Caio Pessagno Clinches WPT500 Knockout Title ($102,704)
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Caio Pessagno is the 2021 WPT Online Series WPT500 Knockout champion! The talented Brazilian came out on top of a 2,054-strong field to claim a prize worth $102,704 with bounties included.
WPT #08 WPT500 Knockout Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | Bounties | Total prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caio Pessagno | Brazil | $62,240 | $40,464 | $102,704 |
| 2 | Manfred Hermann | Austria | $62,135 | $25,480 | $87,615 |
| 3 | Yulian Bogdanov | Bulgaria | $40,019 | $15,788 | $55,807 |
| 4 | Diogo Coelho | Malta | $26,321 | $11,073 | $37,394 |
| 5 | Sebastian Hoyes Villegas | Mexico | $17,816 | $4,091 | $21,908 |
| 6 | Michiel Brummelhuis | Netherlands | $13,540 | $6,121 | $19,662 |
| 7 | [Removed:533] | Canada | $9,796 | $3,972 | $13,769 |
| 8 | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | $7,771 | $3,323 | $11,095 |
| 9 | Jerry Wong | Canada | $6,064 | $1,828 | $7,892 |
The final table kicked off at 7:05 p.m. BST on May 26 with nine players in the hunt for the title. Little did the finalists know at the restart that Lady Luck was not a fan of strong hands, the cruel mistress would crack some powerhouse holdings.
Jerry Wong was the first player to discover this. [Removed:533] opened with a raise to 5,400,000 at the 1,250,000/2,500,000/315,000a level, chip leader Yulian Bogdanov three-bet to 15,125,000, only for Wong to four-bet jam for 33,011,309. Only Bogdanov called. It was the very strong A♣K♥ for Wong, but the K♠K♦ for Bogdanov. The kings held, and the final table lost its first player.
Kovalski Runs Kings Into Aces
Fabiano Kovalski suffered a similar fate in that he found a super-strong hand that looked almost certain to double his stack. Kovalski got his chips into the middle with K♠K♠ only to run straight into the A♦A♥ of Pessagno. The five community cards provided no drama, and Kovalski bowed out.
Aces were then cracked to reduce the player count further. La [Removed:534] got his stack into the middle of the felt with A♦A♥ with the board reading 7♣10♣5♣J♦. Manfred Hermann held A♣4♥ and spiked the flush-completing Q♣ on the river.
The A♣A♥ of Michiel Brummelhuis proved no match for the K♥Q♥ of Bogdanov soon after La [Removed:534]'s demise. Brummelhuis three-bet Bogdanov's preflop raise before open-shoving for 76,869,147 into a 63,480,000 pot on the 9♥K♦Q♦ flop. Bogdanov called with his two pair, which held as the turn and river bricked.
Kings No Good For Villegas
Amazingly, the run of big hands being useless continued when Mexico-based Sebastian Hoyos Villegas found K♦K♥ in the hole. Villegas was down a shade over ten big blinds when he looked down at kings. He jammed all-in from under the gun, and Bogdanov called from the big blind with A♥8♥. Bogdanov flopped two pair as the five community cards fell Q♥8♣A♠4♣Q♣.
Fourth place went to Diogo Coelho who could not crack the nines of Hermann. Hermann raised 2.5 times the big blind with 9♥9♠ and called when Coelho ripped it in for 20 big blinds from the big blind with A♦7♦. Hermann flopped a set on the 2♥9♦J♥K♣10♣ board.
Heads-up was set when Hermann's pair of nines held in a major coinflip. Pessagno opened the preflop betting with 3♣3♦, Bogdanov three-bet with K♦Q♦ before calling off the rest of his stack when Hermann four-bet jammed with 9♥9♣. Bogdanov had a plethora of outs on the turn of the 2♣8♦10♣5♦J♣ board but none of them came in.
Pessagno went into the one-on-one battle with Hermann holding a 604,049,738 to 418,864,613 chip lead, and he never fell behind. The final hand saw Hermann raise to 17,600,000 with 9♠8♥, and Pessagno call from the big blind with J♣3♣. Pessagno check-called a 11,160,000 continuation bet on the K♦6♦J♥ flop, and a 44,000,000 bet on the 7♣ turn. Pessagno expertly checked again on the 4♥ river, leading to Hermann committing all but five of his chips as a bluff. Those chips and the final pot of the evening went to Pessagno when he raised all-in.
