Erik Seidel, Daniel Negreanu and Josh Arieh all made a little money for their WSOP backers in the last weeks of the 2021 WSOP. (all photos courtesy of PokerGO)

The 2021 World Series of Poker was a wild ride and not just for those players who made the trip to Las Vegas. As the schedule in the series began to wind down, the pressure ramped up for players to close out the fall with a nice score and, for many of those who chose to take the ride by picking up a piece of the action on PocketFives, there were some great gains to be made.

Arieh Shares Sun Run With Supporters

You don’t have to look further than newly crowed 2021 WSOP Player of the Year (and PocketFives own) Josh Arieh. Arieh was relentless on the felt and generous in offering pieces of his amazing sun run to his followers.

For example, Arieh put up 5% of his $10,000 Main Event at zero markup. Clearly a favorite against the field, the 50 backers who were able to quickly snap up their .1% (just a mere $10 to get a sweat on) all saw a return of $30 – an ROI of 200% – when he finished in 411th place for $30,000.

He was nowhere near finished. Arieh’s run to the POY included two more notable cashes, but the one his backers certainly appreciated was his final table finish in the $50,000 Pot Limit Omaha High Roller. Arieh had crushed every PLO tournament he played in this year, including famously helping some of his backers turn $15 into $2K. Another nice return was in order for the 141 backers who supported him. Arieh sold 10%, again at no markup, and ended up finishing in seventh place for $165,452. That’s an ROI of 230.90% with $16,545 headed back to his backers. If every backer had an equal share, that would look like a $35 stake yielding more than $117.

He had another 200+% ROI in the $10K Stud 8 where 43 backers picked up 10% of his action and turned every $10 increment into just over $30 as well.

RELATED: Negreanu, Arieh, and Glantz Help Backers Clean Up In WSOP $50K Poker Players Championship

Seidel Just Hits Home Runs

Erik Seidel was also a home run hitter down the stretch. The nine-time WSOP bracelet winner jumped on PocketFives to sell for just two events late in the schedule. Both times he sold out and both times he came through.

He sold 50% of his action, strictly for the fans, in the same $10K Seven Card Stud 8 where Arieh finished in ninth. Seidel made it to the final table and ended up finishing in 7th place for $46,140. His ROI – 361.40%. Collectively, his 29 backers turned the $5,600 (Seidel sold at 1.12 markup) into $23,070 and every 1% of the stake ($56) turned into $230.

It worked so well in the Stud 8, Seidel picked up more run good by running it back in the $10K Razz Championship. Again he sold 50% and. again, he made a final table. In back-to-back tournaments, Seidel finished in 7th place and this time cashed out for $39,987. If each of his 35 backers had the same share, they’d have turned $160 into more than $570.

Negreanu’s Fantastic Finish

Right up until the last tournament, Daniel Negreanu was challenging Josh Arieh for WSOP Player of the Year. He finished the series second in total cashes with 18 and was selling action all along the way. After his deep run in the $50K Poker Players Championship, Negreanu booked four more cashes, but for backers, his deep run in the $50K Pot Limit Omaha was the most important, and perhaps the most surprising.

In it, Negreanu made the final table and, once again, came so close to winning bracelet #7. Eventually, he bowed out in 3rd place which was good for $519,764. Unfortunately, since it was on his second bullet it didn’t count for those who supported him as a single event. However, for the more than 300 backers of his complete package it brought him close to being even for the series.

That score set him up for his biggest score yet. While he didn’t sell action explicitly for the $50,000 NLHE High Roller, this was a critical event for the hundreds of people who were involved in his series-long package. In the event, he made another sick final table run, again nearly locking down a bracelet, but ended up in third place for more than $660,000 and turned his total series package from negative to a huge profit.

[Correction: an earlier version of this article indicated that Negreanu had cashed in the $50K PLO for his single event backers, however, it was on his 2nd bullet which meant it only counted for the series long investors. We apologize for the error.]

With that, the 2021 WSOP and the ride for investors came to an end. But be on the lookout for more from PocketFives Staking as the end is really just the beginning.