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2020 World Series of Poker Main Event International Tournament Final Table Set

Brunno Botteon Leads, 2017 WSOP Main Event Seventh-Place Finisher Damian Salas In Third

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The final table is set in the ‘International Tournament’ segment of the 2020 World Series of Poker $10,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The tournament attracted a total of 674 entries over the course of three starting flights, but now just nine players remain with a chance to win this event. The final nine are all guaranteed at least $75,360 paydays, but surely all have their eyes on the top prize of $1,550,969.

This year’s WSOP $10,000 main event features an unprecedented live-and-online hybrid model that will see two separate events play out, each beginning online and continuing until both final tables are set. The two eventual champions determined at those final tables, which will be played live and in person, will then square off in a live heads-up showdown to determine which will win the championship WSOP gold bracelet and an added bonus prize of $1,000,000 to go along with whatever they won at their initial final table.

Day 2 of the ‘International Tournament’ began with 179 players remaining. Over the course of around 10 hours of play, the field was whittled down to just nine players. When the dust settled, Brazil’s Brunno Botteon held the chip lead with 10,317,743. Botteon had a breakout summer at the WSOP Onoline, making three final tables in as many weeks to cash for over $1 million. He finished runner up in a $500 buyt-in limit hold’em event for $41,855, and then four days later placed sixth in the $25,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller for $388,827. Just a week later he made it down to the final in the $25,000 buy-in heads-up no-limit hold’em event, but lost to Fedor Holz. He added another $622,300 for that runner-up showing.

Damian SalasPortugal’s Manuel Ruivo is second in chips with 6,213,759, while Argentina’s Damian Salas sits in third with 5,653,528. Salas finished seventh in the 2017 WSOP main event in Las Vegas for $1,425,000. He has also had plenty of success playing online this year, with his biggest score being a third-place showing in the $10,300 buy-in World Poker Tour World Online Championships main event for $814,663.

Plenty of big names made deep runs in this event only to fall short of the final table, including 2019 WPT L.A. Poker Classic runner-up Matas Cimbolas (57th – $18,421), two-time WSOP main event final tablist Antoine Saout (53rd – $18,421), bracelet winner Toby Joyce (32nd – $26,507), Balz Zerjav (25th – $30,404), Preben Stokkan (23rd – $30,404), and 2020 WPT Germany main event winner Christopher Puetz (13th – $44,914). Thomas Macdonald was eliminated on the final-table bubble, taking home $50,131 after his AHeart Suit4Heart Suit couldn’t hold up against the KHeart Suit3Heart Suit of Ruivo after all of the chips went in preflop. With Macdonald’s exit, the final table of the ‘Internationa; Tournament’ was officially set.

Here is a look at the complete list of players and their chip counts:

Place Name Chips
1 Brunno Botteon 10,317,743
2 Manuel Ruivo 6,213,759
3 Damian Salas 5,653,528
4 ‘fullbabyfull’ 4,232,560
5 Hannes Speiser 3,515,744
6 Dominykas Mikolaitis 3,165,440
7 Ramon Miquel Munoz 3,035,940
8 Peiyuan Sun 2,185,676
9 Stoyan Obreshkov 2,119,610

Here are the payouts up for grabs at the final table:

Place Payouts
1 $1,550,969
2 $1,062,723
3 $728,177
4 $498,947
5 $341,879
6 $234,255
7 $160,512
8 $109,982
9 $75,360

The counterpart to the ‘International Tournament’ segment of this hybrid event is the ‘Domestic Tournament’. That 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.

Final table photo credit: Kevin Mathers (@kevmath).