Columbus, Ohio's Ross "BlueTang" Gottlieb recorded four cashes in last year's WSOP.com Online Bracelet Series, but it was one huge run that defined his series, and brought him agonizingly close to earning his first career WSOP Gold Bracelet.
In Event #8: $500 NLH Freezeout, Gottlieb found himself at a final table of absolute crushers, including Robert "bustinballs" Kuhn, Scott "miamicane" Davies, and Randy "StayAlive" Ohel among others. Gottlieb was on the shorter side of the counts at the start of the final table, but took the majority of Kuhn's chips with queens to take a commanding lead with five players remaining.
When heads-up play commenced, Gottlieb was back in a 2:1 deficit against Alan "GladiusIII" Goehring, but looked poised to take back command of the battle when the final hand of the tournament took place. Gottlieb, holding king-nine, flopped a king-high straight, while Goehring held ace-three of clubs for a higher straight draw and a flush draw. Gottlieb went from retaking the chip lead to out in one card when the turn was a club, and Gottlieb was forced to settle for $73,942 for a second-place run.
Gottlieb, who describes himself on his Twitter bio as a "full time veterinarian, part time button clicker", is back in action for this year's series, and looks to have a full schedule of events to play in his quest to finish one spot higher in an event this year, and lay claim to a WSOP Gold Bracelet.
"chihuahua3" raised to 287 from under the gun. Martin "Bathroomline" Zamani called from middle position and the big blind came along with a defend.
The flop came the . Zamani bet 683, the big blind folded and "chihuahua3" called.
The turn was the . Zamani bet 2,277 and was called again. The river came the . Zamani jammed all in for way over the pot of 6,831. "chihuahua3" had a decision for their remaining 16,267. After a few moments they called.
Zamani showed the for the flush, while "chihuahua3" had the and was out of the tournament.
At the 2012 World Series of Poker, a shiny new product received its public unveiling. Players and fans the world over were introduced to a program with revolutionary potential. It could track the chip ebbs and flows of every player in a tournament while also serving as the back end operating system to run said tournament. It promised the ability to change the way poker tournaments were followed, with players and fans interacting at the stroke of a few keys.
That product was ChipTic. And it proved to be a colossal failure.
This is the two-part oral history of ChipTic, from those who experienced it first-hand and witnessed that failure — three former employees, two members of WSOP staff, and two poker media members who watched it implode.
A player that looked poised for a breakout prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic was Kevin "GoneBananas" Garosshen, and even after casinos closed down for an extended period of time, Garosshen spent last year's WSOP Online Series continuing to produce solid results that cemented his status as a player on the rise.
Garosshen's big breakout occurred at one of the last live events before the heart of the pandemic, as he took down the $1,650 HPT St. Louis Main Event for $131,184 after topping a field of 392 entrants. Garosshen then set his sights on the 2020 WSOP Online Series, and went to work immediately, finishing in third-place in Event #3: $1,000 NLH Deepstack 8-Max for $73,424. Garosshen ended up with a total of nine cashes in the 2020 WSOP Online.
So far this year, Garosshen has had a smattering of success on the felt, including two deep runs in side events at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, and a nineteenth-place finish in last month's WPT Tampa Championship. Garosshen will be looking to have another successful summer on the virtual felt, and add a WSOP Gold Bracelet to his HPT Title.