2021 APAT WSOP Fantasy League

[MintTrav]

Event 78: $10,000 Razz Championship

Winner	Benny Glaser
Runners	109
Paid	17
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Benny Glaser	1	25
Yuri Martins Dzivielevski	3	15
John Monnette	5	10
Erik Seidel	7	6
Phil Hellmuth Jr	8	4
John Racener	14	1
David Benyamine	15	1

Selector	Points
Stephen 1	39
Nic	35
Barrie 2	30
Jo 2	30
Aneurin	29
Del	29
Carl 1	25
Gareth	25
Stu	19
Jo 1	14
David	10
Karen	10
Michael	10
Derek	5
Chris	4
John 2	4
Jon	4
Luca 2	4
Richard	4
Rob	4
Simon L	4
Stephen 2	4
Tom	4
Carl 2	1
Luca 1	1

Benny sometimes seems to have an untouchable quality, as he frequently runs up a huge stack. He used to convert that into a win quite easily, though the ability to close seemed to have deserted him, and it was five years since his last bracelet, despite numerous finals and top three finishes. In this Series, he has clocked up 2nd, 3rd and 9th places, which were disappointments, as he had big leads in them all. Now he has done it, and collected his 4th bracelet.
The points are starting to flow now. Can Jo hold Stephen off?



Glaser's heads-up opponent, Everett Carlton, was taking Covid seriously.

[MintTrav]

11th place in the $10k Razz went to Shirley Rosario.
Shirley's other pastime is rollerball, so would you prefer a shot of her with the poker players or the rollerballers?
Don't answer. Here's the photo. Shirley is centre, looking back.

[MintTrav]

Event 79: $1,979 Poker Hall of Fame Bounty No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Ole Schemion
Runners	468
Paid	71
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Yueqi Zhu	18	1
Joao Vieira	36	1

Selector	Points
Barrie 1	1
Jo 1	1
John 2	1
Rob	1

There was a time when Schemion used to get quite a few picks from our selectors, but those days are long gone, as he never repaid them. Well here he is now, and no-one has picked him.

Vieira seems to be on every results list. He cashed in five of the nine tournaments from #71 to #79 - unfortunately they were all quite lowly results, so all that effort generated a total of just five points.

[MintTrav]

Event 80: $3,000 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Handed

Winner	Robert Cowen
Runners	496
Paid	74
Final Table	6

Player	Position	Points
Mike Matusow	7	1
Brian Hastings	28	1
Benjamin Yu	30	1
Daniel Negreanu	50	1

Selector	Points
Carl 2	3
Del	3
Karen	3
Barrie 1	2
Chris	2
Gareth	2
Jo 1	2
Jo 2	2
Nic	2
Rob	2
Stephen 1	2
Aneurin	1
Barrie 2	1
David	1
Derek	1
John 1	1
Jon	1
Luca 1	1
Luca 2	1
Michael	1
Richard	1
Simon L	1
Stephen 2	1
Stu	1
Tom	1

It was Brit against Brit as the Robert Cowen from Swansea and Robert Emmerson from Middlesborough went head to head. Cowen had come straight from finishing 39th in the Main Event, his third cash in that tournament, while Emmerson is an online pro with hardly any live cashes, his only four-figure score being £2,600 for coming 47th at DTD.

Uri Reichenstein kicked up a storming end to the Series with two six-digit results for 4th in #76 and 3rd in this - so close to winning two bracelets in short order.

[MintTrav]

Event 67: $10,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event

Winner	Koray Aldemir
Runners	6650
Paid	1000
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Chance Kornuth	16	1
Nick Petrangelo	45	1
Jeffrey Trudeau Jr	49	1
Yuri Martins Dzivielevski	81	1
Stephen Chidwick	89	1
Jason Koon	194	1
Bertrand Grospellier	312	1
Benjamin Yu	327	1
Chris Moorman	432	1
Mike Matusow	503	1
Christoph Vogelsang	604	1
Chad Eveslage	667	1
Yueqi Zhu	697	1
Robert Mizrachi	718	1
Randy Ohel	789	1
Adam Owen	882	1

