History of WSOP Online Bracelet Events, Part 2

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Jul 02, 2020 10 min read

The World Series of Poker will soon begin its unprecedented run of awarding 85 bracelets on WSOP.com and GG Poker. In light of that historic beginning, PokerNews presents this look at the history of online bracelet events at the WSOP.

This is part two of that historical look. Part one can be found here.

2019: U.S. Online Crusher Gets Fitting Bracelet

In its short lifespan, few players have posted the sort of results in the U.S. regulated online poker landscape that Yong "LuckySpewy1" Kwon has managed. He has millions in tracked cashes, so when he made the final table in a field of 1,965 in Event #7: $400 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em in 2019, it was as unsurprising as such a result could stand to be.

However, all eyes at the final table were squarely on Phil "lumestackin" Hellmuth, gunning for bracelet No. 16.

Kwon held the chip lead to start the final table and only solidified his grip as it played down to the final five, where he had about two-thirds of the total chips. Hellmuth, sitting on his left, proved to be his next victim as "The Poker Brat" couldn't hold with pocket threes against king-ten.

There would be no bumps in the road for Kwon, who rolled over the last few players and secured the bracelet and $165,263 after busting Gabor "MeatisMurder" Szabo in second place.

2019: Pollock Earns Second PLO Gold

Despite still being confined to desktops and laptops, pot-limit Omaha players still managed to build a field of 1,216 when Event #24: $600 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed rolled around in 2019.

The headliner at the final table was none other than PLO legend himself Phil "HeyGuys" Galfond. Galfond, who spent much of his summer patrolling the $25/$50 streets and other medium- to high-stakes offered on WSOP.com, was the chip leader and odds-on favorite to grab his fourth bracelet.

The other prior bracelet winner at the final table was Josh "loofa" Pollock, who had established some PLO credentials by winning the $1,500 event in 2013. Pollock was very nearly out the door early as he three-bet kings to get most of his stack in but wound up staring at the aces of Jared "jebronlames1" Bleznick. Luckily for Pollock, he hit a set on the flop to double up.

Galfond bluffed off most of his stack to Jason "TheBigGift" Gooch and crashed out in fifth, and it would be Gooch and Pollock facing off for the bracelet after fellow pros Martin "BathroomLine" Zamani and Bleznick went down.

Pollock would prevail and lay claim to $139,740 and his second PLO bracelet.

2019: De Silva Wins First KO Event for Third Bracelet

As part of the expanded online schedule in 2019, which included nine events, matching the entire previous total, the WSOP included Event #38: $600 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Knockout Bounty. The popular bounty format drew 1,224 entries.

One feared competitor to make the final table was Upeshka "gomezhamburg" De Silva, who already had two bracelets to his credit. While he had a middle stack to begin, he picked up steam seven-handed by busting Chris "johnsonck" Johnson with ace-king over ace-ten and was soon atop the counts.

Also crushing was David "dave419" Nodes, who scored several eliminations at the final table. Nodes and De Silva battled for some length, with Nodes eventually building a sizable lead. However, he was unable to close out when he had a great chance, losing a flip despite flopping the nut flush draw with ace-ten against pocket fives.

Instead, De Silva was now in the lead, and he busted Nodes about 10 minutes later to add bracelet No. 3 to his collection.

2019: Another Online Star Wins Turbo

If only a few players have reached Yong Kwon's level of results in the U.S. regulated sites, one might be Dan "centrfieldr" Lupo. Like Kwon, Lupo has also racked up more than $3 million in cashes to become one of the biggest fish in a small pond.

Lupo was among the chip leaders as the tournament wound down in another new 2019 event, $500 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Turbo Deepstack, which drew 1,811 entries. He was joined by Chris "johnsonck" Johnson, making his second final table in just a few days after a seventh-place finish in the knockout event.

Both players made strong runs into the final three, and there, they played a pot of most of the chips in play that would decide the likely winner. It was Lupo's pocket fives against Johnson's ace-six, and the tournament seemed ready to go to Johnson when he flopped an ace. However, a five on the river saved Lupo's tournament life, and he busted Johnson minutes later with ace-ten over ace-seven.

Only David "DTC13" Clarke was all that remained to oppose Lupo, and he busted in short order to crown Lupo the first online turbo WSOP champion.

2019: Gooch Makes Amends for Heads-Up Miss

Like Chris Johnson, Jason Gooch made it two online final tables in 2019 bracelet events when he pulled the trick in Event #55: $1,000 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Double Stack after finishing second in the earlier PLO tournament. The Double Stack, a 2018 concept that had carried over to 2019, moved online for the first time and drew 1,333 entries.

