Sweden's "WhatIfGod" Wins EPT Online Main Event for Second Consecutive Year ($363,641)
Sweden's "WhatIfGod" successfully defended his title in the European Poker Tour Online Main Event by taking down Event #32: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, Event #Main Event], $1.5M Gtd - Trophy Event #17 on PokerStars for $363,641. "WhatIfGod," who won the same event in 2020 for $1,019,082, earned the consecutive title and EPT trophy by defeating PokerStars ambassador and Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas, who was chip leader of both Day 1 and Day 2, after an intense heads-up battle.
The flagship tournament attracted a total of 402 entrants to generate a prize pool of $2,010,000 that surpassed the guarantee of $1,500,000. Only nine of those players made it to the Day 3 final table, including PokerStars ambassador Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle, Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress and Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph.
Brazil was the most represented country at the final table with three native players making it to Day 3: Eduardo "Eduardo850" Silva, Bruno "great dant" Volkmann and Pedro "pvigar" Garagnani.
Little is known about "WhatIfGod," who appears to play almost exclusively online. PokerNews previously reported that he made an appearance at the 2014 live EPT festival, but only two collect two bracelets he won during the 2014 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
EPT Online Main Event Full Results
| PLACE | PLAYER | COUNTRY | PRIZE (USD) | |
| 1 | "WhatIfGod" | Sweden | $363,641 | |
| 2 | Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas | Spain | $276,741 | |
| 3 | Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph | Austria | $210,608 | |
| 4 | Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress | Canada | $160,279 | |
| 5 | Eduardo "Eduardo850" Silva | Brazil | $121,977 | |
| 6 | Bruno "great dant" Volkmann | Brazil | $92,828 | |
| 7 | Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle | Austria | $70,645 | |
| 8 | Orpen "OrpTheTurk" Kisacikoglu | United Kingdom | $53,763 | |
| 9 | Pedro "pvigar" Garagnani | Brazil | $41,259 |
The Day 3 action lasted for about five and a half hours and ebbed and flowed between slow-paced and action-packed. Garagnani was the first player eliminated early in the day when he ran pocket tens into the pocket kings of Rudolph. Not long after, Rolle, an Austria-based German pro who founded Raise Your Edge, was sent home in seventh place when his pocket fours couldn't hold against the ace-queen of the eventual champion.
The hot-streak continued for "WhatIfGod," who went on to eliminate Volkmann in sixth place and later Rudolph in third place to get the tournament heads-up.
"WhatIfGod" entered heads-up near even in chips with Colillas, a Spanish pro fresh off a deep run in the 2021 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he finished in 14th place for $380,050.
"WhatIfGod" eventually took a big lead over Colillas, who then got it in with ace-five against pocket kings and hit a flush on the river to double up and stay alive. Not long after, Colillas had two pair with seven-five against the two pair of "WhatIfGod" with queen-five. All the chips got in the middle on the turn, and Colillas spiked a seven on the river to improve to a full house and stay in contention.
Colillas eventually took the lead but "WhatIfGod" proceeded to take control after winning a flip with pocket fives against ace-queen. The final blow came in a hand where Colillas bet on the river with two pair and called when his opponent re-raised all-in with a queen-high flush. For his runner-up finish, Colillas earned a payday of $276,741.
That wraps up PokerNews' coverage of a thrilling EPT Online Main Event. Be sure to check out the live reporting portal for coverage of other events.