The 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event is currently taking place at GGPoker. The online poker site is playing host to the international leg of the event, which features three starting flights.
Day 1A is already in the books, and two more will take place over the weekend. Let’s take a look back at what transpired during the first day of action on November 29, and who among the players made it to the next level of competition.
Day 1A Attracts 246 Entries
The first starting flight at GGPoker drew a total of 246 participants, which dwindled to just 62 when play concluded. The huge turnout contributed $2.4 million to the total prize pool, and that number accounts for a single flight alone. We can only imagine how big this event will turn out to be in the next few weeks.
Day 1A ended with Austrian poker pro Julian “VWgunther” Menhardt leading the pack, taking with him 534,490 in chips. Germany’s Paul “AsiaStylez” Esau came in second with 472,075, followed by Dirk Gerritse of The Netherlands (457,197), Norway’s Preben Stokkan (446,677), and Chinese player “sunnyzyang1982” (441,981) in 3rd, 4th, and 5th place respectively.
The rest of the top 10 are comprised of Belarusian Ilya Anatsky (407,356), Polish pro Michal Lubas (397,579), New Zealand’s Sosia Jiang (390,312), and British player “WhatIfPIOswrong” (386,050).
They are joined by a number of familiar faces in the international poker scene, such as slots streamer Jari “jarttu84” Lahtinen, World Poker Tour winner and Team partypoker member Anatoly Filatov, poker coach Alexandros Theologis, two-time WSOP bracelet winner Yuri Dzivielevski, as well as Daniel Dvoress, the 2020 WSOP Online MILLIONAIRE MAKER champion.
The flight involved 16 levels, each lasting 30 minutes, and at some point in the game, several big names in poker ran out of chips, including poker elites Patrick Antonius, Julien Martini, Kristen Bicknell, Ole Schemion, and Fedor Holz.
With the event being played as a freezeout tournament, players who get eliminated from each flight can no longer re-enter, so they must bring their a-game to work for a shot at becoming the official 51st WSOP Main Event champion.
Action Recap
The first elimination of the day took place in the second level when Austrian player “juco” triumphed in a three-way all-in. From there, more players subsequently ended their bids, including two-time WSOP bracelet winner Timor “Avocado Love” Margolin, Japanese musician Oshiro Gakuto, better known as “GACKT”, as well as popular Bulgarian poker pro Boris Kolev.
During the latter stages of the flight, 2020 WSOP Online Bracelet Series BIG50 winner Huahuan Feng also waved goodbye, so did German poker star Rainer Kempe.
Day 1B and Day 1C will run on GGPoker on December 5 & 6 respectively, and the remaining players in all three flights will meet again on Day 2 on December 7. The final table will play out live at King’s Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic on December 15. The US leg of the series which kicks off on WSOP.com on December 13, will adopt a similar structure, with The Rio acting as the official live venue.
Possible Issues Facing WSOP Organizers
The announcement of an official 2020 WSOP Main Event has generally been welcomed as great news by players and fans around the world. However there are ongoing concerns about how the tournament will handle the live action, given the travel restrictions that are still in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
For example, the finalists in the international leg would need to travel to Czech Republic to take part in the final battle at Kings Casino. However, there is a possibility that the casino could close due to the COVID-19 situation and in that case the game will most likely be delayed.
Another issue that organizers need to deal with is regarding age limits, considering that gambling age requirements are different in each country. In the US for example, players need to be 21, but over in the UK, Russia and Brazil, 18-year-olds are allowed to play online poker.
The WSOP will have to address these issues as they come up! We will continue to bring you updates on the 2020 WSOP Main Event.