Another four milestone victories at the 2021 World Series of Poker Online [USA leg] to bring the total number of series champions to 20. The newly minted players were all first time WSOP bracelet winners, Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka, James “DanFriel” Gilbert, Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani, and Sang “youngkoi” Lee. Both Gilbert and Lee pocketed a cool six digits. Lee shipped the WSOP #20: $3,200 NLH High Roller to claim the second highest payout of the series to date.
The ongoing series runs from July 1 to August 1 at online platform WSOP.com however the site is only accessible to players geo located in Nevada and New Jersey. Over US$ 11 Million has been paid out. Only 13 bracelet events remain. Check out our latest event recaps and select WSOP updated stats down below.
2021 WSOP Online bracelet events by the numbers
Cumulative prize pool: US$ 11,104,120
Cumulative entries: 17,001
Biggest winner: Justin “Jsaliba2” Saliba – US$ 253,800 (WSOP #15: NLH High Roller Freezeout)
Biggest field: WSOP #10: No Limit Hold’em – 1,517 entries
Biggest pot: WSOP #20: $3,200 NLH High Roller – US$ 948,840
Smallest field: WSOP #15: $5,300 NLH High Roller Freezeout – 188 players
Smallest pot: WSOP #16: PLO8 6-Handed – US$ 268,920
Most unique players: WSOP #11: NLH Ultra Deepstack – 1,078 unique players
First time bracelet winners: 17
Deepest run by non USA player: Manig “Ohio77” Loeser (Germany) – WSOP #2 champion
Second career bracelet won
Bryan “Pellepelle Piccioli – WSOP #12: NLH Turbo Deepstack
Ryan “Adopt_aDogg0” Leng – WSOP #13: NLH Freezeout
Allen “Acnyc718” Chang – WSOP #16: PLO8 6-Handed
Multiple final tables
Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – 4th (WSOP #4), 5th (WSOP #15), and 1st (WSOP #19)
Michael “helionic” Dyer – 9th (WSOP #6), 6th (WSOP #10), and 8th (WSOP #12)
Joon “jykpoker” Kim – 9th (WSOP #3) and 2nd (WSOP #8)
Kenneth “ACE710” Neri – 3rd (WSOP #9) and 8th (WSOP #6)
Aaron “WompDatTHomp” Thivyanathan – 3rd (WSOP #2) and 6th (WSOP #9)
Ye “YUAN365” Yuan – 3rd (WSOP #1) and 4th (WSOP #12)
Jonas “Puffin_Nails” Wexler – 9th (WSOP #13) and 5th (WSOP #14)
Joshua “Zeal1906” Ray – 3rd (WSOP #5) and 6th (WSOP #15)
Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka – 6th (WSOP #2) and 1st (WSOP #17)
Felix “madenspauwke” Vandeput – 2nd (WSOP # 11) and 4th (WSOP #18)
John “thirteen” Del Rossi – 5th (WSOP #8) and 3rd (WSOP #19)
John “Macallan25” Riordan – 7th (WSOP #15) and 8th (WSOP #20)
Christopher “Basile28” Basile – 2nd (WSOP #1) and 4th (WSOP #20)
Most cashes by series champion
Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – 9 cashes, 3 final tables
Final table berth by Asia Pacific players
Ye “YUAN365” Yuan – China – 3rd place (WSOP #1), 4th place (WSOP #12)
*Information based from WSOP.com, The Hendon Mob, PokerNews live reporting, and PokerNews Twitch.
WSOP #17: No Limit Hold’em 8-Max – Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka – US$ 75,371
The second No Limit Hold’em 8-Max event offered a more affordable price tag than its earlier version with buy in at US$ 400. This drew 747 players with 378 re-entering for 1,125 total entries, making it the seventh event pulling in over a thousand entries. 167 players shaved a piece of the US$ 405,000 prize pool. Minnesota’s Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka shipped it to bank the lion’s share US$ 75,371 and the coveted gold bracelet. This was Lapka’s largest career cash and first major triumph. This was also his second series final table; he finished 6th at the WSOP #2: No Limit Hold’em Monster Stack.
