Robert 'bustinballs' Kuhn shipped Event #3 of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online early Saturday morning. (WPT photo)

The third time was definitely the charm as far as field sizes go in the 2020 World Series of Poker Online. On Friday, Event #3 ($400 No Limit Hold’em), the lowest buy-in event on the schedule to date, drew the largest turnout to date with 2,091 total entries creating a $752,760 prize pool.

After a little more than 12 hours of play, Robert ‘bustinballs’ Kuhn emerged victorious to win his first WSOP bracelet and $115,849.76. The win came just a few hours after he picked up another victory on WSOP.com to bring his daily earnings just north of $136,000.

Starting the final table with just six big blinds, ‘AndrewFreund‘ needed to find a spot to double up. After action folded to ‘AndrewFreund’ in late position, he moved all-in for 658,052 with Ah8s and the second shortest remaining, Max ‘ndirish50’ Huster, moved all-in over the top with QcQs. The Qh9h3s flop put a quick end to any drama and ‘AndrewFreund’ was officially eliminated in ninth place following the 9s turn and Jh river.

Kuhn and Roland ‘prngls12’ Israelashvili then engaged in a pre-flop raising war that saw the six-time WSOP Circuit ring winner sent packing. Holding TdTh, Israelshvili raised to 240,000 from UTG before Kuhn re-raised to 705,000 from the hijack with QcQs. Israelshvili then moved all-in for 3,257,635 and Kuhn called. The 9d4c4d flop changed nothing and the 3s turn and 6c river sealed Israelshvili’s eighth place finish.

Ten minutes later ‘pokeher2014‘ moved all-in for 1,641,622 from middle position with Ah7h and ‘kulbot‘ called from the small blind with 9c9s. The KcQcQs7s2s runout failed to give ‘pokeher2014’ any assistance and they were eliminated in seventh place.

A multi-way pot led to the next elimination just five minutes later. Keren opened to 320,000 from UTG, Kuhn called from UTG+1, ‘Doc33‘ called from the button, and Evan ‘Escott121181’ Scott defended his big blind. The flop came Th6h3s and Scott moved all-in for 2,671,929. Keren and Kuhn both folded but ‘Doc33’ called. Scott showed Td8h but found himself outpipped when ‘Doc33’ tabled Tc9c. The 5d turn and Jd river both kept ‘Doc33’ in front and Scott was eliminated in sixth.

The momentum continued for ‘Doc33’ a few minutes later and he turned it into another elimination and the chip lead. Kuhn raised to 320,000 as the first to act, Max ‘ndirish50’ Huster shoved for 1,451,606, and ‘Doc33’ called from the button. Kuhn folded. ‘Doc33’ flipped over AdQh and he once again had his opponent dominated as Huster showed AhJh. The Ac4c3h flop gave both players top pair, the 2h turn gave Huster the nut flush draw and chop outs, but the Qd river gave ‘Doc33’ two pair and the pot to eliminate Huster in fifth place.

‘Doc33’ continued to steamroll and a few minutes after ending Huster’s bracelet run, they did the same thing to another player. From UTG, ‘klubot’ moved all-in for 2,259,071 with KdJh and ‘Doc33’ called with Ah7c in the big blind. The Jd8c5h flop gave ‘klubot’ the lead and the Tc turn changed nothing. The Ac river, however, gave ‘Doc33’ yet another pot and sent ‘klubot’ out in fourth.

Three-handed play carried on for 25 minutes and despite starting with the chip lead, ‘Doc33’ was the next one out the door. Kuhn raised to 810,000 with KhKs from the small blind and ‘Doc33’ clicked back to 2,332,500 from the big blind holding QcJc. Kuhn responded by shoving all in for 15,444,620 and ‘Doc33’ called all in for 10,045,975. The board ran out Js8s6d5hTd to eliminate ‘Doc33’ in third.

Heads-up play began with Kuhn holding a 5-1 chip lead over Keren and through 45 minutes of play, Keren battled back to hold the lead himself only to see it fall back into Kuhn’s hands one final time. Down to just five big blinds, Keren three-bet shoved for 2,075,000 with KsTs after Kuhn opened to 800,000 with 8h8s. The AsJd7s flop gave Keren all kinds of outs but neither the 4c nor the 2d river was any help and Kuhn eliminated him to win his first WSOP bracelet and $115,850.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Robert ‘bustinballs’ Kuhn – $115,850
  2. Ronald ‘rlksaces’ Keren – $71,587
  3. Doc33 – $52,242
  4. klubot – $38,466
  5. Max ‘ndirish50’ Huster – $28,605
  6. Evan ‘Escott121181’ Scott – $21,454
  7. pokerher2014 – $16,184
  8. Roland ‘prngls12’ Israelshvili – $12,345
  9. AndrewFreund – $9,560

Faces in the Crowd

The huge field all but guaranteed there would be some familiar names making their way into the money. Joey ‘JOEYdaMUSH’ Galazzo (41st – $2,408.83), Ari ‘philivey’ Engel (76th – $1,279.69), Daniel Negreanu (210th – $677.48), and Dan ‘centrfieldr’ Lupo (229th – $677.48) were some of the more recognizable names who picked up a score on Friday. Negreanu has now cashed in back-to-back events.