Record Field Turns Out for 2021 WSOP Europe Main Event

Written by Jennifer Newell

Last updated on December 6th, 2021

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The latest round of pandemic-driven restrictions in the Czech Republic caused a bit of confusion and chaos as King’s Resort in Rozvadov had to change the schedule on the fly. Information was not always readily available to those outside of King’s, and the casino often had to make decisions based on what was happening on any given day.

When those changes became apparent, there was a fear that it would hurt the overall 2021 WSOP Europe numbers. With limits on the number of players allowed in the casino at any given time, and with date changes, players could have been discouraged.

But that was not the case.

Overall, the numbers for each tournament remained impressive. Las Vegas had just struggled to meet expectations during the WSOP 2021 there in October and November, but WSOP Europe didn’t have that worry. Pandemic or not, new variant or restrictions, players were going to play.

That was evident in the final numbers for the WSOPE Main Event. The two starting flights delivered 688 entries to the tournament, making it the largest ever. And that set a prize pool of €6,536,000. The numbers were a 27% increase over the field of 2019.

There is one more tournament on the schedule as the Main Event plays out. The Closer will likely deliver hundreds of players, but the Main Event will continue to be the star of the show.

Event 13: €10K NLHE 6-Max

This was a small tournament from the start. The high buy-in kept the number of entries at 73, but only 13 remained to play Day 2. And that second day of the tournament thinned the field down to just six players for the final table.

Prior to that table, though, nearly a dozen players were in the money that evening. Julien Sitbon was the first to cash for €18,049, and Roland Israelashvili followed in tenth. The two-time 2021 WSOP bracelet winner, Julien Martini, busted in eighth place, and Ahmad Achegsei busted on the final table bubble. That player did walk away with a nice payday of €26,881.

Those six players took their seats late last week to compete for the bracelet. Romain Le Dantec led the pack going into action on Sunday, though he fell into second chip position as Sonny Franco improved. Le Dantec and Franco then battled time and time again for the lead until Jakob Miegel eliminated Bertrand Grospellier to take over. Miegel and the Frenchmen exchanged chips until Le Dantec busted Miegel. The two French players went into heads-up play almost even in chips, but Le Dantec prevailed.

Le Dantec told PokerNews that it was his dream to win a bracelet, especially in a 6-max event with an international field. “I love tournaments, and I love competition,” he said. “I feel good, very good.”

 

🥇🏆🥇 Announcement of the Winner 🥇🏆🥇

Our congratulations go to Romain Le Dantec, 🇫🇷 from France 🇫🇷 who has won the 2021 WSOP Europe NLH €10K 6-Max event and took home a WSOPE Gold Bracelet and €207,267! 💰👏🎊🎉

Image courtesy of Danny Maxwell via Pokernews! pic.twitter.com/NJiswUkYrj

— King's Resort (@PokerroomKings) December 4, 2021

Event 14: €10K NLHE Main Event

The number to beat from the 2019 WSOPE Main Event was 541. And the prize pool to beat was €5M, which was the guarantee. Day 1A of this year’s event brought in 434 entries, which was an impressive start. The second flight added another 147 entries, though registration remained open well into Day 2. And when late registration did close on Sunday, it showed a completed tally of 688 entries. That pushed the actual prize pool to €6,536,000, well beyond the promised amount.

And this Main Event became the largest in WSOP Europe history.

When Day 2 settled, only 114 players bagged their chips. However, only 104 of them will make the money in the tournament. That will happen at the beginning of play on Day 3 as the tournament plays on.

 

That’s quite amazing that @WSOP Europe record was broke @PokerroomKings despite the last minute Covid restrictions in Czech, 10am MTT starts, travel problems & still smashed GTE, good signs for live poker. KTF Rob 🙏 https://t.co/ETnyniLu3H

— Rob Yong (@rob_yong_) December 5, 2021