Natural8-WSOPC: BIG 25 sets a record 61,546 entries; Ivan “GangstaZab” Zabiyakin and New Zealand’s “Raggaz” lock up WSOPC Rings; three side wins for Alessandro Giannelli

Sunday night poker madness at the Natural8 – WSOP Super Circuit Online Series 2021 concluded with a smashing new record! RING #7: BIG 25 amassed an enormous 61,546 entry field to more than crush the previous record held by the WSOP 2020 Online [International] BIG 50 event of 44,576 entries. The night also produced two new ring winners, Russia’s Ivan “GangstaZab” Zabiyakin and New Zealand’s “Raggaz”. As a Natural8 player, Raggaz also won a LiveX Sponsorship Packages worth US$ 10,000. Good day as well for Natural8 Team Hot Pros Phachara Wongwichit and Pete Chen, both reached ring event final tables. At the side events, Italy’s Alessandro Giannelli took down his third side event, Jonah “RaiseUpBlind” Silverstein and Leocir “LeoJose” Carneiro shipped six figures. We’ve got those results for you and other highlights of Day 9.

To date, the series has paid out over US$ 34.8 Million across 232 events (7 ring events, 225 side events). Plenty of cash yet to be won along with 13 WSOP Circuit Rings up for grabs. Up next is RING #8: 800 Deepstack No Limit Hold’em Championship featuring a US$ 1 Million guarantee. The game kicks off on May 12 at 02:05 HKT. Multiple Day 1 flights are running daily for Ring #11: $400 COLOSSUS, US$ 2.5 Million guaranteed.

For newcomers, make sure to sign up to online platform Natural8 on the GG Network to avail of all the exclusive player incentives which include LiveX Sponsorship Packages from US$ 10,000 to US$ 50,000, exclusive WSOP Freerolls, 1.5x Cash Game Multiplier, and WSOP Flipouts. You can read up on those perks at the bottom of the page.

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WSOPC by the numbers

Day 1 – 9 prize pool: US$ 34,841,954
Seven figure prize pools: 5 ring events, 5 side events
Rings awarded: 7
Side events: 225
Total entries: 281,974
Largest phased ring event: RING #7: BIG 25 – 61,456 entries
Most wins: Artur Martirosian and Alessandro Giannelli – 3 side events
Most Ring Event final tables – Claas Segebrecht – 2 final tables

WSOP Circuit Ring winners

Ring #1: Bangshifu – China – US$ 147,012.67
Ring #2: James “PHJ10” Carroll – USA – US$ 49,835.14
Ring #3: Mario Mosboeck – Austria – US$ 129,700.43
Ring #4: Uri “JimyT” Reichenstein – Israel – US$ 166,859.75
Ring $5: Jonas “LobyPewis” Mackoff – Canada – US$ 71,139.69

RING #6: $365 GIANT – IVAN “GanstaZab” ZABIYAKIN – US$ 133,179.80

4,000 runners took their shot at RING #6: $365 GIANT No Limit Hold’em and in just under 11 hours of play, Russia’s Ivan “GangstaZab” Zabiyakin clinched it to lock up a WSOP Circuit Ring and a cool US$ 133,179.80. Based on his GG Network stats, GangstaZab is up nearly US$ 197K after this win. GangstaZab also cashed US$ 9,952.62 at Ring #4: $800 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Championship for 15th place and US$ 385.31 at Ring #1: Super Circuit Kick Off for 851st place.

Buy in: US$ 365
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 4,000
Prize pool: US$ 1,372,400
ITM: 476 places
Running time: 10 hours and 46 minutes

Final table payouts

1st Ivan “GangstaZab” Zabiyakin – Russia – US$ 133,179.80*
2nd Vlada “Vlada2108” Stojanovic – Serbia – US$ 130,583.97*
3rd Mateusz “SsethTzeenta” Szymanski – Poland – US$ 105,192.51*
4th Ben Cade – Canada – US$ 97,183.81*
5th Federico “Th3Secr3t” Petruzzelli – Italy – US$ 53,917.17
6th Kyong Jun “mathouse” Lee – Hong Kong – US$ 40,432.21
7th Eder “BlueMoon” Campana – Brazil – US$ 30,319.85
8th Pete Chen – Taiwan – US$ 22,736.61
9th PrinceHamed – Brazil – US$ 17,050.10
*Four-way deal, played for the Ring

