"spaise411" Wins 2021 WCOOP-22-H: $5,200 NLHE PKO High Roller ($149,837)
The 2021 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) has crowned a new first-time champion. Russia's "spaise411" came out on top of a field of 160 entries in WCOOP-22-H: $5,200 NLHE PKO High Roller to claim their maiden WCOOP title, denying the third victory for Pedro "pvigar" Garagnani. Both shared the biggest slice of the $800,000 prize pool, as "spaise411" boosted their bankroll with a combined payday of $149,837.
Little is known about the player from Russia, who surfaced on the high-stakes cash game tables back in 2015 and battled against some of the biggest names in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi and Hi-Lo, as well as draw games. They were in the middle of the pack when the action resumed with 20 players remaining and started the heads-up against Garagnani with a commanding lead despite having collected by far fewer bounties.
Other notable finalists included the 2020 SCOOP Main Event champion Pablo "pabritz" Brito Silva, Andras "probirs" Nemeth, Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph, and Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker. PokerStars ambassador Ben "Spraggy" Spragg was eliminated on the final two tables and the same also applied for Patrick "pads1161" Leonard, who had won two WCOOP titles during the current festival already.
Final Result 2021 WCOOP-22-H: $5,200 NLHE PKO High Roller
| Place | Winner | Country | Bounty Prize (in USD) | Cash Prize (in USD) | Total Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | spaise411 | Russia | $78,125 | $71,712 | $149,837 |
| 2 | Pedro "pvigar" Garagnani | Brazil | $56,785 | $71,712 | $128,497 |
| 3 | Pablo "pabritz" Brito Silva | Brazil | $7,969 | $48,878 | $56,847 |
| 4 | HITRII999 | Russia | $28,281 | $38,053 | $66,334 |
| 5 | Andras "probirs" Nemeth | Hungary | $13,438 | $29,625 | $43,063 |
| 6 | Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph | Germany | $16,563 | $23,064 | $39,627 |
| 7 | FishOnHeater | Hungary | $4,688 | $17,956 | $22,644 |
| 8 | Paul "Fold Machiii" Dando | United Kingdom | $3,750 | $13,979 | $17,729 |
| 9 | Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker | Austria | $13,750 | $11,039 | $24,789 |
The Action of the Final Day
All 20 remaining players had locked up a portion of the cash pool after surviving the money bubble and the deep stack sizes left a lot of wiggle room. Yet, it didn't take long for the field to be whittled down to the final two tables. Teun "tinnoemulder" Mulder was the first casualty of the day when his aces were cracked by the tens of Pedro "pvigar" Garagnani. It was the first sign of things to come, as Garagnani was a proverbial wrecking ball and built a massive bounty prize.
Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson fell just shy of the final two tables when Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph rivered a full house with a dominated pocket pair. The first casualty thereafter was then PokerStars ambassador Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, who ran with ace-queen into the ace-king of Garagnani. Patrick "pads1161" Leonard bowed out next when ace-nine couldn't crack the kings of "spaise411" while five-time WCOOP title holder Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski bubbled the final table.
Garagnani kicked off the proceedings by sending Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker to the rail and fellow countryman Pablo "pabritz" Brito Silva claimed the next two bounties. The Brazilian rampage continued when Garagnani ousted Rudolph and the hopes of a second WCOOP title for Andras "probirs" Nemeth ended in fifth place.
Down to the final four, it was a battle between Brazil and Russia with two contenders each in the mix. "spaise411" took over the lead from Garagnani without showdown and yet, it was Garagnani who struck next by sending "HITRII999" to the rail in fourth place. "spaise411" gained an overwhelming lead after catching Garagnani bluffing before the Brazilian knocked out Brito Silva in third.
The heads-up battle commenced with a near 3-1 lead for "spaise411" but it didn't take Garagnani to close the gap. He then lost several big pots in a row and eventually came up short of a third title when trips tens were beaten by a straight. "spaise411" only claimed one bounty on the final table but it was the one that mattered the most in order to secure the WCOOP title.
That concludes the PokerNews updates for this event but the next Super Sunday is already around the corner with further exciting offline and online poker tournaments.