Romania’s Alexandru Papazian entered the final table of WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH as the only player decorated with a WSOP bracelet and proceeded to ship it to lock up gold #2. Also running deep were Bulgaria’s Nikola Minkov and Panama’s Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia, both players reaching their second final table. Check out our event recap, updated N8 leaderboards, and other festival stats down below.
The 2021 World Series of Poker Online [International] is down to its final week at online platform Natural8 [GG Network]. After 26 completed bracelet events, over US$ 58.3 Million was paid out. The MAIN EVENT is down to the final 9 players. We will have a Day 2 recap in our next post. There’s still time to join the champions and snag one of the last six bracelets with the festival running through September 12. For newcomers, make sure to sign up on Natural8 for added perks and exclusive prizes. You can read up on those incentives at the bottom of the page.
WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH – Alexandru Papazian – Romania – US$ 241,127
The WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH became the 21st event of the series to amass seven figures. The event attracted 1,579 players with 771 re-entering for a total of 2,350 entries and a prize pool of US$ 1,982,460. After two hours of final table play, Romania’s Alexandru Papazian defeated UK’s Tal Noach at heads up to clinch his career second gold bracelet and US$ 241,127.
Back in 2017, Papazian captured his first gold at this same event for a much larger US$ 888,888 payout. He is the only player from Romania to win at any of the WSOP bracelet series. However his biggest score was for his victory at the 2016 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final High Roller event, raking in € 1,197,000 (~US$ 1,381,500). Based on his stats on The Hendon Mob, Papazian is the highest tournament earner from Romania with over US$ 4 Million in live and online tracked earnings.
Event recap
Day 1 ran the maximum 32 levels. Among the Asia Pacific players that profited were Tarun “AreYouAhead” Goyal (46th), Fang “nanafish” Wang 959th), Neel Joshi (76th), Hongru “FNGGGG” Zhang (77th), Terry “Terryboom” Nguyen (107th), Edward “edyam1” Yam (110th), Jongwook “Burffett” Lee (121st), Sumit “rung00se” Sapra (147th), Rahul Byrraju (148th), Vincent Li (151st), Chun Kit “Fathison” Leung (166th), Paul “Rahchan” Hong (179th), Ke “PKBmufeng” Song (194th), Dicky “Floatinworld” Tsang (200th), Sutthichi “Whattherules” Audhnun (254th), Seungyeol “TENOPPA” Kim, Qibing “degenkaliu” Wang (329th), and Abhinav “OBellaCiao” Iyer (358th).
Date: September 5 to 6
Buy in: US$ 888
Entries: 2,350 (1,579 uniques, 771 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 1,982,460
ITM: 395 places
Day 2 opened with 31 players led by Panama’s Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia and Romania’s Alexandru Papazian a close second. Rising out of the bottom ranks were Bulgaria’s Nikola Minkov and Japan’s Takumi “TTAAKK_SHAARK” Samejima. Minkov raced from the 28th spot with just 10 BB up to 7th place for US$ 42,878. Samejima went from 27th rank with 11 BB to 17th place for US$ 9,399. Samejima’s last hand was 
pair falling to George “Kacicka” Sandford’s 
straight and Tal Noach’s 
set on a board 
. (Hand pictured below)
At the final two tables, Minkov booted two players, Alireza Fatehi (15th) and Sandford (12th), Russia’s Aleksey “somebody444” Churbanov landed three double ups including a lucky one against Brazil’s Igor “AMilhao” Thiesen with 
spiking the two to survive 
. The final nine emerged at the fall of Brazil’s Danilo “Olag” Gomes to USA’s Patrick “CocoTheDog” Mahoney with 
pair beating 
on a board 
.
With the bust, Mahoney carried in the chip lead which was more than double that of third ranked Papazian. Papazian was the only player sporting a WSOP bracelet while Minkov and Pernia were on their second final table, both players were at the finals of THE BIG 500.
The final table lasted two hours. Within the first half hour, Mahoney crossed over 100 BB after eliminating Pernia in 9th place with over 
. The next bust came another half hour later with Peru’s Cristian Yoshiaki Paco “Peitodeperu” Nagaki knocking out Thiesen with dominating . Mahoney claimed his second knockout, dusting Minkov in 7th place with two pair over 
on a board 
. This gave Mahoney a massive 104 BB stack with average stack at 39 BB. His closest challenger was Israel’s Tal Noach with 35 BB.
