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“Patience is a Virtue.”

“Slow and steady wins the race.”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

“A watched pot never boils.”

I listed four common proverbs about patience because I felt it was the proper thing to do after SCOOP Event #27-High NL lasted 37 hours and 28 minutes. Yes, that’s not a typo. 37.5 hours. I could have watched the film Rounders (run time 2 hours 1 minute) almost 19 times before the completion of the final table.

Event #27-High NL was scheduled as a two-day event, which commenced on May 15th at 17:00 ET and took a break after 16 levels of play. Action resumed on May 16th at 17:00 ET and ran until 6:28 ET on May 17th.

Event #27-High attracted 1,179 runners created a prize pool worth $1,179,000. The top 135 players were paid out prize money with $212,220 set aside for the champion.

The money bubble did not burst on Day 1, which ended with 138 players remaining. The chip leader at the end of Day 1 was Perumov (Russia) with 143,852. It was neck-and-neck for second and third place with dean23price (UK) ending Day 1 with 141,591, and Orkyd (Belgium) finishing up with 141,156.

The Czech Republic’s Martin Staszko was the only PokerStars Team Pro to advance to Day 2. Staszko ended Day 1 with 29,717 in chips, which put him 84th overall.

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

The money bubble popped early on Day 2. Martin Staszko was the only member of Team PokerStars Pro to cash in 96th place. Staszko was short stacked for most of Day 2. He was next to last in chips when he made a stand with [Ts][3s] against ely_cash41′s [Kc][Td]. The board ran out [Ah][8S][Jd][5c][Qs] and ely_cash41 won the hand with a Broadway straight. Staszko earned $2,475.90 for 96th place.

When play reached the 30th hour, only 20 players remained with Weekender74 in the top spot with 769K. With 15 players remaining, NhFy seized the lead and became the first player to pass the 1 million mark.

Action was hand-for-hand with ten players remaining. After almost an hour, someone finally busted when APD0290 opened to 14,400, Setherson2 re-raised to 35,785, APD0290 four-bet shoved for 310,876, and Setherson2 called all-in. Setherson2 was ahead with [Kd][Kc] against APD0290′s [Ah][6h], but an Ace on the flop sunk Setherson2′s Cowboys. APD0290 won the pot and Setherson2 bubbled off the final table in tenth place.

Event #27-H $1,050 NL – Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: 1Lacky7 (578,415)
Seat 2: Weekender74 (857,915)
Seat 3: zcedrick (739,069)
Seat 4: NhFy (940,884)
Seat 5: APD0290 (520,444)
Seat 6: Trommelochse (688,081)
Seat 7: Hans-jörg029 (572,449)
Seat 8: ely_cash41 (553,812)
Seat 9: AQUA RAIDER (443,931)

The final table commenced in the middle of Level 32 with blinds at 3600/7200. NhFy held the top spot with 940K and AQUA RAIDER was the short stack with 444K. The tournament was running for 32 hours and 40 minutes before a final table was set after a prolonged bubble.

A rare hand occurred shortly after the final nine took their seats. NhFy and APD0290 got it all-in preflop with monster hands — both held pocket Aces. NhFy held [Ac][Ah] against APD0290′s [Ad][As]. The board ran out [Td][8c][6d][6c][Kd] and both players chopped the pot with Aces up.

NIGHT TRAIN: 1Lacky7 eliminated in 9th place

How long did it take before the first player to bust from the final table? Approximately one hour. Yes, the final nine patiently went about their business like they’ve been doing all evening long — methodically waiting to strike.

Hans-jörg029 kicked off the hand with a raise to 18,900. 1Lacky7 bumped it up to 42,500, and Hans-jörg029 called. The flop was [Ks][Ts][4c]. Hans-jörg029 checked, 1Lacky7 fired out 35,846, Hans-jörg029 check-raised to 71,692, and 1Lacky7 called. The [6h] fell on the turn. Hans-jörg029 bet 153,000, 1Lacky7 shoved all-in for 365,063, and Hans-jörg029 called. Hans-jörg029 was ahead with a set of tens and [Td][Tc] against 1Lacky7′s [Ad][As]. The river was the [Qc]. Hans-jörg029 won the pot. Unfortunately, 1Lacky7 had Aces cracked and bowed out in ninth place, which paid out $14,148.

With eight players remaining, NhFy stack was 1.18 million and held a slight lead over Hans-jörg029 in second place. Trommelochse brought up the rear with 300K.

MR. BROWNSTONE: Trommelochse eliminated in 8th place

Short-stacked Trommelochse decided to make a final stand… APD0290 min-raised to 20,000, Trommelochse insta-shoved for 229,132, and APD0290 called. APD0290 was ahead with [As][Ts] against Trommelochse’s [Kd][Qh]. The board ran out [9c][7s][5d][7c][2c] and APD0290 won the pot with a pair of sevens (on the board) and an Ace-kicker. APD0290 chipped up to 900K. Trommelochse lost the pot and was knocked out in eighth place, which paid out $23,580.

PARADISE CITY: ely_cash41 eliminated in 7th place

It was a classic race: Jacks versus Big Slick. At stake? A 1.7 million pot.

Hans-jörg029 started off the firework with a raise to 21,000. ely_cash41 called. Weekender74 raised to 43,200. APD0290 re-raised to 90,340. Hans-jörg029 bailed. ely_cash41 five-bet shoved for 811,700. Weekender74 folded, but APD0290 called. APD0290 trailed with [Ad][Kh] against ely_cash41′s [Js][Jd]. The board ran out [Qh][9d][4s][Td][As]. Even though APD0290 turned a Broadway gutshot, it was the [As] spiking on the river that won the hand with pair of Aces. Alas, ely_cash41′s Jacks were sunk and ely_cash41 busted out in seventh place, earning $35,3

With six remaining, APD0290 captured the lead with 1.7 million.

