WSOP Online 2020: Jonathan Dokler Captures 1st Bracelet in the Series-Opener Kick-Off Event, Hellmuth Finishes 11th

The much-awaited 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online series finally kicked off yesterday at 3 PM (PDT) on WSOP.com. For the first time in the 51-year-long rich history of the WSOP, the annual summer poker festival had to be put on hold due to the deadly COVID-19 pandemic. Replacing it is the inaugural 2020 WSOP Online series. Running from July 1 to September 6, 85 gold bracelets will be up for grabs. The first 31 online bracelet events will take place on the WSOP.com platform and will only be available to players based in Nevada or New Jersey. The remainder 54 bracelet events will play out on GGPoker and Natural8 from July 19 onwards.

Clinching the very first bracelet at this prestigious online series was former WPT champion Jonathan “Art.Vandelay” Dokler. The Las Vegas resident has now registered his name in the annals of poker history to become the first 2020 WSOP Online bracelet winner.

Another major headline was the 15-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil “Lumestackin” Hellmuth’s deep run in the event. Hellmuth was chasing a record-breaking 16th bracelet but fell out at 11^th place.

The opening event of the series, Event #1: $500 No-Limit Hold’em Kickoff, pulled in 1,715 entries (1,195 unique and 520 re-entries), registering $771,750 in the prize pool. The top 248 places were paid.

Dokler, who had won the $5,100 High Roller at the 2020 WPT Borgata Winter Poker Open (BWPO) for $100,892 about five months ago, was a force to be reckoned with on the final table. He eliminated Mark “NostraDonkus” Liedtke, Michael “DDSpade” Balan, Tony “Panoramic” Dunst and eventual runner-up Justin “MadTitan” Turner, en-route to capturing his career-first WSOP title for a whopping $130,425.75!

Following the elimination of Darren “darrenelias” Elias in 249th place, several notables such as Taylor “gambol_time” Howard (26th for $3,935.92), Mike “mouth123” Matusow (44th for $2,623.95), Clayton “clayfletch” Fletcher (64th for $1,620.67), David “davedadonk” Gutfreund (76th for $1,466.32), Alex “RIP_Neiko” Rocha (95th for $1,157.62), Jesse “MrJesseJames” Sylvia (137th for $1,003.27), Katie “Katelin” Lindsay (149th for $1,003.27), Melisa “NJ_Melisa” Singh (173rd for $926.10), and poker lawyer Maurice “Mac” VerStandig (196th for $771.75), finished ITM.

Hellmuth, who was in the hunt for his 16th bracelet, came close to making the final table but lost a crucial flip to Dokler to fall out in 11th place for $7,871.85.

Lost a 4 Million chip flip, for chip lead in @WSOP #1, the guy that called it off musta felt sick (he took forever to call it off w A-K) to call off 1.8 Million knowing that best case is tie. Knowing it was me that moved in! He opened 200k, I moved in 2M w QQ w 13 players left

— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) July 2, 2020

Indian-origin players Nipun “javatini” Java and Soheb “TommyConway6” Porbandarwala were also seen in action.

Final Table Recap

Taylor “ZeroTo100” Von Kriegenbergh was the first player to hit the rail on the final table when his was bested by Justin “MadTitan” Turner’s . Though Von Kriegenbergh did find a pair of tens on the flop , the turn gave Turner a clubs flush. The river was inconsequential, ending Von Kriegenbergh’s run in ninth place.

Next to go was Mark “NostraDonkus” Liedtke when he open-jammed from the button and was called by Jonathan “Art.Vandelay” Dokler from the big blind.

Mark “NostraDonkus” Liedtke

Jonathan “Art.Vandelay” Dokler

The board ran and Dokler rivered a set of nines, eliminating Liedtke in eigth place.

Less than five minutes later, “djp1006”s were up against Michael “DDSpade” Balan’s . While the former was in the lead, the runout saw Balan hit three-of-a-kind tens on the river, knocking “djp1006” out in seventh place.

Towards the end of Level 39, “ChefShap” shoved from the cutoff with and Shawn “SayGoodNight” Daniels called from the big blind holding . The rundown bricked for both players and Daniels’ pocket queens won him the pot. “ChefShap” bowed out in sixth place.

Finishing in fifth place was Michael “DDSpade” Balan when his were cracked by Dokler’s which bettered to a two pair on the board .

At the start of Level 42, Tony “Panoramic” Dunst’s faced off against Shawn “SayGoodNight” Daniels‘ . The board was of no help to Daniels, dismissing him in fourth place.

Down to three-handed play, the next player to depart was Tony “Panoramic” Dunst. He opened for 560,000 from the button and Dokler 3-bet to 1.8 Million from the big blind. Dunst 4-bet shoved for 9.4 Million and Dokler promptly called tabling . Dunst held . The showdown brought , and Dokler improved to a pair of kings on the river, sending Dunst to the rail in third place.

The heads-up play saw Jonathan “Art.Vandelay” Dokler (19,599,176) starting out holding a commanding lead over Justin “MadTitan” Turner (6,125,824). It was a short-lived battle, and expectedly, Dokler emerged victorious.

On the final hand, Turner open-jammed for 4.7 Million, and Dokler called. Turner showed against Dokler’s . The board gave Turner a flopped pair of sixes, but it was no match for Dokler’s turned six-high straight. Turner was relegated to the runner-up spot, crowning Doler as the very-first 2020 WSOP Online bracelet winner for an impressive $130,425.75 payout!

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Jonathan “Art.Vandelay” Dokler – $130,425.75

2. Justin “MadTitan” Turner – $80,416.35

3. Tony “Panoramic” Dunst – $57,881.25

4. Shawn “SayGoodNight” Daniels – $42,060.37

5. Michael “DDSpade” Balan – $30,947.17

6. ChefShap – $22,998.16

7. djp1006 – $17,287.20

8. Mark “NostraDonkus” Liedtke – $13,119.75

9. Taylor “ZeroTo100” Von Kriegenberg – $10,109.92

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

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