Canada’s Jim Lefteruk “grousegrind” emerged from obscurity after locking up the coveted gold at the WSOP #73: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed event. With no prior stats, this was Lefteruk’s first live career title and cash. He became the 41st champion of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online [ international ] and he didn’t even have to head to Las Vegas to capture it. At the side events, Andras Nemeth and BTC2zERO shipped the largest scores.
Next chance for a gold is at the WSOP #74: $ 1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event which takes place tonight at 18:00 UTC / August 28 @ 02:00 HKT. Not to be missed of course is the WSOP #77: $ 5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event [ $ 25M GTD ]. Entry flights are ongoing with 16 of 23 completed. 474 players have advanced out of 2,645 entries. Australian pro Kahle Burns leads the final day qualifiers with a 277.5 BB stack.
The 2020 WSOP Online [ international ] has been running since July 19th on Natural8 – GG Network. 41 bracelets have been claimed and a cumulative $ 82.1 million paid out. Only 13 bracelets are left! The series runs until September 6th. For first timers, make sure to sign up on Natural8 to avail of their fantastic promos and incentives. Read about it at the bottom of the page.
WSOP #73: $1K No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed – Jim Lefteruk “grousegrind” – $ 299,510.85
The WSOP #73: $1,000 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed event charged up with 2,202 entries for a handsome prize pool of $ 2,091,900. Only 314 earned a cut with Canada’s Jim Lefteruk “grousegrind” shipping the lion’s share of $ 299,510.85 and the added $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package. Of all the finalists, Lefteruk was the only player with no prior stats to be found marking this his first tournament win and first tournament score.
Buy in: $ 1,000
Entries: 2,202
Prize pool: $ 2,091,900
ITM: 314
Running time: 13 hours and 13 minutes
The final table lineup was armed with two bracelet holders – UK’s Patrick Kennedy “Muddington” and Argentinian pro Ivan Luca. Kennedy was well positioned as chip leader, trailed closely by India’s Anant Purohit “MisterPro” who was seeking a first career win and a second gold for India. Another live tournament pro on the round was Estonia’s Markku Koplimaa “ExVang” who was on his 9th cash this series.
The race to glory was brutal for entering chip leaders Kennedy and Purohit as both fell within the first hour and a half of play. After numerous double ups, with Purohit paying a costly one to Jim Lefteruk “grousegrind”, the latter jumped to a huge lead as Purohit plummeted. Several hands later, Lefteruk took the rest, ending India’s hope. Purohit was later followed by Kennedy (8th) whose pocket Jacks ran into Koplimaa’s pocket Kings.
Next to fall was Korea’s Seungmook Jung “7high” busting on a three-way that tripled up Jorge Abreu “bemjogadogg” and Andrii Derzhypilskiy “D0ntB1uffMe” taking the side pot. Six handed, Lefteruk expanded his lead further, amassing 40% of the chips in play that even after Koplimaa (6th) fell to Luca and Derzhypilskiy to Endrit Geci “YOUWILLLOSE”, he was still chip leader.
Lefteruk continued his ascent, eliminating Luca to deny the Argentian a second gold bracelet. With blinds at 200K-400K Luca limped from the button, sb Geci called, bb Lefteruk raised to 1.4M, called by both players. All checked the flop 
, the turn came 
, Lefteruk bet 1.4M, Luca called, Geci check-folded. On the river 
, Lefteruk pushed Luca who called for his tournament life with 
top two pair. Lefteruk scooped it with 
quads.
With his towering stack, Lefteruk went on to crush his final two challengers – Abreu (3rd) and Geci (2nd) – to capture his maiden career title and a gold bracelet to show for it. As for Abreu and Geci, they may have missed the gold but they did pick up their largest career score.
Final table payouts
1st Jim Lefteruk “grousegrind” – Canada – $ 299,510.85 + WSOP Europe Package
2nd Endrit Geci “YOUWILLLOSE” – UK – $ 223,977.85
3rd Jorge Abreu “bemjogadogg” – Portugal – $ 161,041.99
4th Ivan Luca – Argentina – $ 115,790.63
5th Andrii Derzhypilskiy “D0ntB1uffMe” – Ukraine – $ 83,254.27
6th Markku Koplimaa “ExVang” – Estonia – $ 59,860.55
7th Seungmook Jung “7high” – Korea – $ 43,040.21
8th Patrick Kennedy “Muddington” – UK – $ 30,946.10
9th Anant Purohit “MisterPro” – India – $ 22,250.49
Top 100 notable players in the money: Leon Sturm “FeelsGTOman” (10th), Ioannis Angelou-Konstas “BluffMeNot” (11th), Giovani Torre “Madjocka” (17th), Nicholas Chouity (23rd), Arnaud Enselme (26th), Belarmino De Souza (31st), Chi Chung Ho “chipuker” (36th), Joao Vieira (48th), Brian Green (49th), Anson Yan Shing Tsang “Tara@0z”, Ajay Chabra “Ross_Geller” (66th), Rui Ferreira (92nd), and Hun Wei Lee (101st).
