2021 WSOP Online [International]: Renan Carlos Bruschi seizes first gold bracelet at THE BIG 500

Brazil’s Renan Carlos Bruschi became the fourteenth bracelet winner of the 2021 World Series of Poker Online [International] after taking down the WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500. Bruschi defeated Russian bracelet winner Leonid Alex “Mikleler” Bilokur at heads up to lock up his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and a series fifth for his home country. Also running well were Natural8 players Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto and David “MPEW299” Wang. Both players reached the final table. Furlanetto placed 3rd and Wang finished 8th. For Wang, it was a back to back final table with a 5th finish at the WSOP #13: $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Championship. Check out our event recap, updated N8 leaderboards, and other festival stats down below.  

With 21 days now completed, the series has reached its halfway mark. More cash and bracelets have yet to be won with nonstop games running until September 12 at online platform Natural8 [GG Network]. The lucrative festival boasts US$ 53+ Million in guaranteed prize pools. To date, over US$ 32,2 Million has been paid out with 11 out of 14 completed events pulling in seven figures. 19 gold bracelets are still up for grabs. For players that sign up on Natural8, expect plenty of added perks amounting to US$ 400,000 in exclusive prizes. Champions Joao Simao, Eduardo Augusto Pires, and Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas have all won one of the N8 Team Bling US$ 10,000 Sponsorship Packages. You can read up on those perks at the bottom of the page or via this link: 

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

WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500 – Renan Carlos Bruschi – US$ 150,326

The two day WSOP #14: $500 THE BIG 500 amassed the second largest single day entry field with 1,677 players and 962 re-entries for 2,639 total entries. For the eleventh time in this series, it built a seven digit prize pool. The top 431 places earned a piece of the US$ 1,253,525 with Brazil’s Renan Carlos Bruschi emerging victorious to bank US$ 150,326 and his first ever WSOP title and gold bracelet. 

This was another incredible run by Bruschi who missed the gold at the earlier WSOP #3: $2,500 Limit Hold’em Championship, finishing in 2nd place for US$ 66,669. He also cashed at three other bracelet events. Based solely on his GG Network accomplishments, Bruschi has earned over US$ 2.2 Million since October 2020 with his largest score of US$ 232,600 won at the weekly High Roller MILLION$ where he placed runner up. 

Among the ITM

Recapping the event, Day 1 wrapped up at the end of 32 levels with many notable players shaving a piece of the pot. Among the top 150 profiting were Natural8 and Asia Pacific players Luis Assuncio “Xapilskinha” Garla (49th), Xuming “scplayer” Qi (53rd), Manish “thekid” Lakhotia (60h), Michael “JostleJr” Fullmer (62nd), Gyeong Byeong “cometrue” Lee (69th), Vincent Li (80th), “Rumukulus” (82nd), Jingxiang “Fuzzy Wuzzy!” Ong (88th), Apratim “checm@te” Sharma (90th), Daan “DaanOss” Mulders (101st), Muhammad “foldnutsjam1” Siddiqui (111st), and Guo Liang “SPRK1207” Wei (114th). 

Final Day

35 players returned on the Final Day led by Natural8 players Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto and Team Hot Phachara Wongwichit, and down the rung were David “MPEW299” Wang and Team NLG Jessica Teusl. The race to the final table ran for two hours with Teusl busting out 34th on that missed against Nikola Minkov’s . She was later followed by Wongwichit in 22nd place. In a previous showdown, the Thai pro lost a chunk of his stack to Japan’s Ken “ken@king” Okada with AQ dominated by AK. The rest of it went to Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia with top two pair dusting a failed gutshot flush draw. 

On the flip side, Wang scored a big double up off Rafael “TheBigKid” Moraes to send his stack soaring to 5th rank. Another big mover was Leonid Alex “Mikleler” Bilokur who tripled up his 5 bb stack then later railed Jinlong “yiliuqi” Hu to enter the top 10. The final table was formed at the fall of Okada (10th) who pushed on sb with that failed against bb Furlanetto’s . 

Date: August 19
Buy in: US$ 500
Entries: 2,639 (1,677 uniques, 962 re-entries)
Prize pool: US$ 1,253,525
ITM: 431 places
Running time: 4 hours (final day)

Final table payouts
1st Renan Carlos Bruschi – Brazil – US$ 150,326
2nd Leonid Alex “Mikleler” Bilokur – Russia – US$ 112,727
3rd Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto – Brazil – US$ 84,533
4th Arthur Conan – France – US$ 63,391
5th Nikola Minkov – Bulgaria – US$ 47,536
6th Nicholas Maimone – Canada –  US$ 35,647
7th Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia – Panama – US$ 26,731
8th David “MPEW299” Wang – Australia – US$ 20,046
9th Andrejs “Testosterone” Zukovs – Austria – US$ 15,032

Final Table rundown

No change at the very top with Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto sitting on a massive 133 BB stack, the closest was Bruschi with 73 BB. For Bruschi and Wang, it was their second final table appearance. Also in the lineup were WSOP bracelet winners Nicholas Maimone and Leonid Alex “Mikleler” Bilokur, and triple WPT High Roller champion Arthur Conan. 

