2021 WSOP Europe: Josef Gulas Jr. wins the Main Event; Julien Martini clasps two bracelets; Joni Jouhkimainen denied again; final highlights and results

After twenty days of games that ran from November 19 to December 8, the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe came to an end with the final 8 bracelets claimed at Kings Casino in Rozvadov, Czech Republic. Walking away the richest was Main Event champion Josef Gulas Jr. as he banked the only seven figure payout. Another top performer was France’s Julien Martini who took down an impressive two events. Ukraine’s Andriy Lyubovetskiy shipped the biggest buy in tournament after defeating Finland’s Joni Jouhkimainen at heads up. This was Jouhkimainen’s second runner up finish in the series. Other winners were Romain Le Dantec, Sergiu Covrig, Simone Andrian, and Alessandro Pichierri, all of them locking up maiden bracelets. We’ve got those results and brief recaps for you. Overall, the series was a huge success. It surpassed all guarantees and amassed a grand prize pool of nearly € 16.4M across 15 bracelet events.

Josef Gulas Jr. turns €250 into seven figures and a first bracelet at the Main Event

The € 10,350 NLH Main Event did not disappoint with attendance at its highest of 688 entries across two starting days. In turn, the €5M guarantee was dusted in exchange for a more enticing € 6,536,000 (~US$ 801,357) prize pool. After six days of riveting action, 104 players walked away claiming a piece of the pot with Czech Republic’s Josef Gulas Jr. snatching up the motherlode for his incredible victory. Gulas Jr. captured his first ever career bracelet and a career high live score of € 1,276,712 (~US$ 1,444,854). This milestone achievement was just his seventh ever live tournament cash, one he will surely treasure forever. According to media reports, Gulas Jr. earned his ticket via the Italian Poker Sport €250 No Limit Hold’em Main Event held in late September in Rozvadov where he placed 3rd for € 48,237. In addition to the cash was a seat to the WSOPE Main Event. Gulas Jr. was the only local player to win a bracelet at the series.

Briefly recapping the Main Event, the money was reached in Day 3 with a few Asian players cashing in. Taiwanese bracelet winner Pete Chen ran the deepest of 46th place for € 27,089, Singapore’s Feng Zhao secured his sixth series cash with a 90th finish for € 16,500, and Vietnam’s Tony Tran just made the cut in 95th place for € 16,500. Eventual 3rd place finisher Alexander Tkatschew was considerably the hottest running player, ranking 3rd at the end of Day 2 then ranked 2nd at the end of Day 3. Gulas Jr. also had a strong Day 3; he reached top 10 in the counts with only 32 remaining. On Day 4, France bracelet winner Arthur Conan cashed out in 20th place, Brian Kamphorst was first to exit the final table in 9th place followed by Ilija Savevski in 8th place. The day ended with seven left, led by Gulas Jr. and Tkatschew at his heels.

The final day saw an all international table with each player flying different flags. After the fall of Netherlands’ Thomas Denie (7th) and Macedonia’s Aleksandar Trajkovski (6th), Gulas Jr. booted Slovakia’s last horse, Stanislav Koleno (5th), then plummeted to the shortest on a paid double up to France’s Johan Guilbert. On his road to recovery, Gulas Jr. got the best of Athanasios Kidas (4th), and continued to climb while Tkatschew lost steam, eventually sending it all to Guilbert. Heads up kicked off with Guilbert stacked with 100 BB and Gulas Jr. at 37 BB. On the first all in showdown, Gulas Jr. overturned the counts with besting . Gulas Jr. held the lead for some time until another switch up went down though brief as Gulas Jr. jumped back out front and held on to claim the coveted title, bracelet, and the only seven figure payout of the series.

Date: December 3 to 8
Buy in: € 10,350
Guarantee: € 5,000,000 (~US$ 5,658,500)
Entries: 688
Prize pool: € 6,536,000 (~US$ 801,357)
ITM: 104 places

Final table payouts

1st Josef Gulas Jr – Czech Republic – € 1,276,712
2nd Johan Guilbert – France – € 789,031
3rd Alexander Tkatschew – Germany – € 558,505
4th Athanasios Kidas – Greece – € 401,344
5th Stanislav Koleno – Slovakia – € 292,862
6th Aleksandar Trajkovski – Macedonia – € 217,854
7th Thomas Denie – Netherlands – € 163,434
8th Ilija Savevski – Macedonia – € 125,052
9th Brian Kamphorst – Netherlands – € 97,260

Julien Martini wins two bracelets

France won three bracelets in this series with two of them snatched up by Julien Martini at the No Limit Short Deck and 8-Game Mix. Martini was the only player to win two events for a combined € 93,919 (~US$ 106,288). This brought his total bracelet tally to three with his first gold win at the 2018 WSOP Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better event. Martini also cashed in 8th place at the € 10,000 NLH 6-Max. His total WSOP earnings jumped to US$ 972,210.

