2021 WSOP Winter Circuit Online: Ole Schemion, Tommi Lankinen, Andrey Nikonorov, Yulian Bogdanov, Silvio Costa, “Futti18” win circuit rings

As the 2021 calendar year came to a close, the World Series of Poker Winter Circuit Online awarded another six new ring winners. The latest champions were German bracelet holder Ole Schemion, Finland’s Tommi “wnbgambb” Lankinen, Bulgaria’s Yulian “Ector” Bogdanov, Portugal’s Silvio “valterzao” Costa, Russia’s Andrey “Mr-Doberman” Nikonorov, and Poland’s “Futti18”. Also earning praise was Israel’s Ravid Garbi who became the second player to reach two final tables. We’ve got those stories below.

The series has been ongoing at Natural8 – GG Network since December 12 and will run through January 10. Over US$ 20 Million has been paid out across 12 ring events. Only six rings remain. Headlining the festival is the $525 Main Event featuring a US$ 5 Million guarantee. Day 1 flights are offered daily.

Ring #7: PLO Championship – TOMMI “wnbgambb” LANKINEN – US$ 129,414

Mission accomplished for Finland’s Tommi “wnbgambb” Lankinen who turned his fourth bullet into a golden victory at the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Championship. Lankinen faced some stiff competition at the final table with Niklas Astedt looking to lock up a fourth career ring. However, it was not to be for the Swedish online beast. Astedt was stopped in 3rd place while Lankinen went on to defeat Canada’s Xing “Mai_K_4_Life” He at heads up to capture his first ever circuit ring and a personal high payout of US$ 129,414. The event attracted 488 entrants for a prize pool of US$ 695,400. Among the Asian players in the money, only Hong Kong’s King Yin “pokerfrank” Liu reached the final table, placing 7th for US$ 18,487.

Date: December 21 to 22
Buy in: US$ 1,500
Guarantee: US$ 500,000
Entries: 488
Prize pool: US$ 695,400
ITM: 71 places

Final table payouts

1st Tommi “wnbgambb” Lankinen – Finland – US$ 129,414
2nd Xing “Mai_K_4_Life” He – Canada – US$ 93,569
3rd Niklas Astedt – Sweden – US$ 67,652
4th Bernardo “GGeKKo” Dias – Brazil – US$ 48,914
5th Alexander “MightyStation” Maynard – New Zealand – US$ 35,365
6th J van Dijck – Netherlands – US$ 25,570
7th King Yin “pokerfrank” Liu – Hong Kong – US$ 18,487

Ring #8: Lucky Sevens Bounty NLH – OLE SCHEMION – US$ 89,568

2021 was a spectacular year for German pro Ole Schemion with four titles, a gold bracelet, and a gold ring added to his multi-million dollar portfolio. The year kicked off with a victory at the WPT Montreal Main Event hosted by partypoker; this was later partnered with a win at the WPT World Online Championships Super High Roller 7-Max.

In mid-November, Schemion joined the live action in Las Vegas and finally secured his first ever gold bracelet at Event #79: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty. Two weeks later, he came close to claiming a second bracelet but fell short by one spot at the WSOPE 8-Game Mix.

Despite losing that opportunity, Schemion jumped back into the online arena where he found success once again. He topped the 1,233 entrants of the WSOP Winter Circuit $777 Lucky Sevens Bounty No Limit Hold’em to lock up his first ever gold ring and a cool US$ 89,568. Included in that amount was US$ 51,870 in bounty rewards. According to his GG stats, Schemion has over US$ 4.4 Million in winnings which pales in comparison to his total live tournament earnings of over US$ 16.7 Million.

Falling in 2nd place was Israeli bracelet winner Ravid Garbi who days later went on to reach a second final table. Among the Asians in the money, Chinese pro Xuming “scplayer” Qi went the deepest of 4th place for US$ 34,164. Qi has consistently done well in the GG network with over US$ 1.4 Million in winnings. Just missing the final table was Chinese GG ambassador Wang Kun in 8th place for US$ 12,186.

