Florida's Seth Fischer battled back from the short stack to secure his first WSOP gold bracelet in the $1,500 GGMasters High Roller.

Seth Fischer navigated his way up from one of the shortest stacks at the final table of the 2020 World Series of Poker Event #56 ($1,500 GGMasters High Roller) to top the 2,153 player field and bring home the $444,868.59 first-place prize, a World Series of Poker Europe package and the coveted gold bracelet.
For the first half of the final table, bustouts took place at breakneck speed. This allowed Fischer to bide his time, win some key hands, and eventually assume a commanding chip lead which he leveraged to win his first WSOP gold bracelet.

It didn’t take long for the final table to lose their first player. Right after the player break Israel’s Yonatan Basin shipped his short stack holding As8c and was called by Russian online poker superstar Arsenii Karmatckii and his 8h8d. The flop came Jd3d2c leaving Basin looking for an ace or running straight cards to stay alive. The turn came the Ts and the river the Kd awarding Karmatckii the hand and sending Basin to the rail in ninth for $32,633.

On the very next hand, Karmatckii was involved in an all-in confrontation again. France’s Clement Tripodi put in a raise from the cutoff holding QsQd only to be three-bet shoved on by Karmatckii who had the Ad4d. Tripodi called off his remaining 20 big blinds for his tournament life. The flop fell Th9d4h giving Karmatckii some additional outs. Turn 8c was not one of them. Just as Karmatckii flashed the ‘praying’ emoji, the As ripped off on the river, giving him the pot. Tripodi exited in eighth for $45,386.

After Sebastien Grax put in a raise from under the gun, Lukas Parednis shipped his remaining 20 big blinds with the 7h7d. When folded back to Grax, he quickly made the call holding AsKh and the pair were flipped with Parednis at risk. The board ran out Ad8s4sTs4d pairing Grax’s ace and sending Parednis home in seventh for $63,124.

Dominykas Mikolaitis quickly followed his fellow Lithuanian out the door when he shoved his final eight big blinds in with As3d only to be called by Canadian Michael Nugent’s AhQs. The flop came 9d6s6c giving Mikolaitis some additional chop outs. But the 5h turn and the Td river did not help him get there. Mikolaitis finished in sixth place for $87,793.

Latvia’s Evaldas Aniulis put in a small raise off his short stack holding AcTh and was three-bet by Karmatckii who woke up with KsKh. Aniulis called for the rest of his stack and the pair saw a flop of Td7h8d. Aniulis’ top pair offered him some more outs and the Jh even brought in some chop opportunities. But the unnecessary Kd river gave Karmatckii top set for the pot. Aniulis finished in fifth place for a six-figure score of $122,102.

Nugent raised his As7s from the button only to be flatted by Grax in the small blind holding QcQd. The flop came 2d4c7c and when checked to Nugent put in a bet, only to be promptly check-raised Grax. With top pair Nugent shipped his remaining 20 big blinds and Grax made the call with the over pair. The 3s hit the turn and the Tc river was of no help to Nugent who fell in fourth place and walked away with $169,821 in his second WSOP final table in the past two weeks.

After Fischer doubled through Grax during three-handed play, the chip stacks evened out and play finally slowed down. The chips began to flow in the direction of Fischer as Grax lost momentum and eventually clashed with Karmatckii in a hand that sealed his fate in the tournament.

Karmatckii raised to 400,000 on the button with AdQs and Grax three-bet shipped his twenty big blind stack holding 4h4c. Karmatckii called putting himself at risk. The pair were flipping for over a $100,000 pay jump. The AcTs9s flop hit Karmatckii and left Grax looking for help. The 3h turn and the Ah river was of no use to him and Grax was left with 1/10 of a big blind which he lost on the very next hand to Fischer. Grax walked away in third place for $236,188.

Despite Karmatckii’s double up, Fischer headed into heads-up play holding a sizable chip lead which he never relinquished.

On the final hand, Fischer open-shoved holding Kd7c and Karmatckii committed his final ten big blinds with JsTh. The duo watched as the board ran out Ah4h2c2s7h giving FIsher the hand and his first WSOP gold bracelet. Karmatckii wrapped up as the runner-up and ended up earning a career-high online score of $328,491.

Final Table Payouts

  1. Seth Fischer – $444,868.59 + WSOPE Ticket Package
  2. Arsenii Karmatckii – $326,491
  3. Sebastien Grax – $236,188
  4. Michael Nugent – $169,821
  5. Evaldas Aniulis – $122,102
  6. Dominykas Mikolatis – $87,793
  7. Lukas Parednis – $63,124
  8. Clement Tripodi – $45,386
  9. Yonatan Basin – $32,633