Event recap

RING #6: $365 GIANT No Limit Hold’em was the fourth ring event extending a US$ 1 Million guarantee. With 4,000 turning up, it blew past for a richer US$ 1,372,400 prize pool. Payouts began at 476th place. Many notable players ran deep, among those in the top 100 were Natural8 Team Hot Pro Bryan Paris (30th), series ring winner James “PHJ10” Carroll (39th), and Kevin Martin (59th).

Leading up to the final table, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier railed Luiz Duarte Ferreira (16th), Jun “yuecheng0618” Fang knocked out Andorra’s “Pur3WiT” (15th) on a three-way all in, Federico “Th3Secr3t” Petruzzelli emptied out Vlad Martynenko (14th), then Eder “BlueMoon” Campana eliminated ElkY in 13th place with straight over . “GangstaZab” joined the cleaning crew by sending China’s “rocksoul” out next, Th3Secr3t booted yuecheng0618 (11th), the final table was formed at the fall of series ring winner Jonas “LobyPewis” Mackoff in 10th place to Vlada “Vlada2108” Stojanovic. Mackoff was all in with that missed against Stojanovic’s .

With Mackoff missing the final table, everyone at the final round was gunning for their first WSOP title. Th3Secr3t entered with a sizable lead of 106 bb, his closest challenger was Kyong Jun “mathouse” Lee with 67 bb, and in third rank was Stojanovic with 66 bb. First to bump the rail was Brazil’s PrinceHamed when Ben Cade’s AQo both paired up to dust pocket nines. Natural8 Team Hot Pro Pete Chen bit it next when Lee’s AJo found an Ace to bust pocket eights. Ten minutes later, “GangstaZab” sent Campana to his knees with AJo dominating A4o throughout to take the lead for the first time.

Next two busts were delivered by Stojanovic – Lee tumbled in 6th place with flush draw (at the flop) missing the mark against Stojanovic’s pocket Queens, and Th3Secr3t (5th) with top pair Jack at the flop burned by the river King to improve Stojanovic’s to two pair.

A four-way deal was then reached with “GangstaZab” guaranteed the largest pay. Play continued for the WSOP Circuit Ring. “GangstaZab” doubled up Ben Cade then took it all back and more, Stojanovic denied Mateusz “SsethTzeenta” Szymanski with the latter pushing for all his chips on the river holding top pair, only to fall to trips. This gave Stojanovic a 3 bb lead at heads up against “GangstaZab”. Both players tugged at the chip lead until “GangstaZab” landed a huge double up with straight over on a board . Up 8:1, “GangstaZab” nailed it shut on the next hand.

RING #7: BIG 25 – RAGGAZ – US$ 145,994.01

A new record was set at the cheapest ring event, RING #7: BIG 25, with a whopping 61,546 turning up over a week of Day 1 flights. As stated above, this more than exceeded the previous field record held by the WSOP 2020 Online Series [International] BIG 50 event of 44,576 entries. 6,767 advanced to Day 2, and after 9 hours of play, New Zealand’s “Raggaz” emerged victorious to capture the seventh WSOP Circuit Ring and the handsome US$ 145,994.01 first prize payout.As a Natural8 player, Raggaz became the first player to win a LiveX Sponsorship Packages worth US$ 10,000. Raggaz also sold 50 percent of his action resulting in seven very happy stakers.

Based on the GG profile, Raggaz has had numerous cashes on the site since mid April 2019 however up until this win, Raggaz was on a slump, down US$ 73K. This win skyrocketed Raggaz well into the black over US$ 70K.