To seize the gold, Lapka faced some tough adversaries at the final table which included double bracelet winner Chance “BingShui” Kornuth, bracelet winner Jason “TheBigGift” Gooch, and ring winner Joseph “ShoeGoat” Walters. Both Walters and Gooch lost all their chips to Kornuth then Kornuth lost a coin flip to Uke “Ooopsmybad” Dauti to plunge to just 1 bb. Kornuth was soon out in 4th place. Within the ten minutes that followed, Lapka gained momentum, amassing half of the chips in play which he used to rail Eugene “Beratna” Kwak (3rd) with 
besting 
that missed. Heads up opened with Lapka backed by a 2:1 chip advantage which Dauti wasn’t able to overcome. On a final board 
, Lapka checked, Dauti shoved his 
nut flush, Lapka snap called with 
full house and locked up the gold. For runner up Dauti, this was his largest WSOP score of US$ 46,575.
Other notable players cashing in were WSOP series champions Jeremiah “freestylerr” Williams (13th), Donnell “Spreezy52” Dais (17th), and Ryan “Adopt_aDogg0” Leng (21st), select WSOP decorated players Tony “Panoramic” Dunst (32nd), Anthony “heheh” Zinno (40th), James Moore (102nd), and Jeff “NedrudRelyt” Madsen (129th), and pros Jesse ‘MrJesseJames” Sylvia (73rd), Almedin Imsirovic (117th), and Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani (123rd).
Date: July 17, 2021
Buy in: US$ 400
Entries: 1,125 (747 uniques, 378 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 405,000
ITM: 167 places
Final table payouts
1st Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka – USA – US$ 75,371
2nd Uke “Ooopsmybad” Dauti – USA – US$ 46,575
3rd Eugene “Beratna” Kwak – Canada – US$ 32,967
4th Chance “BingShui” Kornuth – USA – US$ 23,652
5th Jason “TheBigGift” Gooch – USA – US$ 17,172
6th Troy “troyrlee” Lee – USA – US$ 12,636 –
7th Joseph “ShoeGoat” Walters – USA – US$ 9,437
8th Brandon “Omni27” Ienn – USA – US$ 7,128
WSOP #18: NLH North American Open – James “DanFriel” Gilbert – US$ 137,570
Pennsylvania’s James “DanFriel” Gilbert crushed the final table of the WSOP #18: NLH North American Open to become the ninth player to bank six figures at the series. Gilbert topped the 756 entry field to pocket US$ 137,570. He also secured his first ever WSOP gold bracelet to match the circuit ring he won in December 2012.
This month has been fruitful for Gilbert who days prior placed 5th at the WPTDeepStacks Main Event in Las Vegas for US$ 139,180. His largest career score was at the 2015 WPT Borgata Championship Main Event in Atlantic City where he finished 2nd for US$ 434,598. Gilbert has over US$ 2.2 Million in The Hendon Mob tracked earnings with scores dating back to 2011.
Leading up to the final table, several multi WSOP bracelet winners were put to a halt namely, Kristen “krissyb24” Bicknell (12th), Chance “BingShui” Kornuth (14th), and Jonathan “Art.Vandelay” Dokler (20th). Bracelet winner Raman “Acrogum” Afanasenka who finished 3rd at the WSOP #13: No Limit Hold’em Freezeout was also denied in 13th place. When the final nine emerged, two time bracelet winner Tony “Panoramic” Dunst was the only bracelet decorated player who made the cut, plus two circuit ring winners, James “DanFriel” Gilbert and William “SWAGGYB” Corvino. Back for his second series final table was Belgium’s Felix “madenspauwke” Vandeput who earlier placed 2nd at the WSOP #11 No Limit Hold’em Ultra Deepstack.
The final table ran just over one hour and 20 minutes with Gilbert knocking out the last six players. At seven handed, Gilbert doubled up through Brett “furofakind” Shaffer with pocket Queens over pocket Jacks. From there, he held control all the way to the finish. In back to back hands, Gilbert railed Corvino (7th) then Francis “TennisPro75” Anderson (6th). With over forty percent of the chips at his disposal, he applied pressure with relentless shoves. Dunst took on the challenge and called holding 
however luck was on Gilbert’s side with improving to two pair on a board 
(hand pictured above). Vandeput was ousted next, then Brett “furofakind” Shaffer who laddered up his 3 bb stack to 3rd place. Ahead 117 bb to 24 bb, Gilbert faced Landon “ActionDealer” Tice for the title. Despite Tice’s attempts, he wasn’t able to dent the big stack. Tice finally pushed with King-Eight suited and was downed by Gilbert’s King-Ten offsuit. Tice placed 2nd for his largest WSOP cash of US$ 85,047. For the champion, it was a golden dream fulfilled and a six figure payout.