MY MICHELLE: Weekender74 eliminated in 6th place

Weekender74 opened with a min-raise to 20,000. NhFy re-raised to 40,000. Weekender74 four-bet to 96,000. NhFy called. The flop was [Jh][9c][4d]. Weekender74 checked, NhFy bet 80,000, Weekender74 re-raised all-in for 390,636, and NhFy called. Weekender74 showed [Ah][Qh] and was behind NhFy’s [3s][3d]. The turn was the [Kd], which gave Weekender74 a Broadway gutter draw, but the river was the [Kh]. The running Kings did not help Weekender74, who busted out in sixth place. Weekender74 took home $47,160. NhFy won the hand and moved into second overall with 1.7 million.

DEAL?

With five remaining (at 34 hours and 41 minutes into the tournament), action was paused to discuss a deal. NhFy was out in front with almost 2 million and AQUA RAIDER was in last with over 530K. Players requested to see both chip chop and ICM numbers. After fifteen minutes of deliberation, players were unable to come to an agreement, so play resumed.

OUT TA GET ME

During Level 37, NhFy coughed up the chip lead after getting a hand caught in the cookie jar. The board was [9c][6d][4c][As][6s]. NhFy checked, APD0290 fired out 168,000, NhFy check-raised to 350,000, and APD0290 headed into the tank for several minutes before making a call. NhFy showed [Kd][Td] for nothing but a pair of sixes. APD0290 made a hero call and won the pot with [Kc][Qd]… for nothing but a pair of sixes yet outkicking NhFy. APD0290 won a pot worth 1,005,750 and chipped up to 1.5 million. NhFy sunk to second in chips with 1.5 million (just a tad more than APD0290). Hans-jörg029 leapfrogged into the lead with 1.6 million.

NhFy re-gained the lead after winning a pot with two pair holding [Ah][7h] against Hans-jörg029 inferior two pair. NhFy crawled back on top with 1.4 million.

When play reached the 36th hour, it was zcedrick’s turn to take the lead with 1.8 million. Hans-jörg029 lost the lead in a pot against zcedrick, who held [4s][4h] for a full house.

The slide for NhFy continued during Level 38. Hans-jörg029 rivered the Wheel with [Ah][3h] against NhFy. NhFy slid all the way to the basement to under 900K.

SWEET CHILD O’ MINE: NhFy eliminated in 5th place

After two hours of action without an elimination, a player finally busted. zcedrick opened to 36,000 and NhFy called from the big blind. The flop was [Js][4d][2d]. zcedrick fired out 36,800 and NhFy called. The turn was the [8h] and both players checked. The river was the [Tc]. zcedrick bet 45,000, NhFy raised to 176,000, zcedrick shoved all-in for 1,837,047, and NhFy called all-in. NhFy had two pair with [Jd][Th], but zcedrick showed [4c][4s] for a set. The pot was shipped to zcedrick, who chipped up to over 2.6 million. NhFy was knocked out in fourth place and earned $58,950.

With four players remaining, the chip counts were:
Seat 3: zcedrick (2,618,778)
Seat 5: APD0290 (766,819)
Seat 7: Hans-jörg029 (1,176,197)
Seat 9: AQUA RAIDER (1,333,206)

YOU’RE CRAZY: AQUA RAIDER eliminated in 4th place

Hans-jörg029 opened to 37,800. Short-stacked AQUA RAIDER shoved all-in for 322,396. Hans-jörg029 called with [Qd][Qs]. AQUA RAIDER was racing with [Ah][Kd]. The flop was [5c][4h][3h] and AQUA RAIDER picked up a Wheel draw. The turn was the [9c], and the river was the [5d]. Hans-jörg029′s Queens held up and won the pot. AQUA RAIDER failed to hit a gutshot draw and busted out in fourth place, which paid $84,888.

With three players remaining… zcedrick led with 2.2 million, Hans-jörg029 had 2 million, and APD0290 had 1.6 million.

DEAL 2.0

As the tournament passed the 37-hour mark, the final three asked to see numbers for a money chop. Unlike the previous deal discussion, an agreement was quickly reached. The deal featured $12,000 and the SCOOP champion’s watch set aside for the eventual winner. The chip leader, zcedrick, secured $158,082.77. Meanwhile, Hans-jörg029 locked up $155,321.23, and APD0290 got $151,265.70. Once the deal was sealed, play resumed.

ANYTHING GOES: zcedrick eliminated in 3rd place

Talk about a cooler… zcedrick: min-raised to 40,000, Hans-jörg029 raised to 100,000, zcedrick re-raised to 235000, Hans-jörg029 five-bet to 420,000, zcedrick six-bet shoved for 2,188,248, and Hans-jörg029 called all-in. Hans-jörg029 was ahead with [As][Ac] against zcedrick’s [Kc][Ks]. The board ran out [Jh][7h][2s][7s][6c]. Hans-jörg029 avoid elimination when Aces held up. Hans-jörg029 chipped up to 4 million, while zcedrick was crippled.

Shorty zcedrick made a final stand with [3s][3h] against Hans-jörg029′s [Kh][7d]. The board ran out [9d][8h][4c][Kc][9s]. The King on the turn sealed zcedrick’s fate. Hans-jörg029 won the pot and zcedrick was knocked out collecting $158,082.77 for third place.

HEADS-UP: Hans-jörg029 (Austria) vs. APD0290 (Canada)
Seat 5: APD0290 (2,029,959)
Seat 7: Hans-jörg029 (3,865,041)

ROCKET QUEEN: APD0290 eliminated in 2nd place; Hans-jörg029 ships marathon SCOOP tournament

Heads-up only lasted three hands. APD0290 kicked off the festivities with a min-raise to 40,000. Hans-jörg029 re-raised to 120,000 and APD0290 called. The flop was [Ac][Qc][8h] and both players checked. The turn was the [Qd]. Hans-jörg029 bet 122,500, APD0290 raised to 285,000, Hans-jörg029 re-raised to 447,500, and APD0290 called. The river was the [Jc]. Hans-jörg029 fired out 912,000, APD0290 pushed all-in for 1,659,959, and Hans-jörg029 called. APD0290 rivered a club flush with [Kc][7c], but the river filled in a boat for Hans-jörg029, who held [Qs][Jh].

