WSOP Europe Sets Main Event Final Table
Despite attempts by Covid-19 to derail the 2021 World Series of Poker Europe, King’s Casino in the Czech Republic pulled it off. They completed 14 of the 15 events and set the Main Event final table to play out. As scheduled, it will play at 6:30pm local time today on the main stage.
When we checked in two days ago, the WSOPE Main Event had set its numbers. And they were historic, setting the largest Main Event in WSOP Europe history with 688 entries. The guarantee for the prize pool had been a lofty €5M, but the actual prize pool exceeded €6.5M. And it happened during a pandemic that reared its head with a new variant just as the WSOPE got underway. The Czech Republic set limits on crowds of people, and travel got a bit tougher. But nothing was going to stop King’s Casino from carrying out the series that it waited two years to do.
And they did it.
One day remains. The final table of the Main Event will award the last WSOP bracelet of 2021, along with more than €1.2M. PokerGO will livestream the final table today with commentary. It will begin at 6:30pm local time, which translates to 12:30pm ET for viewers in North America.
To catch up to that point…
Event 14: €10K NLHE Main Event
Day 2 brought only 114 players forward to Day 3, and only 104 of them received payouts for their troubles. As Day 3 played down, previous bracelet winners like Simone Andrian and Dominik Panka busted early. Defending champion Alexandros Kolonias departed in 68th place for €20,626. And names like Pete Chen, Ole Schemion, and Andrea Ricci hit the rail later in the evening. That night ended with 32 players remaining and Dimitar Yosifov in the lead.
Several GGPoker qualifiers, like Dawid Smolka and Fausto Tantillo, busted in the early hours of Day 4. Later, Yosifov turned his original chip lead into a 14th place finish and €50,606. Guillaume Diaz just missed the final table, and Josef Gulas Jr. busted Yossi Dayan in tenth place for €76,910 on the final table bubble.
Play continued as short stacks like Brian Kamphorst and Ilija Savevski hit the rail. Eventually, they decided to call it with seven players and continue to a winner on Day 5 with Gulas leading the table.
| Event 14: Day 4 of 5 | €10K buy-in | NLHE Main Event (1 RE) |
| Total entries: | 688 | |
| Total prize pool: | € 6,536,000 | (€5M GTD) |
| Players paid: | 104 | |
| Minimum payout: | € 16,500 | |
| Winner payout: | € 1,276,712 | |
| Chip leader: | Josef Gulas Jr. | Josef Gulas Jr. (Czech Republic) 20.2M chips |
| Players remaining: | 7 | Alexander Tkatschew (Germany) 17.375M chips |
| Day 2 start: | 6:30pm Wednesday | Johan Guilbert (France) 13.025M chips |
| Athanasios Kidas (Greece) 6.025M chips | ||
| Thomas Denie (Netherlands) 5.5M chips | ||
| Stanislav Koleno (Slovakia) 3.4M chips | ||
| Aleksandar Trajkovski (Macedonia) 3.25M chips | ||
| 8th place: | Ilija Savevski (Macedonia) €125,052 | |
| 9th place: | Brian Kamphorst (Netherlands) €97,260 |
📺 WSOPE LIVESTREAM TONIGHT! 📺
❗️Tune in for live poker action from King's Resort❗️
❗️ WSOPE – NLH Main Event – Final Table ❗️
❗️ Record breaking prizepool ❗️
❗️ Starting at 18:30 CET❗️On the WSOP YouTube Channel:https://t.co/SGxNejEHvl pic.twitter.com/o4K4dp1U3L
— King's Resort (@PokerroomKings) December 8, 2021
Event 15: €3K NLHE Closer
There was no guarantee on this tournament, but one more chance to win a WSOPE bracelet was more than enough incentive to play. The 228 entries created a prize pool of more than €600K, though only 50 players survived the first day. The second day pushed the final 35 into the money, and players like Dinesh Alt, Antoine Vranken, Tobias Peters, and Julien Sitbon cashed.
After Maria Teixeira bubbled the final nine, play moved forward with Thomer Pidun in the lead. But Alessandro Pichierri jumped out in front, and Pidun eventually busted in sixth place. Pichierri dominated, even as Manuel Fischer doubled through him, and Timo Kamphues tried to break through. Kamphues did when he ousted Claudio Di Giacomo in fourth place, but Pichierri climbed to the top again after busting Fischer in third. Kamphues had only 2M chips going into heads-up against the 9.4M of Pichierri. It didn’t take long for Kamphues to bust, leaving Pichierri with the victory.
Pichierri told PokerNews about his tough competition, but he was emotional and grateful for his first bracelet during his first trip to the WSOP. “I finished fourth in the Mini Main, and winning this bracelet means so much to me,” he said. “I know you need some luck in tournaments, but I was really focused today.”
| Event 15: Day 2 of 2 | €3K buy-in | NLHE Closer (Unlimited RE) |
| Total entries: | 228 | |
| Total prize pool: | € 606,480 | (no guarantee) |
| Players paid: | 35 | |
| Minimum payout: | € 5,029 | |
| Final table results: | 1st place: | Alessandro Picchierri (Italy) €148,008 |
| 2nd place: | Timo Kamphues (Germany) €91,468 | |
| 3rd place: | Manuel Fischer (Germany) €62,534 | |
| 4th place: | Claudio Di Giacomo (Italy) €43,876 | |
| 5th place: | Romain Locquet (France) €31,616 | |
| 6th place: | Thomer Pidun (Germany) €23,414 | |
| 7th place: | Milos Petakovic (Servia) €17,834 | |
| 8th place: | Anil Ataoglu (Germany) €13,983 | |
| 9th place: | Georgios Tsouloftas (Cyprus) €11,295 |
🥇🏆🥇 Announcement of the Winner 🥇🏆🥇
Our congratulations go to Alessandro Pichierri from 🇮🇹 Italy 🇮🇹 who has won the 2021 WSOP Europe NLH €3K Closer event and took home a WSOPE Gold Bracelet and €148,008! 💰👏🎊🎉
Image courtesy of Danny Maxwell via Pokernews! pic.twitter.com/n40OpX4wKE
— King's Resort (@PokerroomKings) December 8, 2021