Date: December 23 to 24
Buy in: US$ 777
Guarantee: US$ 700,000
Entries: 1,233
Prize pool: US$ 910,139
ITM: 170 places

Final table payouts

1st Ole Schemion – Germany – US$ 89,568
2nd Ravid Garbi – Israel – US$ 56,973
3rd Gabriel “gtavares10” Tavares – Brazil – US$ 38,198
4th Xuming “scplayer” Qi – China – US$ 34,164
5th Yossi “schweppess” Yeda – Israel – US$ 23,396
6th “bijstandpoker” Netherlands – US$ 18,766
7th Oleh “mirroring” Vashchenkov – Ukraine – US$ 11,916

Ring #9: $800 Monster Stack NLH – “FUTTI18” – US$ 217,020

The two day $800 Monster Stack No Limit Hold’em drew 2,140 runners to smash the $1M guarantee for a sweeter US$ 1,626,400 prize pool. Out of the 296 players that dipped in the pot, it was Polish champion “Futti18” who grabbed the most of US$ 217,020 plus a shiny new ring. This may well have been Futti18’s first ever WSOP victory and largest known score. Futti18 defeated Chinese player “VINSON88” at heads up. Also at the final table were bracelet holders Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik and Timur “Avocado Love” Margolin, and two other Asian players China’s Peng “FxxXp” Yang and Korea’s Hyunsup “dipper27” Kim.

Based on the champion’s GG stats, the takedown was its biggest on the network but not the first. In January, Futti18 outlasted 4,436 players at the $150 GGMasters event to collect US$ 67,927. Since then Futti18 has run deep in numerous events including a 3rd place finish two weeks ago at the Bounty Hunters High Roller event for US$ 42,848. To date, Futti18 has over US$ 1.2 Million in network earnings.

Date: December 26 to 27
Buy in: US$ 800
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 2,140
Prize pool: US$ 1,626,400
ITM: 296 places

Final table payouts

1st “Futti18” – Russia – US$ 217,020
2nd “VINSON88” – China – US$ 162,742
3rd Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik – Norway – US$ 122,039
4th Gabriel Moura – Brazil – US$ 91,516
5th “Pokerfloor” – US$ 68,627
6th Peng “FxxXp” Yang – China – US$ 51,463
7th Felix “jesuisallin” Vandeput – Belgium – US$ 38,592
8th Hyunsup “dipper27” Kim – Korea – US$ 28,940
9th Timur “Avocado Love” Margolin – Israel – US$ 21,702

Ring #10: $400 PLOSSUS Bounty – ANDREY “Mr-Doberman” NIKONOROV – US$ 136,309

A sizable 4,077 entered the $400 PLOSSUS Bounty event across 42 entry days to amass a US$ 1,549,260 prize pool. 420 players advanced to the final day with only 400 guaranteed a piece of the cash pot. In the end, the glory went to Russia’s Andrey “Mr-Doberman” Nikonorov who defeated Brazil’s Dante Fernandes at heads up. For his victory, Nikonorov lifted the shiny gold circuit ring and a career high score of US$ 136,309. Included in his winnings was a whopping US$ 78,597 in bounty rewards. Based on Nikonorov’s GG stats, he has over US$ 470K in network winnings.

Date: December 18 to 27
Buy in: US$ 400
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 4,077
Final Day players: 420
Prize pool: US$ 1,549,260
ITM: 400 places

Final table payouts

1st Andrey “Mr-Doberman” Nikonorov – Russia – US$ 136,309
2nd Dante Fernandes – Brazil – US$ 78,977
3rd “Cowgurl” – Slovakia – US$ 67,899
4th “Gforfambler” – Cyprus – US$ 37,545
5th “irene-su” China – US$ 29,773
6th Samuel “MegaLowBoy” Dray – France – US$ 18,365
7th “BigOoool” – Cape Verde – US$ 10,812

Ring #11: $1,500 6-Handed Championship – YULIAN “Ector” BOGDANOV – US$ 204,609

Bulgarian Yulian “Ector” Bogdanov entered the final day of Ring #11 $1,500 6-Handed Championship as chip leader with 16 remaining, and went on to close it out for his first ever WSOPC title, ring, and high score of US$ 204,609. This boosted his GG network winnings to over US$ 1.9 Million. One of Bogdanov’s toughest competitors was Israeli bracelet holder Ravid Garbi who was running second in chips. Garbi was also the only other player to reach two final tables, following in Ognyan Dimov’s footsteps. Another decorated player at the table was ring holder Fabrizio Gonzalezwho finished in 3rd place.

The two day event drew 927 entries for a smashing prize pool of US$ 1,320,975 with 134 in the money. Among the Asians cashing in on the final day were India’s “jolly4566” who placed 5th place for US$ 55,914, China’s Jifeng “Snakey” Huang in 9th for US$ 17,152, Hai “whatevers” Yang and India bracelet holder Abhinav “OBellaCiao” Iyer in 12th and 13th places for US$ 12,541.

