2021 WSOP Online [International]: Radmir Sadirov dominates the $5K Short Deck Championship for first bracelet; Yen Liang Yao finishes 3rd

After three near victories, Russia finally locked up its first series gold. Bringing it home was Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov who bulldozed through the final table of WSOP #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship to capture the coveted bracelet. Sadirov defeated Portuguese pro Joao Vieira at heads up. Three Natural8 players also reached the finals, Sam Greenwood, Daniel Dvoress, and Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao. Check out our recaps, updated Natural8 leaderboards, and other festival stats down below.  

If you are just tuning in, the 2021 World Series of Poker Online [International] has been well underway since August 1 at online platform Natural8 [GG Network]. The 43 day festival boasts US$ 53+ Million in guaranteed prize pools. To date, over US$ 37.4 Million has been paid out with 14 out of 18 events pulling in seven figures. 15 gold bracelets are still up for grabs and plenty of cash yet to be won with games running until September 12. 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 #18: $5,000 Short Deck Championship – Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov – US$ 169,110

The two day $5,000 Short Deck Championship triple stack event drew a high profile lineup of 144 entries for a prize pool of US$ 684,000. Among the many attendees were Daniel Negreanu, Mikita Badziakouski, Xuming “scplayer” Qi, Kahle Burns, Nguyen Sang, Paul Teoh, Justin Bonomo, Wei Zhao, Yan Shing “Anson” Tsang, Isaac Haxton, Stoyan Madanzhiev, Edward “edyam1” Yam, and Yuri Dzivielevski. Despite the talent, in the end, it was unknown Russian player Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov who shipped it on his second bullet to grab the WSOP gold bracelet and US$ 169,110. 

With no prior WSOP stats, this was Sadirov’s maiden title. He does however have two WSOP Short Deck High Rollers side event wins this series amounting to US$ 34.4K. On a side note, Sadirov sold 60 percent of his action resulting in eight happy stakers with Michael Zhang buying the majority of 49.9%. 

Event Recap

Day 1 kicked off with four hours of late registration, 86 ponied up the US$ 5K buy in and 58 re-entered for 144 total entries and a prize pool of US$ 684,000.

Date: August 24 to 25
Buy in: US$ 5,000
Entries: 144 (86 uniques, 58 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 684,000
ITM: 20 places

Two hours later, the bubble burst on China’s “judd trump” with England’s Michael Zhang cleaning him out in 21st place. Following the bust, Taiwan’s Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao delivered a double knockout to Rene V Krevelen (19th) and Nobuaki “Sasa JHR” Sasaki (20th), Zhang booted both Xuming “scplayer” Qi (15th) and Mikita Badziakouski (14th), 6x bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu fell in 11th place with dominated by , then Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov eliminated the next two – Zhang (9th) and “FortNitPro” (8th) – to establish the final table. On the hand against “FortNitPro”, Sadirov spiked an ace on the turn holding to outflip . 

The final day witnessed a powerhouse final table lineup with three bracelet winners, Sam Greenwood, Daniel Dvoress, and Joao Vieira. Both Vieira and second ranked Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao were on their second final table appearance. Yao is currently the strongest running Asian player of the bracelet series with a 2nd place finish at the WSOP #6: $200 FLIP & GO No Limit Hold’em and top 16 at the WSOP #15: $10K Heads up Championship, defeating Fedor Holz to reach the money. Bringing up the rear was 2019 WSOP Main Event 2nd placer Giuseppe Dario Sammartino, and riding high and mighty up top was Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov with a bloated 258 BB stack with average at 77 BB.

Final table payouts

1st Radmir “KOPOBA” Sadirov – Russia – US$ 169,110
2nd Joao Vieira – Portuguese – US$ 122,270
3rd Yen Liang “yao_poker” Yao – Taiwan – US$ 88,403
4th Daniel Dvoress – Canada – US$ 63,917
5th Giuseppe Dario Sammartino – Italy – US$ 46,213
6th Sam Greenwood – Canada – US$ 33,413
7th Mukoro “AnonAnomaly” Gberevbie – Ireland – US$ 24,158

The final table ran a quick 1.5 hours with uber-massive chip leader Sadirov commanding a majority of the action. Within the first ten minutes, Vieira eliminated Mukoro “AnonAnomaly” Gberevbie (7th) to climb up to second rank, Sam Greenwood followed to the rail with falling to Sadirov’s , then Sammartino bit it next as Dvoress raked it in. 

