For the second year running, the World Series of Poker ran an online bracelet tournament in conjunction with all the live action taking place in the Rio, that concluded yesterday with the finale playing out in a live setting.
Clayton Maguire beat the field of 1,247 entries (which was up on last year’s event by 342 players) to win his first ever WSOP gold bracelet and $210,279—taking down Event #66: $1000 WSOP.com Online No-Limit Hold’em. This was Maguire’s third time to cash in the WSOP.
The first stage of the tournament took place online at WSOP.com before the remaining six players traveled to the Rio in Las Vegas to play the final table in a live setting.
“It was fun to play in a big online tournament,” Maguire said after his victory. “I used to play a lot online before Black Friday. I don’t get to play this high very often anymore. I am really happy to win the gold bracelet. It’s mostly about the money. But this is a feather in the cap.”
Maguire is no stranger to the WSOP. Back in 2014, he finished 44th in the Main Event and cashed for $186,388.
Simeon Naydenov, from Sofia, Bulgaria finished as the runner up in Event #66 after an admirable head to head battle with Maguire. He won $150,569 for his efforts—this was the 16th time has cashed at the WSOP, including a first place finish in 2013 for his only bracelet.
Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault, from Montreal, Canada finished in third, which paid out $110,172 in prize winnings.
Other notable in the money finishers were Billy Baxter, a seven-time gold bracelet winner and member of the Poker Hall of Fame who finished in 15th place.
The Main Event
The final flight of the Main Event ended up attracting a whopping 4,240 players—making it the largest field in a single day in Main Event history.
With a strong Day 1C, total entries for the 2016 Main Event reached a five-year high of 6,737 players of which a record 1,011 will cash for at least $15,000. The winner will take home $8,000,000 of the overall prize pool of $63,327,800.
Phil Ivey made his first appearance of the 2016 WSOP and bagged 26,100 chips at the end of the day. Timothy Sheehan leads all players headed into Day 2, but notable players still remain such as Joe McKeehen, Chris Moneymaker and Phil Hellmuth.