Date: December 28 to 29
Buy in: US$ 1,500
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 927
Prize pool: US$ 1,320,975
ITM: 134 places

Final table payouts

1st Yulian “Ector” Bogdanov – Bulgaria – US$ 204,609
2nd Owen Messere – UK – US$ 147,936
3rd Fabrizio Gonzalez – Uruguay – US$ 106,961
4th Ravid Garbi – Israel – US$ 77,335
5th “jolly4566” – India – US$ 55,914
6th Rodrigo “SePico77” Presutti – Uruguay – US$ 40,427
7th Alik “GODofMTT” Zazyan – Russia – US$ 29,229

Ring #12: $888 CRAZY EIGHTS Bounty NLH – SILVIO “valterzao” COSTA – US$ 113,886

Portugal’s Silvio Domingues Costa topped the 1,228 entries of Ring #12 $888 Crazy Eights Bounty No Limit Hold’em to lock up his first circuit ring and the US$ 43,200 first prize. With an extra US$ 70,686 collected in bounty rewards, Costa walked away pocketing a combined US$ 113,886. This was his largest tracked win in both the live and online arena. To date, Costa has nearly US$ 1.2 Million in GG winnings. For a good portion of the final table, Canada’s Foad “SUPERLOW” Larki was the player to catch. He sported the biggest stack and the most bounties that despite his fall in 3rd place, he still earned a larger payout than runner up Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto. Only one Asian player reached the final table, anonymous player from Japan “RockmuraKuppuku” who finished 7th.

Date: December 30 to 31
Buy in: US$ 888
Guarantee: US$ 800,000
Entries: 1,228
Prize pool: US$ 1,035,940.80
ITM: 170 places

Final table payouts

1st Silvio “valterzao” Costa – Portugal – US$ 113,886
2nd Rafael “riskgambler” Furlanetto – Brazil – US$ 52,109
3rd Foad “SUPERLOW” Larki – Canada – US$ 63,298
4th Tim “BeardOilGuy” Rutherford – Canada – US$ 32,245
5th Victor “GHOSTEADO” Teixeira – Brazil – US$ 24,348
6th Dmitrii “ImS0Lucky” Shutenko – Russia – US$ 28,534
7th “RockmuraKuppuku – Japan – US$ 18,944
8th “Le_COlombbi1 – US$ 16,419
9th Shanqi “smallyellowyu” Huang – US$ 12,770

Festival results (Side events not included)

Ring #1 – #12 prize pool: US$ 20,238,630.80
Cumulative entries: 50,131
Biggest field: BIG 50 MILLION$ – 23,667
Biggest pot: SUPER MILLION$ High Roller NLH – US$ 4,140,000
Biggest winner: Dario Sammartino – SUPER MILLION$ High Roller NLH – US$ 740,917
Overlay: BIG 500 No Limit Hold’em – US$ 236,800

Ring Winners

Ring #1: Aniket “lockstock” Waghmare – India – BIG 50 MILLION$ – US$ 89,738
Ring #2: Adria Faura Calonge – Spain – BIG 500 NLH – US$ 251,427
Ring #3: Wei Guo “SPARK1207” Liang – China – Deepstack Championship – US$ 182,219
Ring #4: Vladimirs “justVOL” Sarigins – Latvia – SUPER SIX Bounty NLH – US$ 86,481
Ring #5: Dario Sammartino – Italy – SUPER MILLION$ High Roller NLH – US$ 740,917
Ring #6: Nenad “O O L” Djukic – Serbia – COLOSSUS – US$ 368,421
Ring #7: Tommi “wnbgambb” Lankinen – Finland – PLO Championship – US$ 129,414
Ring #8: Ole Schemion – Germany – LUCKY SEVENS Bounty NLH – US$ 89,568
Ring #9: “Futti18” – Poland – MONSTER STACK NLH – US$ 217,020
Ring #10: Andrey “Mr-Doberman” Nikonorov – Russia -PLOSSUS – US$ 136,309
Ring #11: Yulian “Ector” Bogdanov – Bulgaria – 6-Handed Championship – US$ 204,609
Ring #12: Silvio “valterzao” Costa – Portugal – CRAZY EIGHTS Bounty NLH – US$ 113,886

2021 WSOP WC Online recap: Ring winners #1 – #6

Multiple final tables

Ognyan “fizoka” Dimov
9th – Ring #3 $1,500 Deepstack Championship
5th – Ring #5: $10,300 Super MILLION$

Ravid Garbi
2nd – Ring #8 $777 LUCKY SEVENS Bounty No Limit Hold’em
4th – Ring #11 $1,500 6-Handed Championship No Limit Hold’em

Stay tuned to Somuchpoker as we bring you the final batch of WSOP Winter Circuit Online ring winners.