The second event of the 2020 World Series of Poker played out similarly to the first. One of poker’s brightest shining stars made a deep run, the final table included a well-respected player who originally cut their teeth in the online arena before finding live success and the eventual winner was a bit of mystery to the audience watching at home.

Louis ‘PokeThese’ Lynch emerged victorious from a field of 919 runners in Event #2 ($1,000 No Limit Hold’em) to win $168,585.85 while Daniel Negreanu busted in 18th place and Jason Somerville made the final table.

It took nearly 10 minutes before the first elimination of the final table. Sean ‘bahbababa’ Prendiville moved all-in for 1,409,873 from the button with and Matthew ‘Michmeister’ Mich called off his tournament life from the small blind with [aj]. The flop came to keep Mich in control. The turn flipped the script and gave Prendiville top pair. The was no help for Mich and he was eliminated in eighth.

A few hands later, a standard race gave Prendiville his second victim. Jon ‘jonnyg93’ Gisler shoved his stack of 2,200,981 all-in from early position with and Prendiville called from the big blind with . The flop gave Prendiville middle set but left Gisler with nine outs for the nut flush. Neither the turn nor the river were of any help, however, and he was sent to the rail in seventh place.

Six-handed play lasted 15 full minutes before Somerville’s run at a second bracelet came to a screeching halt. From UTG, Lynch bet 1,000,000 with before Somerville re-raised all-in for 2,831,970 from the button with and Lynch called. The board offered Somerville no relief and he was out in sixth place and Lynch had his first victim.

Almost 30 full minutes of five-handed ended when Prendiville clashed with Kevin ‘GoneBananas’ Garosshen. From the button, Prendiville shoved for 2,390,863 with and Garosshen re-shoved from the small blind with . The flop kept Garaosshen in front but increased Prendiville’s outs. The turn gave Garosshen a set and Prendiville was unable to hit any one of the four remaining tens to make a straight after the river completed the board and filled Garosshen’s boat. Despite picking up two eliminations early, Prendiville was eliminated in fifth.

Daniel ‘IntoTheRiver’ Fischer was the next to go. Fischer shoved all-in for 2,813,832 from the button with only to have ‘KOVID19‘ call from the big blind with . The flop gave ‘KOVID19’ a few extra outs. The turn was one of them and ‘KOVID19’ turned an unbeatable straight and all Fischer could do was watch the meaningless, if not cruel, complete the river to officially end his tournament with a fourth place result.

Twenty minutes later, ‘KOVID19’ sent play from three-handed to heads-up. ‘KOVID19’ bet  816,000 from the button with , Lynch folded the small blind, but Garosshen moved all-in from the big blind for 837,631 with . The flop ended all hope for Garosshen. The turn was meaningless and the river gave ‘KOVID19’ quads to officially end Garosshen’s run in third.

Thanks to a 3.5-1 chip lead, Lynch needed just a few hands to finish off his final opponent. From the button, ‘KOVID19’ bet their final 2,246,570 with and ‘PokeThese’ called with . The board ran out to completely miss ‘KOVID19’ and give ‘PokeThese’ the bracelet and $168,585.95 payday.

Final Table Payouts

1. Louis ‘PokeThese’ Lynch – $168,585.95
2. KOVID19 – $104,242.17
3. Kevin ‘GoneBananas’ Garosshen – $73,423.50
4. Daniel ‘IntoTheRiver’ Fischer – $52,383
5. Sean ‘bahbababa’ Prendiville – $37,890.37
6. Jason ‘haderade’ Somerville – $27,762.99
7. Jon ‘jonnyg93’ Gisler – $20,691.28
8. Matthew ‘Michmeister’ Mich – $15,627.59

Notable Finishes

Negreanu and Somerville weren’t the only familiar faces to make the money in Event #2. Three of New Jersey’s top online grinders, Michael ‘itwasthator0’ Gagliano (13th – $7,333.62), Daniel ‘redsoxnets5’ Sewnig (24th – $4,801.77) and David ‘dehhhhh’ Coleman (86th – $1,833.40) each cashed on Friday morning. One of Nevada’s top-ranked players, David ‘bewater’ Goodman (52nd – $2,881.06), also earned a positive result. Katie ‘katelin’ Lindsey (122nd – $1,571.49), and Jon ‘havuuuuuc’ Turner (135th – $1,484.18) each made managed to pick up their second cash of the Series while Ryan ‘protential’ Laplante (106th – $1,571.49) earned his first.