Buy in: US$ 25
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 61,546
Prize pool: US$ 1,415,558
Day 2 qualifiers: 6,767
ITM: 3,125 places
Day 2 running time: 9 hours

Final table payouts

1st Raggaz – New Zealand – US$ 145,994.01
2nd Muusik – Estonia – US$ 109,465.95
3rd luckyboom1st – Russia – US$ 82,087.77
4th lleas – Norway – US$ 61,557.20
5th garaac – Brazil – US$ 46,161.21
6th Y Pashinskiy – Russia – US$ 34,616.21
7th Phachara Wongwichit – Thailand – US$ 25,958.43
8th Thomas “Flashguts513” Lee – Canada – US$ 19,466.04
9th Jeff “shortguy99” Giles – USA – US$ 14,597.48

Event recap

Not only did the BIG 25 event set a new field record, it also crushed the US$ 1 Million guarantee. Out of the 6,767 Day 2 qualifiers, 3,125 players earned a piece of the US$ 1,415,588 prize pool. Among the notables in the top 100 were Nicolo Molinelli (99th), Fabrizio Gonzalez (89th), and Abhinav “OBellaCiao” Iyer (52nd). By the start of the seventh hour, the game was a crapshoot with 40 remaining and the average stack at 15 bb. Busts were rampant that forty-five minutes later, it was down to the final two tables. Raggaz took the lead after railing LeMagnifique (11th) with set over then Russia’s luckyboom1st stole it by booting Ukraine’s Richard “Neumanriel” Neumann in 10th place with AJo dominating A7o.

The final table opened with “luckyboom1st” up top with 78 bb, the shortest was Natural8 Team Hot Pro Phachara Wongwichit with 9 bb, and the average was at a much more playable 42 bb. Twelve minutes in, Brazil’s “garaac” emptied out Jeff “shortguy99” Giles with pocket Jacks over pocket eights. Next shove saw Y Pashinskiy’s pocket nines improve to a set to avoid the rail against Muusik’s pocket Kings. Not so fortunate for Thomas “Flashguts513” Lee who fell to Phachara in 8th place, then twenty minutes later, it was Phachara who found himself all out against luckyboom1st.

Down to six players, all but Muusik had the “Deal” flag up. Raggaz and Muusik began their ascent. Raggaz doubled up off Ileas with over on a board , Muusik eliminated Y Pashinskiy with dominating . At this point, luckyboom1st was still chip leader until Muusik railed garaac. At four remaining, Raggaz landed another double up with luckyboom1st paying up. Raggaz had set over luckyboom1st on a board . Raggaz took the lead on a winning straight (no shove) over Muusik’s top pair on a board . Muusik recovered some of the lost chips by finishing off Ileas (4th) with pocket eights dominating pocket sixes.

With three left, the players looked at the numbers. Raggaz declined, which in hindsight was a very good decision. Raggaz proceeded to rack up well over half the chips in play and used it to shove at nearly every hand. This quickly drained both opponents. Raggaz eliminated luckyboom1st (3rd) with AJo beating A7o, then shipped it all after just one heads-up hand against Muusik. The final hand was Raggaz over that missed.

Day 9 – Side Event big winners

WSOPC High Rollers: $5,250 Bounty Hunters SHR 500K

Buy in: US$ 5,250
Guarantee: US$ 500,000
Entries: 110
Prize pool: US$ 550,000
ITM: 15 places
Winner: JONAH “RaiseUpBlind” SILVERSTEIN – Canada – US$ 131,775.92

WSOPC Series: $525 Bounty Hunters Main Event

Buy in: US$ 525
Guarantee: US$ 1,000,000
Entries: 2246
Prize pool: US$ 1,123,000
ITM: 313 places
Winner: LEOCIR “LeoJose” CARNEIRO – Brazil – US$ 108,997.14
2nd jomud9ahsorjai – Hong Kong – US$ 60,590.80

Multiple Side Event Winners

WSOPC Series: $315 Sunday Bounty King PLO

Buy in: US$ 315
Guarantee: US$ 50,000
Entries: 198
Prize pool: US$ 59,400
ITM: 27 places
Winner: ALESSANDRO GIANNELLI – Italy – US$ 9,068.10

With this win, Alessandro Giannelli became the second player to bag three WSOPC side events, joining Artur Martirosian in the exclusive list. Giannelli won his first on Day 1 at the $50 Day Saver event for US$ 4,515.75 then a second one on Day 5 at the $525 Bounty Hunters PLO for US$ 9,609.13.

