$1.2 million first-place prize on the line when final table resumes Saturday
The massive field that turned out for the GGPoker WSOP Winter Online Circuit Main Event trimmed down to a formidable final table lineup Sunday.
The $10 million guaranteed, $1,700 Main Event drew 6,395 entries, with some of poker’s finest navigating through that huge turnout and making final table appearances.
Lithuania’s Paulis Plausinaitis leads the final table field, ending Sunday’s Day 2 flight with 95 big blinds. Plausinaitis and the rest of the field come back for the final table this Saturday, Jan. 16, with the action playing out on the GGPoker.tv Twitch channel.
The eventual winner will bag $1,236,361, as the big turnout pushed the final prize pool to $10,327,925.
GGPoker WSOP Winter Online Circuit $1,700 Main Event final table and chip counts
Player Name*
Country
Big Blinds
1
Paulis Plausinaitis
Lithuania
95
2
Artem ‘Amsterq’ Prostak
Belarus
68
3
Joseph Cheong
United States
63
4
‘likeboy’
China
59
5
Alexandru Papazian
Romania
31
6
‘turkey1’
China
27
7
‘BetAddict’
Israel
25
8
Joni Jouhkmainen
Finland
17
9
‘DaiMing141319’
China
11
Big names and unknowns vying for the $1,236,361 grand prize
Plausinaitis ran to a final table appearance in one of the toughest tournaments of 2020, finishing eighth in the $25,000 NLH Poker Players Championship. That run came forth in last summer’s GGPoker WSOP Online Bracelet Events series, with Plausinaitis earning $210,079 from the final table run.
The Lithuanian will look to improve on that success at Saturday’s Main Event final table. Plausinaitis’ 95 big blind stack represents more chips than the smallest four chip stacks combined.
Lurking at third in the chip counts is one of the world’s best tournament players. Joseph Cheong finished Day 2 with 63 big blinds, looking to add to a resume that places him among poker’s elite tournament players.
Cheong’s career statistics include more than $14.6 million in live tournament earnings, including a WSOP bracelet and three WSOP Circuit rings. Cheong also lays claim to just under $4 million in online tournament earnings, according to records from the PocketFives database.
Cheong looks to add Circuit Ring No. 4 to the resume with a win in the $1,700 Main Event. His career-best finish came at the 2010 WSOP Main Event, as the American player finished third for $4,130,049.
Other final contenders include Romania's Alexandru Papazian, who comes back Saturday with 31 big blinds. Papazian will look to add his first Circuit Ring to a resume that includes a WSOP bracelet, $3.85 million in online tournament earnings, and just under $3.5 million in live tournament cashes.
Another tough out at the final table is Finland’s Joni Jouhkmainen. The Team partypoker pro and Pot-Limit Omaha crusher looks to spin up a 17 big blind stack into a No-Limit Hold’em tournament win.
The $1,700 Main Event final table concludes the GGPoker Winter Online Circuit Series. The 18-event series yielded $100 million in guarantees, kicking off Dec. 11 and finishing up Saturday.
