WCOOP Round-Up: Kuznetsov and Zhang Win $880K Between Them

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Sep 19, 2019 3 min read Last updated Dec 19, 2019

PokerNews has been recapping the action from the biggest World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars, but this pair of results deserved their own article.

Two of the world’s most talented players, Timofey “Trueteller” Kuznetsov and Michael “mczhang” Zhang, each took down a High Roller event and won more than $880,000 among them.

WCOOP-25-H: $25,000 NLHE 8-Max High Roller

WCOOP-25-H: $25,000 NLHE 8-Max High Roller attracted 90 entrants despite costing $25,000 to enter. These 90 entries created a gargantuan $2,207,250 prize pool that was shared among the top 11 finishers. Russia’s Viktor “papan9_p$” Ustimov was the player who burst the bubble, paving the way for Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen and Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden to bust inside the money places and bank $55,706 each.

United Kingdom-based Spaniard Vicent “gordon0410” Bosca was the first player who busted from the final table, ninth place being worth $69,551. Bosca was then joined in the role as a spectator by Canadian high roller specialist Timothy “tim0thee” Adams whose eighth-place prize weighed in at $86,835, the last five-figure prize awarded.

Fresh from winning a WCOOP title, Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira fell in seventh and scooped $112,363 before Italian sensation Mustapha “lasagnaammm” Kanit ran out of steam and dropped out in sixth place, a finish worth $145,396.

888poker ambassador Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche put his ample high roller and super high roller experience to good use and walked away with $188,139 once he busted in fifth place. Almost $250,000 was then awarded to Rachid “SkaiWalkurrr” Cherif for his fourth-place finish.

Almost $1.25 million remained in the prize pool when three-handed play was reached. Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo got his hands on $315,017 of that impressive sum when his tournament ended in a third-place finish.

Heads-up saw Kuznetsov and Jordi “prot0” Urlings take each other on, and it was Kuznetsov who got the better of his opponent this time around. Urlings padded his bankroll with $406,625 while Kuznetsov added $527,458, more than half a million dollars, to his already considerable lifetime winnings.

WCOOP-25-H: $25,000 NLHE 8-Max High Roller

WCOOP-48-H: $10,300 NLHE High Roller

A field of 175 entrants competed in the WCOOP-48-H: $10,300 NLHE High Roller event and created a $1,750,000 prize pool as a result. Only 20 of those players received some prize money. Malta-based Dutchman Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff was the 21st-place finisher, the last player to return home empty-handed.

Having cashed in the $25,000 buy-in event, Chris “Big Huni” Hunichen (14th for $32,263) and Samuel Vousden (11th for $37,490) navigated their way into the money in this high roller tournament.

Any of the nine finalists would have made a worthy champion, but tournament poker can only have one winner. That champion was the British star Michael “mczhang” Zhang who made the most of his second $10,300 bullet to walk away with $352,810 of the prize pool.

Zhang, a cash game specialist, showed the world’s best he can mix it up in the biggest tournaments too. The popular Brit defeated Romania’s Alex “steakaddict.” Papazian heads-up for the title, leaving the Romanian superstar to secure the $271,638 second-place prize.

Earlier at the final table, Dmitry “yurasov1990” Yurasov saw his impressive run end in a ninth-place finish for $43,565. The waters then grew less shark-infested when former $50,000 Poker Players Championship winner Elior “Crazy Elior” Sion fell in eighth place for a $56,583 score.

Former Global Poker Index number one William “bigfox86” Foxen replicated his live form into the online arena and finished in seventh place for $73,492. Foxen gained some company on the sidelines in the shape of Swedish Goliath Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson; the Swede collected $95,453 and was the last player not to bag a six-figure prize.

“bencb789” is no stranger to deep runs in major online events at PokerStars so it was no surprise to see them finish fourth for a cool $161,024. Another Swede in “pruttzz12” crashed out in third place for a $209,142 prize, setting up the heads-up match between Zhang and Papazian where Zhang emerged victorious.

WCOOP-48-H: $10,300 NLHE High Roller Final Table Results

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