Rok Gostisa won the 2021 WPT World Online Championships Main Event on Tuesday, using a huge bluff and getting some blessings from the poker gods heads-up to beat out 1,178 players and cash for $959,493.
The Main Event was spread over more than two weeks using a structure we have seen more and more of in large online events as a way to give players more flexibility. It began on Sunday, August 29 with the first of three starting flights; one each on consecutive Sundays. Day 2 was this past Monday, with the final table wrapping up yesterday.
Vlad Darie began the nine-handed final table as the chip leader, but David Peters quickly took over, knocking out Joao Simao in ninth place and taking a chunk out of Rodrigo Sirichuk’s stack. He eliminated Sirichuk shortly thereafter.
Darie was undaunted, however, knocking out Manuel Fritz and Talal Shakerchi on the same hand. If there is any consolation for them, aside from wonderful quantities of money, they were dead after the flop, so there was no sweat about which to be disappointed.
Then Peters went on a revenge tour. First, Philipp Hofbauer doubled through him, but not long after, Peters found Aces against Hofbauer’s Kings to oust him from the tournament. Next, Bruno Volkmann did the same thing, doubling through Peters, but then getting sent to the rail by the same opponent.
Peters was dominating, building his stack so high that he had more than three times his opponents’ combined total at one point three-handed. When Gostisa knocked out Darie in third place, Peters still had a 2-to-1 chip lead.
Gostisa made a huge move toward the beginning of heads-up play to setup his victory. With nothing but Jack-high, he bluffed on the flop, turn, and river, eventually getting Peters to fold. Now, Peters only had bottom pair, a hand very few would have much confidence in when their opponent is betting into them the whole way, but still, Gostisa made the bold play at the right time. Shortly thereafter, he took the lead.
Peters was against the ropes, staring at a 2-to-1 deficit, but he found himself in a fantastic situation when he had top set, so he committed all of his chip to the pot. Gostisa had an overpair with Tens, but was able to hit one of the two remaining Tens on the river to best Peters and win the tournament.
In addition to the prize money, Gostisa received a replica of the Mike Sexton Champions Cup, his name engraved on the real thing, and a Hublot watch.
2021 WPT World Online Championship Main Event – Final Table Results
- Rok Gostisa – $959,493
- David Peters – $660,482
- Vlad Darie – $453,677
- Bruno Volkmann – $296,185
- Philipp Hofbauer – $202,734
- Talal Shakerchi – $156,421
- Manuel Fritz – $123,182
- Rodrigo Sirichuk – $97,472
- Joao Simao – $76,713
