Were you out partying last night? First of all: why weren’t we invited? And second of all, you missed a fantastic Friday evening of poker as more big names entered the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 2019 winner’s sheet.
TODAY’S HEADLINES
- Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino’s year gets better and better
- Second WCOOP title for Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden and Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara
- Heartbreaking close calls for Spraggy and Fintan
- More than $11M in first-place prizes awarded
BEHIND THE HEADLINES
What a year it has been for Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino. The Austria-based Italian has followed up his runner-up finish in the World Series of Poker Main Event (where he won $6 million) with his first WCOOP title, and it came in one of the biggest high rollers of the series. Sammartino overcame a tough final table which included David “dpeters17” Peters, Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer and runner-up “huang33” to win the WCOOP-57-H $10,300 8-Max PKO High Roller for a massive $371,186.76 (including bounties). Sammartino now has both SCOOP and WCOOP wins under his belt.
Dario Sammartino keeps winning big
The other big name winner last night was Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden, who after a runner-up finish earlier in the series clinched a title (his second WCOOP overall) in WCOOP-59-H: $530+R NLHE for $89,781.97 following a three-way deal. Vousden’s first WCOOP title came back in 2016, and since then he’s won just about everything there is to win online, amassing $7.1 million in winnings.
Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden
The second biggest winner on the night was the UK’s “com 157”, who won the $1,050 medium edition of the Thursday Thrill (E57). For that victory they banked a massive $195,126.96 (including bounties), and their first WCOOP win.
We’ve also got to give a shout out to Japan’s Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara, who defeated Benny “RunGodLike” Glaser heads-up in WCOOP-62-H: $1,050 NL 2-7 Single Draw for his second WCOOP title of the year (Glaser was also seeking his second of the 2019). For that win Kihara banked $27,300. We spoke with him earlier in the series – check out that interview here.
Naoya Kihara
TODAY’S RESULTS
| Tournament | Entries | Prize pool | Winner | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WCOOP-55-L: $5.50 NLHE | 9,151 | $50,000 | Alesxy18 | Germany | $6,126.74* |
| WCOOP-55-M: $55 NLHE | 4,279 | $213,950 | STEROIDhulk | Malta | $26,448.04* |
| WCOOP-55-H: $530 NLHE | 763 | $381,500 | NoTilit | Lithuania | $64,481.44 |
| WCOOP-57-L: $109 NLHE 8-Max PKO | 6,497 | $649,700 | Kazeev S. S. | Russia | $74,416.96† |
| WCOOP-57-M: $1,050 NLHE 8-Max PKO | 1,330 | $1,330,000 | com 157 | UK | $195,126.96† |
| WCOOP-57-H: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max PKO | 148 | $1,480,000 | Secret_M0d3 | Austria | $371,186.76† |
| WCOOP-58-L: $22 HORSE | 1,702 | $35,000 | 700920 | Bulgaria | $6,090 |
| WCOOP-58-M: $215 HORSE | 381 | $76,200 | Muka82 | Brazil | $14,478 |
| WCOOP-58-H: $2,100 HORSE | 110 | $220,000 | WTFOMFGOAO | Russia | $53,900 |
| WCOOP-59-L: $5.50+R NLHE | 6,444 | $100,000 | EmptyHouse82 | Brazil | $14,208.96 |
| WCOOP-59-M: $55+R NLHE | 2,361 | $355,759.40 | TheZQ | Sweden | $38,525.26* |
| WCOOP-59-H: $530+R NLHE | 395 | $607,010 | €urop€an | Finland | $89,781.97* |
| WCOOP-60-L: $11 NLO8 6-Max | 2,991 | $29,311.80 | joe1224 | Taiwan | $4,229.70 |
| WCOOP-60-M: $109 NLO8 6-Max | 835 | $83,500 | Pylusha | Russia | $9,770.05* |
| WCCOP-60-H: $1,050 NLO8 6-Max | 208 | $208,000 | woodbine ave | Canada | $40,815.52 |
| WCOOP-62-L: $11 NL 2-7 Single Draw | 1,365 | $13,377 | tammaister | Greece | $1,735.25* |
| WCOOP-62-M: $109 NL 2-7 Single Draw | 340 | $34,000 | Aftret | Norway | $7,055.00 |
| WCOOP-62-H: $1,050 NL 2-7 Single Draw | 104 | $104,000 | nkeyno | Japan | $27,300.00 |
| WCOOP-63-L: $5.50 NLHE 6-Max Turbo | 10,284 | $50,392 | MRDOS77 | Armenia | $6,720.69 |
| WCOOP-63-M: $55 NLHE 6-Max Turbo | 3,943 | $197,150 | Xungas | Croatia | $24,873.01* |
| WCOOP-63-H: $530 NLHE 6-Max Turbo | 659 | $329,500 | pmahoney22 | Mexico | $56,670.83 |
*denotes deal
†inc. bounties
STAT TRACKER
Events completed: 184
Entries so far: 746,724
Prize pools so far: $70,955,533
First prizes so far: $11,105,811.87
In-the-money finishers so far: 117,917
Tournaments starting today: 12
(Note: completed events only)
INTERVIEWS! INTERVIEWS! INTERVIEWS!