APD0290 busted out in second place and earned $151,265.70 for a runner-up performance.

Meanwhile, 37 hours and 28 minutes after Event #27-High started… Austria’s Hans-jörg029 won the tournament, the coveted SCOOP watch, and $167,321.23 in cash. Get some sleep, Hans-jörg029… you’ve earned it.

Event #27-H $1,050 – Final Table Payouts and Results:
Entrants: 1,179
Places Paid: 135

1. Hans-jörg029 (Austria) – $167,321.23 **
2. APD0290 (Canada) – $151,265.70 **
3. zcedrick (Spain) – $158,082.77 **
4. AQUA RAIDER (Canada) – $84,888
5. NhFy (Sweden) – $58,950
6. Weekender74 (U.K.) – $47,160
7. ely_cash41 (Mexico) – $35,370
8. Trommelochse (Germany) – $23,580
9. 1Lacky7 (Russia) – $14,148

** Denotes a deal was made with the final three players

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Doing great things is never easy, so it follows that doing great things more than once is even more difficult. Even with the recent run of players taking down multiple events, the history of the Spring Championship of Online Poker holds this up as truth; since SCOOP began in 2009, only 12 players had managed to win more than one tournament. As it turned out, Event 27-M would be the entry ticket for a 13th member of that elite club.

Day 1

The first day of this Medium-level event saw 4,992 players put up the $109 buy-in, building a $499,200 prize pool and topping the guarantee by nearly $200K. A total of 630 places paid, with 461 of them doing so before the end of Level 25. Among those who earned their rewards in that timeframe were Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis (238th), David “SexSeen” Sands (211th), and Billy “patrolman35″ Kopp (206th). Team PokerStars Pro’s Matthieu “mattidm” De Muelder was the lone member of his squad to cash on Day 1, finishing in 566th place. Also making the money was Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Berg (476th).

These ten players led the remaining field as the tournament went on break to end the day:

1. gutshtallin (Mexico) 526,436
2. happyaccount (Russia) 426,002
3. ThisIsUs93 (Sweden) 413,097
4. Ziggy014 (Canada) 399,134
5. jurata_PL (Poland) 390,494
6. Karet2 (Russia) 366,935
7. Mieses88 (Czech Republic) 344,783
8. phasE89 (Czech Republic) 342,069
9. yard_warrior (Jamaica) 339,918
10. Dodico (Brazil) 332,830

Day 2 begins

A total of 169 players returned to play with blinds of 1.4K/2.8K and a 350 ante. Of those with the biggest stacks coming back for Day 2, most would make strong runs at the final table. Only Jamaica’s yard_warrior (134th place, $499.20), the Czech Republic’s Mieses88 (89th, $673.92) and Russia’s karet2 (45th, $1,023.36) fell far short of a chance at the title; all of the others advanced to at least the last three tables. Canada’s Ziggy014 (26th), Sweden’s ThisIsUs93 (25th), Mexico’s gutshtallin (22nd), Russia’s happyaccount (21st), and the Czech Republic’s phaseE89 (20th) all earned $1,248 for their finishes, while Brazil’s Dodico (18th) grabbed $1,497.60 for making the next-to-last table.

A number of other notables finished in the money on Day 2, including former WCOOP winner and SCOOP final tablist Steve “gboro780″ Gross (141st, $474.24), three-time WCOOP winner Dan “djk123″ Kelly (110th, $549.12), reigning EPT San Remo and WPT Prague champion Andrey “ThePateychuk” Pateychuk (74th, $723.84), two-time WPT winner Randal “RandALLin” Flowers (36th, $1,098.24), and 2010 Card Player Player of the Year Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese, who just missed the final table in 13th place ($2,246.40).

The final table began at four minutes after midnight ET with this lineup:

Seat 1: dean23price (7,766,504 in chips)
Seat 2: rku4 (4,658,789 in chips)
Seat 3: chr1spy (1,452,005 in chips)
Seat 4: Drew M Scott (4,058,693 in chips)
Seat 5: Zenit_07/08 (703,079 in chips)
Seat 6: Takezo1980 (1,325,895 in chips)
Seat 7: jurata_PL (1,719,222 in chips)
Seat 8: 00scottmcg00 (1,861,704 in chips)
Seat 9: gull666 (1,414,109 in chips)

Leading the way at the final table was the United Kingdom’s dean23price, a Supernova player and the winner of Event 26-M during last year’s SCOOP series. That $68K score was actually the fourth biggest payday of the UK player’s online career, after a Super Tuesday win for $75K, 3rd in the Sunday Warm-Up for $76K, and 2nd in the Sunday Million for $205K. A win in this event would be good enough to push dean23price over the $2.1 million mark in PokerStars tournament earnings, which, along with the chip lead, surely made for excellent motivation. Another SCOOP winner was also at the final table, seated three spots to dean23price’s left. Drew M Scott won Event 19-L, $27 Triple Stud, just three days ago. Outside of Drew M Scott and dean23price, everyone at the final table was in search of their very first SCOOP win.

A fast start

One of the former winners was the first to score an elimination. Drew M Scott opened for 80K in the cutoff and got calls from Zenit_07/08 on the button and jurata_PL in the big blind. When the flop came down [9h] [9s] [Th], jurata_PL led out for 123K and was quickly raised to 315K by Drew M Scott. At that point Zenit_07/08 shoved for 636K, clearing jurata_PL out of the hand and putting the decision back to Drew M Scott. Holding [Ac] [5s], the former SCOOP winner didn’t have much to call with, but the price being offered – another 321K to call in a 1.37M-chip pot – was impossible to pass up. Zenit_07/08′s [Ks] [Kd] was in great position for a double-up, but the [Ah] turn and [3h] river ended the Russian player’s day in 9th place ($3,993.60).

