WSOP Online 2020: Italy’s Nicolo Molinelli Clinches Career-First Bracelet in Event #81

With just three days left for the inaugural 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online series to come to a close, Italy’s Nicolo’ “Paquitooo” Molinelli (cover image) became the latest player to claim the coveted gold bracelet. He took down Event #81: People’s Choice Event [Spin the Wheel] for a personal-best score of $243,415!

The tournament`s format was determined by the random spins of a prize wheel that determined the event to be played as a $1,050 buy-in 6-max NLHE bounty event. With only a handful of opportunities left to grab one of the coveted bracelets, 1,925 entries lined up for a shot, generating a $1,925,000 prize pool.

Molinelli had entered the final table as the chip leader and went on to eliminate Michelle “hu4trollzz” Shah, Itai “PokerSmart” Drory, and Lukas “rustyhusky” Hafner, before starting what can best be described as an epic heads-up clash with Canada’s Kyle “Eskimo Bro” Menard. Menard entered the heads-up on the backfoot and fought hard, but could not overcome the chip deficit. Molinelli ultimately captured his first bracelet after an over hourlong final showdown!

Molinelli is a relatively lesser-known player who has scored in only one other event at the ongoing series, a 280th place finish in Event #75: $300 Double Stack No Limit Hold’em for $907. He had previously shipped the €330 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo €50K GTD at the 2017 PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo for $10,791.

A total of 278 runners crossed the money. Among them, the notables who missed the final table included Jie “MTT0516” Wu (12th for $11,956), Indo-Australian player Ashish “NewGambler” Gupta (15th for $21,299), Alexandre “SexyBaldGuy” Mantovani (18th for $9,513), and Sergi Reixach (24th for $6,114).

Following the elimination of “LolGGPok” in 10th place for $8,049, the nine-handed final table was formed.

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Nicolo’ “Paquitooo” Molinelli – 8,338,888

2. Pavel “EzzzGame” Plesuv – 7,033,598

3. Longyun “Mr Li” Li – 6,944,813

4. Sami Kelopuro – 6,918,827

5. Itai “PokerSmart” Drory – 5,614,320

6. Lukas “rustyhusky” Hafner – 4,950,326

7. Kyle “Eskimo Bro” Menard – 4,921,007

8. Aleksandr “Srinavasan” Grishchuk – 2,711,694

9. Michelle “hu4trollzz” Shah – 666,027

Final Table Recap

The lone female player on the final table, Michelle “hu4trollzz” Shah, was also the first to depart. Having brought in the shortest stack, it wasn’t long before her pocket eights were up against Nicolo “Paquitooo” Molinelli’s Ace-Queen. The latter flopped top pair, eliminating Shah in ninth place.

Pavel “EzzzGame” Plesuv joined Shah at the rail about 40 minutes later when his pocket fives could not hold up against Lucas “rustyhusky” Hafner’s Big Slick that turned trip kings, dismissing Plesuv in eighth place.

Finishing in seventh place was Itai “PokerSmart” Drory when his ran into Molinelli’s that bettered to a pair of queens.

A little over 10 minutes later, Aleksandr “Srinavasan” Grishchuk‘s lost out to Sami Kelopuro’s . With the board running , Kelopuro flopped two pairs, knocking Grishchuk out in sixth place.

However, Sami Kelopuro couldn`t go far as he became the next player to hit the rail when his were cracked by Kyle “Eskimo Bro” Menard’s . Both players hit a one-card flush on the runout , but Menard’s ace kicker won him the pot, ousting Kelopuro in fifth place.

Down to four-handed play, Menard claimed his next victim in China’s Longyun “Mr Li” Li. The latter’s were bested by Menard’s that hit three-of-a-kind aces.

About 20 minutes later, Molinelli secured a massive double up through Lukas “rustyhusky” Hafner, bringing his stack down to 5.4 Million. On the very next hand, Hafner shoved his remaining stack from the small blind, holding . Molinelli called from the big blind with . The runout blanked, eliminating Hafner in third place.

The heads-up play between Nicolo’ “Paquitooo” Molinelli (25,354,932) and Kyle “Eskimo Bro” Menard (22,770,068) began with the former holding a marginal edge. It was a fierce contest that went on for over an hour, and even though Menard fought hard, in the end, it was Molinelli who went on to claim the top honors.

On the final hand, Menard raised to 900,000, and Molinelli called. The flop fell . Molinelli check-raised a 600,000 bet from Menard and made it 1.88 Million. Menard called to see the turn . Molinelli led out for 2.21 Million, and Menard called yet again. The river brought , and Menard moved all-in. Molinelli called.

Kyle “Eskimo Bro” Menard

Nicolo’ “Paquitooo” Molinelli

Molinelli’s flopped pair of kings won him the bracelet and a top prize of $243,415.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Nicolo’ “Paquitooo” Molinelli – $243,415 (Regular Prize – $144,199; Bounties $99,216)

2. Kyle “Eskimo Bro” Menard – $128,417 (Regular Prize – $104,644; Bounties – $24,000)

3. Lukas “rustyhusky” Hafner – $98,899 (Regular Prize – $75,940; Bounties – $22,000)

4. Longyun “Mr Li” Li – $66,875 (Regular Prize – $55,110; Bounties – $11,766)

5. Sami Kelopuro – $47,821 (Regular Prize – $39,993; Bounties – $7,828)

6. Aleksandr “Srinavasan” Grishchuk – $30,898 (Regular Prize – $29,023; Bounties – $1,875)

7. Itai “PokerSmart” Drory – $31,303 (Regular Prize – $21,062; Bounties – $10,000)

8. Pavel “EzzzGame” Plesuv – $31,078 (Regular Prize – $15,285; Bounties – $15,000)

9. Michelle “hu4trollzz” Shah – $24,920 (Regular Prize – $11,092; Bounties – $13,828)

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

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