2021 WSOP Online [International]: Italy’s Armando D’avanzo ships the COLOSSUS for first gold bracelet; Kosuke Tajima runner up

Another bustling Sunday night with multiple bracelet events running simultaneously. Seeing the biggest crowd was the COLOSSUS event with 1,619 players returning for a shot at glory. After nearly ten hours of play, Italy’s Armando D’avanzo emerged victorious to capture his first ever WSOP title and gold bracelet. D’avanzo defeated Japan’s Kosuke “PXR-51” Tajima at heads up to bring Italy its second win this series. Also reaching the final table were India’s Tarun “AreYouAhead” Goyal and 2020 WSOP Main Event World Championship winner Damian Salas. Check out our recap, updated Natural8 leaderboards, and other festival stats down below.  

For those just tuning in, the 2021 World Series of Poker Online [International] is ongoing at online platform Natural8 [GG Network]. The festival kicked off on August 1 and runs through September 12. A total US$ 53M+ has been promised, and with roughly US$ 51.9M already collected, the festival guarantee will no doubt be smashed within the week. Plenty of cash yet to be won and 11 bracelets still up for grabs. One event not to be missed is the series’ headliner MAIN EVENT featuring a $20M guarantee. Day 1 flights are ongoing leading up to the final day on September 5. Buy in is US$ 5,000. 

For players signed up on Natural8, expect plenty of added perks and exclusive prizes. You can read up on those incentives at the bottom of the page or via this link:

Natural8 offers $400,000 incentive to play 2021 WSOP Online

WSOP #22: $400 COLOSSUS – Armando D’avanzo – US$ 409,007

The WSOP #22: $400 COLOSSUS phased event pulled in a sizable 10,903 entries (8,859 uniques, 2,044 re-entries) across sixteen Day 1 flights to crush the US$ 3M guarantee in exchange for a more attractive US$ 4,099,528 prize pool. After ten hours of grinding, Italy’s Armando D’avanzo shipped it for his first WSOP title, gold bracelet, and a career high score of US$ 409,007. Prior to this win, D’avanzo’s largest known score was for nearly ten times less. He won the WSOPC High Rollers $1,050 Daily Main side event last May for US$ 43,875. Additionally, D’avanzo sold 5% of his action which was scooped up by “5betforinfo” for a very sweet profit. 

Event recap

The final day kicked off with 1,619 players back on the saddle however only 1,100 earned a piece of the pot. Among the notable pros and Asia Pacific players in the top 150 ITM were Jacky Zhang (13th), Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto (16th), Li “MrLeeeee” Tao (28th), Syunta “Laplace_RED” Muramatsu (42nd), Qibing “degenkaliu” Wang (47th), Li-Ta “Kench” Hsu (52nd), “Gengiskhan89” (72nd), Hong Xun “SNIP-SNAP” Gan (74th), Joseph Cheong (73rd), Karolis “Internecik” Sereika (83rd), Hun Wei Lee (88th), Thanh Binh “XeKooVn” Nguyen (90th), Ryan Riess (100th), Abhishek “muckmuckgo” Goindi (106th), Daniel Dvoress (114th), Nguyen Sang (140th), and Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao (146th). 

Also in the money was WSOP #12: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No Limit Hold’em champion Keun Woo “POLALIFE!” Lee (40th). Lee was one of the event’s biggest movers. He started the day with just 15.7 BB and charged all the way up to the final five tables. Faring a bit better was Taiwanese pro / APL Ambassador Jack En Ching “Pizza Hut” Wu with a 33rd place finish. And taking it a little further in 21st place was “takuzam” who was the last Vietnamese player to fall. To form the final table, D’avanzo’s king on the flop outdrew Joachim Haraldstad’s . 

Sizing up the all international final table, the only WSOP decorated player was well known Argentinian pro Damian Salas who won the 2020 WSOP Main Event World Championship. Showing some decent scores as well was USA’s Kenneth Smaron with around US$ 1.7 Million in combined live and online earnings posted in The Hendon Mob. The rest were guaranteed to pick up their largest score no matter what they placed. Carrying in the biggest stack was Japan’s last hope, Kosuke “PXR-51” Tajima. 

Action kicked off with Brazil’s Diego “Shereka” Spataro chunking down Salas to just 6 bb with top pair over a missed draw. The pro managed to hang on for another ten minutes then lost it all to Tajima. With Salas’ departure, it meant a first time winner was destined for glory. However that moment was not to be for Spain’s Guillermo “Come on!!” Gordo who quickly followed out with top pair outdrawn by Mathieu “Le_C0lombbi1” Giabiconi’s that both paired up. 

The 7-handed table saw a mix of shoves, big pots, and the chip lead shift around the virtual felt. Romania’s Mirko “25Ezekiel17” Numerato had his turn up top when he railed both Giabiconi in 7th place with over , and short stacked Spataro in 6th place with two pair over brick. The last four eliminations were delivered by D’avanzo. 

Starting with Tarun “AreYouAhead” Goyal, India’s bid for the gold vanished when D’avanzo’s spiked the ten to dust Goyal’s . D’avanzo followed it up with a double up through Smaron with set burning overpair on a board . This gave D’avanzo amassed over half the chips in play while on the flip side, Smaron plunged to 1 BB which he was able to triple up only to lose it again to D’avanzo. 

At three handed, Tajima took stabs at D’avanzo’s stack and managed to shave it down though not enough to take the lead as D’avanzo railed short stacked Numerato in 3rd place with two pair on a board over top pair. 