Notable players in the money: Jason “heybuddyyyyy” DeWitt (45th), Michael “miguelfiesta” Lech (47th), Ryan “BITC0iN” Riess (57th), Jeff “NedrudRelyt” Madsen (64th), Arkadiy “Crocofantos” Tsinis (68th), Daniel Chan (69th), Soheb Prbandarwala (76th), series WSOP #17 champion Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka (79th), Alex “RIP_Neiko” Rocha (84th), Nipun Java (88th), Alex “OrcinusOrca” Foxen (93rd), Greg Merson (96th), Ari Engel (107th), and Eric “Circleball” Baldwin (123rd).
Date: July 18, 2021
Buy in: US$ 1,000
Entries: 756 (524 uniques, 232 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 692,000
ITM: 126 places
Final table payouts
1st James “DanFriel” Gilbert – USA – US$ 137,570
2nd Landon “ActionDealer” Tice – USA – US$ 85,047
3rd Brett “furofakind” Shaffer – USA – US$ 59,512
4th Felix “madenspauwke” Vandeput – Belgium – US$ 42,281
5th Tony “Panoramic” Dunst – USA – US$ 30,448
6th Francis “TennisPro75” Anderson – USA – US$ 22,282
7th William “SWAGGYB” Corvino – USA – US$ 16,539
8th Daniel “DLAZ14” Lazrus – USA – US$ 12,456
9th Daniel “st0neydanza” Dagostino – USA – US$ 9,559
WSOP #19: PLO Crazy Eights 8-Handed – Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – US$ 92,598
After eight series cashes where he reached two final tables, Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani finally landed the golden win on his ninth deep run. Zamani topped the 507 entry field of WSOP #19: PLO Crazy Eights 8-Handed to lock up his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and the handsome US$ 92,598 first prize.
Taking a look at his vibrant poker career, Zamani has earned over US$ 3.16 Million in just THM tracked live and online winnings. His first live tournament cash was in 2014 but it wasn’t until three years later did he start collecting five figure payouts. In January 2019, Zamani stunned the poker world when he won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure US$ 25K buy in High Roller Event for a whopping six figure payout of US$ 895,110. To date, that remains his largest career score. The following year witnessed more good fortune. Zamani won the WSOPC Rio Las Vegas High Roller event to capture his first WSOP title and first circuit ring. Among his other deep runs was a victory in December 2020 at the Wynn High Rollers event for US$ 140,107, and earlier this month he finished 3rd at The Wynn Summer Classic $3,500 No Limit Hold’em for US$ 155,995.
Briefly reviewing his bracelet win, three WSOP decorated players joined Zamani at the final table namely, quadruple bracelet winner Loren “BabyJesus” Klein, bracelet winner Ryan “Joeyisamush” Depaulo, bracelet winner and six time ring winner Arkadiy “Crocofantos” Tsinis. Another strong contender was John “thirteen” Del Rossi who was on his second final table and Shawn “sHaDySTeeM” Stroke who carried in the biggest stack after having delivered a double knockout to Joseph “blueberry” Cheong (8th) and Kyle “Vin_Gambini” Bowker (9th). When the game proceeded, Zamani went on to deny Klein (7th), Depaulo (4th), and Del Rossi to face Stroke for the title. Zamani was slightly ahead in the count. The final hand was a cooler with Zamani 
, Stroke 
, and board 
.
Notable players in the money were Jason “TheBigGift” Gooch (14th), Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger (17th), Michael “miguelfiesta” Lech (18th), Alex “RIP_Neiko” Rocha (26th), Dan “Feeltheflow” Sindelar (28th), Anthony “heheh” Zinno (29th) who was on his 11th series cash, and Michael “helionic” Dyer (31st) who is tied with Zamani with three final tables each.