Several orbits later, the lone member of Day 1′s top ten to make the final table picked up easily the largest pot of the final table to that point, flattening the top of the leaderboard with this hand at the expense of dean23price:

Six hands later, with the blinds up to 22.5K/45K and antes at 5,625, jurata_PL would stack up again. This time the chips came at the expense of the table’s short stack. The action had folded around to the Polish player on the button; after raising to 90K and seeing 00scottmcg00 move all-in for 479K from the small blind, jurata_PL made the call with [Ks] [9c]. Up against 00scottmcg00′s [6c] [6d], jurata_PL jumped into the lead on the [Kc] [4d] [3d] flop and never looked back as the board ran out [Ah]-[Jd]. That made 00scottmcg00 the 8th place finisher ($6,240).

On the first hand back from the break at 12:55am ET, with blinds and antes still at 25K/50K/6.25K, another short-stacked player would be shown the exit. This time around it was chr1spy, who moved all-in for 1.27M chips from the small blind in response to an early-position raise to 100K by jurata_PL. The Polish player quickly called with [Jh] [Jc], which was well ahead of chr1spy’s [8d] [8h]. The board ran out [As] [Ts] [3d] [Qc] [9c], making chr1spy the 7th-place finisher ($11,232).

The demise of the short stacks continued on the very first hand of the 30K/60K/7.5K level. The UK’s gull666 opened for 180K in the hijack, holding [Ks] [Qd], and was immediately reraised to 330K by dean23price in the cutoff. gull666 called with 441K behind to see the flop of [Js] [5d] [9c] and immediately shoved, and dean23price called almost as quickly with [Ac] [Ts]. Nine outs to win wasn’t looking too bad for gull666, but the [As] promptly appeared on the turn and took all but three of them away. Once the [4d] hit the river it was all over; dean23price offered a “gg” while scooping the 1.67M-chip pot, and gull666 left in 6th place ($16,224).

Shifting back down

Two orbits later the trend of short stacks busting on all-in hands finally ended. Since gull666′s exit Takezo1980 had been whittled down from 1.24M chips to just 800K, so when jurata_PL opened under the gun for 120K and Drew M Scott reraised to 300K the decision to shove all-in with [Ah] [Kh] was an easy one. jurata_PL isolated with [Qh] [Qc] and got Drew M Scott out of the way, but the [2s] [2c] [Ac] [3h] [8s] board kept Takezo1980 in the game.

It was the first time in 31 hands that Takezo1980 had won a pot. Not only did the win give the Dutch player a new lease on life, but it served as a reset point for the table’s momentum. Where all of the play in the early going had seen the bigger stacks methodically bust the shortest stacks, the five remaining players now found themselves clustered a little closer together. The incoming chip leader still held the big stack with 143 big blinds, but the others were sitting with stacks worth 32, 61, 86 and 92 big blinds, and they settled into a steady rhythm of play as they all looked to make the next pay jump.

The next all-in moment didn’t come for another 16 minutes, and even then Takezo1980 doubled through dean23price with [Ac] [Ad] to the leader’s [Ah] [Kc]. But aside from that setback, the general trend was for dean23price to accumulate chips and the others to slowly bleed them. That trend continued all the way through to the break at 1:55am ET, which began after this 5.02M-chip pot:

After the break dean23price came out swinging, taking down four of the first six pots through well-timed aggression to climb up to 12.99M chips. With the other players all clustered between 2.6M and 3.5M and the blinds and antes now up to 40K/80K/10K, dean23price seemed to have all the leverage. He mostly sat back from there, though, while the other players took turns trying to get a leg up on each other.

All those confrontations resulted in one player or another backing down until jurata_PL and rku4 saw a four-way [8d] [7d] [Kh] flop with Takezo1980 and Drew M Scott. Those two checked and jurata_PL led out for 289K, which only rku4 and Takezo1980 called. The turn was the [2c] and when the action checked to rku4 the Russian player bet 678K. That cleared Takezo1980 out of the way, but jurata_PL check-raised all-in for 1.74M. rku4 made the call fairly quickly, turning up [Ks] [Qh]; that was ahead of jurata_PL’s [Kd] [5d] but between the diamond flush draw and two-pair outs there were still a lot of cards to dodge on the river. The [Ah] wasn’t one of them, though, and jurata_PL finished in 5th place ($21,216).

The jump from 5th place to 4th would take even longer than the previous pay jump to arrive as all of the remaining players employed a full range of aggressive tactics to stay alive for the next 40 minutes. Finally the tournament was taken from its final four players down to its final two in this single hand:

Though both rku4 and Drew M Scott busted there, rku4 began the hand with fewer chips and thus took 4th place ($28,204.80). Drew M Scott, meanwhile, took 3rd place ($41,184), falling just shy of a second SCOOP win in a single week despite a strong performance throughout the tournament.

A pitched battle

As heads-up play began at 2:52am ET, dean23price had a little less than a 2-to-1 advantage over the last obstacle standing between the Supernova player and a second SCOOP title.

Seat 1: dean23price (16,237,674 in chips)
Seat 6: Takezo1980 (8,722,326 in chips)

Takezo1980 had been one of the tighter players at the final table, but the Dutch player demonstrated from the start that this heads-up match would be no cakewalk. dean23price claimed more pots before the break at 2:55am but the pots Takezo1980 won were worth more, helping to narrow the gap by 1M before the blinds and antes went up to 70K/140K/17.5K. The Dutch player stayed on the offensive after returning from the break, pulling to within 2.5M chips before actually seizing the lead with an big call on the river in this hand:

dean23price struck back quickly, winning seven of the next ten pots to retake the lead. Takezo1980 responded by winning two medium-sized pots (1.62M and 2.35M) and two big pots (4.7M and 4.2M) to reverse the chip counts from the start of the heads-up match. Now ahead 16.57M to dean23price’s 8.38M, Takezo1980 appeared to be within reach of the win. Then dean23price opened on the button for a minimum raise to 280K, Takezo1980 three-bet to 697K, and dean23price shoved for 6.71M. Takezo1980 couldn’t have called much more quickly with [Qs] [Qd], which was far ahead of dean23price’s [7s] [6s] – at least until the board came [7c] [5h] [4h] [8c] [5c] for a miracle straight and 13.47M-chip pot that gave the lead back to dean23price.

