More bracelet winners have been announced from the World Series of Poker's online tourneys that are part of the 2024 WSOP's schedule of events. In two prominent online Championship events, complete results have now been published. In one of them, Canada's Michael 'SirWatts' Watson captured Online Event #21, $1,000 NL Hold'em 6-Max Online Championship, for the veteran pro's long-sought first WSOP bracelet and a $138,327.48 payday.
Joining Watson as a debut bracelet winner is Michigan's Christopher Moon, who took down Online Event #22, $1,000 NL Hold'em Championship. Moon, a two-time Circuit ring winner himself, earned $139,248 along with the bracelet gold.
Brief summaries of both events follow:
Online Event #21, $1,000 NL Hold'em 6-Max Online Championship
Canada's Watson has been a dominant performer on both the live and online scenes for the better part of two decades, amassing over $28 million in recorded winnings, according to The Hendon Mob, which also places him 28th on THM's global all-time list. Watson has won everywhere, and in recent years he's become a standout in the international Triton Series high-roller events.
One honor has always eluded Watson, however, and that's a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Watson has been a six-time runner-up in live WSOP events and has come close on other occasions, including just last week when he finished fourth in the live Event #88 8-Game Mix Championship that Calvin Anderson won for his own fifth career bracelet.
Watson's breakthrough win at the WSOP made him the 10th player to complete poker's unofficial 'Triple Crown', an informal and unofficial honor noting players who excelled around the globe and won a bracelet at any WSOP bracelet event, a WPT main event, and an EPT main event. Gavin Griffin was the first to accomplish the feat, back in 2008.
Though a fantastic feat, poker's informal Triple Crown has lost much of its luster as attention-grabbing high-roller series such as the Triton Series and the PokerGO Tour have also risen to prominence. In Watson's case, it even comes with an asterisk of sorts: The Triple Crown as originally imagined included only live championship events, and the WSOP now includes online events such as this in its annual series offerings. Should a Quintuple Crown of Poker ever come into fashion, Watson's four Triton wins would give him four of the five legs already.
Here, in the online 6-max championship, Watson, playing on WSOP's three-state MI/NV/NJ platform as 'PecheMartel', topped a 1,052-entry field to win the $138,327.48 winner's prize. Watson held off six-time Circuit ring winner Michael McNeil to close out the win. McNeil collected $101,118.24 for second, while Michael Balan's third-place run was worth $74,323.80.
Online Event #21's 1,052 total entries came from 606 players who also combined to contribute 446 re-entries. The resulting $946,800 prize pool was distributed among the top 180 finishers.
Online Event #21 final-table results:
- Mike Watson 'PecheMartel' - $138,327.48
- Michael McNeil 'slapnutz44' - $101,118.24
- Michael Balan 'DDSpade' - $74,323.80
- John Gallaher 'JRG.' - $54,630.36
- Derek Kwan 'san_moro' - $40,428.36
- Matt Salsberg 'ShmahYisrael' - $30,108.24
Online Event #22, $1,000 NL Hold'em Championship
Michigan's Christopher 'MeVsDiscord' Moon took down his own first bracelet win in another prominent event, the $1,000 NL Hold'em Championship. Moon battled through a 1,059-entry field (683 unique players, 376 re-entries) to earn the winner's $139,247.91 payout.
Moon battled through a tough final table to claim the win, which also included runner-up Joe 'esobs77' Kuether, Joseph Couden, David Mzareulov, Joe Elpayaa, and Brett Apter. Kuether just missed his own long-sought first bracelet while collecting second-place money of $101,791.08. D'Andre Brown finished third for $74,818.35.
Event #21's 1,059 total entries generated a $953,100 prize pool, which was spread across the top 180 finishers.
Online Event #22 final-table results:
- Christopher Moon 'MeVsDiscord' - $139,247.91
- Joe Kuether 'esobs77' - $101,791.08
- D'Andre Brown 'Lookin4booki' - $74,818.35
- Mordechai Goldner 'outflushed' - $54,993.87
- Joseph Couden 'Buffblastin' - $40,697.37
- David Mzareulov 'Dmztx' - $30,308.58
- Joseph Elpayaa 'Magdy24' - $22,779.09
- Bill Schonsheck 'Mmmroy' - $17,251.11
- Brett Apter 'nines' - $13,152.78
Featured image source: PokerStars / European Poker Tour
