Event #52: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Day 1 Completed
2020 GGPoker WSOP Online Bracelet Events
Event #52: $1,000 No Limit Hold'em
Day: 1
Level 35
: 300,000/600,000, 70,000 ante
Alek "astazz" Stasiak has done it again! After winning Event #33: $1,111 Every 1 for Covid Relief [Caesars Cares] almost two weeks ago, he has now taken down Event #52: $1,000 NLHE for a whopping $273,505, his second WSOP bracelet, and a WSOP Europe Package. He defeated Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia heads-up in a field which attracted 2,006 entries to create a prize pool of $1,095,700.
Stasiak scored his first six-figure tournament cash when he won Event #33 for $343,203 and gets to add this one to it to get him to over the $600,000-mark in earnings for just the 2020 WSOP here on GGPoker. The Canadian who lives in Quebec is the first player in WSOP history to win two online bracelets which is a feat that is hard to achieve in these big fields.
Dejan "627265" Kaladjurdjevic, Denis "FXOpen" Peganov, Vincas "seimininkas" Tamasauskas, Thomas "IplayYpay" Hueber, Jesse "AAGenius88" Mercado, Jimmy "KOBE_BRYANT8" Guerrero, and Federico "elputoamo!" Molina also earned a seat at the final table.
GGPoker WSOP Online Event #52: $1,000 NLHE Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alek "astazz" Stasiak | Canada | $273,505* |
| 2 | Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia | India | $207,190 |
| 3 | Dejan "627265" Kaladjurdjevic | Montenegro | $150,358 |
| 4 | Denis "FXOpen" Peganov | Latvia | $109,114 |
| 5 | Vincas "seimininkas" Tamasauskas | Lithuania | $79,184 |
| 6 | Thomas "IplayYpay" Hueber | Austria | $57,464 |
| 7 | Jesse "AAGenius88" Mercado | Canada | $41,701 |
| 8 | Jimmy "KOBE_BRYANT8" Guerrero | France | $30,263 |
| 9 | Federico "elputoamo!" Molina | Argentina | $21,962 |
*The winner also received a WSOP Europe Package
Today's Action
Many familiar names and faces took their seats during the first three hours of late registration but when the dust settled, around 500 players were left in the field knowing that only 278 of them would get paid today. Two hours later, Carlos "cyphellus" Chang burst the bubble when "GT4G" three-bet shoved their king-nine after Chang had raised with queen-jack. Chang called and saw "GT4G" flop top pair but then turned a straight to get the tournament into the money.
Players like Mohsin Charania, Julien Martini, Yuri Dzivielevski, Ryan Riess, David Peters, Galen Hall, Brandon Adams, and Chris Moorman all failed to win their final all-ins. Four hours after the bubble burst, it was already time for the final table bubble. "RiverKillMe" was the player who would leave the tournament without their name getting revealed at the final table when they lost all their chips to Tamasauskas.
Bhatia started the final table second in the counts but quickly gained the chip lead before Molina, Guerrero, and Mercado were eliminated. He kept a commanding chip lead but lost a bit of ground as the others closed in on him. Hueber and Tamasauskas both busted in quick succession before Stasiak doubled up and then won another hand against Bhatia to take the chip lead away from him.
Peganov fell to Stasiak and even though Kaladjurdjevic managed to find a double-up, shortly after the last break of the day, he lost them all back to Stasiak for the latter to start the heads-up with almost 70% of all the chips in play. In numerous hands with the chips going back and fort, the chip lead also kept switching around.
At one point, Stasiak was down to 22 big blinds but doubled up and then kept the pressure on Bhatia. Bhatia was left with 13 big blinds and deemed ace-four good enough to shove with and saw he was up against the king-queen of Stasiak. He was ahead until the king on the river handed Stasiak a spot in the history books.
The PokerNews team will be back on Saturday, August 8 to bring you coverage of the MILLIONAIRE MAKER Final Table and Event #54: $10,000 Heads Up No Limit Hold'em Championship [No Late Reg, 128 Cap] until the semi-finals so make sure to come back then.
Level 35
: 300,000/600,000, 70,000 ante
Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia shoved from the button for 7,903,724 which Alek "astazz" Stasiak called.
Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia: 
Alek "astazz" Stasiak: 
The flop came 
for Bhatia to stay ahead.
The turn was the 
which didn't change things but the 
on the river did as Stasiak hit two pair to win his second bracelet, $273,505, and the WSOP Europe package worth $15,000 by eliminating Bhatia in second place for $207,190.
A recap is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
50,150,000
9,913,724
|
9,913,724 |
|
Busted |
Level 35
: 300,000/600,000, 70,000 ante
Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia raised to 1,200,000 from the button and Alek "astazz" Stasiak tthree-bet to 3.600.000 which Bhatia called.
The flop came 
, Stasiak continued with a bet of 3,600,000 which Bhatia called.
The turn was the 
and Stasiak barreled a bet of 4,800,00 into the pot and was called again.
The river completed the board with the for Stasiak to shove and Bhatia to fold.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
40,236,276
17,296,400
|
17,296,400 |
|
|
9,913,724
-17,296,400
|
-17,296,400 |
Level: 35
Blinds: 300,000/600,000
Ante: 70,000
Level 34
: 250,000/500,000, 60,000 ante
Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia raised to 1,000,000 from the button and Alek "astazz" Stasiak three-bet to 3,000,000 for Bhatia to make the call.
The flop came 
, Stasiak shoved for 8,409,938 which Bhatia called.
Alek "astazz" Stasiak; 
Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia: 
The rest of the board was completed with the 
on the turn and the on the river for Stasiak to his flopped pair of jacks to two pair to double up with.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
27,210,124
-6,180,338
|
-6,180,338 |
|
|
22,939,876
6,180,338
|
6,180,338 |
Level 34
: 250,000/500,000, 60,000 ante
Few poker players have captured the attention of the poker universe quite like Phil Ivey. There have been plenty of champions of the game who crushed it at the felt, but none who built up the mystique of Ivey, who remains to this day arguably the most magnetic player in poker despite results that no longer match his days of utmost dominance.
A day after the anniversary of Ivey's induction into the Poker Hall of Fame, PokerNews examines the legacy of his WSOP success. Prior to 2000, Ivey didn't have any recorded WSOP cashes.
The 23-year-old didn't waste any time establishing himself as one of the top up-and-coming players. That year, after already making one final table and finishing fifth, Ivey secured his first bracelet. He beat none other than fellow Hall of Famer Amarillo Slim Preston heads up to win Event #14: $2,500 Pot-Limit Omaha, a rebuy event, for his first bracelet and $195,000. Three other Hall of Famers — Chris Bjorin, Phil Hellmuth and David "Devilfish" Ulliott — also competed at that final table, so shipping it was about more than just getting his first taste of gold. Ivey showed he could beat the best in the business.
Two years after that, though, would be when Ivey really showed he was the present and future of the game. In 2002, Ivey showcased his skills at limit poker in a big way.
Level 34
: 250,000/500,000, 60,000 ante
Alek "astazz" Stasiak raised to 1,000,000 from the button and Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia made the call.
The flop came 
, Bhatia bet 699,600 which Stasiak called.
The turn was the 
, Bhatia bet 2,639,400 which Stasiak called again.
The river completed the board with the and Bhatia bet 6,598,500 which Stasiak called with the 
for teo pair but Bhatia held 
for the full house to take over the chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
33,390,462
17,447,500
|
17,447,500 |
|
|
16,759,538
-17,447,500
|
-17,447,500 |
Level: 34
Blinds: 250,000/500,000
Ante: 60,000
Level 33
: 200,000/400,000, 50,000 ante
Alek "astazz" Stasiak raised to 800,000 from the button and was called by Kunal "Alex_52" Bhatia in the small blind. Dejan "627265" Kaladjurdjevic three-bet shoved from the big blind for 14,712,114. Stasiak four-bet shoved for more for Bhatia to quickly fold.
Dejan "627265" Kaladjurdjevic: 
Alek "astazz" Stasiak: 
The board ran out 
for Stasiak to turn the higher pair of aces to get the tournament to the heads-up stage as Kaladjurdjevic was eliminated in third place for
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
34,207,038
15,612,114
|
15,612,114 |
|
|
15,942,962
-850,000
|
-850,000 |
|
Busted |