From there the blinds and antes rose to 80K/160K/20K and the finalists mostly traded small pots back and forth, until dean23price won a 7.84M pot by calling down a 1.74M-chip bet on the river of a [4c] [5s] [3s] [7h] [4d] board, holding [Ts] [7d] to beat Takezo1980′s [8s] [7s]. That gave dean23price a chance to put the tournament away seven hands later with [8c] [8s] to Takezo1980′s [Ah] [Jd], but an ace on the flop shipped the 14.52M-chip pot to the Dutch player. Soon enough they were even again, but dean23price’s aggressive style paid off when Takezo1980 called with an inferior hand in an 11.76M-chip pot just before the blinds and antes went up again, this time to 100K/200K/25K. Now holding 16.7M chips to Takezo1980′s 8.21M, dean23price was once again in the driver’s seat.

This time, the UK player would stay there thanks to the 174th hand of heads-up play, which began 56 minutes after the first hand. It started with dean23price on the button, raising the minimum to 400K, and Takezo1980 calling from the big blind to see a flop of [7c] [5h] [2d]. Takezo1980 checked and then raised to 887K after dean23price put out a bet of 348K. Then dean23price put in a third bet, this time for 2M, and the decision fell back to Takezo1980. After dipping into the time bank Takezo1980 emerged with an all-in move for 9.73M chips, which dean23price called in short order. Takezo1980 held [3h] [3c], which had been ahead before the flop but was now trailing dean23price’s [Td] [7h]. The [8d] fell on the turn, the [Th] fell on the river, and Takezo1980 fell in 2nd place.

Despite coming up short after the back-and-forth heads-up duel, Takezo1980 earned a solid $58,156.80 on the $109 buy-in. As for dean23price, a second career SCOOP victory was worth $78,316.26, vaulting the UK Supernova into some pretty select company as only the 13th player ever to have won more than one SCOOP tournament. Given the way this final table went, not to mention the way things have been going throughout this series, it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see dean23price claim another winner’s watch before the last event plays out this weekend.

SCOOP Event 27-M: $109 NL Hold’em
$300,000 guaranteed
4,992 entrants, $499,200 prize pool
630 places paid

1st place: dean23price (United Kingdom) $78,316.26
2nd place: Takezo1980 (Netherlands) $58,156.80
3rd place: Drew M Scott (Canada) $41,184
4th place: rku4 (Russia) $28,204.80
5th place: jurata_PL (Poland) $21,216
6th place: gull666 (United Kingdom) $16,224
7th place: chr1spy (Ireland) $11,232
8th place: 00scottmcg00 (United Kingdom) $6,240
9th place: Zenit_07/08 (Russia) $3,993.60

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Any tournament that requires a $2,100 buy-in is going to be highlighted by some well-known poker players. This Razz event had an elite field, and the final table reflected that. And throughout the action, Shawn “buck21″ Buchanan fought like he is known to do at the live tables, overcoming short stacks and building through sheer aggression. The performance in the heads-up match was something resembling a one-sided boxing match, and sulbystar finally succumbed to the power of buck21. Mr. Buchanan is now a SCOOP champion.

*****

Wednesday is the day of the week that some people positively see as halfway to the next weekend, while others negatively view it as halfway from the past weekend. Razz is a little like Wednesday. No one will claim to love it, but they will still put up money to play the game. It’s a poker variety that sits out there as an island, like Wednesday, right in the middle of everything. People still go there, though they’re unsure why. That’s Razz.

And that’s Event 28, a tournament that offered those players the chance to face the game and choose how they wanted to view it. No matter, they still played. The high version of the game, which required a buy-in of $2,100, drew enough people to stomp all over the guarantee, so Razz has that going for it.

Players: 81
Guarantee: $100,000.00
Prize pool: $162,000.00
Paid players: 12

There were quite a few members of Team PokerStars in action today, though Team Pro George Danzer was the first one to exit the field in 62nd place. Team Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind, who just won a SCOOP title in Event 26-L, ended this event in 57th place, followed by Team Pros Martin Staszko in 42nd and Jose “nachobarbero” Barbero in 34th.

As the field was reduced to only three tables around the 7.5-hour mark, Team Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Team Online’s Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin were still in competition, though the latter soon exited in 20th place.

With two tables remaining at 8.5 hours into the event, ElkY was the short stack and though he doubled once to stay in action, he finally succumbed to the cards and left in 14th place, two spots off the money.

Hand-for-hand on the two tables, and it took about 10 minutes before BrynKenney busted in 13th place on the money bubble. DynamoM was the first player to cash for $4,455.00, and Kroko-dill followed in 11th as did stevie444 in tenth.

Another round of hand-for-hand started on the final table bubble, and it didn’t take long for ShellyCalls to push all-in for 4,754 chips. Buck21 called, and tabled [5h][Ad][2c][5c][7h][Jc][6c], while ShellyCalls had only [8c][7s][6h][8h][Js][Ac][Td]. ShellyCalls had to leave in ninth place with $4,455.00.

Sulbystar surges as chip leader

The final eight players began action with these chip counts:

Seat 1: buzzard1881 (38,755 in chips)
Seat 2: Mrdawwe (100,783 in chips)
Seat 3: grapenuts (55,982 in chips)
Seat 4: sulbystar (122,127 in chips)
Seat 5: BigRiskky (15,778 in chips)
Seat 6: __akun333___ (4,418 in chips)
Seat 7: buck21 (38,575 in chips)
Seat 8: villepn (28,582 in chips)

The very first hand of the final table saw short-stacked ___akun333___ move all-in. Mrdawwe called and collected [2h][3h][Ac][Kh][Ks][Js][6s], while ___akun333___ was behind with [8c][7h][5c][Jh][2c][Qs][Jd]. ___akun333___ departed in eighth place with $5,265.00.

