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The 2026 WSOP Online crowned another double bracelet winner, with Alessio La Francesca emerging victorious from a field of 123 in the $10,000 Heads-Up NLH Championship, defeating Pavel Plesuv to claim $352,561. This marks his second WSOP bracelet win in just 14 days, following his victory in the $1,500 GGMasters Freezeout two weeks prior. Meanwhile, Hong Kong player "U move I move" dominated the $800 The Closer, earning $250,536.
On September 27, 2026, another double WSOP bracelet winner was crowned in the WSOP Online Series. Alessio La Francesca fought his way through the heads-up elimination rounds of Event #31:$10,000 Heads-Up NLH Championship, ultimately defeating Pavel Plesuv to win $352,561 and his second WSOP gold bracelet.
What's even more remarkable is that La Francesca acquired his first gold bracelet just about two weeks ago. In mid-September, he emerged victorious from the $1,500 GGMasters Freezeout Championship, a competition with 1,514 participants, winning $316,037, a WSOP gold bracelet, and a $30,000 WSOP Paradise Super Pass.
In just two weeks, he stood atop the WSOP Online championship for the second time, becoming one of the most outstanding multi-time champions in this series.
123 players competed for the heads-up title, with La Francesca adding another $352,000.
Event #31 uses a Heads-Up elimination format with a buy-in of up to $10,000. A total of 123 players participated, creating a total prize pool of $1,193,100.
Only the final 16 players will receive prize money, with a minimum prize of $23,504.
La Francesca fought her way through multiple rounds of one-on-one battles, ultimately becoming the last remaining player.
$10,000 Heads-Up NLH Championship Core Data
| project | data |
|---|---|
| Tournament | WSOP Online Event #31 |
| project | $10,000 Heads-Up NLH Championship |
| Buy | $10,000 |
| Number of participants | 123 |
| Total prize pool | $1,193,100 |
| Reward Circle | 16 people |
| champion | Alessio La Francesca |
| Champion Prize Money | $352,561 |
| runner up | Pavel Plesuv |
| Runner-up prize money | $211,536 |
Ole Schemion advanced from the round of 16 to the quarterfinals.
Once the final 16 players are selected, each player will have secured at least $23,504.
Dmitry Kravchenko, Virgile Turchi, Jamie Dwan, Wai Kiat Lee, Ivan Govorov, Severi Palmu, Enrique Lago, and Fabiano Kovalski were all eliminated in the round of 16.
The quarterfinals will eliminate four players:
Takashi Ogura, Georgii Sieemshchikov, Ole Schemion and Aliaksei Boika.
Each of the four received $47,008.
Ole Schemion is a well-known player in international online and live tournaments, but he failed to advance further to the semi-finals this time.
All four semi-finalists have secured six-figure prize money.
By the time the final four were decided on the evening of September 27, all remaining players had secured at least a six-figure dollar prize.
The final four lineups are:
Alessio La Francesca, Pavel Plesuv, Aliaksandr Shylko and Aleksey Borokov.
After the semi-finals, Shylko and Borokov were eliminated in the final four, each winning $117,520.
The final championship match was between La Francesca and Plesuv.
Heads-Up Championship Top 16 Results
| Ranking | player | GGPoker displays country/region | bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alessio La Francesca | Albania | $352,561 |
| 2 | Pavel Plesuv | Slovenia | $211,536 |
| 3 | Aliaksandr Shylko | Estonia | $117,520 |
| 4 | Aleksey Borokov | UAE | $117,520 |
| 5 | Takashi Ogura | Japan | $47,008 |
| 6 | Georgii Sieemshchikov | Montenegro | $47,008 |
| 7 | Ole Schemion | Austria | $47,008 |
| 8 | Aliaksei Boika | Slovenia | $47,008 |
| 9 | Dmitry Kravchenko | Kazakhstan | $23,504 |
| 10 | Virgile Turchi | United Kingdom | $23,504 |
| 11 | Jamie Dwan | United Kingdom | $23,504 |
| 12 | Wai Kiat Lee | Malaysia | $23,504 |
| 13 | Ivan Govorov | Moldova | $23,504 |
| 14 | Severi Palmu | Finland | $23,504 |
| 15 | Enrique Lago | Estonia | $23,504 |
| 16 | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | $23,504 |
Pavel Plesuv finished as runner-up for the fourth time in the gold bracelet competition.
The other protagonist in the head-to-head championship matchup, Pavel Plesuv, already possesses a WSOP gold bracelet.
He won the Millionaire Maker title in 2023, officially joining the ranks of WSOP gold bracelet winners.
However, they failed to obtain the second option this time.
Plesuv finished second, earning $211,536. This marks his fourth runner-up finish in a WSOP gold bracelet event.
La Francesca completed the final hurdle, taking home $352,561 and a second WSOP gold bracelet.
Just two weeks after winning their first title, GGMasters defeated 1,514 players.
La Francesca first came this close to winning the WSOP gold bracelet at WSOP Europe in 2025.
He fought his way to the last two tables in the €2,000 NLHE Monsterstack, ultimately finishing in 11th place and missing out on his first career gold bracelet.
A year later, he finally made a breakthrough in WSOP Online.