Date: July 19, 2021
Buy in: US$ 888
Entries: 507 (285 uniques, 222 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 405,600
ITM: 72 places
Final table payouts
1st Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – USA – US$ 92,598
2nd Shawn “sHaDySTeeM” Stroke – USA – US$ 57,068
3rd John “thirteen” Del Rossi – USA – US$ 38,978
4th Ryan “Joeyisamush” Depaulo – USA – US$ 27,094
5th “Bobbybaldwin” – USA – US$ 19,225
6th Arkadiy “Crocofantos” Tsinis – USA – US$ 13,872
7th Loren “BabyJesus” Klein – USA – US$ 10,221
WSOP #20: NLH High Roller – Sang “youngkoi” Lee – US$ 241,768
In a grueling one hour heads up battle that saw the chip lead switch multiple times, New Jersey’s Sang “youngkoi” Lee emerged victorious to deny eight time ring winner Daniel “juice” Buzgon the coveted title. Lee triumphed over a powerhouse field of 312 entries at the WSOP #20: $3,200 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event to land his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and a career high score of US$ 241,768. To date, he is the second largest series winner, just US$ 12K behind High Roller Freezeout champion Justin “Jsaliba2” Saliba.
Playing online seems to suit Lee quite well. Despite the challenges of last year’s games, Lee locked up his first ever circuit ring at the WSOP.com Super Circuit Series. Four months later, he nearly added a second WSOP title to his portfolio at the 2020 WSOP Online No Limit Hold’em event where he finished in 4th place. With this milestone victory, Lee has accrued over US$ 434K in WSOP winnings.
Briefly recapping the event, it drew 312 entries (221 uniques, 91 re-entries) to create a series high prize pool of US$ 948,840. Missing a piece of the pot were Phil “Lumestackin” Hellmuth, Alex “OrcinusOrca” Foxen, Daniel “DNegs” Negreanu, Kristen “krissyb24” Bicknell, Tony “Panoramic” Dunst, David “dwpoker” Williams, Chance “BingShui” Kornuth, and Taiwan’s Pete “PeteChen” Chen.
On the flipside, among the players that cashed outside of the final table were series champions Manig “Ohio77” Loeser, Ryan “Adopt_aDogg0” Leng, Gionni “COLDWARKID” Demers, and Jeremiah “freestylerr” Williams. Other noteworthy players profiting were Ryan “BITC0iN” Riess, Shankar “Burgersssss” Pillai, Yueqi “anoob” Zhu, Anthony “heheh” Zinno for his 12th series cash, Jeff “NedrudRelyt” Madsen for his ninth series cash, and Joseph “blueberry” Cheong who just missed the final table again, exiting in 11th place.
Joining ring winner Lee at the final table were several WSOP decorated players namely bracelet winner/ 2012 WSOP Main Event 5th placer Jeremy “Chipchecka” Ausmus, eight time ring winner Daniel “juice” Buzgon, double ring winners Christopher “Basile28” Basile and John “Macallan25” Riordan who were on their second series final table, and rising young star David “dehhhhh” Coleman who just a few days prior pocketed a career high live score of US$ 455K after falling in 2nd place to Daniel Negreanu at the PokerGO Cup US$ 50K No Limit Hold’em. With lucrative pay jumps, it took a lengthy two hours and 15 minutes for the champion to emerge with the top three players earning six digits. After Buzgon railed Basile (4th) and Coleman (3rd), he carried in the chip lead into the final duel. One hour later, it was Lee who shipped it with 
top pair over Buzgon’s pair on a board 
. (hand pictured above)
Date: July 20, 2021
Buy in: US$ 3,200
Entries: 312 (221 uniques, 91 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 948,840
ITM: 36 places
Final table payouts
1st Sang “youngkoi” Lee – USA – US$ 241,768
2nd Daniel “juice” Buzgon – USA – US$ 149,386
3rd David “dehhhhh” Coleman – USA – US$ 103,720
4th Christopher “Basile28” Basile – USA – US$ 71,990
5th Zachary “Kings702” Grech – USA – US$ 51,502
6th Jeremy “Chipchecka” Ausmus – USA – US$ 38,129
7th Caesar “MadMax” Mazzeo – USA – US$ 28,549
8th John “Macallan25” Riordan – USA – US$ 21,341
Remaining bracelet events
Only 13 WSOP bracelets events remain which includes the highlighted US$ 500 buy in No Limit Hold’em Grand Finale US$ 1 Million guaranteed, and the most expensive event of the series, the US$ 7,777 buy in No Limit Hold’em Lucky 7’s High Roller. Here’s a look at the remaining schedule.