Though BigRiskky had been the short stack during most of seven-handed play, buzzard1881 lost ground and needed to make a move. Buzzard1881 then got involved with Mrdawwe. On fifth street, buzzard1881 showed [AH][3s][Ks] and got into a raising war with the [5s][9h][7s] of Mrdawwe until buzzard1881 finally committed the last of the chips. When the hands were complete, buzzard1881 had [7h][2c][Ah][3s][Ks][9d][9c], but Mrdawwe won the pot with [8h][6c][5s][9h][7s][Kh][As]. Buzzard1881 landed in seventh place with $6,885.00.

Short-stacked strategies

Villepn was one of the shortest stacks at the table and pushed all-in on third street with [3s] showing, and grapenuts was right there with [Ah]. After all of the cards were presented, villepn showed [6d][4c][3s][8h][7h][5h][Tc], but grapenuts won with [2s][6h][Ah][4s][Qd][2d][7s]. Villepn, who claimed a 2010 SCOOP victory, was gone in sixth place with $8,505.00.

BigRiskky doubled several times, and finally a double through grapenuts took him over 10K in chips. Another double through grapenuts put BigRiskky over 20K, and the roller coaster for the short stack continued. He then revealed his strategy in the chat box:

“Blind down triple, my strat.”

Sulbystar said, “Fantastic, I’m always keen to learn from an expert.”

Scott “BigRiskky” Clements responded, “LOL at me being expert.”

Awhile later, BigRiskky doubled through sulbystar, and the latter typed, “lol.”

During the hour and 20 minutes that was five-handed play, BigRiskky doubled more times than we care to recount. But there had to be an end to it. It happened when BigRiskky and Mrdawwe capped betting on third street, then bet and called on fourth. On fifth street, BigRiskky showed [3c][2d][Qh] and bet all-in for 5,536 chips. Mrdawwe called with [8d][Qd][8s] showing. After the river, BigRiskky turned over [7h][4d][3c][2d][Qh][2h][3h], but Mrdawwe had [3d][6s][8d][Qd][8s][9c][Th]. Scott “BigRiskky” Clements exited in fifth place with $11,340.00.

Grapenuts was also working a stack of less than 25K and put it at risk with [8c][7s][Qh] showing and [Ah][2s] behind. Sulbystar was along for the ride with [5d][9s][2c] and holding [7h][8h]. Grapenuts only received [Ac][Kh], and sulbystar took [Ks][5h], and the latter had a 9-8-7-5-2 low. Grapenuts became the fourth place finisher with $15,390.00.

Final three

The last three players standing started with these counts:

Seat 2: Mrdawwe (182,518 in chips)
Seat 4: sulbystar (78,531 in chips)
Seat 7: buck21 (143,951 in chips)

Sulbystar came out swinging and quickly chipped up in contention for the chip lead with Mrdawwe. And by the 12-hour break, Mrdawwe was the shortest of the three stacks with less than 70K.

Finally, MrDawwe tangled with buck21. Betting was capped on fifth street with [6c][Js][Th] showing for MrDawwe and [6h][9d][Kh] for buck21. The rest of Mrdawwe’s chips went in on sixth street, and the final hand was [Ah][2d][6c][Js][Th][Td][Qh]. But buck21 showed [7s][2c][6h][9d][Kh][Qd][Tc] and took the pot. David “Mrdawwe” Sonelin, who finished sixth in SCOOP Event 24-L earlier this week, had to accept third place in this event for $22,680.00.

Two players, one title

The last two players standing (or sitting) had these chip stacks:

Seat 4: sulbystar (207,631 in chips)
Seat 7: buck21 (197,369 in chips)

Buck21 chipped up steadily throughout the match, and sulbystar couldn’t seem to gather any momentum. Sulbystar was very low at one point and doubled to 41,524 chips, but lost ground and doubled again to 31,048 chips.

Finally, with less than 20K chips, sulbystar moved all-in on fourth street with [5s][9d] showing against the [Ad][3h] of buck21. When all of the cards were dealt, sulbystar had [3c][9c][5s][9d][Th][9s][8d], but buck21 dominating with [6s][Qc][Ad][3h][7c][8h][Ks]. Sulbystar finished the tournament in second place with $29,970.00.

Shawn “buck21″ Buchanan won the SCOOP title, Movado watch, and $44,145.00 in cash. Congrats!

2012 SCOOP Event #28-H ($2,100 Razz) Results:

Total players: 81
Paid players: 12

1st place: Shawn “buck21″ Buchanan (Canada) – $44,145.00
2nd place: sulbystar (UK) – $29,970.00
3rd place: Mrdawwe (Sweden) – $22,680.00
4th place: grapenuts (Canada) – $15,390.00
5th place: BigRiskky (Canada) – $11,340.00
6th place: villepn (Finland) – $8,505.00
7th place: buzzard1881 (Canada) – $6,885.00
8th place: ___akun___333 (Poland) – $5,265.00

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

It wasn’t Zoom Poker, but at times, it sure felt like it. In just over five hours, more than 15,000 players were whittled away, leaving a single champion. Perhaps one day we’ll see a Zoom tournament or even a Zoom SCOOP event, but in the meantime, we have the 6-Max SuperKnockout Turbo format to keep things moving. Event #30-L was the raging keg party of the 2012 SCOOP; someone went too hard too fast, someone got pushed in the pool, and the random European guy turned into the big man on campus. Tonight, that random European guy was triantafill. Although triantafill didn’t claim the largest share of the prize pool, he shipped his first SCOOP title and brought home a $18,142.39 payday.

15,331 players entered event #30-L ($27 NLHE SuperKnockout 6-Max Turbo). $13 from each buy-in went to the main prize pool and $13 went to the bounty pool, creating two prize pools of $199,303 apiece. Knock out one player and you get half your buy-in back. Knock out more than one and you’re freerolling the rest of the way. Sounds pretty nice, right? Two dozen members of Team Pro and Team Online thought so, including Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Duhamel, Shane “shaniac” Schleger, Liv Boeree, and Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen. Four bearers of the mighty red spade finished in the money– Marcin Horecki (2,059th), Christophe DeMuelder (835th), George “Jorj95″ Lind III (459th), and George Danzer (453rd).

