• Dominik Panka Nickname
• Dominik Panka Poker

The 2020 GGPoker World Series of Poker (WSOP) Winter Online Circuit has crowned the next champion and Oleg 'Ad Astra' Vasylchenko stormed to an impressive victory in Event #11: $1,050 Bounty Hunters Championship, defeating Marty 'RetremntFund' Mathis in heads-up. A total of 1,293 entries, which includes 879 unique entries and 414 re-entries, created a prize pool of $1,293,000.

Dominik Panka MHS968 GPID is a unique identification number, assigned to each individual player, that will be used in the future in order to register for most poker tournaments around the world. Dominik Panka 3,315 $1,840,936 2 Mike McDonald 3,200 $4,322,895 3 Dylan Wilkerson 2,520 $934,575 4 Eugene Katchalov 2,480 $725,061 5 Mustapha Kanit 2,394 $756,016 6 James Carroll 2,372.

1. Less than a month after winning the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, Dominik Panka was crowed the champion of the PokerStars.fr EPT Deauville High Roller on Saturday, beating a.
2. Dominik Panka has won 0 bracelets and 0 rings for total earnings of $114,996. See all events where they placed in-the-money.
3. Dominik Panka emerged as one of the big stacks and remained near the top of the leaderboard for an extended period. Other notables were not as fortunate with Jan-Eric 'PequenoPony' Schwippert, Ajay.

The top 188 finishers earned a portion of the cash pool on top of any bounties they accumulated and Vasylchenko's top prize of $145,005 includes an astonishing $91,720 in bounties. That amount exceeds the combined bounty prizes of the 2nd to 11th place finishers and surpasses Mathis' $7,934 in bounties ten-fold. The American poker pro cashed for $61,089 total, while third-place finisher Michal 'houzhumi888' Wywrot earned the second-biggest payday of $67,358.

Vasylchenko fired just one entry and sold 50% of his action thanks to the inbuilt staking feature in the GGPoker client. Runner-up Mathis sold 3% of the action and sixth-place finisher 'Internecik' also sold 26% as well. The nine-handed final table also featured Dominik Panka, Senthuran 'Prodigal Sen' Vijayaratnam, and Stevan 'Steve Austin' Chew.

Final Result WSOPC Event #11: $1,050 Bounty Hunters Championship

The Action of the Day

The action never really slowed down and among the first notables to fire four shells and come up short was Dinesh 'NastyMinder' Alt. Further well-known pros such as Dzmitry Urbanovich, Pascal Hartmann, Joao Simao, GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos, GGPoker GGSquad member Patrick 'Egption' Tardif, Juan Pardo Dominguez, Stefan Schillhabel, Joao Vieira, Chris Moorman and Shyngis Satubayev followed.

After the registration had closed, just one-third of the field remained and a frantic race to the money bubble took place. With multiple all-in at the same time, Thomas 'sandman2020' Taylor and Pavel Veksler were the last to depart without any portion of the cash pool. From thereon, the casualties kept coming at rapid speed once more and more than six dozen departed until the next scheduled break.

Dominik Panka emerged as one of the big stacks and remained near the top of the leaderboard for an extended period. Other notables were not as fortunate with Jan-Eric 'PequenoPony' Schwippert, Ajay 'Ross_Geller' Chabra, and Erwann Pecheux heading for the exit prior to the final five tables.

The 2020 WSOP $10,000 Main Event heads-up preparations of Damian Salas included yet another deep run in the virtual arena as he made it all the way to 33rd place, bowing out to Arkadiy 'Kamsky' Tsinis in a blind battle. Ajay 'Ross_Geller' Chabra then crashed out against Oleg 'Ad Astra' Vasylchenko when a dominated suited ace failed to get there.

Three-way and even several four-way all-in showdowns followed and it was a sprint towards the final table which reduced the final three tables to the last nine contenders in fewer than 20 minutes total. Among those to come up short by just a few spots were Rainer Kempe, Vlad Martynenko, aforementioned Tsnis, Sparrow 'FacelessMan' Cheung and Simon Lofberg.

Final Table Action

After a rush on the final three tables, Michal 'houzhumi888' Wywrot entered the final nine with nearly two times as many chips as Marty 'RetremntFund' Mathis. The blinds were rolled back by one full level to maintain an average of more than 40 big blinds, yet it took just three hands to get down to the final seven. In the blink of an eye, Stevan 'Steve Austin' Chew busted to Vasylchenko and Senthuran 'Prodigal Sen' Vijayaratnam followed suit moments later.

Vasylchenko claimed a second victim in 'yammm' and Wyrot knocked out 'Internecik' to get five-handed. Panka's roller-coaster ride ended in fifth place when Wyrot's nine-trey suited flopped trips versus ace-ten suited and the Canadian reigned supreme at the top of the leaderboard. Vasylchenko then gained the lead with a pivotal jam that got through and never surrendered the top spot anymore.

As a matter of fact, Vasylchenko earned the final three knockouts by getting the final chips in when his opponents were drawing dead to finish the tournament in dominating fashion.

That wraps up the PokerNews live updates for tonight but the WSOP Winter Online Circuit action continues in just a few days.

The European Poker Tour is about to complete its 10th season. In 98 stops, there has never been a two-time Main Event champion. It’s a milestone that someone will surely achieve eventually. Fact is, it nearly happened at the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January when Mike “Timex” McDonald was heads-up for the title. The entire poker world was hoping to witness one of the game’s best make history, but these hopes were dashed when a little known Polish player named Dominik Panka crashed the party.

