Frank "Sbma2016" Crivello Wins First Bracelet in Event #53: $800 Double Stack Pot Limit Omaha ($94,253)
The fifth tournament of the Asia Time Zone during the 2020 GGPoker World Series of Poker Online Bracelet Events has determined a champion and it was Frank "Sbma2016" Crivello that came out top in Event #53: $800 Double Stack Pot Limit Omaha. The event attracted a total of 831 entries and generated a prize pool of $631,560, which was split among the top 116 finishers.
Crivello defeated the UK's Craig Timmis and claimed his first WSOP gold bracelet along with the top prize of $94,253, and he also receives a package for the WSOP Europe. The American had six WSOP and WSOP Circuit cashes to his name with a 40th place in the 2017 WSOP Main Event for $176,399 as best result. Timmis recorded his second top three result in a PLO event during the festival so far and walked away $77,883 richer, both the winner and the runner-up fired the maximum of three entries.
It was a final table filled with more turns and twists than the world's most legendary serpentine roads in the mountains which culminated in the duel between the arguably most-aggressive players in the late stages. Among those to reach the final and come up short of victory were Ajay "Ross_Geller" Chabra, Markus "Phil Kessel" Cara, Yonathan "ninoboys80" Journo and Julijan "Grgur" Rados.
Final Result Event #53: $800 Double Stack Pot Limit Omaha
| Place | Winner | Country | Prize (in USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank "Sbma2016" Crivello | United States | $94,253* |
| 2 | Craig Timmis | United Kingdom | $77,883 |
| 3 | Julijan "Grgur" Rados | Croatia | $57,088 |
| 4 | Yonathan "ninoboys80" Journo | Albania | $41,485 |
| 5 | Tszfai "WinEasy" Tong | Hong Kong | $30,672 |
| 6 | Jin "SharkLeeeee" Li | Hong Kong | $22,483 |
| 7 | Markus "Phil Kessel" Cara | Canada | $16,480 |
| 8 | Ajay "Ross_Geller" Chabra | Canada | $12,080 |
| 9 | Pulkit "PgTilt" Goyal | India | $8,854 |
*the winner also receives a package for the WSOP Europe
Notables in the money included Kahle Burns, GGPoker ambassador Daniel Negreanu, Aku Joentausta, Dzmitry Urbanovich, Mike Watson, Ami Barer, Erik Seidel, Connor Drinan, Manig Loeser, Juha Helppi and Mohsin Charania.
The Race to the Money and Post Bubble Carnage
Despite starting the day with 200 big blinds and the event featuring a Pot Limit format, it only took a few minutes for the first players to bust. The following three hours were filled with double ups, bustouts, re-entries and late registrations as the initial field size quadrupled in extraordinary fashion.
Big names such as Joao Vieira, Brandon Adams, Martin Zamani, Yuri Dzivielevski, Roberto Romanello, Ryan Riess, Pete Chen, Mike McDonald, Mike Leah and Alex Foxen all left without anything to show for. For some, the end came in spectacular fashion as Chen got it in set over set only to lose to quads. Craig Varnell was also among those to get involved in most of the action and his roller coaster ride ended in runner-runner fashion when aces were cracked.
Daniel Negreanu went on a roller coaster ride not far away from the money bubble and it was Alex "GMcrafter" Manzano that was the last to leave without any money. Negreanu bowed out soon after in 105th place when he failed to crack aces with flopped top pair and a gutshot.
Big Names Fall Short of the Final Table
There were still plenty of big names left in contention but almost all of them bowed out sooner or later. Erik Seidel ran with kings into the aces of Aaron van Blarcum and missed a flushdraw. Jan Suchanek suffered the same fate when his flushdraw came up short against top set.
One player that dominated the action at the top of the leaderboard was Anton Morgenstern, who even busted an opponent with a royal flush and seemed untouchable for more than an hour. Connor Drinan fell on the last five tables and Morgenstern then went from chip leader to out in 19th place.
Manig Loeser was a cat with many lives as he doubled his short stack several times but eventually ran out of fortune in 16th place. Soon after, it was two-time WSOP bracelet winner Juha Helppi that suffered the same fate and had to settle for 14th place. Mohsin Charania would fall in 12th place and the final table was set shortly after.
Roller Coaster Final Table
To list all double ups of the final nine contenders during the mad dash from start to finish would be a time-extensive task, as the virtual chips were flying left and right. Crivello was the chip leader when play resumed, followed by Yonathan "ninoboys80" Journo while Timmis was in the middle of the pack. That trio was responsible for most of the showdowns as one short stack after the other fell.
Journo doubled Tszfai "WinEasy" Tong no fewer than three times in two levels and both ultimately fell in 5th and 4th place respectively. Julijan "Grgur" Rados doubled twice through Timmis who then somehow soared back into the lead. It was not the end of the all-in showdowns by any means, however.
The most-remarkable and pivotal hand of the final table saw the two chip leaders clash as Crivelli held up with aces and a gutshot against a pair and the nut flush draw for the vast majority of chips in play!
Timmis got back into contention and even doubled into the lead in heads-up but he ultimately fell short when more than 30 blinds went in preflop and Timmis as well as Crivello flopped a set.
That wraps up the PokerNews live updates for this event but the next WSOP gold bracelets will be awarded one day from now on the next Super Sunday.