Man of the moment: Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira
We’ve been catching up with a heap of winners from this year’s WCOOP, all of whom have been happy to share the secrets of their successes. Click through for first-person accounts of WCOOP triumph, from those who have been there many times before to newcomers sampling the limelight for the first time.
• Germany’s “Gaul4200”: “$44K is a lot of money for a 20-year-old student in Germany.”
• Joris “BillLewinsky” Ruijs: Two-time winner says “It’s like when you jump out of a plane”
• Russia’s “myIT4”: A friend told him to “fight to the end!”. He did.
• Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira: The 2019 breakout star on winning three titles in a week
• Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik: “It’s my first win in an official tournament”
• Rodrigo “guinHuuh” Freire: Brazilian’s roller coaster ride turns $11 into $13K
• Patrick “prepstyle71” Serda: No more pizzas for the three-time winner
• Jeffrey “Jefffrr8” Reardon: He wanted a five-figure score. He got one.
• Maxime “Daghemuneguu” Chilaud: Malta-based Frenchman wins first WCOOP of the series
• Norway’s “19_Kumite_79”: First two-day event, biggest field, biggest cash
• Viktor “TsiTool” Kovács: Puts Hungary on the WCOOP map
• Italo “sep_itl1914” Carandinas: Brazilian chooses his own adventure
• Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara: Woken up by a kick from his 3-year-old, plays Razz and wins!
• “snovalshik1”: first-timer, who turned $5.50 into $3,408
• Rinat “Zapahzamazki” Lyapin: Won PLO while streaming live
• Alex “dynoalot” Difelice: Second win, but “I feel I have a ways to go.”
• Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha: Akkari’s acolyte, who sets the record straight
• Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb: Seventh title, surely not the last
TWITCH WATCH
Before you went out for Friday night drinks (again, why weren’t we invited?) you might have tuned in to see PokerStars Ambassador Ben “Spraggy” Spragg going very deep in WCOOP-55-H: $530 NLHE. Unfortunately, he’d lose a big flip on the final table bubble to bust in 10th for $4,185.81. GG Spraggy.
TOP TWEETS
Fancy getting your hands on a WCOOP Main Event sweat? Then look no further than Fintan “easywithaces” Hand.
I'm giving away 1% of my WCOOP $5,200 main event on Twitter.
I'll pick 1 follower who RTs and replies with their favorite pic of their pet or just an animal.
I'll do the draw on Sunday before I enter.
It'll be random because I can't pick a best pet.
GL everyone
— Fintan Hand (@EasyWithAces) September 20, 2019
While Spraggy maintains his positive mental attitude:
8000 concurrent viewers on the rail and your boy fucks it on the Final Table Bubble. 44<AJs all in preflop and we are dust. 10th for $4,185 with $65,000 up top. 2019 is a year of near misses. Thank you all for the support, Twitch certainly is a fun website. We go again Sunday x
— Benj Spragg (@spraggy) September 20, 2019
COUNTRIES LEADER BOARD
Things are picking back up for Brazil, who enjoyed two new winners yesterday. However, they can’t quite catch up with the UK and Russia, the latter of which added three new titles to its tally. Still, with just a couple more days to play, it’s anyone’s to win out of those three.
25 titles – Russia
22 – UK
20 – Brazil
12 – Canada
11 – Germany
9 – Netherlands
9 – Finland
7 – Austria
5 – Ukraine, Romania, Lithuania, Norway, Mexico.
4 – Malta.
3 – Hungary, Poland, Sweden.
2 – China, Argentina, Lebanon, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Japan, Croatia.
1 – Thailand, Uruguay, Georgia, Latvia, Moldova, Serbia, Chile, Macau, Taiwan, Armenia, Greece.
ONGOING TOURNAMENTS
There are only three tournaments ongoing overnight, all in Event-61 with the $22, $215, and $2,100 buy-in tiers. With just 25 left in the High edition, the likes of two-time SCOOP Main Event winner Gianluca “tankanza” Speranza are still in with a shot of the $115,509.35 first-place prize. Meanwhile Mike “SirWatts” Watson and aforementioned champ Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden hold big stacks in the $215 edition, which has 86 players remaining and $68,249.43 up top.
STARTING TODAY
Fans of the mixed games can settle in for some high stakes 8-Game action tonight, with the best of the best sure to battle it out in the $10,300 High Roller. You can then wind down with some hyper turbo action.
WCOOP-64: NLHE Afternoon Deep Stack – Buy-ins: $5, $55, $530
WCOOP-65: NLHE 8-Max PKO – Buy-ins: $11, $109, $1,050
WCOOP-66: 8-Game – Buy-ins: $109, $1,050, $10,300
WCOOP-67: NLHE 6-Max Hyper Turbo – Buy-ins: $5.50, $55, $530
PREVIOUS ROUND-UPS
DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13 | DAY 14 | DAY 15