Over the weekend, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) wrapped up its Planet Hollywood Online Circuit Series, which awarded a dozen gold rings.
Several well-known players scored victories including bracelet winner Jared “darrensrabbi” Jaffee, who topped a 417-entry field to win Event #1: $50,000 GTD NLH Freezeout for $23,804.44 and his second career ring.
Two days later, Ari “philivey” Engel bested a 157-entry field to win Event #3: $50,000 GTD PLO Big $500 for $16,350.13 and his 10th career ring.
Ralph “sosana” Perry (Event #2: $75,000 NLH), Steve “gborooo” Gross (Event #5: $150,000 GTD Monster Stack), and Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger (Event #7: $100,000 GTD High Roller) were just a few others players to nab jewelry.
All those who captured gold rings are now eligible for the year-end $250K GTD WSOP Online Circuit Championship. There are multiple ways a player can become eligible for that event:
- Win a WSOP Gold Ring Event during the 2021 season
- Win a $10,000 Player of the Month Leaderboard
- Win a Second Chance Fast Forward Be one of the top 50 players on the Cumulative Circuit Leaderboard who are not otherwise eligible (50)
Daniel “juice” Buzgon Captures Two Rings
One of the biggest stories to come out of the online series was New Jersey’s Daniel “juice” Buzgon capturing two rings in three days. First, he topped a 281-player field to win Event #8: $50,000 NLK Knockout Freezeout for $14,896.92, and two days later followed it up by besting a 261-entry field in Event #10: $75,000 GTD NLH Big $500 for $24,840.57.
The wins marked his fifth and sixth gold ring victories respectively
“Winning any poker tournament is always an exciting moment, especially when they have something extra like a WSOP ring attached to it,” Buzgon told PokerNews. “To do it twice in three days made it all that more special.”
He added: “I was happy to see that WSOP made online circuit events a priority this year due to the uncertainty of live poker. I am definitely going to try and play as many events as I can this year and hope I can run as well the rest of the year as I have in the first two series.”
Derek “rickyguan” Sudell Wins Main Event
The $525 buy-in, $250K GTD Main Event attracted 470 players who rebought 253 times, which meant the 723-entry field resulted in a $361,500 prize pool. That was paid out to the top 100 finishers including Katie “katelin” Lindsay (16th – $2,675.10), Richard “Gladiator8” Rossetti (23rd – $2,205.15), Jonathan “jetsfan14” Borenstein (34th – $1,735.20), Ryan “Protential” Laplante (37th – $1,735.20), and Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger (52nd – $1,337.55).
After 11 hours and 37 minutes of play, it was Derek “rickyguan” Sudell besting “jnja1719” in heads-up play to win the gold ring and a $57,623.10 first-place prize. It was his second career gold ring after he won October’s WSOP.com Online Fall Circuit Event #4: $100,000 NLH Monster Stack for $50,688.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Derek “rickyguan” Sudell | $57,623.10 |
| 2 | “jnja1719” | $42,657 |
| 3 | “muskrrr” | $31,450.50 |
| 4 | Mark “victb” Ioli | $23,063.70 |
| 5 | Michael “itwasthator0” Gagliano | $17,930.40 |
| 6 | “akapp” | $13,700.85 |
| 7 | James “bagelbud” Lillis | $10,375.05 |
| 8 | Daniel “SilasSilver” Turner | $7,880.70 |
| 9 | “schmagel” | $5,928.60 |
WSOP.com Circuit Planet Hollywood Ring Winners
Over the course of its 12-event schedule, the series catered to a combined 4,722 entrants and awarded $1,791,400 in prize money.
| *Date | Tournament | Buy-in | Players | Re-Entries | Total Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize* | |||||||
| Wednesday, February 17 | Event #1: $50,000 GTD NLH Freezeout | $250 | 417 | 0 | 417 | $97,161 | Jared “darrensrabbi” Jaffee | $23,804.44 | |||||||
| Thursday, February 18 | Event #2: $75,000 GTD NLH | $320 | 307 | 175 | 482 | $144,600 | Ralph “sosana” Perry | $24,726.60 | |||||||
| Friday, February 19 | Event #3: $50,000 GTD PLO Big $500 | $500 | 88 | 69 | 157 | $73,319 | Ari “philivey” Engel | $16,350.13 | |||||||
| Saturday, February 20 | Event #4: $100,000 GTD NLH Double Stack | $320 | 323 | 143 | 466 | $139,800 | Fadi “fadiphatu1” Elsmaily | $23,905.80 | |||||||
| Sunday. February 21 | Event #5: $150,000 GTD NLH Monster Stack | $525 | 343 | 127 | 470 | $235,000 | Steve “gborooo” Gross | $40,185 | |||||||
| Monday, February 22 | Event #6: $50,000 GTD NLH Deep Turbo | $215 | 323 | 110 | 433 | $86,600 | Bryan “lifeofodds” Hayes | $14,808.60 | |||||||
| Tuesday, February 23 | Event #7: $100,000 GTD NLH High Roller | $1,000 | 135 | 83 | 218 | $208,190 | Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger | $43,428.43 | |||||||
| Wednesday, February 24 | Event #8: $50,000 NLH Knockout Freezeout | $300 | 281 | 0 | 281 | $79,242 | Daniel “juice” Buzgon | $14,896.92 | |||||||
| Thursday, February 25 | Event #9: $75,000 GTD NLH 6-Max | $320 | 240 | 133 | 373 | $111,900 | Michael “mygame” Lavenburg | $21,484.80 | |||||||
| Friday, February 26 | Event #10: $75,000 GTD NLH Big $500 | $500 | 162 | 99 | 261 | $121,887 | Daniel “juice” Buzgon | $24,840.57 | |||||||
| Saturday, February 27 | Event #11: $100,000 GTD NLH Double Stack | $320 | 302 | 139 | 441 | $132,300 | Vijay “eclypzed” Para | $22,623.30 | |||||||
| Sunday, February 28 | Event #12: $250,000 GTD Main Event | $525 | 470 | 253 | 723 | $361,500 | Derek “rickyguan” Sudell | $57,623.10 |
Big Freezout $350K GTD on March 7
This Sunday, March 7, WSOP.com will hold its biggest freezeout tournament of the season at 1 p.m. PT. With a high-stake $5,300 buy-in and a $250,000 guarantee up for grabs, poker players based in Nevada and New Jersey are invited to join the action. Leading up to the WSOP BIG Freezeout, satellite qualifying events will be available daily.
Here’s an overview of satellite events:
- Satellites Daily (excluding Sunday and Tuesday): $320 buy-in 1 Seat GTD at 4:30 p.m. PT
- Satellites on Sundays and Tuesdays: $525 buy-in 1 Seat GTD at 2:30 p.m. PT
- 10 Seat Scramble: 10 Seats GTD, Saturday, March 6, $320 Buy-in 2:30 p.m. PT start time
- Freeroll Wednesday, March 4 at 4:15 p.m. PT to the 10 Seat Scramble
- ALL-IN Satellites 64 player and 128 player starting March 1
The next WSOP.com Online Circuit, the third of the year, will be the Silver Legacy Circuit from March 19-30. That series will feature 12 gold ring events, over $1 million in GTDs, and offer a $25k Freeroll on Thursday, April 1.
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