Thiago Macedo managed to secure the second gold bracelet for Brazil after topping the World Series Online Event #4: $800 Double Chance NLH, which took place at GGPoker.
A total of 1,643 players applied for this event, creating a prize pool of $1,248,680, and Macedo received the lion’s share by winning $161,637.
Macedo didn’t show his real name until the final table, which is an option available to online WSOP players. Instead, he used the nickname “IneedWasabi” during the real money poker online event.
The player from Brazil managed to get a headstart from Day 1, bagging a lot of chips. Despite being among the top players in the event, he actually started his final table in the eighth position, meaning he had to grind his way through the final table in order to win the event, which was not an easy job.
Namely, the final table was star-studded and consisted of nine players, but Macedo was a tough nut to crack, winning the event, in the end, and bagging his first gold bracelet.
The Final Table Overview
Macedo’s story is one of success, but Sergei Pillpenko’s is one of failure. Pilipenko started the final table action as a chip leader and was one of the favorites to win the event. As it turns out, he became the first player to hit the rail, losing all chips and earning just $16,163. Namely, he lost most of his chips to a player called Mathias Siljander, and Tomi Brouk ended his run.
The next player to leave the game was Sung Keung Pang, who ended in eighth place and managed to win a total of $21,554 for his effort. The Hong Kong player was eliminated by Stoyan Obreshkov, a Bulgarian poker professional.
Israel’s Ido Aboudi was the next player to leave the game. The Israeli won $28,743 as the seventh-placed player. After Aboudi’s elimination, Stoyan Obreshkov took the chip lead, but that was short-lived as he was actually the next player to be eliminated from the competition, winning a total of $38,330.
The fifth place was reserved for Ivan Babintsev from Ukraine, who won $51,114, and he was followed by Tomi Brouk, an experienced poker player from Finland. Brouk was also one of the favorites for winning the bracelet, but he was sent to the rail by Macedo. The Fin had to settle for $68,161.
Next, it was time for Mathias Siljander to say goodbye to the remaining two players, meaning he was the last player to leave the game before the heads-up. Siljander won $90,984 for his effort.
Macedo’s final opponent was yet another Finnish player — Andreas Nasman. Nasman really had an impressive performance during the entire tournament, but he failed to overcome Macedo’s final obstacle. Therefore, Nasman had to settle for the consolation prize of $121,209.
The only other Brazilian to win a gold bracelet is Joao Simao, and now Thiago Macedo officially joined him, making history along the way.