WSOP Online Series Surpasses $46 Million In Total Prize Money

The World Series of Poker Online series is still ongoing as of press time, with official results pending from 20 bracelet events on WSOP’s international online partner GGPoker, and another eight bracelets awarded stateside on WSOP.com in Nevada and New Jersey. There has already been more than $46 million in combined prize money awarded.

For info on the first 13 bracelet events of the series, check out the previous issue of Card Player. Below is a look at events 14-20 from GGPoker, as well as the first batch of winners from the US-facing section of the online festival.

GGPoker Events 14-20

The first 20 events of the GGPoker schedule paid out more than $44 million, with nearly $9.8 million of that coming from the seven events to be discussed below. Those seven tournaments attracted a total of 22,693 entries on their own, starting with the 705 made in event no. 14, the $2,500 Deepstack Championship.

The prize pool of $1,674,375 was paid out among the top 107 finishers. The top four all earned six-figure scores, with eventual champion Almaz Zhdanov securing his first bracelet and the largest payout of $246,495.

This was by far the biggest recorded score of Zhdanov’s tournament career, with all of his previous results being smaller four-figure cashes in other GGPoker bracelet events. Other notables who made deep runs included four-time bracelet winner Michael Gathy (28th), 2021 WSOP Online bracelet winner Samuel Vousden (24th), 2019 WSOP bracelet winner Ivan Deyra (22nd), Roland Rokita (9th), and 2022 WSOP tag-team bracelet winner Patrick Leonard (7th).

The $777 buy-in Lucky Sevens event featured seven-handed tables to match the unique price point for entry. A total of 1,778 entries were made, resulting in more than $1.3 million in prize money that was up for grabs.

The largest share of that money was won by Pete Chen. This was the Taiwanese player’s second career bracelet win. The 2017 World Poker Tour Beijing Invitational champion earned $53,999 from the prize pool as the champion, increasing his career recorded earnings to more than $3.2 million.

Plenty of big names joined Chen in making deep runs in this event, including two-time bracelet winner Joao Vieira (16th), 2022 EPT Prague main event winner Grzegorz Glowny (8th), and 2021 WSOP $50,000 high roller runner-up Ren Lin (7th).

The $1,500 Ultra Deepstack event drew 1,156 entries, building a prize pool worth just shy of $1.1 million. Out of the 197 players that cashed, the last one standing was Jonathan Gilliam. The American was awarded $149,520 and his first gold bracelet for the win.

This was the largest score yet for Gilliam, a resident of Rosedale, Maryland. Prior to this victory, his largest payday came when he placed fourth in the 2015 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Baltimore main event for just shy of $70,000. He now has more than $426,000 in lifetime earnings.

Notables who made it deep in this event included Vanessa Kade (30th), recent bracelet winner Ami Barer (26th), Bryan Micon (12th), and bracelet winner Barak Wisbrod (10th).

A sizable field of 3,141 entries turned out for the $500 buy-in Big 500 event, creating a prize pool of nearly $1.5 million. When the dust settled, Spain’s Vicente Delgado came away with his first bracelet and $174,497 as the champion.

This was the second six-figure score of Delgado’s career, topping the $110,322 he secured as a side event winner at the 2016 EPT Barcelona series. He now has nearly $970,000 in total scores under his belt after this latest victory.

Among the notables to run deep were 2013 WSOP main event fourth-place finisher Sylvain Loosli (40th), Esther Taylor (13th), bracelet winner Jens Lakemeier (7th), and 2019 EPT Barcelona main event runner-up finisher Marton Czuczor (5th).

The $1 million guaranteed $100 buy-in ‘Flip & Go’ drew a massive field of 13,719 entries. As a result, the guarantee was easily surpassed to create a final prize pool of $1,303,305. Ewald Mahr emerged victorious, securing the hardware and the top prize of $143,267.

Final tablists included Pablo Brito Silva (9th), recent WSOPO bracelet winner Claas Eyke Segebrecht (5th), and bracelet winner Chris Klodnicki (4th).

Portugal’s Rui Ferreira came away with the next high-stakes title on the schedule. This year’s EPT Barcelona €10,300 no-limit hold’em high roller winner overcame a field of 272 entries for his first bracelet as the champion of the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha championship, earning $287,736 for the win. The score increased Ferreira’s lifetime earnings to more than $2.6 million.

The top 39 finishers cashed in this tournament, with the top four earning six-figure paydays. Notables who made it deep included two-time bracelet winner Joao Simao (4th) and 2021 WSOP winner Eelis Parssinen (3rd).

Rounding out this batch of winners was Sean Prendiville. The Irishman topped a field of 1,922 entries to become the last bounty hunter remaining in the $888 buy-in Crazy Eights bounty eight-max event. He earned his first bracelet and $151,672 in total prize money, with $66,770 from the main prize pool and $84,902 in bounty payouts.

Joining Prendeville at the final table was WPT champion Matas Cimbolas (7th) and event no. 2 champion Claas Eyke Segebrecht (3rd), just days removed from his deep run in the Flip & Go event.

WSOP.com NV and NJ Events 1-8

The domestic segment of the WSOP Online kicked off on WSOP.com in mid September, and there has already been $2.4 million in prize money paid out through the first eight events.

First up was the $400 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that kicked off on Sept. 10. A total of 755 entries were made by the time registration closed, creating a total prize pool of $271,800. The top 90 finishers made the money in this event, but only Ori Hasson would end the day with the bracelet and the top prize of $58,491.

