World Series of Poker Online: Joao Simao, Bartlomiej Swieboda and Nicolo Molinelli win bracelets
For a second summer in a row, GGPoker hosts the virtual version of the World Series of Poker for international players because they were unable to make the trek to Las Vegas for the annual pilgrimage to the Rio Casino for the opportunity to win cash, fame and glory.
The first three events of the 2021 WSOP Online at GGPoker for international players is in the books. Poland’s Bartlomiej ‘chester20o’ Swieboda won WSOP Online Event #1 The Return for a $161,111 score after he outlasted a massive field of 30,810 runners. Brazil’s Joao Simao won his first WSOP bracelet with a victory in Event #2 $1,111 Caesars Cares Charity Event for $206,075. Also, Italy’s Nicolo Molinelli took down Event #3 $2,500 Limit Hold’em Championship.
2021 WSOP Online Event #1 The Return at GGPoker had just a $50 buy-in, which attracted 30,810 runners and a prize pool worth over $1.4 million. It smashed the $1 million guarantee.
The final table for Event #1 The Return featured three Brazilians, but they were among the first players to hit the road. The final nine included Bartlomiej “chester20o” Swieboda, Cuong “CLVT” Trinh, Eran “Ma_Yesh_Beze” Soffer, Ivan “GangstaZab” Zablyakin, Alexander “OMGWTF!!” Jung, Matheus “tio_ricco” Santos, Sergey “sit_boom777” Sitnikov, Neville “NevSlater” Costa, and Matheus “durezabh” De souza.
The final two came down to a battle between Vietnam and Poland. Bartlomiej ‘chester20o’ Swieboda and Cuong ‘CLVT’ Trinh battled for the cash and bracelet. Poland’s Swieboda banked $161,111 for a first-place finish in Event #1 and he snagged his first bracelet.
2021 WSOP Online Event #2 $1,111 Caesars Cares Charity attracted 1,684 runners and a prize pool over $1.76 million. There was only one Brazilian player at this final table, but the lone Brazilian was the last player standing. Pro Joao Simao outlasted a final table that included Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik, Tom “Jabochi” Shaham, Roman Hrabec, Ilya “Dezauzer” Yakunin, Andras Nemeth, Jinlong “yiliuqi” Hu, Le “Hugo777” Fang, and Peter “BigFishEight” Raimondi.
The bracelet came down to a heads-up joust between Brazil and Norway. Espen ‘_sennj_’ Sandvik missed a chance at winning a bracelet when he bowed out in second place, which paid out $154K. Simao banked $206,975 for the victory and the pro earned his first WSOP bracelet.
World Series of Poker Online: Joao Simao, Bartlomiej Swieboda and Nicolo Molinelli win bracelets
2021 WSOP Online Event # $2,500 Limit Hold’em Championship was a throwback format, which only attracted 180 runners.
Nicolo Molinelli outlasted a field of 180 total entries in the event to secure his second WSOP bracelet and the top prize of $88.461. His first victory at the series came during last year’s inaugural WSOPO.
The top 31 finishers made the money in this event, with plenty of highly-accomplished names among those who cashed, including six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu (29th – $4,063), Adam Owen (26th – $4,063), 2020 WSOPO bracelet winner Ranno Sootla (24th – $4,256), bracelet winner Luke Schwartz (23rd – $4,256), Dan Shak (22nd – $4,256), bracelet winner Justin Lapka (18th – $4,458), bracelet winner Daniel Dvoress (17th – $4,670), and 2019 WSOP main event runner-up Dario Sammartino (13th – $4,892).
The final table began with Molinelli in the lead, and another bracelet winner in Joao Vieira sitting in second chip position. Canadian poker pro and two-time bracelet winner Mark Radoja was the first to be eliminated. He began the day with the shortest stack, and got his last four big bets in with A-K ahead of the K-10 suited of Stanislav Kuvaev. The flop brought a ten to give Kuvaev a lead which he maintained through the river and Radoja settled for $8,846 as the ninth-place finisher.
Despite scoring that knockout, Kuvaev was the next to fall. Kuvaev took home $11,796 for his eighth-place showing.
Joao Vieira, the Portuguese poker pro and current all-time online tournament earnings leader took home $15,731 as the seventh-place finisher.
Fortin-Demers continued his surge by eliminating Romain Dours in sixth place ($20,977).
Vince Cavailles’ run in this event came to an end when his K 6 failed to beat out the J 8 of Nicolo Molinelli. Both players made a pair, but Molinelli’s eights were enough to send Cavailles to the rail in fifth place ($27,974).
With the betting limits having grown quite high, there were plenty of big swings during short-handed action. Despite a surge earlier at the final table, Fortin-Demers found himself as the shortest stack before the next key hand arose. He got the last of his chips in preflop with K Q facing the A 5 of Brazil’s Renan Bruschi. Neither player improved and Fortin-Demers was sent to the virtual rail with $37,303.
Milos Petakovic was soon ground down to a short stack as well; Petakovic was awarded $49,745 as the third-place finisher.
With that, Bruschi took just shy of 6.4 million in chips into heads-up play with Molinelli, who held 2.6 million. The tables quickly turned, with Molinelli dragging a sizable pot with a turned top pair to overtake the lead. Molinelli extended that advantage. Bruschi earned $66,336 for his runner-up showing.
Nicolo Molinelli wins the top prize of $88.461.
World Series of Poker Online: Joao Simao, Bartlomiej Swieboda and Nicolo Molinelli win bracelets
