The first starting flight of the 2020 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in main event was held just over two weeks after the hybrid online and live event was announced. The tournament will essentially play out as two separate events, each beginning online, with the two eventual champions squaring off to determine which will win the championship WSOP gold bracelet and a bonus prize of $1,000,000 to go along with whatever they won at their initial final table.
The International-facing tournament began with the first of three starting flights on Sunday, November 29. A total of 246 entries were made before registration closed for the day, adding $2.4 million to the prize pool. Play continued for 16 levels, with the field being narrowed to just 62 players remaining by the time the day wrapped up. Julian “VWgunther” Menhardt currently sits in the chip lead with 534,490.
A number of big names made it through to day 2 from this flight, including 2019 WSOP main event 21st-place finisher Preben Stokkan (446,677), Sosia Jiang (390,312), Laurynas Levinskas (389,628), Brunno Botteon (247,359), World Poker Tour Russia winner Anatoly Filatov (232,102), WSOP bracelet winner and high-stakes regular Daniel Dvoress (200,905), Arture Martirosian (135,162), and bracelet winner Georgios Sotiropoulos (43,903).
Plenty of big names were eliminated during the flight, including two-time bracelet winner Fedor Holz, Super High Roller Bowl champion Rainer Kempe, Dinesh Alt, and WSOP Online high roller champion Christian Rudolph.
The second and third starting flights of the international-facing tournament will take place on December 5 and 6, with a final table being set on Dec. 7. The final table is scheduled to play to a winner live and in person at the King’s Casino on Dec. 15.
The US-facing tournament will begin on Dec. 13 with a single starting flight. The final table will be set the following day, with the in-person finale taking place on Dec. 28. The winners of the two tournaments will then meet on Dec. 30 for a final battle for the bracelet and the added $1,000,000 in prize money.
This event has been met with some criticism from top professionals, including 2020 WSOP Online $5,000 buy-in main event winner Stoyan Madanzhiev, who disagreed with this event being marketed as the main event after he had already won a tournament that was described as such earlier this year.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
