Three players outshined at Day 29 of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online as each one snatched up a signature gold. The envied champions were Bradley Ruben “DrStrange7”, Ivan Zufic “zufo16”, and Kartik Ved “Mandovi”. For the latter Ved, he delivered India its 6th gold, the most collected by any Asian nation. In fact, India had a stellar day with Suraj Mishra “M26GreenWood” and Naman Madan “pokermafiaa” also reaching the final table of respective bracelet events. As for Zufic, he made history by delivering Croatia its first gold. At the side events, “thehulk” made India proud by shipping one. Another player to be applauded was Fedor Kruse who triumphed at the WSOP Side Event: $ 3,150 Bounty King High Roller for a massive $ 237.2K.
In addition, two bracelet events populated the virtual arena on Day 29: the prestigious WSOP #77: $ 5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event [ $25 Million GTD ] tournament with the first of 22 freeze out entry flights tabled and the WSOP #71: BIG 50 [ $1M GTD ] where a massive 4,199 turned up. Check out all event recaps below.
The 2020 WSOP Online [ international ] opened July 19th on Natural8 – GG Network. Since then, 33 bracelets have been claimed and a cumulative $ 71.3 million paid out. 21 bracelets have yet to be won. The series runs until September 6th. For first timers, make sure to sign up on Natural8 to avail of fantastic promos and incentives.
Join Natural8 – $100 in Free tickets with your 1st Deposit
WSOP #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha – Bradley Ruben “DrStrange7” – $ 220,159.60
After eight deep runs at the ongoing online series, USA’s Bradley Ruben “DrStrange7” finally closed one out. Taking on the WSOP #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event, Ruben crushed the final table to ship a career high $ 220,159.60. For his achievement, he was also awarded a WSOP gold bracelet and a $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package.
Prior to the online series, Ruben had substantial WSOP experience with 15 cashes throughout his career. His largest score was at the 2017 WSOP $ 1500 Razz event finishing 3rd for $ 55,958. Fast forward to the start of the online series [ international ], a few days in, Ruben collected his first cash at the WSOP #37: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha where he placed 4th for $ 39,472.29. This was to be the first of seven more cashes leading up to his huge victory.
Buy in: $ 1,500
Entries: 990
Prize pool: $ 1,410,750
ITM: 134 places
Running time: 11 hours and 31 minutes
The final table was short one person with two players falling at ten remaining. At the round were four established poker pros, bracelet winner Jens Lakemeier “Tankanza”, Patrick Serda “NeatDad1971”, and PLO experts Sami Kelopuro “YrttiDekaani” and Naman Madan “pokermafiaa”. Serda carried in the largest stack after railing Simon Mattsson “FiestaPagana” in 10th place.
Action kicked off with Madan quickly doubled up by Tal Peretz “bonboni555” who then fell in 8th place with Kelopuro raking in the light stack. Blaz Zerjav “Sc4rm4k3r” capitalized next, winning a big pot off Serda. Serda made up the lost chips on a tangle with Ruben, but misfortune had his number as he lost a chunk to Madan then eliminated by Dorel Eldabach “DorelEl” in an early 7th place.
From this point onwards, it was Ruben’s game. He went on to rail all of his opponents to seize the gold. He first picked up a boost off Kelopuro, followed it up with two big pots against Zerjav, then knocked out Kelopuro (6th). Zerjav was next, then Madan, and for his fourth victim, he gobbled up all of Lakemeier’s chips. Facing Eldabach at heads up, Ruben was ahead 2.5:1. In just a few minutes, the final hand was tabled with Ruben taking it down on a flush over a pair of Kings.
