2020 WSOP Online – Natural8: Ajay Chabra “Ross_Geller” wins the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Championship; Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold”shines at the side events; Jonathan Van Fleet bags the High Roller Super MILLION$

Day 38 at the 2020 World Series of Poker Online [ international ] witnessed American pro Ajay Chabra “Ross_Geller” add his name to the champions list after taking down WSOP#72: $ 1,500 Limit Hold’em Championship. Chabra captured his first WSOP bracelet and his second ever career victory. At the side events, Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” shined with 1st and 2nd place finishes. American pro Jonathan Van Fleet emerged victorious at the High Rollers Super MILLION$ for $ 493.8K. We’ve got those results and recaps below.

The 2020 WSOP Online [ international ] has been running since July 19th on Natural8 – GG Network. 40 bracelets have been claimed and a cumulative $ 80 million paid out. 14 bracelets remain. The series runs until September 6th.

Entry flights to the most prestigious tournament of the series – WSOP #77: $ 5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event [ $ 25M GTD ] – are ongoing with 14 of 23 completed. 413 players have advanced out of 2,282 entries. Australian pro Kahle Burns leads the final day qualifiers. For first timers, make sure to sign up on Natural8 to avail of their fantastic promos and incentives. Read about it at the bottom of the page.

Join Natural8 – $100 in Free tickets with your 1st Deposit

WSOP #72: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Championship Ajay Chabra “Ross_Geller” – $ 77,475.43

After 24 WSOP cashes since 2015 plus 11 more at the ongoing series, USA’s Ajay Chabra “Ross_Geller” finally locked up the elusive gold bracelet. Chabra was on his third final table visit this series when he triumphed over the 337 entry field of WSOP #72: $ 1,500 Limit Hold’em Championship. In addition to the new shine, Chabra shipped $ 77,475.43 and a $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package.

Ajay Chabra’s win marks his second ever career victory with his first in 2018 at the World Poker Tour Montreal – partypoker High Roller event for $ 205,948. That was a very good year for Chabra pulling in three six figure scores, 18 cashes – ten of which were at the WSOP. The following year was just as strong with 17 cashes, 7 of which were at the WSOP. He nearly had a gold at the $ 1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, settling instead for $ 59,491 for 2nd place. To date, Chabra has $ 1.3 million in live earnings, and an additional $ 185,161.43 earned at the WSOP Online bracelet events.Prior to this win, he finished 9th at the COLOSSUS and 8th at the $ 800 Double Stack Pot Limit Omaha.

Buy in: $ 1,500

Entries: 337

Prize pool: $ 480,225

ITM: 47 places

Running time: 8 hours and 50 minutes

The final table was loaded with highly decorated players. Like Chabra, American pro Shannon Shorr “Any2Cantu” was on his third final table visit this series; pros Mike Watson and Rich Dixon “DadPoker” were on their second. Natural8 Team Hot Ambassador Kosei Ichinose was the lone Asian representative remaining on his first final table this series. The pack was led in by Luxembourg’s Kevin Liu “Anniebot” with Apti Dzhabrailov “deafandblind” bringing up the rear.

When action proceeded, the pros butted heads leading to Watson’s rise and Shorr’s drop in chips. Shorr eventually busted in 9th place to Apti Dzhabrailov “deafandblind” just after Chabra landed a double up off Ichinose. Rich Dixon “DadPoker” met the same fate as Shorr, first losing a chunk to Yasiukevich then booted by Dzhabrailov to claim a second victim and the chip lead.

Watson came charging again, eliminating Kevin Liu to steal the lead momentarily. What followed was a Chabra – Carter Swidler showdown. Chabra downed Yasiukevich then scored a big one off Swidler on a lucky river. See hand below.

Swidler made up the loss by bouncing out Watson (5th) and Ichinose (4th). One level later, Swidler picked up two double ups through Chabra. The second one delivered a lucky river card to keep him in the running. Both were all in on a turn board with Chabra holding two pair and Swidler top pair. The river came for a winning trips to Swidler. Despite the output, Chabra still held the lead. After numerous fast orbits with Chabra dragging in most of the pots, Swidler railed Dzhabrailov to face Chabra at heads up behind nearly 2:1.