This was the first bracelet win for the Israeli player and the fourth-largest recorded tournament payday of his career. The score increased his lifetime tournament earnings to more than $660,000.

In-the-money finishers included bracelet winners Alex Foxen (37th), Todd Brunson (30th), Daniel Negreanu (15th), Jeff Madsen (5th), and Andrew Lichtenberger (4th).

Next up on the schedule was the $500 buy-in ‘MonsterStack’ tournament, which drew 722 total entries for the largest field of any of the first eight WSOP.com events. The strong turnout built a prize pool of $324,900. The largest share of that was ultimately secured by Benjamin Garrick. The Gold Beach, Oregon resident earned $64,590 and his first gold bracelet for the win.

This was Garrick’s largest recorded score yet, more than doubling the $30,000 he earned as the runner-up in a $600 buy-in event at the Venetian DeepStack Championship Poker Series II last fall.

Notables among the 126 in-the-money finishers in this event included kickoff event winner Ori Hasson (75th), Jeff Madsen (49th), three-time bracelet winner and WPT champion Nick Schulman (31st), and Dan Buzgon (28th).

The price of poker went up considerably for the third event on the schedule. The high roller event cost $3,200 to enter. When all was said and done, 124 entries were made to create a prize pool of $376,960. Drew O’Connell earned his second career gold bracelet and the top prize of $96,087.

O’Connell’s first WSOP victory came in the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em online championship last fall. That win saw him beat out 821 entries to earn a career-high payday of $146,893. O’Connell now has more than $530,000 in recorded tournament earnings to his name.

Other big names to make it deep in this tournament included bracelet winners Shankar Pillai (18th), Alex Foxen (17th), Tony Dunst (15th), Andrew Lichtenberger (11th), Jeff Madsen (7th), Ryan Laplante (4th), and Calvin Anderson (3rd).

Six-time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner Soheb Porbandarwala finally broke through to win his first bracelet in the $1,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha six-max event. The Stamford, Connecticut resident outlasted a field of 273 total entries to secure the gold and a payout of $57,125.

This was the fifth-largest score of Porbandarwala’s career, increasing his total earnings to more than $1.6 million.

The top 24 finishers cashed in this PLO event, with recognizable names like bracelet winner Ian Steinman (24th), Jesse Yaginuma (21st), two-time bracelet winner Martin Zamani (9th), Stanley Lee (4th) and bracelet winner Tristan Wade (3rd) among those who ran deep.

The fast-paced $500 buy-in no-limit hold’em turbo deepstack event attracted 515 total entries, building a prize pool of $231,750 that was paid out among the top 60 finishers.

The race to accumulate all of the chips was ultimately won by Chris Castiglia. This was the first recorded score ever for the Jersey City, New Jersey resident, earning him $44,705 and his first bracelet.

There were plenty of big names joining Castiglia at the final few tables of this event, including the likes of bracelet winner and WPT champion Ryan Tosoc (24th), Shannon Shorr (16th), three-time bracelet winner Ryan Leng (14th), two-time bracelet winner Ari Engel (12th), four-time bracelet winner Ben Yu (10th), and 2013 WSOP main event champion Ryan Riess (7th).

The $800 buy-in ‘Ultra Deepstack’ no-limit hold’em event created a $282,960 prize pool thanks to 393 entries, with that money split among the top 48 finishers. The largest share was captured by Vito Distefano of Chicago, Illinois.

This was the largest cash of his career, topping the $54,438 he earned as the 17th-place finisher in the $1,500 buy-in ‘millionaire maker’ event at this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas. He now has nearly $470,000 in recorded earnings thanks to this latest victory.

Notables who made it deep in this event included Ryan Riess (30th), Tony Dunst (17th), and Katie Lindsay (8th).

Despite a relatively modest buy-in of just $365, the seventh event of this series ended up with one of the most stacked final tables yet. In the end, it was high-stakes tournament regular Jeremy Ausmus who emerged victorious from the field of 571 entries. For the win, Ausmus earned $51,807 and his fifth WSOP gold bracelet.

This was Ausmus’s second bracelet win of the year and fourth in the past two years. He came into 2021 with just one bracelet to his name, which he won back in 2013 in a WSOP Europe €1,650 pot-limit Omaha event. Ausmus now has roughly $12.8 million in lifetime live tournament earnings.

Poker Hall of Fame member David Oppenheim took 13th, and was joined by Daniel Negreanu (8th), and Nick Schulman (2nd) in the money.

Schulman came within one spot of securing his fourth bracelet, but he ended up getting all-in with an open-ended straight draw facing the flopped top and bottom pairs of Ausmus. Schulman failed to improve on the turn or river and was sent to the virtual rail with $37,792 for his efforts.

The winner of event no. 8 had coincidentally played Ausmus heads-up for a bracelet at the start of the 2021 series. Ausmus came out on top that time, but in this tournament, it was rising star Jesse Lonis who finished with all the chips.

Lonis beat out a field of 384 entries in the $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em six-max event, earning $73,370 and his first gold bracelet. As a result of this win, the Little Falls, New York native increased his career earnings to more than $1.8 million.

Other cashers included poker vlogger Ethan Yau (35th), Alex Rocha (24th), Ryan Riess (20th), and PokerGO commentator Jeff Platt (9th), who was just a couple weeks removed from his win in the Mid-States Poker Tour Venetian main event.

Joining Lonis at the final table were high-roller regular Vikenty Shegal (6th), bracelet winner Carlos Welch (5th), bracelet winner Jonathan Dokler (4th), and bracelet winner Cole Ferraro (2nd). ♠