PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker is just hitting its stride, but one player is already streaking ahead of the pack.
Following another round of online action, Yuri Martins has become the first double winner of this year’s series. Playing under the moniker “theNERDguy,” Martins took down the $1,050 HORSE event on Saturday to score his second WCOOP title in a week.
More interestingly, there would have been a double champ regardless of who won the heads-up battle between Martins and Murilo Figueiredo. Although Martins took it down, Figueiredo was also on pace to win a second WCOOP title in 2020, had his luck held out.
Brazilians Battle for Double Delight
The battle of the Brazilians could have gone either way. Martins was riding high after winning the 2-7 Single Draw on Tuesday, while Figueiredo won a WCOOP 5-Card Draw event earlier that day.
In the end, it was Martins who banked the $31,115 top prize, taking his total number of WCOOP titles to three. For Figueiredo, an outright win and a runner-up spot in the space of a few hours were worth just over $26,000.
In another case of doing a double, Naoya Kihara nearly won two WCOOP titles. The Japanese pro played his way the final tables of the $109 and $1,050 versions of the 5-Card Draw event on Saturday.
His first attempt at WCOOP glory was thwarted by Figueiredo. The disappointment of missing out in the $109 event didn’t last for long because Kihara was locked in battle with “salamandryko” for the $1,050 title.
Kihara may have ended the day with two near-misses but a runner-up spot in two consecutive WCOOP events is nothing to be ashamed of. Indeed, with almost $17,000 in prize money, his night’s work will set him up nicely for the rest of the series.
More Weekend WCOOP Winners
Saturday’s other standout performer was “aleksandrs10.” The Latvian grinder came out on top in the $11 HORSE event. 3,128 players anted up in the low version of Event #11, pushing the prize pool over the $20,000 guarantee to almost $32,000.
When the field thinned and just two remained, “aleksandrs10” cut a deal with “etips1” to lock up $4,433 and his first WCOOP title.
Also making the headlines after a weekend of action were the winners of the Sunday Cooldown. With the weekly event being given a special dusting of WCOOP magic, interest was high across the board.
$22 WCOOP Event #28 Low – Sunday Cooldown Progressive KO
- Entries: 9,757
- Guarantee: $125,000 (final prizepool = $195,140)
- Winner: LukcyDupe – $15,885
$215 WCOOP Event #28 Medium – Sunday Cooldown Progressive KO
- Entries: 2,431
- Guarantee: $300,000 (final prizepool = $486,200)
- Winner: doulas12 – $48,742
$2,100 WCOOP Event #28 High – Sunday Cooldown Progressive KO
- Entries: 201
- Guarantee: $400,000 (final prizepool = $402,000)
- Winner: Amadi_017 – $80,211
The 2020 WCOOP is already living up to expectations. Even though it’s not the only major in town, the series is still bringing out the best players at every level.