The momentum of Swidler’s recent kill carried on to eventually give him the chip lead. From there, it exchanged hands multiple times until Chabra surged ahead, building a very wide gap. He closed it out with king-queen defeating pocket twos with a Queen landing on the turn.

Final table payouts

1st Ajay Chabra “Ross_Geller” – USA – $ 77,475.43 + $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package

2nd Carter Swidler – Canada $ 65,736.64

3rd Apti Dzhabrailov “deafandblind” – Russia – $ 48,296.13

4th Kosei Ichinose – Japan – $ 35,482.72

5th Michael Watson – Canada – $ 26,068.87

6th Dzmitry Yasiukevich “dendr0id” – Ukraine – $ 19,152.57

7th Kevin Liu “Anniebot” – Luxembourg – $ 14,071.21

8th Rich Dixon “DadPoker” – USA – $ 10,338.04

9th Shannon Shorr “Any2Cantu” – USA – $ 7,595.23

Tonight: WSOP #73: $ 1,000 No Limit Hold’em 6 Handed

Buy in: $ 1,000

Date: August 26 18:00 UTC / August 27 @ 02:00 HKT

Late registration: 210 minutes

Re-entries: 2 times

Notes: $15,000 WSOP Europe Package added to 1st place

Tomorrow: WSOP #74: $ 1,500 Pot Limit Omaha

Buy in: $ 1,000

Date: August 27 18:00 UTC / August 28 @ 02:00 HKT

Late registration: 210 minutes

Re-entries: 2 times

Notes: 6 Handed / 9 Handed (final table)

* $15,000 WSOP Europe Package added to 1st place

Open: WSOP #77: $ 5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event [ $25M GTD ]

Year after year, players flock to Las Vegas with dreams of winning a bracelet, however no gold is more desired than that of the WSOP Main Event. This year’s edition guarantees a staggering $ 25 Million, the largest ever in online poker.

The hunt for the 51st WSOP Main Event champion is well underway with over half its starting flights in the books. 413 advanced out of 2,282 entries. Australian pro Kahle Burns continues to set the bar high with a massive 277.5 BB stacked. Jonathan Dokler “Serenity” is ranked second with 204.4 BB. Ukraine’s Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” is in 4th rank.

Among the newest final day qualifiers were: Samad Razavi “JejuKingCrab”, Brian Green, Leandro Bianchini “107dalmatass”, Aram Zobian “Pusha T”, Mike Watson, Shyngis Satubayev “somebodyelse”, Calvin Lee,andSam Greenwood.

Buy in: $ 5,000

Guarantee: $ 25,000,000

Entry Dates: August 16 to August 30

Cumulative Entries: 2,282

Final Day qualifiers: 413

Entry flights: 9 remaining

Day 2: August 30 @ 18:30 UTC [ play down to final 40 players ]
Final Day: September 7 @ 18:30 UTC

Top 15 in chips

Also through via the previous flights were: Natural8 Team Hot Ambassadors Danny Tang, Pete Chen, and Niklas Ehrenholz “NikkyMouse”, Natural8 Team NLG pros Fedor Holz, Manig Loeser, and Stefan Schillhabel “Schilli33”, Asian bracelet winners Ji Young Kim, Wei Guo Liang “SPARK1207”, and Sung Joo Hyun “ArtePokerTV”, other notable players Christopher Puetz “RambaZamba”, Matthias Eibinger, Adrian Mateos, Sammy Farha, and David Tai.

Paused: WSOP #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP

Two nights ago, the WSOP #70: $ 25,000 NLH POKER PLAYER CHAMPIONSHIP high roller bracelet event went from 407 entries down to the final 9. The race resumes on August 29 @ 18:00 UTC / August 30 @ 02:00 HKT where a million dollar payout awaits the top two places and an additional $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package to the champion.

Leading in the pack is American pro Jason Koon whose extensive list of career achievements still lacks a WSOP victory. Throughout his career, Koon has cashed 43 times at the series, reaching the final table 10 times. The high roller crusher brings in a portfolio of $ 31.1 million in live tournament earnings with a largest score of $ 3,579,836 for his victory at the 2018 Triton Super High Roller Montenegro HK$ 1M No Limit Hold’em Short Deck.

