Wednesday December 9, 2020 at 2:00 pm

The 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event (International) at GGPoker attracted 674 runners for the $10,000 buy-in championship. Only nine remain and those lucky nine will play down to a champion at the King's Casino in RozVegas, which will host the Final Table on December 15. First place pays out $1.55 million, plus a heads-up seat for the finale in Vegas at the end of the month. Damian Salas is still alive, while Bruno Botteon holds the chip lead.

2020iWSOP

And then there were nine. The highly-controversial 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event Championship will be a hybrid event that includes an international field and a domestic field with the two winners in each field squaring off in a heads-up bout to determine the bracelet winner. It's just a terrible idea in order to continue the continuity of the WSOP Main Event instead of letting it sit vacant as a reminder to future poker fans that 2020 was one of the craziest years in recent world history as a pandemic ravished the world, particularly America, where the virus continues to spread with impunity.

But hey, I guess the brain trust at the WSOP did not want to se a N/A on the list, but instead they'll get hit with an asterisk next to the inevitable hybrid champion.

The poker world is usually polarized on issues, so it's rare when you find an entire community on the same side of something and in this case, the poker realm though the hybrid Main Event was a terrible money grab to fulfill contracts instead of doing the right thing.

But all business decisions aside, there was still an international poker tournament going down under the WSOP brand. The WSOP Main Event (International) attracted 674 runners on GGPoker (not open to Americans), all of whom plopped down $10,000 of their own money for a shot at the glory. The top 80 places paid out with $1.55 million set aside to the champion.

There would be a delayed final table which would be hosted live and in person at the King's Casino in Rozvadov, aka RozVegas. The champion would bank $1.55 million plus a shot at another cool million and the bracelet.

That final leg or segment of the 2020 WSOP Main Event is more like a cross between the Amazing Race and Contagion. If you can survive an international flight to the USA and dodge the virus before you sit down for a heads-up battle at the Rio Casino, then you'll win a WSOP Main Event bracelet, a stack of cash, and free hand sanitizer for life!

Okay, I made the last one up. But you will get a free bar of Rio soap to commemorate the event, and specialized monogramed hazmat suit! Second place gets a Rio-branded face mask.

WSOP Main Event International Day 2 began with only 179 runners with only the top 80 places paying out.

When the dust settled, nine players remained including a familiar face -- Damian Salas -- who was fourth in chips when play was suspended for the final table of nine.

Brazilian Brunno Botteon bagged up the chip lead with over 10.3M. Also still alive are Manuel "robocup" Ruivo (Portugal), Damian Salas (Argentina), fullbabyfull (Lichtenstein), Hannes "BlackFortuna" Speiser (Austria), Dominykas "MickeyMouse" Mikolaitis (Lithuania), Ramon "Ritza" Miquel Munoz (Spain), Peiyuan "fish3098" Sun (China), and Stoyan "UncleToni" Obreshkov (Bulgaria)

The final table will resume on December 15 at the King's Casino with $1.55 million on the line. The winner flies to Vegas for a showdown.

The USA flight or the domestic leg of the WSOP Main Event begins on December 13 at WSOP.com. The final table will play down at the Rio on December 28.

The two winners of their final tables (international and domestic) will eventually meet at the Rio Casino on December 30 to play for the bling and an additional $1 million in cash.

Get ready for the madness!

2020 WSOP Main Event International

Buy-in: $10,000

Entrants: 674

Prize Pool: $6,470,400

Payouts: 80

 

Final Table Chip Counts:

1. Brunno Botteon (Brazil) - 10,317,743

2. Manuel "robocup" Ruivo (Portugal) - 6,213,759

3. Damian Salas (Argentina) - 5,653,528

4. fullbabyfull (Lichtenstein) - 4,232,560

5. Hannes "BlackFortuna" Speiser (Austria) - 3,515,744

6. Dominykas "MickeyMouse" Mikolaitis (Lithuania) - 3,165,440

7. Ramon "Ritza" Miquel Munoz (Spain) - 3,035,940

8. Peiyuan "fish3098" Sun (China) - 2,185,676

9. Stoyan "UncleToni" Obreshkov (Bulgaria) - 2,119,610

 

Final Table Payouts:

1. $1,550,969

2. $1,062,723

3. $728,177

4. $498,947

5. $341,879

6. $234,255

7. $160,512

8. $109,982

9. $75,360

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