Christopher Bonn won the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s Philadelphia Main Event.
A small but high-class field turned out for the first high non Hold’em event of this year’s SCOOP series, the $2,100 Badugi event. And it was third time lucky for Rodrigo “caprioli” Caprioli. The 31-year-old SuperNova elite from Sao Paolo who recently final tabled the EPT Grand Final had previously made three SCOOP final tables: in 2009, 2010 (which he won), and 2011. Now he has one in 2012 and another SCOOP watch to go along with it.
For a overview of how Badugi works please click here.
From one bubble to another
This is limit poker, so this was not about all-ins – “This badugi tourney is fast and furious. Only 3 hours and already TWO eliminations,” noted Phil Galfond on Twitter.
However the pace of eliminations did pick-up and the 57 players, who created a prize pool of $114,000, was reduced to eight after just under ten hours of play when caprioli knocked out FabSoul in ninth.
The counts at the start of the final table were as follows:
Seat 1: BrynKenney 7,585
Seat 2: Peshka1502 16,145
Seat 3: shaundeeb 6,170
Seat 4: paulgees81 49,715
Seat 5: Exclusive 76,060
Seat 6: TheHood 28,300
Seat 7: Zimmy86 43,575
Seat 8: caprioli 57,450
But the joy at making the final table was tempered by the fact that another more important bubble was now in effect – the money bubble. Yes, cruel as it may sound one of the eight finalists would be leaving with nothing apart from thoughts of what might have been.
With stakes at 1,000 – 2,000, both BrynKenney and shaundeeb had less than four big bets each and were looking the most likely to fall foul of the $5,130 bubble. They both survived all-ins and a blind increase, but would bust within two minutes of each other.
Highlighting the thin line between success and failure in poker it was BrynKenney who was on the wrong end of this ‘flip’ as he did indeed bubble, with Noah ‘Exclusive’ Boeken doing the damage.
to see replay
Money Money Money
As mentioned above, it wouldn’t take long for the money places to begin to be filled. Just three hands later shaundeeb was sent to the rail. Again Exclusive played the role of executioner as Deeb’s king high badugi was no match for Exlcusive’s [5d][4c][3h] [As], the third best possible Badugi.
Down to half a dozen
The exits showed no sign of abating as just four minutes and three hands elapsed between shaundeeb’s elimination in sixth and Peshka1502′s exit in fifth. The damage had been done in the previous hand where he’d committed 75% of his stack before folding to a bet after the final draw. In his exit hand he was all-in for 3,845 pre-flop and got a call from paulgees81. Pehska1502 stood pat from the off whilst paulgees81 discarded one card on each of three draws. And it was third time the charm for the Canadian as he showed down [8s][5d][4c][2h] to just pip Pehska’s [9d][6c][5s][3h]. Still $6,270 was a fine reward for his efforts.
Gees that’s unlucky
When you get dealt queens or kings in hold’em and run them into a better pocket pair you pretty much suck it up and accept it’s not your day, that’s tantamount to what did for paulgees81 in fifth place.
He got dealt a nine-high badugi off the bat (odds of 88 to 1) but ran into an opponent – Exclusive – who had been dealt an eight high badugi (160 to 1). If it could’ve all gone in pre-flop it may well have done. But, as it was betting was capped pre-flop, the rest went in over the three draws before paulgees81 got the bad news that he’d been well and truly coolered out of the tournament winning $8,270.
Four play
Four handed play would last for over 30 minutes and see Zimmy86 open up a huge lead as he accumulated over half the chips in play. Much of this was at the expense of Exclusive and indeed the long time chip leader would exit in fourth place when he made a queen high Badugi, only for caprioli to make a seven high Badugi to bust him and end his hopes of a second SCOOP title.
Deal?
With the stacks looking like this:
TheHood 75,200
Zimmy86 152,590
caprioli 57,210
It was chip leader Zimmy86 who typed ‘deal’ into the chat box, no replies were forthcoming though and play continued without interruption. And during three-handed play both opponents would reel the leader in. In fact by the time the stakes had reached 2,000 – 4,000 the stacks were almost even:
TheHood 96,000
Zimmy86 94,790
caprioli 94,210
caprioli: LETS CHOP IT?
caprioli: EVEN?
Typed caprioli into the chatbox, again this was as far as discussions would get as caprioli got no takers.
Given that the stacks were deep in comparison to the blinds it was no surprise that three handed play would take some time. In fact it would take nearly two hours to reach heads-up play. During this portion of play it was caprioli who would take charge whilst it would not go so good for TheHood or Zimmy86.
It seemed like TheHood was destined to finish third, but he mounted more than one comeback from fewer than five big bets and instead it was Zimmy86 who would succumb first. Down to just three-big bets, Zimmy86 was all-in before the third and final draw, both he and caprioli discarded one card, but at showdown Zimmy86 would be one card short as he could only muster a three-card badugi with [7d][3c][2d][2h] whilst caprioli had a better three-card badugi with [9c][5h][3s][2c].
