Brazil’s Joao Simao Wins First WSOP Bracelet

Joao Simao is a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner after he triumphed in the $1,111 Caesars Cares Charity Event. Victory not only came with a coveted gold WSOP bracelet but also $206,075 in prize money.

The online WSOP is done and dusted in the United States but has only just started on the international scene. This event was the second of 33 bracelet-awarding events, and Simao has started fast out of the blocks.

A field of 1,584 entries generated a $1,759,824 prize pool. They raised $175,824 for Caesar’s Cares, a COVID-19-related charity based in Nevada.

Only 20 of the starters progressed to Day 2, each guaranteed $7,839. Elite players such as Claas Segebrecht, Elio Fox, and Sergio Aido busted on Day 2, with “eeeva” falling in tenth and bursting the final table bubble.

Nemeth Leads The Final Table, Simao Sixth

Things were not looking too good for Simao at the final table because he was sixth in chips. Andras Nemeth held a commanding lead with 2.5 times as many chips as anyone else.

Peter Raimondi‘s time in the spotlight was short-lived because he bowed out in ninth. Tom Shaham min-raised to 320,000 with Ad-Js, and called when Raimondi three-bet all-in for 725,372 with Kh-Qc. An ace on the flop and another on the river sent Raimondi to the showers.

Le Fang, one of two Chinese nationals to reach the final table, crashed out in eighth. Fang pushed all-in for 4.5 big blinds with Ad-Tc, and Simao called with the dominating Ad-Jc. The board rang 6d-4c-5h-6s-Qh to reduce the player count further.

Fang’s fellow countryman, Jinlong Hu, joined him on the sidelines. Hu’s last four big blinds went into the middle of the table holding Ks-Td. Nemeth looked Hu up with Ad-8c and immediately fell behind on the Kd-3h-Tc flop. However, the As turn and 8d river came to Nemeth’s rescue, and Hu busted.

That was the last meaningful pot Nemeth won. He lost a considerable percentage of his stack to Espen Sandvik when both players made trip kings. The Hungarian superstar ripped in his 3,197,395 stack with Qh-Qc after Simao min-raised to 500,000 with 6d-6c. Simao called and improved to a straight on the 5d-7s-4s-3d-7h board.

Sandvik Takes Control

Norwegian grinder Sandvik shone during short-handed play and had control of the tournament. Sanvik improved his position by sending Ilya Yakunin home in fifth, a finish worth $65,167. The action folded to Sandvik on the button, and he pushed all-in to steal the blinds. Yakunin called off his 22 big blinds with Th-Tc and was in great shape against 2s-2d. That was until a deuce landed on the turn of the Kh-Ks-8c-2h-3h board.

Simao chipped up by eliminating Roman Hrabec, whose exit hand played itself. Simao opened to 600,000 and called when Hrabec jammed 15 big blinds. It was Ad-Jc for Hrabec, As-Qd for Simao, and a nine-high board decided Hrabec’s fate.

Third-place and $115,884 went to Shaham. Sandvik called Shaham’s 13 big blind shove with 9h-9c and was flipping against the Qh-Jh. The 4d-Td-8d-7s-6d board gave Sandvik a straight and a substantial chip advantage going into the one-on-one battle with Simao.

Simao trailed by more than two-to-one but doubled with Ah-Js versus Ac-9c. Sandvik retook the lead, but Simao has the last laugh.

Sandvik ran an ill-timed triple barrel bluff and was left with seven big blinds. They went into the middle holding Ah-Qd, Simao called with Qc-Tc, and flopped a ten on the 4s-3s-Td-7d-Jc board.

$1,111 Caesars Cares Charity Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	Joao Simao	Brazil	$206,075
2	Espen Sandvik	Norway	$154,533
3	Tom Shaham	Israel	$115,884
4	Roman Hrabec	Czech Republic	$86,900
5	Ilya Yakunin	Russia	$65,166
6	Andras Nemeth	Hungary	$48,868
7	Jinlong Hu	China	$36,646
8	Le Fang	China	$27,480
9	Peter Raimondi	Canada	$20,607

Brad Johnson

You name the game, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Brad has either played it or placed a wager on it! Brad calls himself a natural gambler, and someone who gains as much enjoyment from writing about the crazy game of poker as he does playing it.

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