In any case, Gooch had another stacked final table to deal with, as Italian stars Max "Max Sparrow" Pescatori, Gianluca "inmyhouse" Speranza and Dario "Sirio87" Sammartino made appearances, along with Justin "KingFortune" Liberto.

Gooch did have the advantage of coming to the final table with far more chips, though, and he outlasted all of them, including busting Sammartino in fourth.

However, the chip lead now belonged to Brian "Pure__reason" Wood, and that only became a bigger lead when he busted Anthony "Scrotile" Augustino.

Gooch was able to even out the stacks, though, and this time, he secured himself WSOP gold rather than historical footnote status. After an hour of play, he took the last of Wood's chips and finally got his hands on a bracelet, along with $241,492.

2019: Another Near-Miss for Cain as Baris Prevails

One familiar event that made its way back onto the schedule for 2019 was the $1K Online Championship. Again, a large field turned out, the 1,750 growing the event slightly from the previous year.

Some of the stars — and villains — of the final table included Ryan "PlzCumAgain" Jones, Chris "Camdi" Ferguson and David "YoungPitts" Baker. After Jones busted in eighth, William "TheBurrSir" Lamb Harding sent Ferguson packing when he woke up with queens blind on blind and crushed Ferguson's nine-seven suited. Baker made a deeper run but went down in fourth.

Meanwhile, the runaway chip leader at the start of the final table and the short stack met heads up. The former was Tara "bertperton" Cain, who had finished second to Tom Cannuli in the 2017 online high roller, while the latter was Nicholas "Illari" Baris.

Baris was at a significant deficit when they began, but his tens held up all in against ace-nine to get within striking distance. Once he had a small lead, a huge cooler went in his favor for all the chips when he picked up queens against Cain's nines.

Cain was resigned to finish second once again while Baris won a hefty $303,738 along with his first bracelet.

2019: Adams Wins First $400K Prize

Another returning tournament for 2019 was Event #74: $3,200 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em High Roller, which drew 434 entries to post the first prize in excess of $400,000 in the online bracelet series.

Two-time bracelet winner Calvin Anderson was doing serious damage en route to the final table, taking a big stack in.

Once there, high-stakes cash veteran Brandon "DrOctagon" Adams took over short-handed. He busted bracelet winner Norbert "BALKAN500" Szecsi in a large flip then won the pot of the tournament when he was dealt aces and opened early. After a shove from Mike "VinnyV" Vanier and a call from Anderson, Adams jammed as well. He was up against Vanier's ace-ten and Anderson's queens, and a ten-high board sent the pot to Adams, who had about two-thirds of the total chips.

Heads up, Adams faced Nabil "thebrownbear" Cardoso, polishing him off in 20 minutes when another cooler — queens over tens — materialized in his favor. Adams had a bracelet to add to his accolades, as well as a whopping $411,561 to add to his bankroll.

2019: Buchanan Gets Long-Awaited Bracelet

The WSOP had a distinct low-stakes aim in 2019, and Event #76: $800 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed saw them port one of their popular deep-stack events online. A solid turnout of 1,560 fired, and a couple of online legends would wind up heads up.

After notables like Lauren "sycamore22" Roberts and Barry "puigmyfriend" Hutter busted early at the final table, it was Shawn "bucky21" Buchanan and David "Youngpitts" Baker, making his second final table appearance of the online bracelet year, playing for gold.

"Bucky" had scored three knockouts at the final table and held a 2-to-1 lead over Baker when they began play. Baker evened the stacks early when he limped tens and induced a shove, smashing Buchanan's ace-three. However, 20 minutes later, Buchanan four-bet shoved jacks and Baker couldn't get away from ace-ten, forced to accept second-place dough when he couldn't improve.

After more than 50 WSOP cashes and a prestigious online career, Buchanan finally secured himself a bracelet.

2019: Paur Wins First Online Summer Saver

Many players find themselves desperately firing every shell left in the chamber to end the summer in hopes of binking a final score, something the WSOP acknowledged with the naming of Event #88: $500 WSOP.com ONLINE No-Limit Hold'em Summer Saver. The inaugural event drew 1,325 entries.

Two WSOP regs played a huge pot five-handed that would see Brock "SquatCobbler" Parker, who had been chip leader five-handed, face off. Each player had a good shot to add to their bracelet collection — Paur had one and Parker three — when the former flopped a pair and a flush draw against the latter's top pair. Paur would turn his flush to surge into the lead four-handed.

Paur won a race against Satish "Jfksbh" Surapaneni and took a big lead into heads-up play with Francois "4everrekt" Evard. Evard made a battle of it and took the lead around 40 minutes in. However, Paur would wrestle it back and then use pocket twos — the same hand with which he busted Surapaneni — to win another race and secure his second bracelet.

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