‘Art.Vandelay’ wins first event of WSOP Online
Jonathan Dokler, playing under the screen name Art.Vandelay, won Event 1 of the World Series of Poker Online early Thursday, earning $130,425.75.
Dokler won a heads-up battle with Justin Turner (screen name MadTitan), who won $80,416.35.
The $500 buy-in No-limit Hold’em Kick-off opened the U.S. leg of the WSOP Online, being played on WSOP.com. The flagship WSOP that is normally played each summer at the Rio Convention Center has been postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The event finished at 2:43 a.m. after starting at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The event had 1,715 entries (1,195 players and 520 rebuys), creating a prize pool of $771,750. The top 248 finishers received a payout.
Dokler prevailed when he called all-in preflop with a pair of fours against Turner’s 10-six of spades. Turner flopped a pair of sixes, but Dokler made a straight on the turn to seal the title.
First bracelet
The win gave Dokler his first WSOP bracelet. He previously had three cashes and $18,364 in earnings in WSOP events. He did claim a WSOP Circuit ring on WSOP.com in March by winning a $525 buy-in No-limit Hold’em event, good for $77,910.
Phil Hellmuth, the all-time WSOP bracelet leader with 15, made a deep run in the event, finishing 11th when he lost a preflop all-in with a pair of queens against ace-king when a king came on the flop. Hellmuth earned $7,871.85.
Dokler took a giant chip lead into heads-up play when he knocked out Tony Dunst (screen name Panoramic) in third. Dokler hit a king on the river with ace-king to beat Dunst’s pair of nines after they were all-in preflop.
The U.S. leg of the WSOP Online includes one event every day through July 31. Players must be physically located in Nevada or New Jersey to play.
Event 2, a $1,000 buy-in No-limit Hold’em eight-handed deepstack tournament, was underway Thursday and expected to last until early Friday. Event 3 is a $400 No-limit Hold’em event that starts at 3 p.m. Friday.
A series for players who live outside the U.S. — or Americans who can travel out of the country — will be held July 19 to Sept. 6 on GGPoker.
Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.