After more than two months of action at WSOP.com and GGPoker, the World Series of Poker Online wrapped up over the weekend. The series produced record-breaking numbers.
“I’m personally very proud to be part of the effort that brought such a special WSOP series to the entire world,” GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu said in a news release. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we even got to break a lot of poker records along the way.”
Those numbers were big indeed and delivered nice results in a series that didn’t include an overall guarantee. Bulgaria’s Stoyan Madanzhiev took down the series highlight, the $5,000 Main Event.
WSOP Online Main Event breaks online records
For winning the Main Event, Madanzhiev collected the first bracelet of his career and took home $3.9 million. The event attracted 5,802 entries, which created a $27.6 million prize pool.
That was quite a result for Madanzhiev, whose Hendon Mob page lists only $31,000 in live tournament winnings. ESPN cameras may not have been there, but a video posted on Twitter captured his excitement and disbelief.
Congrats to Stoyan Madanzhiev for winning the WSOP Online Main Event and $3,904,685, the largest 1st place prize in online poker history ! @GGPokerOfficial pic.twitter.com/0vH6MpXNpo
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) September 6, 2020
These numbers made the Main Event the largest online poker tournament in history. The payout also became the largest online tournament prize ever.
The WSOP Online wasn’t exactly the traditional WSOP in Las Vegas. However, organizers were happy players could battle for a bracelet both in the US and abroad.
“Obviously the events of 2020 have been unprecedented, and hosting the WSOP Online series at GGPoker wasn’t in our plans at the start of the year,” WSOP executive director Ty Stewart said.
“But going online has been a wonderful experience, with tens of thousands of new players all over the world able to experience some of WSOP magic that they might have been otherwise unable to. We’re delighted that the series has been such a resounding success.”
Here’s a look at the complete list of winners and event details.
2020 WSOP Online GGPoker
| Event | Buy-in | Total entries | Prize pool | Winner payout | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #32: The Opener NLHE | $100 | 29,306 | $2,696,152 | $265,880 | Marcelo Jakovljevic Pudla | Brazil |
| #33: Every 1 for Covid Relief | $1,111 | 2,323 | $2,580,853 | $343,204 | Alek Stasiak | Canada |
| #34: Super Turbo Bounty NLHE 6-Handed | $525 | 2,214 | $1,107,000 | $117,650 | Shoma Ishikawa | Japan |
| #35 Pot Limit Omaha Championship | $5,000 | 328 | $1,558,000 | $306,622 | Juha Helppi | Finland |
| #36 FIFTY STACK NLHE | $1,500 | 1,342 | $1,912,350 | $297,496 | Michael Clacher | South Africa |
| #37 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha | $1,050 | 971 | $971,000 | $161,887 | Hun Wei Lee | Australia |
| #38 Monster Stack NLHE 6-Handed [Asia Time Zone] | $600 | 2,007 | $1,143,990 | $171,389 | Aaron Wijaya | China |
| #39: NLHE [Asia Time Zone] | $1,500 | 922 | $1,313,850 | $216,213 | Roberto Romanello | United Kingdom |
| #40: Pot Limit Omaha | $2,500 | 532 | $1,263,500 | $224,493 | Klas Lofberg | Sweden |
| #41: COLOSSUS | $400 | 12,757 | $4,796,632 | $595,930 | Ranno Sootla | Estonia |
| #42: PLOSSUS | $400 | 4,356 | $1,637,856 | $221,557 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil |
| #43: Short Deck NLHE Championship | $10,000 | 301 | $812,700 | $276,393 | Lev "LevMeAlone" Gottlieb | United States |
| #44: NLHE 6-Handed | $2,500 | 892 | $2,118,500 | $356,412 | Kristen Bicknell | Canada |
| #45: Bounty NLHE | $840 | 2,382 | $1,906,500 | $245,448 | Patrick "Muddington" Kennedy | United Kingdom |
| #46: Deepstack NLHE | $500 | 2,307 | $1,095,825 | $189,098 | Sung Joo "ArtePokerTV" Hyun | South Korea |
| #47: Short Deck NLHE | $1,000 | 487 | $462,560 | $88,202 | Paul Teoh | Malaysia |
| #48 MILLIONAIRE MAKER | $1,500 | 6,299 | $8,976,075 | $1,489,289 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada |
| #49 Turbo Deepstack | $500 | 2,978 | $1,414,550 | $192,523 | Vladas "apuokos" Burneikis | Lithuania |
| #50: Bounty Championship | $2,100 | 1,168 | $2,336,000 | $327,319 | Enrico "GTOExploiter" Camosci | Italy |
| #51: Pot Limit Omaha | $400 | 2,005 | $753,880 | $100,945 | Eoghan "DrRoche" O'Dea | Ireland |
| #52: NLHE | $1,000 | 2,006 | $1,905,700 | $273,505 | Alek Stasiak | Canada |
| #53: Double Stack PLO [Asia Time Zone] | $800 | 831 | $631,560 | $94,253 | Frank Crivello | United States |
| #54: Heads-Up Championship | $10,000 | 128 | $1,241,600 | $360,480 | David Peters | United States |
| #55: NLHE Asia Time Zone Championship | HK$8,000 | 3,247 | $3,184,074 | $458,261 | Luis Eduardo Assuncao Garla | Brazil |
| #56: GGMasters WSOP Edition | $150 | 2,153 | $3,068,025 | $444,869 | Seth Fischer | United States |
| #57: GGMasters WSOP Edition | $150 | 9,835 | $1,357,230 | $183,526 | Anatoly "Pohitrusha" Suvarov | Russia |
| #58: NLHE 6-Handed Championship | $5,000 | 672 | $3,192,000 | $531,513 | Ravid "jerbi9999" Garbi | Israel |
| #59: NLHE Double Stack | $2,500 | 1,061 | $2,519,875 | $399,047 | Leonardo "Babaehduro" Mattos | Brazil |
| #60: $525 Bounty NLHE 6-Handed | $525 | 3,170 | $1,585,000 | $180,177 | Orhan "yirtil" Ates | Turkey |
| #61: Monster Stack NLHE 6-Handed | $300 | 3,491 | $973,989 | $127,660 | Alexander "MightyWarior" Stacey | United Kingdom |
| #62: Pot Limit Omaha | $1,500 | 990 | $1,410,750 | $220,160 | Bradley "DrStrange7" Ruben | United States |
| #63: Mini Main Event | $500 | 15,205 | $7,222,375 | $843,460 | Ivan "zufo16" Zufic | Croatia |
| #64: Super Turbo Bounty NLHE | $840 | 2,207 | $1,765,600 | $131,461 | Kartik "Mandovi" Ved | India |
| #65: NLHE Deepstack | $600 | 2,911 | $1,659,270 | $227,906 | Dmytro "Too Bad" Bystrovzorov | Ukraine |
| #66: Pot Limit Omaha | $800 | 1,281 | $973,560 | $139,453 | Toby Joyce | Ireland |
| #67: NLHE | $500 | 706 | $335,350 | $45,101 | Gregor "soulsntfaces" Muller | Austria |
| #68: Deepstack NLHE [Asia Time Zone] | $500 | 2,315 | $1,099,625 | $150,460 | Yan Shing Tsang | Hong Kong |
| #69: Marathon NLHE | $1,500 | 1,438 | $2,049,150 | $302,472 | Nick "rdcrsn" Maimone | United States |
| #70: NLHE Poker Players Championship | $25,000 | 407 | $10,000,000 | $1,800,290 | Christian Rudolph | Germany |
| #71: BIG 50 NLHE | $50 | 44,576 | $2,050,496 | $211,282 | Huahuan "F7588" Feng | China |
| #72: Limit Hold'em Championship | $1,500 | 337 | $480,225 | $77,475 | Ajay "Ross_Geller" Chabra | United States |
| #73: NLHE 6-Handed | $1,000 | 2,202 | $2,091,900 | $299,511 | Jim 'grousegrind" Lefteruk | Canada |
| #74: Pot Limit Omaha | $1,500 | 972 | $1,385,100 | $215,938 | Thi "HoneyandTHI" Truong | Vietnam |
| #75: Double Stack NLHE | $300 | 3,552 | $991,008 | $130,100 | Trygve "FullSendWig" Leite | Italy |
| #76: FORTY STACK NLHE | $400 | 4,461 | 1,667,366 | $227,186 | Gediminas "NeverGambol" Uselis | Lithuania |
| #77: NLHE Main Event | $5,000 | 5,802 | $27,559,500 | $3,904,686 | Stoyan Madanzhiev | Bulgaria |
| #78: Turbo 8-Handed | $1,000 | 1,910 | $1,314,500 | $259,842 | Adnan "Bolazar" Hacialioglu | Finland |
| #79: Heads Up NLHE [People's Choice, Most Popular] | $25,000 | 127 | $3,111,500 | $1,077,025 | Fedor Holz | Germany |
| #80: NLHE Six-Max [People's Choice, Pros Vote] | $600 | 2,408 | $1,372,560 | $189,666 | Jeffrey Dobrin | United States |
| #81: Bounty Six-Handed [People's Choice, Spin the Wheel] | $1,050 | 1,925 | $1,925,000 | $243,415 | Nicolo "Paquitooo" Molinelli | Italy |
| #82: Beat the Pros (Bounty) | $1,050 | 2,024 | $2,024,000 | $239,180 | Melika "Melirazavii" Razavi | Iran |
| #83: WSOP Super MILLION$ | $10,000 | 899 | $8,720,300 | $1,423,049 | Connor Drinan | United States |
| #84: NLHE WSOP MILLION$ | $100 | 34,787 | $3,200,000 | $296,403 | Alexander "Kobbajun" Kobbeltvedt | Norway |
| #85: The Closer | $500 | 4,012 | $1,905,700 | $272,504 | Michael "Hneves" Gathy | United States |
A look at WSOP Online numbers overall
The flagship WSOP live poker series in Las Vegas was postponed this year due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The series became an attempt to give players some big online action with a chance to win a bracelet.
