The 2021 World Series of Poker Europe was diverse. It always is. The European series always brings players from many different parts of the world. The Vegas series does the same, but Americans dominate it every year. The WSOP Europe is different. And its diversity puts the “world” in the World Series.
With that said, it is tough for a player from the WSOP’s host country to win the Main Event. That’s why the fact that the winner of this 2021 WSOPE Main Event was from the Czech Republic was even more special. Josef Gulas Jr was able to take the lead going into the final day of play and translate that into victory.
Event 14: €10K NLHE Main Event
The WSOPE Main Event began with 688 entries over the course of two starting flights. Day 2 thinned the field down to just 114. Day 3 took the top 104 of them into the money and finished with 32. Day 4 worked its way down to the final table and left only seven players to return for the final day.
But let’s back up a moment. To look at Josef Gulas’ journey, it’s important to look at his daily finishes:
-Day 1A: finished 46th out of 276-Day 2: finished 28th-Day 3: finished 9th-Day 4: finished as chip leader-Day 5: won it
With 10 players left on Day 4, Gulas held the lead. He extended it by eliminating Yossi Dayan in tenth place, taking nearly 18.5M chips into the official final table of nine. The closest competitor was Alexander Tkatschew with little more than 12M, followed by Johan Guilbert with 8.68M chips.
Tkatschew ousted Brian Kamphorst in ninth place, and Guilbert took out Ilija Savevski in eighth. Gulas and Tkatschew battled for the chip lead before Day 4 ended with seven players. Gulas did take the lead, though, and had 20.2M chips to bring to the final day. Tkatschew had 17.375M chips, and Guilbert had 13.025M.
That last day, which was December 8, was a long one.
It started somewhat cautiously, but Athanasios Kidas finally sent Thomas Denie home in seventh place to break up the monotony. Guilbert took some chips from Gulas and then busted Aleksandar Trajkovski in sixth place to be in contention. He then lost some to Tkatschew in a few key hands. Gulas eliminated Stanislav Koleno in fifth, but those chips soon went to Guilbert when he doubled through Gulas for the lead. Gulas had to fight hard to come back from those hits.
Gulas was the shortest of the final four but started mounted his comeback. Tkatschew did the same. Gulas gained ground when he was able to oust Kidas in fourth place, but it was a series of subsequent well-timed plays that put him back in striking distance of the lead. Tkatschew was the new short stack, but despite a double through Guilbert, Tkatschew then busted to Guilbert.
Gulas had only 18.5M chips going into heads-up play against Guilbert and his 50.3M. But Gulas started gaining momentum, doubling through his opponent at one point to take the lead. Guilbert did take the lead back at one point, but Gulas took it back and then ran away with it.
Guilbert finally put his stack at risk with pocket deuces, but Gulas had A-8. The board did nothing until an eight on the river, which relegated Guilbert to second place.
Josef Gulas, who works in the car sales business and won his seat to this Main Event via a third-place finish in the IPS earlier this year, became the new WSOP Europe champion.
Prior to the final day, he said that a win would warrant building a new home for himself. After the win, a very excited Gulas told PokerNews:
“It’s an incredible feeling. I am truly thankful and happy. It was a perfect tournament with a very nice structure in the best casino in Europe. Just incredible! I would wish it to everyone. Everyone should participate and play in such circumstances, to feel the atmosphere and the feel of the final table.”
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