WSOP Online Super Circuit: India’s ‘Igutu’ Finishes Runner-Up in COVID Charity Event

The biggest-ever online poker series, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Super Circuit, commenced on the GGPoker Network on May 3. The Asia-facing poker network that was launched in 2014 has, over the last few months, attached itself to some of the biggest names in the poker community. Not only does the brand now have the likes of Daniel Negreanu, Bryn Kenney, Bertrand Grospellier, Felipe Ramos, and Boris Becker as its brand ambassadors, but very recently it even signed on Fedor Holz!

Therefore, it is surprising that the WSOP choose to host its biggest online poker series on GGPoker, instead of 888poker with whom WSOP has been in partnership with since 2014. But given how exponentially, GGPoker has expanded, it does make sense for WSOP to align itself with a more progressive brand.

Coming back to the series, the very first event on the schedule was the Event #1: COVID Charity 1M Gtd. The tourney had a buy-in of $1,111, out of which $111 was to be donated to the Nevada Community Foundation. The tournament collected 1,595 entries, creating a $1,772,045 prize pool, thereby ensuring that more than $175,000 would be given away for COVID-19 relief efforts.

The tournament saw Indian player ‘Igutu’ in the battle against their Canadian counterpart ‘TheMadQueen’ for the top honors. The Indian was in the lead at the start of the heads-up, and the duo decided to strike a heads-up deal. Shortly after that, ‘TheMadQueen’ stole the lead away from ‘Igutu,’ ultimately winning the event for $227,941**. ‘Igutu’ banked an equally impressive $234,931** for their runner-up finish.

The second event of the series, Event #2: KICK-OFF 500K Gtd, was also the first of 18 WSOPC Ring Events. ‘JuanMartinDelPotro54’ ran past a humongous field of 28,291 entries and defeated ‘jolen’ (runner-up for $97,732) heads-up, before claiming the gold ring and top prize of $137,120. Here again, there was a heads-up deal between the two finalists.

The next event on the schedule is the Event #3: Deepstack Bounty Hunters $500K Gtd that will take place on May 5.

Event #1: COVID Charity 1M Gtd

The series kicked off with the Event #1: COVID Charity 1M Gtd. With late registration extended till the end of Level 21, a total of 1,595 entries were registered, resulting in a prize pool collection of $1,772,045.

With $111 out of the $1,111 entry fee to be donated to the Nevada Community Foundation, the final prize pool collection indicates that more than $175,000 will be donated towards COVID-19 relief.

The top 269 runners finished ITM, and the notable names among them were GGPoker Ambassador Boris Becker (153rd for $2,470), Sergey Rybachenko (246th for $2,174) and Michael Soyza (256th for $2,174).

Final Table Recap

‘M0nkey D Luffy’ and ‘Ben Carson’ were eliminated at almost the same time on two different tables. While ‘M0nkey D Luffy’ bubbled the final table, finishing 10th for $13,829, ‘Ben Carson’ walked out in ninth place.

‘FeelsGTOman’ (8th) and ‘zagzig’ (7th) hit the rail soon after that.

The lone Indian on the final table, ‘Igutu’ doubled up through ‘Joji123’ during level 43, taking the former’s stack to 4.1 Million.

Predictably, ‘Joji123’, whose stack was down to just 386,895, was eliminated in sixth place by ‘TheMadQueen’ in the very next hand.

Soon after that, ‘Tourmination’ was knocked out in fifth place, and ‘tiredfella’ busted out in fourth place.

Finishing in third place was ‘asonthe river’ when their were no match for ‘Igutu’s , with the board running .

The final two players, ‘Igutu’ (12,248,776) and ‘TheMadQueen’ (3,701,224), decided to strike a heads-up deal. Soon, ‘TheMadQueen’ scored a massive double against ‘Igutu,’ which nearly leveled the stacks. In the very next hand, the Canadian player took the lead, and the next hand spelled the end of ‘Igutu’s run.

On the final hand, the short-stacked ‘Igutu’ shoved from the button and ‘TheMadQueen’ called.

Igutu:

TheMadQueen:

The board brought

‘TheMadQueen’ with his turned straight claimed the title and the top prize of $227,941**, while ‘Igutu’ took home $234,931**.

Final Table Results (USD)

1. TheMadQueen – $227,941*

2. Igutu – $234,931*

3. asonthe river – $139,203

4. tiredfella – $100,088

5. Tourmination – $71,964

6. Joji123 – $51,743

7. zagzig – $37,204

8. FeelsGTOman – $26,750

9. Ben Carson – $19,233

*denotes heads-up deal

Event #2: KICK-OFF 500K Gtd

The second event of the series, Event #2: KICK-OFF 500K Gtd, was also the first WSOPC ring event on the schedule. Registering a large field of 28,291 entries, the event comfortably sailed past its advertised guarantee and generated a prize pool of $1,414,550. Just 3,426 runners made the cut for Day 2, and the top 3,039 were assured a piece of the prize pool.

Quite a few Indians were seen in the running, and the ones who were able to cross the money line included ‘Geekay’ (12th), ‘FaltuAadmi’ (28th for $2,359 – ~₹1.78 Lakhs) and ‘I_AM_WATCHING’ (44th for $1,682 – ~₹1.27 Lakhs), as per the live coverage.

Final Table Recap

The nine-handed final table was formed after ‘cocalatinhAA’ was eliminated in 10th place.

‘WangDoenJang’ (9th), ‘Alice-‘ (8th), ‘pistuk’ (7th), ‘DirCOOLes’ (6th), and ‘fastercallme’ (5th) departed from the final table in quick succession.

Down to four-handed play, Germany’s ‘Schleichmaus’ was next to go in fourth place.

‘ValueForNuts’s was bested by ‘JuanMartinDelPotro54’ who clipped an ace on the board, ending the former’s run in third place.

The heads-up play took place between ‘JuanMartinDelPotro54’ (855,667,843) and ‘jolen’ (575,709,072), with the former commanding a considerable lead over the latter. After a deal was discussed, it took just one more hand for the tourney to wrap up.

On the final hand, ‘jolen’ jammed preflop and JuanMartinDelPotro54′ promptly called.

jolen:

JuanMartinDelPotro54:

The runout saw ‘JuanMartinDelPotro54’ hit a boat on the turn, eliminating ‘jolen’ in second-place. The champion bagged $137,120 for their win, along with the coveted WSOPC ring!

Final Table Results (USD)

1. JuanMartinDelPotro54 – $137,120*

2. jolen – $97,732*

3. ValueForNuts – $69,666

4. Schleichmaus – $49,660

5. fastercallme – $35,399

6. DirCOOLes – $25,234

7. pistuk – $17,987

8. Alice- – $12,822

9. WangDoenJang – $9,140

*denotes heads-up deal

**Figures as reflected on SharkScope

Content & Images Courtesy: PokerNews

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