Heads-Up
Going into heads-up play caprioli had a commanding lead of 256,000 versus 29,000 and it wouldn’t take long for it to prove insurmountable. 24 hands were all he needed to grind down TheHood to claim the title and first prize of $39,900.
On the final hand TheHood was down to just 5,500 (less than one big bet). On the first draw he discarded one card, whilst caprioli took two. On the second the roles were reversed, caprioli changed one, whilst TheHood took two. And this pattern repeated itself on the final draw. Come showdown caprioli had a 3-card 5,3,2 as he showed [6c] [5s] [3d] [2c], whilst TheHood had a 3-card K,5,4 with [Ks] [6h] [5d] [4h] and he finished second for $25,650.
to see replay
1st – caprioli, Brazil, $39,900
2nd -TheHood, Australia, $25,650
3rd – Zimmy86, United Kingdom, $17,100
4th – Exclusive, Netherlands, $11,400
5th – paulgees81, Canada, $8,550
6th – Peshka1502, Spain, $6,270
7th – shaundeeb, Mexico, $5,130
8th – BrynKenney, Spain
The Spring Championship of Online Poker home page contains all of the tournament results, schedule of upcoming events and their satellites, and a leaderboard for the 2012 Series.
What happens when you put three wild cards into the mix at a SCOOP final table with six players who combine for multiple *OOP and Sunday Million final tables and an EPT championship? The wild cards finish 1-2-3, of course.
2012 SCOOP Event 2-High, $2,100 No-Limit Hold’em, was a two-day event with $1,000,000 guaranteed. The 966 players the event attracted nearly doubled the guarantee and created a prize pool of more than $1.9 million. The top four players all stood to become hundred-thousandaires, with the winner banking almost $350,000. The red spade was well represented, with a combined 27 Team PokerStars Pros and PokerStars Team Online players in the mix. Only two of the Team Pros made the top 108 and were in the money: Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom finished 100th ($4,057) and Angel Guillen finished 55th ($5,796). Maxim Lykov just missed the cut, finishing six spots out of the money in 114th place.
But let’s get back to those wild cards and those talented players they faced off against at the final table.
Seat 1: cassiopak (1021453 in chips)
Seat 2: @cey@lone (693698 in chips)
Seat 3: greezhool (893630 in chips)
Seat 4: pokerpro_kk1 (1755393 in chips)
Seat 5: pyszalek (710143 in chips)
Seat 6: Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis (1356054 in chips)
Seat 7: 7Be/\eC7 (1024125 in chips)
Seat 8: SamSquid (1473578 in chips)
Seat 9: LukeFromB13 (731926 in chips)
Level 31: blinds 10k-20k, ante 2500
Lewis, of course, was the EPT champion, having won EPT Vilamoura in September 2010. He also won Event 16 in the inaugural TCOOP a few months ago. Each of the other five players reached at least one Super Tuesday, Sunday Million, or *OOP final table previously, most of them multiple times.
A cautious start
The players were extraordinarily deep, with an average stack of more than 50 big blinds – which would be great for a live tournament final table, never mind an online tournament. There was also no clear-cut chip leader. Obviously pokerpro_kk1 had the lead (and the support of Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari from the rail) but as Level 31 progressed the stacks became even more level.
No surprise, then, that it took 58 minutes before the first all in was called. Near the end of Level 32, pyszalek, down to 482k in chips, three-bet to 98,900 from late position after greezhool opened with just more than a minimum-raise. greezhool shoved with [ac][kd] and pyszalek snap-called with pocket 10s. A paired jack-high board was good enough to double pyszalek back up to about 1 million.
At that point, the short stack (@cey@lone) had 705k and the big stack, SamSquid, had 1.4 million. Everyone else was bunched in between at somewhere between 33 and 50 big blinds. Team PokerStars Pro Maxim Lykov joked, “Same stacks guys, chop it!” and even final table host and Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein commented, “This is the most balanced final table I’ve ever seen.”
pokerpro_kk1 came into the final table as the chip lead but repeatedly ceded ground over the course of the first 90 minutes. Some of that ground was ceded to Lewis, who took down a decent pot with an uncalled river raise:
Early in Level 33, 7Be/\eC7 jumped into the chip lead. Pre-flop, pyszalek was the aggressor with a raise to 67,500 that was called by 7Be/\eC7 from the button and LukeFromB13 in the big blind. All three players checked a [4d][6s][qd] flop. When the turn came the [kh], LukeFromB13 bet 117,685. That was enough to fold pyszalek, but 7Be/\eC7 raised to 254,240. LukeFromB13 dipped into the time bank for 70 seconds before calling to the [8c] river. LukeFromB13 checked, then called a half-pot bet of 324,240 from 7Be/\eC7, who showed a set of 4s, [4c][4h], to collect the massive pot.
The two short stacks went to war shortly thereafter. LukeFromB13, from first position, shoved for 361k with pocket 5s. pokerpro_kk1, the player who started with the chip lead, re-shoved from middle position with [ac][ks], but pokerpro_kk1′s misfortunes continued as the board came all small cards, [3c][3s][4s][6d][td]. LukeFromB13 climbed above 700k while pokerpro_kk1 dropped to less than 200k and became the new short stack.
