WSOP Online 2020: Christian Rudolph Wins Event #70: $25K POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP, Pillai Finishes 3rd

The 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online is fast-approaching the business end of its inaugural run. One of the two bracelets awarded on Saturday was in the prestigious Event #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP. Resuming final table play after a six-day hiatus, Christian Rudolph (cover image) came out on top on the nine-handed final table to win his first WSOP gold bracelet, a whopping $1,800,290 and a WSOP Europe package. Rudolph locked horns with Chris Hunichen in the heads-up play, and the latter pocketed $1.33 Million for his runner-up finish. The victory boosted Rudolph’s WSOP earnings over $3 Million.

Indo-American Shankar Pillai finished third for $979,138.

The tourney registered 407 entries to create the second-largest prize pool of the series (behind the $25 Million GTD Main Event) worth $10 Million and paid out 55 places.

From India, “Mandovi,” who had won Event #64: $840 Turbo Bounty NLHE two weeks ago, placed 44th for $70,150 (₹51.30 Lakhs).

Some of the other top names that finished ITM included Scott Seiver (15th for $104,078), Stephen Chidwick (19th for $85,446), Jake Schindler (20th for $85,446), Hun Wei Lee (30th for $70,150), David Peters (32nd for $70,150), Michelle “hu4trollzz” Shah (36th for $70,150), Andras Nemeth (49th for $57,592), Thai Ha (51st for $57,592), James Chen (52nd for $57,592), and Davidi Kitai (54th for $57,592).

Watch the replay of the FT action below:

Final Table Chip Counts

1. Jason Koon – 7,863,055
2. Shankar “Saquon” Pillai – 6,875,234
3. Christian Rudolph – 5,544,188
4. Aram “Pusha T” Zobian – 4,405,440
5. Chris Hunichen – 4,175,274
6. Aleksejs Ponakovs – 3,883,951
7. Aliaksei “BladeRunner1” Boika – 3,297,276
8. Paulius “ChickenBBQ” Plausinaitis – 2,905,555
9. Brunno Botteon – 1,750,027

Final Table Recap

The first elimination of the day was Aliaksei “BladeRunner1” Boika, whose failed to catch up to Shankar “Saquon” Pillai’s as the latter flopped a jack.

After 15 minutes, Paulius “ChickenBBQ” Plausinaitis fell out in eighth place.

The start of day chip leader, Jason Koon, crashed out in seventh place. On his final hand, Christian Rudolph opened with , and Koon shoved pocket tens. Rudolph called and won the flip on the runout .

Five minutes later, Brunno Botteon’s pocket queens got crushed by Rudolph’s as the latter completed a one-card straight on the rundown.

Rudolph kept the momentum going by taking out Aram “Pusha T” Zobian next with the latter’s getting no help against his pocket nines. Rudolph further hit a set on the river to eliminate Zobian in fifth place.

After some to and fro, Aleksejs Ponakovs bowed, and the Indo-American Shankar “Saquon” Pillai fell out in fourth and third place, respectively. Pillai’s elimination hand saw him ripping it in with , and Hunichen made the easy call with . Pillai couldn’t catch a nine or even get chop outs on the board, and his departure got the heads-up play underway.

The final showdown between Christian Rudolph and Chris Hunichen had the former ahead by a slight margin holding 21.24 Million in chips against the latter’s 19.45 Million. While the game could have easily gone on much longer, Rudolph got it over within just about 30 minutes. The final hand saw Hunichen open-shoving and Rudolph looked him up with and took down the pot as the community cards opened .

Final Table Results (USD)

1. Christian Rudolph – $1,800,290*
2. Chris Hunichen – $1,332,097
3. Shankar “Saquon” Pillai – $979,138
4. Aleksejs Ponakovs – $719,700
5. Aram “Pusha T” Zobian – $529,005
6. Brunno Botteon – $388,837
7. Jason Koon – $285,808
8. Paulius “ChickenBBQ” Plausinaitis – $210,079
9. Aliaksei “BladeRunner1” Boika – $154,416

*winner also receives a WSOP Europe package

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

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