Selector	Points
Carl 2	4
Barrie 1	3
Gareth	3
Jo 1	3
Stephen 1	3
Stephen 2	3
Stu	3
David	2
Del	2
Jon	2
Simon A	2
Aneurin	1
Carl 1	1
Chris	1
Jo 2	1
John 1	1
John 2	1
Karen	1
Luca 2	1
Michael	1
Nic	1
Richard	1
Rob	1
Simon L	1
Tom	1

I'm not going to go deep into the Main here. A lot has been said elsewhere. There were a couple of odd hands that fell into the winner's lap, one being when Alejandro Lococo, sitting in second place, donated his entire stack to the leader and the other being the final hand, which George Holmes played very strangely. The heads-up between Aldemir and Holmes divided watchers into those who wanted a 'proper' poker pro to win, no matter how boring, and those who fancied a rec taking it down for the story that would result and the effect that might have on the poker masses and the general population. The pro won so, despite winning the rec winning $4.3m, there isn't a story.

[MintTrav]

Event 81: $800 No Limit Hold'em Deepstack

Winner	Jason Wheeler
Runners	1921
Paid	289
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Harry Lodge	104	1
Chance Kornuth	210	1

Selector	Points
Carl 2	1
Michael	1
Simon A	1

Jason Wheeler has had dozens of big results, but no bracelet til now, so that's nice for him. There were some bracelet and ring winners on the final, but not many big names in the money, and hardly any points.

[MintTrav]

Event 82: $250,000 Super High Roller No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Adrian Mateos
Runners	33
Paid	5
Final Table	5

Player	Position	Points
-	-	-

Selector	Points
-	-

$250k buy-in. 33 entrants. 5 ITM, with three of them receiving over $1m. Mateos got $3.2m, Ben Heath got $2m for 2nd and No 3 got $1.4m. Maybe it's just me, but I can't see the point of such a tournament.

None of our guys cashed.

[MintTrav]

Event 83: $1,500 The Closer No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Leo Margets
Runners	1054
Paid	274
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Chris Moorman	8	4
Landon Tice	33	1
Shannon Shorr	71	1
Yueqi Zhu	72	1
Chance Kornuth	77	1
Manig Loeser	259	1

Selector	Points
John 2	2
Barrie 1	1
Carl 2	1
Jo 1	1
Stu	1

There it is, at last! Just when it seemed that there wouldn't be any femaie winners this year outside the W-Only, Leo Margets shows her worth and wraps up one of the last events. Cherish Andrews was 6th, losing unluckily with A3 against QQ on a board of A533Q and Melanie Weisner was 17th.

[MintTrav]

Event 84: $50,000 High Roller Pot Limit Omaha

Winner	Jeremy Ausmus
Runners	85
Paid	13
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Phil Hellmuth Jr	2	18
Daniel Negreanu	3	15
Scott Seiver	10	1
Shaun Deeb	11	1

Selector	Points
Jon	35
Barrie 2	34
Chris	34
David	34
Del	34
Derek	34
Jo 1	34
Jo 2	34
Karen	34
Luca 2	34
Richard	34
Rob	34
Simon L	34
Stephen 1	34
Stu	34
Tom	34
Aneurin	33
Nic	33
Stephen 2	33
Michael	19
John 2	18
Barrie 1	16
Gareth	16
Luca 1	16
Carl 2	15
Carl 1	1
John 1	1
Simon A	1

This was almost the heads-up that a lot of people would have cherished. Could Phil go all the way and bank another bracelet, and catch up in POY? It was his third heads-up this year, but it didn't quite come off, though he did set another record, this time for the most final tables ever in a Series. Ausmus won his second bracelet, having taken #3 a lifetime ago.

Negreanu got close once again but the bracelet drought continues. It's now eight years since he won one of any kind, and thirteen years since he won one in Vegas. Will he ever win one again? He does still get opportunities, so maybe there's still a chance.

I think this was our highest-scoring event ever. We have had multiple finalists before, but I don't think they have ever been on so many teams. A lot of points were scored by a lot of people, but almost everyone picked up roughly the same total, so there was little effect on the race.

[MintTrav]

A mini-outbreak of Covid caused some previously unmasked players to mask up.