But pokerpro_kk1 soon had company near the bottom, when fellow Brazilian cassiopak ran pocket kings into greezhool’s pocket aces. Aces held, propelling greezhool to 2.1 million and the chip lead and dropping cassiopak to less than 300k. The two Brazilians were neck and neck at the bottom.
“Both Brazilians got cold-decked,” noted Greenstein. “Vamoo count going down.”
Cold-decked doesn’t begin to describe it for pokerpro_kk1, who shoved for 123k with [ad][9h]. Early position player SamSquid, who opened to 63,000, called with [td][9c], then paired 10s on the turn of a [5s][7c][js][th][qd] board to knock out the final table chip leader in 9th place, 88 minutes after the final table began.
Play picks up and a deal is made
Play continued without much change until LukeFromB13 doubled through Lewis. Lewis opened pre-flop for slightly more than the minimum, then snap-called after LukeFromB13 shoved for 720k. Lewis had the pair, [9c][9h]; LukeFromB13 had the Big Slick. This round went to Big Slick, [8c][kc][6s][ks][7c], and Lewis became the short stack with about 310k.
cassiopak didn’t fare as well as LukeFromB13 in a similar situation a few moments later. cassiopak had the 9s; SamSquid had ace-jack and paired both cards on a [7d][ad][qc][ks][js] board to knock cassiopak out in 8th place. Both of the Brazilians were gone. There would be no more “Vamo!” calls.
After the 10pm break, the players returned to continue the battle. Lewis, still the short stack, shoved [ad][4d] from early position for 463k. LukeFromB13 woke up a few positions behind with [ah][js] and called the shove. A flop of [jh][5c][as] left Lewis drawing practically dead. Two cards later he was out in 7th place.
The tourney progressed into Level 35, blinds 20k-40k, ante 5k. That’s when the two shortest stacks, @cey@lone and pyszalek, got it in the middle pre-flop. @cey@lone had the lead with pocket 7s, but it was a flip against pyszalek’s [as][9s]. The board came all small, [3d][6s][6h][3c][5h], no help for pyszalek. @cey@lone collected the pot to knock pyszalek out in 6th place.
The biggest hand of the tournament happened just a few moments later between big stacks 7Be/\eC& and SamSquid. Take a look:
Despite that hit, 7BE/\eC7 battled back, doubling through SamSquid once and eventually climbing back up to about 1.6 million. By that time, in Level 36 (25k-50k-6250), four of the five players were just below the 1.9 million-chip average with between 1.5 million and 1.8 million. SamSquid had the lead with 2.9 million. They decided to pause and consider a deal.
With four stacks so close, the chop numbers were roughly even, with each of those stacks getting slightly better than 3rd place money and SamSquid getting about $40,000 above that, with $20,000 as the set-aside. All agreed on the numbers. A five-way deal was made, leaving the SCOOP bracelet and the set-aside to go to the champion.
The floodgates fail to open
You might think, that with $1 million of the prize pool accounted for and only $20,000 up for grabs, that play loosened up after the deal. In fact, the five players continued battling, seemingly giving no quarter. @cey@lone played most aggressively and was the beneficiary of the continued tight play with an increase in chips to 2.5 million.
That aggression backfired, however, when @cey@lone picked up pocket 10s and the other big stack, SamSquid, picked up pocket kings. All the chips went in pre-flop after a series of raises, with SamSquid’s kings flopping a set and surviving to the river against @cey@lone’s inside straight draw. @cey@lone, down to about 250k, tripled up all in with [qc][7d] against 7Be/\eC7′s [as][qd] by flopping a seven. The fight continued, with grezhool trending downwards to join both players near about 1 million in chips even as blinds increased to 30k/60k.
It was finally 7Be/\eC7 who broke the deadlock by busting out in 5th place, opening all in pre-flop for 953k with pocket deuces. Big stack SamSquid called with pocket 7s and held, [ts][7c][4d][4c][4s]. A few hands later, LukeFromB13 followed 7Be/\eC7 to the rail, losing first with ace-eight to greezhool’s pocket 10s and then shoving [9d][6d] into @cey@lone’s [as][kh]. LukeFromB13 never came close to the 2nd board, bowing out in 4th place.
From three to the champ
A double-up by @cey@lone with pocket aces, through SamSquid’s pocket 10s, delineated the final three stacks into clear 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, with SamSquid in front and greezhool pulling up the rear. But then greezhool doubled through SamSquid and the final three players were all very close to 3 million in chips. Three hands later, SamSquid, previously the prohibitive favorite, engaged in a pre-flop raising war with @cey@lone, who put in the last raise, all in to 3.7 million. SamSquid called with [as][td] and was racing pocket 7s. The 7s held [4d][8h][9c][3c][5c] to send a very deserving SamSquid to the rail in 3rd place.
