2021 WSOP Online [International]: Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo clinches career first gold bracelet

The 2021 World Series of Poker Online[International] is only four bracelet events in and already a second Brazilian has been minted. The latest champion was Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo who clinched the WSOP #4: $800 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH event. This was Macedo’s first ever WSOP bracelet. Along with the shine was a six figure payout of US$ 161,636.

The international bracelet series is ongoing from August 1 to September 12 at Natural8 [GG Network] featuring US$ 53+ Million in guaranteed prize pools. Over US$ 4.4 Million has already been paid out. 29 bracelet remain. Check out our latest event recap and festival stats down below.

For players that sign up on Natural8, expect plenty of added perks amounting to US$ 400,000 in exclusive prizes. Natural8 player Joao Simao has already won one of the Team Bling US$ 10,000 Sponsorship Packages for his victory at the WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event. 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 #4: $800 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH – Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo – US$ 161,636

The WSOP #4: $800 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH hauled in 1,643 entries to generate another seven figure prize pool of US$ 1,248,680. The two day event concluded with Brazil’s Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo earning his first gold bracelet and a handsome US$ 161,636 payout. This was another dream fulfilled for Macedo who paired up the ring he won at the 2016 WSOP International Circuit Uruguay $5,000 High Roller event. Among his other accomplishments, earlier that same year, Macedo placed 4th at the 2016 WSOP $5,000 No Limit Hold’em for US$ 162,924 which remains his largest tracked score to date. Macedo became the second Brazilian player in this series to seize the gold following fellow countryman Joao Simao who won the WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event.

A long list of high profilers were in action including GG Team Champion inductee / Swedish pro Niklas Astedt who was first to the money. Asia Pacific players also came out for the hunt, among them were bracelet winners Anson Tsang and Hun Weil Lee, and Natural8 Team Hot members Pete Chen and Kosei Ichinose. Only Ichinose reached the money in 161st place but with three buy ins, he was still in the red. Powering through for a dip in the pot were Pranav Bang (39th), Chao “DuanChao” Duan (64th), Wei Zhao (67th), Jingxiang “Fuzzy Wuzzy!” Ong (80th), Sriharsha “Upswinger” Doddapaneni, Abhinav “OBellaCiao” Iyer (153rd), David “David121888” Tai (171st), Kartik “Mandovi” Ved (220th), and Seungmook “7high” Jung (256th).

After 32 levels, Day 1 ended with 24 players led by Bulgaria’s Stoyan Obreshkov. Other players advancing were double bracelet winner Adam Owen, bracelet winners David “alw4ysinduc3” Vinayagamoorthy, Ivan “Cordialemeent” Deyra, series WSOP #1 The Return NLH champion Bartlomiej “chester200” Swieboda, and Caio “Ez4ENCE” De Almeida who placed 2nd at the 2020 WSOP Online Series Millionaire Maker. Asia Pacific players making the cut were Australia’s Malcolm “HappyWhale” Trayner, Vietnam’s “PieOMy”, India’s Neel Joshi, and Hong Kong’s Sung Keung “skpang781” Pang.

Leading up to the final table was an hour and a half of wild interaction. Unable to survive the swings were De Almeida (23rd), Joshi (21st), Vinayagamoorthy (18th), Swieboda (17th), Deyra (16th), PieOMy (13th), Trayner (12th), and Owen (11th). Israel’s Alon “Artinb” Huberman fell to Ivan “Kewww” Babintsev in 10th place to miss the final table by one spot. Impressively, Babintsev started the day below 10 BB and turned it into a final table berth.

The final table kicked off with the average stack at a deep 45 BB. No bracelet winners advanced which meant a first ever dream gold for one of the players. At the top was Sergei “Igor Gofman” Pilipenko with 66 BB, on the opposite end was Sung Keung “skpang781” Pang with 31 BB. Just short of one hour, Pilipenko got pummeled to send his stack from top of the heap down to 9th place. Obreshkov railed the next two, Pang (8th) and Ido “idollar” Aboudi (7th), but what followed was a beating from Andreas “Duckzzz” Nasman with pocket Twos behind second pair to send his stack south. Nasman went on to claim the rest with set dusting Obreshkov’s top pair. This gave Nasman two-thirds of the chips in play.

With everyone short compared to the leader, Ivan “Kewww” Babintsev (5th) lost his remaining 5 BB to Mathias “Senor Perez” Siljander and Macedo booted the next two. On the hand against Tomi “BAAABUUSKIIII” Brouk, Macedo tank-called on the river with top pair to send Brouk’s second pair out in 4th place. It took two showdowns to rail Siljander. Macedo was first saved by king on the river against Siljander’s nine on the flop, then cleaned him out on the next hand. Macedo entered heads up running behind 48 BB to Nasman’s 82 BB.

At this point, both players were guaranteed six figures with the eventual winner pocketing ~US$ 40K more. Kicking off heads up at a 65 BB average stack, it took half an hour for Macedo to switch places and ship it. One of his biggest hands was a double up with second pair against on a board . Nasman triple barreled all in on the river, Macedo tank-called. The final hand saw Nasman shove top pair on a board , Macedo called with two pair.

Date: August 5 to 6
Buy in: US$ 800
Entries: 1,643
Prize pool: US$ 1,248,680
ITM: 269 places
Running time: 4 hours and 18 minutes (final day)

Final table payouts

1st Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo – Brazil – US$ 161,636
2nd Andreas “Duckzzz” Nasman – Finland – US$ 121,209
3rd Mathias “Senor Perez” Siljander – Finland – US$ 90,894
4th Tomi “BAAABUUSKIIII” Brouk – Finland – US$ 68,161
5th Ivan “Kewww” Babintsev – Ukraine – US$ 51,113
6th Stoyan Obreshkov – Bulgaria – US$ 38,329
7th Ido “idollar” Aboudi – Israel US$ 28,743
8th Sung Keung “skpang781” Pang – Hong Kong – US$ 21,554
9th Sergei “Igor Gofman” Pilipenko – Russia – US$ 16,163

Upcoming Guaranteed Events

Qualifying heats are ongoing for both events listed below. Final Day is on August 8, 2021.

WSOP #6: $200 FLIP & GO No Limit Hold’em [Go Stage] – US$ 1,000,000 gtd
WSOP #7: $1,500 MILLIONAIRE MAKER NLH, – $1M for 1st – US$ 5,000,000 gtd

2021 WSOP Online bracelet events stats

WSOP #1 – #3 prize pool: US$ 4,436,004
Cumulative entries: 34,217
Biggest field: WSOP #1: $50 The Return NLH – 30,810 entries
Biggest pot: WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event – US$ 1,759,824
Smallest field: WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship – 180 entries
Smallest pot: WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship – US$ 427,500
First time bracelet winners: 3
Largest payout: WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event – Joao Simao – US$ 206,075

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: $800 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH – Thiago “IneedWasabi” Macedo – US$ 161,636

Second career bracelet won

Nicolo Molinelli – WSOP #3: $2500 Limit Hold’em Championship

Bracelets by Country

Poland – 1
Brazil – 2
Italy – 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 #4: $800 DOUBLE CHANCE NLH – US$ 1,248,680

Natural8 Team Bling Sponsorship Package winners

Joao Simao – WSOP #2: Caesars Cares Charity Event – US$ 10,000 Sponsorship

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-in1 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 on the ongoing 2021 WSOP Online on Natural8.