An utterly brutal elimination set the final table. Facing the 600,000 big blind on the next deal, N2266 open-shoved for 602,576 from under-the-gun. Skalala min three-bet to 1.2 million and marroca5 moved all-in for 14.5 million, having skalala covered. Skalala gladly called off his remaining 10 million, turning over [Ac][As]. Marroca5 tabled [Ah][Qh] while N2266 showed [Js][7s]. All was right for skalala’s aces on the [Kc][9h][2d] flop. The [3h] on the turn left N2266 drawing dead, but it was the [Jh] on the river that put the dagger in skalala’s heart as marroca5 caught running hearts to make the nut flush. N2266 went out in seventh place, earning $1,694.07 while skalala took home $2,391.63 for sixth.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: RiAb80 (7,386,128 in chips) 
Seat 2: marroca5 (26,926,735 in chips) 
Seat 3: hunnia94 (16,419,272 in chips) 
Seat 4: triantafill (21,576,834 in chips) 
Seat 5: Oczar (4,346,031 in chips) 

The early action saw RiAb80 and Oczar’s chip positions essentially reversed, RiAb80 falling to short-stack status with 4.4 million while Oczar chipped up to 6.3 million. With the action folded to him in the small blind and the only player at the table who could not bust him sitting in the big, Oczar made a pretty standard shove with [Qd][4d]. Unfortunately for him, RiAb80 woke up with [Tc][Ts], the pocket pair holding to double him up to 9.07 million. Oczar was left with less than 2 million in chips and moved them in two hands later from under-the-gun. Both RiAb80 and triantafill called. Although both active players checked the [Ac][7c][2s] flop, triantafill check-folded to RiAb80′s 2,000,000 bet on the turn. RiAb80 turned over [Kh][7h] for trips, Oczar drawing dead with [Kc][Qh]. Oczar was out in fifth place, earning $3,986.06 while RiAb80 claimed his bounty.

The field down to four and the blinds up to 500,000/1,000,000, everyone agreed to pause the action and discuss a deal. Final table host (and 2012 SCOOP champion) George “Jorj95″ Lind III presented the players with chip count chop numbers and although hunnia94, RiAb80 and triantafill quickly agreed to them, marroca5 refused to make a deal for anything less than a $22,000 share. His opponents were quick to remind him of the size of the blinds and the speed of the structure, but marroca5 held his ground, believing he had an edge over the others:

triantafill: its a turbo dont forget this
marroca5: yeah but I have a considerable advantage and I specialize in turbo sitngos……srry guys you can take 1.2 from 2nd and 3rd and we have a deal
marroca5: if not I prefer to play

What marroca5 left out was the fact that he’s already won a SCOOP event this year. And he had to beat Justin Bonomo to do it. Marroca5 also has a WCOOP title, earned last fall in stud hi/lo.

Triantafill, RiAb80, and hunnia94 agreed to give up $400, $500, and $250 from their shares and it was enough to satisfy marroca5. With a deal in place and $2,000 still left on the table, action resumed.

It didn’t take long before hunnia94 picked up [3d][3h] and three-bet shoved for 12.5 million. Triantafill snap-called with [Qs][Qc], the board running out ten-high to send hunnia94 to the rail in fourth place. He earned $12,824.80 for his finish while triantafill moved into the chip lead with 31.7 million.

Second-in-chips marroca5 made a move at the wrong time against triantafill, three-bet shoving for 23.9 million from the big blind after triantafill min-raised the button. Triantafill called with [Ad][Kd], marroca5′s [7c][Td] needing some serious help on the board. Although marroca5 turned a gutshot straight draw, his ten-high never improved. Marroca5 may have finished in third place, but he took home the largest share of the prize pool at $21,985.79.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 1: RiAb80 (15,559,124 in chips)
Seat 4: triantafill (61,095,876 in chips)

Triantafill entered heads-up play with a 4 to 1 chip advantage and never let go. It only took a few hands before all the money went in on a coinflip, triantafill’s [Qh][Ts] racing against RiAb80′s [2h][2c]. Triantafill hit top pair on the [Qs][6c][5c] flop and made trips on the turn with the [Qc]. Although the the club gave RiAb80 a little hope with a flush draw, the [Ks] fell on the river, sealing the win for triantafill.

Congratulations to triantafill on an excellent run and his first SCOOP title. He earned $18,142.29 for the win while runner-up RiAb80 banked $13,208.57.

2012 SCOOP Event #30-L ($27 NLHE SuperKnockout 6-Max Turbo) results

Entrants: 15,331
Places paid: 2,100

1. triantafill (Greece) $18,142.29*
2. RiAb80 (Germany) $13,208.57
3. marroca5 (Colombia) $21,985.79*
4. hunnia94 (Hungary) $12,824.80*
5. Oczar (Poland) $3,986.06
6. skalala (Austria) $2,391.63

*= reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $2,000 in play for the winner

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

I have never been a big fan of leading off articles or speeches or other forms of public address with a dictionary definition. After all, what better way to put an audience to sleep than to read the dictionary to them, right? Yet for tonight’s recap of the “medium” $215 buy-in razz tournament, I found myself wanting to double-check that dictionary definition of what exactly “razz” meant.

razz (v.) — to deride; make fun of; tease

Appropriate, yes? The game so many like to deride, to make fun of. And in return, the game that can tease players back most viciously, smacking those beautiful A-2-3 starters with face cards and pairs as though the game itself was sticking out it’s tongue to deliver a… well… raspberry.

Aware of such risks or not, a total of 462 players decided they liked razz well enough to join Event #28-M, thus building a prize pool of $92,400 and beating the event’s $50K guarantee. The top 64 finishers got paid, with $17,556 due the player able to tease everyone else’s chips into his or her stack.