Koon will have his hands full coming final day with fellow countryman Aram Zobian “Pusha T” looking to add a bracelet to match the ring he won at the 2019/2020 WSOP Circuit $ 215 No Limit Hold’em Turbo Deepstack on WSOP.com. Another famed American player is online superstar Chris Hunichen with well over $ 12.5 million in online earnings and over $ 8.1 million in the live scene. Then there is the short stacked Paulius Plausinaitis “ChickenBBQ” who has everything to gain. Plausinaitis is the only player who secured a seat via the discounted $1K Ultra Satellite Qualifier.

Buy in: $ 25,000

Guarantee: $ 10,000,000

Entries: 407

Prize pool: $ 10,000,000

ITM: 55 places

Final table: August 29 @ 18:00 UTC / August 30 @ 02:00 HKT

Notes: $15,000 WSOP Europe Package added to 1st place

*Live broadcast on GGPoker.TV

Final table players by chip count

Jason Koon – USA – 7,863,055 – 49.1 BB

Shankar Pillai “Saquon” – USA – 6,875,234 – 43 BB

Christian Rudolph – Germany – 5,544,188 – 34.7 BB

Aram Zobian “Pusha T” – USA – 4,405,440 – 27.5 BB

Chris Hunichen – USA- 4,175,274 – 26.1 BB

Aleksejs Ponakovs – Latvia – 3,883,951 – 24.3 BB

Aliaksei Boika “BladeRunner1” – Montenegro – 3,297,276 – 20.6 BB

Paulius Plausinaitis “ChickenBBQ” – Lithuania – 2,905,555 – 18.2 BB

Brunno Botteon – Brazil – 1,750,027 – 10.9 BB

Remaining payouts

1st $ 1,800,290 + $ 15,000 WSOP Europe Package

2nd $ 1,332,097

3rd $ 979,138

4th $ 719,700

5th $ 529,005

6th $ 388,837

7th $ 285,808

8th $ 210,079

9th $ 154,416

Among the players in the money were: Jack Salter (10th), Scott Seiver (15th), Stephen Chidwick (19th), Jacob Schindler (20th), Hun Wei Lee (30th), David Peters (32nd), Elio Fox (41st), Kartik Ved “Mandovi” (44th), Christopher Brewer (46th), Andres Nemeth (49th), Thai Ha (51st), and James Chen (52nd).

OTHER RESULTS

High Rollers Super MILLION$ – Jonathan Van Fleet – $ $ 493,894.13

High in the black zone for Jonathan Van Fleet with huge back to back victories, both scored at the network’s high roller games. Two nights prior, Van Fleet triumphed the High Rollers Blade Mulligan $5K for $ 79,025, though he fired three bullets before nailing it. Van Fleet followed it up with a win last night at the High Rollers Super MILLION$ $10K, $2M GTD [ 2 day event ] taking home a much larger $ 493,894.13. Entering chip leader Rui Ferreira finished in 4th place. You can relive the action via GGPoker.TV.

The latest weekly edition of the HRSM event drew 267 to action to bump up the prize pool to $ 2,589,900. 39 players got a piece. Among the players that cashed in the first day were: Mustapha Kanit (10th), Scott Seiver (13th), Dario Sammartino (14th), Jason Koon (19th), Mikita Badziakouski (24th), and Michael Addamo (33rd).

Buy in: $ 10,000

Guarantee: $ 2,000,000

Entries: 267

Prize pool: $ 2,589,900

ITM: 39 places

Final table payouts

1st Jonathan Van Fleet – Canada – $ 493,894.13

2nd Ioannis Angelou-Konstas “BluffMeNot” – Greece – $ 367,319.30

3rd UberCelta – Brazil – $ 273,183.16

4th Rui Ferreira – Portugal – $ 203,171.95

5th Laurynas Levinskas – Lithuania – $ 151,103.31

6th TikToklmaCik – Canada – $ 112,378.60

7th Sami Kelopuro “YrttiDekaani” – Finland – $ $ 83,578.40

8th Darren Elias – USA – $ 62,159.15

9th Giuseppe Iadisernia “0asis” – $ 46,228.93

WSOP Side Event: $1,500 Deepstack – Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” – $ 72,556.79

Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” came out as Day 38’s side event star performer after the Ukranian finished 2nd at the $ 840 Bounty High Roller for $ 16,294.97 and 1st at the $ 1,500 Deepstack for $ 72,556.79. This was Martynenko’s second WSOP side event win following the $ 210 Bounty Turbo Tournament shipped on July 31st for 19,853. He also has 8 deep runs at the bracelet events with his largest take of $ 8,779 at WSOP #59: $ 2,500 Double Stack No Limit Hold’em where he placed 33rd out of 1,061.

