WSOP ROUNDUP: Series Smashes Online Poker Records; Fedor Holz Scores Bracelet & $1 Million

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.

 

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

EventBuy-inTotal entriesPrize poolWinner payoutWinnerCountry
#32: The Opener NLHE$10029,306$2,696,152$265,880Marcelo Jakovljevic PudlaBrazil
#33: Every 1 for Covid Relief$1,1112,323$2,580,853$343,204Alek StasiakCanada
#34: Super Turbo Bounty NLHE 6-Handed$5252,214$1,107,000$117,650Shoma IshikawaJapan
#35 Pot Limit Omaha Championship$5,000328$1,558,000$306,622Juha HelppiFinland
#36 FIFTY STACK NLHE$1,5001,342$1,912,350$297,496Michael ClacherSouth Africa
#37 Bounty Pot Limit Omaha$1,050971$971,000$161,887Hun Wei LeeAustralia
#38 Monster Stack NLHE 6-Handed [Asia Time Zone]$6002,007$1,143,990$171,389Aaron WijayaChina
#39: NLHE [Asia Time Zone]$1,500922$1,313,850$216,213Roberto RomanelloUnited Kingdom
#40: Pot Limit Omaha$2,500532$1,263,500$224,493Klas LofbergSweden
#41: COLOSSUS$40012,757$4,796,632$595,930Ranno SootlaEstonia
#42: PLOSSUS$4004,356$1,637,856$221,557Yuri DzivielevskiBrazil
#43: Short Deck NLHE Championship$10,000301$812,700$276,393Lev "LevMeAlone" GottliebUnited States
#44: NLHE 6-Handed$2,500892$2,118,500$356,412Kristen BicknellCanada
#45: Bounty NLHE$8402,382$1,906,500$245,448Patrick "Muddington" KennedyUnited Kingdom
#46: Deepstack NLHE$5002,307$1,095,825$189,098Sung Joo "ArtePokerTV" HyunSouth Korea
#47: Short Deck NLHE$1,000487$462,560$88,202Paul TeohMalaysia
#48 MILLIONAIRE MAKER$1,5006,299$8,976,075$1,489,289Daniel DvoressCanada
#49 Turbo Deepstack$5002,978$1,414,550$192,523Vladas "apuokos" BurneikisLithuania
#50: Bounty Championship$2,1001,168$2,336,000$327,319Enrico "GTOExploiter" CamosciItaly
#51: Pot Limit Omaha$4002,005$753,880$100,945Eoghan "DrRoche" O'DeaIreland
#52: NLHE$1,0002,006$1,905,700$273,505Alek StasiakCanada
#53: Double Stack PLO [Asia Time Zone]$800831$631,560$94,253Frank CrivelloUnited States
#54: Heads-Up Championship$10,000128$1,241,600$360,480David PetersUnited States
#55: NLHE Asia Time Zone ChampionshipHK$8,0003,247$3,184,074$458,261Luis Eduardo Assuncao GarlaBrazil
#56: GGMasters WSOP Edition$1502,153$3,068,025$444,869Seth FischerUnited States
#57: GGMasters WSOP Edition$1509,835$1,357,230$183,526Anatoly "Pohitrusha" SuvarovRussia
#58: NLHE 6-Handed Championship$5,000672$3,192,000$531,513Ravid "jerbi9999" GarbiIsrael
#59: NLHE Double Stack$2,5001,061$2,519,875$399,047Leonardo "Babaehduro" MattosBrazil
#60: $525 Bounty NLHE 6-Handed$5253,170$1,585,000$180,177Orhan "yirtil" AtesTurkey
#61: Monster Stack NLHE 6-Handed$3003,491$973,989$127,660Alexander "MightyWarior" StaceyUnited Kingdom
#62: Pot Limit Omaha$1,500990$1,410,750$220,160Bradley "DrStrange7" RubenUnited States
#63: Mini Main Event$50015,205$7,222,375$843,460Ivan "zufo16" ZuficCroatia
#64: Super Turbo Bounty NLHE$8402,207$1,765,600$131,461Kartik "Mandovi" VedIndia
#65: NLHE Deepstack$6002,911$1,659,270$227,906Dmytro "Too Bad" BystrovzorovUkraine
#66: Pot Limit Omaha$8001,281$973,560$139,453Toby JoyceIreland
#67: NLHE$500706$335,350$45,101Gregor "soulsntfaces" MullerAustria
#68: Deepstack NLHE [Asia Time Zone]$5002,315$1,099,625$150,460Yan Shing TsangHong Kong
#69: Marathon NLHE$1,5001,438$2,049,150$302,472Nick "rdcrsn" MaimoneUnited States
#70: NLHE Poker Players Championship$25,000407$10,000,000$1,800,290Christian RudolphGermany
#71: BIG 50 NLHE$5044,576$2,050,496$211,282Huahuan "F7588" FengChina
#72: Limit Hold'em Championship$1,500337$480,225$77,475Ajay "Ross_Geller" ChabraUnited States
#73: NLHE 6-Handed$1,0002,202$2,091,900$299,511Jim 'grousegrind" LefterukCanada
#74: Pot Limit Omaha$1,500972$1,385,100$215,938Thi "HoneyandTHI" TruongVietnam
#75: Double Stack NLHE$3003,552$991,008$130,100Trygve "FullSendWig" LeiteItaly
#76: FORTY STACK NLHE$4004,4611,667,366$227,186Gediminas "NeverGambol" UselisLithuania
#77: NLHE Main Event$5,0005,802$27,559,500$3,904,686Stoyan MadanzhievBulgaria
#78: Turbo 8-Handed$1,0001,910$1,314,500$259,842Adnan "Bolazar" HacialiogluFinland
#79: Heads Up NLHE [People's Choice, Most Popular]$25,000127$3,111,500$1,077,025Fedor HolzGermany
#80: NLHE Six-Max [People's Choice, Pros Vote]$6002,408$1,372,560$189,666Jeffrey DobrinUnited States
#81: Bounty Six-Handed [People's Choice, Spin the Wheel]$1,0501,925$1,925,000$243,415Nicolo "Paquitooo" MolinelliItaly
#82: Beat the Pros (Bounty)$1,0502,024$2,024,000$239,180Melika "Melirazavii" RazaviIran
#83: WSOP Super MILLION$$10,000899$8,720,300$1,423,049Connor DrinanUnited States
#84: NLHE WSOP MILLION$$10034,787$3,200,000$296,403Alexander "Kobbajun" KobbeltvedtNorway
#85: The Closer$5004,012$1,905,700$272,504Michael "Hneves" GathyUnited 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.

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.

Fedor Holz (courtesy Poker Central)

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.