To hear McDonald’s humble vanquisher Panka describe his feat: “I did not have big plans for PCA. I just wanted to win some satellites and play regularly on the EPT on the continent. When I won the PCA qualifier, I thought I would have a nice holiday in the middle of the winter and enjoy a bit of poker. If I had failed in the Main Event, I may have played one more side event and spent most of the time on the beach.”

Panka, who won his way into the PCA via a $700 Sunday qualifier on PokerStars, may not have planned for success, but he found it nonetheless as he navigated the 1,031-player field and found his way to the final table. In fact, he made it all the way to three-handed play, which is where he, McDonald, and Isaac Baron struck a deal. Panka, who was in the chip lead, secured $1,323,096, while his two more celebrated opponents locked up $1,064,865 and $1,207,599, respectively. That left the title and $100,000 on the line for the winner.

Baron was the first of the three to bow out, which set up a three-and-a-half-hour heads-up match between Panka and McDonald. It was a back-and-forth affair, but eventually Panka won a massive flip before going on to clinch victory.

“Winning the PCA did not change my life too much. Obviously, I have a lot of money on my account right now, which is great because I do not have to worry about my future,” Panka says. “I can also focus on what I love — playing big live events, such as the EPT. Apart from that, not much has changed. I have not changed my flat nor bought a car or an expensive watch yet. Of course, I want to do so some day, but I am quite slow at doing things.”

Indeed, prior to winning the PCA Panka lived a slow lifestyle. He hails from Brześć Kujawski, a small town in central Poland, where he grew up the youngest between two brothers and a sister.

“I was spoiled and could easily get out of any responsibilities. The only disadvantage was that my sibling sometimes did not want to play with me, but what could I do about it?” Panka jokes. “My dad has always been keen on logic and mind games. He even worked as a crossword designer for some time. He taught me to play chess and other games. I probably inherited from him my interest in games, including poker.”

After he finished primary school, Panka attended a boarding school in Toruń geared towards talented young people. After that, it was off to Szkoła Główna Handlowa in Warsaw to study. While there, he obtained a Bachelor's Degree, but before he could earn his Master of Arts he left the university for the same reason so many others have — poker.

“I heard about poker when I was in high school. I only knew the rules, but did not play at all. It was during my second year at the University when my best friend started to play poker thanks to the free capital he had received from Full Tilt Poker,” Panka says of his poker origins. “Thanks to the beginner's luck, he won more than 10 dollars and immediately considered himself the king of the game.”

Encouraged by his friend, Panka decided to give online poker a shot. He lost his initial stake on partypoker, and so he decided to make another $20 deposit on PokerStars. Eventually, Panka caught on to the game, and slowly but surely he built up his bankroll playing the lowest stakes sit-n-gos available.

“I played with my friend during most of the time spent at the University. I was doing better and better and he was doing not so well,” Panka laughs. “Finally, I became a professional player and he graduated. At the moment he has a regular, well-paid job.”

Giving up on his studies was a tremendous risk, but one that paid off at the PCA. Even so, many were disappointed by Panka’s victory as it denied a well-known player one of poker’s most prestigious titles. Determined to prove he wasn’t a Polish one-off, Panka returned to Europe and promptly proved he was no fluke.

Just over three weeks after winning the PCA, Panka topped a field of 96 at EPT Deauville to win the €10,000 High Roller for €272,000 ($371,498).

“It definitely gave me self-confidence. Of course, two such successes are usually the result of a very good run, but I definitely feel I played quite well and am quite a good player,” Panka says of his follow-up win. “I do not know what other players think about me, but I hope they respect me. Right now, I only hope I manage to succeed again and keep creating my poker reputation, although I know it will not be easy.”

One way Panka has been able to build upon his poker reputation is by hooking up with PokerStars, which offered to sponsor him throughout Season 10 of the EPT. It was an opportunity that Panka was happy to accept, and one for which he is grateful.

“I think they care about investing in a player that does well in tourneys and may be considered a very good poker player some day,” says Panka. “Plus, I am quite a popular person among Polish players. I think that the company wanted to thank me this way for my contribution in the popularization of poker in Poland.”

Such a rapid ascent would no doubt go to a lot of players’ heads, but not Panka. He just wants to continue doing what he’s been doing, and that’s to win.

“I do not have big plans or expectations. Of course, I would like to make it to as many final tables as possible and win a few tournaments, but I basically want to improve my skills. Naturally, it would be great to achieve the triple crown or become the first player who has won an EPT twice, but it is not something I particularly focus on. I simply try to keep playing better and progress as a poker player and as a person. If I manage to achieve anything by the way, then it will be fantastic.”

Panka has continued to travel the EPT, which included the Vienna stop in March. After placing eighth in the €2,000 Eureka High Roller for €20,150 and fifth in the €2,000 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Handed Deepstack for €13,400, Panka, who was born on March 27, 1991, decided to treat himself to another high roller.

“The EPT €10,000 High Roller in Vienna launched on my birthday. You can say I made myself a birthday gift, buying into that tournament,” Panka explains. “I would probably have played it anyway, but since it was my birthday I thought why not make myself a present and play?”

Unfortunately, he was unable to get anything going in that tournament. Even with his continuing success, Panka is unsure if he’ll play his first World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this summer. He cites the distance and tax laws as deterrents. “It is better to concentrate on tournaments in Europe,” he says.

The WSOP is largely considered the biggest stage for the best players, but Panka’s humbleness prevents him from considering himself a part of that group. “In order to be the best you really have to be exquisite in this game and I am still far from the level of players playing super high rollers regularly,” Panka says matter of factly. “I think that my most important advantage is a good mindset. Fortunately, I am still young and can learn a lot.”

Dominik Panka Nickname

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