Buy in: $ 1,500

Date: August 25

Guarantee: $ 300,000

Entries: 267

Prize pool: $ 380,475

ITM: 39 places

Winner: Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” – Ukraine – $ 72,556.79

2nd Liwei Sun “G6E6M6” – China – $ 53,961.85

WSOP Side Event: $840 Bounty Hunter High Roller – KangStar89 – $ 24,572.21

After China’s KangStar89 railed Abhinav Iyer “OBellaCiao” in 3rd place, it was a grind to defeat Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” who held the lead for a majority of the final table. This was KangStar89’s first victory at the ongoing series.

Buy in: $ 840

Date: August

Guarantee: $ 100,000

Entries: 123

Prize pool: $ 100,000

ITM: 17 places

Winner: KangStar89 – China – $ 24,572.21

2nd Vlad Martynenko “CheckEtoFold” – Ukraine – $ 16,294.97

3rd Abhinav Iyer “OBellaCiao” – India – $ 7,042.99

WSOP Side Event: $400 Six Handed – Boon Heng Siong “CowBaby” – $ 21,296.07

Second side event victory for Singapore’s Boon Heng Siong “CowBaby” at the evening’s $ 400 Six Handed for $ 21,296.07. Siong also has 12 deep runs at the bracelet events with a final table showing at WSOP #47: $ 1,000 Short Deck No Limit Hold’em where he finished 8th for $ 9,345.

Buy in: $ 400

Date: August 25

Guarantee: $ 100,000

Entries: 297

Prize pool: $ 111,672

ITM: 39 places

Winner: Boon Heng Siong “CowBaby” – Singapore – $ 21,296.07

WSOP Side Event: $84 Bounty Hunter – Roman Hrabec “Gogac1” – $ 7,288.97

Buy in: $ 84

Date: August 25

Guarantee: $ 35,000

Entries: 499

Prize pool: $ 39,920

ITM: 71 places

Winner: Roman Hrabec “Gogac1” – Liechtenstein – $ 7,288.97

2nd Crag Hack – Poland – $ 3,392.62

3rd zachycorcor – Israel – $ 2,427.93

WSOP Side Event: $250 Super Turbo 6 Handed – Simone Speranza “spera91” – $ 17,173.42

After numerous deep runs at the side events, Simone Speranza “spera91” finally closed one out at the $ 250 Super Turbo 6 Handed. On a deficit, Speranza faced Eduardo Pires at heads up then took the lead on the hand below from which he never looked back. This was his largest score at the ongoing series.

Buy in: $ 250

Date: August 25

Guarantee: $ 75,000

Entries: 412

Prize pool: $ 94,760

ITM: 55 places

Winner: Simone Speranza “spera91” – Italy – $ 17,173.42

2nd Eduardo Pires – Brazil – 12,622.95

WSOP Side Event: $200 Second Chance – Youngsire – $ 21,587.21

Buy in: $ 200

Date: August 25

Guarantee: $ 100,000

Entries: 689

Prize pool: $ 126,776

ITM: 98 places

Winner: Youngsire – Canada – $ 21,587.21 (heads up deal)

2nd Si1veira – Brazil – $ 18,655.30 (heads up deal)

Update: WSOP Leaderboard

The race for the WSOP Player of the Series title and the Asia Player of the Series title are well underway. In store for the ultimate Player of the Series winners, overall leaderboard champion wins the WSOP Pure Gold Mouse, the Asia Player of the Series claims the WSOP Pure Gold Dragon, and the exclusive Pure Gold Card will be awarded to overall leaderboard finishers 2nd to 5th. Current standings after 40 completed bracelet events.

