Damian Salas is the first of two WSOP Main Event champions after winning the tournament’s international finale inside King’s Resort.
Damian Salas is the international WSOP Main Event champion and will play the US winner on December 30 in Las Vegas. (Image: Partypoker Live)
The unique dynamics this year’s $10,000 Main Event are a result of COVID-19 restrictions hampering plans earlier in 2020.
As such, there will be an international and US champion. One will eventually take the overall title but, for now, Salas is a champion and the man progressing to the live finale in Las Vegas.
International Finale Starts with Eight
2020 World Series of Poker $10,000 Championship Main Event has been determined, at the
King s Resort in Rozvadov for the international leg of the online/live hybrid.
Eight of the nine finalists out of a field of 674 entries made the trip to the Czech Republic to battle for the lion s share of the
$6,470,400 prize pool. Ultimately, the two finalists with the longest travels met heads up and Argentina s
Damian Salas defeated Brazil s
Brunno Botteon to claim the
top prize of $1,550,969.
Salas beamed with pride and proudly flashed the Argentinian flag throughout the entire final table, in which he ultimately prevailed after dominating the duel with Botteon. The Brazilian is mainly active in the online poker arena and reached three final tables including two runner-ups during the
Wednesday, December 16th, 2020 | Written by Renee
Three years ago, Damian Salas fell short of winning the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event title after finishing seventh out of 7,221 entries for $1.4 million, the biggest live cash of his career. Now, the Argentinian gets another chance to become a WSOP champ and book his first gold bracelet after winning the international leg of the 2020 WSOP Main Event on GGPoker for $1,550,969.
Salas, who is working as a lawyer in his home country of Argentina, is an accomplished poker pro with over $2.6 million in live tournament earnings. He currently ranks fourth in Argentina’s all-time money list and was the first Argentinian to ever make the final table of the WSOP Main Event.
Austria s
Hannes BlackFortuna Speiser is one of the more notable players at the final table and sits in the middle of the pack with a little over 3.5m in chips to work with. Speiser has opted out of
The Hendon Mob, but there s plenty of record of him crushing on
GGPoker already as his lifetime winnings of $137.244 reveal. Recently, Speiser made a big online score but he ll eclipse that score by his performance in the Main Event.
While not on the grind, Speiser loves to spend time with his friends and family. He s a boxing aficionado and also loves to play football off the felt. Winning the big one would mean a lot for the young Austrian. It s every poker player s dream to compete with the best players for the biggest price pools. The WSOP Main Event is probably one of the most prestigious events of the year, Speiser said.
$109,982 China s Peiyuan Sun has opted not to travel and finished in ninth place ($75,360) as per the rules
Damian Salas
Salas Overwhelmed and Thankful
In the interview after victory, Salas said he was happy about the performance but also made sure to point out that he is not the best poker player but being able to compete against the best in the world has certainly improved his game.
The Argentinian had already crossed paths with runner-up Botteon on the virtual felt many times over the years and described him as a very tough opponent with a winning mentality.
Salas recalled a pivotal hand early on the final table