Michael 'miguelfiesta' Lech Wins 2020 World Series of Poker Online $1,500 No-Limit Hold'Em FreeezoutThe Eight-Time WSOP Circuit Ring Winner Earned His First Bracelet and $164,249 |
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Michael ‘miguelfiesta’ Lech has won the largest buy-in event held so far during the 2020 World Series of Poker Online series. The eight-time WSOP Circuit ring winner defeated a field of 649 entries to take down the $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em freezeout event, earning $164,249 and his first bracelet for the win.
This was the second-largest score of the Alma, Arkansas native’s career, behind his runner-up finish in the 2016 WSOP $888 ‘crazy eights’ event for $401,888. He has cashed in eight of the 13 WSOP Online events held so far, with his other biggest score being the $5,242 he earned as the 22nd-place finisher in event 12. He cashed in four straight events from July 10-13, making the final three tables in three consecutive events, punctuated by emerging victorious in this event.
The strong turnout for this event built a prize pool of $924,825 which was paid out among the top 99 finishers. Plenty of notable players made deep runs in this event, including Chris ‘Robotbob47’ Moorman (86th – $2,220), Anthony ‘heheh’ Zinno (77th – $2,497), Chris ‘Camdi’ Ferguson (65th – $2,867), Ankush ‘rickrosstheb’ Mandavia (60th – $3,422), Jason ‘haderade’ Somerville (53rd – $$3,977), Eddy ‘Habibi’ Sabat (36th – $5,456), Daniel ‘DNegs’ Negreanu (27th – $6,381), Darren ‘avacadotoast’ Rabinowitz (24th – $6,381), recent bracelet winner Ryan ‘Joeyisamush’ Depaulo (23rd – $6,381), and Ricky ‘ratedgto’ Guan (17th – $7,491).
When the final table began Lech sat in the middle of the pack, while Sean ‘SPS8710’ Seifert had more than twice as many chips than any other competitor. Lech quickly shot up the leaderboard by securing the first knockout at the final table. Michael ‘wsopmd’ Dolle shoved from the button with A-7 and Lech called out of the big blind with pocket queens. He made a straight by the river to send Dolle to the virtual rail with $11,930.
Megan ‘wolverine17’ Milburn’s run in this event came to an end when her Q has outrun by the AJ of Chun Lin ‘Bingooo’ Mo. The jack-high flop game Mo the lead and Milburn was unable to regain the advantage by the river. She earned $18,404 as the eighth-place finisher.
Mo earned another elimination shortly after that, calling the all-in of Christopher ‘pokeher2014’ Fuchs with A6 on a A74 flop. Fuchs held 86 for a gutshot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. The 8 on the turn gave him some additional outs for trips or two pair, but the A on the river locked up the pot for Mo. Fuchs finished in seventh place, earning $22,381 for his deep run.
High stakes tournament regular Connor ‘666666’ Drinan shoved for his last nine big blinds with A-8, only to run into the A-K of William ‘SlaweelRyam’ Romaine. Neither player improved their hand after the five community cards and Drinan was knocked out in sixth place ($29,964). Romaine was also involved in the next big preflop showdown. He raised to 627,347 as the first to act with A2 and Paul ‘ToTheMoon’ Dewald called for his tournament life holding 55. Romaine spiked an ace on the flop and held from there. Dewald was awarded $40,600 as the fifth-place finisher.
Despite scoring two eliminations earlier at the final table, Chun Lin ‘Bingooo’ Mo was the next to hit the rail. Seifert moved all-in from the button with 66 and Mo called from the big blind with A5. Seifert flopped a set to take a commanding lead. Mo picked up a straight draw on the turn, but missed on the river and busted in fourth place ($56,599).
Seifert lost a huge chunk of his stack to Romaine during three-handed action. He was left with just a handful of big blinds. In his last hand, he shoved from the button holding Q7. Lech called with 85. The board ran out AJ647 and Lech rivered a straight to knock Seifert out in third place ($77,408).
Lech took more than 9.3 million chips into heads-up play against Romaine, who sat with just shy of 6.9 million. Lech was able to extend his lead to roughly 2:1 by the time the final hand arose. Lech picked up AK on the button and min-raised to 560,000. Romaine called and the flop brought the K103. Romaine checked and Lech bet 868,000. Romaine raised all-in for just shy of 4.9 million with his middle pair, and Lech called with top pair, top kicker. The Q turn and 7 river secured the pot and the title for Lech. Romaine settled for $110,979 as the runner-up finisher.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded at the final table:
Place | Name | Earnings |
1 | Michael ‘miguelfiesta’ Lech | $164,249 |
2 | William ‘SlaweelRyam’ Romaine | $110,979 |
3 | Sean ‘SPS8710’ Seifert | $77,408 |
4 | Chun Lin ‘Bingooo’ Mo | $56,599 |
5 | Paul ‘ToTheMoon’ Dewald | $40,600 |
6 | Connor ‘666666’ Drinan | $29,964 |
7 | Christopher ‘pokeher2014’ Fuchs | $22,381 |
8 | Megan ‘wolverine17’ Milburn | $18,404 |
9 | Michael ‘wsopmd’ Dolle | $14,982 |
Winner photo credit: WSOP. Milburn photo via Winimax poker blog.