The 2018 World Series of Poker’s first online bracelet event broke records as the largest-field online tournament held in the regulated US online marketplace.
The online action kicked off June 3 with the $365 WSOP.com No‑Limit Hold’em event.
This event drew 2,972 entries.
The number of entries is no small feat. The next-closest event from last year, the Small Grind, came in at 1,247 entries, 463 less.
The total prize pool came in at $974,816. Of the 2,972 entries, 333 players cashed.
This smaller buy-in event was poised to break records given Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware shared player pools.
Walking away with a gold WSOP bracelet and $154,996 was William ‘Twooopair’ Reymond, a journalist from France. This was his first career WSOP cash.
The tournament ran just over 12 hours, with the final table reached just after 2 a.m., reported WSOP.
Playing out early into the morning on June 4 (3:50 a.m.), Reymond and Shawn ‘sHaDySTeeM’ Stroke played a short heads-up. Due to a 7:2 lead and a flopped three of a kind, ‘Twooopair’ took the title and ‘ShaDySTeeM’ was left with $94,265, PokerNews reported.
Here’s the final table with all contenders residing in the U.S.:
- William ‘Twooopair’ Reymond – $154,996
- Shawn ‘sHaDySTeeM’ Stroke – $94,265
- Stephen ‘SteveSpuell’ Buell – $69,017
- Ryan ‘LoveMy11Cats’ Belz – $50,593
- Elliott ‘Ekampen05’ Kampen – $37,530
- Josh ‘YoelRomero’ King – $27,977
- Anthony ‘nowb3athat’ Spinella – $21,251
- Michael ‘myapologies’ Hauptman – $16,279
- Jennifer ‘moistymire’ Miller – $12,478
With unlimited reentry, this event played out on WSOP.com for a single day, starting at 3:30 p.m. Starting chips were 15,000 with 15-minute levels and late registration available for three hours and 45 minutes. Reentries had 30 seconds to re-enter.
The other online bracelet events on the schedule are:
- $565 Pot Limit Omaha
- $1,000 No Limit Hold’em
- $3,200 High Roller
Small event new to WSOP
Past events did not include the $365 buy-in. It is the lowest online bracelet event yet. Back in 2015, the first bracelet event had a $1,000 buy-in.
Another online event making its debut this year? Event #47: $565 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed.
The 2018 World Series of Poker began May 29 with its traditional opener, the $565 Casino Employees Tournament, and will continue until all 78 bracelet events finish.
2017 goes completely online
While the first two years of the tournament played down to six players and had those players finish off live at the Rio, 2017 took the competition online.
2017 was the first year the WSOP awarded multiple bracelets online:
- The Little Grind – $333 No-Limit Hold’em – Winner: Joe Mitchell ($122,314), Entries: 2,509, Prizepool: $752,700
- The Big Grind – $3,333 No-Limit Hold’em – Winner: Tom Cannuli ($322,815), Entries: 424, Prizepool: $1,335,600
- $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em – Winner: Nipun Java ($237,688), Entries: 1,312, Prizepool: $1,246,400
In the first two bracelet events held by WSOP.com, both played down to the final six players in Day 1, and then returned another day to play out to a winner in the Amazon Room in the Thunderdome.
Anthony ‘casedismised’ Spinella won the first online bracelet event for $197,743, topping a field of 905 players in 2015.
This first online bracelet event in 2015 was the largest regulated online poker tournament in U.S. online poker history, reported WSOP.
2016, however, became the year to beat, bringing 1,247 players to the online table. Clayton ‘SLARDUCK’ Maguire won this one, taking $210,279.
Photo by Anton Watman / Shutterstock.com