Tonight: WSOP #74: $ 1,500 Pot Limit Omaha
Buy in: $ 1,000
Date: August 27 18:00 UTC / August 28 @ 02:00 HKT
Late registration: 210 minutes
Re-entries: 2 times
Notes: 6 Handed / 9 Handed (final table)
*$15,000 WSOP Europe Package added to 1st place
Up next: WSOP #75: $300 Double Stack No Limit Hold’em [ Asia ]
This is the last ASIA TIME ZONE event to accrue points towards the WSOP Asia Player of the Series race.
Buy in: $ 300
Date: Saturday, August 29 @ 20:00 HKT
Late registration: 210 minutes
Re-entries: 2 times
Open: WSOP #77: $ 5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event [ $25M GTD ]
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 WSOP Main Event champion is well underway with over half its starting flights in the books. 474 advanced out of 2,645 entries. Australian pro Kahle Burns continues to set the bar high with a massive 277.5 BB stacked. Jonathan Dokler “Serenity” is ranked second with 204.4 BB. Among the newest final day qualifiers were: Erik Seidel, Ioannis Angelou-Konstas “BluffMeNot“, Rainer Kempe, Chris Moorman, and Alessandro Valli “EdgarDavids”.
Buy in: $ 5,000
Guarantee: $ 25,000,000
Entry Dates: August 16 to August 30
Cumulative Entries: 2,645
Final Day qualifiers: 474
Entry flights: 7 remaining
Day 2: August 30 @ 18:30 UTC [ play down to final 40 players ]
Final Day: September 7 @ 18:30 UTC
Top15 in chips
Also through via the previous flights were: Natural8 Team Hot Ambassadors Danny Tang, Pete Chen, and Niklas Ehrenholz “NikkyMouse”, Natural8 Team NLG pros Fedor Holz, Manig Loeser, and Stefan Schillhabel “Schilli33”, Asian bracelet winners Ji Young Kim, Wei Guo Liang “SPARK1207”, and Sung Joo Hyun “ArtePokerTV”, other notable players Christopher Puetz “RambaZamba”, Matthias Eibinger, Adrian Mateos, Sammy Farha, Samad Razavi “JejuKingCrab”, Shyngis Satubayev “somebodyelse”, Sam Greenwood, Calvin Lee, and David Tai.
Paused: WSOP #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP
Last Sunday, the WSOP #70: $ 25,000 NLH POKER PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP high roller bracelet event went from 407 entries down to the final 9. The race resumes on August 29 @ 18:00 UTC / August 30 @ 02:00 HKT where a six digit payout awaits the top two places and an additional $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package to the champion.
Leading in the pack is American pro Jason Koon whose extensive list of career achievements still lacks a WSOP victory. Throughout his career, Koon has cashed 43 times at the series, reaching the final table 10 times. The high roller crusher brings in a portfolio of $ 31.1 million in live tournament earnings with a largest score of $ 3,579,836 for his victory at the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Montenegro HK$ 1M No Limit Hold’em Short Deck.
Koon will have his hands full coming final day with fellow countryman Aram Zobian “Pusha T” looking to add a bracelet to match the ring he won at the 2019/2020 WSOP Circuit $ 215 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Deepstack on WSOP.com. Another famed American player is online superstar Chris Hunichen with well over $ 12.5 million in online earnings and over $ 8.1 million in the live scene. Then there is the short stacked Paulius Plausinaitis “ChickenBBQ” who has everything to gain. Plausinaitis is the only player who secured a seat via the discounted $1K Ultra Satellite Qualifier. Cards in the air in two days. Live broadcast on GGPoker.TV.
Buy in: $ 25,000
Guarantee: $ 10,000,000
Entries: 407
Prize pool: $ 10,000,000
ITM: 55 places
Final table: August 29 @ 18:00 UTC / August 30 @ 02:00 HKT
Notes: $15,000 WSOP Europe Package added to 1st place
Final table players by chip count
Jason Koon – USA – 7,863,055 – 49.1 BB
Shankar Pillai “Saquon” – USA – 6,875,234 – 43 BB
Christian Rudolph – Germany – 5,544,188 – 34.7 BB
Aram Zobian “Pusha T” – USA – 4,405,440 – 27.5 BB
Chris Hunichen – USA- 4,175,274 – 26.1 BB
Aleksejs Ponakovs – Latvia – 3,883,951 – 24.3 BB
Aliaksei Boika “BladeRunner1” – Montenegro – 3,297,276 – 20.6 BB
Paulius Plausinaitis “ChickenBBQ” – Lithuania – 2,905,555 – 18.2 BB
Brunno Botteon – Brazil – 1,750,027 – 10.9 BB
Remaining payouts
1st $ 1,800,290 + $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package
2nd $ 1,332,097
3rd $ 979,138
4th $ 719,700
5th $ 529,005
6th $ 388,837
7th $ 285,808
8th $ 210,079
9th $ 154,416
Among the players in the money were: Jack Salter (10th), Scott Seiver (15th), Stephen Chidwick (19th), Jacob Schindler (20th), Hun Wei Lee (30th), David Peters (32nd), Elio Fox (41st), Kartik Ved “Mandovi” (44th), Christopher Brewer (46th), Andras Nemeth (49th), Thai Ha (51st), and James Chen (52nd).
