The year is coming to a close, but not before a final flurry of poker champions etch their names in the history books. This week’s round-up of big winners features some familiar names, rising stars, and one of Britain’s best. So, to see how Emil Bise, Gediminas Uselis, Andy Moc, and others boosted their bankrolls, scroll down for CardsChat’s Big Winners of the Week ending Dec. 5.
Gediminas Uselis
WPT Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open Main Event
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
$778,490
Lithuanian pro Uselis has been on a roll since winning his first WSOP title in August 2020. Already the owner of a WSOP Circuit ring, Uselis won the WSOP Online Forty Stack last year for $227,186. That win set him on the road to bigger and better things and, in October, he won Event #27 of the DeepStack Championship in Las Vegas. The $325,428 payday meant Uselis could ante up in the $3,500 Rock ‘N’ Roll Poker Open with plenty of cash left over. With a field of 1,566 entrants in Hollywood, Florida whittled down to just six, Uselis rose up from the middle of pack to eliminate two players during Tuesday’s final. That surge allowed him to seal the deal, pick up his first WPT title, and bank the biggest prize of his career.
Andy Moc
GUKPT Grand Final Main Event
Grosvenor London
£265,350
($351,778)
Moc brought the GUKPT to a glorious conclusion on Sunday by taking down the biggest event of the season. Grosvenor took its flagship tour back out on the road this summer after the UK lifted all COVID restrictions. Poker players anted up in droves, and that trend continued in last week’s £1,800 ($2,390) season finale. A total of 607 entries pushed the prize pool to more than £1 million ($1.3million), making it the largest GUKPT Grand Final ever. Even better for Moc, claiming his first GUKPT title also brought him the biggest payday of his career.
Romain Le Dantec
WSOPE Six-Max
King’s Resort
€207,267
($234.124)
Le Dantec won his first bracelet after coming through a small but tough field in the WSOPE’s €10,300 ($11,600) short-handed event. Le Dantec is no stranger to the winner’s podium, as he also has an EPT side event title to his name. His win in Rozadov, Czech Republic was a career-defining moment, however: the Frenchman finished fifth in the WSOPE’s turbo event and parlayed his €17,905 ($20,230) payout into a victory in Event #13. Le Dantec had to overcome fellow Frenchmen Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Sonny Franco on Friday to win the event and scoop the biggest result of his career.
Joonas Pöyry
‘Korpisoturi2’
WPTDeepStacks London Online
888Poker
$40,540
London’s live poker scene is thriving right now, but the WPT decided that discretion was the better part of valor this year and took its DeepStacks event online. That was good news for Pöyry, as the Finnish pro didn’t need to board a plane to ante-up. In fact, none of the 293 entrants needed to leave their respective grinding spots. They did, however, have to overcome Pöyry, who was in the form of his life. The Finn often flies under the radar by keeping his real name out of the spotlight. However, the handle Korpisoturi2 can often be seen in MTTs across the internet and, on Tuesday, it was shining bright after Pöyry took down the WPT’s $525 online opener.
Emil Bise
Charming Lady Cash Connection Slot Machine
King’s Resort
€10,564
($11,931)
Bise made our Big Winners list last week after taking down the WSOPE Mini Main Event in Rozadov, Czech Republic for €260,525 ($293,640). Not content to take his bracelet and run back to Switzerland, the pro player decided to take a spin on one of the 300 slots at the King’s Resort. The game he chose had a progressive jackpot worth over €10,000 ($11,300) and Bise won it. We don’t know how much he wagered, but we know he activated the bonus game by rolling in six scatters. He then hit 15 sphere symbols to unlock the grand jackpot.
Daniel Smyth, Bob Pajich, and Chris Wallace all contributed to this report. Know a big winner we missed? tips@cardschat.com