[MintTrav]

Event 85: $50,000 High Roller No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Mikita Badziakouski
Runners	113
Paid	17
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Daniel Negreanu	3	15
Jason Koon	4	12
Stephen Chidwick	5	10
Almedin Imsirovic	6	8
Joao Vieira	8	4
Christoph Vogelsang	12	1
Shaun Deeb	16	1

Selector	Points
David	38
Stu	36
Richard	34
Simon A	31
Barrie 1	26
Gareth	26
Jon	26
Stephen 1	26
Tom	26
Aneurin	25
Carl 2	25
Luca 2	25
Stephen 2	25
Del	24
Derek	24
Jo 1	24
Simon L	24
Rob	20
Barrie 2	16
Chris	16
Jo 2	16
Karen	16
Luca 1	15
Nic	15
John 1	9
Carl 1	1
Michael	1

Negreanu again! If he had done this sooner, he would have been a contender for POY.

Badziakouski had a 5th place earlier, but this is better, though he claims that he's not really bothered about the bracelet - he just wants to win HRs. Hmmmm, I always doubt people who claim things like this.  Ren Lin had a 3rd place earlier, and now a 2nd. The bracelet will have to wait.

Stephen's result here moves him ahead of Jo by ONE POINT.

[MintTrav]

Event 86: $1,000 Super Turbo No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Michael McCauley
Runners	1025
Paid	153
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Benjamin Yu	26	1
Shannon Shorr	30	1
Yueqi Zhu	64	1
Anthony Zinno	87	1
Landon Tice	130	1

Selector	Points
Jo 1	3
Barrie 1	2
Gareth	2
Jo 2	2
John 1	2
Stephen 1	2
Carl 2	1
Del	1
John 2	1
Rob	1
Stephen 2	1
Stu	1

That's Played 1, Won 1 for McCauley, who was playing his first ever WSOP event.

It's Jo2 and Stephen1 who are the contenders, and they scored the same points in this, so no change at the top. Jo needs to pick up at least a point or two in the final two tournaments.

[MintTrav]

Event 87: $100,000 High Roller No Limit Hold'em

Winner	Michael Addamo
Runners	64
Paid	10
Final Table	9

Player	Position	Points
Michael Addamo	1	25
Sam Soverel	3	15
Sean Perry	4	12
Mikita Badziakouski	8	4

Selector	Points
Aneurin	25
Barrie 2	25
Derek	25
John 1	25
Michael	25
Nic	25
Stu	25
Tom	25
Richard	15
Simon A	15
Simon L	12
Barrie 1	4

Addamo's extraordinary playing style continues to pay off. He continually provokes huge pots, even when he doesn't have hands. His high-risk play often leads to him having unbelievable stacks that are multiples of everyone else. It happened earlier in the Series and it happened again here. It is dependent on him winning pots when he is called and, not to put too fine a point on it, he sucked out something rotten time after time in this tournament. Still, his style has resulted in him winning numerous high rollers and four bracelets, two of them this year. There were points here for lots of our selectors, including 4 for Barrie with Badziwhatsit, but none for our leaders, so the field closes up.

[MintTrav]

Event #87 was a fashion bonanza, demonstrating once again how poker players' avant-garde styles lead the world when it comes to in-vogue clothing.

[MintTrav]

Event 88: $5,000 No Limit Hold'em 8-Handed

Winner	Boris Kolev
Runners	531
Paid	80
Final Table	8

Player	Position	Points
Benjamin Yu	10	1
Shaun Deeb	12	1
Joao Vieira	19	1
Faraz Jaka	59	1
Phil Hellmuth Jr	62	1

Selector	Points
Rob	4
Del	3
Jo 1	3
Jo 2	3
Stephen 1	3
Barrie 1	2
Barrie 2	2
Chris	2
David	2
Derek	2
Gareth	2
John 1	2
Jon	2
Karen	2
Michael	2
Richard	2
Simon A	2
Simon L	2
Stu	2
Tom	2
Aneurin	1
Carl 1	1
Carl 2	1
John 2	1
Luca 2	1
Nic	1
Stephen 2	1

Nice for Kolev to win the final event but what a performance by Uri Reichenstein to come 2nd of 531, on top of 4th of 307 in #76 and 3rd of 496 in #80. Three top-four results in a week, but what a shame he didn't get a win. Still, the $575k winnings, plus another $100k from some of the other tournaments, should help him to get over it.

Not many points here for our selectors, so who has won?