July 21: WSOP #21: Pot Limit Omaha 6-Handed – US$ 600 buy in
July 22: WSOP #22: No Limit Hold’em Knockout – US$ 600 buy in
July 23: WSOP #23: No Limit Hold’em Turbo – US$ 500 buy in
July 24: WSOP #24: No Limit Hold’em Monsterstack – US$ 400 buy in
July 25: WSOP #25: NLH Lucky 7’s High Roller – US$ 7,777 buy in
July 25: WSOP #26: No Limit Hold’em The Big 500 Encore – US$ 500 buy in
July 26: WSOP #27: Pot Limit Omaha Championship – US$ 1,000 buy in
July 27: WSOP #28: NLH High Roller Championship – US$ 3,200 buy in
July 28: WSOP #29: NLH 8-Max Turbo Deepstack Championship – US$ 800 buy in
July 29: WSOP #30: NLH 6-Max Championship – US$ 600 buy in
July 30: WSOP #31: NLH Summer Saver – US$ 500 buy in
July 31: WSOP #32: No Limit Hold’em Championship – US$ 1,000 buy in
August 1: WSOP #33: NLH Grand Finale – US$ 1 MILLION guaranteed – US$ 500 buy in
2021 WSOP Online champions
WSOP #1: NLH The Big 500 Kick Off – Jose “deposit” Noboa – USA – US$ 105,161
WSOP #2: NLH Monster Stack – Manig “Ohio77” Loeser – Germany – US$ 104,313
WSOP #3: NLH Turbo Deepstack – Donnell “Spreezy52” Dais – USA – US$ 90,801
WSOP #4: NLH Super Turbo – Jeffrey “Steelvikes7” Hoop – USA – US$ 73,861
WSOP #5: NLH 8-Max – Jeremiah “freestylerr” Williams – USA – US$ 139,600
WSOP #6: NLH Deepstack – Tyler “ShipTheShip” Denson – USA – US$ 175,700
WSOP #7: NLH Lucky 7’s – Michael “Stiltwalk” Mercaldo – USA – US$ 123,574
WSOP #8: NLH Crazy Eights – Carlos “CarlosWelch” Welch – USA – US$ 124,369
WSOP #9: NLH 6-Max – Philip “wingsuiter” Beck – USA – US$ 81,534
WSOP #10: No Limit Hold’em – Michael “njnj17” Leib – USA – US$ 81,645
WSOP #11: NLH Ultra Deepstack – Vijay “Eclypzed” Para – USA – US$ 86,210
WSOP #12: NLH Turbo Deepstack – Bryan “Pellepelle Piccioli – USA – US$ 83,332
WSOP #13: NLH Freezeout – Ryan “Adopt_aDogg0” Leng – USA – US$ 108,654
WSOP #14: No Limit Hold’em – Gionni “COLDWARKID” Demers – USA – US$ 90,023
WSOP #15: $5,300 NLH High Roller Freezeout – Justin “Jsaliba2” Saliba – USA – US$ 253,800
WSOP #16: PLO8 6-Handed – Allen “Acnyc718” Chang – USA – US$ 61,934
WSOP #17: NLH 8-Max – Justin “LappyPoker” Lapka – USA – US$ 75,371
WSOP #18: NLH North American Open – James “Danfriel” Gilbert – USA – US$ 137,570
WSOP #19: PLO Crazy Eights 8-Handed – Martin “BathroomLine” Zamani – USA – US$ 92,598
WSOP #20: $3,200 NLH High Roller – Sang “youngkoi” Lee – USA – US$ 241,768
Stick with us at Somuchpoker as we bring you recaps and updates of the ongoing series. All times and dates are listed in Las Vegas, Nevada time.
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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