Final table payouts
1st Bradley Ruben “DrStrange7” – USA – $ 220,159.60 + $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package
2nd Dorel Eldabach “DorelEl” – Israel – $ 168,477.54
3rd Jens Lakemeier “Tankanza” – Austria – $ 122,264.05
4th Naman Madan “pokermafiaa” – India – $ 88,727.00
5th Blaz Zerjav “Sc4rm4k3r” – Slovenia – $ 64,389.16
6th Sami Kelopuro “YrttiDekaani” – Finland – $ 46,727.14
7th Patrick Serda “NeatDad1971” – Canada – $ 33,910.05
8th Tal Peretz “bonboni555” – Israel – $ 24,608.41 –
Notable players in the money: Michiel Van Elsacker “Easterdamnz” (15th), Belarmino De Souza (20th), Justin Park “RockyRagoo” (21st), Simon Klas Lofberg (26th), Kilian Loeffler “Birdie Power” (28th), Thai Ha (32nd), Mike Leah (38th), Sorel Mizzi (52nd), Joao Vieira (65th), Rui Ferreira (71st), Stephen Chidwick (82nd), and Mike McDonald (121st).
WSOP #63: $500 Mini Main Event – Ivan Zufic “zufo16” – $ 843,460.48
Croatia got on board the WSOP bracelet ranking after Ivan Zufic “zufo16” outlasted the 2,055 final day players of the WSOP #63: $500 Mini Main Event. For his remarkable accomplishment, Zufic locked up a WSOP gold bracelet, a gigantic $ 843,460.48 first prize, and a WSOP Europe Package worth $ 15,000. He moved up to 3rd rank in the Player of the Series race.
Buy in: $ 500
Date: August 10 to 16
Guarantee: $ 5,000,000
Total Entries: 15,205
Total Prize Pool: $ 7,222,375
Final Day qualifiers: 2,055
ITM: 1,600 places
Running time: 16 hours and 1 minute
The Mini Main Event ran over 7 days, accumulating a tremendous 15,205 entries across 15 flights to absolutely demolish the $ 5M guarantee. In its place a richer $ 7,222,375 of which 1,600 profited. A long list of notable players walked away with a piece, however at the formation of the final table, only pro Daniel Neilson “BaccaratKing” was spotted. Neilson eventually bowed out in 3rd place for a robust $ 401,634.82 payout that usurped his previous high score of $ 392,935 earned back in 2011 EPT San Remo Main Event. Another known player was Fedor Kruse who came off a high roller side event win.
During the bubble round to the final table, with the game running for 14 hours, players were given the option of pausing once the final 9 was reached. However, not everyone agreed. The final table ran as planned, clocking in at two hours before Zufic closed it out.
Zufic entered with the lead having denied Peng Yang “FxxXp” in 10th place however it wasn’t until six handed did he start to pressure the table. Leading up to it, Suraj Mishra “M26GreenWood” faced off against Kruse in two hands that sent the Austrian packing up in 9th place. This gave Mishra the lead, though briefly as Daniel Saugspier “GiveUp1905” grabbed it after doubling up off Troy Mclean “iLOVEfantaxo” then railing Royal Pek “BlackPapayaa” (8th). Next out was Mclean, eliminated by Neilson with Kings dominating twos.
Six handed saw plenty of action with Zufic putting on the show. He lost a big pot against Mishra on a failed bluff. During the hand, Zufic pushed on the river 
that sent Mishra tanking for nearly two minutes. Mishra called for his tournament life then opened the winning hand 
to Zufic’s 
. Mishra rose to second rank just below Neilson. The loss didn’t seem to affect Zufic as he continued to pummel the table with river shoves and four bets that players were not willing to call. His aggro style earned him the chip lead again and grew further when he emptied out Derek Miller “XrayEyes” in 6th place.
Mishra busted Oleksii Kravchuk “Cold_play” (5ht) to claim his second casualty of the final table then proceeded to lose a big pot to Zufic. Mishra recouped it by taking down Saugspier next followed by Neilson. Mishra entered heads up slightly below Zufic in chips. It took only five minutes for the race to finish. The Croatian resumed his barrage of attacks and won a big pot with trips to two pair. He was up 4:1 when Mishra took one final stand with 
that was outflipped by Zufic’s 
on a board 
. India had to settle for only one merch today as the golden moment was for Croatia.