That left greezhool and @cey@lone to duke it out for the bracelet, with greezhol starting as a 3-to-1 chip underdog. All it would take for greezhool was one double-up to reset the stacks. That double-up came when the two players got all in pre-flop, greezhool showing [kh][qh] and @cey@lone showing an ace, [as][td]. The queen flopped; no ace ever hit the board. Game on.
From there greezhool ground out pots until the chip advantage was 2-to-1 in greezhool’s favor. One lucky bad beat later, greezhool was the champion:
greezhool, @cey@lone and SamSquid were three wild cards coming into the Event 2-High final table. But a patient game got each first to five-handed play, where a large chop ensured them all a good payday, and then to three-handed play. From there greezhool played the strongest to nab the victory and an extra $20,000. A little luck didn’t hurt either.
2012 SCOOP Event 2-High, $2,100 NLHE results (including five-way deal):
1st: greezhool ($220,517.13)*
2nd: @cey@lone ($193,218.28)*
3rd: SamSquid ($234,193.06)*
4th: LukeFromB13 ($187,073.39)*
5th: 7Be/\eC7 ($194,753.14)*
6th: pyszalek ($80,178.00)
7th: Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis ($60,858.00)
8th: cassiopak ($42,697.20)
9th: pokerpro_kk1 ($24,729.60)
There are 119 more events in the 2012 SCOOP. How many will you play? Check out the schedule, the results, and all of the stats at the SCOOP homepage.
When it comes to online poker network reorganizations, things usually happen in one of three ways: one network buys another, a poker room leaves a network, or a poker room joins a network. On Monday, though, a significant move was made that did not fit any of these categories. Yes, Lock Poker announced that it will be leaving the Merge Gaming Network, but at the same time, it will be acquiring the Cake Poker Network and creating a new online poker network, Revolution Gaming.
A press release issued by Lock Poker read, in part, “Lock is in the process of acquiring assets from Cake and will be re-branding the Cake Network to launch Revolution Gaming, driving technology, marketing, player rewards and implementing a richer tournament schedule. The LockPRO team will be at the foundation of these changes. They will come together and offer their recommendations on all levels, truly bringing the player into the boardroom.”
Lock Poker has confirmed that Revolution Gaming will use the Cake Poker software, though its development team will immediately begin working on improvements. Current Lock players, who use the Merge software platform, will be migrated to the Cake software on May 31st. All login information will remain the same and balances will remain intact.
“Lock will also continue to manage their own stand-alone cashier so withdrawals will be as fast and easy as they are now,” the company added. “All players’ current player VIP rewards will only increase and all rakeback players will be moved over to the increased percentage on Revolution.”
“We are very excited at the prospect of driving the product, marketing and overall vision of the network. It is a dream come true,” said Lock CEO Jennifer Larson in the press release. “Merge was a great stepping stone for us but we have outgrown them. We really need to forge our own path to continued success. The only way to do this is to stay true to our of core philosophy: partnering with our players.”
It will be interesting to see how this changes the look of the online poker industry. Though neither would be considered large, the Merge Gaming Network and Cake Poker Network are the two largest remaining U.S.-friendly networks (Bodog/Bovada falls in between the two, but it is a standalone room). According to PokerScout.com, the Merge Gaming Network is the 8th largest online poker network/room with a seven day average of 1,640 cash game players. The Cake Poker Network is just 22nd with 610.
It appears that Lock Poker’s exodus from Merge will be a major stomach punch to the network. A Lock Poker representative told PocketFives.com on Sunday (in response to a rumor that Cake might be buying Lock) that Lock Poker made up 40 percent of Merge’s traffic. If this figure is accurate, Merge’s cash game traffic would fall to 984 players if everybody on Lock stayed onboard (it is entirely possible that some players would opt to move to another Merge skin). On the flip side, if all Lock players stayed on Lock, Revolution Gaming would have 1,266 players, based on current traffic numbers. The new totals would put Revolution in the 9th spot in PokerScout’s rankings, while Merge would sink to 12th.
May 082012
Evanski knows what it’s like to come thisclose to a SCOOP title, only to fall just short. In 2010, he won two days worth of heads-up matches in the $2,600 Heads-Up NLHE event, but lost to Jord4n in the final round. Tonight, it took weaving through a 12,545-player field to get there but evanski at last shook the monkey off his back, winning his first SCOOP title and over $61,000 in Event #5-L ($11+R Turbo NLHE).
The 12,545 aforementioned players made 24,302 rebuys and 7,889 add-ons, creating a $447,360 prize pool. 1,620 places were paid with first place set to earn $61,071.66. More than two dozen members of Team Pro and Team Online were in the field and five cashed including Martin Staszko (1,356th), Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen (1,354th), Victor Ramdin (1251st), Marcin Horecki (1,188th), and George Danzer (158th).
With ten players remaining, Ntamosauskas got his chips in with the best of it, his [Ac][Ks] up against xihui’s [Ad][8h] in a 25 million-chip pot. Xihui caught a lucky flop, an eight falling to pair his kicker. Ntamosauskas got no help on the turn or river and went out on the final table bubble.
