The virtual poker arena has been hopping lately with online platform Natural8-GGNet hosting the World Series of Poker Online. The festival lit up the screens on August 20 and will continue until October 2, offering a grand total of 33 gold bracelets to be claimed.
Opening week witnessed strong performances by several Asian players, most notably Dicky Siu Hang Tsang from Hong Kong who just missed the coveted shine by one spot. Other Asian finalists were Taiwan’s Hsi Hao Chen and India’s Lavi Ahuja.
Going the distance were Or Nezer (Israel), Vinicius Felipe Steves (Brazil), Sergei Koliakov (Russia), and Paulius Vaitiekunas (Lithuania), each one locking up their career first gold bracelet. Scroll down for the results.
Or “Nezer21” Nezer wins Event #1: $108 Bankroll Builder Bounty NLHE
Offering a shot at winning a coveted bracelet for a mere USD 108, Event 1: Bankroll Builder Bounty NLHE drew a huge crowd of 7,619 entries for a prize pool of USD 761,900. The final table was largely marked by the presence of Israeli and Brazilian players, each side boasting three representatives. Two Asians were also in the mix, Hsi Hao Chen from Taiwan and Malaysian Muhammad Siddiqui. Between the two, Chen fell closest to the gold with a 4th place finish for his deepest WSOP run.
Ultimately, it was the Israeli contingent that emerged victorious with Or Nezer “Nezer21” seizing the gold on his second bullet. This was Nezer’s debut WSOP bracelet victory, earning him a substantial payout of USD 58,884.
Date: August 20, 2023
Buy in: USD 108
Entries: 7,619
Prize pool: USD 761,900
ITM: 800 places
Final table payouts
| Place | Player | Flag | Payout in USD |
| 1 | Or “Nezer21” Nezer | Israel | $58,884 |
| 2 | Anna “Micros” Ilyevskiy | Israel | $33,058 |
| 3 | Guilherme “ViKingPower” Franco | Brazil | $24,716 |
| 4 | Hsi Hao “seven160305” Chen | Taiwan | $23,676 |
| 5 | Gustavo Dias Da Silva | Brazil | $14,709 |
| 6 | Tzlil “opener’ Ozer | Israel | $14,636 |
| 7 | Manuel “5Dinks4U” Aranzadi Martinez | $8,590 | |
| 8 | Muhammad “StickyWickets” Siddiqui | Malaysia | $7,169 |
| 9 | Talin “SoFumoGelo” Figueredo | Brazil | $8,493 |
Brazil’s Vinicius “pfckb” Felipe emerges Event 2: Gladiator of Poker Opener champion
The quest for the second bracelet took center stage at Event 2: Gladiator of Poker Opener which featured a juicy USD 2.5 Million guarantee. With a massive 9,488 entries witnessed over eighteen Stage 1 heats, the prize pool surged to USD 2,647,152.
Two Asian players reached the final table, Hong Kong’s Tsz Kin Heung “ZzzSz” and India’s Lavi Ahuja “Ash Win 20 20”. Heung finished 7th while Ahuja gained one spot higher for 6th place. The title was seized by Brazil’s Vinicius Felipe Steves “pfckb” after delivering a crushing full house over full house at heads up. Steves turned his USD 300 buy in into a jaw dropping payout of USD 234,707.
Runner up Maher Achour “maherfish” and third placer Iago Savino Peixoto “RanThisTable” didn’t do too bad as well, both walking away with six figures.
Date: August 21, 2023
Buy in: USD 300
Guarantee: USD 2,500,000
Entries: 9,488
Prize pool: USD 2,647,152
ITM: 1,135
Final table payouts
| Place | Player | Flag | Payout in USD |
| 1 | Vinicius Felipe “pfckb” Steves | Brazil | $234,707 |
| 2 | Maher “maherfish” Achour | Tunisia | $173,241 |
| 3 | Iago Savino “RanThisTable” Peixoto | Brazil | $127,976 |
| 4 | Rodrigo “piquet” Valente | Brazil | $94,542 |
| 5 | Tyler “roseypalms” Rosenlund | Canada | $69,846 |
| 6 | Lavi “Ash Win 20 20” Ahuja | India | $51,606 |
| 7 | Pawl “elraziel” Lukasiak | Poland | $38,133 |
| 8 | Tsz Kin “ZzzSz” Heung | Hong Kong | $28,181 |
| 9 | Yiannis “GreekFreaker” Liperis | UK | $20,831 |
Dicky “Floatinworld” Tsang denied the gold at Event 3: Bounty NLH Championship
Another exciting NLH bounty bracelet event was virtually felted, this one was the Bounty NLH Championship costing players a hefty USD 2,100. A sizable 677 took on the challenge to build a handsome USD 1,354,000 prize pool. The top 98 earned a piece.
The title came down between Hong Kong’s Dicky Siu Hang Tsang “Floatinworld” and Russia’s Sergei Koliakov “Meruemu”. Both players highly active and experienced in the online arena. In the end, Koliakov prevailed to secure his maiden WSOP bracelet and a substantial payout of USD 158,345.
Date: August 22,2023
Buy in : USD 2,100
Entries: 677
Prize pool: USD 1,354,000
ITM: 98 places
Final table payouts
| Place | Player | Flag | Payout in USD |
| 1 | Sergei “Meruemu” Koliakov | Russia | $158,345 |
| 2 | Dicky Siu Hang “Floatinworld” Tsang | Hong Kong | $85,188 |
| 3 | Pedro “Maddona” Marques | Belarus | $67,190 |
| 4 | Artem “TritonTriDan” Sadovsky | Serbia | $60,092 |
| 5 | Ilia Streltsov | Serbia | $40,874 |
| 6 | Henrique “Judite” Souza | Brazil | $26,502 |
| 7 | Toni “Seurapiirihrmri” Kaukua | Finland | $42,041 |
| 8 | Geraldo Cesar “UmReiNoRiver” Neto | Brazil | $28,964 |
| 9 | Bert Stevens | Belgium | $21,788 |
Paulius “redpillgame” Vaitiekunas wins the Bounty PLO
The first Pot Limit Omaha bracelet event attracted 706 entries at a buy in of USD 840 each. This generated a prize pool of USD 564,800, the lowest of all the opening week’s completed bracelet events. Despite this, the top prize was worth a decent $24,895. Lithuania’s Paulius Vaitiekunas “redpillgame” conquered to clasp his first bracelet. In addition to the payout, Vaitiekunas collected a larger USD 56,953 in bounties for a combined score of USD 81,848.
Impressively, this wasn’t Vaitiekunas’ first WSOP merch. Back in 2018, he won a WSOP Circuit ring at the Czech Republic. To date, he has 43 WSOP cashes and around USD 390K in WSOP winnings.
Date: August 25 to 26, 2023
Buy in: USD 840
Entries: 706
Prize pool: USD 564,800
ITM: 98 places
Winner: PAULIUS “redpillgame” VAITIEKUNAS – Lithuania – USD 81,848
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Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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