PokerNews' live reporting team were on the ground for two of the day's biggest events: WCOOP-63-H: $10K PKO High Roller and WCOOP 63-M: $1,050 [8-Max, PKO], $1.5M GTD. Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph navigated his way to the top of the chip counts in the $10K High Roller and now has a realistic chance of winning his second 2021 WCOOP title and his third overall.
Keep reading to learn all about what happened during the WCOOP on September 5, including all the day's winners and chip leaders.
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Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph Leads Star-Studded Final Table in WCOOP-63-H: $10K PKO High Roller
The 2021 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) roared ahead on Sunday at PokerStars with the WCOOP 63-H: $10,300 Progressive KO High Roller attracting 123 entries for a $1.23 million prize pool to smash to $1 million guarantee by 23 percent.
After nearly eight hours of play, the action was down to just nine final table hopefuls who will resume action on Monday, Sept. 6 at 5:05 p.m. GMT.
Germany's Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph is in prime position for his third WCOOP title with his second one coming when he shipped the WCOOP 24-H: $2,100 NLHE 6-Max for $71,404 last weekend as he will advance to the final table as the chip leader.
The final table is a star-studded affair and Rudolph will have his work cut out for him to earn his second WCOOP title this year. Other big names at the final table in addition to Rudolph and Shakerchi include Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood, Patrick "thebigdog09" Brooks, Bruno "great dant" Volkmann, Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos, Wiktor "limitless" Malinowski, and Alexandros "Pwndidi" Theologis.
2021 WCOOP-63-H: $10,300 Progressive KO High Roller Final Table Chip Counts
Sergi "srxakgirona" Reixach Bags Lead on Day 1 of WCOOP 63-M: $1,050 [8-Max, PKO], $1.5M GTD
The World Championship of Online Poker had an action-packed day on PokerStars, and one of the highlights was the 1,930 entry field that showed up to shatter the $1.5 million guarantee, creating a whopping $1,930,000 prize pool here WCOOP-63-M: $1,050 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO], $1.5M GTD.
The first day came to a close after 7h 45min of play, and 118 are left in the hunt for a WCOOP title. The winner is set to receive $123,962 plus all bounties accumulated. Sitting in the best spot to do so after Day 1 is Sergi "srxakgirona" Reixach who ended the night with an outstanding 6,406,840, which is good for 214 bigs for Day 2.
The well-known high stakes regular cruised through Day 1 near the top, ending the night with a bang when he dropped Jake "Jacob Schindler" Schindler on the last hand. Schindler shoved his pocket queens into the middle for over a million and Kenny "kenny05" Smaron called for slightly less, having ace-ten. Reixach hooked up both with his jacks and connected with a third johnnie on the flop, sending both out the door on the last hand of the night to bag the lead.
Second on the totem pole is David "MissOracle" Yan who ended the night with a respectable 3,870,076 (129 bb) and is the nearest competitor to Reixach. Rounding out the top five are "ArtHouse2011" (3,870,076), "IronCa1l" (3,783,428), and Brazil's Rodrigo "Seijistar" Seiji (3,608,860).
There were some stellar names among the latest round of champions, including Pablo "pabritz" Brito Silva, who triumphed in the WCOOP-55-H: $2,100 NLHE [Deep Stack] for an impressive $62,901.
Fifteen events are currently in-play having reached their respective Day 2s. Dutch star Jorryt "TheCleaner11" van Hoof is on course for a six-figure payday courtesy of leading the way in the WCOOP-62-H: $2,100 NLHE [8-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE], $175K Gtd. Only 12 of the 346 starters remain, and there is a $128,604 payment waiting up top.
Nine new 2021 WCOOP events pitch their first cards on September 6, including the exciting NLHE/PLO Mixed events, which come with buy-ins of $5.50, $55, and $530. Good luck to everyone playing WCOOP tournaments today.