BigBlinds Bets Wins $1.66 Million During PokerStars WCOOP

PokerStars awarded some massive prizes this week as the 2019 World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) wrapped up.

The biggest prize came in the $5,200 buy-in WCOOP Main Event, which saw 2,236 players create an $11,180,000 prize pool. This gargantuan sum was shared among the top 271 finishers. A min-cash weighed in at $11,623 with a final table appearance boosting this to $111,063.

Sweden’s “TheMakrill7” busted in ninth-place to give the final table players some more elbow room. The Swede had to make do with the $111,063 prize, still an impressive payout for four days’ work. Germany’s “moglimiranda” of Germany joined TheMakrill7 on the rail and boosted their bankroll with $155,805.

Seven players remained until “Leitnant”, the first of two Estonian players at the final table, touched down. Their seventh-place finished yielded a cool $218,572. The final six became five with the elimination of Belgian pro “XMorphineX” who secured a $306,642 payout. XmorphineX capped off a fantastic WCOOP as they won a WCOOP-edition of the Sunday Million at the start of the series for more than $202,000.

Almost half a million dollars went to “19Pistike93” of Hungary when they fell in fifth-place. Then it was the second Estonian, “NeedBeat” who busted in fourth-place for $603,434. It was the Estonian’s second bullet and they made good use of the re-entry format.

Shakerchi Fails to Make WCOOP History

NeedBeat’s exit left only three players in the hunt for the massive top prize. Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi won the 2016 Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP). Victory here would see Shakerchi become the first player to win both a WCOOP and SCOOP Main Event. Would being the operative word.

Shakerchi came unstuck when his four-bet shove with king-jack was called by “BigBlindBets” holding ace-jack. The British former hedge fund manager did not find a king and busted in third-place for $846,258.

This set up a heads-up clash between BigBlindBets and Brazil’s Danilo dans170’” de Lima Demetrio. It was a one-on-one battle that BigBlindsBet won to secure their largest-ever prize.

BigBlindBets walked way with the title of 2019 WCOOP Main Event champion and with a $1,665,962 haul. Demetrio had to console themselves with $1,187,553, still a fantastic result.

Surprisingly, BigBlindBets prefers cash games to tournaments. The British pro plays high stakes cash games online having progressed from $0.02/$0.05 stakes in 2010 to the highest blinds running. We expect to see more of BigBlindBets in the future now he has a seven-figure bankroll.

2019 PokerStars WCOOP Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize
1	BigBlindBets	United Kingdom	$1,665,962
2	Danilo “dans170’” de Lima Demetrio	Brazil	$1,187,553
3	Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi	United Kingdom	$846,528
4	NeedBeat	Estonia	$603,434
5	19Pistike93	Hungary	$403,148
6	XMorphineX	Belgium	$306,624
7	Leitnant	Estonia	$218,572
8	moglimiranda	Germany	$155,805
9	TheMakrill7	Sweden	$111,063

Dario Sammartino Tops Stellar Field in $10K PKO

Dario Sammartino, known as “Secret_M0d3” online at PokerStars showed his class in a high roller WCOOP event. The $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em Progressive KO attracted some of the best online poker tournament players in the world. Nine of them reached the final table; it could be the toughest final table ever.

Austria pro “WATnlos” was the first casualty of the final table. They banked $44,741 with bounties included. Brazil’s Rafael “GM_VALTER” Moraes collected $36,505 for their eight-place exit before Conor “blanconegro” Drinnan fell by the wayside.

Swedish superstar Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar is one of the biggest online MTT winners. He added another $57,715 to his already impressive lifetime winnings. Danish star Simon “Igorkarkarof” Ronnow busted with Super High Roller specialist Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer joining him on the rail.

Each of the final three players locked up six-figures with bounties included. David “dpeters17” Peters collected $142,381 for finishing third, leaving “huang33” and Sammartino to fight one-on-one.

It was a battle Sammertino won, thus becoming a WCOOP champion. The Austria-based Italian banked $371,186 for his victory, his Chinese opponent scooped $122,744.

Sammartino has been in hot form and even managed a second-place finish in the 2019 WSOP Main Event for $6,000,000.

Place	Player	Country	Total Prize
1	Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino	Austria	$371,186
2	huang33	China	$122,744
3	David “dpeters17” Peters	Canada	$142,381
4	Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer	Ireland	$83,310
5	Simon “IgorKarkarof” Ronnow	Denmark	$67,034
6	Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar	Sweden	$57,715
7	Conor “blanconegro” Drinnan	Mexico	$46,556
8	Rafael “GM_VALTER” Moraes	Brazil	$36,505
9	WATnlos	Austria	$44,741

$10,300 No-Limit Hold’em PKO Final Table Results

Other Big WCOOP ScoresBritish superstar Michael “mczhang” Zhang banked $352,810 for his victory in a $10,300 High Roller. This WCOOP event saw 175 players compete for the title and it was Zhang who shone the brightest. Zhang is a successful cash game player who also excels in both live and online tournaments. He won the €50,000 Super High Roller at partypoker MILLONS Germany for €800,000 ($979,875) and recently finished sixth in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series London Main Event for £711,000 ($865,279).

A similar prize was enjoyed by Joao “Naza114” Vieira in the Pot-Limit Omaha WCOOP Main Event. The UK-based Frenchman topped a field of 193 in the $10,300 event for a colossal $384,947.

Matthew Pitt

If it’s something you can play online for real money, chances are Matthew knows a bit about it. He’s been writing about slots, craps and poker for the better part of the last decade. He’s written for PokerNews, PartyPoker and many other respected online gambling websites during the last nine years.

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