Huge WSOP Winter Circuit Scores Through First Four Ring Events

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$150M Gtd GGPoker WSOP Winter Circuit

Four GGPoker players now have a coveted gold World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit rung after triumphing in the opening four ring-awarding events of the $150 million guaranteed WSOP Winter Circuit festival.

Israel's "Corenkas" is the biggest winner of the series so far, thanks to them taking down an abdominal snowman-sized $10,300 Super MILLION$ for almost $1.1 million. Amazingly, the Israeli grinder will not be the biggest winner by the time the final event is done and dusted!

#1: BIG 50 Bounty MILLION$ Kick-Off

The WSOP Winter Circuit's opening event was the BIG 50 Bounty MILLION$ Kick-Off, and what a tournament to get things underway. Over several flights, some 34,683 players turned out and created a $1,595,418 prize pool, and all for a buy-in of only $50.

With bounties included, none of the nine finalists walked away with less than $9,200 for their $50 investment. Raymundo "RayOrtega" Ortega ($9,207) was the first casualty under the spotlights. "Grindation" ($11,625), "ChiMuDao" ($17,293), "Argrich_" ($18,827), and Adrovan "Gboro21" Rodrigues ($22,789) joined the list of busted players.

The final four players struck a deal that removed the huge pay jumps. That quartet of players locked in between $38,006 and $41,072 from the main prize pool, leaving the still massive bounties left to play for.

"TopDagas" crashed out in fourth for a combined $45,163 before "Sava_Kov" busted in third for $47,835. Heads-up pitted Viliyan "Mozak" Petleshkov of Macedonia against Russia's "zzverevzz." The one-on-one battle went the way of the Macedonian, who added $35,013 worth of bounties to his score, for a total prize tipping the scales at $73,019. Zzverevzz headed into the night with a $47,835 consolation prize.

PlacePlayerCountryBountiesPrizeTotal Prize
1Viliyan "Mozak" PetleshkovMacedonia$35,013$38,006$73,019*
2zzverevzzRussia$6,612$38,146$44,758*
3Sava_KovCroatia$6,763$41,072$47,835*
4TopDogasAustria$8,570$36,593$45,163*
5Adrovan "Gboro21" RodriguesBrazil$3,644$19,145$22,789
6Argrich_China$4,602$14,225$18,827
7ChiMuDaoChina$6,724$10,569$17,293
8GrindationCyprus$3,773$7,852$11,625
9Raymundo "RayOrtega" OrtegaMexico$3,373$5,834$9,207

*reflects a four-way deal

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#2: $10,300 Super MILLION$ High Roller

This week's Super MILLION$ was even larger than usual, with 722 entrants creating a $7,220,000 prize pool and a near $1.1 million top prize.

Israel's "Corenkas" was the player that emerged victoriously and who scooped the $1,095,775 top prize. Winning the Super MILLION$ is a superb result in its own right, but Corenkas took down this $10,300 buy-in affair despite sitting down at the final table ninth in chips with only 17 big blinds at their disposal.

PokerNews published a full recap of this event's final table action. Check it out here.

PlacePlayerCountryPrize
1CorenkasIsrael$1,095,775
2Biao DingHong Kong$845,129
3Aleksejs PonakovsLatvia$651,876
4Mike WatsonCanada$502,857
5Barak WisbrodIsrael$387,947
6Anatoly FilatovTurkey$299,340
7Mark RadojaMexico$231,015
8Elio FoxMexico$178,329
9libreHong Kong$137,702

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#3: $2,100 Bounty Hunters Championship

Progressive Knockout tournaments are popular at GGPoker and often smash their guarantees. So combining a PKO format with a $2,100 buy-in was always going to create some incredible prizes.

Event #3: $2,100 Bounty Hunters Championship drew in 567 entrants, who locked horns over a $1,134,000 prize pool. All but one of the finalists captured a total prize worth more than $21,000, with the top two finishers seeing six-figure sums land in their GGPoker account.

"soldzerjan" ($21,769) was the final table's first casualty. Zhao Zi Long ($13,409) busted next. Amazingly, Long did not claim a single scalp during their deep run to an eighth-place finish.

