2021 WSOP Day 53: Holz In Front In The $100K High Roller

The 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is winding down but doing so with some massive events taking place. There is a $100,000 buy-in High Roller event that Fedor Holz is leading, while the $50,000 High Roller, $1,500 Closer, and $1,000 Super Turbo crowned their champions, including the first female winner of an open event this series.

Holz The Man To Catch In The $100K High Roller

Germany’s Fedor Holz leads 28 surviving players at the end of Day 1 in Event #87: $100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em at the 2021 World Series of Poker. The last high roller event of the series attracted a total of 53 runners on Day 1, and more are expected before the end of late registration at the beginning of Day 2.

Holz has the lead in part thanks to a double-up through Nick Petrangelo just after the day’s halfway point. The German poker star will return with over 3 million chips to take a shot at his third WSOP gold bracelet. Not far behind are David Peters, Orpen Kisacikoglu, and Sam Grafton.

Peters jumped up the leaderboard in the last level when he busted Justin Bonomo with a pair of queens. Kisacikoglu busted Jason Koon late in the evening to move above 2 million chips, and he added more before the end of the night to set up a return with just over 3 million. Grafton found momentum late with the elimination of Mateos, and he will return looking to improve on his 13th place finish in the 2019 offering of this event.

Among the players who made an early exit on Day 1 were Ali Imsirovic, Jake Schindler, Daniel Negreanu, Brian Rast, Darren Elias, Dario Sammartino and recent Super High Roller champion Adrian Mateos. Mateos and Koon used their re-entry and will not have the chance to return tomorrow.

Negreanu, Schindler, Peters, and Petrangelo are among those that re-entered the event, and they will be live on Day 2.

Registration closes, and cards go in the air for Day 2 at 12 noon PT on Monday, November 22. Blinds will start in Level 13 at 20,000/40,000/40,000, and players that join the tournament on Day 2 will start with 600,000 in tournament chips. The action will continue until the field is down to five players for a Day 3 finale that will be broadcast on PokerGo on November 23.

$100,000 High Roller No-Limit Hold’em Top 10 Day 1 Chip Counts

Leo Margets Wins First Bracelet and $376,850 in Event #83: $1,500 The Closer

Spanish poker professional Leo Margets won her first World Series of Poker bracelet on Sunday, Nov. 21 by taking down Event #83: $1,500 The Closer for a six-figure score worth $376,850. She outlasted a field of 1,903 participants and, in doing so, became the first woman to win a bracelet in an open-entry event at the 2021 World Series.

The tournament generated a total prize pool of $2,540,505 and attracted the likes of Chris Moorman, Michael Wang, Yuval Bronshtein, Mitchell Halverson, Joao Simao and 2013 Main Event champion Ryan Riess, all of whom made deep runs that extended into Day 2.

You can read a detailed recap plus words from the champion herself, right here.

Event #83: $1,500 The Closer Final Results

Mikita Badziakouski Claims First Gold Bracelet in Event #85: $50,000 High Roller ($1,462,043)

After just two days of play out of the originally scheduled three days, Mikita Badziakouski has emerged victorious in Event #85: $50,000 High Roller. Badziakouski topped a 113-entry field to take home his first gold bracelet in addition to the $1,462,043 first-place prize.

The 29-year-old Belarusian has had a number of close calls prior to today's victory, including a second-place finish in an online WSOP short deck event on GGPoker back in July, and more recently, a fifth-place finish in the $25,000 heads-up event earlier in the series.

Ryan Leng entered the final table as the short stack and would bust almost immediately after running his pocket fives into the pocket kings of Ren Lin and failing to improve. Joao Vieira quickly followed suit to bust in eighth and, in a surprising turn of events, Carlos Villamarin, who entered the final table as the chip leader, ended up busting in seventh place after losing a race to Negreanu and then running ace-jack into Chidwick’s pocket aces all-in preflop.

The pace of knockouts steadied during six-handed play, but the rapidly increasing blinds ensured that many pots were played all-in or close to it preflop. Mikita Badziakouski was able to claim the chip lead after winning a massive pot against Chidwick and then Ali Imsirovic and Chidwick were eliminated shortly thereafter.

Daniel Negreanu, who entered the final table as one of the short stacks, managed to double up multiple times in his bid for a seventh career bracelet, but ultimately fell in third place to Lin after calling a shove by Lin and losing out to an ace on the river.

Heads-up play began with Badziakouski enjoying a nearly 4:1 chip advantage over Lin, however, Lin was quickly able to turn the tide through his aggressive play and at one point was even one card away from victory. However, Badziakouski managed to mount a comeback and secure his first gold bracelet after calling a shove by Lin with ace-five and holding up against king-seven.

2021 WSOP Event #85: $50,000 High Roller Final Table Results

Michael McCauley Wins Event #86: $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em

Michael McCauley was crowned the champion of Event #86: $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em at the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to win his first WSOP bracelet. The American defeated a 1,025-player field and beat British poker-pro Andy Wilson in heads-up play to win the $161,384 top prize.

McCauley had never cashed in a WSOP event before and only cashed in one daily deep stack earlier this year prior to this tournament. This was the only event McCauley played, besides the daily deep stack, and said "he was thinking about going to go play $2/$5 no limit cash game" but decided to jump into this tournament instead.

"This is my first WSOP so it's pretty amazing to come out here and win a bracelet. I was nervous but after I won a couple of pots I settled down and trusted my reads. I tried not to pay attention to the field, trusted my game and I believe I can play with the best of them."

Event #86: $1,000 Super Turbo No-Limit Hold'em Final Table Results