Steve O’Dwyer Wins 2020 World Poker Tour World Online Championships Heads-Up Event
The 2020 World Poker Tour World Online Championships $3,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em heads-up championship attracted a total of 166 admissions, leading to a small overlay at the $500,000 guaranteed occasion. The best 32 finishers produced the cash in this event, together with the most significant payout heading to eventual winner Steve O’Dwyer. The high-stakes tournament regular was awarded $135,000 as the last player standing in this shootout-format event.
The 38-year-old resident of Ireland now has more than $31.2 million in recorded tournament scores, enough to maintain his hold on the 10th-place spot on poker’s all-time money list.
O’Dwyer defeated Niko Koop from the quarter , calling down a multi-street bluff out of his German opponent using queens and fours to prepare a semi-final showdown against Allan Berger. The game didn’t last long, using a set-over-set situation leading to a fast conclusion for Berger. He picked up 8
8
on the match with dividers of 600-1,2000, also increased to 3,000. O’Dwyer three-bet to 11,000 with Q
Q
. Berger called and the flop came down A
J
5
. Both players checked and the 8
hit the turn, giving Berger a set of eights. O’Dwyer assessed and Berger wager 11,000. O’Dwyer called and the Q
gave him a superior set on the river. O’Dwyer assessed and Beger transferred all-in for 70,000. O’Dwyer quickly called to take down the pot and move on to the finals.
Artem Akhmetvaleyev defeated Jorma Nuutinen on the other side of the bracket to join O’Dwyer from the finals. O’Dwyer ran a multi-street bluff, shoving all-in with ace-nine high to obtain Akhmetvaleyev off of a flopped second pair to take nearly a 2:1 chip lead in the before all else few minutes of the match. In the final hand, O’Dwyer picked the A
K
on the button and increased into 2,640 and Akhmetvaleyev called in the large blind with 8
7
. The flop came 10
8
5
and Akhmetvaleyev check-called a wager of 3,696 together with his middle group. The K
on the flip handed O’Dwyer top pair. Akhmetvaleyev checked and O’Dwyer wager 16,000. Akhmetvaleyev called along with also the 4
finished the plank. Akhmetvaleyev assessed and O’Dwyer moved all-in, having Akhmetvaleyev’s last 50,000 well covered. Akhmetvaleyev made the call after some consideration, only to learn that his hand was second best. He took home $75,000 for his runner-up showing.
Here is a look at the payouts awarded to the top eight finishers:
| Place | Name | Earnings |
| Champion | Steve O’Dwyer | $135,000 |
| Runner-Up | Artem Akhmetvaleyev | $75,000 |
| Semi-Finalist | Jorma Nuutinen | $40,000 |
| Semi-Finalist | Allan Berger | $40,000 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Joao Vieira | $17,500 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Arnaud Enselme | $17,500 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Niko Koop | $17,500 |
| Quarter-Finalist | Eugenio Peralta | $17,500 |
O’Dwyer photo via partypoker LIVE.
