WCOOP-34-H: $25,000 NLHE [8-Max, Super High Roller], $3M Gtd
Day 1 Completed
PokerStars WCOOP 2021
WCOOP-34-H: $25,000 NLHE [8-Max, Super High Roller], $3M Gtd
Day: 1
Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski Leads Final 15 in the WCOOP $25K Super High Roller
Level 20
: 20,000/40,000, 5,000 ante
The 2021 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) showcased its largest buy-in event on the schedule this festival at PokerStars with Sunday featuring the first of two days of the WCOOP 34-H: $25,000 Super High Roller.
The action was down to just 15 hopefuls by the end of the day, each of whom will benefit from the fact that the event missed the lofty $3 million guarantee by a few players to create $155,100 in added value to the 15 players that cashed for at least a $54,828 min-cash.
Three-time WCOOP champion Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski found himself in familiar territory at the end of the day with a chip leading stack of 5,006,522. Kovalski was involved in the largest pot of the day when he eliminated Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood near the end of the day when his rockets held against big slick.
Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas, Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos, and Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver were the only other players to virtually bag at least 3 million in chips, while "Sintoras" was the only other player to advance with more than 2 million in chips.
Other notable players coming back on Monday to compete for the $657,557 top prize include Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph, Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha, Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs, Eelis "EEE27" Parssinen, Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford, and Mike "SirWatts" Watson.
2021 WCOOP-34-H: $25,000 Super High High Roller Day 1 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski | Brazil | 5,006,522 | 125 |
| 2 | Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas | Hungary | 3,159,334 | 79 |
| 3 | Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos | Spain | 3,054,797 | 76 |
| 4 | Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver | United States | 3,023,286 | 76 |
| 5 | Sintoras | Germany | 2,036,861 | 51 |
| 6 | Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo | United States | 1,960,585 | 49 |
| 7 | Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph | Germany | 1,919,729 | 48 |
| 8 | Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha | Brazil | 1,850,440 | 46 |
| 9 | kZhh | Hungary | 1,609,936 | 40 |
| 10 | CrazyLissy | Russia | 1,603,416 | 40 |
| 11 | Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs | Latvia | 1,260,911 | 32 |
| 12 | Eelis "EEE27" Parssinen | Finland | 1,091,730 | 27 |
| 13 | Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford | United Kingdom | 501,910 | 13 |
| 14 | spaise411 | Russia | 480,586 | 12 |
| 15 | Mike "SirWatts" Watson | Canada | 439,957 | 11 |
| Total | 29,000,000 | 725 | ||
| Average | 1,933,333 | 48 |
Pye Runs Into a Royal Flush
It wasn't the best of days for Team PokerStars with Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle, Sam "SamSquid" Grafton, Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis, Fintan "easywithaces" Hand, Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, and Mason "Pye_Face21" Pye firing a dozen bullets between them only to come up empty.
Although he was freerolling the event after winning a PokerStars Ambassador sit-and-go, Pye had a particularly rough outing after cruising along with a big stack for a good part of the day. Pye first lost a huge chunk of his stacks with trips against a flush before losing the rest with a full house to a royal flush.
Final Table Payouts
The 15 returning players are each slated to receive at least a $54,828 payout with the winner set to add $657,557 to their PokerStars balance.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $657,557 |
| 2 | $509,470 |
| 3 | $394,733 |
| 4 | $305,835 |
| 5 | $236,959 |
| 6 | $183,593 |
| 7 | $142,247 |
| 8 | $110,211 |
| 9 | $87,327 |
| 10-12 | $69,195 |
| 13-15 | $54,828 |
Final Day Schedule
The second and final day will kick off on Monday, Aug. 30 at 5:05 p.m. GMT. PokerStars will be streaming the final table with hole cards exposed on a 30-minute delay. PokerNews will report the final table on the same delay as to not reveal any spoilers.
The blinds will resume with the remainder of Level 20 (20,000/40,000/5,000a) and increase every 30 minutes until a winner is crowned.
Stay tuned at PokerNews to see who will win the WCOOP-34-H: $25,000 Super High Roller at PokerStars.