Final table payouts
1st Ivan Zufic “zufo16” – Croatia – $ 843,460.48 + $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package
2nd Suraj Mishra “M26GreenWood” – India – $ 586,157.12
3rd Daniel Neilson “BaccaratKing” – Australia – $ 401,634.82
4th Daniel Saugspier “GiveUp1905” – Germany – $ 275,199.93
5th Oleksii Kravchuk “Cold_play” – Ukraine – $ 188,566.82
6th Derek Miller – UK – $ 129,206.12
7th Troy Mclean – New Zealand – $ 88,531.87
8th Royal Pek – Singapore – $ 60,662.71
9th Fedor Kruse – Austria – $ 41,566.21
Notable players in the money (top 100): Vicent Bosca Ramon (18th), Connor Drinan (21st), Hun Wei Lee (78th), and Natural8 Team Hot Ambassador Niklas Ehrenholz “NikkyMouse” (85th).
WSOP #64: $840 Turbo Bounty NLH – Kartik Ved “Mandovi” – $ 234,433.37
2,207 gunners turned up for the WSOP #64: $ 840 Turbo Bounty No Limit Hold’em bracelet event and after six hours or so of play, India’s Kartik Ved emerged victorious to claim his first major win, the $ 131,461.47 first prize, and a shiny WSOP champion’s bracelet. In addition, Ved picked up an obscene amount in bounty rewards worth $ 102,971.90 to earn a combined total $ 234,433.37 for his largest career takedown. Ved became the first player from India to lift a gold at the online series, bringing the country’s overall tally to 6, the most by any Asian nation.
It was just a matter of time before India locked up one of the golds. Excluding the day’s games, eight players from the country had already graced the final table with Kunal Bhatia appearing twice. Another three were added to that list at Day 29, Naman Madan “pokermafiaa”, Suraj Mishra “M26GreenWood”, and Ved.
Ved was no stranger to the WSOP having cashed at 8 events through the years. His largest win was at the 2019 WSOP Main Event where he banked $ 173,015 for finishing 51st. This was his biggest score up until his triumph today.
Buy in: $ 840
Entries: 2,207
Prize pool: $ 1,765,600
ITM: 314 places
Running time: 6 hours and 13 minutes
Sizing up the final table, three decorated pros pulled up virtual seats – ring winner Felipe Ramos, double ring winner Timothy West “TMay420”, and bracelet winner Konstantin Maslak “makRUSgreaga”. Looking forward, four players went on to pocket their largest career cash – champion Kartik Ved “Mandovi”, Javier Fernandez Alonso “Marco_damme” (3rd), Dan Serban Borian “NeedLuck” (5th) who had no prior THM stats, and Ricardo Nascimento Da Silva “Sambalele” (8th).
The final table was a feast for Kartik Ved who entered as the shortest stack. Within minutes, Ved doubled up twice through Konstantin Maslak “makRUSgreaga” and Ricardo Nascimento Da Silva “Sambalele”. Chunked down, Da Silva busted in 8th place with Maslak on the receiving end. More shoves followed with Jon Clark “JPC123” paying Timothy West “TMay420”. This sent Clark tumbling in 6th place, just after Ved claimed his second victim in Felipe Ramos (7th). Ved continued to railroad the table, crippling then busting Dan Serban Borian “NeedLuck” (5th). in back to back hands to take the lead.
Next bust out happened on a three way showdown between Maslak 
, West , and Javier Fernandez Alonso “Marco_damme” 
. When the board bricked, Alonso scooped it up while simultaneously ending West in 4th place. Alonso earned another pot on a double up through Ved, this was Ved’s first showdown loss at the final table. On the next face off between them, the result would be the opposite. Alonso , Ved 
, the board favored Ved running 
.
