The latest PokerStars 2021 World Championship of Online Poker events have paid out some huge prizes as big names have again hoovered up some titles to add to their poker resumés. Winners across Wednesday and Thursday included the German high roller Christian ‘WATnlos’ Rudolph, who took down the High Event #24 for $71,404, former #2-ranked pro Ivan Zufic, and longtime Belgian grinder Thomas ‘MarToMchat’ Boivin.
Rudolph, who has previously won two High Roller tournaments in one day, as we previously reported, saw off some top-quality opposition to seal an impressive victory. In what was an exciting final table in an event with 179 entries at $2,100, Rudolph saw off the challenge of Swedish player ‘fkiw’ and ‘luckyluck653’ in the podium places, with two Brazilians also making the final table.
The massive prize pool of $358,000 saw Rudolph win the biggest prize, but the Brazilian contingent was an indication of what was to come over days ahead, as once again, South American players continued to fly high during what has been a spectacular summer for online poker in the continent.
It was a big couple of days for Brazilian players specifically, with half a dozen more victories in low and medium events in a series that has seen the Brazilian poker game thrive, just as it is in World Series of Poker events too.
In other events, Swiss player Dinesh Alt took down the $530-entry Event #12 (High) by beating former SCOOP Main Event winner ‘Alexgirs’ heads-up for the $37,306 in bounties and the $37,290 top prize. Other players at the final table included Fintan ‘easywithaces’ Hand, who finished seventh for over $8,300 in total.
In other high events, ‘MarToMchat’ outlasted a field of 271 players to win Event #17 (High) for a whopping $130,500.00. Climbing the ranks of PocketFives, ‘MarToMchat’ is racing into the top 250 players in the world at the time of writing and is currently the best Belgian poker player online. Chris ‘ImDaNuts’ Oliver finished seventh for $18,000.
Austria-based ‘stojamanu’ won Event #18 for $58,458 against Joao Vieira a.k.a. ‘Naza114’ who came second for $42,562, with ‘Andre_Hansen’ from Ukraine coming in third for $30,989. Event #19 was won by Croatia’s former world online poker #2 ranked player, Ivan ‘zufo16’ Zufic. Zufic won it for $62,438, with Malta-based ‘WhaTisL0v3’ winning $46,541 and another Brazilian, ‘edercampana’ winning $34,691 for finishing third. Joao Vieira came in seventh for $10,709.
Event #21-H was won by British-based player ‘1b6121’ for $22,850, with fellow Brit and well-known super high roller regular Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi coming third for $10,024. Finally, Event #25 saw ‘KennedyPK97’ beat 667 players to win the top prize of $24,588.
Tuesday and Wednesday saw plenty of big winners at medium and low stakes too, with ‘Bib5300’ (Event 12-L), ‘edercampana’ (Event #12-M), ‘danieldl7’ (Event #17-L), diego07791 (Event 17-M), ‘zemachess’ (18-L in an event where Britain’s Billy Chattaway finished sixth), ‘ego_E_d_G_e_’(Event #18-M), ‘vncdzk1’ (Event #19-L) ‘dx2celt’ (Event #19-M), ‘ibrahim4272’ (Event #20-L), ‘Valaqual’ (Event21-L), Ami ‘UhhMee’ Barer (Event #21-M), ‘AlexandreAnd’ (Event #24-L), ‘joaoMathias’ (Event #24-M), ‘martinkom111’ (Event #25-L) ‘petpat123’ (Event #25-M) all winners across the two days.
Event #12 (High): $530 PKO
Prize pool $265,250
Entries: 1,061
- Dinesh ‘bib5300’ Alt – $74,596
- ‘Alexgirs’ – $42,128
- ‘dans170’’ – $28,272
Event #17 (High): $2,100 NLHE
Prize pool $600,000
Entries: 271
- MarTomChat $130,500
- RPILON $90,000
- Kot_Spartac $63,000
Event #18 (High): $530 Rebuy NLHE
Prize pool $312,000
Entries 212
1. ‘stojamanu’ – $58,458
2. Joao ‘Naza114’ Vieira – $42,562
3. ‘Andre_Hansen’ – $30,989
Event #19 (High): $530 Rebuy NLHE
Prizepool $320,170
Entries 634
- Ivan ‘zufo16’ Zufic – $62,438
- ‘WhaTisL0v3’ – $46,541
- ‘edercampana’ $34,691
Event #21 (High): $1,050 NLHE
Prizepool $65,000
Entries 56
- ‘1b6121’ – $22,850
- ‘200XPoNnieS’ – $15,134.
- Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi – $10,024.
Event #24 (High) $2,100 NLHE
Prizepool $358,000
Entries 179
- Christian Rudolph – $71,404
- ‘fkiw’ – $53,974
- ‘luckyluck653’ – $40,799
*All entry totals include re-entries.