The action continues into the second week in the World Series of Poker Online. Three more bracelets were awarded this week with plenty of tournaments remaining.
Some New Jersey online players continue to do well and a few other bigger names also scored final table appearances. Ryan Laplante, Matt Stout, and 2018 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Michael Dyer all had deep runs.
The last week also included Phil Hellmuth commenting on an online slow roll. Plenty of players are also mixing online poker with live tournament play. Here’s a look at the action through the first half of this week.
- Bracelet events: 33
- Where to play: WSOP.com in New Jersey and Nevada
- When: July 1 to Aug. 1
- Buy-ins: $333 to $7,700
| Event | Tournament | Entries | Prize pool | Winner | Winner payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $500 NLHE BIG 500 Kickoff (July 1) | 1,277 | $574,650 | Jose “Deposit” Noboa | $105,161 |
| 2 | $600 NLHE Monster Stack (July 2) | 1,038 | $560,520 | Manig “Ohio77” Loeser | $104,313 |
| 3 | $500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack (July 3) | 950 | $427,500 | Donnell “Spreezy52” Dais | $90,801 |
| 4 | $500 NLHE Super Turbo (July 4) | 850 | $382,500 | Jeffery “Steelvikes7” Hoop | $73,861 |
| 5 | $1,000 NLHE 8-Max | 459 | $648,700 | Jeremiah “freestylerr” Williams | $139,600 |
| 6 | $2,000 NLHE Deepstack | 416 | $769,600 | Tyler “ShipTheShip” Denson | $175,700 |
| 7 | $777 Lucky Sevens | 888 | $621,600 | Michael “stiltwalk” Mercaldo | $123,574 |
♠♠♠ For a look at the first week of action in the WSOP Online, click here. ♠♠♠
Event 5: $1,000 NLHE 8-Max (July 5)
The stakes were raised on Monday with this event producing the largest prize pool of the series so far. One Illinois player made it a nice trip to Las Vegas over the last couple weeks. In June, Jeremiah “freestylerr” Williams cashed in the $10,000 Wynn Millions for $25,091.
Williams followed that up Monday by winning his first WSOP bracelet, scoring $139,600. He topped a field of 459 players, which produced a prize pool of $648,700.
In heads-up play, Williams battled Chung “Vegasbroke” You for the title. He’s now anything but broke after winning $86,472 for runner-up.
Others cashing in the event included: Matt “RubberFist” Stout (4th, $41,711); New Jersey’s Gary “phiI_ivey” Kosakowski (5th, $29,710); Ryan “Protential” Laplante (18th, $4,606); Chris “Robotbob47” Moorman (34th, $3,179), Anthony “heheh” Zinno (41st, $2,789); and Phil “Lumestackin” Hellmuth (67th, $2,011).
Another New Jersey player put together his third cash of the series as Kevin Lutz finished eighth for $11,936.
Event 6: $2,000 NLHE Deepstack (July 6)
High Roller Week and larger prize pools continued with this big buy-in event. The tournament brought out 416 runners for a $769,600 prize pool.
In the end, Florida’s Tyler “ShipTheShip” Denson scored his first bracelet and $175,700 for his third cash of the series. California’s Steven Kelly took runner-up for $108,282.
High stakes regular Ben Yu took third for $73,958, his second cash of the series. 2018 WSOP Main Event third-place finisher Michael Dyer took ninth for $11,159.
Other players cashing included: Bryan “Pellepelle” Piccioli (47th, $3,155); Kathy “Luckygal” Liebert (27th, $4,695); and Galen “turkmalloy” Hall (19th, $4,695).
Event 7: $777 Lucky Sevens (July 7)
Interestingly, an event featuring so many sevens attracted 888 players for a . Another New Jersey grinder scored big, with Michael “stiltwalk” Mercaldo taking the win for $123,574.
Mercaldo topped James “biggs2424” Anderson heads-up for the title. He proved quite a tough opponent and took home $76,395. He won the WSOP Little One for One Drop in 2018 and finished runner-up in the WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open in 2020.
Others cashing included: Ryan “Protential” Laplante (5th, $27,350); Ema “Momma_says” Zajmovic (35th, $2,859); Jamie “DanBilzerian” Kerstetter (52nd, $2,113); Daniel “centrfieldr” Lupo (56th, $1,803); and Daniel “DNegs” Negreanu (66th, $1,616).
5th.
Keep on grinding
— Ryan Laplante🏳️🌈 (@Protentialmn) July 8, 2021
Slow roll leaves Hellmuth perplexed
Taking some digs at Phil Hellmuth is a popular pastime in live tournaments. It seems one player chose a slow roll recently in the WSOP Online in a big hand versus the Poker Brat.
Helmuth Tweeted his hand involving a well-known pro who hit a massive full house on the river. Hellmuth caught a pair of Aces with his Ace-Jack and says his opponent used all his time on the river before calling.
Another hand saw Hellmuth move all in with Ace-King versus the same player’s pocket Aces. Again, Hellmuth says his opponent used all his time before calling.
2 He wasted his time banks for nothing! I limp UTG A-K, same guy has AA (can’t make this up), he raises, I’m all in, he burns the rest of his time banks before calling! I worked out hard for 45 mins, how they gonna tilt me?!? pic.twitter.com/02A9Yzcp5O
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 5, 2021
“Weird thing is, I really like the pro who slow rolled me, especially after finding out what he went through with another pro,” Hellmuth later noted. “Oh well, on to the WPT at Venetian, my last chance to make Day 2 tomorrow! Staying positive.”
Negreanu does the double (bubble)
With so much live poker going on in Las Vegas, some players are doing double duty. The WPT Venetian just wrapped up with Chad Eveslage taking the title for $910,370.
The PokerGO Cup also got underway this week at Aria. Several big-name pros will also be using the iPad or mobile phone for some online action as well.
Negreanu offered some insight on his own action on Wednesday. After running deep in two events, he finished both just short of the money.
Double Bubble:
Bubbled the $2k on WSOP 77th paid 72.
11th in PokerGO Cup lost AK to AA then AQ to AJ with a Jack on the river.
Ha.
Ha.
Ha.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) July 7, 2021
For a complete look at Las Vegas tournament action this summer, click here.
A look ahead
Plenty of action remains in the WSOP Online. Players will find a weekend of lower buy-in events following the$888 Crazy Eights on Thursday.
Friday through Monday brings buy-ins ranging from $333 to $500. That should attract plenty of recreational players looking to win a bracelet. Here’s a look at the action coming up:
- $888 Crazy Eights – July 8
- $400 NLHE Six-Max – July 9
- $333 NLHE – July 10
- $400 NLHE Ultra Deepstack – July 11
- $500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack
Along with bracelet events, WSOP.com is also running the Summer Online Circuit Series alongside the Online Championships series in July. Here’s a complete preview and schedules of those series.
USPoker picks update
The Catena Media poker team recently offered their own picks for the series. With seven events in the books, content manager Valerie Cross has taken an early lead.
Her five players have totaled almost $20,000 with Jonathan Dokler notching three cashes. USPoker editor Sean Chaffin follows her with just short of $11,000. Hellmuth’s three cashes have helped his cause.
Contributor Anthony Cicali brings up the rear but there are still plenty of events remaining. Here’s a look at the standings so far:
- Valerie Cross – $19,774
- Sean Chaffin – $10,703
- Anthony Cicali – $6,051
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