Final table chip counts:
Seat 1: ocin98 (8,276,997 in chips)
Seat 2: Jandrulo (2,405,936 in chips)
Seat 3: Jenndo (16,945,153 in chips)
Seat 4: DrFuManju (8,821,699 in chips)
Seat 5: MHCD (14,017,384 in chips)
Seat 6: evanski (31,715,740 in chips)
Seat 7: xihui (39,050,456 in chips)
Seat 8: the_duces (8,703,937 in chips)
Seat 9: Armanpoker (20,048,698 in chips)
Jandrulo out in ninth, ocin98 exits in eighth
The last of Jandrulo’s chips went in the middle on the sixth hand. DrFuManjo opened for a min-raise to 2.4 million, ocin98 called from the small blind, and Jandrulo tossed in his last 305,936 with 1.2 million already committed in the big blind. Ocin98 check-folded the [Qs][Th][8d] flop to DrFuManju’s 4.8 million bet and the cards went on their backs, DrFuManju’s [Kc][Qd] crushing Jandrulo’s [3s][8c]. Jandrulo found neither an eight nor a three on the turn and river and was eliminated in ninth place, collecting $2,796.
The next deal of the cards saw ocin98 open-shove for 3.62 million on the button. Jenndo reshoved for 13.2 million holding [Ac][5h], ocin98′s [Kh][3s] needing some help on the board. Jack-high and dry, it offered no assistance and ocin98 hit the rail in eighth place, earning $4,473.60.
Evanski eliminates the_duces, DrFuManju wants a deal
Four hands later, evanski opened for a min-raise and the_duces found [Ac][2h] in the small blind. He shoved for 5.22 million and was practically beat into the pot by evanski, who turned over pocket aces. A deuce on the flop kept the _duces hopes alive for a moment longer, but he didn’t improve any further. For his seventh-place finish, the_duces earned $8,947.20.
With six players remaining and about $180,000 of the prize pool left to divide up, DrFuManju began pressing his opponents to make a deal. Although xihui and evanski were amenable to looking at numbers, the remaining players couldn’t come to a consensus. As debate continued, Armanpoker three-bet shoved with [Ac][Ts] and xihui called with [8c][8s]. Armanpoker whiffed the [9c][4s][9s] flop and was drawing dead on the turn when the [8h] fell to make xihui eights full of nines. Armanpoker was out in sixth place, $13,420.80 awaiting him in his PokerStars account.
Only a few hands passed before DrFuManju got his money in before the flop, his [Ad][4c] up against xihui’s [Kc][7c]. It was all over when the [2s][3d][5s] flop made DrFuManju a wheel, doubling him up to 15.5 million. He asked again about a deal but before he could get an answer, his [Ac][Kd] was racing against MHCD’s [Qd][Qc] in a 27.3 million pot. Although MHCD’s queens held up on the jack-high flop, an ace hit the turn to give the pot to DrFuManju.
Despite the double-up, DrFuManju was still looking for a deal. He broached the subject again, but before anyone could respond, he was out in fifth place after running into kicker trouble against Jenndo:
MHCD’s double-double
The field down to four, Jenndo was way out in front with 70.5 million. Evanski and xihui held about 34 million apiece while MHCD was on seven big blinds with 11 million. With the action folded to him in the small blind, Jenndo made a pretty standard shove with [Ks][3d], but MHCD woke up with [As][Td] in the big. MHCD flopped a ten and rivered an ace, doubling up to 22.4 million. One orbit later, the same scenario played out, Jenndo moving in from the small blind and MHCD calling from the big. MHCD’s [Ac][6h] held on against Jenndo’s [8s][Td] and he moved up to 42.4 million, good for second in chips.
No flop, no drop
The next 30 hands passed without a single flop, the final four trading blinds and antes until xihui open-shoved for 35.8 million with [Kc][Jh]. Jenndo called with [As][Jd]. An ace hit the flop and onetime chip leader xihui was out in fourth, earning $22,368. With three players remaining, Jenndo held 76.3 million, MHCD had 37.9 million and evanski was the short stack with 35.8 million.
Another 24 hands went by without a flop. The blinds climbed to 1.5M/3M. And on the 25th hand MHCD decided to go with [Th][7h] and open-shoved for 23.4 million from the small blind. Evanski called with [Kd][8c] in the big bind. MHCD hit an open-ended straight draw on the [6s][5h][4d] flop but could not find a three, an eight, a seven, or a ten on the turn or river, the [2s] and the [2c] falling to eliminate MHCD in third place.
Heads-up chip counts:
Seat 3: Jenndo (86,267,867 in chips)
Seat 6: evanski (63,718,133 in chips)
Evanski kicked it into high gear during heads-up, winning nine of the twelve hands played. In the end it came down to a coinflip, Jenndo’s [Kd][Qs] vs. evanski’s [9s][9c] for all the marbles. The nines survived the flop, the turn, and rivered a set for good measure to lock up evanski’s long-awaited SCOOP title:
Congratulations to evanski on his SCOOP watch and $61,071.66 score. For his runner-up finish, Jenndo earned $43,170.24.