Final Day 1 Chip Counts
Level 20
: 20,000/40,000, 5,000 ante
| Place | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski | Brazil | 5,006,522 | 125 |
| 2 | Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas | Hungary | 3,159,334 | 79 |
| 3 | Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos | Spain | 3,054,797 | 76 |
| 4 | Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver | United States | 3,023,286 | 76 |
| 5 | Sintoras | Germany | 2,036,861 | 51 |
| 6 | Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo | United States | 1,960,585 | 49 |
| 7 | Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph | Germany | 1,919,729 | 48 |
| 8 | Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha | Brazil | 1,850,440 | 46 |
| 9 | kZhh | Hungary | 1,609,936 | 40 |
| 10 | CrazyLissy | Russia | 1,603,416 | 40 |
| 11 | Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs | Latvia | 1,260,911 | 32 |
| 12 | Eelis "EEE27" Parssinen | Finland | 1,091,730 | 27 |
| 13 | Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford | United Kingdom | 501,910 | 13 |
| 14 | spaise411 | Russia | 480,586 | 12 |
| 15 | Mike "SirWatts" Watson | Canada | 439,957 | 11 |
| Total | 29,000,000 | 725 | ||
| Average | 1,933,333 | 48 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
5,006,522 | -103,800 |
|
3,159,334 | 660,700 |
|
|
3,054,797 | 91,800 |
|
3,023,286 | |
|
2,036,861 | -180,867 |
|
|
1,960,585 | -53,500 |
|
|
1,919,729 | -170,000 |
|
|
1,850,440 | -616,200 |
|
1,609,936 | -763,785 |
|
1,603,416 | 406,500 |
|
|
1,260,911 | -435,000 |
|
|
1,091,730 | -63,000 |
|
|
501,910 | -41,000 |
|
|
480,586 | -136,500 |
|
|
439,957 | -330,500 |
"EzzaEvz1991" Runs Tens into Oliver's Queens to End Day 1
Level 20
: 20,000/40,000, 5,000 ante
Day 1 has concluded after Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver eliminated "EzzaEvz1991" in 16th place. The final 15 players will return on Monday at 5:05 p.m. GMT in the money for at least a $54,828 min-cash with $657,557 slated for tomorrow's winner.
The final hand of the day went as follows. Oliver opened for 80,000 from the lojack and was called by "EzzaEvz1991" from the small blind. "EzzaEvz1991" check-jammed the 
flop from 108,000 to 429,770 and Oliver called.
"EzzaEvz1991": 
Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver: 
Oliver's queens held after the 
turn and 
river completed the board to end the day.
Stay tuned at PokerNews for the Day 1 chip counts and recap of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,023,286 | 1,756,670 |
|
Busted |
Greenwood Runs Big Slick into Rockets to Give Kovalski a Massive Lead
Level 20
: 20,000/40,000, 5,000 ante
Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood opened for 88,000 from under the gun. Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski three-bet to 340,000 from the small blind. Greenwood four-bet shoved for 2,097,284 and Kovalski called to create the largest pot of the day.
Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood: 
Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski: 
The 
board didn't save Greenwood and he was eliminated in 17th place. Meanwhile, Kovalski soared over 5 million in chips to take a huge chip lead with 16 players remaining and the day ending when the action reaches the money with 15 players remaining.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
5,110,322 | 2,249,284 |
|
|
Busted |
Rudolph Over 2 Million
Level 20
: 20,000/40,000, 5,000 ante
"kZhh" opened for 88,000 from the hijack and was called by Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph from the cutoff.
Both players checked the 
flop before "kZhh" check-called for 160,000 the 
turn. "kZhh" checked again on the 
river and Rudolph bet 440,000. "kZhh" went into the tank using nearly their entire clock before the folded and Rudolph won the pot to go over 2 million in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,373,721 | -323,500 |
|
|
2,089,729 | 101,500 |
Level: 20
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 5,000
Mateos Takes the Lead
Level 19
: 17,500/35,000, 4,500 ante
Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos opened for 77,000 from under the gun and was called by Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas from the button.
Bujtas called a bet of 77,517 on the 
flop. Mateos fired out for 315,000 on the 
turn and took over the chip lead after Bujtas folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,962,997 | 684,784 |
|
|
2,498,634 | -277,417 |
Small Pot for Ponakovs
Level 19
: 17,500/35,000, 4,500 ante
It's been all small ball on all three tables since the action went hand-for-hand with each hand taking a couple of minutes. In a recent hand, Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood limped from the small blind and Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs checked back from the big blind.
Both players checked the 
flop. Greenwood bet 35,000 on the turn and Ponakovs called before both players checked the 
river. Greenwood held 
for just the pair on the board and Ponakovs won the hand with 
for two pair.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,114,284 | -114,000 |
|
|
1,695,911 | 83,500 |
Patrick Leonard Wins Back-to-Back WCOOP Titles
Level 19
: 17,500/35,000, 4,500 ante
Patrick "pads1161" Leonard is enjoying a purple patch of form, one that has seen the popular British superstar secured back-to-back WCOOP titles. Leonard won the WCOOP #08-H: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max PKO on August 24, and followed that up with victory in the WCOOP-15-H: $1,050 NL 2-7 Single Draw 7-Max event.
Leonard’s victory came after he navigated his way through a star-studded field of 70 players in the $1,050 buy-in NL 2-7 Single Draw 7-Max tournament.