The World Series of Poker is back, awarding its coveted gold bracelets at the 2024 international WSOP Online festival, hosted on the Natural8 platform within the GG Network.
GGPoker, which recently acquired the prestigious WSOP brand, is running the virtual festival from August 18 to September 30, with a total of 33 bracelets up for grabs. So far, three have already been claimed by Malaysia’s William Teoh, Latvia’s Ritvars Cekalins, and American elite player Bryn Kenney, who secured his career second gold bracelet.
2024 WSOP Online – Natural8
William Teoh Wins First Bracelet At 5th Annual Kickoff Bounty
Malaysia’s William Teoh nicknamed “Lemonw” became the proud owner of the first 2024 WSOP Online [International] gold bracelet after defeating Italy’s Pietro Corsi “Pietroc98″at heads up of the 5th Annual Kickoff Bounty event. Teoh outlasted the final stage’s 338 qualifiers out of the 3,369 total turnout to lock up US$ 74,467.28 plus a larger US$ 94,539.86 in bounties for a grand total US$ 169,007.14 payday. This more than trumped his highest live score of US$ 55,999.
Teoh is a well known Malaysian poker player often seen at the poker tables in Manila, Philippines. His best year on the live felt was in 2022 where he finished 2nd at the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Philippines Main Event in September and in November. That same year he also finished 3rd at the Asian Philippine Poker League, (APPL) Main Event and 2nd at the PokerStars Manila Super Series 16 Main Event for total winnings of US$ 173,900 for the year.
The 5th Annual Kickoff Bounty cost US$ 500 to enter building a prize pool of US$ 1,600,275.
Ritvars Cekalins Wins First Bracelet at Gladiators Of Poker
The $300 buy in Gladiators Of Poker was a very popular event with 11,630 entries across a slew of qualifying heats. This easily blew past the $2.5M guarantee with the 1,178 advancing players looking at a piece of the bloated US$ 3,244,770 prize pool. Asian players were absent at the final table. Latvian online player Ritvars Cekalins secured the win after defeating the highly decorated Bulgarian pro / WSOP bracelet holder Ognyan Dimov at heads up.
In addition to strapping his first ever WSOP gold, Cekalins earned the US$ 409,886.44 top prize. For runner up Dimov, not a bad payday as well, padding up US$ 315,820.86 into his online account.
Bryn Kenney Wins Career Second WSOP Bracelet at Bounty NLH Championship
It was a star-studded final table at the $2,100 Bounty NLH Championship with the title coming down between two players vying for their second bracelet – Ukraine’s Andrii Derzhypilkskyi and USA’s Bryn Kenney. In the end, the American elite player prevailed to capture the coveted gold and a handsome payout totaling US$ 226,057.13.
Among the finalists was lone Asian player from Singapore, Zheng Sheng Jonathan Gan “Jonganthelongan”, finishing 7th for a payout out of $37,164.28.
With stats dating back to 2007, it wasn’t until 2014 did Kenney lock up his first WSOP bracelet after winning the $1,500 Ten-Game Mix Six-Handed.
In 2016, Kenney placed 2nd at the Triton Super High Roller Series (SHRS) in the Philippines to collect his first seven figure payout, equivalent to $1.4 Million. In 2019, he tasted his first multi-million payout at the Triton SHRS Jeju Main Event finishing 2nd for $3 Million.
This trend continued until 2019 when he reached eight figures, winning $20.5 Million for runner-up at the Triton Million For Charity in London. To date, Kenney is ranked first in USA’s All Time Money List with over $67 Million in live tournament earnings.
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