It would take about seven hours for the money bubble to burst, and with 64 left it was itsmeweer out in front as the only player to have more than 100,000 chips.

Of that remaining group Martin Staszko of the Czech Republic was the only Team PokerStars Pro left with chips, but not too many of them. Soon he’d be all in by fifth street in a hand versus GripDsNutz, and ultimately drew a [9][7][4][3][2] to fall to GripDsNutz’ [8][7][6][4][2] and end in 57th place for a $328.02 cash.

After a couple more hours the field had shrunk down to the last two eight-handed tables. It probably goes without saying that Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb was there among the final 16, although he was on the short stack and soon found himself free to terrorize other SCOOP events after being eliminated in 16th ($1,062.60).

James “Andy McLEOD” Obst soon followed Deeb in 15th, then asia11 (14th) and coinflipx (13th) hit the rail as well, all likewise earning $1,062.60 apiece. They were followed by Papartis88 (12th), Internett93o (11th), PacManOnAcid (10th), and Niklasdensej (9th), each of whom took away $1,386 for their efforts.

The final table was set.

Seat 1: brsariego (Spain) — 29.520
Seat 2: bestofiraq (United Kingdom) — 201.969
Seat 3: 1diego_35 (United Kingdom) — 437,809
Seat 4: üä-qaypö.wsx (Germany) — 198,264
Seat 5: redeste (Russia) — 339,758
Seat 6: RblBA (Russia) — 466.047
Seat 7: Jamie_KK (United Kingdom) — 295.584
Seat 8: itsmeweer (Netherlands) — 341.049

The best finish any of the eight final tablists had in prior SCOOP events this year was Jamie_KK’s seventh-place in Event #24-H ($1,050 PLO, 1R1A, Turbo), meaning all were seeking that first SCOOP win and watch.

With the stakes 10,000/20,000, it didn’t take long before the table’s short stack, brsariego, would be at risk of elimination. All in by fourth street against itsmeweer, brsariego would ultimately draw [2][A] / [5][8][K][T] / [4] to make an 8-5-4-2-A, but itsmeweer ended with [4][T] / [6][7][3][2] / [K] for a better 7-6-4-3-2 to knock brsariego out in eighth.

A while later the stakes were up to 16,000/32,000 while 1diego_35′s stack was down to just over 120,000. Then came a hand in which itsmeweer completed with an [A], 1diego_35 raised with a [2], and itsmeweer called. 1diego_35 raised itsmeweer’s leading bet on fourth, then led on fifth and sixth to go all in, getting calls all the way.

Their down cards turned over, 1diego_35 showed [4][A] / [2][7][Q][2] to itsmeweer’s [K][2] / [A][3][Q][6]. Seventh brought 1diego_35 a pairing ace to make a Q-low, while itsmeweer picked up a [7] to make 7-6-3-2-A and send 1diego_35 out in seventh.

RblBA would be the next player eliminated after sliding to fifth of six (just ahead of bestofiraq), then getting involved in a hand versus itsmeweer in which back-and-forthing between the pair resulted in RblBA all in on fifth with [8][3] / [2][5][2] against itsmeweer’s [2][3][4][6][7]. A nice 7-low already for itsmeweer, and when sixth and seventh brought an [8] and [5] to RblBA, that meant RblBA had drawn pairing cards on the last three streets to go out in sixth.

A little while after that, bestofiraq had the worst of the stacks, and would be all in by third against üä-qaypö.wsx. bestofiraq would ultimately draw [8][9] / [4][8][9][T] / [K], that K-low no good versus üä-qaypö.wsx’s [2][8] / [A][J][2][6] / [Q] — a J-low — sending bestofiraq railward in fifth.

The final four marched on, with itsmeweer leading with just over 937,000, redeste next with about 642,000, Jamie_KK third with about 473,000, and üä-qaypö.wsx last with a little more than 257,000. The stakes were 30,000/60,000 when üä-qaypö.wsx called a Jaime_KK raise on third, called again on fourth, led on fifth and sixth, then check-called all in on the end. The hands…

üä-qaypö.wsx: [2][6] / [7][A][9][Q] / [6] — 9-7-6-2-A
Jamie_KK: [7][A] / [4][3][Q][K] / [5] — 7-5-4-3-A

They were down to three.

itsmeweer would soon tumble from leader to short stack, then a hand arose in which all three players put in a series of bets on third and fourth street to put itsmeweer all in. A bet from Jamie_KK on fifth then got a fold from redeste, and the down cards were revealed:

itsmeweer: [6][2] / [4][4][T]
Jamie_KK: [3][8] / [4][A][J]

itsmeweer would ultimately pick up a couple of face cards — [K][J] — to end with a J-T-6-4-2. Meanwhile, Jamie_KK drew [3][8] to make J-8-4-3-A, good enough to oust itsmeweer in third.

Heads-up began with Jamie_KK well in front with 1,656,907 against redeste’s 653,093. The pair battled for 75 hands total, with Jamie_KK gradually chipping redeste down to less than 70,000 — not even one big bet. Then the final hand saw redeste all in on third street, eventually drawing [A][6] / [A][4][9][K] / [6] — a K-low — while Jamie_KK picked up [5][6] / [J][4][2][5] / [3] to make a nifty 6-5-4-3-2 and snag the win.

Congratulations to Jamie_KK for making a second SCOOP final table and this time finishing with the win! Nothing to deride, make fun of, or tease about that razz performance!

2012 SCOOP Event 25-Medium, $109 Fixed Limit 2-7 Triple Draw:
1st: Jamie_KK (United Kingdom) — $17,556
2nd: redeste (Russia) — $12,936
3rd: itsmeweer (Netherlands) — $9,480.24
4th: üä-qaypö.wsx (Germany) — $6,930
5th: bestofiraq (United Kingdom) — $4,620
6th: RblBA (Russia) — $3,234
7th: 1diego_35 (United Kingdom) — $2,310
8th: brsariego (Spain) — $1,848

Entrants: 462
Places paid: 64

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.