournament lobby empty-handed as just 120 from a combined field of 137 will get in the money.
Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion is the shortest going in, he’s starting with 91,000 with blinds at 7,000 and 14,000. The $4,500 bounty on his head will likely entice players to take a gamble on eliminating him.
Imsirovic (4,319,536) and Kornuth (2,520,484) are one and two going in, with Day 1b’s Brandon Sheils (2,380,866) in third, Day 1a’s Santiago Plante (2,094,228) in fourth, and Martin Jacobson (2,045,669) who played last night in fifth.
A min-cash is worth $4,176, while the number one and two will earn over $211,150 each. Of course, that is in addition to the bounties they collect along the way, which can be substantial. The action resumes tonight at 7 pm (BST)!
Event #5 – Mini: $320 WPT Knockout Championship ($1M GTD)
The starting days for the Mini Knockout Championship are in the books, and again it’s the Day 1b chip leader to top the overall standings. Last night, Jans “graftekkel” Arends turned 100,000 into 2,698,250. Along the way, he collected some bounties and now has $881 on his head. Arends stayed ahead of the Brazilian duo Ramon Sfalsin (2,458,670) and Daniel Camacho (2,282,710).
The top five going into tonight’s Day 2 is completed by Day 1a’s chip leader Milaim Tafaj from Denmark (2,485,990) and Dutchman Mark “Kracht Tonen” Roovers (1,945,110).
When the action resumes at 7 pm (BST), blinds will be 7,000 and 14,000 with a 1,800-ante. Levels will be 20 minutes long, with 481 players still in contention. The event is eight spots away from the $324 min-cash. There’s over $60,000 set aside for the winner and runner-up and the bounties they collect.
Event #5 – Micro: $33 WPT Knockout Championship ($300K GTD)
What Imsirovic did in the Main edition of the Knockout Championship, did Mihaela Carmen Laszlo in the Micro version of the event. The German turned 100,000 into a massive stack of 4,319,300, more than anyone else. His countryman Wolfgang Waschik kept the pace up, finishing the day with 3,575,875 in chips. The top 3 going into Day 2 is complemented by Lee Jack, who finished Day 1a with 3,209,980.
Like it’s two bigger-sized buy-in sister events, the Micro Knockout Championship returns to action tonight at 7 pm (BST). The second of three days resumes with blinds at 7,000 and 14,000.
Like the Mini and Main, the Micro is close to the money with 1,330 players remaining and 1,304 getting paid. The min-cash of $30 will be paid out soon enough when play resumes, with many shorties in the field. Making the top twelve guarantees the players a four-figure score. A five-figure score is reserved for the players on the podium. The winner and runner-up await $17,946 and $17,916 respectively, while the third-place finisher gets $11,958.
Main: $5,200 WPT Big Game ($1M GTD)
Another Sunday, another WPT Big Game1 With a buy-in of $5,200, the Main Big Game wasn’t for everyone; just the best of the best and the richest of the richest could afford to buy into this one. As an immediate result, the lobby is stock full of familiar names.
A hundred and ninety-three entries were collected into the event, with 32 getting paid. Marton Czuczor, number two on Hungary’s all-time money list, bubbled the event in 33rd place.
Big-name players like Conor Beresford (29th), Sam Greenwood (28th), and Daniel Dvoress (27th) all collected $10,400. Fedor Holz finished 23rd for $12,500 while Thomas Boivin (14th) and Dan Shak (13th) earned $14,800. Anton Wigg (12th), Ivan Gabrieli (11th), and Roberto Romanello (10th) exited with $17,800 extra in their account.
After Romanello’s bust out in tenth place, the event was halted. Play resumes tonight at 7 pm (BST) with blinds of 200,000 and 400,000. Mark David (9.1 million, 23 big blinds) is the shortest stack going in while Scott Margereson (36.7 million, 92 big blinds) leads. The final nine are guaranteed $20,800, all vying for the $200,650 first-place prize.
Ali Imsirovic
Mini: $530 WPT Big Game ($300K GTD)
A field of 640 entries signed up for the Mini Big Game, surpassing the $300,000 guarantee put on the event. After twenty-nine 15-minute levels and a single 20-minute level, just eight players remain in contention for the $57,134 first-place prize.
The eighty best players got in the money with a min-cash of $1,257. Pavlo Kolinkovskyi bubbled the event while Yuri Dzivielevski from Brazil squeezed into the money in 80th place.
The event was supposed to halt when nine players remained, but a double knockout of Iurii Pasiuk (10th, $4,024) and Silvio Costa (9th, $4,841) made it so just eight return tonight. The action resumes at 7 pm (BST) tonight with blinds of 1 and 2 million and $5,737 guaranteed for the final eight.
Andrii Novak from Ukraine leads with 176 million. Long-time online grinder Stefan Huber sits in second place with 135 million in chips, Granit Shabani takes third with 129 million in chips. The shortest stack returning tonight is Dutchman Joep van den Bijgaart with almost 14.5 million.
Micro: $55 WPT Big Game ($100K GTD)
The $55 buy-in micro edition of this weekend’s Big Game attracted a field of 2,079 entries. It took a little over eight and a half hours to get down to the final nine.
The top 280 finished in the money with Ronaldo Teruia from Brazil bubbling in 281st. Dimitrios Viennas was the other “bubble” for the day, he finished in tenth position for $835 and won’t return tonight. At 7 pm (BST), the action resumes with the top nine guaranteed a four-figure score of $1,039.
The player in the best position for the $16,832 first-place prize is Finland’s Teppo Marttinen with a 417 million stack. Brazilian player Danilo Baeza (364 million) sits in second. Carla Marins Assis Palma, also from Brazil, is the shortest, returning tonight with a stack of 124 million. Blinds will be 3.5 and 7 million with 15-minute blind levels for the remainder of the tournament.
Tonight’s schedule
