Karim Maekelberg takes down a second tournament!

By Frank Op de Woerd

Another weekend down, another huge turnout for the WPT500 and Super50 on partypoker. And the WPT crowned some new winners in side events, so buckle up and get ready: here’s the lowdown on the WPT action online this weekend.

WPT #01 WPT500 Main Event: $1M Gtd

The WPT500 got underway last week, but this weekend truly culminated into something big. After a relatively calm day on Friday with 171 entries on Day 1F, things spiraled out of control on Saturday (239 players) and Sunday (691 players)! With that action, the guarantee of $1,000,000 is already met.

On Friday, 171 players gathered, with 27 making it through to Day 2. Sebastian Sikorski bubbled the day, while Thomas Clucas from the United Kingdom did best with a stack of 9,256,645. Lukas Wimmer (7,606,976) and Vitor Ribeiro (7,340,092) turned their 500,000-starting chips into respectable stacks as well. Famed high roller Jans Arends was amongst those to make it through as well; he’ll bring 1,837,101 to tonight’s Day 2.

Saturday’s Day 1G saw a field of 239 show up, with 36 players surviving. Adam Roger Jonsson bubbled in 37th place, letting Goran Mandic squeeze his way into Day 2 with a stack of 237,672. With blinds starting at 35,000 and 70,000 on the penultimate day of the tournament, he’s got his work cut out for him. Juha Helppi (1,051,916), Firoz Mangroe (5.882.733), and Robin Ylitalo (6,788,625) are amongst those to survive the day. The top stack after Day 1G belonged to Gediminas Uselis from Lithuania. He brings 11,129,298 to Day 2, the equivalent of 159 big blinds, the overall number two so far.

Last night, the so-far biggest starting day got underway at 8:05 pm CET. A total of 691 entries bought into the $530 event, with 104 making it through to Day 2. Liviu-Rodrig Bartha bubbled in 105th place. Patrick Leonard (1,592,924), Nick Marchington (1,847,804), Dzmitry Urbanovich (2,271,164), Matt Staples (2,474,898), Rui Ferreira (2,532,033), David Yan (2,647,681), Luke Reeves (2,732,334), Byron Kaverman (2,843,592), Joep van den Bijgaart (3,658,905), Sam Vousden (4,391,347), Damian Salas (4,465,872), Marton Czuczor (5,459,817), Brandon Adams (5,988,416), and Gerald Karlic (7,363,907) are just some of the familiar names securing their spot for Day 2. The top stack belongs to Manuel Ruivo from Portugal, ending Day 1H with a chip leading stack of 13,343,182.

Dzmitry Urbanovich

Today, March 15th, there’s one final chance to get into tonight’s Day 2 with the Turbo flight starting at 5:05 pm CET. That means the prize pool is going to grow a bit! Later, when the turbo flight is done, Day 2 of the WPT500 gets underway at 8:05 pm CET playing down to a final table of 9. That final table will be played on Tuesday. There will be a live stream with commentary by James Dempsey and Patrick Leonard. That is, of course, if the latter doesn’t make the final table himself.

WPT #01 Super50 Main Event: $250K Gtd

The smaller edition of the Main Event, the Super50, saw a similar trajectory to its bigger brother, the WPT500. After a sizable Day 1F (642 entries) and Day 1G (718 entries), Day 1H last night saw a massive 1,345 entries buy in for the $55 event. The $250,000 guarantee is already met, with a turbo flight this afternoon still on the docket.

From the 642 entries collected on Day 1F on Friday, 96 made it through to Day 2. The top stack belongs to Madi Mussin from Kazakhstan, who turned 500,000 into 8,678,165 in a little over four and a half hours. Kyle Jones from Canada came in second (8,553,900), while Vojtěch Červinka from the Czech Republic sat in third (8,338,154).

Day 1G on Saturday attracted a field of 718, with 108 securing a spot on Day 2. Marius Pavel Balint was the unfortunate bubble. On the other end of the spectrum, Ceri Rees had an incredible day turning 500,000 into a whopping 18,039,588. Nikolay Tulin finished the day second in chips with 14,308,423, and they make up the top two stacks overall as well, with just the turbo flight still to be played.

