2020 GGPoker WSOP Winter Online Circuit

WSOPC #18: $1,700 MAIN EVENT, $10M GTD
Day: 1
Event Info

2020 GGPoker WSOP Winter Online Circuit

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a10
Prize
$1,236,361
Event Info
Buy-in
$1,700
Prize Pool
$10,327,925
Entries
6,395
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
3,000,000 / 6,000,000
Ante
750,000
Players Info - Day 1
Entries
1,112
Players Left
9

Plausinaitis Leads WSOPC $1,700 Main Event Final Table; Cheong, Papazian and Jouhkimainen in Contention

Level 25 : 400,000/800,000, 100,000 ante
Paulius Plausinaitis
Paulius Plausinaitis

The final table of the 2020 GGPoker World Series of Poker Winter Online Circuit $1,700 Main Event is set and nine players out of a huge field of 6,395 entries remain in the hunt for the coveted WSOP Online Circuit ring. With several starting days taking place prior to the restart of Day 2, the flagship tournament of the festival surpassed the ambitious $10 million guarantee and the top 700 spots shared a portion of the $10,327,925 prize pool.

Ultimately, it took just seven hours of high-octane action to get from 1,112 Day 1 survivors to the final table and Macau-based Paulius Plausinaitis soared to the top of the leaderboard with a stack of 76,004,224, good enough for 95 big blinds. Plausinaitis already knows what it feels like to reach a big final on GGPoker as he finished 8th in the 2020 WSOP Bracelet Event #70: $25,000 NLH POKER PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP for $210,079.

However, a much bigger payday of $1,236,361 awaits for the eventual champion with the Lithuanian in the driver's seat. Artem "Amsterq" Prostak follows in second place with 54,179,291 and Joseph Cheong is not far behind that with 50,700,582. "likeboy" is one of two finalists from China and accumulated 47,269,129 thus far, DaiMing141319" (8,992,305) also made it through.

Alexandru Papazian knocked out a third Chinese prospect with the alias of "iownumind" on the final table bubble to advance with 25,140,091. The remaining contenders include "BetAddict" (20,263,058) and Finnish poker pro Joni Jouhkimainen (13,814,882).

Final Table 2020 GGPoker WSOPC Event #18: $1,700 Main Event

PositionPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Paulius PlausinaitisLithuania76,004,22495
2Artem "Amsterq" ProstakBelarus54,179,29168
3Joseph CheongUnited States50,700,58263
4likeboyChina47,269,12959
5Alexandru PapazianRomania25,140,09131
6turkey1Turkey21,939,16027
7BetAddictIsrael20,263,05825
8Joni JouhkimainenFinland13,814,88217
9DaiMing141319China8,992,30511

The final nine players will return on Saturday, January 16 as of 6.30 p.m. UTC to play down to a champion. The action will be broadcasted with cards-up coverage and commentary on the GGPoker.tv Twitch channel. The blinds appear to be 400,000-800,000 with a running ante of 100,000 as an average stack of 44.2 big blinds has been reached.

The Action of the Day

The final two turbo starting days wrapped up fewer than an hour prior to the start of Day 2 on which all 1,112 survivors returned to their virtual seats. They had barely played the first half a dozen hands and some 100 hopes had already vanished into thin air. It was a sign for things to come in the hours after as the tournament raced towards the money bubble.

Poker superstars Fedor Holz was among dozens of big names who all missed out on the min-cash of at least $4,107, as notables such as Juan Pardo, Daniyar Aubakirov, David Yan, Andreas Christoforou, Christian Rudolph, Isaac Baron, Kenny Hallaert and GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos came up short by fewer than 100 spots. Benjamin "Geraaaard" Chalot ended up as the bubble boy and the floodgates opened moments later.

Once again, in the blink of an eye, the hopefuls were ousted by the dozens and the min-cash was reserved for Jack Salter, Brunno Botteon, Noah "ExclusiveA" Boeken, Mark Radoja, Laurynas Levinskas, Mohsin Charania, Ryan Riess, and Blaz Zerjav to name all but a few.

Mid-way through the day, GGPoker ambassador Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier went on a hot streak to go from severe short stack to healthy contender only for it all to come to a crashing end. Grospellier's open-ender and flush draw ultimately came up short of the top pair and top kicker of Dylan Linde. Only moments later, Joseph Cheong joined the big stacks and remained near the top of the leaderboard for the remainder of the day.

Bertrand Grospellier
Bertrand Grospellier

Inside the top 100, well-known pros such as Niklas Astedt, Ronny Kaiser, Hun Wei Lee, Michael Addamo, Mike Watson and George Wolff all hit the rail. For Linde, the end came in 54th place for $19,634 and Andre "ubermensch1" Difelice earned the same amount for succumbing in 46th place.

Aleksey "ImLuckPads" Savenkov missed out on the chance to win a second WSOP Circuit ring during this festival and finished in 32nd place. Not even one full hour later, the final table was already set as the casualties kept coming at a lightning speed. Among the big names to fall were Kenneth Smaron, Simon "FiestaPagana" Mattsson, Danny Tang, and Idris Ambraisse. Philippe D'Auteuil had to settle for the final two tables and seemingly every minute another contender ran out of chips in the frantic final stages.

Stay tuned for the conclusion of this event as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back for the final table on January 16 on the way to crowning a champion.