At six handed, the shorter stacks began to rise. Papazian and Uruguay’s Santiago Varela “La Papualda” Gonzales doubled up through Mahoney. Papazian’s 
improved further to a full house on a board 
to dust Mahoney’s 
. This sent Papzian zooming from 5th rank to second rank. Santiago followed with 
overpair all in on a flop 
, Mahoney with 
top pair. The turn was 
and river 
. Mahoney dropped to 4th rank while Gonzales soared to the top, edging Papazian by 5 BB.
The next three showdowns were delivered by Noach to take his turn up top. His first victim was Churbanov with 
counterfeited on a board 
for ace to play. Noach railed Mahoney in 5th place with over , then minutes later, he cleaned out the ailing Nagaki with 
dominating . Heads up came after Papazian won two huge pots, one against Noach and the other that sent Gonzales down to 8 BB. Noach took the rest.
The final hunt kicked off with Papazian ahead 81 BB to Noach’s 36 BB, Papazian proceeded to win the first six pots. By the 12th hand, Noach was still backed by a decent 33 BB when he engaged in a big pot that led to his end on a failed bluff. With blinds at 250K – 500K ante 120K, Papazian min-raised, Noach called. On the flop 
, Noach check-raised from 699,600 to make it 2.6M, Papazian called. On the turn 
, Noach fired 3.66M, Papazian called again, then on the river 
, Noach shoved his remaining 9.4M stack, Papazian tank called. Noach showed 
bluff, Papazian shipped it with 
two pair to seize his career second WSOP gold. For Noach, Gonzales, and Nagaki, each one picked up career high six figure payouts.
Final table payouts
1st Alexandru Papazian – Romania – US$ 241,127
2nd Tal Noach – Israel – US$ 180,818
3rd Santiago Varela “La Papualda” Gonzales – Uruguay – US$ 135,594
4th Cristian Yoshiaki Paco “Peitodeperu” Nagaki – Peru – US$ 101,681
5th Patrick “CocoTheDog” Mahoney – USA – US$ 76,250
6th Aleksey “somebody444” Churbanov – Russia – US$ 57,179
7th Nikola Minkov – Bulgaria – US$ 42,878
8th Igor “AMilhao” Thiesen – Brazil – US$ 32,154
9th Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia – Panama – US$ 24,112
Final week bracelet events
September 7: WSOP #28: $2,100 Bounty Championship No Limit Hold’em
September 9: WSOP #29: $1,500 FIFTY STACK No Limit Hold’em
September 11: WSOP #30: $525 WSOP Beat the Pros [Freezeout]
Phased Events – Day 1 flights running
September 12: WSOP #31: ¥815 WSOP Zodiac Autumn Festival [Final Day]
September 12: WSOP #32: $210 WSOP Bounty Double MILLIONS [Final Day]
September 12: WSOP #33: $500 The Closer [Final Day]
2021 WSOP Online bracelet events stats
WSOP #1 – #26 prize pool: US$ 58,362,936.10
Seven figure prize pools: 21 events
Cumulative entries: 91,610
First time bracelet winners: 21
Natural8 champions: 3
Million dollar payouts: 2
Multiple final tables: 17 players
Deepest run by Asian player: Keun Woo “POLALIFE!” Lee – Korea – 1st place at WSOP #12: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No Limit Hold’em
Fields and Prize Pools
Largest phased field: WSOP #1: $50 The Return NLH – 30,810 entries
Largest one day entry field: WSOP #5: $315 Bounty Deepstack NLH – 2,989 entries
Biggest pot (phased): WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – US$ 7,747,725
Biggest pot (single day entry): WSOP #21: $25,00 Super High Roller Championship NLH – US$ 6,247,500
Smallest field: WSOP #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship – 144 entries
Smallest pot: WSOP #9: $400 DOUBLE CHANCE PLO – US$ 366,600
2021 WSOP Online Champions
WSOP #1: $50 The Return NLH – Bartlomiej “Chester20o” Swieboda – Poland – US$ 161,110
WSOP #2: $1,111 Caesars Cares Charity Event – Joao Simao – Brazil – US$ 206,075
WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship – Nicolo Molinelli – Italy – US$ 88,461
WSOP #4: $800 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH – Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo – Brazil – US$ 161,636
