The latest World Series of Poker Online Event, Event #11 ($400 NLHE Ultra Deepstack), was won by Vijay Para for his first-ever WSOP bracelet. The victory took place in the early hours of Monday morning after a thrilling event which saw Felix Vandeput beaten after an epic heads-up battle for the $86,210 top prize.
Heading into the final table, it was WSOP bracelet winner Anthony Spinella who held a marginal lead over Para and Vandeput as play began. The rest of the field may have been chasing hard, but two-time bracelet winner Anthony Zinno and Alex Rocha were closest to the leaders, with Alex Condon, Jordan Ragan, and Jesse Cohen bringing up the rear.
It was Cohen who left the nine-handed final table first, as his short-stack went into the middle with 
and was called by ‘MasPollo’ with 
. The flop of 
catapulted ‘MasPollo’ into the lead and left Cohen needing a lot of help to survive, something he couldn’t manage to do on the 
turn or 
river.
In one of the longest final tables of the 2021 WSOP Online Series so far, it was the most decorated player at the final table who would depart next, Zinno busting in eighth place for $8,672. His call for two big blinds from the big blind with 
saw him go to the board well behind Condon’s and the 
board couldn’t help Zinno double back into contention.
Zinno’s departure may have taken some time, but it was just a couple of minutes later that Ragan was eliminated in seventh place for $11,426. Ragan’s all-in move for 5.3 million chips over the 1.2 million opening bet from ‘MasPollo’ prompted a showdown with Vandeput. It was a hand that saw Ragan drop out of the reckoning, with his 
needing a lot of help against Vandeput’s .
The board brought a jack and king by the turn, but a Broadway miracle for Ragan wouldn’t arrive on the river and it was the Belgian who was left playing the tune.
Para may not have busted either of those players, but he was beginning to dominate the final table, holding more than double the chips of anyone bar Vandeput and having 22 million to the Belgian’s 13 million chips.
Vandeput further bolstered his stack by taking out the next player, however, as he eliminated ‘MasPollo’ in fifth place for $20,456. ‘MasPollo’ was all-in from the small blind for 6.6 million chips and Vandeput called from the big blind with 
to head to the races. The flop of 
kept Vandeput ahead but gave ‘MasPollo’ an open-ended straight draw, but the 
turn and 
river couldn’t give them one of many outs to flip the script and they left in fifth, giving Vandeput the chip lead.
Condon busted next in fourth place, moving all in from the small blind with 
and called by Vandeput in the big blind with 
. The board of 
saw Vandeput make a straight on the river and sent play three-handed at Condon’s expense, a cash for $27,801 little consolation at coming so close to the bracelet.
Rocha went from the middle of the pack at the start of the final table to booking a podium place with his third-place finish. His final hand saw him call Vandeput’s pre-flop bet to 2 million for 40% of his five big blind stack. On a flop of 
, Rocha moved all-in for his remaining chips with 
but he was swiftly called by Vandeput with and through the 
turn and 
river, Rocha could not recover.
Heads-up saw Vandeput go into the final duel with a chip lead of roughly 40 million chips to 30 million after that elimination of Rocha, but that lead was reversed as Para took control following a hand where he won a big pot on the river with when the double-paired board of a pair of sixes and three were joined by a ten.
Play lived up to its event title, being so deep that a winner was hard to find, but with the event action approaching 13 hours, Vandeput almost leveled the stacks as he won with a turned flush to move just two big blinds behind his rival, with the average stack at 23 big blinds.
Para would not be denied victory, however, as his lead was good enough to put the pressure on his opponent in a thrilling final hand. Vandeput min-raised the button and on a flop of 
, the Belgian’s bet of two million was called by Para. The turn saw Para check to his opponent again and this time he check-called the 6.8 million bet from Vandeput.
On the 
river. Para checked for a third time and that prompted an all-in from Vandeput. Para took his time but called with 
and he was rewarded with the WSOP title when Vandeput’s hand was revealed as 
for a bold triple-barrel bluff that didn’t come off.
Plenty of well-known players got close to glory in an event that saw 1,078 player rebuy 339 times before late registration closed. Most missed the final table action, however, with Matt Stout (81st for $969), Landon Tice (56th for $1,275), and Roland Israelashvili (26th for $2,601) all running out of luck. Former WSOP Main Event runner-up Jesse Sylvia was particularly unlucky to crash out after seeing pocket queens lose to pocket aces then witnessing the last of his chips go to Melissa Schubert when Sylvia’s 
was rivered by a gutshot straight by Schubert’s 
.
The final table belonged to Para, however as he claimed the WSOP bracelet and $86,210 top prize, with Vandeput taking the $53,154 runner-up prize. Para previously claimed a WSOP.com Super Circuit Series Event ring back in March 2020 for $41,895 in the $320 NLHE Double Stack event.
WSOP 2021 Online Series Event #11 $400 NLHE Ultra Deepstack Final Table Results:
- Vijay Para $86,210
- Felix Vandeput $53,154
- Alex Rocha $38,259
- Alexander Condon $27,801
- ‘MasPollo’ $20,456
- Anthony Spinella $15,201
- Jordan Ragan $11,426
- Anthony Zinno $8,672
- Jesse Cohen $6,682
