Christian Rudolph Wins partypoker WPT Online Main Event ($487,443)
German high-stakes poker superstar Christian Rudolph added yet another notch to his belt last night at partypoker as he defeated a star-studded final table to win his first WPT title.
Rudolph and Fabiano Kovalski agreed to a heads-up deal before Rudolph cruised ahead to win $487,443, while Kovalski won $401,793 for his runner-up performance.
It wasn't your typical online poker final table as not only were their big names at just about every seat including Daniel Dvoress, Yuri Dzivielevski, Rainer Kempe, and Stoyan Obreshkov but also the structure provided tons of play thanks to players starting off with a huge average stack of 68 big blinds and blinds increasing slowly at every 40 minutes.
2021 partypoker WPT Online Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christian Rudolph | Germany | $487,443* |
| 2 | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | $401,793* |
| 3 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | $249,324 |
| 4 | Marc Lange | Germany | $163,003 |
| 5 | Luciano Hollanda | Brazil | $111,783 |
| 6 | Yuri Dzivielevski | Brazil | $86,399 |
| 7 | Sebastian Henao | Colombia | $68,181 |
| 8 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | $54,089 |
| 9 | Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | $42,711 |
*Reflects heads-up deal
Final Table Action
The final table was streamed live at the partypoker Twitch channel with hosts James Dempsey and Henry Kilbane announcing the action.
Daniel Dvoress entered the the final table as the only player above 100 big blinds with Luciano Hollanda, Marc Lange, Sebastian Henao, and Christian Rudolph closest on his tail.
Although the structure and stacks were both deep, the first hour witnessed two quick eliminations. Stoyan Obreshkov was the first to go in ninth place for $42,711. He got short on chips when he called off with nine-six and didn't get there against ace-queen held by Yuri Dzivielevski.
Rainer Kempe went out shortly after in eighth place for $54,089 when his queens weren't good enough against Dvoress' aces.
Henao was short on chips before bowing out in seventh place for $68,181 after his queen-jack didn't hold against the queen-three suited held by Fabiano Kovalski.
A big hand took place shortly after which resulted in Dzivielevski hitting the rail in sixth place for $86,399. The pot was bloated by the river. Dzivielevski with big slick connected with his ace for two pair with the top kicker. However, Dvoress held jacks for a full house and jammed the river and Dzivielevski was out of chips after he called.
Dvoress then sent Hollanda packing in fifth place for $111,783 when his pocket rockets held against king-jack suited. Kovalski then ousted Lange in fourth place for $111,783 when his queens were good against ace-nine.
Three-handed play was a marathon lasting several hours with all three players snagging the chip lead at one point or another. Eventually, it was Dvoress who ran out of gas to finish in third place for $249,324 when his ace-ten wasn't enough to beat Kovalski's ace-queen.
Heads-Up Deal Agreed
Rudolph entered heads-up play with a more than 2:1 chip advantage against Kovalski.
The duo quickly agreed to a deal in order to smooth out the original payouts which had a $526,562 top prize and a $362,674 runner-up prize.
Shortly after, Kovalski snagged the chip lead when his ace-nine held against Rudolph's ten-eight suited.
What might be the hand of the day took place shortly after that. Kovalski triple-barreled with king-six despite not connecting with the board including a jam on the river. Rudolph, who flopped bottom pair with six-five called the entire way to double up and leave Kovalski short on chips.
The final hand took place a short while later. Kovalski opened from the button with nine-eight suited and Rudolph called with ace-queen. Rudolph flopped top pair while Kovalski had both a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Rudolph bet before he called a jam by Kovalski. Kovalski was unable to complete any of his draws and was ousted in second place for $401,793.
Congrats are in order to Christian Rudolph for winning his first WPT title and the $487,443 top prize.