Two more days of top-level online poker action have seen the lead at the top of the 2020 Poker Masters leaderboard change hands yet again.
Event #8
With 104 entries, the $10,000-entry no-limit hold’em event saw players in the Top 10 of the leaderboard experience mixed fortunes. Players such as Joao Vieira(10th for $26,000), Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen (9th for $26,000) and Mike ‘Sir Watts’ Watson (15th for $20,800) all fell short of the final table but made money.
The final table saw Alex Foxen (7th for $41,600) and Timothy Adams (6th for $52,000) fall just short of glory, but some of the most in-form players on the planet – and in these Poker Masters – were fighting for the win. Elias Talvitie finished 4th for $91,000 and was outlasted by Spanish player Sergi Reixach in 3rd place for $130,000. It would be Hungarian player Andras Nemeth ($182,000) who made the heads-up battle, but he couldn’t get the better of Finnish PLO specialist and partypoker pro Joni Jouhkimainen, who won the event for just over a quarter of a million dollars. He was delighted with his result and put up a screenshot ‘for the fans’ on social media shortly afterwards.
🏆 #partypoker pic.twitter.com/yAVWJF8AVF
— Joni Jouhkimainen (@Jouhkb) April 16, 2020
Event #9
It was another NLHE event for the ninth event of the series, as the $10,000-entry Six-Max event saw just 78 players pony up the stack of high society. Once again, Nemeth made the final table and outlasted Italian Dario Sammartino as he was first to bust in 6th place for $33,150. Nemeth banked $48,750, but fell in 5th place before some massive names battled it out for a similarly huge first prize.
Fedor Holz came out of retirement (again) to finish 4th for $68,250 and Kristen Bicknell went one place better in 3rd place for $93,6000. They would miss out on an epic heads-up, with the second most winning live tournament player in history, Justin Bonomo ending up in 2nd place for $152,100. It was Frenchman Pascal Lefrancois who banked $243,988 for the victory, which put him into 8th place in the overall Series at the time.
Event #10
Saturday night’s all right for fighting, as Elton John once sang – and Bernie Taupin once wrote – and the first event of the evening was certainly a scrap. With 119 entries taking part, Event #10 was a $10,000 buy-in NLHE event, and it was won by Australian High Roller crusher Kahle Burns for a massive $291,550. Heads-up was a fight between the triumphant Burns and Luuk Gieles, who came so close for $208,250.
Other players who made important cashes included Joao Vieira (5th for $77,350), Ben Heath (11th for $29,750) and Chris Hunichen (16th for $23,800), who scraped past the bubble into the money and 24 valuable leaderboard points.
Event #11
The final event of the evening in the 2020 Poker Masters Online Series was the NLHE Six-Max event, and saw fellow Australian pro Michael Addamo make it a one-two for Down Under players on the night as players winning events.
Hunichen did a lot better than scrape into the money places in this one, eventually losing out heads-up for a handsome payday of $183,300 – and 183 points. While Addamo earned the biggest slice of the pie, raking in 294 Series points and $294,037 in winnings, there were plenty of other winners.
Former WSOP Main Event finalist and Dutch player Jorryt van Hoof was busted in 3rd place for $112,800, while Justin Bonomo won $58,750 for coming 5th at the final table. Making the money but missing out on the chance to take the title were Jake Schindler (7th for $30,550), Luuk Gieles (9th for $30,550) and British high stakes player Talal Shakerchi (11th for $25,754).
With Nemeth holding a lead of 105 points from Event #11 winner Michael Addamo, but other players such as Alex Foxen, Jorryt van Hoof and Chris Hunichen all in with a great chance, the 2020 Poker Masters Online Series is sure to build to a thrilling conclusion.
2020 Poker Masters Online Series current standings (after 11 events of 30):
| Event | Name | Cashes | Winnings | Points |
| 1st | Andras Nemeth | 4 | $510,842 | 511 |
| 2nd | Michael Addamo | 3 | $444,037 | 406 |
| 3rd | Pauli Ayras | 4 | $394,491 | 393 |
| 4th | Elias Talvitie | 2 | $572,250 | 380 |
| 5th | Alex Foxen | 2 | $351,277 | 352 |
| 6th | Jorryt van Hoof | 4 | $348,737 | 350 |
| 7th | Sergi Reixach | 4 | $475,865 | 347 |
| 8th | Alexandros Kolonias | 4 | $341,637 | 342 |
| 9th | Chris Hunichen | 4 | $344,338 | 315 |
| 10th | Mike Watson | 3 | $294,500 | 295 |