Taking a look at his recent victories, Martini outlasted a field of 98 entries at Bracelet #8: €2,500 No Limit Short Deck to ship the € 60,009 (~US$ 67,767) first prize. Among the final table contenders was series bracelet winner Emil Bise who came close to another gold in 3rd place. At heads up, Martini kept his lead intact, defeating Germany’s Philipp Schwab with over .

Date: November 28 to 29
Buy in: € 2,500
Guarantee: € 200,000 (~US$ 225,857)
Entries: 98
Prize pool: € 214,130 (~US$ 241,815)
ITM: 15 places

Final table payouts

1st Julien Martini – France – € 60,009
2nd Philipp Schwab – Germany – € 37,087
3rd Emil Bise – Switzerland – € 26,182
4th Reto Hermann – Switzerland – € 18,856
5th Brian Cornell – Germany – € 13,858
6th Christian Stratmeyer – Germany – € 10,399
7th Nicolas Bokowski – Germany – € 7,971

Martini captured a second bracelet at the €2,000 8-Game Mix after outlasing a field of 61 entries. His toughest challenge was at the final table where bracelet holder Ole Schemion was holding court. At four handed, Martini caught a break with pocket sixes cracking Schemion’s pocket aces, then after the fall of Mikkel Plum (4th), he won a Seven Card Stud pot to take the lead. From there, Martini drained out his opponents, eventually finishing off Nicolas Bokowski (3rd) followed by Schemion shortly after. He clasped his second series bracelet and third career WSOP title. In cash, Martini secured the € 33,910 (~US$ 38,365) first prize.

Date: December 1 to 2
Buy in: € 2,000
Entries: 61
Prize pool: € 107,207 (~US$ 121,364)
ITM: 10 places

Payouts

1st Julien Martini – France – € 33,910
2nd Ole Schemion – Germany – € 20,960
3rd Nicolas Bokowski – Germany – € 14,290
4th Mikkel Plum – Denmark – € 10,085
5th Symeon Alexandridis – Greece – € 7,390
6th Artan Dedusha – England – € 5,620
7th Grzegorz Wyraz – Poland – € 4,450
8th Max Pescatori – Italy – € 3,672
9th Roland Israelashvilli – USA – € 3,672
10th Borja Gross – Spain – € 3,158

Biggest buy in: Andriy Lyubovetskiy banks half a mil; Jouhkimainen denied again

The largest buy in event of the series was the €25K Platinum High Roller with 72 signing up for a guarantee smashing prize pool of € 1,682,640 (~US$ 1,900,180). Although this turnout was less than its previous installment, action was just as fierce as players vied for the half a mil up top. In the end, Ukraine’s Andriy Lyubovetskiy lifted the coveted gold bracelet and € 518,430 (~US$ 585,455) for his largest takedown to date. Lyubovetskiy has been cashing at the series since 2016 but this was the first time he shipped it. For runner up Finland’s Joni Jouhkimainen, it was another golden tease. Earlier in the series he also finished 2nd to Maximillian Klostermeier at Bracelet #7: €5K Pot Limit Omaha. Other noteworthy players at the final table were bracelet holders Martin Kabrhel (4th) and Ole Schemion (7th).

Date: November 29 to 30
Buy in: € 25,000
Guarantee: € 1,000,000 (~US$ 1,129,285)
Entries: 72
Prize pool: € 1,682,640 (~US$ 1,900,180)
ITM: 11 places

Payouts

1st Andriy Lyubovetskiy – Ukraine – € 518,430
2nd Joni Jouhkimainen – Finland – € 320,415
3rd Tom-Aksel Bedell – Norway – € 220,905
4th Martin Kabrhel – Czech Republic – € 157,295
5th Jordan Westmorland – USA – € 88,230
6th Didier Rabl – Switzerland – € 69,675
7th Ole Schemion – Germany – € 57,095
8th Thomer Pidun – Germany – € 48,260
9th Fahredin Mustafov – Bulgaria – € 48,620
10th Tom Vogelsang – Netherlands – € 43,090
11th Adrea Ricci – Italy – € 43,090

First Time Winners

Bracelet #13: €10,000 NLH 6-Max – ROMAIN LE DANTEC – € 207,267 (~US$ 234,564)

At Bracelet #13: €10,000 NLH 6-Max, it was a France vs Germany final table with only two players from the winning flag. Among the chip pushers was 2x bracelet winner Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (4th), however, he couldn’t bring it home for Germany and neither could ring holder Jakob Miegel who busted in 3rd place. The title was fought between French players Romain Le Dantec and three time ring holder Sonny Franco. Le Dantec entered heads up with barely a lead and managed to keep Franco at bay to lock up his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and third win this series for France. Le Dantec pocketed a career high live tournament score of € 207,267 (~US$ 234,637). He also reached the final table of Bracelet #9: €1,100 NLH Turbo Bounty Hunter, finishing in 5th place for € 17,905 (~US$ 20,263). Other players in the money were two time bracelet winner Julien Martini who took 8th place and 8x ring winner Roland Israelashvili in 10th place.

