"LeslieGroves" Wins 2020 WCOOP-16-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller] ($263,628)
![LeslieGroves Wins 2020 WCOOP-16-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller]](https://s.pnimg.net/sPFU0VNHexqK394pYlZpokfnUinuLwt_GN5s-Z_3iUM/pr:reporting-leading-desktop/aHR0cHM6Ly9wbmlt/Zy5uZXQvbHJlcC8y/MDQxLzg5L3gzMjEz/ZmIxMjM1LnBuZw.webp)
In under four hours, the next champion has been crowned in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker 2020 (WCOOP) and it was Russia's "LeslieGroves" who came out on top of a field of 95 entries in WCOOP-16-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller]. They denied Brazil yet another WCOOP title of the current festival as Rodrigo "Seijistar" Seiji had to settle for the runner-up spot.
After heading into the final day in the middle of the pack with 35 big blinds, they scored the two biggest bounty prizes by knocking out Artur "mararthur1" Martirosian in 4th place and Seiji in heads-up, which boosted the accumulated bounty prizes to a huge $152,422. On top of that came a cash prize of $111,206 for a combined payday of more than 26 times the buy-in.
It was not the first time they reached the final table of a major event on PokerStars as "LeslieGroves" finished 8th in one of the Stadium Series Freezeout Weekly Final - High: $2,100 NLHE. At the end of the festival, they finished 7th in the Stadium Series Freezeout Grand Final - High: $5,200 NLHE which came with a payday of $117,128.
On the final table, Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos proved to be a cat with many lives and doubled numerous times, most often through Martirosian. However, Mateos failed to earn a third WCOOP title and finished in 3rd place instead. Martirosian ended up in fourth place and earned a bigger payday than the Spaniard also thanks to knocking out Ole "wizowizo" Schemion and Joao "Naza114" Vieira in the same hand.
Final Result 2020 WCOOP-16-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller]
| Position | Winner | Country | Bounty Prize | Cash Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "LeslieGroves" | Russia | $152,422 | $111,206 | $263,628 |
| 2 | Rodrigo "Seijistar" Seiji | Brazil | $50,391 | $111,206 | $161,597 |
| 3 | Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos | Spain | $3,750 | $74,928 | $78,678 |
| 4 | Artur "mararthur1" Martirosian | Russia | $48,281 | $57,905 | $106,186 |
| 5 | Brunno "botteonpoker" Botteon | Brazil | $21,250 | $44,749 | $65,999 |
| 6 | Thomas "MarToMchat" Boivin | Belgium | $5,000 | $34,583 | $39,583 |
| 7 | Joao "Naza114" Vieira | Portugal | $13,125 | $26,726 | $39,851 |
| 8 | Ole "wizowizo" Schemion | Germany | $10,938 | $20,654 | $31,592 |
| 9 | David "dpeters17" Peters | United States | $16,543 | $16,543 | |
| 10 | "Kurtkaare" | Norway | $34,531 | $13,250 | $47,781 |
| 11 | Mike “SirWatts” Watson | Canada | $13,250 | $13,250 |
Action of the Final Day
After the bubble had burst the previous night and reduced the field to the final 10 with Mike “SirWatts” Watson as first player in the money, the final table bubble didn't take long to burst. Norway's "Kurtkaare" became the first casualty of the day and sent his chips and bounty over to Rodrigo "seijistar" Seiji. David "dpeters17" Peters as the shortest stack of all finalists made one pay jump but that was it as he departed next.
Artur "mararthur1" Martirosian remained at the top of the leaderboard throughout the early stages and essentially held half of the chips in play after knocking out Ole "wizowizo" Schemion and Joao "Naza114" Vieira in the same hand. Thomas "MarToMchat" Boivin became his next victim to further boost the lead of the Russian, who has taken the High Roller scene by storm in the current year thus far.
However, Martirosian suffered several setbacks and kept doubling up shorter stacks to swing back and forth while still at the top of the leaderboard. Brunno "botteonpoker" Botteon then saw his kings cracked by the ace-four of "LeslieGroves" and departed in 5th place.
Mateos doubles six times in total throughout the final day and the last one vaulted the Spaniard into the lead when ace-king held against the king-queen suited of Martirosian. His lead didn't last for long as a three-bet jam with fives was called by Rodrigo "Seijistar" Seiji with ace-jack and two aces on the board lifted Seiji into the top spot. Within quick succession, Martirosian then lost a flip to "LeslieGroves" and Mateos sent his short stack to Seiji.
The heads-up duel started nearly even in chips but "LeslieGroves" quickly pulled into a comfortable and even commanding lead after winning most of the big showdown pots. Ultimately it all came to an end when "LeslieGroves" hit trips treys while Seiji connected with his queen-eight on a queen-high flop and the Brazilian found no runner-runner miracle.
The final day of the tournament was streamed on the PokerStars Twitch channel with cards-up coverage and commentary on a delay of at least 20 minutes. PokerNews will be providing live updates throughout the entire festival and you can check out the feature coverage and results of assorted WCOOP events right here!