Heads up kicked off with D’avanzo up 84 BB to Tajima’s 39 BB. Half an hour in, Tajima cut the gap to a 2 BB difference. D’avanzo answered with a huge river bluff bet to scoop up a big pot (hand pictured above). A few minutes after, it was all over. On a flop , both players engaged in heavy bets leading to all their chips out front. D’avanzo had flush, Tajima needed help with his . The turn and river sealed the win for D’avanzo to become the newest WSOP bracelet champion. 

Date: August 22 to 29
Buy in: US$ 400
Guarantee: US$ 3,000,000
Entries: 10,903 (8,859 uniques, 2,044 re-entries)
Final Day players: 1,619
Prize pool: US$ 4,099,528
ITM: 1,100 places

Final table payouts

1st Armando D’avanzo – Italy – US$ 409,007
2nd Kosuke “PXR-51” Tajima – Japan – US$ 306,706
3rd Mirko “25Ezekiel17” Numerato – Romania – US$ 229,997
4th Kenneth Smaron – USA – US$ 172,474
5th Tarun “AreYouAhead” Goyal – India – US$ 129,337
6th Diego “Shereka” Spataro – Brazil – US$ 96,989
7th Mathieu “Le_C0lombbi1” Giabiconi – France – US$ 72,731
8th Guillermo “Come on!!” Gordo – Spain – US$ 54,541
9th Damian Salas – Argentina – US$ 40,900

Open: WSOP #27: $5,000 MAIN EVENT, $20M GTD

The WSOP #27: $5,000 MAIN EVENT Online Championship is underway with 17 qualifying heats leading up to the final day on September 5. Last year, this event generated a massive 5,802 entries for a record breaking US$ 27,559,000 online tournament prize pool. This year’s edition will see the buy in remain at US$ 5,000 with a US$ 20,000,000 guarantee in tow. Only three Day 1 buy ins maximum permitted per player and same day re-entry is not allowed. Last chance to qualify for the Final Day is on September 5. 

Day 1 flights: August 22 to September 5
Buy in: US$ 5,000
Guarantee: US$ 20,000,000
Final Day: September 5

2021 WSOP Online bracelet events stats

WSOP #1 – #22 prize pool: US$ 51,973,182
Cumulative entries: 83,530
Seven figure prize pools: 18

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

First time bracelet winners: 17
Natural8 champions: 3 
Multiple final tables: 8 players 
Largest payout: WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – Eduardo Pires – US$ 1,384,013
Deepest run by Asian player: Keun Woo “POLALIFE!” Lee – Korea – 1st place at WSOP #12: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No Limit Hold’em

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 #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 #22: $400 COLOSSUS – Armando D’avanzo – Italy – US$ 409,007

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

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 

Bracelets by Country

Brazil – 6
Poland – 2
Italy – 2
Greece – 1 
Germany – 1
Hungary – 1 
Korea – 1
USA – 1
Lithuania – 1
Israel – 1
Finland – 1
Russia – 1
Ukraine – 1

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

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

Natural8 WSOP Amazing Race Leaderboard update

Asia Pacific
Joshua McCully – New Zealand – 6,571.13 points
“Imar54” – New Zealand – 3,405.24 points
Vincent “Moist” Huang – New Zealand – 3,089.58 points
David “MPEW299” Wang – Malaysia – 2,630.26 points
Hun Wei Lee – New Zealand – 1905.6 points
“TradingHalt” – New Zealand – 1,862.31 points 

Latin America
Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto – Brazil – 6,651.21 points
Marcelo Asensio – Brazil – 4,289.89 points
Eduardo Augusto Pires – Brazil – 4,147.55 points
Daan “DaanOss” Mulders – Mexico – 4,053.39 points
Joao Simao – Brazil – 3,778.36 points
Luciano Santos de Hollanda – 3,471.30 points
Assad “KammyStyyle” Kamran – Argentina – 3,441.30 points

Rest of World
Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas – 6,222.07 points
Tomas “CoronaMyAss” Jozonis – Lithuania – 6,201 points
Isaac Haxton – Canada – 5,081.39 points

Taiwan 
Pete Chen – 3,581.69 points
Yen-liang “yao_poker” Yao – 2,123.21 points
Chin-Wei “davidchien88” Chien – 1,365.61 points

Thailand 
George Kitsios – 2,241.61 points
“LuffyJd” – 1,321.36 points
Phachara Wongwichit – 865.72

Vietnam
“LittleFishVN” – 1,418.06 points
“Huethuong89” – 1,010.35 points
Cuong “CLVT” Trinh – 925.98 points

Japan 
“8809” – 1,730.92 points
Takashi “IKAIKA” Ogura – 1,100.58 points
Shota “shorta222” Nakanishi – 953.01 points

Hong Kong 
Dicky Siu Hang “Floatinworld” Tsang – 5,316.31 points
Edward “edyam1” Yam – 1,705.99 points
Anson Tsang – 1,656.68 points

India
Sriharsha “Upswinger” Doddapaneni – 4,657.01 points
“happysim” – 2,444.19 points
Gaurav “Haversham” Sood – 2,039.83 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 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 ten 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.”

Natural8 offers $400,000 incentive to play 2021 WSOP Online

Plenty of action ahead so stick with us at Somuchpoker as we bring you recaps of the ongoing 2021 WSOP Online [International] on Natural8.