Online poker tournaments continue to gain additional support from players
Well-known online grinder Bert “girafganger7” Stevens has won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Main Event on GGPoker for his biggest career score. The Belgian overcame a field of 6,023 entrants to win the $2,783,433 prize while also setting a world record.
Stoyan Madanzhiev won this event in 2020, which set the record for the largest-ever online tournament with a prize pool of $27,559,500. The 2023 WSOP Online Main Event surpassed that amount, with $28,609,252 in the pot.
Stevens had a slight chip lead over Dutch pro Erik Bakker when play began at the final table but wasted no time extending it. Bakker took a slight lead until he tried to bluff with the bottom pair against “Giraf’s” two pairs. Stevens was the aggressor at the final table and remained ahead for over two hours while slowly increasing his lead.
Stevens held about two-thirds of the chips with five players left. When Ezequiel Kleinman was eliminated in third place ($1,524,214), Stevens would have nearly a 4-1 chip advantage before going heads-up against Yagen Li. The final two were guaranteed at least $2 million, with over $750,000 separating first and second place. The Chinese player wouldn’t last long in heads-up play but had a chance to reduce Stevens’ lead.
Li could have taken a 2-1 chip lead if he’d won the final hand, where he would call Stevens’ raise to 10,500,000 with AC, QD against his opponent’s 6S, 6D with a three-bet to 30,000,000. Stevens would then put Li all-in for about 117,000,000. He snap-called, but the board came KS, 3D, KD, 4S, and 5H, sending Li home with a $2,059,058 prize as runner-up.
Emma Rodriguez is the Proofreader at the Big Blind, with seven years of experience and five years in online gambling. She plays a crucial role in maintaining content quality by ensuring error-free, reader-friendly information about the gambling industry.
