After a mammoth weekend at the virtual felt, Alexandros Kolonias won the 2020 Poker Masters Online Championship Series, and in doing so clinched a bonus $50,000 payday. The final ten events were set up for a fantastic finish and that was exactly what they got as some of the biggest names in the world of poker put down some eye-watering buy-ins and loaded up the Poker Masters Online Championship lobby. Here’s how the final straight produced a champion.
Event #21
The $25,000 buy-in saw Dan Smith win the day and take home a massive $511,875 top prize when he beat Artur Martirosyan in the heads-up. With the tournament having 77 entries in total, elsewhere at the final table where eight players cashed, Steve O’Dwyer was edged into 6th place for a result of $86,625, while Alex Foxen snuck into 4th place for $141,750. Timothy Adams outlasted Foxen to sneak into 3rd place for $228,375.
Event #22
The $10,000-entry event which followed saw Alex Foxen get even closer to the outright win as he came 2nd for $150,150. Foxen lost at the last to Sebastian Lewin, who took home $240,860 for his efforts. Eventual leaderboard winner Alexandros Kolonias banked an impressive $92,400 for his 3rd place finish, but the 92 points he collected would go some way to putting himself in pole position for the win later on in the weekend.
Elsewhere in the event, there were cashes for Jorryt van Hoof (11th for $21,096), Joni Jouhkimainen (6th for $32,725) and former Purple Jacket winner Ali Imsirovic (5th for $48,125).
Event #23
Another big win for French player Pascal Lefrancois headlined Event #23, which was Pot Limit Omaha in Six-Max. Lefrancois won for a massive $527,509 after defeating Andras Nemeth, who took home $343,125 for his runner-up finish.
There was a min-cash for George Wolff, who came in 9th for $55,455 in the $25,000-entry event as 61 entries comprised a prize-pool of just over $1.5 million.
Event #24
It was another six-max event after that, as play switched from PLO to no limit hold’em. This time around, Bosnian phenom Ali Imsirovic got the victory and cashed out a whopping $277,096. Also cashing in the event were Luuk Gieles (8th for $34,650), Sam Greenwood (4th for $93,500) and Dario Sammartino (3rd for $132,000) in an event that attracted a massive 110 entries who ponied up the $10,000 buy-in.
Event #25
Artur Martirosyan took the overall lead when he finished 3rd in Event #25 for $232,000, which cost $25,000 to enter. Timothy Adams put in another very strong performance, coming in 5th for $112,000, while the in-form Pascal Lefrancois cashed for $144,000 by finishing in 4th place.
With 64 entries, just eight players would cash, and this event was more about those around the top of the leaderboard who missed out, with Wiktor Malinowski ($352,000) missing out in the heads-up battle for the title against Samuel Vousden ($520,000).
Event #26
Malinowski would come 3rd in the next event too, which cost $10,000 to enter and took place in NLHE. Won by Mark David for $284,653, the $10,000 Six-Max event had 91 entries and also featured cashes for Pascal Lefrancois (5th for $56,875) and Ali Imsirovic (9th for $29,575). Former leaderboard-topping Pauli Ayras sneaked into the money in 12th place, cashing for $24,932 in an event which had over $900,000 in the prize-pool.
Event #27
Having already cashed seven times before the $25,000 NLHE event, Jorryt van Hoof managed profit again as he raced into an early lead in Event #26, eventually cashing for $114,750 in 4th place. He couldn’t quite manage the win, however, as former champion Ali Imsirovic took it down for $446,250, gathering in 268 priceless points in the race for the Purple Jacket.
Event #28
Mustapha Kanit won this $10,000-entry event for $237,732 as he defeated Austrian High Roller Matthias Eibinger to take down Event #28. While Eibinger cashed for $148,200, he wasn’t the only one ticking the proft column, with Sergi Reixach (3rd for $91,200), Timothy Adams (5th for $47,500) and Dan Smith (10th for $20,822) also coming up trumps.
With two events to go, it was so close, Artur Martirosian leading the way with 957 points, trailed closely by Timothy Adams (861 points), Ali Imsirovic (857 points) and Alexandros Kolonias (823 points).
Event #29
The Main Event was always going to be huge, but with 77 entries overall and $3.85 million in the prize-pool, Linus Loeliger’s victory for $1,097,250 proved that he really is one of the very best online poker players in the world. Elsewhere, Steve O’Dwyer came in 4th for $346,500, while lower down the list, David Peters (7th for $182,875) and Kahe Burns (8th for $163,625) both missed out on the really big prizes in the $50,000-entry event.
Event #30
The final event saw half a dozen players still in with a chance of winning the overall Championship, and when several made the final table, it made for a thrilling conclusion to the action. The $10,00-entry NLHE event saw an incredible 146 entries, meaning $367,782 was up top, and more importantly, 368 Championship points.
With the NLHE drama taking place at Six-Max tables, players like Steve O’Dwyer (17th), Chris ‘Big Huni’ Hunichen (15th) and Ben Heath (14th) all made the money, cashing for $26,789 each. They were to miss out on the final dozen, but with Pascal Lefrancois, Artur Martirosyan and Alexandros Kolonias all involved, the title was still up for grabs.
Lefrancois busted on the final table when he finished 7th for $45,990, while Martirosyan bowed out in 5th place for $91,250. Those points turned out not to be enough, as Kolonias powered home to win the final event and gather in the 368 points that propelled him to the top of the overall leaderboard and ultimately the outright victory as well as the Championship Purple Jacket.
“I am very proud of this win because I think I played the best poker I have ever played,” said Kolonias to Poker Central when the action concluded. “The competition was really tough. The Purple Jacket is an important title and it feels about the same as winning the WSOP Europe Main Event last year, but that time I had some tears when I won, I was more emotional.
Here’s how they all ended up in the official final top 10.
2020 Poker Masters Online Championship Final Leaderboard Top 10 Standings:
| Event | Name | Cashes | Winnings | Points |
| 1st | Alexandros Kolonias | 11 | $1,266,296 | 1,191 |
| 2nd | Artur Martirosian | 9 | $1,278,974 | 1,048 |
| 3rd | Linus Loeliger | 3 | $1,511,818 | 1,037 |
| 4th | Timothy Adams | 11 | $1,043,882 | 861 |
| 5th | Ali Imsirovic | 9 | $1,035,696 | 857 |
| 6th | Andras Nemeth | 8 | $974,987 | 807 |
| 7th | Pascal Lefrancois | 6 | $1,049,887 | 782 |
| 8th | Pauli Ayras | 6 | $968,048 | 748 |
| 9th | Alex Foxen | 7 | $792,677 | 736 |
| 10th | Steve O’Dwyer | 6 | $1,005,654 | 732 |
