Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins earned a huge high stakes double on Day 18. Meanwhile, Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi climbed the Player of the Series leaderboard with his third of WCOOP 2021, top pros earned overdue maiden titles, and a mixed game specialist proved himself a master.

---

TODAY’S HEADLINES

• Huge high stakes double for Yuri Martins
• Talal Shakerchi climbs leaderboard with third of series
• Norway’s rising mixed game star wins career third
• Maiden titles for Mulder and “seijistar”

---

BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Yuri Martins denies Lex in High Roller: Team Pro were out in force in the 78-H: PKO High Roller. Fintan, Spraggy and Benjamin Rolle all fell shy of the money, leaving Lex Veldhuis to carry the torch all the way to the end. Lex outlasted Nemeth, Niklas Astedt and Christian Rudolph before coming up against Brazilian pro Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins heads-up. This was the closest Lex has ever been to winning a WCOOP title, but he had to settle for second place after Martins, currently ranked number one in the world, delivered a cooler of a final pot to win the battle and KO Lex. Martins earned a total of $265,917 (inc. $157k bounties) for first.

Then makes it a high stakes double!: Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins wasn’t done yet. He was still running deep in the 88-H, and, emotions and excitement of the victory over Lex aside, he well intended to win. Slaying through the regs and picking up a tally of bounties along the way, Martins found himself among a trio of Brazilians at the end. “great dant” came third and Pedro “pvigar” Garagnani second. Martins again claimed victory, this time for a total of $83,249 (inc. $49k bounties). This was only the second time anyone has ever won two WCOOP tourneys in one night (the first coming from “Fisherman FV” on Day 15). For Yuri Martins, it’s the second of the night, third of the series, and seventh WCOOP title of his career.

Shakerchi earns third of 2021 and climbs POS leaderboard: Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi already earned two titles in WCOOP 2021; the first in the 37-H for $124k (inc. bounties) and the second in the 52-M: 8-Game for $29k. On Day 18, Shakerchi has done it again! He took down the 86-H: NLO8 for $36,101, making it three in the series and four WCOOP titles in total for the accomplished UK pro. There’s only a few short and sweet days left, so every result counts for a lot when it comes to the Player of the Series race. It’s excellent timing for Shakerchi, who’s first place finish shoots him to the top of the Overall leaderboard.

Norway’s rising mixed-game star claims third: WCOOP is not only about the money; it’s also about the prestige. It’s an opportunity for players to show off their skills in some of the biggest (and sometimes toughest) poker games on the planet. Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik of Norway, as if out of nowhere, is now a three-time WCOOP champion. We interviewed Sandvik following his first WCOOP win, a Stud Hi-Lo event in 2019. He already bagged another earlier in the series, the 39-H Razz event for $25k. On Day 18, Sandvik earned the third of his career, taking down the 81-H: HORSE event for $25,900. That’s three WCOOP titles in three different poker variations; consider Sandvik a rising star in the world of mixed-games.

First of career for “seijistar”: This is a player who you could almost sense would claim a title this year. It’s been a long time coming, after all. “seijistar” of Brazil has $3.2 million in online winnings to their name, which includes a string of impressive High Roller Club results. They came close in last year’s $10k PKO High Roller, finishing second for $111,206, but they’ve never before won a COOP. Until now. On Day 18, seijistar became a champion, earning $69,906 from a near-even split against Mexico’s “zufo16” in the 78-H. There will be more to come from seijistar we expect; if not this year, then certainly in future competitions.

Maiden title for Mulder: With $5.9 million in online winnings to his name, Teun “tinnoemulder” Mulder is not messing around. His accolades include wins in the Blowout Series, Turbo Series and Stadium Series, as well two SCOOP titles; he’s just never had that elusive WCOOP. Last night, the Dutch pro put that particular gap in his resume to rest, pushing through a tough field of hungry regs and taking down the 87-H: 6-max turbo for $59,582.

---

MORE ABOUT WCOOP:
SCHEDULE & RESULTS | SATELLITE GUIDE | SERIES HIGHLIGHTS
RESULTS 2002-2020 | 20 YEARS OF WCOOP | YEAR-BY-YEAR | MULTIPLE CHAMPIONS
OFFICIAL WCOOP PAGE | ALL BLOG REPORTS | DOWNLOAD AND PLAY!

---

TODAY’S RESULTS

*denotes deal
†inc. bounties

---

STAT TRACKER

WCOOP 2021 prize pools are now at over $84 million. First place finishers have been paid $13 million, including over $2.5 million in bounties. With the Main Events starting tonight and lots of huge tourneys still to come on the schedule, the series will soon spill over the $100 million mark.

Tournaments completed: 255
Entries: 980,475 (inc. 227,076 re-entries)
Prize pools: $84,748,507
First-place prizes: $13,078,912 (inc. $2,539,295 in bounties)
Tournaments ongoing: 6
Tournaments starting today:

Stats refer to completed tournaments only

---

STATES OF PLAY

A look at what’s happening in the events paused overnight:

Events 84 and 85 are currently on break. In the 84-H: Deepstack, “NeedBeat” of Estonia is chip lead with 15 players remaining and $48,648 set for first place. “vojta555cz” of Czech Republic is not far behind, and as stacks are still deep enough that there will be all to play for when the tourney resumes.

Lex Veldhuis is still in the 85-H, currently sitting 16th with 21 players remaining. Will this be the one he takes down to earn his first WCOOP? Chip lead “Ch33s3z0r” of Russia and second place “PhounderAA” of Poland would like to think not. An exciting one for Lex’s viewer to tune in to.

