Third WSOP gold bracelet win for Sotiropoulos

It's every poker player's dream to win a World Series of Poker bracelet. Few have done it. Even fewer have two. But it's truly a select group that has done it three times.

Georgios Sotiropoulos of Greece is now part of that poker pantheon after winning his third bracelet in 2021 WSOP Event #65: $1,000 Mini Main Event. Sotiropoulos outlasted a starting field of 3,821 entries to take home $432,575.

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

Sotiropoulos is now a double-bracelet winner in 2021, also winning the Flip & Go Online on GGPoker in August. His first bracelet came at the 2015 WSOP Europe in a €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo event. He has established himself as one of the top no-limit hold'em players, but that reputation doesn't really mean much to him.

"I don't really think about that," Sotiropoulos said. "But it's an amazing achievement. I really love the World Series of Poker, Las Vegas, the tournaments, the people here. Everything excites me. Makes me come again and again, playing more and winning more. Feeling grateful."

Sotiropoulos came into Day 3 with a chip lead of 105,550,000, more than 60 million ahead of second place with five players remaining. It was Wataru Miyashita who made quick work to bring about heads-up play, eliminating James Rubinski on the second hand of the day with ace-queen. He then flopped a set of eights to take out James Patterson in fourth place before eliminating Jordan Meltzer in third with Big Slick that made top pair on the river.

Sotiropoulos and Miyashita began heads-up play with identical chip stacks. Sotiropoulos pulled ahead when he called a 15 million preflop three-bet from Miyashita. Sotiropoulos also called bets of 8.5 million on the flop and 12 million on the turn with the board showing . Both players checked the river, and Sotiropoulos won with for two pair, queens and sevens, as Miyashita flashed pocket fours.

The end came in a limped pot when Sotiropoulos and Miyashita saw the turn on a board of . Sotiropoulos check-raised a 9 million bet from Miyashita to 26 million and called when Miyashita shoved for 78.3 million. Miyashita had trip queens, but Sotiropoulos had made a flush with . The river came the , and Sotiropoulos was a three-time bracelet winner.

Sotiropoulos dedicated the win to his namesake grandfather and to his friends who cheered him on from the rail. He plans to play the rest of the WSOP and maybe even the WSOP Europe in Rozvadov to try to win bracelet No. 4.

"I just want to keep playing, keep grinding," he said. He's now part of an elite company, but Sotiropoulos isn't content to stop there.

Final Table Results
1 Georgios Sotiropoulos Greece $432,575
2 Wataru Miyashita Japan $267,328
3 Jordan Meltzer United States $202,695
4 James Patterson United States $154,720
5 James Rubinski United States $118,898
6 Matthew Jewett United States $91,991
7 David Tuthill United States $71,661
8 James Morgan United Staes $56,208
9 Erkut Yilmaz United States $44,394

(Article courtesy of World Series of Poker)