WSOP Online 2020: Jason Koon Bags Final Table Chip Lead in Event #70: $25K NLH Poker Player Championship, Indo-American Shankar Pillai 2nd in Chips

One of the biggest draws of the 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online series, the $25,000 buy-in Event #70: NLH Poker Player Championship, made its online debut at the GGPoker Network yesterday. Boasting a massive $10 Million prize pool guarantee, the prestigious event registered a star-studded 407-entry field to witness a negligible $28,500 overlay. The field was whittled down to the nine-handed final table with partypoker pro Jason Koon (7,863,055) bagging the end of the day chip lead.

The event now goes on a six-day hiatus before the nine finalists return at 6 PM (GMT) on August 29 to decide a champion, who will win the WSOP gold bracelet, the $1,800,290 cash prize, and a WSOP Europe package worth $15,000!

The final table will be broadcasted on GGPoker.TV with cards-up coverage and commentary.

The FT chip leader, Koon, is a high-stakes MTT superstar. According to Hendon Mob, the player has over $31.10 Million in live scores and multiple online titles under his belt. Koon is definitely among the top players in the game without a WSOP bracelet and has 42 WSOP cashes to his name worth $1,791,807.

Two-time bracelet winner, Indo-American Shankar ‘Saquon’ Pillai (6,875,234), and Christian Rudolph (5,544,188) are carrying forward the next top stacks to the FT.

The other finalists are Aram ‘Pusha T’ Zobian (4,405,440), Chris Hunichen (4,175,274), Aleksejs Ponakovs (3,883,951), Aliaksei ‘BladeRunner1’ Boika (3,297,276), Paulius ‘ChickenBBQ’ Plausinaitis (2,905,555), and Brunno Botteon (1,750,027).

Technical disruptions forced the tournament to be paused shortly after its scheduled start, and these disruptions took place for other events running on the site as well.

Fortunately, the issue was resolved after the first scheduled break of the day, and the cards were back in the air.

By the time the late registration period was over, 171 players were left in the field from a starting group of 407 hopefuls. It was a long grind before the bubble burst as only the top 55 places were guaranteed a payday with a min-cash worth $57,592.

Alex Foxen, Ali Imsirovic, Mike McDonald, Connor Drinan, Lucas Greenwood, Christoph Vogelsang, Darren Elias, and former WSOP bracelet winner’s Phil Hellmuth, GGPoker Ambassador Fedor Holz, Adrian Mateos, Brian Rast, Keith ‘lehrjett’ Lehr, Enrico ‘GTOExploiter’ Camosci, and Joao Vieira were just some of the prominent players that fell out empty-handed.

Michael Addamo busted on the money bubble after his was outkicked by Aleksejs Ponakovs’ .

As soon as the bubble busted, the floodgates of eliminations opened. In the next 50 minutes, 33 players were sent to the rail. This included six former WSOP bracelet winners, namely, Hun Wei Lee (30th for $70,150), David Peters (32nd for $70,150), James Chen (52nd for $57,592), Davidi Kitai (54 for $57,592) and India’s ‘Mandovi’ (44th for $70,150).

Some other notables who hit the rail were Pascal Hartmann (38th for $70,150), Timothy Adams (39th for $70,150), Sorel Mizzi (40th for $70,150), Seth Davies (43rd for $70,150), Pascal Lefrancois (48th for $57,592), Andras Nemeth (49th for $57,592), Thai Ha (51st for $57,592), and James Chen (52nd for $57,592).

After the ninth break of the day, it took another thirty minutes before bracelet winners Stephen Chidwick (19th for $85,446), Chris ‘nelanio’ Ferguson (21st for $85,446), Jake Schindler (20th for $85,446), and Christopher ‘Mangudai’ Frank (22nd for $85,446) busted to bring the tourney down to the final two tables.

Three-time bracelet winner Scott Seiver was among those who departed before the final table was formed, and he placed 15th for $104,078.

Jack Salter was eliminated on the final table bubble. He lost the flip with against Shankar ‘Saquon’ Pillai’s as the board opened trip aces for the latter. Salter took home $126,773 for his efforts.

The nine finalists will return after a six-day break on August 29 at 6 PM (GMT), where one of them will walk away with the WSOP gold bracelet, the $1,800,290 first-place cash prize, and a WSOP Europe package worth $15,000!

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

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

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