At four handed, Sadirov was seen repeatedly shoving his monstrous 269 BB stack, which was equivalent to 60% of the chips in play. Dvoress challenged with but was still outdrawn in 4th place by Sadirov’s , king on the flop. Before the next bust, Vieira and Yao took turns shaving portions off the leader. On Vieira’s second big pot against Sadirov, he called out the bluff to take the lead. During the hand Sadirov fired a big bet on the river , Vieira tanked for nearly 3 minutes then called with , Sadirov had bluff. (Hand pictured below)

Vieira’s rise was short lived as Sadirov grinded back to the top. Sadirov surged further ahead after eliminating Yao in 3rd place with pocket Aces over J10 suited. At heads up, Sadirov was up in the count nearly 2:1 and proceeded to widen to 4:1. Vieira battled back then cracked Sadirov’s with straight to close in and once again steal the lead. Sadirov answered with a double up of his own with spiking an ace on the river to outdraw . Sadirov went on to win with full house over on a board . 

Events this week + MAIN EVENT

The MAIN EVENT 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. 

Another phased event running is the COLOSSUS with 16 qualifying heats leading up to the final day on August 29. Buy in is US$ 400. Last year this event amassed 12,757 entries for a US$ 4.7 Million prize pool. 

August 22 to September 5: WSOP #27: $5,000 MAIN EVENT Online Championship, $20 Million GTD
August 22 to 29: WSOP #22: $400 COLOSSUS, $3 Million GTD
August 26: WSOP #19: $840 6 Handed Bounty No Limit Hold’em
August 28: WSOP # 20: $1,500 MONSTER STACK  NLH [Freezeout]
August 29: WSOP #21: $25,000 Super High Roller Championship NLH, $5 Million GTD

2021 WSOP Online bracelet events stats

WSOP #1 – #18 prize pool: US$ 38,445,154
Cumulative entries: 69,239
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 #12: $10,000 Super MILLION$ High Roller NLH – US$ 6,052,800
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: 14
Largest payout: WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH – Eduardo Pires – US$ 1,384,013

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: $1,000 DOUBLE STACK No Limit Hold’em – Keunwoo “POLALIFE!” Lee – Korea – US$ 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

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

Bracelets by Country

Brazil – 5
Poland – 2
Italy – 1 
Greece – 1 
Germany – 1
Hungary – 1 
Korea – 1
USA – 1
Lithuania – 1
Israel – 1
Finland – 1
Russia – 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

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 – 6,060.05 points
“Imar54” – New Zealand – 3,296.93 points
Vincent “Moist” Huang – New Zealand – 3,040.8 points
David “MPEW299” Wang – Malaysia – 2,630.26 points
Hun Wei Lee – New Zealand – 1905.6 points
“TradingHalt” – New Zealand – 1,646.68

Latin America
Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto – Brazil – 6,332.25 points
Eduardo Augusto Pires – Brazil – 4,147.55 points
Daan “DaanOss” Mulders – Mexico – 3,798.60 points
Marcelo Asensio – Brazil – 3,584.40 points
Joao Simao – Brazil – 3,528.44 points
Assad “KammyStyyle” Kamran – Argentina – 3,088.42
Allison Eleres – Brazil – 2,607.97 points

Rest of World
Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas – 5,175.97 points
Isaac Haxton – Canada – 5,081.39 points
Tomas “CoronaMyAss” Jozonis – Lithuania – 4,531.36 points

Taiwan 
Pete Chen – 3,242.32 points
Yen-liang “yao_poker” Yao – 1,372.21 points
Chin-Wei “davidchien88” Chien – 1,365.61 points

Thailand 
George Kitsios – 1,804.52 points
“LuffyJd” – 1,192.91 points
Phachara Wongwichit – 731.53

Vietnam
“LittleFishVN” – 1,316.56 points
“Huethuong89” – 1,010.35 points
Cuong “CLVT” Trinh – 925.98 points

Japan 
“8809” – 1,294.35 points
Takashi “IKAIKA” Ogura – 1,100.58 points
Shota “shorta222” Nakanishi – 953.01 points

Hong Kong 
Dicky Siu Hang “Floatinworld” Tsang – 4,703.35 points
Edward “edyam1” Yam – 1,705.99 points
Anson Tsang – 1,656.68 points

India
Sriharsha “Upswinger” Doddapaneni – 4,010.32 points
“happysim” – 2,382.54 points
Gaurav “Haversham” Sood – 2,007.75 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.