The 2018 World Series of Poker’s initial online bracelet event set records by becoming the largest-field online tournament ever held in the regulated US online market.
The $365 WSOP.com No-Limit Hold’em event initiated the online action on June 3.
This event attracted 2,972 participants.
The number of entries is considerably large. The event that came next closest to it last year, the Small Grind, had 1,247 entries, which was 463 fewer.
The total prize pool amounted to $974,816. Out of the 2,972 participants, 333 players received cash prizes.
Given that Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware shared player pools, this smaller buy-in event was set to break records.
French journalist William ‘Twooopair’ Reymond walked away with a gold WSOP bracelet and $154,996. This marked his first career WSOP cash.
WSOP reported that the tournament lasted slightly more than 12 hours, with the final table being reached shortly after 2 a.m.
On June 4, Reymond and Shawn ‘sHaDySTeeM’ Stroke were involved in a quick heads-up game that extended until 3:50 a.m. ‘Twooopair’ emerged victorious due to a 7:2 lead and a flopped three of a kind, leaving ‘ShaDySTeeM’ with a prize of $94,265, according to PokerNews.
Here’s the final table featuring all U.S.-based contenders:
- William Reymond, known as ‘Twooopair’, has $154,996.
- Shawn Stroke, also known as ‘sHaDySTeeM’, earned $94,265.
- Stephen Buell, also known as SteveSpuell, has a total of $69,017.
- Ryan Belz, who goes by “LoveMy11Cats”, earned $50,593.
- Elliott Kampen, also known as ‘Ekampen05’, earned $37,530.
- Josh “YoelRomero” King – Earned $27,977
- Anthony Spinella, also known as ‘nowb3athat’, has won $21,251.
- Michael Hauptman, known as ‘myapologies’, – $16,279
- Miller Jennifer ‘moistymire’ – $12,478
This event, which took place on WSOP.com, allowed for unlimited reentry and began at 3:30 p.m., spanning over a single day. Participants started with 15,000 chips and had rounds of 15-minute duration. Late registration was open for three hours and 45 minutes, and participants had a 30-second window to re-enter if they opted for reentry.
The scheduled online bracelet events include:
- $565 Pot Limit Omaha
- $1,000 No Limit Hold’em
- $3,200 High Roller
Small event new to WSOP
The $365 buy-in was not included in past events. This is the least expensive online bracelet event to date. The initial bracelet event in 2015 had a buy-in of $1,000.
Event #47: $565 WSOP.com ONLINE Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed is another online event that is making its debut this year.
The traditional opener, the $565 Casino Employees Tournament, kicked off the 2018 World Series of Poker on May 29. It will proceed until all 78 bracelet events have concluded.
2017 goes completely online
In contrast to the first two years of the tournament, which saw the final six players finish off live at the Rio, the 2017 competition was taken online.
In 2017, the WSOP awarded multiple bracelets online for the first time.
- Joe Mitchell emerged victorious in “The Little Grind” no-limit hold’em game with a $333 entry fee. He won $122,314. The game had 2,509 entries and a prize pool of $752,700.
- Tom Cannuli emerged as the winner of The Big Grind, a no-limit Hold’em game with a $3,333 entry fee. He took home $322,815 in winnings. The competition had 424 entries and the total prize pool was $1,335,600.
- Nipun Java won the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em with a prize of $237,688. The competition had 1,312 entries and a prize pool of $1,246,400.
In the initial two bracelet events organized by WSOP.com, the games were narrowed down to the last six players on Day 1. These players then reconvened on another day to compete for the championship in the Amazon Room inside the Thunderdome.
In 2015, Anthony ‘casedismised’ Spinella emerged victorious in the first online bracelet event, besting a field of 905 players and winning $197,743.
WSOP reported that the first online bracelet event in 2015 was the largest regulated online poker tournament in the history of U.S. online poker.
In 2016, however, a record was set with 1,247 players participating in the online game. Clayton ‘SLARDUCK’ Maguire emerged as the winner, taking home $210,279.
Image sourced from Shutterstock.com, courtesy of Anton Watman.