WSOP #5: $315 Bounty Deepstack No Limit Hold’em – Kacper Pyzara – Poland – US$ 79,789
WSOP #6: $200 FLIP & GO No Limit Hold’em – Georgios Sotiropoulos – Greece – US$ 117,022
WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – Eduardo Pires – Brazil – US$ 1,384,013
WSOP #8: $5,000 6-Handed NLH Championship – Daniel Smiljkovic – Germany – US$ 423,426
WSOP #9: $525 Superstack Turbo Bounty NLH – Lucio “WizardOfAz” Lima – US$ 91,204
WSOP #10: $400 DOUBLE CHANCE PLO – Roland “Quina Quen” Czika – Hungary – US$ 55,369
WSOP #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller – Erik Seidel – USA – US$ 977,842
WSOP #12: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No Limit Hold’em – Keun Woo “POLALIFE!” Lee – Korea – US$ 635,575
WSOP #13: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship – Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas – Lithuania – US$ 268,926
WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500 – Renan Carlos Bruschi – Brazil – US$ 150,326
WSOP #15: $10K Heads Up NLH Championship – Arthur Conan – France – US$ 466,167
WSOP #16: $1,050 WSOP GGMasters HR Freezeout NLH – Samuel Vousden – Finland – US$ 274,519
WSOP #17: $400 PLOSSUS [Bounty] – Gabi “kidrurim” Livshitz – Israel – US$ 152,165
WSOP #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship – Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov – Russia – US$ 169,110
WSOP #19: $840 6 Handed Bounty No Limit Hold’em – Andrii Derzhypilskyi – Ukraine – US$ 154,322
WSOP #20: $1,500 Monster Stack NLH Freezeout – Eduardo Cappellaro “Ghazbaran” Rodrigues – Brazil – US$ 212,815
WSOP #21: $25,000 Super High Roller Championship NLH – Alexandros Theologis – Greece – US$ 1,212,032
WSOP #22: $400 COLOSSUS – Armando D’avanzo – Italy – US$ 409,007
WSOP #23: $600 Deepstack Championship NLH – Nuno “Albertov” Capucho – US$ 190,273
WSOP #24: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha – Dmitry Yurasov – Russia – US$ 92,710
WSOP #25: #777 LUCKY SEVENS 7-Handed NLH – David “Z0NEDin” Jackson – USA – US$ 194,178
WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH – Alexandru Papazian – Romania – US$ 241,127
Seven figure prize pools
WSOP #1: $50 The Return NLH – US$ 1,417,260
WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event – US$ 1,759,824
WSOP #4: $800 Double Chance NLH – US$ 1,248,680
WSOP #6: $200 FLIP & GO No Limit Hold’em – US$ 1,209,920
WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – US$ 7,747,725
WSOP #8: $5,000 6-Handed NLH Championship – US$ 2,275,250
WSOP #9: $525 Superstack Turbo Bounty NLH – US$ 1,114,500
WSOP #11: $1,000 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH – US$ 5,599,300
WSOP #12: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller NLH – US$ 6,052,800
WSOP #13: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship – US$ 1,268,250
WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500 – US$ 1,253,525
WSOP #15: $10K Heads Up NLH Championship – US$ 1,561,700
WSOP #16: $1,050 WSOP GGMasters HR Freezeout NLH – US$ 2,240,000
WSOP #17: $400 PLOSSUS – US$ 1,738,880
WSOP #19: $840 6 Handed Bounty No Limit Hold’em – US$ 1,642,000
WSOP #20: $1,500 MONSTER STACK NLH, Freezeout – US$ 1,539,000
WSOP #21: $25,00 Super High Roller Championship NLH – US$ 6,247,500
WSOP #22: $400 COLOSSUS – US$ 4,099,528
WSOP #23: $600 Deepstack Championship NLH – US$ 1,607,400
WSOP #25: #777 LUCKY SEVENS 7-Handed NLH – US$ 1,486,634.10
WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH – US$ 1,982,460
Ninth career bracelet won
Erik Seidel – USA – WSOP #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller
Second career bracelet won
Nicolo Molinelli – WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship
Georgios Manousos Sotiropoulos – WSOP #6: $200 FLIP & GO No Limit Hold’em
Dmitry Yurasov – WSOP #24: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha
