Nick Maimone Among Latest GGPoker WSOP Winter Circuit Champions

Nick Maimone helped himself to more than $114,000 the week before Christmas when he won a pair of tournaments online at GGPoker. He continued his impressive form by taking down the $1,050 Naughty or Nice Bounty, part of the GGPoker WSOP Winter Circuit, for $157,755 and a shony, gold WSOP Circuit ring.

The $1,050 Naughty or Nice Bounty was the 12th ring-awarding event on the bustling WSOP Winter Circuit schedule. Some 1,399 players bought in and created a guarantee-busting prize pool worth $1,399,000. That chunky pot meant nobody at the final table took home less than $12,763 with bounties included.

Juan Vecino's time at the nine-handed final table was short-lived because he was the first grinder heading for the exits. The likes of "1_2_3" of Latvia, "CZG2009," "OpusAsu," and "ilvali" busted, leaving only four players in the hunt for the title and a six-figure hau.

The final four became three when Bryan Paris bowed out, then two when Finland's Andreas Nasman ran out of steam. Heads-up saw Maimone lock horns with "RojerBauRICH" and got the job done, defeating his final opponent. Victory came with $157,755, the title of champion, and a WSOP Circuit ring.

#12: $1,050 Naughty or Nice Bounty NLH Final Table Results

Montagnolli Pots His Way to a WSOP Circuit Ring

Before Maimone won his WSOP Winter Circuit title, 3,459 of the world's best Pot-Limit Omaha players bought into #10: $400 Holiday PLOSSUS, creating a $1,279,830 prize pool as a result. Only 322 of those starters made it though to the final day, and it was Daniel "Vanessa23" Montagnolli who was the last player standing when the dust settled.

Montagnolli overcame a tough final table that saw Leonid Yankovski, Bojan "22blok22CZ" Berberovic, and Dimitrios Michailidis take their seats but fail to go deeper than fourth place. The Austrian champion-elect eventually found himself heads-up against "SlimLady" of Cyprus in a battle for a huge final bounty payment, one worth more than first-place prize money! Montagnolli defeated SlimLady and walked away with a total haul worth $116,352. A very merry Christmas indeed.

#10: $400 Holiday PLOSSUS Final Table Results

Kulev Crowned Deepstack Champion

There are few poker tournament grinders that can match Alex "FutureofMe" Kulev's rise from the mid-stakes to the high-stakes world. The Ireland-based Bulgarian is a phenomenal talent and has been crushing the high stakes scene of late.

Kulevrecently won the GGPoker Super MILLION$ for a career-best $538,138. Now he has another $189,841 plus a WSOP Circuit ring, thanks to outlasting 946 opponents in the $1,500 Deepstack Championship NLH.

The final table of the $1,500 Deepstack Championship was a star-studded affair, as you would expect from such a high buy-in event. Anatoly Filatov, Maxim "Nesher_boy" Sheingart, and Matias "PrisonMike69" Arosuo were the first trio of stars heading for the exits. They were joined by Pulkit Goyal, Alexandros Theologis, Joel Nystedt, then Joshua McCully, the latter falling in third place and securing the event's first six-figure score.

Kulev fought it out with the United Kingdom's "LondonJon" in what was essentially a $47,500 heads-up sit & go! No deal was struck, so Kulev collcted $189,841 when he brushed his final opponent aside, resigning the runner-up to a $142,360 consolation prize.

#11: $1,500 Deepstack Championship NLH Final Table Results

"darklion" Roars to COLOSSUS Victory

The $400 Christmas COLOSSUS NLH concluded on boxing day with a heads-up deal that saw those two players pad their GGPoker bankrolls with more than $600,000! Some 9,442 players bought in across the various Day 1s, with 1,155 making it through to Day 2, each sharing the common goal of scooping some of the $3,550,192 prize pool.

Seasoned grinders Mauricio "Promoking" Ferreira Pais, Abhinav "OBellaCiao" Iyer, Ramon "lekdoidoo" Sorgatto, and Timothy Cramer reached the nine-handed final table but could not quite finish the job.

Eventually, "darklion" found themselves heads-up against "Grind4Libertad" and the heads-up duo struck a deal to less the huge pay jumps. That deal resulted in Grind4Libertad taking home $310,732 when they fell in second place, and darklion getting their hands, or should that be paws, on a $297,842 payday.

#13: $400 Christmas COLOSSUS NHL Final Table Results

*reflects a heads-up deal