Online operators have seen massive fields in recent months and the WSOP Online was a perfect example of that trend.
“For 50 years, the WSOP has been the gold standard in the industry,” GGPoker head of poker operations Steve Preiss said. “By introducing features like SnapCam and Day 2 staking, GGPoker’s entire team worked tirelessly to bring our players a fun, unique experience just like they’d expect at the live WSOP.”
The entire schedule came up just short of awarding $150 million in prize money, topping out at $147.8 million. That created an average prize pool of $2.7 million.
The series produced 239,754 entries. Here are some other numbers that stand out.
- Largest online tournament ever – $27,559,500 prize pool in $5,000 Main Event
- Largest online tournament prize ever awarded – $3,904,685 in $5,000 Main Event
- Most entries ever for WSOP tournament – 44,576 in Event 71: BIG 50
- Nationalities across entire WSOP Online – 166
- Tournaments with a prize pool of at least:
- $1 million – 45
- $5 million – 5
- $10 million – 2
- Tournaments with more than 10,000 entries – 5
Fedor Holz does it again
No stranger to notching huge paydays, GGPoker ambassador Fedor Holz did it again during the WSOP Online. On Sept. 6, the German superstar took down Event 79: $25,000 Heads-Up NLHE (People’s Choice, Most Popular) for $1.1 million.
Crazy emotions right now. Shipped my second bracelet and a million bucks (also for 130 lucky staker)! 🕺🚀 pic.twitter.com/mDvnq4J7Io
— Fedor Holz 🐧 (@CrownUpGuy) September 6, 2020
The win secures the second bracelet of his career and moves his WSOP earnings to $12 million. Brazil’s Brunno Botteon de Albuquerque took runner-up for $622,300 – his second finish as runner-up in the series.
The same day as his heads-up win, Holz finished runner-up in a $10,000 side event for $202,162. That’s not a bad day of work.
Holz’s first bracelet came in 2016 when he won the $111,111 High Roller for One Drop for $5 million. In 2018, he also finished runner-up in the $1 million Big One for One Drop and took home $6 million.
Along with his role as ambassador at GGPoker, Holz also runs the Pokercode training site. He also recently became part of the PepTalk live video coaching and speaking platform.
It’s been a busy time for Holz, but it certainly seems to be paying off.
International competition wraps with US on top
The final WSOP week proved rewarding for American players. That included bracelets from Jeffrey Dobrin, Connor Drinan, and Michael Gathy.
All three earned their first WSOP wins and extended the lead of the US. With the action complete, the US takes the title in this informal competition.
In total, the Americans brought home 10 bracelets, followed by Canada with five. Here’s a look at the complete final standings:
Bracelets by County
- US – 10
- Canada – 5
- Brazil – 4
- United Kingdom – 3
- Italy – 3
- Lithuania – 2
- Finland – 2
GGPoker Final Leaderboard standings
The race to top the bracelet leaderboard came to a close with Main Event winner Stoyan Madanzhiev taking the title. Along with that win, he produced three other cashes to launch him into the top spot.GGPoker Final Leaderboard standings
The sheer size of his win helped him leapfrog other contenders. Drinan’s win and 14 other cashes gave him the runner-up slot.
The winner receives a solid gold computer mouse trophy. Ssecond through fifth earn a solid gold playing card. Here’s a look at the complete leaderboard:
- 1st – Stoyan Madanzhiev (Bulgaria), 10,790.66
- 2nd – Connor Drinan (United States), 9,519.35
- 3rd – Christian Rudolph (Austria), 7,566.31
- 4th – Daniel Dvoress (Canada), 6,513.57
- 5th – Brunno Botteon de Albuquerque (Brazil), 6,345.54
A golden dragon is also awarded to the player winning the WSOP Asia Time Zone Leaderboard. Brazil’s Luis Assuncao captured that crown.
Will there be a live WSOP at all this year?
While players around the world may be ready to head back to the tables, there still isn’t a timetable for major events like the WSOP and World Poker Tour.
WSOP officials are remaining tight-lipped after postponing the series to the fall. That move came in April and there hasn’t been much discussion regarding possible live series events.
In the meantime, WSOP.com has already started its 50th Anniversary Series in the US. Until more live poker tournaments return, players will have to jump in the action online.