The 2021 WSOP Event #77: $1,500 FIFTY STACK No-Limit Hold’em came to an end the same day as the Main Event. Understandably, the $1.5k buy-in event didn't get quite as much sunlight as the biggest game in town, but it still made Paulo Joanello's day.
There were 1,501 entries to the event, which made for a prize pool of $2,003,835.
$321,917 of that pool was set aside for the first-place finisher, who proved to be first-time WSOP final tabler Paulo Joanello.
Joanello took the event down after a hectic two days of deep-and-steep play.
The Fifty Stack gets its name from the starting stack size, a deep 50,000 in chips. Still, the high-speed blinds mean that in practice the Fifty Stack doesn't play all that different than any other $1,500 event after the first few rounds of play.
The WSOP celebrated Joanello's win on Twitter with a post that read, "Today’s bracelet ceremony is for Paulo Joanello, winner of Event 77: $1,500 FIFTY Stack, held in [the Brasilia Room]."
Flying down to the RIO
Joanello is from Brazil and only visits the U.S. during the WSOP. This time he brought with him a few friends to rail his final table performance.
"When [Price] came back in heads-up, I thought I was going to lose," Joanello in his post-game interview, describing one particular tough spot. "But I looked at the bracelet and my rail and I said 'No,' this is going to Brazil and these people."
In the end, he was right.
Price took a tumble during the 800k/1.6 million blind level. With 23.9 million in his stack, Price shoved with Q♠2❤️ on a flop of Q♠9♦️6♣.
Joanello met Price's price and turned over K♣K♦️. Price needed a two or a queen to stave off the end of the tourney.
The dealer did not oblige. Instead, the turn was the 6♠ and the river was the 9❤️.
"It's a dream, a dream come true," said Joanello after his win. "I have no voice left because I was yelling. But it's a dream for all of us."
Price won $198,970 for second place.
The WSOP tweeted: "Brazil native Paulo Joanello outlasts 1,501 entrants in the $1,500 NLH Fifty Stack to earn $321,017 and his first WSOP bracelet."
2021 WSOP Event #77: $1,500 FIFTY STACK No-Limit Hold’em complete final table results
| Position | Player Name | Payout |
| 1st | Paulo Joanello | $321,917 |
| 2nd | Toby Price | $198,970 |
| 3rd | Martin Bicanik | $146,061 |
| 4th | Ron Moisescu | $108,349 |
| 5th | Roongsak Griffeth | $81,228 |
| 6th | Axel Hallay | $61,550 |
| 7th | Elio Fox | $47,145 |
| 8th | David Morel | $36,508 |
| 9th | Scott Hall | $28,585 |
Featured image source: WSOP
