Nicolo "Paquitooo" Molinelli Wins WSOP Online Event #81: People's Choice Event [Spin the Wheel] ($243,415)
After a heads up battle that lasted over an hour, Italy's Nicolo "Paquitooo" Molinelli has emerged victorious in Event #81: People's Choice Event [Spin the Wheel], winning the biggest share of the nearly $2 million prize pool. He battled through the field of 1,925 runners and won $243,415 including a massive bounty of almost $100,000.
With no preset format, the structure of Event #81 was determined based on random spins of a prize wheel. Once they were done, the format for #81 was set as a 6-handed No Limit Hold'em Bounty with a $1,050 buy-in.
Check out below how Dan 'Artosis' Stemkoski and Calvin Lee determined the format for this event.
WSOP Online Event #81: People's Choice Event [Spin the Wheel] Final Table Results
| Place | Name | Country | Total Prize | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicolo "Paquitooo" Molinelli | Italy | $243,415 | $144,199 |
| 2 | Kyle "Eskimo Bro" Menard | Canada | $128,417 | $104,644 |
| 3 | Lukas "rustyhusky" Hafner | Austria | $98,899 | $75,940 |
| 4 | Longyun "Mr Li" Li | China | $66,875 | $55,110 |
| 5 | Sami Kelopuro | Finland | $47,821 | $39,993 |
| 6 | Aleksandr "Srinavasan" Grishchuk | Russian Federation | $30,898 | $29,023 |
| 7 | Itai "PokerSmart" Drory | Israel | $31,303 | $21,062 |
| 8 | Pavel "EzzzGame" Plesuv | Moldova | $31,078 | $15,285 |
| 9 | Michelle "hu4trollzz" Shah | United States | $24,920 | $11,092 |
Action of the Day
Within an hour of registration closing, the bubble had burst and players were in the money including, once again, GGPoker Ambassador Daniel Negreanu who was one of the players to fall before the late stages.
By the time the final table was reached action slowed down significantly compared to the earlier pace. Short stack Michelle "hu4trollzz" Shah busted rapidly in ninth place, but play lasted almost an hour before Pavel "EzzzGame" Plesuv exited in eight after losing the race with fives versus Lucas "rustyhusky" Hafner's ace-king.
Itai "PokerSmart" Drory and Aleksandr "Srinavasan" Grishchuk went down pretty quickly after, with Grishchuk nurturing his short stack long enough to sneak in some payjumps. After another hour, high-staker Sami Kelopuro from Finland fell in fifth place when Kyle "Eskimo Bro" Menard's ace-queen cracked his kings. Longyun "Mr Li" Li then ran his short stack into Menard's ace-ten to leave the field with three.
Thirty minutes later, Hafner ran into Molinelli's aces to set up a heads-up match that went on for over hour. While Menard was the short stack for most of it he fought on valiantly, chipping up to even stacks at one point, before Molinelli hit a straight against his eights to crush his stack. Menard came back with a double, but it all ended a few hands later when his ace-queen was cracked by king-eight.