Frank Funaro and "smeagol" Pick Up Latest WSOP Online Bracelets
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The final Sunday of the WSOP.com series has come to an end and two more WSOP champions have been crowned after an action-packed day with two tournaments.
Frank "thewholefunk" Funaro and "smeagol" are the latest WSOP bracelet winners. Read below for their paths to victory.
Frank "thewholefun"Funaro Wins $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em for $94,096
Event #29: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em attracted 318 players who rebought 224 times. The 542-entry field generated a $487,800 prize pool, and after just over nine hours of play, it was Frank "thewholefunk" Funaro coming out on top to win a $94,096 first-place prize and the WSOP gold bracelet.
After coming to the final table in last place, he managed to go on a tear and ended up eliminating all but two of his opponents, and eventually emerged victorious after just a few hands heads-up against John "bigtuna22" Ypma.
Funaro is a seasoned pro with just under a million in live tournament earnings with a recent win this year in the WSOP Circuit Event $ 320 No Limit Hold'em - 6-Max for $19,526 and a circuit ring. He’s had multiple 6-figure scores with the largest being in the 2020 WSOP Online Circuit Event $ 3,200 No Limit Hold'em - High Roller for $219,089. He now can now add a WSOP gold bracelet to pair nicely with his circuit ring.
WSOP Online Event #29 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Nationality | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank "thewholefunk" Funaro | United States | $94,096 |
| 2 | John "bigtuna22" Ypma | United States | $68,096 |
| 3 | Matthew "peepeepoopoo" Paoletti | United States | $49,560 |
| 4 | Zachary "thepepster5" Epstein | United States | $35,902 |
| 5 | Daniel "BackDoorDan" Smith | United States | $26,146 |
| 6 | Bradley "banderson0" Anderson | United States | $19,316 |
| 7 | Mike "THICC" Del Vecchio | United States | $14,194 |
| 8 | Brandon "Beeeskerz" Zuidema | United States | $10,536 |
Final Table Action
After the money bubble burst with two-time bracelet winner Nipun "javatini" Java busting out in 61st, the action was fairly fast as the field was whittled down to the final eight in just two and a half hours.
After the first casualty when Brandon "Beeeskerz" Zuidema busted out in eighth, the next to go was Mike "THICC" Del Vecchio who had flopped a pair of kings against Matthew "peepeepoopoo" Paoletti’s ace-queen, but the river gave Paoletti a straight to send Del Vecchio packing in seventh.
Then it was Bradley "banderson0" Anderson who got it in with pocket queens against Ypma's ace-queen, and with a brutal ace on the river, Anderson was eliminated in sixth place.
Daniel "BackDoorDan" Smith made a deep run but was eliminated in fifth when he shoved into Funaro with top pair on the river but Funaro had already made the nut straight on the turn and snapped it off to send the cowboy home.
The fourth and third place finishers, Zachary "thepepster5" Epstein(fourth) and Paoletti(third) also fell victim to Funaro’s run. Epstein was sent home when his ace-four was dominated by Funaro’s ace-ten and Paoletti had his ace-three beaten with Funaro’s queen-jack by hitting a running two-pair.
Once the action was heads-up, play only lasted a couple of hands before Ypma got it all in with ace-ten but found himself dominated by Funaro’s superior ace-queen. The board ran out pure for Funaro and Ypma was sent to the payout desk for the runner-up prize of $68,096 while Funaro was declared the champion of this event.
"smeagol" Takes Down $5,300 NLH High Roller for $119,000
Meanwhile, After just under 10 hours of battle on the virtual felt on Sunday evening, "smeagol" defeated Aram "X69Podheiser" Zobian in heads-up play to win the 2022 WSOP Online Event #30: $5,300 NLH High Roller for a WSOP bracelet and the $119,000 top prize.
The event attracted 85 entries including 18 re-entries to create a $425,000 prize pool with the top 12 players collecting at least a $10,625 min-cash.
Not much is known about "smeagol" other than the fact that they put on a clinic on the final table. "smeagol" came into the final eight as one of the biggest stacks and was able to close out the victory in less than two hours.
Many notables joined the high roller streets and some fortunate enough to find the money included bracelet winners Yong Keun "LuckySpewy1" Kwon (12th - $10,625), Michael "Unbelievable" Wang (11th - $10,625) and Justin "Jsaliba2" Saliba (10th - $10,625).
WSOP.com Online Event #30 Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "smeagol" | United States | $119,000 |
| 2 | Aram "X69Podheiser" Zobian | United States | $79,475 |
| 3 | Anthony "Nowb3Athat" Spinella | United States | $56,100 |
| 4 | Stephen "8betfold" Song | United States | $40,800 |
| 5 | Shannon "aulophobia" Shorr | United States | $29,750 |
| 6 | Ben "WhyIsGamora" Yu | United States | $22,312 |
| 7 | Anthony "heheh" Zinno | United States | $18,062 |
| 8 | Jesse "Dangerous22" Lonis | United States | $14,875 |
Final Table Action
The star-studded final table got off to a fast start when Jesse "Dangerous22" Lonis called the all-in shove from Zobian to put himself at risk. Lonis held king-nine and Zobian tabled ace-four. The board ran out to give Zobian a straight and Lonis was eliminated in eighth place.
A short while later, Anthony "heheh" Zinno moved all in with ace-king and was called by Shannon "aulophobia" Shorr with pocket nines. The board ran out jack-high and the nines for Shorr sent Zinno out in seventh place.
Six-handed play took a while until Ben "WhyIsGamora" Yu picked up pocket aces and called the all-in shove from "smeagol" with ten-seven. Yu was in great shape for a double up until the board ran out with a ten and seven and Yu was eliminated in sixth place.
On the very next hand, Shorr moved all in with ace-deuce and was called by Anthony "Nowb3Athat" Spinella with ace-ten. The board didn't improve Shorr and he was sent to the rail in fifth place.
A few hands later Stephen "8betfold" Song picked up ace-queen and was all in against the bigger stack of Zobian who had pocket fives. The flop fanned out a five and the rest was no help to Song as he exited in fourth place.
"smeagol" had an overwhelming chip lead with three remaining and moved all in with pocket threes. Spinella made the call with ace-nine and the pair were off to a race. The board ran out clean for the threes of "smeagol" and Spinella was out in third place.
Heads-up play started with "smeagol" having an almost 5-1 chip lead on Zobian and play only lasted roughly 15 minutes until the final hand when "smeagol" moved all in with ace-ten and was snap-called by Zobian with ace-nine. When the board ran out king-high the ten kicker played for "smeagol" to eliminate Zobian in second place. "smeagol" took down the prestigious high roller event and scored the WSOP gold bracelet.
Be sure to keep it with the PokerNews team as we continue to bring you the full coverage of the rest of this series on WSOP.com!