2012 SCOOP Event #5-L ($11+R NLHE Turbo) results:
1. evanski (Canada) $61,071.66
2. Jenndo (Thailand) $43,170.24
3. MHCD (Netherlands) $31,315.20
4. xihui (Germany) $22,368.00
5. DrFuManjo (Germany) $17,894.40
6. Armanpoker (Spain) $13,420.80
7. the_duces (Norway) $8,947.20
8. ocin98 (Germany) $4,473.60
9. Jandrulo (Spain) $2,796.00
Can’t get enough SCOOP? Head over to the SCOOP page for stats, schedules, and satellite information.
Uruguay’s joacowalter is on a run for the ages and if the last two days are any indication, the best move might be to stay out of his way until he cools down just a touch. Until a few days ago, joacowalter’s largest score on PokerStars was just over $3,600, earned in a $33 buy-in tournament. Thursday saw him take second place in a $215 2x-Turbo for $6,500 and on Sunday, he won a $215 NLHE Turbo MTT for $28,923.80. Earlier this afternoon, he finished 34th in SCOOP Event #1-H ($2,100 6-max NLHE) for $7,840. And while a $43,000+ haul in under 24 hours might lead a lesser man to put the mouse down and head out to celebrate, he was only getting warmed up. Not only did joacowalter go from short stack to SCOOP champion tonight, he did it by defeating a final table that included two WCOOP titleholders, a 2011 SCOOP winner, and two EPT champions.
Although the guarantee on Event #5-H was set at $500,000, the 389 entrants shattered it, making 524 rebuys and 312 add-ons to create a $1,225,000 prize pool. 45 places were paid, with first place set to earn $237,037.50. Team Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom and Pius Heinz were among the 11 Red Spades who bought in, but Eugene Katchalov was the only one to cash, finishing in 34th place for $7,962.50.
It took only a bit more than three hours of play to get the field down to ten. With the final table bubble looming and the blinds up to 15,000/30,000, Redd Baronn open-shoved from the small blind with nothing more than [2d][5s] and Paolo69 called all-in from the big with [Qc][Jd]. Redd Barron hit bottom pair on the [As][6c][2c] flop and Paolo69 did not catch up, exiting in tenth place and setting the final table.
Final table chip counts:
Seat 1: arnon shraga (356,059 in chips)
Seat 2: niccc (571,132 in chips)
Seat 3: joacowalter (206,369 in chips)
Seat 4: hustla16 (540,391 in chips)
Seat 5: UhhMee (208,780 in chips)
Seat 6: UpmaxH (445,825 in chips)
Seat 7: Redd Baronn (651,915 in chips)
Seat 8: “0PIGGYBANK” (481,827 in chips)
Seat 9: JIZOINT (836,702 in chips)
Are you experienced?
The final nine were a decorated bunch, even by SCOOP standards. “0PIGGYBANK” is the online moniker of Germany’s Martin Finger, who won the 2011 EPT Prague for €720,000. Arnon shraga finished second in the Super Tuesday less than a month ago for $53k. UpmaxH has notched wins in the $215+R, the $109+R and the Big $55. Ami “UhhMee” Barer made a runner-up finish in Event #3-M ($55 6-max NLHE) in last year’s SCOOP, banking $54k. Charlie “JIZOINT” Combes earned his first SCOOP title one year ago, taking down Event #13-H for $55k. Hiren “hustla16″ Patel earned a staggering $446,000 after defeating over 6,200 players in Event #11 ($530 NLHE) of the 2009 WCOOP. And Nicolas “niccc” Chouity took home the trophy at the 2010 EPT Grand Final along with €1,700,000. He has a WCOOP title as well, earned last fall in pot-limit Omaha.
Double, double, toil and trouble
Needless to say, joacowalter had his work cut out for him. He arrived at the final table with less than seven big bilnds and only a few orbits later was down to three and a half. With the action folded to him in the small blind, joaowalter shoved his last 126,369 with [Jd][5c] and hustla16 called from the big, turning over a dominating [Kh][5d]. It was all but over for joacowalter until a jack on the flop gave him life. Hustla16 couldn’t find a king on the turn or river and joacowalter doubled to 298,000. He moved into safer territory on the next hand, picking up 100,000 worth of blinds and antes to bring him up to 397,000.
Joacowalter’s timely double-up left arnon shraga as the table short stack. Following an early position open-shove from hustla16, arnon shraga found [Ad][Js] in the small blind and called all-in for his last 256,000. Hustla16′s dominating [Ac][Kc] stayed that way and arnon shraga departed in ninth place, earning $21,437.50– not bad at all for three and a half hours of work.
