Early Friday morning, Ryan Torgersen suffered the ultimate heartbreak in poker after finishing runner-up in Event #9 of the 2020 World Series of Poker Online. A little bit more than 24 hours later, Torgersen enjoyed the ultimate joy after winning Event #10 ($600 NLHE Monster Stack) to win his first career bracelet and $172,361.

He could not have picked a better event to win. For the first time in the 2020 WSOP Online, the prize pool moved into seven-figure territory with 2,074 total entries building a $1,119,960 prize pool.

The first elimination of the final table came five minutes after it began. Action folded to Tom ‘4Logan’ Dean on the button and he moved all in for 3,105,365 with and ‘Letsgetit888‘ re-shoved for 5,710,730 with . The flop gave ‘Letsgetit888’ second pair and left Dean drawing thin. The turn and river were both blanks and Dean was out in ninth place.

Just a few minutes later, another preflop all in confrontation sent a player packing. Eric ‘bill_luga’ Blair raised to 1,000,000 from the cutoff with before Nick ‘DuckFlush’ Pupillo moved all in for 6,192,549 from the small blind with and Blair called. Pupillo was unable to connect with the flop or the turn and the river gave Blair an unnecessary improvement to eliminate Pupillo in eighth.

Torgersen finally got involved in the business of eliminating players at the final table five minutes later. From the hijack, Torgersen raised to 1,095,000, Brent ‘grebnrets’ Roberts called from the cutoff and ‘FatStax‘ and Sam ‘texasmolly’ Grizzle defended the small and big blinds respectively. The flop came and ‘FatStax’ moved all in for 2,446,816. Grizzle got out of the way, Torgersen came over the top for 10,838,096 forcing Roberts to fold. ‘Fatstax’ turned over and Torgersen showed . The turn was the and the completed the river to give Torgersen the pot and end the tournament for ‘Fatstax’ in seventh place.

A few hands later Sam Grizzle moved into the chip lead and almost immediately put it to work. From UTG, Roberts moved all in for 7,559,235 with and Grizzle called with . The flop left Roberts in control. The turn gave Grizzle nine more outs. The river was the to give Grizzle top pair and send Roberts home in sixth.

Torgersen then ended another player’s tournament in a massive pot. Action folded to ‘letsgetit888’ on the button and they moved all in for 11,964,504 with only to have Torgersen call from the big blind with . The flop changed nothing but the turn gave ‘letsgetit888’ top pair. Torgersen filled his straight draw on the river to eliminate ‘letsgetit888’ in fifth place.

Four-handed play lasted nearly 15 minutes. Blair raised to 1,600,000 from the button and Brandon ‘Omni27’ Ienn called from the big blind. The flop came , Ienn checked, Blair bet 980,000 and Ienn called. The turn was the and Ienn bet 1,600,000. Blair moved all in for 6,590,707 and Ienn called. Blair turned over for trip sevens while Blair was drawing to an open-ender with . The river gave Ienn an unneeded full house and busted Blair in fourth.

Old school poker fans had their heart broken just 15 minutes later. Ienn raised to 2,000,000 from the button before Grizzle moved all in for 13,150,561 from the small blind. Torgersen then moved all in over the top for 37,667,878 and Ienn folded. Grizzle showed to Torgersen’s . The flop gave Grizzle top pair. The turn was the to give Torgersen more outs and the river gave him a set to eliminate Grizzle in third.

Torgersen held a nearly 2-1 chip lead over Ienn when heads up play began and needed less than five minutes to eliminate Ienn. The final hand saw Torgersen shove from the button with and Ienn called all in for 18,761,561. The run out meant Torgersen’s played and Ienn was eliminated in second place to give Torgersen his first WSOP bracelet.

Final Table Payouts

1. Ryan ‘Im.sorry’ Torgersen – $172,361
2. Brandon ‘Omni27’ Ienn – $106,508
3. Sam ‘texasmolly’ Grizzle – $77,725
4. Eric ‘bill_luga’ Blair – $57,229
5. letsgetit888 – $42,558
6. Brent ‘grebnrets’ Roberts – $31,918
7. FatStax – $24,079
8. Nick ‘DuckFlush’ Pupillo – $18,367
9. Tom ‘4Logan’ Dean – $14,223

Faces in the Crowd

The player who ultimately busted Torgersen in second place in Event #9, Ron ‘MacDaddy15’ MacMillen made a deep run in Event #10 as well, eventually busting in 65th place for $2,127.92. He wasn’t the only 2020 WSOP Online bracelet winner to cash on Friday though. Robert Kuhn (19th – $5,487.80) and Louis ‘PokeThese’ Lynch (31st – $4,367.84) both made their way into the money. Other notables included Jesse Sylvia (27th – $5,487.80), Jason ‘haderade’ Somerville (51st – $3,023.89), Ian Steinman ($1,455.94), and Shawn ‘Saygoodnight’ Daniels (266th – $1,007.96).