WSOPC Series: $300 Sunday Marathon HR

Buy in: US$ 300
Guarantee: US$ 150,000
Entries: 731
Prize pool: US$ 203,949
ITM: 98 places
Winner: GIANLUCA “Tankanza” SPERANZA – Italy – US$ 31,793.98

On his third bullet, Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza shipped his second side event. His first win was on opening day at the $315 Sunday Bounty King PLO for US$ 14,151.57.

WSOPC High Rollers: $3,150 Blade Bounty King

Buy in: US$ 3,150
Guarantee: US$ 75,000
Entries: 34
Prize pool: US$ 102,000
ITM: 5 places
Winner: RAMIRO PETRONE – Uruguay – US$ 45,218.63

This was Ramiro Petrone’s second win. He won his first on Day 6 at the WSOPC High Rollers $3,150 Blade Bounty King event for US$ 22,640.70.

Day 9 – Asia Pacific – Side Event Winners

WSOPC Series: $125 Sunday Kick Off

Buy in: US$ 125
Guarantee: US$ 100,000
Entries: 1219
Prize pool: US$ 140,185
ITM: 170 places
Winner: TILTJAM – India – US$ 20,241.82
2nd goodboy77 – Hong Kong – US$ 15,208.74

WSOPC High Rollers: $840 Bounty Warmup

Buy in: US$ 840
Guarantee: US$ 100,000
Entries: 160
Prize pool: US$ 128,000
ITM: 23 places
Winner: BAOBAOJUN2 – China – US$ 26,200.26
2nd rail gun – China – US$ 121,287.41

WSOPC High Rollers: $,1050 Daily Main

Buy in: US$ 1,050
Guarantee: US$ 200,000
Entries: 222
Prize pool: US$ 222,000
ITM: 31 places
Winner: FANTA11 – Hong Kong – US$ 41,381.06*
2nd Johnathan “Resolve” French – Canada – US$ 41,221.08*
*Heads-up deal

WSOPC Series: $300 Sunday Closer HR

Buy in: US$ 300
Guarantee: US$ 40,000
Entries: 199
Prize pool: US$ 55,521
ITM: 27 places
Winner: THELUCKSTER – Japan – US$ 13,029.45

Exclusive Natural8 Promos

There are US$ 250,000 worth of reasons to sign up onNatural8for theWSOP Super Circuit Online Series. We’ve listed them all down below or for a more detailed breakdown, head to the link provided.

WSOPC – Natural8 Exclusive Promos

Freerolls

Natural8will be giving awayfree WSOP ticketsvia their hourly freerolls,VIP ClubFreerolls,First Deposit Freerolls, andNatural8 Exclusive WSOP Freerolls. Players can win satellite tickets andWSOP ticketsworth over US$ 2,000 weekly.

US$ 50,000 LiveX Sponsorship Package

Win theMain Eventand this package is yours! The sponsorship package includes:

12 monthsLiveX Crew Sponsorship
US$ 15,000 Las Vegas Package($10,000 to cover your buy-ins and $5,000 for expenses)
US$ 35,000 for live event sponsorships over 12 months

US$ 10,000 LiveX Sponsorship Package

Win one of the otherWSOPC Ring Eventsand this package is yours! New Zealand’s “Raggaz” has already won one of these packages after shipping the Ring #7: BIG 25 event. The sponsorship package includes:

6 monthsLiveX Crew Sponsorship
US$ 10,000 Las Vegas Package

Natural8 WSOP Flipouts

ForN8 membersthat play any of theWSOPC events, you gain entry to exclusiveNatural8 Exclusive WSOP Flipoutswith each entry increasing your stack.$5,000 inWSOP ticketsare up for grabs.Flipoutshappen every Saturday on May 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 23:00 UTC.

WSOP 1.5x Cash Game Prize Multiplier

As announced, theWSOPCwill be awarding2 Cash Game Rings– one for No Limit Hold’em players and one for PLO players. AnyNatural8player that reaches the final table will see their prize money increase by 1.5x.

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

Stay tuned toSomuchpokeras we continue to bring you recaps of the ongoingNatural8 – WSOPC festival