Nahrain “2Rivers” Tamero isn’t the best-known poker player in the world but he’s a WSOP champion. Tamero is the new 2020 WSOP Championship winning, an accolade that came with a $310,832 prize and a gold bracelet.
Some 1,455 unique players rebought 671 times between then to create a 2,126-strong field. The top 330 finishers shared the massive $2,019,700 prize pool. Max “Mawkswell” Young was the unfortunate bubble boy, his exit locked up $1,616 for the surviving players.
Tamero went under the radar as reporters focussed on some of the bigger names in the field. These fell by the wayside and included Tom Marchese, Brian Rast, and Allen Kessler. Eric Baldwin, Joe McKeehen, Anthony Zinno, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson and Ryan Riess also cashed.
$25,650 was the least anyone could win at the final table. Tamero found himself third in chips, behind leader Brian “foxxx” Kirchhoff and Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger.
Tamero Claims First Final Table Casualty
The final nine became eight when the Ac-9d of Tamero prevailed against the Kd-Qc of Kevin “SpecialK333” Calenzo. Lichtenberger busted Michael “merlot” Bailey with As-Td versus Ah-9c to leave seven players in the hunt for the title.
Seventh-place and $43,423 went to Arian “4632647” Stolt who was the short stack. Stolt moved all-in for less than three big blinds with Th-9h. Lichtenberger called on the button with As-9s to put Stolt at risk. Stole flopped an open-ended straight draw and Lichtenberger top pair. That pair held to send Stolt to the showers.
Greg “Bubblealot” Wish lost a coinflip against Norman “abnormality” Michalek to crash out in sixth. Tamero claimed the tournament life of Edan “goatplaya” Sucov soon after. It was a hand that put Tamero towards the top of the chip counts.
The final four became three with the elimination of Kirchhoff. Michalek busted Kirchhoff before he sent Lichtenberger home in third.
Michalek held a 30,523,704 to 11,996,296 chip lead over Tamero. Tamero expertly picked off two bluffs to claim the lead for himself.
The final hand took place at the 250,000/500,000/50,000a level. Tamero raised to 1,000,000 and Michalek called. Michalek check-raised Tamero’s 1,000,000 continuation bet on an 8d-6d-Kc flop. The Qd turn saw Michalek lead for 2,750,000 and Tamero call. Michalek jammed for 5,677,408 on the Ts river only to be snap-called.
Tamero showed Kd-8s for two pair, Michalek could only muster 5s-4d for, well, nothing.
Place | Player | Prize |
---|---|---|
1 | Nahrain “2Rivers” Tamero | $310,832 |
2 | Norman “abnormality” Michalek | $192,073 |
3 | Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger | $140,167 |
4 | Brian “foxxx” Kichhoff | $103,207 |
5 | Edan “goatplaya” Sucov | $76,749 |
6 | Greg “Bubblealot” Wish | $57,561 |
7 | Arian “4632647” Stolt | $43,424 |
8 | Michael “merlot” Bailey | $33,123 |
9 | Kevin “SpecialK333” Calenzo | $25,650 |
Full List of 2020 WSOP.com Bracelet
Event | Entrants | Champion | Prize |
---|---|---|---|
#1: $500 NLHE Kick-Off | 1,715 | Jonathan Dokler | $130,426 |
#2: $1,000 NLHE 8-Max Deepstack | 919 | Louis Lynch | $168,586 |
#3: $400 NLHE | 2,091 | Robert Kuhn | $115,850 |
#4: $500 NLHE Super Turbo | 1,179 | Matthew Bode | $97,091 |
#5: $1,000 NLHE Freezeout | 854 | Allen Chang | $161,286 |
#6: $600 PLO8 6-Handed | 833 | Nathan Gamble | $89,424 |
#7: $800 NLHE Knockout Deepstack | 989 | Joon Kim | $103,127 |
#8: $800 NLHE Freezeout | 1,479 | Alan Goehring | $119,399 |
#9: $1,000 NLHE 6-Max | 1,026 | Ron McMillen | $188,214 |
#10: $600 NLHE MonsterStack | 1,505 | Ryan Torgersen | $172,361 |
#11: $500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack 6-Max | 1,691 | Raman Afanasenka | $128,601 |
#12: $500 NLHE The BIG 500 | 2,427 | Ryan Depaulo | $159,563 |
#13: $1,500 NLHE High Roller Freezeout | 649 | Michael Lech | $164,249 |
#14: $3,200 NLHE High Roller | 496 | Joe McKeehen | $352,985 |
#15: $1,000 PLO High Roller | 663 | Guy Dunlap | $133,780 |
#16: $500 NLHE Turbo | 1,528 | Terrell Cheatham | $116,204 |
#17: $777 NLHE | 1,382 | Pat Lyons | $173,551 |
#18: $1,000 NLHE 8-Max DeepStack | 987 | Scott Hempel | $181,060 |
#19: $400 NLHE | 2,545 | Kenny Huynh | $133,857 |
#20: $500 PLO 6-Handed | 1,137 | Kevin Gerhart | $97,572 |
#21 $777 NLHE 6-Handed | 1,361 | Tony Dunst | $168,342 |
#22: $500 NLHE Turbo Deepstack | 1,579 | Allan Cheung | $120,083 |
#23: $500 NLHE Knockout | 1,452 | Raymond Avant | $97,572 |
#24: $400 NLHE 8-Handed | 2,408 | Nick Binger | $133,413 |
#25: $500 NLHE Summer Saver | 1,484 | Nicholas Kiley | $149,245 |
#26: $500 NLHE Grand Finale | 2,502 | Ethan Yau | $164,494 |
#27: $400 NLHE Freezeout | 1,940 | Ian Steinman | $110,557 |
#28: $1,000 PLO Hi-Lo 6-Max | 525 | William Romaine | $110,673 |
#29: $2,000 NLHE Deepstack | 747 | Nick Guagenti | $305,433 |
#30: $500 NLHE Senior’s Event | 720 | Jonathan Lessin | $64,411 |
#31: $1,000 NLHE Championship | 2,126 | Nahrain Tamero | $310,832 |