Georgios Sotiropoulos wins MINI Main Event at the 2021 WSOP

The 2021 WSOP Event #65: MINI Main Event No-Limit Hold'em (freezeout) went to Georgios Sotiropoulos. This is Sotiropoulos's third WSOP bracelet, putting him into an exclusive bracket.

Despite his enormous tournament successes — he has a touch under $3.3 million in tournament wins at the time of writing — Sotiropoulos isn't worried about his reputation or legacy within the poker world.

“I don’t really think about that," Sotiropoulos said to the press after his win. "But it’s an amazing achievement. I really love the World Series of Poker, Las Vegas, the tournaments, the people here. Everything excites me. It makes me come again and again. Playing more and winning more and feeling grateful."

This is Sotiropoulos's first live bracelet at the WSOP in Vegas. His previous two bracelets were for the online Flip & Go on GGPoker earlier this year and a 2015 bracelet at the WSOPE in Berlin.

He also has a hat-trick of big seconds in two €5k EPT events and the 2014 $1,100 HORSE at the PCA. It's easy to be cool about one's legacy when it is as solid as that.

The best hand wins

Sotiropoulos went head to head with Wataru Miyashita for the bracelet.

When heads-up play began, the chips were almost even. The players were each a touch on either side of 110 million. Though, after a back and forth struggle, Sotiropoulos took the lead and held it.

The blinds were at 2 million-4 million and Miyashita was down to 91 million when the hammer fell.

Miyashita bet the Q♠8♣ pre-flop, was called, and felt pretty good about his decision to bet when the flop came Q♣7♦️T♦️.

Sotiropoulos checked and Miyashita bet out. He was rewarded with a call and a second queen (Q♦️) on the turn.

Sotiropoulos checked again, Miyashita led out and Sotiropoulos put in the raise. He was representing strength, and if the stacks were deeper maybe Miyashita could have gotten away from the hand. As it was, he shoved over the top of Sotiropoulos and was called.

Seven-deuce gets a bad rap as the worst possible starting hand in hold'em. Even so, for straight-up pre-flop all-in equity, no hand is worse than deuce-trey.

Sotiropoulos flipped over 3♦️2♦️ for a flush and with it he won the tournament, the bracelet, and $432,575 for first. The river was a meaningless 5♣.

"It feels amazing," Sotiropoulos said of his win. "So many players in the tournament —3,000 or so — so many hours played. And, in the end, the result was what I wanted."

The WSOP tweeted after his victory, "Georgios Sotiropoulos tops 3,821 entries in the Mini Main Event to win his third WSOP title and $432,575."

2021 WSOP Event #65: MINI Main Event No-Limit Hold'em (freezeout) complete final table results

Featured image source: WSOP