WCOOP, the world’s most prestigious online poker tournament, finally has a winner, and it is none other than BigBlindBets from the UK. The Cash Game Regular topped this field, which included over two thousand entries, to secure the infamous online gambling title. According to sources, the Main Event was priced at $1.6 million and included some online household gamblers. A total of 2,236 punters enrolled for the tournament, which features a $5,200 buy-in (no-limit) Hold’em main event. BigBlindBets, who is a UK resident, and a regular in cash game, bagged the top price, to become one of the few anonymous winners of WCOOP worldwide main events.
After a vast majority of the entrants had lost their spots, the final table comprised of some accomplished players. The most notable names were Danilo de Lima Demetrio (dans170), who was the runner up, and the famous British hedge fund manager Talal Shakershi (raidalot). Talal came very close to winning a major online poker tournament for the second time after bagging the 2016 Springs Championship of Online Poker. The infamous millionaire won $1,468,001 but was unable to repeat his lucky feat, coming third and taking home $846,528. Anonymous BigBlingBets, on the other hand, walked away from the final table, $1,665,962 richer than he was when he first began.
It was all but done when former winner Talal bet four all-ins with K and J aces, only to be called by BigBlindBet’s A and J hearts. After losing the two aces, Talal’s deck remained in dire shape, and even the turn and river could not help. He was eventually knocked out at third, leaving Danilo and BigBlindBets to battle for the top stake. The final winner took a nearly 7:1 chip lead against Danilo and finally made a runner-runner spade flash that knocked all hopes of his opponents. The Brazilian settled for a runner-up title for $1,187,553.
Although most people will remember the winner, runner up and other famous punters, many people were winners at the end of the prestigious tournament. Besides the top 3, other winners included NeedBeat from Estonia who walked away with $603,434, and 19Pistike93 form Hungary ($403,148) to complete the top five. WCOOP (world championship of online poker) organizes online poker tournaments every year and attracts punters from all over the globe. PokerStars sponsors the competition. It was established back in 2002 and sought to provide the online equivalent of the infamous Wolrd Series of Poker (WSOP).
If you love online poker, “WCOOP will be back bigger, and better” according to the organizers. The 2020 event will begin from January 4th to 24th. WCOOP also organizes various other championships and tournaments. Just in 2019, there have been “219 events, 1,219,969 entries and $104,733,898 total prize money” won by punters. As state legislatures continue to deliberate on online gambling laws and platforms, it will be interesting to see how the tournament shapes up once online platforms are accessible globally. In the meantime, all you need is a stake and a user name for a seat at the high-paying virtual tables.