Heads up against bracelet winner Maslak was to be Ved’s toughest hurdle. Despite sitting on a 6:1 chip advantage, action was dominated by the Russian pro. Maslak doubled up twice to cut the gap then eventually jumped to a 2:1 lead. However, Maslak couldn’t close it out. Instead, both players tugged at the chip lead until Ved landed a double up with K-Q dominating K-8. Immediately after, Ved shipped it with Maslak shoving 
, Ved calling with 
, the final board came 
.
Final table payouts
1st Kartik Ved “Mandovi” – India – $ 131,461.47 + $ 102,971.90 = $ 234,433.37
2nd Konstantin Maslak “makRUSgreaga” – Russia – $ 94,520.60 + $ 24,270.31 = $ 118,790.91
3rd Javier Fernandez Alonso “Marco_damme” – Andorra – $ 67,961.12 + $ 11,534.37 = $ 79,495.48
4th Timothy West “TMay420” – USA – $ 48,864.65 + $ 8,093.75 = $ 56,958.40
5th Dan Serban Borian “NeedLuck” – Moldova – $ 35,134.02 + $ 22,848.43 = $ 57,982.45
6th Jon Clark “JPC123” – UK – $ 25,261.67 + $ 11,531.25 = $ 36,792.92
7th Felipe Ramos – Brazil – $ 18,163.34 + $ 6,012.50 = $ 24,175.84
8th Ricardo Nascimento Da Silva “Sambalele” – Brazil – $ 13,059.52 + $ 16,884.37 = $ 29,943.89
Notable players top 100 in the money: Kilian Loeffler “BirdiePower” (10th), Patrick Kennedy “Muddington” (15th), Alessandro Valli “EdgarDavids” (21st), Asi Moshe “MechBearCat” (27th), Jinho Hong (68th), Kosei Ichinose (81st), Daniel Negreanu (85th), Martijn Gerrits “visacard” (96th), Jeffrey Cormier “allin donk” (100th).
Open: WSOP #77: $ 5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event [ $25M GTD ]
The Main Event is here! Year after year, players flock to Las Vegas with dreams of winning a bracelet, however no gold is more desired than that of the WSOP Main Event. This year’s edition guarantees a staggering $ 25 Million, the largest ever in online poker. The hunt for the 51st champion has begun with one flight completed. 99 advanced out of 464 players. Fedor Kruse, Nicolas Chouity, Kilian Loeffler “Birdie Power”, and Natural8 Team Hot Ambassador Pete Chen were among the Day 2 qualifiers. Freezeout entry flights run daily until August 30. Players are allowed only three bullets with no same flight re-entry offered.
Buy in: $ 5,000
Guarantee: $ 25,000,000
Entry Dates: August 16 to August 30
Cumulative Entries: 464
Final Day qualifiers: 99
Entry flights: 21 remaining
Day 2: August 30 @ 18:30 UTC [ play down to final 40 players ]
Final Day: September 7 @ 18:30 UTC
Top 15 in chips
Open: WSOP #71: BIG 50 [ $1M GTD ]
At the 50th anniversary of the series last year, the BIG 50 [ $1M GTD ] event was introduced. Due to its incredible draw of 28,371 entries, it was given a spot at this year’s roster. With this year’s buy in lowered to $ 50, it is the cheapest of all the bracelet events. An enormous field is expected as proven by the massive 4,199 turnout of Flight A. 14 flights remain to qualify.
Buy in: $ 50
Guarantee: $ 1,000,000
Cumulative Entries: 4,199
Final Day qualifiers: 385
Entry Dates: August 16 to 23
Entry Flights: 14 remaining
Final Day: August 23 @ 18:30 UTC / August 24 @ 02:30 HKT
Top 15 in chips
Update: WSOP Leaderboard
In addition to striving for the WSOP gold bracelet is the esteemed Player of the Series title. For the first time, three types of POS titles will be awarded. The ultimate leaderboard champion will win the WSOP Pure Gold Mouse, the WSOP Pure Gold Dragon will be awarded to the Asia Player of the Series – highest points accrued on the Asia Time Zone events -, and the exclusive Pure Gold Card to be given to leaderboard finishers 2nd to 5th. Current standings after 30 completed events.