Alexandru Papazian – WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH
Seven figure payouts
Eduardo Pires – WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – US$ 1,384,013
Alexandros Theologis – WSOP #21: $25,000 Super High Roller Championship NLH – US$ 1,212,032
Bracelets by Country
Brazil – 6
Poland – 2
Italy – 2
Greece – 2
Russia – 2
USA – 2
Germany – 1
Hungary – 1
Korea – 1
Lithuania – 1
Israel – 1
Finland – 1
Ukraine – 1
Portugal – 1
France – 1
Romania – 1
Multiple final tables
Stanislav Kuvaev
8th – WSOP #3: $2,500 Limit Hold’em Championship
5th – WSOP #9: $525 Superstack Turbo Bounty NLH
Renan Carlos Bruschi
2nd – WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship
1st – WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500
David “MPEW299” Wang
5th – WSOP #13: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship
8th – WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500
Joao Vieira
7th – WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship
2nd – WSOP #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship
Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao
2nd – WSOP #6: $200 FLIP & GO No Limit Hold’em
3rd – WSOP #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship
Giuseppe Dario Sammartino
5th – WSOP #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship
2nd – WSOP #20: $1,500 Monster Stack NLH Freezeout
Romain Jean “Flingue” Dours
6th – WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship
6th – WSOP #20: $1,500 Monster Stack NLH Freezeout
Karolis “Internecik” Sereika
7th – WSOP #19: $840 6 Handed Bounty No Limit Hold’em
9th – WSOP #20: $1,500 Monster Stack NLH Freezeout
Mark Radoja
9th – WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship
5th – WSOP #21: $25,000 Super High Roller Championship NLH
Rui Neves Ferreira
9th – WSOP #11: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller
7th – WSOP #21: $25,000 Super High Roller Championship NLH
Felipe Ramos
2nd – WSOP #12: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No Limit Hold’em
9th WSOP #23: $600 Deepstack Championship NLH
Yan Shing “Anson” Tsang
2nd – WSOP #8: $5,000 6-Handed NLH Championship
7th – WSOP #24: $1,050 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha
Arthur Conan
4th – WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500
1st – WSOP #15: $10K Heads Up NLH Championship
Lucio “Wizard0fAz” Lima
1st – WSOP #9: $525 Superstack Turbo Bounty NLH
5th – WSOP #25: $777 LUCKY SEVENS 7-Handed NLH
Michael Watson
3rd – WSOP #10: $400 DOUBLE CHANCE Pot Limit Omaha
4th – WSOP #25: $777 LUCKY SEVENS 7-Handed NLH
Nikola Minkov
5th – WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500
7th – WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH
Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia
7th – WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500
9th – WSOP #26: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS 8-Handed NLH
Natural8 Exclusive Promo results
Natural8 Team Bling Sponsorship Package winners
Joao Simao – WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event – US$ 10,000 Sponsorship
Eduardo Augusto Pires – WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – US$ 10,000 Sponsorship
Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas – WSOP #13: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship – US$ 10,000 Sponsorship
Natural8 WSOP 2-in-1 Challenge winners
Week 1
“Masukito83” – Dominican Republic – US$ 823.61
“DanielTsai” – Taiwan – US$ 597.12
“LotusFocus” – India – US$ 433.33
Week 2
Wai Yew “wong0410” Wong Malaysia – US$ 851.94
Richard Gryko – Canada – US$ 624.04
“All6886” – Vietnam – US$ 457.42
Week 3
Jonathan Katz – Argentina – US$ 851.94
“Flip888” – Hong Kong – US$ 624.04
“PhilIveyBrother” – Vietnam – US$ 457.42
Week 4
“Alexander800” – Taiwan – US$ 841.51
“IMEMYSELF” – India – US$ 616.58
