Pedro Cavalieri is the 2021 WPTWOC WPT500 Champion

Pedro Cavalieri is the World Poker Tour champion after the Brazilian hero topped a talented field of 2,295 players in the WPT World Online Championships WPT500 Event. The victory came with a bankroll-boosting prize of $153,503.

Cavalieri’s win comes 24-hours after another Brazilian, Eder Campana, triumphed in the 7-Max Championship for $169,957. It is fair to say Brazilians are running hot in the WPTWOC this year.

2021 WPTWOC WPT500 Final Table Results

Place | Player | Country | Prize
1 | Pedro Cavalieri | Brazil | $153,503*
2 | Thomas Hueber | Austria | $137,624*
3 | Bernardo Soares | Brazil | $80,308
4 | Silvio Costa | Hungary | $53,241
5 | Stoyan Obreshkov | Bulgaria | $36,219
6 | Samuel Kabelitz | Austria | $27,618
7 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | $21,382
8 | Maximilian Lehmansk | Austria | $16,950
9 | Stevan Chew | Canada | $13,212

*reflects a heads-up deal

Each of the nine finalists locked in at least $13,212 for their $550 buy-in, but with a six-figure score awaiting the winner, nobody wanted that smaller sum. Unfortunately, the very nature of poker tournaments meant someone had to collect the lesser amount, and Stevan Chew was that someone.

Chew, an Australian based in Canada, three-bet all-in for 16.5 big blinds with after Silvio Costa had min-raised from early position. Costa made the call with and the race was on. The board ran , and Chew busted in ninth.

Eighth place and $16,950 when to Maximilian Lehmansk, one of three Austrians at the final table. Ognyan Dimov min-raised to 8,000,000 on the button with before calling the 40,796,686 shove from Lehmanski in the small blind. Lehmansk turned over , which was ahead, but only until Dimov improved to a straight on the board. Ouch.

Dimov was the next player heading for the exits. The Bulgarian star raised to 20,000,000 under the gun at the 2,500,000/5,000,000/625,000a level, leaving himself a shade over 9,500,000 behind, effectively committing himself to the hand. The action folded to Bernado Soares in the small blind, and Soares set Dimov all-in, and was called. Dimov showed , Soares , and the five community cards ran .

The next player crashed out during the same level. Cavalieri woke up with in the cutoff, and min-raised to 10,000,000. Samuel Kabelitz three-bet all-in with for 90,499,608, of course, Cavalieri called. The flop gave Kabelitz outs to a flush, with the turn giving outs to a straight. Cavalieir’s hand remained true, however, with the river sending Kabelitz to the rail in sixth.

The table grew even more short-handed when Stoyan Obreshkov lost a key coinflip against Thomas Hueber. Blinds were now 3,000,000/6,000,000/750,000a, and Obreshkov was down to 11 big blinds. That short stack went into the middle from the cutoff holding , and Hueber called from the big blind with . The flop left Obreshkov drawing thin, with the river leaving the Bulgarian drawing dead.

Costa may count himself unlucky to have fallen in fourth place because he got his chips in good in a battle of the blinds. Cavalieri open-shoved from the small blind with , and Costa called off his 11.5 big blind with the pretty-looking . By the river the board read , that eight on the turn busting Costa, who banked $53,241.

Third place was settled in a massive pot. It started with Hueber min-raising to 14,000,000 on the button and Cavalieri calling in the small blind. Soares squeezed all-in from the big blind for 156,789,294 with only for Hueber to re-jam for 354,519,524 with . Cavalieri folded his . The board sent Soares home in third, and the tournament into heads-up.

The chip counts were relatively even going into heads-up, so it was unsurprising to see a deal struck, one that left $10,000 more for the eventual champion. That additional money went to Cavalieri.

Cavalieri checked on the board with , and Hueber bet 78,655,500 into the 238,350,000 pot with , which had flopped two pair. Cavalieri took the bait and check-raised all-in, covering Hueber’s stack. Hueber made the call only to see the roll off on the river, pairing the board and gifting Cavalieri a superior two pair.