WSOP 2020 Online Leaderboard – Top 10
WSOP 2020 Online Leaderboard [ Asia Time Zone Events ] – Top 10
WSOP SIDE EVENTS
WSOP Side Event: $3,150 Bounty King [ High Roller ] – Fedor Kruse – $ 237,281.84
The first WSOP Side Event: $3,150 Bounty King [ High Roller ] event hit the felt with a guaranteed half a million dollars attached. 324 top notch players came out for the killing to amass a juicy $ 972,000 pot. A few minutes shy of nine hours, Fedor Kruse won it for $ 90,551.35. Kruse also axed an obscene number of players to collect $ 146,730.49 in bounty rewards. To give you an idea of the enormity of that figure, the second highest player in bounties was Dario Sammartino with $ 64,101.56 collected. In total, Kruse shipped a combined $ 237,281.84.
Buy in: $ 3,150
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 500,000
Entries: 324
Prize pool: $ 972,000
ITM: 47 places
Winner: Fedor Kruse – Austria – $ 90,551.35 + $ 146,730.49 bounties = $ 237,281.84
WSOP Side Event: $500 Sunday Deepstack – Sebastian Sikorski – $ 94,581.05
Buy in: $ 500
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 300,000
Entries: 1,260
Prize pool: $ 598,500
ITM: 170 places
Winner: Sebastian Sikorski “Mustlaaaveit” – Canada – $ 94,581.05
WSOP Side Event: $210 Bounty Starter
Buy in: $ 210
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 75,000
Entries: 575
Prize pool: $ 115,000
ITM: 80 places
Winner: Pok3rGuy88 – Canada – $ 18,702.80
WSOP Side Event: $125 Super Turbo 6 Handed – Gab Yong Kim – $ 16,981.24
Entering the final table of the $ 125 Super Turbo 6 Handed, every player was short stacked with Maksym Klopotok “Romeopro1” as chip leader with 9.6 BBs. Player “PROLUCK927” busted on the first hand. Shortly after, the remaining 8 players opted on an 8-way deal. Gab Yong Kim “genbengLee” went on to win the shove fest. genbengLee also had the lead at the deal to earn the largest payout.
Buy in: $ 125
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 100,000
Entries: 1,6163
Prize pool: $ 185,495
ITM: 224 places
Winner: Gab Yong Kim “genbengLee” – Korea – $ 16,981.24 (8 way deal)
WSOP Side Event: $315 Bounty King
Buy in: $ 315
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 500,000
Entries: 2,690
Prize pool: $ 807,000
ITM: 367 places
Winner: Justin Park “RockyRagoo” – USA – $ 91,142.14
WSOP Side Event: $250 Sunday Double Stack
Buy in: $ 250
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 500,000
Entries: 2,863
Prize pool: $ 658,490
ITM:
Winner: thehulk – India – $ 85,526.04 (heads up deal)
2nd cs44444 – China – $ 78,137.87 (heads up deal)
OTHER RESULTS
GGMasters $150, $500K GTD – scrabbleking – $ 90,735.76
Buy in: $ 150
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 500,000
Entries: 4,614
Prize pool: $ 636,732
ITM: 755 places
Winner: scrabbleking – Germany – $ 90,735.76
Final Table: High Roller Super MILLION$ $10K, $2M GTD
Buy in: $ 10,000
Date: August 16
Guarantee: $ 2,000,000
Entries: 208
Prize pool: $ 2,017,600
ITM: 31 places
Final table players
Remaining Payouts
1st $ 392,925.11
2nd $ 293,555.35
3rd $ 219,316.14
4th $ 163,851.71
5th $ 122,414.24
6th $ 91,455.99
7th $ 68,327.03
8th $ 51,047.49
9th $ 38,137.68
KEY EVENTS
WSOP #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP [ $10M GTD ]
For the high rollers and deep pocketed no title is more coveted than this one, the No Limit Hold’em Poker Player Championship. Expect the biggest names in poker in attendance. If you have $ 25,000 to burn, this is the event to wage your skills against the creme de la creme.