"Nikki beagle" ($22,719), Anatolii "Tolya089" Uizhakov ($28,370), and "RanThisTable" ($39,358) bowed out, before Ivan "uPayMyOnix" Limeira ($45,475) and "ZYN1111" ($67,870) ran out of steam, and sent the tournament into the heads-up stage.

Canada's "Full Boat Fox" faced the legendary David Peters heads-up, with both players locking in more than $57,000 from the main prize pool, but both guaranteed in excess of $100,000 when they added the bounties to their payout.

Peters would have been the neutral's favorite to come away with the victory. However, he had to make do with a $103,606 consolation prize, leaving Full Boat Fox to help themself to an impressive $147,297 haul.

PlacePlayerCountryBountiesPrizeTotal Prize
1Full Boat FoxCanada$89,691$57,606$147,297
2David PetersCanada$46,113$57,493$103,606
3ZYN1111China$22,726$45,144$67,870
4Ivan "uPayMyOnix" LimeiraBrazil$10,062$35,413$45,475
5RanThisTableBrazil$11,578$27,780$39,358
6Anatolii "Tolya089" UizhakovRussia$6,578$21,792$28,370
7Nikki beaglePoland$5,625$17,094$22,719
8Zhao Zi LongTurkey $13,409$13,409
9soldzerjanSlovenia$11,250$10,519$21,769

From Zero to Hero: Israel's Corenkas Bags $1.1M WSOPC Prize

#4: $525 "Winter is Coming" Bounty 6-Handed NLH

The fourth WSOP Circuit ring-awarding event of the amazing $150 million guaranteed schedule was the $525 "Winter is Coming" Bounty 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em. Some 2,248 GGPoker players bought in and created a $1,124,000 prize pool.

That chunky prize pool meant nobody at the seven-handed final table walked away with less than $17,000. Sweden's "YouAteMyHamster" was the seventh-place finisher, a result worth $17,009.

No hamster's were harmed writing this recap.

Ido "idollar" Aboudi ($33,697), Felipe "Obaralhaco" Monteiro ($41,165), and Montenegro's "LanaRhodes69" ($48,093) fell by the wayside, leaving Luiz "Infxtanibus" De Melo and "Ha KoLeHu" of Finland heads-up. Both heads-up players banked more than $46,000 from the main prize pool, and fought it out for a similarly sized final bounty payment. The Finn got the job done and their hands on the $46,218 last bounty, for a total haul worth $92,405. De Melo scooped $58,321 for their second-place finish.

PlacePlayerCountryBountiesPrizeTotal Prize
1Ha KoJleHuFinland$46,218$46,187$92,405
2Luiz "Infxtantibus" De MeloBrazil$12,248$46,073$58,321
3LanaRhodes69Montenegro$14,338$33,755$48,093
4Filipe "Obaralhaco" MonteiroBrazil$16,464$24,701$41,165
5Ido "idollar" AboudiIsrael$15,622$18,075$33,697
6Eder CampanaBrazil$8,192$13,226$21,418
7YouAteMyHamsterSweden$7,330$9,679$17,009

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Upcoming WSOP Winter Circuit Ring-Awarding Events

There is still plenty of action left in the $150 million guaranteed WSOP Winter Circuit online at GGPoker. You still have the chance to enter the $1,500 Merry MILLIONAIRE MAKER, which has $5 million guaranteed, with at least $1 million going to the eventual champion. However, you must hurry if you want to play because it concludes on December 12.

FLIP & GO players have a $100 buy-in $1 million guaranteed event to get their teeth into; the Flip Stage runs from December 10-18.

Check out the table below for the schedule of the next five ring-awarding events.

DateTime (GMT)EventGuarantee
December 10-12Various#6: $1,500 Merry MILLIONAIRE MAKER$5,000,000
December 10-18Various#9: $100 Jingle Bells FLIP & GO NLH$1,000,000
December 115:00 p.m.#5: $1,050 GGMasters HR Winter Freezeout$1,225,000
December 136:00 p.m.#7: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship$500,000
December 156:00 p.m.#8: $320 "Santa's Sled" Ultra Deepstack Turbo Bounty$500,000
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