On September 14, 2026, La Francesca won the Event #21:$1,500 GGMasters Freezeout Championship.
The match consisted of:
1,514 people participated
He ultimately defeated Finnish player Elias Suhonen in Heads-Up, achieving the following:
$316,037
He also won his first WSOP gold bracelet and a $30,000 WSOP Paradise Super Pass.
La Francesca has two WSOP gold bracelets.
| date | Tournament | Number of participants | Champion Prize Money |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 14 | $1,500 GGMasters Freezeout Championship | 1,514 | $316,037 |
| September 27 | $10,000 Heads-Up NLH Championship | 123 | $352,561 |
| total | — | — | $668,598 |
Based solely on the prize money from the two wins, La Francesca has earned $668,598 in approximately two weeks.
The two championships also had completely different formats: the first was a large-scale Freezeout tournament, while the second was a pure Heads-Up elimination tournament, making this double championship more meaningful due to its multiple formats.
Hong Kong player "U move I move" dominates $800 The Closer
The same PokerNews report also announced the final result of Event #32:$800 The Closer NLH.
This event attracted:
4,070 participants
form:
Total prize pool of $3,093,200
A total of 395 contestants advanced to Day 2.
Ultimately, a player from Hong Kong with the account "U move I move" in the GGPoker lobby defeated Israeli player Ravid Garbi to win the championship.
The champion's total achievements reached:
$250,536
This includes $146,854 in general place prize money and $103,682 in elimination prize money.
In addition, he also won a WSOP gold bracelet and a WSOP Paradise Super Main Event package worth $30,000.
Martin Kabrhel finished sixth, with several players from China and Hong Kong advancing to the Finals.
The Closer's Final Table also features several players from China and Hong Kong.
Chinese player "Wishwish" came in fifth place with a total of $79,754; "JorgeWo99" ranked eighth with $49,650.
Another player from Hong Kong, "lookatmynuts," ranked ninth, earning $39,873.
Martin Kabrhel also made it into the final nine, but ultimately finished in sixth place, winning a total prize of $62,799.
$800 The Closer Final Table Results
| Ranking | player | GGPoker displays country/region | Elimination Bounty | Prize money for each place | Total prize money |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You move I move | Hong Kong | $103,682 | $146,854 | $250,536 |
| 2 | Ravid Garbi | Israel | $35,601 | $146,794 | $182,395 |
| 3 | Korn0x | Thailand | $56,300 | $113,658 | $169,958 |
| 4 | Jonatas Gomes | Brazil | $11,333 | $88,006 | $99,339 |
| 5 | Wishwish | China | $11,607 | $68,147 | $79,754 |
| 6 | Martin Kabrhel | Austria | $10,026 | $52,773 | $62,799 |
| 7 | Yannick Schneider | Austria | $31,500 | $40,870 | $72,370 |
| 8 | JorgeWo99 | China | $17,994 | $31,656 | $49,650 |
| 9 | lookatmynuts | Hong Kong | $15,351 | $24,522 | $39,873 |
Jonatas Gomes, who had previously finished as runner-up in another event in the early stages of this WSOP Online series, finished fourth in this event.
Only one gold bracelet tournament left in WSOP Online
With the Heads-Up Championship and The Closer already crowned, only one gold bracelet event remains to be completed for the 2026 WSOP Online:
Event #33：$10,000 GGMillion$ High Rollers
As of the time of this PokerNews report, the tournament had attracted 1,340 entries, creating a prize pool of $12,998,000, and 131 players had qualified for Day 2.
At the time, Roeland Peeks led with 3,369,517 chips, Brandon Wilson was second with 3,077,896, and Johannes Straver, who had been performing well in the WCOOP recently, was third with 2,949,083 chips.
At the time of publication, some of the leading players on Day 2
| player | Scoreboard |
|---|---|
| Roeland Peeks | 3,369,517 |
| Brandon Wilson | 3,077,896 |
| Johannes Straver | 2,949,083 |
| Samuel Vousden | 2,484,090 |
| Michael Mizrachi | 1,979,552 |
| Sorel Mizzi | 1,830,742 |
| Andras Nemeth | 1,034,926 |
| Simon Mattsson | 866,936 |
| Daniel Dvoress | 678,713 |
The initial prize money was tentatively set at $1,757,436, but since the final Day 1 had not yet ended, the number of participants, the total prize pool, and the final prize money were still subject to change, so this could not be considered the final figure.
La Francesca becomes the focus of the late stages of the WSOP Online after winning two titles in two weeks.
From winning the GGMasters Freezeout with 1,514 participants on September 14 to taking the top spot again at the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship with 123 participants on September 27, Alessio La Francesca increased his career WSOP gold bracelet count from zero to two in just about two weeks.
The first title brought in $316,037 and a $30,000 WSOP Paradise Super Pass, while the second title added another $352,561.
For La Francesca, the disappointment of finishing 11th at the 2025 WSOP Europe Monsterstack turned into a gold bracelet title in two different formats a year later.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong player "U move I move" also topped the $800 The Closer out of 4,070 participants, adding another WSOP Online gold bracelet to the list of Asian players.
With only $10,000 GGMillion$ High Rollers remaining in the series, the 2026 WSOP Online has officially entered its final stage.
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