OTHER RESULTS
WSOP Side Event: $1,500 Deepstack – Andras Nemeth – $ 89,209.82
Buy in: $ 1,500
Date: August 26
Guarantee: $ 300,000
Entries: 336
Prize pool: $ 478,800
ITM: 47 places
Winner: Andras Nemeth – Hungary – $ 89,209.82
WSOP Side Event: $600 Six Handed Encore – BTC2zERO – 61,298.48
After railing Mark Herm “Beanboozled” in 3rd place, BTC2zERO gained the advantage entering heads up against UnKnownK1d. However, closing it out was a grind with UnKnownK1d proving to be a very difficult challenge. The half hour battle saw the lead switch hands once. When BTC2zERO regained with 
two pair to 
pair, BTC2zERO went on to win it.
Buy in: $ 600
Date: August 26
Guarantee: $ 150,000
Entries: 615
Prize pool: $ 350,550
ITM: 89 places
Winner: BTC2zERO – Canada – $ 61,298.48
2nd UnKnownK1d – Canada – $ 44,931.25
3rd Mark Herm “Beanboozled” – Brazil – $ 32,934.44
WSOP Side Event: $840 Bounty Hunter HR – Alessandro Valli “EdgarDavids” – $ 27,746.11
Buy in: $ 840
Date: August 26
Guarantee: $ 100,000
Entries: 148
Prize pool: $ 118,400
ITM: 20 places
Winner: Alessandro Valli “EdgarDavids” – Germany – $ 27,746.11
2nd Dejan Divkovic “Masterwin” – Canada – $ 13,533.26
WSOP Side Event: $84 Bounty Hunter – St1ll0nTop – $ 7,206.68
Back to back $84 Bounty Hunter wins for St1ll0nTop who took down the event two nights ago then again last night. Running hot, St1ll0nTop also shipped the network’s Daily Special $ 55 to collect a combined $ 23.5K in winnings.
Buy in: $ 84
Date: August36
Guarantee: $ 35,000
Entries: 513
Prize pool: 41,040
ITM: 71 places
Winner: St1ll0nTop – Malta – $ 7,206.68
WSOP Side Event: $200 Second Chance – Bagus Saputra “gingermoon” – $ 26,281.98
Buy in: $ 200
Date: August 26
Guarantee: $ 100,000
Entries: 849
Prize pool: $ 156,216
ITM: 116 places
Winner: Bagus Saputra “gingermoon” – Malta – $ 26,281.98
2nd AllinBluff79 – China – $ 19,264.19
WSOP Side Event: $400 Six Handed
Buy in: $ 400
Date: August 26
Guarantee: $ 100,000
Entries: 365
Prize pool: $ 137,240
ITM: 53 places
Winner: Richard Sladek “ZZZGoat” – Slovakia – $ 23,034.61 (heads up deal)
2nd Voiden11 – Germany – $ 20,520.34 (heads up deal)
WSOP Side Event: $250 Super Turbo 6 Handed
Buy in: $ 250
Date: August 26
Guarantee: $ 75,000
Entries: 511
Prize pool: $ 117,530
ITM: 71 places
Winner: PapiPapo – Mexico – $ 20,882.50
Update: WSOP Leaderboard
The race for the WSOP Player of the Series title and the Asia Player of the Series title are well underway. In store for the ultimate Player of the Series winners, overall leaderboard champion wins the WSOP Pure Gold Mouse, the Asia Player of the Series claims the WSOP Pure Gold Dragon, and the exclusive Pure Gold Card will be awarded to overall leaderboard finishers 2nd to 5th. Current standings after 40 completed bracelet events.
WSOP 2020 Online Leaderboard – Top 10
Canadian pro Daniel Dvoress continues to lead the overall race. Dvoress cashed in four events which included a victory at the WSOP #71: $ 1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER. Second ranked Alek Stasiak is not too far behind. Stasiak cashed in three events of which two were victories. He is the only player with two WSOP titles this series.
WSOP 2020 Online Leaderboard [ Asia Time Zone Events ] – Top 10
At the Asia POS, WSOP #55: HK$ 8,000 NLH Asia Championship winner Luis Eduardo Assuncao Garla “Xapilskinha” maintains pole position. Only one Asia Time Zone event remains to accrue points towards this race – WSOP #75: $300 Double Stack No Limit Hold’em [ Asia ] runs on August 29 at 8pm HKT.
UPCOMING KEY EVENTS
WSOP #79: $25,000 Heads Up NLHE [ 128 cap, no late reg ]
Buy in: $ 25,000
Entries: 128 cap
Late registration: N/A
Date: September 1 @ 18:00 UTC / September 2 @ 02:00 HKT
Semi Finals: September 5 @ 18:00 UTC / September 6 @ 02:00 HKT
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
Notes: 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. If you are interested in 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”, Marcelo Jakovjlevic Pudla “Marolo”, and Anson Yan Shing Tsang “Tara@0z” 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. 12 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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