EPT Online crowns first female champion in poker history

Tatiana Barausova makes history as first woman to win EPT Online title

Let's take a brief break from the Polk vs. Negreanu duel and revisit the Galfond Challenge. Chance Kornuth has already played over a third of the planned 35,000 hands against Phil. The founder of poker training sites has taken the lead—Kornuth is now ahead by nearly a quarter of a million.

Still, Phil is no stranger to comebacks in Challenges—he managed to claw back nearly a million in his match against VeniVidi, the equivalent of 11 buy-ins.

In the latest session, Phil won back $124,000. Could this be the start of an upswing? Or will he keep viewers on the edge of their seats, only to strike back against Kornuth in the final stages of the match?

Galfond has plans to test his skills against Daniel Cates and Brandon Adams, while his match with Bill Perkins remains on hold. They've only played two sessions so far, back in spring. When—or if—they'll return to the tables is still unclear.

Now, updates from the first online stage of the European Poker Tour.

Andrey "drupa-lucker" reached the final table of the series' opening event, the $1,050 Arena Championship, but couldn't climb higher than fourth place, settling for a consolation prize of $129,000. In the $2,100 Event #7, he fared better, finishing third and earning $41,000, including knockouts. Alexey "APonakov" took fourth in the same tournament, pocketing $26,000 in prize money and an equal bounty.

In the $5,200 High Roller, Russian players again fell just short of heads-up—Artem "veeea" settled for third ($86,000), while Vyacheslav "VbV1990" finished fourth ($67,000).

The tournament was won by David Laka, playing under the Georgian flag.

Tatiana Barausova became the first woman to claim an EPT Online title, striking a three-way deal in the $530 Event #4 to secure the trophy and $75,000.

Nikita Bodakovskiy and Matthias Eibinger reached heads-up in the $10,300 High Roller and split the prize pool evenly—$222,000 each. The title was decided by a flip, and luck smiled on Nikita.

Another $10,300 High Roller, this time in turbo format, saw "fish2013" make the final two. Nikita took third for $104,000, while Michael Addamo finished runner-up ($139,000), losing to Bert Stevens ($186,000).

The series' most expensive event, the $25,000 Super High Roller, was won by high-stakes veteran Elior "Crazy Elior" Parsinen. Arthur Martirosyan finished ninth.

Ukrainian streamer Ilya "ALOHADANCE" placed second in a $1,050 progressive knockout turbo tournament, banking $74,000 (including bounties) for his best career cash. High rollers may not be thrilled—during his stream, Ilya announced he's done playing NL10k.

And finally, a four-minute chat between Dwan and Nick Schulman, from which we learned exactly as much as one can in four minutes of conversation.

Tom looks back nostalgically on the High Stakes Poker days and is eagerly awaiting the filming of a new season. He never considered quitting poker and was genuinely surprised to learn that Nick had entertained the idea more than once. For Tom, the longest break he'd take was a couple of weeks off. His biggest pots came in short-deck—$2,000 antes or 20 stacks—where he's both won and lost fortunes.

And to the most pressing question (no, not about his match with Jungleman), Tom replied that he has no memory of ever being kidnapped by the Chinese mafia.

Antonio Esfandiari, fresh off losing three heads-up duels to Phil Hellmuth and falling victim to a robbery in September, decided to treat himself to a major purchase.

Esfandiari bought a mansion in Los Angeles. The five-bedroom estate, complete with a pool, set him back $5.3 million. Spanning 6,000 square feet, it features a small yoga studio, two guest rooms, and a home theater—perfect for a second lockdown.

The roster of GGPoker ambassadors has shrunk by one pro. Bryn Kenney, the player with the highest live tournament earnings and a notorious aversion to social media, has been cut.

After his heads-up battle in the most expensive tournament in history, he vanished from the radar. His Twitter is virtually inactive, and his last Instagram post dates back to spring, when he boasted about making the most of quarantine.

Kenney joined GGPoker's team of pros in March 2018, long before it became mainstream. Since then, the squad has added Daniel Negreanu, Fedor Holz, Bertrand Grospellier, Felipe Ramos, and the GGSquad streamers.

Rumors suggest British racing driver Lewis Hamilton, recently spotted at the tables, could be Kenney's replacement.

Meanwhile, Dan Bilzerian—who boasts 32 million followers and the title of poker's most famous player among those who've never actually played—has also been seen grinding the high-stakes cash games.