While last night’s Day 1H had a record turnout of 1,345 players, nobody came even close to Rees’ or Tulin’s stacks. The top contender was Evaldas Aniulis from Lithuania, who ended the flight with 11,298,404. Logi Laxdal from Iceland finished in second place with a commendable stack of 10,965,963.

At 5:05 pm CET, the turbo flight starts with 6-minute levels. At 8:05 pm CET, Day 2 begins with all Day 1 survivors taking their seats for a long grind. Play only stops at the end of level 24, so gear up for some exciting action!

WPT #09 $320 Mix-Max Turbo Knockout: $30K Gtd

The Mix-Max attracted a field of 127with 23 making the money. Anthony Elliott from the United Kingdom was the bubble though he did make up for some of his loss by getting $206 in bounties. Dave Berry, who exited one spot before Elliott, didn’t knock out a single opponent and was the last player to leave truly empty-handed.

The four-figure scores from the regular pay-out stated in fifth, with Alexi Meghir taking home $1,109. He added $225 in bounties for a total score of $1,334. Wayne Parsons from Canada, who departed one spot earlier in sixth, made more on the event as he collected $861 plus $1,458 ($2,319).

Patrick Lauber from the United Kingdom was the victor with $3,358 from the regular prize pool and an additional $5,648 in bounties for a total prize of $9,006! Runner-up Alberto Cigliano from Malta had to do with $3,354 plus $1,425 ($4,779).

WPT #10 $215 7-Max Turbo: $20K Gtd
While the Mix-Max switched from 8-max to 6-max, the 7-Max turbo was seven-handed all the way through. The event attracted a field of 156 entries, with 27 making the money. Lukáš Timko bubbled, letting the likes of Dylan Glen Rowe and Tom Hall squeeze in the money for a min-cash of $405.

Manig Loeser (16th, $460) and Terry Fletcher (11th, $677) did a bit better but missed out on the final table. The top two both hailed from Belgium as Kris Leppens (2nd, $4,692) and Karim Maekelberg (1st, $6,768) divided the big bucks.

Maekelberg takes down his second title this festival, after winning event #08 6-Max turbo, he proves that one more player at the table doesn’t frighten him.

WPT #11 $5,200 High Roller: $250K Gtd
The $5,200 High Roller quickly met its $250,000 guarantee as 77 entries signed up. Alex Foxen was the first to bust, followed by Christoph Vogelsang and Jon Van Fleet. Foxen busted his second time right after that and was the first to be out entirely as only a single reentry was allowed.

Andras Nemeth didn’t have the best start either as he busted in 45th place and snap reentered. David Coleman from Canada busted right after Nemeth in 44th and reentered as well.

Rok Gostita bubbled in fourteenth place, letting Artur Martirosian (13th) and Joao Vieira (12th) min-cash for $10,547. Partypoker’s Isaac Haxton busted in 11th while Jans Arends took tenth, both for $11,974.

The final table was a who’s who of online poker with some wildcards sprinkled in. It was Nemeth who won for $107,282, while Coleman took second for $67,920. The bronze went to Sam Vousden, who saw $46,407 added to his bankroll.

Today’s schedule
Today at 5:05 pm CET, the turbo flights for the WPT500 and Super50 get underway. Three hours later, at 8:05 pm CET, Day 2 of the same event starts with the hunt for the final table on the minds of all survivors.

Simultaneously, for those not lucky enough to secure a Day 2 spot and those looking to multi-table, Day 1A of the WPT500 Knockout and Super50 Knockout gets underway. Two more massive events with guarantees to match the allure: $1,000,000 for the $530 WPT500 Knockout and $400,000 guaranteed in the $55 WPT Super50 Knockout.

At 9:15, a 7-Max Turbo gets underway to close the day. The $215 event has a guarantee of $20,000 and is promised to be done in a single day.