The World Series of Poker Circuit Online Series Main Event on GGPoker concluded as Sweden’s former #1-ranked Niklas Astedt turned his final table chip lead into his first WSOP Circuit gold ring after besting the field of 14,496 runners and taking home the $758,443 first-place prize.
It’s well-known that Astedt’s online poker resume is one of the most celebrated in the game’s history. From multiple WCOOP, SCOOP, POWERFEST, and GGSF wins to holding down the top spot on the GGPoker Super MILLION$ earnings list as a two-time champion, it’s rare when the winner of the #1 Number One contest can add something new to his list of accomplishments. However, after navigating the massive WSOPC Main Event field, and battling through a tough final table that included GGPoker Squad member Patrick ‘Egption’ Tardif and China’s Yanfei ‘aoteman1888’ Chi, that’s exactly what Astedt did by earning a new piece of WSOP hardware to his collection of titles.
After a tough first level for Tardif, he dropped in the chip counts to the bottom of the pack. With the blinds 1.25M/2.5M (300K ante), Astedt open-ripped the chip lead on the button with 
and after the small blind folded, Tardif tanked in the big blind with 
but after a couple of minutes opted to call 22M for with his tournament on the line. The 
flop gave Astedt two pair and the lead in the hand. The turn was the 
, bringing Astedt a full house to Tardif’s trips. The 
river was no help to Tardif, and the GGPoker Squad member was eliminated in ninth place taking home $75,843.
Shortly after the first break of the day, with blinds at 1.5M/3M (350K ante), David Miscokowski, who started the day as the short stack, open-shoved his final 14M from the button with 
. China’s Yanfei ‘aoteman1888’ Chi, who had just doubled up in a massive hand, made the call in the big blind holding 
. The 
flop provided extra outs to Chi to bust Miscokowski. The 
turn was one of them and Miscokowski was left looking for one of the final two deuces in the deck. The river came the 
, bringing in a straight for Chi and sending Miscokowski out in eighth for $101,139.
During the same level, ‘Promoking’, who was the new short stack after his pocket queens ran into pocket kings 10 minutes earlier, found a spot to pick up some chips. They raised to 18M with the 
and when the action folded back to Allen ‘Freedom35’ Mello in the big blind with 
, he three-bet enough to put ‘Promoking’ all-in. ‘Promoking’ made the call and the 
board ran clean for the pocket eights and the UK’s ‘Promoking’ hit the rail in seventh place for $134,870.
The rapid bustouts continued when, at 1.75M/3.5M (450K ante), Chi opened the button to 7M with 
and from the small blind Germany’s Fabian Spielmann three-bet shipped his final 11 big blinds with the . Chi quickly called and the pair saw a flop of , keeping Spielmann in the lead. The turn was the 
, bringing additional flush and straight outs to Chi. The river was the 
and with the queen-high spades flush, Chi knocked out Spielmann in sixth place for a $179,853 payday.
With the blinds up to 2M/4M (500K ante), Poland’s ‘Noksukow’ was looking for a spot to get his four big blind stack in the middle to try and double. They picked up 
in middle position and open-shoved for 15.7M which Mello called from the small blind holding 
. Mello took the lead on the 
flop and held it through the turn and river. ‘Noksukow’, who started the day eighth on the leaderboard, laddered up to fifth place and picked up $239,837 for their efforts.
On the first hand of 2.5M/5M (600K ante), China’s ‘sssssAK’ opened to 10M on the button and Mello elected to three-bet to over 43M with 
. From the big blind, Chi came over the top with a 120M four-bet with his . After ‘sssssAK’ folded, Mello committed the rest of his chips and the flop came 
giving Mello middle pair and Chi flush, straight and overpair outs. The turn was the , keeping Mello in the lead. But river was the bringing Chi yet another spade flush to knock out an opponent. Mello finished in fourth place which was good for $319,829.
Three-handed play lasted another full level. Finally, when blind escalated to 3.5M/7M (850K ante), Chi, who had more than double both Astedt and ‘sssssAK’ open-jammed the button with . Astedt folded the rather quickly from the small blind which left ‘sssssAK’ with a decision in the big blind with . After tanking for a minute, they decided to call with their tournament on the line. The flop came 
, bringing ‘sssssAK’ top pair but a set for Chi, leaving ‘sssssAK’ with less than 2% to pull out a victory. The turn was the 
and ‘sssssAK’ was drawing dead to the 
river. ‘sssssAK’ started the day third in chips and finished in third place picked up a $426,499 score.
At the start of heads-up play, Chi held a roughly four-to-one chip lead over Astedt who had been grinding a roughly 20 big blind stack throughout all of three-handed play. However, over the course of the next two levels, Astedt proved once again while he is considered one of the best to ever play the game – picking perfect spots to make moves and chipping up when he made hands. Eventually, he scored a critical double-up holding pocket kings and from there rode his momentum to reversing the chip lead to four-to-one in his favor.
With the blinds 6M/12M (1.5M ante) Astedt was routinely shoving on the shorter-stacked Chi. From the button, he moved all-in with the 
and Chi made his stand, calling with . The 
brought both a pair but kept Astedt in the lead. The [ turn and river ended the tournament, eliminating Chi aka ‘aoteman1888’ in second place for $568,746.
With the win, Niklas Astedt earned a World Series of Poker Circuit gold ring, a spot on team GGPoker Champions, and another $758,443 to add to his more than $32 million in career online earnings.
GGPoker WSOP Super Circuit Online Series Main Event FT Results
- Niklas Astedt – $758,443
- Yanfei ‘aoteman1888’ Chi – $568,746
- ‘sssssAK’ – $426,499
- Allan ‘Freedom35’ Mello – $319,829
- ‘Noksukow’ – $239,837
- Fabian Spielmann – $179,853
- ‘Promoking’ – $134,870
- David Miscokowski, – $101,139
- Patrick ‘Egption’ Tardif – $75,843