German Koray Aldemir has won the 2021 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Aldemir defeated a field of 6,650 entrants to take home the bracelet and a very generous payout of $8 million.
The 31-year old is the third person from Germany to win the event after Pius Heinz in 2011 and Hossein Ensan in 2019.
While it’s not one of the biggest gambling rewards, the German was very excited. As the winner put it, “it’s the biggest tournament, the one that even friends and family that aren’t into poker know about.”
The winner was leading in chip count for most of the final days. At the end of day five, he had the biggest stack and entered the final table with the most chips. Entering the last day, Aldemir had ⅔ of the total earnings.
Only three players were left on the final day. The eventual third place finisher Jack Oliver walked away with $3,000,000. His previous highest win was $27,047 in 2019.
George Holmes, who finished second, put up a big fight. He entered the day third, and after the elimination of Oliver, Holmes had 137,400,000 chips vs. Aldemir’s 261,900,000.
Holmes went on to take the lead early on with a full house. The two battled for four hours, with the lead changing between them, with Koray Aldemir eventually winning the final 223rd hand.
Holmes went all-in with a pair of kings, and Aldemir called with a pair of 10s and a pair of 7s after the flop giving him the win.
Below are the payouts for the players in the final table:
- Koray Aldemir – $8,000,000
- George Holmes – $4,300,000
- Jack Oliver – $3,000,000
- Joshua Remitio – $2,300,000
- Ozgur Secilmis – $1,800,000
- Hye Park – $1,400,000
- Alejandro Lococo – $1,225,000
- Jareth East – $1,100,000
- Chase Bianchi – $1,000,000
With the win, Aldemir’s career earnings rose to $20.3 million. While it may take him a while and possibly a few more wins to reach the top earners, the German is sitting on a very admirable fortune.
He also earned 1,900 PokerGo Tour points, which will move him to ninth place on the leader’s board, and 3,300 CardPlayer Player of the Year points, moving him into 19th place in that race.