UhhMee was next to make a move. With the blinds up to 30,000-60,000, UhhMee raised to 212,000, leaving himself only 6,780 behind. Joacowalter reshoved for 288,000 from the big blind and UhhMee called all-in, turning over [Kh][7h]. It couldn’t catch joacowalter’s [Ah][9h] and UhhMee exited in eighth, collecting $29,400.
The extraordinary rise and perilous fall of UpmaxH
With seven players remaining, UpmaxH was the only one with a seven-figure chip count, his 1.2 million nearly twice as much as his closest competitor. Turning up the aggression, he open-shoved from UTG with [Qh][8s] only to run headlong into JIZOINT’s [Ac][Ah]. However, those aces were promptly snapped off when a queen hit the flop and an eight fell on the turn, sending JIZOINT to the rail in seventh place. UpmaxH continued to roll, taking out niccc four hands later when his [Ts][9c] flopped trip nines against [7c][8h]. For his sixth-place finish, niccc earned $53,900.
UpmaxH was up to 2.29 million and his four opponents were all below 630,000. Second-in-chips joacowalter picked up [Ah][Qd] when “0PIGGYBANK” shoved with pocket sevens, the queen-high board sending him home in fifth place while joacowalter closed in on the million-chip mark.
UpmaxH was in a position where he didn’t need to steal every last pot, but nevertheless, open-shoved for 2.3 million from the cutoff with [Ts][2h]. In what was perhaps the turning point of the entire final table, joacowalter called with [Ks][Qs] in the small blind, his hand holding up to give him the chip lead with 1.9 million. Moments later, UpmaxH shoved his [Jd][7d] into Redd Baronn’s [As][7h]. Although UpmaxH paired up on the [Kd][Jh][2h] flop, Redd Baronn hit running hearts to make a flush. Now below a million in chips, UpmaxH went for Redd Barron’s big blind again on the next orbit, moving all-in for 926,000 with [9h][5h]. This time, Redd Barron woke up with pocket kings.
With the blinds up to 50,000/100,000, onetime chip leader UpmaxH was down to only 398,000. Although he managed to double through joacowalter to move up to 870,000, those chips quickly found their way into hustla16′s stack. UpmaxH open-shoved with [Kh][Th] and hustla16 snap-called from the big blind with [Ad][Kc], big slick holding up to leave UpmaxH on only 188,000. Redd Baronn got the KO on the next hand, his [Kd][9h] holding up against UpmaxH’s [Qc][6h] to send him home in fourth place, a mere seven minutes after taking a dominating chip lead. Certainly not all was lost for UpmaxH– he banked $101,062.50 for his efforts.
Deal me in
Immediately following UpmaxH’s elimination, joacowalter broached the subject of a deal. Hustla16 and Redd Baronn agreed to pause the action and run chip count chop numbers. It took only one small tweak to hustla16′s payout to get all three to agree to a deal and action resumed with $10,000 left in play for the winner.
Joacowalter and hustla16 took Redd Baronn out with a one-two punch. Joacowalter was first, doubling up when his [Ac][Jh] held against Redd Baronn’s [Kh][Th]. Left with barely more than one big blind, Redd Baronn put his last 148,000 in the middle with pocket sixes. Joacowalter called from the small blind, but hustla16 ended that party with a reshove for 931,000 from the big blind. Joacowalter got out of the way, hustla16′s [Ks][8s] needing to improve. In most brutal fashion, Redd Baronn’s pocket pair was counterfeited, the board running out [9h][7d][7c][Jc][9c] to end his run in third place. His share of the three-way deal totaled $165,200.
Heads-up chip counts
Seat 3: joacowalter (3,027,664 in chips)
Seat 4: hustla16 (1,271,336 in chips)
Heads-up play took all of one hand, joacowalter shoving on the button with [Jd][Td] and hustla16 calling all-in with [Ac][4s]. Although hustla16 flopped a pair of aces and a wheel draw, hot-running joacowalter could not be stopped, catching running tens to lock up the SCOOP title.
Kudos to joacowalter on a phenomenal, life-changing run and his first SCOOP title. He took home $204,212.50 while runner-up hustla16 banked $180,000. Don’t spend it all in one place, kids.
2012 SCOOP Event #5-H ($1,050+R Turbo NLHE) results:
1. joacowalter (Uruguay) $204,212.50*
2. hustla16 (Canada) $180,000.00*
3. Redd Baronn (Czech Republic) $165,200.00*
4. UpmaxH (Slovakia) $101,062.50
5. “0PIGGYBANK” (Germany) $69,825.00
6. niccc (Lebanon) $53,900.00
7. JIZOINT (United Kingdom) $41,650.00
8. UhhMee (Canada) $29,400.00
9. arnon shraga (Israel) $21,437.50
Busto or robusto, there’s a SCOOP event for you. Head over to the SCOOP page for a complete schedule and satellite information.
May 082012
Anything can happen in a turbo tournament. Ask mrAndreeew, who held the chip lead in this tournament for a long while leading up to the final table but lost it and fought hard to eventually finish third. Sr amarillo fought as well, staying in the middle of the pack until a key double-up during heads-up play led directly to victory. Sometimes, it’s the quiet one who comes out on top; ask Sr amarillo, latest SCOOP title holder.
