There were outright victories for team PokerStars' Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg and Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, plus Finnish superstar Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro among others, while Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph put himself in contention, yet again, to become a triple WCOOP champion.
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PokerStars’ "Spraggy" Becomes Two Time WCOOP Champion
Benjamin Spragg
Team PokerStars’ Benjamin "Spraggy" Spragg can call himself a two-time WCOOP champion after the popular British pro took down the WCOOP-83-H: $1,050 NLHE [7-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout] for a total prize worth $67,968.
Spragg’s first WCOOP victory came in 2020 when he struck gold on the opening night. On that occasion, Spragg outlasted 12,192 runners in the $5.50 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout, Mini Sunday Cooldown SE]. The second victory was far more special.
Some 343 players piled into the WCOOP-83-H: $1,050 NLHE [7-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout] event and created a $343,000 prize pool. Dozens of elite stars were among those entrants, including Spragg’s Team PokerStars teammates Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis, Rafael "GM_VALTER" Moraes,, Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle, Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas, and recent WCOOP champion Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot. Spragg was the only red spade to win some of the main prize pool’s money, however.
At the final table, Spragg contended with the likes of Dutch grinder "Pimmss" and Kenny "kenny05" Smaron, before finding himself heads-up against Hungary’s "Wildace_hun." He was guaranteed $30,484 from the main prize pool, but the bounty payments were huge at this stage, so large that when Spragg defeated his final opponent, he received an additional $37,484 to his obvious delight:
THE TWO TIME WCOOP CHAMPION! BROUGHT ONE HOME IN THE $1050 TURBO PKO!
Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot Becomes a 2021 WCOOP Champion!
Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot is a 2021 WCOOP champion after the popular streamer triumphed in the WCOOP-75-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, Midweek Freeze], $400K Gtd event, a result that came with a cool $108,729. Talbot revealed on Twitter that this was the first Day 2 he had managed to navigate his way to, and boy did he make it counts.
UNREAL final table today. This one felt very fucking good.
— Parker Talbot (@tonkaaaap)
Ninety-one players exchanged $5,200 for 100,000 chips and the chance to become a poker world champion. Only 11 of those starters received a slice of the $455,000 prize pool, with "CrazyLissy" crashing out in 12th place and bursting the money bubble.
Each of the eight finalists locked up $17,900 for their efforts, but Talbot had his sights set on far more money.
Such luminaries as Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski, Patrick "pads1161" Leonard, and Mark "AceSpades11" Radoja crashed out, leaving only five players in the tournament. Those five were whittled to the final two, which saw Talbot lock horns with Ramiro "ramastar88" Petrone of Uruguay.
No deal was struck despite a $24,000 difference between first and second place. This meant Talbot reel in a monster-sized $108,729 when he defeated Petrone heads-up, leaving the Uruguayan to console himself with the $84,027 runner-up prize.
Another 11 champions were crowned on September 9, including Austrian sensation Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic who walked away with $61,090 and the WCOOP 75-M: $530 NLHE [8-Max, Midweek Freeze], $350K Gtd title.
Finland's Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro got in on the action, too. The high stakes specialist padded his bankroll with almost $83,000 by finishing first in the WCOOP 82-H: $2,100 NLHE [6-Max, Turbo], $300K Gtd event.
Nine WCOOP events shuffled up and dealt on September 9 and conclude today, September 10. British star Jonathan "Proudflop" Proudfoot finds himself in pole position in the WCOOP 78-H: $1,050 NLHE [6-Max], $250K Gtd event where $80,502 awaits the eventual champion. Proudfoot is in hot form having won a huge $268,960 in a WPT World Online Championship High Roller event earlier this week.
As is usually the case during WCOOP, there are no numbered events starting on Friday. However, there are nine side events schedule with Fusion, 8-Game, and 25 big blind stacks 7-Max Turbo PKO being the variants.
