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2020 Online World Series Of Poker Main Event Champ Unhappy About Hybrid Event

Poker Community Echoes Stoyan Madanzhiev's Sentiment On Social Media

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Stoyan Madanzhiev won the 2020 World Series of Poker main event. Or so he thought.

Two months ago, the Bulgarian pro defeated a 5,802-entry field in the $5,000 no-limit hold’em main event for $3.9 million during the international-facing series on GGPoker

But after last week’s announcement of a hybrid main event that will combine the Nevada and New Jersey-facing WSOP.com, the international-facing GGPoker, and a live element taking place at King’s Casino and the Rio, Madanzhiev took to Twitter to voice his displeasure over calling the new event the main event.

WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart helped make Madanzhiev’s point in the press release regarding the event when he said, “There must be a World Champion in 2020.” Stewart’s phrasing indicates that a main event champion hasn’t been crowned this year.

In a follow-up tweet a couple days later, Madanzhiev alluded to the fact that if he was aware that the tournament he played online in the fall wasn’t the main event, he probably wouldn’t have fired multiple bullets in the tournament.

It would have cost him seven-figures in earnings, but the point still stands.

It sparked a discussion on social media among many high-profile members of the poker community, with most players echoing a similar sentiment.

One of the few people to defend the idea was six-time WSOP bracelet winner and GGPoker Ambassador Daniel Negreanu. Ironically, Negreanu’s signature was at the bottom of the letter congratulating Madanzhiev on his victory.

Negreanu’s main argument was that the WSOP main event should always be a $10,000 buy-in freezeout. The GGPoker event was a $5,000 buy-in with unlimited re-entries.

When confronted by Madanzhiev about his take, Negreanu pointed to the 2019 WSOP Player of the Year race when he was crowned the champion and then had that title taken away.

Some of the funnier takes on Twitter stemmed from the rule about what would happen if player contracted COVID-19 before the live final table. Unlike traditional rules for medical emergencies, where a player’s stack is simply blinded out of the tournament, under the current rules, if a player contracts the virus before the live final table, they would be disqualified and given a ninth-place payout.