Professional poker player “BigBlindBets” won the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event on Wednesday, taking home $1.6 million.
The British player keeps a low profile, and only the information he shared on PokerMarket is available to the public. In a blog post, “BigBlindBets” writes that he began as a recreational player in 2010, making a move towards professional poker in 2013.
On Wednesday, “BigBlindBets” became the winner of the 2019 WCOOP $5,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, securing a $1,665,962 payout. To assume first place, he had to beat a field of 2,236 entrants — including British Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi and Brazilian Danilo “dans170’” de Lima Demetrio.
British “raidalot” attempted to become the first player to win both the Spring Champion of Online Poker and the WCOOP. However, the former hedge fund manager ended up third. By remaining in the game, “dans170” secured more than $1.1 million, but the victor was to receive an additional $478,409.
However, the Brazilian couldn’t top the Brit’s ace-deuce of spades and finished second — good for $1,187,553.
Ever since 2002, the WCOOP has been sponsored by the online poker cardroom PokerStars. The 2019 tournament paid out more than $104 million to players.