WCOOP 2020 Day 1: "Spraggy" Strikes Gold on Opening Night

August 31, 2020

On Sunday, the 2020 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) kicked off with the first four regular events of its 75-event, $80,0000 guaranteed offering. Similar to SCOOP, the WCOOP features Low, Medium, and High tiers in every event.

On the opening night, popular Twitch-streamer and PokerStars ambassador Ben "Spraggy" Spragg stole the spotlights by winning WCOOP-05-L: $5.50 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout, Mini Sunday Cooldown SE] for $4,349. That wasn't even his best result of the night, as Spragg also finished 9th in the High edition of the same event for $5,223.

Check out below for a full recap of the opening day of the WCOOP 2020.

Matt "All_in_at420" Stout Among Big Stacks after Day 1 of WCOOP-02-M

The three-day WCOOP-02-M: $1,050 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, Sunday Slam], 2M Gtd. featured the largest prize pool of the day. By the time the more than five-hour late-registration window closed, the field grew to 1,971 entrants to remain just shy of its lofty guarantee.

Russia's "CryFishCry" bagged the overnight chip lead heading into Day 2 with "nmi128", "Eduardo850", Andries "Pokerger1337" Swart, and "tiltinha" also bagging top five stacks.

Just behind this group are two big-name Finnish poker pros in Tomi "elmerixx" Brouk and Joni "bustoville" Jouhkimainen. Brouk has made a name for himself over the years with more than $10 million in online cashes including nearly $5 million alone at PokerStars according to PocketFives.

Rounding out the top 10 heading into tomorrow were Matt "All_in_at420" Stout, Andy "BowieEffect" Wilson, and "MarinkaHT".

WCOOP-02-M: Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 1

Follow along with live coverage of WCOOP-02-M

Dimitar "KuuL" Danchev Bags the Lead on Day 1 of WCOOP-02-H: $10,300 8-Max PKO Sunday Slam

The first day of WCOOP-02-H: $10,300 [8-Max, Progressive KO, Sunday Slam] has come to an end after reaching the money here on level 19. Day 1 saw a total of 136 entries, creating a prize pool that came up short of the $1.5 million guarantee with a $140,000 overlay headed into the direction of all who cash. When the last chance saloon had closed for business on the first day it was well-known Dimitar "KuuL" Danchev leading the final 17 runners with an overwhelming chip lead.

Danchev is a poker pro that has over $4.6 million in live cashes, along with just under $7 million in earnings on PokerStars alone. He is a well-known high roller who is in an optimal position to add another feat to his incredible resume. The Bulgarian will be starting the final day with an immense chip lead, sitting on a stack of 7,383,474 to start the day which is about 4.5 million more than that of second place.

Closest behind Danchev on the leaderboard is Scott "Aggro Santos" Margereson with a chip stack of 2,891,908. Margereson had a rollercoaster of a day but managed to bounce back at the end with a well-timed heater. The remaining 17 players will all be finding a payday of at least $13,170 with the eventual champion taking down a WCOOP title, along with a six-figure payday worth $152,682. The eventual winner will also be retaining their own bounty, adding onto that massive payday.

Day 2 will start Monday, August 31 at 1:05 ET and will have a live stream following all of the action. The blinds will remain at 20 minutes in length, with all players getting a five-minute break 55 minutes past every hour. The day will not end until a winner has been crowned, taking down the title and all of that cold hard cash.

WCOOP-02-H: Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1

PokerNews is on top of all the action in WCOOP-02-H

WCOOP 2020 Day 1 Results

Just three events concluded on the opening night, as all other events are slated as two-day (and in the case of 02-M, three days) events. As mentioned before, Ben "Spraggy" Spragg made the final table in two of then, winning one.

WCOOP-05-L: $5.50 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout, Mini Sunday Cooldown SE], $50K Gtd

WCOOP-05-M: $55 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout, Sunday Cooldown SE], $250K Gtd

WCOOP-05-H: $530 NLHE [8-Max, Turbo, Progressive KO, Freezeout, Sunday Cooldown SE], $500K Gtd

In-Play Events

Besides the PokerNews live reported events, the following tournaments will conclude on Monday.

WCOOP-02-L: $109 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, Sunday Slam]

WCOOP-03-L: $55 PLO [6-Max]

WCOOP-03-M: $530 PLO [6-Max]

WCOOP-03-H: $5,200 PLO [6-Max, High Roller]

WCOOP-04-L: $22 NLHE [Freezeeout]

WCOOP-04-M: $215 NLHE [Freezeeout]

WCOOP-04-H: $2,100 NLHE [Freezeeout]

Events Scheduled on August 31

While the above events will play down to a winner, the following new WCOOP events will kick off alongside them on Monday.

Senior Content Manager

A former professional poker player with a background in sports marketing and journalism. Yori has been a part of PokerNews since 2016 and manages the content team.

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