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Here are a few notable victories for the week ending Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021:
Ottomar Ladva
‘Ottomar_Ladva’
Millions Online Six-Max Super High Roller
Partypoker
$525,089
Ladva, a chess grandmaster, has shown that skills can cross boundaries by winning a $25,500 shorthanded high-roller event on Partypoker on Wednesday. After qualifying via a $530 feeder that got him into a $2,650 satellite, the four-time Estonian Chess Champion (and four-time Estonian Junior Chess Champion) moved through a field of 70 entrants to go heads-up against Justin Bonomo. Prior to the win Ladva had $281,279 in previous live (and 2020 online) poker tournament cashes.
Ankush Mandavia
CPPT Venetian Main Event
Las Vegas
$260,000
The CardPlayer Poker Tour rolled into the Venetian this week, with a $2,500 main event that drew 650 players. It was one of the largest live tournaments in Las Vegas since COVID-19 struck last year — generating a $1,467,000 prize pool. After whittling through the field and a final table that included poker power couple Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell, Mandavia ended up on the trophy-posing end of a heads-up chop (with Anselmo Villareal). Mandavia is a 2016 WSOP bracelet winner with $5 million in live tournament cashes. The die-hard Georgia Bulldogs fan normally wears UGA gear when he plays cards. For this event, instead of a hoodie, he went with a Go Dawgs face mask.
Raymond Rivera
‘Ray Ray’
Prism Power Charity Event
Poker4Life
$10,000 WSOP Main Event seat
Saturday night, Rivera topped a field of 107 in an online charity event to win a $10K seat into the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. After some 6 ½ hours of play, he won heads up against poker pro Jeff Gross, who was also live streaming the game on his Twitch Channel. The event, hosted by Robert Prisament, who has had MS for 36 years, and co-host Caren “CJ” Josephs raised about $35K, with 100% of the net proceeds going to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Aside from poker, there is also a silent auction ending Monday night, and straight donations always welcome at prismpower.net. The event was run by Poker4Life.org.
Alena Belousova
WPT Russia Ladies Event
Casino Sochi
$1,630
The WPT’s return to Russia might not be completely free of restrictions, but players are cautiously anteing up inside Casino Sochi. Although the $205 Ladies Event only attracted only 17 unique entries and three rebuys, hosting a live event at all in the current climate is a success. When the chips were down, Belousova, from Russia, scored up her first notable live win. The series wraps up with a main event winner being crowned on Sunday.
Megan H.
Wheel of Fortune Slot
McCarran Airport, Las Vegas
$302,334.86
It was the kind of leaving Las Vegas event that maybe wasn’t worth an entire movie, but was plenty for a 10-second video clip to go viral. Playing a Wheel of Fortune slot in Concourse B at the soon-to-be-renamed McCarran Airport, the woman later identified as Megan H from Flower Mound, Texas, hit a progressive jackpot for more than $300K on her way out of town. The incident was captured by a stranger, and in between screams, she appears to be looking for fellow Vegas visitors to share in the excitement of her parting thrill.
This lady just hit a $300,000+ jackpot waiting for her flight at McCarran. 🎰 pic.twitter.com/7mUuIG8TJz
— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) February 25, 2021
