WSOP Online 2020: Gregor Muller Captures 1st Gold Bracelet in Event #67; India’s “bemyfriend” Finishes 3rd (₹23 Lakhs)

Event #67: $500 Limit Hold ’em of the 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online series, registered 706 players, culminating in a $335,350 prize pool. Austria’s Gregor “soulsntfaces” Muller was the last player standing and claimed his career-first WSOP bracelet, along with a winner’s paycheque of $45,102. However, India’s “bemyfriend” stole the domestic audience’s attention with his final table finish in the tourney.

Team India has been dominating the ongoing series for the past few weeks. “Neel” was the first Indian pro who got the ball rolling at the current series, when they finished sixth in Event #36 $1.5K Fifty Stack NLHE for $59,878 (~₹44.75 Lakhs). Nevertheless, it is Team India’s blistering run on August 17 that will be remembered for a long time. With a gold bracelet and two FT finishes, Indian players raked in almost ₹6.14 Crores in winnings in one day. The star of the day was “Mandovi,” who championed Event #64: $840 Turbo Bounty NLHE to bring India her first bracelet victory of the year and a mind-boggling $234,433 (~₹1.76 Crore). Two more Indians, namely “M26GreenWood” and “pokermafiaa”, final tabled Event #63: $500 Mini Main Event and Event #62: $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha, respectively. To date, Team India has added almost 10 FT finishes at the ongoing series.

Coming back to “bemyfriend’s” stellar run in Event #67, the ‘desi’ pro entered the final table as the chip leader. It seemed for a while that India may well be getting her second gold bracelet of the series. However, “bemyfriend” fell two places short of the title, finishing in third place. They suffered a brutal bad beat at the hands of Muller to exit. Holding Ace-Queen, the Indian player was a 70% favorite to take down the pot preflop against Muller’s Queen-Six, but a six on the flop favored the eventual champion, sending the former to the rail for a hefty $30,680 (~₹23 Lakhs) in prize money.

The champion had come into the final table, holding the fourth-largest stack. The Austrian player steadily built his stack before facing Brazil’s Brunno Botteon in the heads-up. Even though the former held a marginal lead over his opponent, Muller lost it soon after the start of the heads-up. He did manage to win it back and ultimately carried it all the way to the finish line. Not only did Muller win the title, but he also bagged a WSOPE package worth $12,000.

With the top 98 players slated to finish in the money, quite a few notables were seen crossing the money line which included the likes of Anson “Tara@0z” Tsang (12th for $3,488), Connor Drinan (14th for $2,557) and Julie “MonkeyKlein” Klein (32nd for $1,534).

Following the elimination of Ken “diabloking” Okada in ninth place for $4,758, the eight-handed final table was formed.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. bemyfriend – 4,389,164

2. Brunno Botteon – 3,393,950

3. Michiel “Easterdamnz” Van Elsacker – 2,755,050

4. Gregor “soulsntfaces” Muller – 1,892,625

5. Drew “BigPavelski” Soik – 1,699,031

6. Hong Kong “Fall Oh Gutz” Nguyen – 1,384,311

7. Davide “ElPapuGomez” Suriano – 1,332,800

8. Michael “Blank0DMT” Schwartz – 803,069

Final Table Recap

The shortest stack at the start of the final table, Hong Kong “Fall Oh Gutz” Nguyen, was also the first player to exit in eighth place. His ran into GGPoker Twitch Streamer Michiel “Easterdamnz” Van Elsacker’s . The board bricked, and Van Elsacker’s ace kicked held on.

Towards the end of Level 28, Michael “Blank0DMT” Schwartz‘s were cracked by Van Elsacker’s that flopped a set of jacks on the runout . Schwartz bowed out in seventh place.

Less than 10 minutes later, Brunno Botteon raised from the button. The former WSOP bracelet winner Davide “ElPapuGomez” Suriano defended his big blind to see the flop open . Suriano check-raised a bet from Botteon. The latter called and turned over . Suriano tabled . The latter flopped top pair, while Botteon showed a pair of eights. However, the on the turn gave Botteon the lead with three-of-a-kind eights. Even though Suriano rivered two pairs with the completing the board, it was no match for Botteon’s trip eights, eliminating the former in sixth place.

Finishing in fifth place was Drew “BigPavelski” Soik. His were cracked by Botteon’s that improved to a flopped pair of eights, sending Soik to the rail.

About nine minutes later, Michiel “Easterdamnz” Van Elsacker raised from the button. Botteon and “bemyfriend” called from the blinds. It was three-way on the flop before Botteon fired a bet to get “bemyfriend” got out of the way. Van Elsacker shoved for 220,998. Botteon called, tabling . Van Elsacker flipped over . The remaining two streets brought the and the , giving Botteon a rivered pair of queens and dismissing Van Elsacker in fourth place.

Down to three-handed play, Botteon held the bigger stack of 7.65 Million, followed by “bemyfriend” (5.43 Million) and Muller (4.56 Million). The Austrian player won four consecutive hands to grab the chip lead with 9.26 Million, even as the Indian pro became the short stack with 1.53 Million. “bemyfriend” did manage to secure a double-up through Muller, taking their stack to 2.66 Million. Still, it wasn’t enough to retain their place on the final table.

Their elimination hand saw Muller raise from the button, while “bemyfriend” 3-bet from the big blind. Muller fired a 4-bet, which “bemyfriend” countered with a 5-bet shove for their last 866,590. Muller called.

“bemyfriend”

Gregor “soulsntfaces” Muller

The board ran , and Muller took down the pot, ending “bemyfriend’s” bracelet run in third place.

The heads-up between Gregor “soulsntfaces” Muller (9,095,920) and Brunno Botteon (8,544,080) started with the former enjoying a slight edge over the Brazilian player. The showdown lasted for less than 30 minutes, with Muller eventually coming out on top.

On the final hand, Muller raised from the button, and Botteon announced a 3-bet. Muller 4-bet, prompting Botteon to call with his remaining 133,160. Botteon showed against Muller’s . The community cards ran out , and both players hit two pairs on the board. However, Muller’s higher two pair won him his first-ever WSOP bracelet and a $45,102 top prize.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Gregor “soulsntfaces” Muller – $45,102*

2. Brunno Botteon – $41,855

3. bemyfriend – $30,680

4. Michiel “Easterdamnz” Van Elsacker – $22,488

5. Drew “BigPavelski” Soik – $16,484

6. Davide “ElPapuGomez” Suriano – $12,082

7. Michael “Blank0DMT” Schwartz – $8,856

8. Hong Kong “Fall Oh Gutz” Nguyen – $6,492

*winner also gets a package worth $12,000 to the WSOPE

Content & Images Courtesy: WSOP.com and PokerNews.com

Keep following PokerGuru for more updates from the 2020 WSOP Online series!