Gionni Demers toppled former World Series of Poker bracelet winner David Williams heads up to win the $90,023 and claim his first-ever WSOP gold bracelet in Event #14 ($500 NLHE) of the 2021 WSOP Online. Demers dominated the second half of the final table to close out a memorable victory in fine style.
Heading into the final table, Samantha Lake held a big chip lead, with her stack of four million chips dwarfing those held by the talented trio of Shankar Pillai (2.45 million), Demers (2.4m) and Williams (2m). With the likes of Ethan Yau, Philip Shing and Jonas Wexler all hoping to come from a lower position to rise to glory, the stage was set for an exciting final table.
Yau busted first in ninth place for $6,387. Yau checked in the big blind to Demers’ limp from the small blind and on the flop of 
, Yau bet 1.5 big blinds with 
. Demers made the call with 
. The turn of 
saw Yau bet over four big blinds and again Demers just called. On the 
river, Yau moved all-in and Demers made the call, showed top two pair and eliminated the unfortunate Yau.
Williams came into the game in good company, and not the eight people around him at the virtual felt, either. Tweeting earlier in the event that he was playing from a restaurant as ‘dwpoker’, Williams, one of two former WSOP bracelet winners at the final table managed to vault up the leaderboard thanks to king-queen beating the ace-king of Pillai.
Having a nice dinner with friends at Brezza at @ResortsWorldLV. Oh, also leading @WSOPcom bracelet event with 40 left. pic.twitter.com/7moAntUB86
— David Williams (@dwpoker) July 15, 2021
Daniel Marder whose hopes of winning the event became extinct next as he made his move at exactly the wrong time. Shoving pre-flop with 
from the hijack, Marder was called by Wexler with 
. The flop of 
put Marder in a world of poker pain and the 
and river completed the board and sent him to the rail for $8,345.
The eliminations were coming thick and fast and didn’t stop there, with Pillai leaving in seventh place for $11,048 when his all in move from under the gun with 
was called by Shing with 
. The board of 
didn’t give Pillai any help at all and just like that, the final table was down to six players.
Pierce McKellar left the party in sixth place for $14,825. Mckellar moved all in from under the gun and was called by Demers. McKellar had made a move with , but that holding was way behind Demers’ . Those two red aces found a third on the 
flop and after the 
turn and 
river, McKellar was out of the tournament.
Wexler departed in fifth place, in a hand that sent Williams to the top of the chip counts. Williams was the pre-flop aggressor, doubling the big blind from the hijack position. Wexler called from the big blind to see a flop of 
, whereupon Williams c-bet a single big blind of 120,000, prompting a shove from Wexler and a quick call from Williams. Wexler had moved all in with a flush draw of 
, but needed help, with Williams holding . The turn card of 
kept Williams in control and the 
river confirmed that play was down to four.
It was then Shing’s turn to leave after an extended period of tight-aggressive action had moved the chips around. During that period, it was Demers who chipped up, and he now had three times the chips of each of his opponents, sitting on over nine million chips, with both Williams and Lake battling with just under three million each.
Shing departed when Demers moved all in from the small blind with 
. Shing called for his tournament life from the big blind with 
, but the flop of put Demers into the lead. The turn didn’t give Shing any assistance and the river was unable to save him, with Demers becoming a dominant chip leader as Shing left in fourth.
Third place went to Lake, who bet 1.6 million at blinds of 100,000/200,000 pre-flop, encouraging Demers to put his opponent all in. Lake made the call with and needed help, up against Demers’ . the flop of 
didn’t help Lake at all, even giving Demers middle pair. The turn of 
changed all that, however, and left Demers in trouble, but the 
river provided relief and eliminated Lake to send play heads-up with Demers a huge favorite.
Heads-up wasn’t just brief in terms of the final table, but also the WSOP Online so far, as it took just under two minutes and just six hands for it all to be over. Williams came into the battle with just 3.3 million chips, the equivalent of 16 big blinds, while Demers had a massive 11.7 million chips by comparison.
The final hand was simplicity itself for Demers as he limped pre-flop with on the button, with Williams moving all in with 
. Demers made the call and watched with as the flop of 
kept him ahead. The on the turn was not so kind, giving Williams outs of both fives and fours, but the river confirmed that it was Demers’ first bracelet and not Williams’ second that poker fans would be discussing.
The tournament saw 673 players, with 363 rebuys, creating a prize pool of a massive $466,200. Other players who managed to cash but didn’t grace the final table with their presence included Scott Hall (15th for $3,916), Jack McClelland (35th for $2097), and Phil Hellmuth (73rd for $1,072).
WSOP Online Event #14 Final Table Results:
- Gionni ‘COLDWARKID’ Demers $90,023
- David ‘dwpoker’ Williams $55,664
- Samantha ‘femme_fatale’ Lake $39,207
- Philip ‘tszis’ Shing $27,972
- Jonas ‘puffin_nails’ Wexler $20,233
- Pierce ‘VICTORIA53’ Mckellar $14,825
- Shankar ‘Burgersssss’ Pillai $11,048
- Daniel ‘TheDinosaur’ Marder $8,344
- Ethan ‘Rampunts’ Yau $6,386