---

TWITCH WATCH

Lex Veldhuis came second in the 80-H for $172,791 on Day 18, an excellent result for the Twitch streamer, who stayed totally calm during the final hand with Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins. Check it out:

---

COUNTRIES LEADER BOARD

Brazil earned six more titles on Day 18, bringing them up to a total 49. Russia, meanwhile, have failed to secure a title for the second day running, leaving them further behind and effectively playing to hold on to second place. The UK and Netherlands both earned two more titles and could still challenge for second, though it’s more likely they will be racing each other for the third and fourth spots.

Current standings:

49 titles — Brazil
30 — Russia
22 — UK
17 – Netherlands
14 — Austria
12 —Canada
10 — Sweden
9 — Poland
8 — Finland
7— Norway
6 — Belarus, Germany, Hungary
5 —  Latvia, Mexico, Ukraine
4 — Argentina, Czech Republic, Lithuania
3 — Bulgaria
2 — Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark, Estonia, Ireland, Japan, Moldova, Peru, Romania
1 — Andorra, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, New Zealand, Panama, San Marino, Slovenia, Switzerland, Uzbekistan.

---

PLAYER OF THE SERIES UPDATE

Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi cashed in several events and earned his third title of the series on Day 18, catapulting him up to first place in the Overall leaderboard. “FONBET_RULIT” also picked up points to pull away from Patrick “pads1161” Leonard and “Camilalancefieldg” in what is still a very close contest.

Shakerchi also climbed to second place in the High leaderboard, although Yuri “theNERDguy” Martin’s double brings him to the top spot, ahead of Shakerchi by just five points. There’s still all still to play for during the last few days of the series:

OVERALL

1 – Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi (UK) – 1,570 points

2 – FONBET_RULIT (Russia) – 1,535
3 – Patrick “pads1161” Leonard (UK) – 1,415
4 – Camilancefieldg (Canada) – 1,405
5 – Konstantin “krakukra” Maslak (Russia) – 1,295
Prize: $25,000 to the winner

HIGH

1 – Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins (Brazil) – 870 points
2 – Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi (UK) – 865
3 – Joao “Naza114” Vieira (Netherlands) – 770
4 – Patrick “pads1161” Leonard (UK) – 710
5 – Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna (Finland) – 560
Prizes: 1st — $15,000; 2nd — $10,000; 3rd — $5,000

MEDIUM

1 – FONBET_RULIT (Russia) – 650 points
2 – Matt “OLD TIME GIN” Stone (Canada) – 545
3 – Camilancefieldg (Canada) – 525
4 – Jerry “Perrymejsen” Odeen (Sweden) – 500
5 – Scarmak3r (Slovenia) – 470
Prizes: 1st — $10,000; 2nd — $7,500; 3rd — $5,000; 4th — $2,500; 5th — $1,500; 6th-10th — $1,000

LOW

1 – ekvilibryst (Ukraine) – 610 points
2 – ILoveScarfGuy (Croatia) – 580
3 – WTFOMFGOAO (Russia) – 575
4 – Camilancefieldg (Canada) – 555
5 – FONBET_RULIT (Russia) – 525
Prizes: 1st — $5,000; 2nd — $2,500; 3rd — $1,500; 4th — $1,000; 5th — $500; 6th-10th — $300; 11th-20th — $150

Read a full explanation of this year’s promotions.

---

TODAY’S ACTION

Today is the biggest day on the WCOOP 2021 calendar. It’s time for the Main Events! The NLHE Main Events will offer $14 million in combined guarantees, and PLO players can also look forward to huge prize pools. The schedule is jam-packed with complimentary events to add to your schedule. Take a look:

WCOOP 89: Sunday Kickoff SE
Buy-ins: $5.50, $55, $530
Guarantees: $30k, $200K, $500K

WCOOP 90: Sunday Warm-Up SE, PKO
Buy-ins: $22, $215, $2,100
Guarantees: $275K, $750K, $850K

WCOOP 86: NLO8, 6-max
Buy-ins: $11, $109, $1,050
Guarantees: $25K, $60K, $150K

WCOOP 91: NLHE Main Event
Buy-ins: $55, $530, $5,200
Guarantees: $1.5 million, $2.5 million, $10 million

WCOOP 92: PLO Main Event (6-max)
Buy-ins: $109, $1,050, $10,300
Guarantees: $275K, $750K, $1 million

WCOOP 93: Sunday Cooldown SE (PKO, Freezeout turbo)
Buy-ins: $11, $109, $1,050
Guarantees: $100K, $400K, $650K

---

WATCH THE ACTION ON TWITCH AND YOUTUBE

Live broadcasts of WCOOP 2021 go out every Monday through Wednesday featuring cards up coverage of the biggest final tables and expert commentary from James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton and a host of special guests. Click for full details.

You can watch on the PokerStars YouTube channel, the PokerStars YouTube UK channel, or PokerStars’ Twitch channel.

Broadcast schedule:

---

POKER NEWS LIVE UPDATES

Our friends at Poker News will be bringing you live updates from a number of events during WCOOP. Head to their Live Reporting pages to see the action unfold in real time.

Poker News WCOOP reporting schedule:

WCOOP 91-L: $55 NLHE [8-Max, NLHE Main Event], $1.5M Gtd
WCOOP 91-M: $530 NLHE [8-Max, NLHE Main Event], $2.5M Gtd
WCOOP 91-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, NLHE Main Event], $10M Gtd
WCOOP 92-M: $1,050 PLO [6-Max, PLO Main Event], $750K Gtd
WCOOP 92-H: $10,300 PLO [6-Max, PLO Main Event], $1M Gtd
WCOOP 94-H: $1,050 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, Series Saver], $1.25M Gtd
WCOOP 01-H: $109 NLHE [Phase 2], $1M Gtd

---

PREVIOUS REPORTS

DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4  | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 | DAY 13 | DAY 14 | DAY 15 | DAY 16 | DAY 17

Back to Top