Date: December 2 to 4
Buy in: € 10,000
Entries: 73
Prize pool: € 672,522 (~US$ 761,331)
ITM: 11 places

Payouts

1st Romain Le Dantec – France – € 207,267
2nd Sonny Franco – France – € 128,096
3rd Jakob Miegel – Germany – € 88,223
4th Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier – Germany – € 62,574
5th Sirzat Hissou – Germany – € 45,574
6th Christopher Puetz – Germany – € 34,507
7th Ahmad Achegsei – Germany – € 26,881
8th Julien Martini – France – € 21,651
9th Ivan Bryskin – Russia – € 21,651
10th Roland Israelashvili – USA – € 18,049
11th Julien Sitbon – France – € 18,049

Bracelet #9: €1,100 NLH Turbo Bounty Hunter – SERGIU COVRIG – € 79,282 (~US$ 89,532)

The ninth bracelet of the series was offered at the €1,100 NLH Turbo Bounty Hunter event with 604 coming out for the slashing. At € 1,100 (~US$ 1,245) buy in each, it was another guarantee crushed for a richer prize pool of € 392,600 (~US$ 444,190). Emerging victorious was Sergiu Covrig to give Romania its first win in this series and secure his first ever gold bracelet. Covrig overturned a 2.5:1 deficit at heads up against Germany’s ring winner Michael Strauch when his rivered a king to double up through seven on the turn. From there, he closed it out to collect a career high live tournament score of € 79,282 (~US$ 89,532). Also reaching the money were ring winner Mykhailo Sezonenko in 7th place, Taiwanese bracelet winner Pete Chen in 44th place, and Korea’s De Han Kim in 84th place.

Date: November 29 to 30
Buy in: € 1,100
Guarantee: € 200,000 (~US$ 225,857)
Entries: 604
Prize pool: € 392,600 (~US$ 444,190)
ITM: 91 places

Final table payouts

1st Sergiu Covrig – Romania – € 79,282
2nd Michael Strauch – Germany – € 49,006
3rd Tim Novotny – Germany – € 34,452
4th Pablo finini – Switzerland – € 24,627
5th Romain Le Dantec – France – € 17,905
6th Nicola D”Anselmo – Italy – € 13,243
7th Mykhailo Sezonenko – Ukraine – € 9,969
8th Pierre Trauer – Germany – € 7,639
9th Nebojsa Ankucic – Serbia – € 5,961

Bracelet #11: €1,650 NLH 6-Max – SIMON ANDRIAN – € 158,816 (~US$ 179,348)

535 sought after the gold at Bracelet #11: €1,650 NLH 6-Max to obliterate the guarantee for a sizable € 762,375 (~US$ 863,490) prize pool. The top 81 players got paid with Vietnam’s Tony Tran reaching the final table in 6th place and two time final tableist Zlatin Penev in 4th place. At the runout, all the glory went to Italy’s Simone Andrian for his first ever gold bracelet and career high takedown of € 158,816 (~US$ 179,348). Throughout the final table, Andrian was the player to catch however no one did. He eliminated Jan Bednar (5th) then stayed on course, cleaning out Josef Snejberg at heads up.

Date: November 30 to December 2
Buy in: € 1,650
Guarantee: € 200,000 (~US$ 225,857)
Entries: 535
Prize pool: € 762,375 (~US$ 863,490)
ITM: 81 places

Final table payouts

1st Simone Andrian – Italy – € 158,616
2nd Josef Snejberg – Czech Republic – € 98,020
3rd Norbert Baumgartner – Germany – € 65,540
4th Zlatin Penev – Bulgaria – € 44,800
5th Jan Bednar – Czech Republic – € 31,320
6th Tony Tran – Vietnam – € 22,410

Bracelet #15: €3,000 NLH Closer – ALESSANDRO PICHIERRI – € 147,008 (~US$ 166,369)

The final event was the €3,000 NLH Closer which attracted 145 to the felt for a prize pool of € 684,669 (~US$ 606,480). Day 1 wrapped up with France’s Rachid El Yacoubi topping the counts and the money just 15 spots away. On Day 2, Yacoubi went on to place 16th while Germany’s Thomer Pidun was back at the final table for another shot at the gold. Emerging victorious was Italy’s Alessandro Pichierri who early in the series placed 4th at the NLH Mini Main Event. The dream win awarded him the last coveted gold bracelet and a career high payout of € 147,008 (~US$ 166,369). Pichierri earned a combined € 241,004 and was the second player to bring home a win for Italy in this series.

Date: December 6 to 7
Buy in: € 3,000
Entries: 145
Prize pool: € 684,669 (~US$ 606,480)
ITM: 35 places

Final table payouts

1st Alessandro Pichierri – Italy – € 148,008
2nd Timo Kamphues – Germany – € 91,468
3rd Manuel Fischer – Germany – € 62,534
4th Claudio Di Giacomo – Italy – € 43,876
5th Romain Locquet – France – € 31,616
6th Thomer Pidun – Germany – € 23,414
7th Milos Petakovic – Serbia – € 17,834
8th Anil Ataoglu – Germany – € 13,983
9th Georgios Tsouloftas – Cyprus – € 11,295