“Kachikaku” – Japan – US$ 451.95
Natural8 WSOP Amazing Race Leaderboard update
Asia Pacific
Joshua McCully – New Zealand – 8,483.44 points
Vincent “Moist” Huang – New Zealand – 4,140.24 points
Luke “Imar54” Martinelli – New Zealand – 4,012.35 points
David “MPEW299” Wang – Malaysia – 2,630.26 points
David Yan – Australia – 2,510.66 points
BeginAgain – New Zealand – 2,411.02 points
Latin America
Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto – Brazil – 8,437.90 points
Eduardo Augusto Pires – Brazil – 5,910.42 points
Marcelo Asensio – Brazil – 5,504.11 points
Luciano Santos de Hollanda – 5,201.51 points
Assad “KammyStyyle” Kamran – Argentina – 4,638.98 points
Allison Eleres – Brazil – 4,379.44 points
Daan “DaanOss” Mulders – Mexico – 4,169.51 points
Rest of World
Tomas “CoronaMyAss” Jozonis – Lithuania – 8,045.46 points
Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas – 7,479.82 points
Isaac Haxton – Canada – 6,781.16 points
Taiwan
Pete Chen – 4,553.06 points
Yen-liang “yao_poker” Yao – 2,847.70 points
“SuperB2000” – 1,397.42
Thailand
George Kitsios – 3,225.32 points
Sorakit “LuffyJd” Saengcharuern – 2,103.07 points
Jitlada “SpeedWrap” Boonnak – 1,193.66
Vietnam
Ahn Nguyen “LittleFishVN” Ngoc – 1,805.16 points
Van Phinh “QuiCoc” Nguyen – 1,308.9 points
“huethuong89” – 1,010.35 points
Japan
Kazuki “8809” Ikeuchi – 2,220.70 points
Takashi “IKAIKA” Ogura – 1,598.60 points
Hong Kong
Dicky Siu Hang “Floatinworld” Tsang – 6,049.12 points
Edward “edyam1” Yam – 2,530.92 points
India
Sriharsha “Upswinger” Doddapaneni – 5,458.26 points
Abhinav “OBellaCiao” Iyer – 2,584.69 points
Exclusive Natural8 promos
To give more value to your buck, Natural8 players can expect added incentives amounting to US$ 400,000 up for grabs running throughout the series. We’ve broken them down right here.
WSOP Team Bling Sponsorship
Win any of the 2021 WSOP Online bracelet events and you are assured entry to Team Bling along with one of these fine sponsorship packages listed:
Main Event = $100,000 Team Bling 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
$25,000 for live event buy in sponsorships
$5,000 to cover expenses
T$70,000 in online event sponsorships, paid out over 12 months
Buy-ins of $1,000 and above = $10,000 Team Bling 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
$7,500 for live event buy in sponsorships
$2,500 to cover expenses
Buy-ins from $50 to $999 = $5,000 Team Bling 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
$3,500 for live event buy in sponsorships
$1,500 to cover expenses
WSOP Amazing Race
Top the leaderboards to win a piece of the US$ 75,000 prize pool! There are nine leaderboards running throughout the series with varying prizes. Points can only be earned at bracelet events and WSOP side events. Three different LiveX packages up for grabs are listed:
US$ 5,000 LiveX Gold which includesUS$ 3,500 live event buy in sponsorship and US$ 1,500 in expenses.
US$ 3,000 LiveX Silver which includes US$ 2,000 live event buy in sponsorship and US$ 1,000 in expenses.
US$ 2,000 LiveX Bronze which includes US$ 1,500 live event buy in sponsorship and US$ 500 in expenses.
WSOP 2-in-1 Challenge
Win a share of US$ 30,000 via the WSOP 2-in-1 incentive. This unique perk is only offered in Natural8. To start off, play any of the WSOP bracelet events and WSOP side events to earn points. As written on the website,
“Take part in any WSOP Branded Tournaments to earn points and boost those points by playing in cash games. We’ll multiply the points you’ve earned by playing tournaments with the points from cash games to reveal your chipstack for the final WSOP 2-in-1 Challenge Flipout.“
Plenty of action ahead so stick with us at Somuchpoker as we bring you recaps of the ongoing 2021 WSOP Online [International] 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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