WSOP.com Event #1: No Limit Hold'em Kick-Off

The 2020 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Online Bracelet Events kicked off on WSOP.com Wednesday afternoon with Event #1: $500 No-Limit Hold'em Kickoff. The tournament attracted 1,195 runners who rebought 520 times to create a 1,715-entry field and $771,750 prize pool.

For much of the tournament, all eyes were on Phil "Lumestackin" Hellmuth as he made a run at bracelet No. 16, but he eventually fell by the wayside two spots shy of the final table. Down the stretch, it was Ohio's Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler who sped to the finish line to capture the title for $130,425.75 and his first gold bracelet.

Prior to the victory, Dokler had $105,159 in live tournament earnings, nearly all of which came when he won the Borgata Winter Poker Open $5,100 High Roller back in January for $100,829. Two months later, he won the WSOP.com Online Super Circuit Series Event #9: $150,000 GTD NLH Monster Stack 2x Re-entry for $77,910 and his first WSOPC gold ring.

2020 WSOP Event #1 Final Table Results

After Darren Elias bubbled the tournament in 249th place – the result of losing a flip with ace-king to the pocket fives of Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels – the in-the-money finishes came quick and included Taylor "gambol_time" Howard (26th - $3,935.92), Mike "mouth123" Matusow (44th - $2,623.95), Clayton "clayfletch" Fletcher (64th - $1,620.67), David "davedadonk" Gutfreund (76th - $1,466.32), Alex "RIP_Neiko" Rocha (95th - $1,157.62), Jesse "MrJesseJames" Sylvia (137th - $1,003.27), Katie "Katelin" Lindsay (149th - $1,003.27), Melisa "NJ_Melisa" Singh (173rd - $926.10), and poker lawyer Maurice "Mac" VerStandig (196th - $771.75).

Hellmuth's Demise

As mentioned earlier, Hellmuth was the center of attention for a good part of the tournament, including when he took the chip lead with just two tables left. Unfortunately, a bad run of cards combined with some lost flips in crucial spots led to his demise in 11th place.

In his final hand, Hellmuth three-bet jammed his last 21 big blinds preflop holding pocket queens against Daniels, who had opened with ace-king. Daniels called and promptly flopped a king to take a commanding lead. Hellmuth failed to get lucky and just like that the fireworks fizzled.

Dokler Comes on Strong at Final Table

At the final table, Dokler began to amass chips with approximately six players remaining and contended with WPT commentator Tony "Panoramic" Dunst, who was the last bracelet winner in the field. Dokler ended up notching four eliminations at the final table, including the last two.

First, he won a big flip with ace-king against Dunst's pocket nines when a king spiked on the river. That allowed him to take a 19.1 million to 6.5 million chip lead into heads-up play against Justin "MadTitan" Turner, who largely nursed a short stack at the final table to ladder up.

In what would be the final hand of the tournament, Turner was flipping with ten-six against Dokler's pocket fours. The former flopped top pair, but the latter turned a straight to seal the deal and become the first bracelet winner of the 2020 WSOP.

The next tournament on the schedule – Event #2: $1,000 NLH 8-Handed Deepstack – will take place at 3 p.m. PDT on Thursday. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will once again be reporting all the action, so be sure to tune in then to see who captures the second bracelet of the 2020 WSOP!

Tony "Panoramic" Dunst opened to 560,000 on the button and Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler three-bet to 1,800,000 from the big blind. Action was back on Dunst who four-bet jammed for 9,450,881 and Dokler called.

Tony "Panoramic" Dunst:   
Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler:   

Dunst was ahead with his made hand of nines and nothing changed after the     flop.

The   turn gave Dunst a sweat as it added broadway outs to Dokler's hand who could win the hand with any ace, king or jack.

Unfortunately for Dunst, the river came came as the   appeared on the river, eliminating Dunst in third place.

Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler	19,146,762	5,566,099
Justin "MadTitan" Turner	6,982,912	4,149,456
Tony "Panoramic" Dunst	0	-6,965,881

Michael "DDSpade" Balan opened for 555,000 from the small blind and Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler three-bet to 1,200,000 from the big blind, Balan called.

The flop came     and Balan check-called Dokler's 680,000 continuation bet.

Once the   appeared on the turn, Balan moved all in for 2,840,000 and was quickly called by Dokler.

Michael "DDSpade" Balan:   
Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler:   

Balan needed a ten to fall on the river to win the hand but it came the   ending his tournament in fifth place.

Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler	14,145,663	6,503,903
Michael "DDSpade“ Balan	0	-4,468,903

"ChefShap" open-jammed for 1,149,829 from the cutoff and was called by Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels from the big blind.

"ChefShap":   
Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels:   

Daniels woke up with a premium hand in the big blind and sent "ChefShap" out in sixth place after the       board ran out.

Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels	3,980,589	-1,592,671
ChefShap	0	-2,177,116

Mark "NostraDonkus" Liedtke open-jammed for 1,017,824 on the button and Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler called from the big blind.

Mark "NostraDonkus" Liedtke:   
Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler:   

Liedtke held an over but couldn't connect with the       runout ending his tournament in eighth place.

Jonathan "Art.Vandelay" Dokler	2,876,505	-2,289,561
Mark "NostraDonkus" Liedtke	0	-1,961,939

Phil "Lumestackin" Hellmuth's quest for bracelet No. 16 will have to wait as he just lost a flip for his tournament life.

It happened when Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels raised to 200,000 under the gun and Hellmuth three-bet all in for 2,160,704 from the big blind. Daniels thought long and hard before making the call.

Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels:   
Phil "Lumestackin" Hellmuth:   

It was a big flip and Hellmuth was looking to hold for another big double. Unfortunately for the "Poker Brat," the flop came down     flop to give Daniels a commanding lead.

Neither the   turn nor   river saved Hellmuth and he exited in 11th place for $7,871.85.

Shawn "SayGoodNight" Daniels	5,573,260	2,073,260
Phil "Lumestackin" Hellmuth	0	-2,400,000