Joao Simao has been considered one of the most successful online poker players. On Monday, the Brazilian took down Event #2: $1,111 Caesars Care Charity Event of the 2021 World Series of Poker Online on GGPoker. He outlasted a 1,584 entry-field to win his first WSOP gold bracelet and $206,075 in the top prize money. The event built a prize pool of $1,759,824 and raised $175,824 for the Caesars Care charity that supports those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This was his fourth-largest tournament score, bringing his career earnings to more than $3.4 million.
Karl “HotBoy19” Mets bubbled the event in 270th place, leaving the remaining players in the money.
Day 2 began with 20 players remaining and Simao in the lead. Diego “CAACAUS” Dos Santos (12th for $10,270), Spanish pro Sergio Aido (13th for $10,270), two-time bracelet winner Elio Fox (15th for $8,973), Timo “omaha4lolz” Kamphues (16th for $8,973), Claas Segebrecht (18th for $7,839), and Leonid “LeBroHbKA” Logunov (19th for $7,839) were the prominent ITM finishers on Day 2.
Roman Hrabec began the 9-handed FT as a chip leader, with Simao in second place and Andras Nemeth hot on his heels. Peter Raimondi (9th for $20,607) was the first player to fall when his K-Q couldn’t beat the A-J of Tom Shaham. A little later, Le Fang exited the FT when his A-10 clashed with the A-J of Simao. Fang took home $27,480 for his eighth-place finish. These players were followed by Jinlong “yiliuqi” Hu (7th for $36,646), Andras Nemeth (6th for $48,868), Ilya “Dezauzer” Yakunin (5th place for $65,166) and the start of the FT chip leader Roman Hrabec (4th place for $86,900).
Tom Shaham lost a flip and exited it in 3rd place for $115,884. His QhJh was unable to beat the pocket nines of Sandvik, who took 27.9 million into heads-up with Simao, who held 11.7 million.
The heads-up saw a number of lead changes but ultimately Simao took it down. The final hand saw Sandvik moving all-in with Ah Qd and Simao called with Qc 10c. The board ran out 10d 4s 3s 7d Jc, giving Simao the top pair to win the coveted title. Sandvik settled for $154,533 as a runner-up.
Final Table Payouts (USD)
- Joao Simao – $206,075
- Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik – $154,533
- Tom “Jabochi” Shaham – $115,884
- Roman Hrabec – $86,900
- Ilya “Dezauzer” Yakunin – $65,166
- Andras Nemeth – $48,868
- Jinlong “yiliuqi” Hu – $36,646
- Le “Hugo777” Fang – $27,480
- Peter “BigFishEight” Raimondi – $20,607