Buy in: $ 25,000
Date: August 23 @ 18:00 UTC
Guarantee: $ 10,000,000
Notes: 2 day event
WSOP #84: $100 WSOP MILLIONS [ $2M GTD ]
Buy in: $ 100
Guarantee: $ 2,000,000
Entry Dates: August 31 to September 6
Entry Flights: 26 offered
Final Day: September 5 @ 18:00 UTC / September 6 @ 02:00 HKT
WSOP #83: $10K WSOP Super MILLION$ [ $5M GTD ]
Buy in: $ 10,000
Date: September 6 @ 18:00 UTC / September 7 @ 02:00 HKT
Guarantee: $ 5,000,000
Note: 2 day event
Other Games
For those looking to enter bracelet events for cheap, the WSOP Silk Road is your route. Daily tickets can be won until August 31. Alek Stasiak “astazz” earned his seat to WSOP #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief via a $10 qualifier which bought him a seat in the $100 satellite to the above-mentioned bracelet event which he shipped for $ 343.2K. For non- bracelet events, several WSOP side events are scheduled with buy-ins from $125 to $800.
Natural8 Promos
For players signed up on Natural8, expect fantastic player incentives. WSOP Online champions Luis Assuncao Garla “Xapilskinha”, Daniel Dvoress, Hun Wei Lee, Teoh Ming Juen “Paul Teoh”, Shoma Ishikawa “pp_syon”, and Marcelo Jakovjlevic Pudla “Marolo” have already won a Team Bling Sponsorship package for their incredible achievement. Other promos are the First Deposit Bonus and WSOP Silk Road leaderboard race. 25 days left to avail of the promos!
WSOP Winner’s Circle Sponsorship Packages
Main Event = $100,000 Natural8 Sponsorship*
Win the WSOP Main Event and you’ll not only become a part of Team Bling, you’ll be the CAPTAIN of the team. This exclusive package includes:
12 month Team Bling Sponsorship
$15,000 Las Vegas Package ($10,000 to cover your buy-ins and $5,000 for expenses)
$25,000 for live event sponsorships
T$60,000 in online sponsorships, paid out over 12 months
Buy-ins of $1,000 and above = $15,000 Natural8 Sponsorship*
Win a WSOP Bracelet from any event with a buy-in of $1,000 and above, and you’ll get a Team Bling package that includes:
6 month Team Bling Sponsorship
$15,000 Las Vegas Package ($10,000 to cover your buy-ins and $5,000 for expenses)
Buy-ins from $50 to $999 = $7,500 Natural8 Sponsorship*
Win a WSOP Bracelet from any event with a buy-in of $999 and below, and you’ll get a Team Bling package that includes:
6 month Team Bling Sponsorship
$7,500 Las Vegas Package ($5,000 to cover your buy-ins and $2,500 for expenses)
WSOP First Deposit Bonus
First time depositors on Natural8 can expect a special bump in the load. For a minimum deposit of $20 are gifts worth up to $ 100 over six consecutive days. The initial $ 60 in WSOP tickets – WSOP Satellite and WSOP Spin & Gold, another $ 40 in WSOP tickets for those that complete all 6 AoF challenges of 100 AoF hands per day.
WSOP Silk Road
The WSOP Silk Road Micro Series has been ongoing since July 1st and will run until August 31st. This is for players looking to enter bracelet events for cheap. And seriously, who wouldn’t want to win a multi million event for as low as $ 1.08? Via this route, buy-ins only go as high as $ 21.60. Top the Natural8 Silk Road Leaderboard to win an instant ticket to the WSOP #77: $5,000 Main Event [ $25M GTD ].
Plenty of action still to come so stick with us at Somuchpoker as we bring you daily updates on the ongoing 2020 WSOP Online on Natural8.
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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