WSOP 2020 Online Leaderboard – Top 10

Canadian pro Daniel Dvoress continues to lead the overall race. Dvoress cashed in four events which included a victory at the WSOP #71: $ 1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER. Second ranked Alek Stasiak is not too far behind. Stasiak cashed in three events of which two were victories. He is the only player with two WSOP titles this series.

WSOP 2020 Online Leaderboard [ Asia Time Zone Events ] – Top 10

At the Asia POS, WSOP #55: HK$ 8,000 NLH Asia Championship winner Luis Eduardo Assuncao Garla “Xapilskinha” maintains pole position. Only one Asia Time Zone event remains to accrue points towards this race – WSOP #75: $300 Double Stack No Limit Hold’em [ Asia ] runs on August 29 at 8pm HKT.

UPCOMING KEY EVENTS

WSOP #75: $300 Double Stack No Limit Hold’em [ Asia ]

This is the last ASIA TIME ZONE event to accrue points towards the WSOP Asia Player of the Series race.

Buy in: $ 300

Date: Saturday, August 29 @ 20:00 HKT

Late registration: 210 minutes

Re-entries: 2 times

WSOP #84: $100 WSOP MILLIONS [ $2M GTD ]

Buy in: $ 100

Guarantee: $ 2,000,000

Entry Dates: August 31 to September 6

Entry Flights: 26 offered

Final Day: September 5 @ 18:00 UTC / September 6 @ 02:00 HKT

WSOP #83: $10K WSOP Super MILLION$ [ $5M GTD ]

Buy in: $ 10,000

Date: September 6 @ 18:00 UTC / September 7 @ 02:00 HKT

Guarantee: $ 5,000,000

Notes: 2 day event

Other Games

For those looking to enter bracelet events for cheap, the WSOP Silk Road is your route. Daily tickets can be won until August 31. Alek Stasiak “astazz” earned his seat to WSOP #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief via a $10 qualifier which bought him a seat in the $100 satellite to the above-mentioned bracelet event which he shipped for $ 343.2K. If you are interested in non- bracelet events, several WSOP side events are scheduled with buy ins from $125 to $800.

Natural8 Promos

For players signed up on Natural8, expect fantastic player incentives. WSOP Online champions Luis Assuncao Garla “Xapilskinha”, Daniel Dvoress, Hun Wei Lee, Teoh Ming Juen “Paul Teoh”, Shoma Ishikawa “pp_syon”, and Marcelo Jakovjlevic Pudla “Marolo” have already won a Team Bling Sponsorship package for their incredible achievement. Other promos are the First Deposit Bonus and WSOP Silk Road leaderboard race. 13 days left to avail of the promos!

WSOP Winner’s Circle Sponsorship Packages

Main Event = $100,000 Natural8 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

$15,000 Las Vegas Package ($10,000 to cover your buy-ins and $5,000 for expenses)

$25,000 for live event sponsorships

T$60,000 in online sponsorships, paid out over 12 months

Buy-ins of $1,000 and above = $15,000 Natural8 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

$15,000 Las Vegas Package ($10,000 to cover your buy-ins and $5,000 for expenses)

Buy-ins from $50 to $999 = $7,500 Natural8 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

$7,500 Las Vegas Package ($5,000 to cover your buy-ins and $2,500 for expenses)

WSOP First Deposit Bonus

First time depositors on Natural8 can expect a special bump in the load. For a minimum deposit of $20 are gifts worth up to $ 100 over six consecutive days. The initial $ 60 in WSOP tickets – WSOP Satellite and WSOP Spin & Gold, another $ 40 in WSOP tickets for those that complete all 6 AoF challenges of 100 AoF hands per day.

WSOP Silk Road

The WSOP Silk Road Micro Series has been ongoing since July 1st and will run until August 31st. This is for players looking to enter bracelet events for cheap. And seriously, who wouldn’t want to win a multi million event for as low as $ 1.08? Via this route, buy ins only go as high as $ 21.60. Top the Natural8 Silk Road Leaderboard to win an instant ticket to the WSOP #77: $5,000 Main Event [ $25M GTD ].

Plenty of action still to come so stick with us at Somuchpoker as we bring you daily updates on the ongoing 2020 WSOP Online on Natural8.

Join Natural8 – $100 in Free tickets with your 1st Deposit