First showdown was a double up for shortest stacked Andrejs “Testosterone” Zukovs with AK dominating Conan’s AQ, however, the boost quickly vanished with AK top pair busting to Furlanetto’s pocket Nines set. Wang hit the rail next on a cooler with falling to Bruschi’s . Furlanetto proceeded to lose two big pots, one to Bruschi and a double up Bilokur, to drop in rank and give Bruschi the lead. Short stacked Eugenio “Ausestep_255” Pernia followed out in 7th place then Nikola Minkov booted Maimone (6th) with beating that bricked.

Five handed witnessed the incredible rise of Bilokur who was down to just 2 BB when he catapulted to 43 BB, placing him in second rank. He first quadrupled up to 10 BB and followed it up with two double ups – first spiking the ace on the river with against Minkov’s then with dominating Conan’s . Chip leader Bruschi increased to 100 BB after eliminating Minkov with over that missed. Furlanetto chipped up as well, ousting Conan in 4th place. 

Three handed saw Bruschi lose two pots to Bilokur to switch them up and give Bilokur the lead for the first time. After several more tugs, Bruschi cleaned out Furlanetto with pocket Eights over pocket Twos to bring in 81 BB to heads up to Bilokur’s 50 BB. Bruschi dominated the action, increasing to a 3.5:1 advantage when the final hand was tabled. Bruschi pushed straight on a board , Bilokur called for his tournament life with overpair. 

Upcoming Events – Guaranteed and and Non-Guaranteed

Coming up this evening is the WSOP #15: $10,000 Heads Up NLH Championship, and due to high demand, the 128 player cap has been increased to 256. No late entry allowed. Other events this weekend are listed below: 

August 22: WSOP #16: $1,050 WSOP GGMasters HR Freezeout NLH, $2,000,000 GTD [2 Day event]
August 22: WSOP #17: $400 PLOSSUS [Bounty], $1,000,000 GTD [Final Day]

*Day 1 flights currently ongoing

2021 WSOP Online bracelet events stats

WSOP #1 – #14 prize pool: US$ 32,220,574
Cumulative entries: 62,118
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 #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship – 180 entries
Smallest pot: WSOP #9: $400 DOUBLE CHANCE PLO – US$ 366,600
First time bracelet winners: 11
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

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 

Bracelets by Country

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

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 Week 1 winners

“Masukito83” – Dominican Republic – US$ 823.61
“DanielTsai” – Taiwan – US$ 597.12
“LotusFocus” – India – US$ 433.33

Natural8 WSOP Amazing Race Leaderboard update (current top 3 for each category)

Asia Pacific 
Joshua McCully – New Zealand – 5,193.37 points
“Imar54” – New Zealand – 3,073.9 points
Vincent “Moist” Huang – New Zealand – 2,746.63 points

Latin America
Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto – Brazil – 4,615.79 points
Eduardo Augusto Pires – Brazil – 3,797.38 points
Daan “DaanOss” Mulders – Mexico – 2,964.04 points

Rest of World
Vincas “seimininkas” Tamasauskas – 4,696.16
Isaac Haxton – Canada – 4,499.09 points
Tomas “CoronaMyAss” Jozonis – Lithuania – 3,680.08 points

Taiwan 
Pete Chen – 2,861.21 points
Chin-Wei “davidchien88” Chien – 1,365.61 points
Yen-liang “yao_poker” Yao – 1,172.85 points

Thailand 
George Kitsios – Greece – 1,311.46 points
“LuffyJd” – 940.44 points
PPopDuck” – 528.89 points 

Vietnam
Cuong “CLVT” Trinh – 925.98 points
“LittleFishVN” – 916.95 points
“19_01” – 603.9 points

Japan 
“8809” – 808.14 points
Shota “shorta222” Nakanishi – 580.13 points
Takashi “IKAIKA” Ogura – 526.23 points 

Hong Kong 
Dicky Siu Hang “Floatinworld” Tsang – 4,183.40 points
Anson Tsang – 1,471.03 points
Wayne Heung – 668.42 points

India
Sriharsha “Upswinger” Doddapaneni – 3,217.81 points
“happysim” – 1,824.49 points
Gaurav “Haversham” Sood – 1,666.39 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.