*****
The second day of the 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker was off to an exciting start, and Event 5 provided some fast-paced action for players who were anxious to grab a SCOOP title in near-record time. Rebuys combined with a turbo structure assured a riveting tournament, and that’s what we received.
The medium level buy-in for Event 5 allowed players to buy in for $109 with the guarantee of a $350K prize pool, but the resulting numbers showed more than double that amount of cash. Excitement was the word from start to finish, but let’s start at the beginning with final registration numbers:
Players: 2,251
Rebuys: 4,103
Add-ons: 1,647
Guarantee: $350,000.00
Prize pool: $800,100.00
Paid players: 288
As a turbo event, we shouldn’t have to say that it moved along quickly. The money bubble burst only a couple hours into action, as murballz66 became the first player to walk away from the virtual table with $640.08.
There were two Team PokerStars Pros still in the tournament at that point, though Eugene Katchalov was quit to exit in 278th place with his min-cash. That left Pius Heinz as the last Team Pro standing, and he was eliminated soon after in 248th place with $720.09. (You might remember Mr. Heinz from this humble photo taken at last year’s WSOP.)
As the 3.5-hour mark approached, there were still some well-known online poker players in the field, including philbort and Tmay420, and mrAndreeew had a significant lead over the remaining players.
Phillip “philbort” Gruissem ended his run in 20th place, and Tim “Tmay420″ West followed to the rail in 15th place. Action then moved quickly to hand-for-hand play upon the 11th place elimination of AAcademiKK. Minutes later, mortens22 pushed with [Ad][Ah] against the [Kc][Kh] of mcbleeman, but the [3s][8c][Js][Kd][Jc] board gave mcbleeman the full house. Mortens22 bubbled the final table and received $6,000.75 for tenth place.
MrAndreeew’s chip lead in jeopardy
The final table was set in Level 42, with blinds of 70,000/140,000 and a 17,500 ante, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:
Seat 1: freshleo111 (2,283,950 in chips)
Seat 2: dejanaceking (5,052,863 in chips)
Seat 3: Slavik_Krs (2,662,019 in chips)
Seat 4: Sr amarillo (2,519,759 in chips)
Seat 5: anonymstruts (1,269,170 in chips)
Seat 6: adam_0925 (3,117,340 in chips)
Seat 7: mrAndreeew (5,202,875 in chips)
Seat 8: mcbleeman (2,885,588 in chips)
Seat 9: Zareta (2,303,436 in chips)
Dejanaceking was the player within immediate striking distance of mrAndreeew, but early disconnection problems caused problems. He typed, “ovako da citav svijet vidi” in the chat box, so that surely relates to the issue, though my Croatian fails me at the moment.
Sr amarillo doubled through mrAndreeew, and Slavik_Krs quietly took over first place.
Zareta zooms
Zareta doubled through adam_0925 to get off the short stack. And when anonymstruts moved all-in from middle position with [Qh][Jh], Zareta called from the big blind with [Kd][6s]. The flop of [4d][9d][Kh] put Zareta further ahead, and the [Ks] on the turn made trips. The [8c] on the river officially eliminated anonymstruts in ninth place with $7,600.95.
Adam_0925 doubled his short stack through freshleo111 and then through mcbleeman. That left the latter in a bit of trouble, and the all-in move from mcbleeman came a few hands later with [Kc][Qs]. Sr amarillo called with [Ac][4c] and hit the turn on the [5s][3h][9h][As][Td] board. Mcbleeman had to leave in eighth place with $13,601.70.
Adam_0925 – mover of the minute
After two recent double-ups, another through mrAndreeew put Adam_0925 in second place on the leaderboard. MrAndreeew turned around and doubled through Slavik_Krs, who then doubled through Zareta.
Zareta then pushed with only 419,056 chips preflop, and mrAndreeew and Slavik_Krs were along for the ride. They checked the [4d][Qh][8h] flop and the [5d] turn, and the [Ac] river prompted a bet from mrAndreeew and fold from Slavik_Krs. Zareta showed [9s][9d], but that pair was outdone by the [As][9h] of mrAndreeew and his pair of aces. Zareta, winner of a 2010 Sunday Million had to go in seventh place with $20,002.50.
Sr amarillo stays strong
Sr amarillo doubled through Slavik_Krs, and when dejanaceking finally pushed all-in, Sr amarillo reraised all-in to isolate. That worked, and dejanaceking was at risk with [As][9c]. Sr amarillo was prepared to race with [5h][5c], but that pocket pair stayed good as the dealer provided [7d][6h][2s][Qd][3d]. Dejanaceking was eliminated in sixth place with $28,003.50.
Adam_0925 was the next player to move, pushing all-in from UTG with [Qd][Js]. Sr amarillo quickly called from the big blind with [As][Ah], and nothing about the [6d][Jh][5h][7s][3s] board changed anything. That left adam_0925 out in fifth place with $36,004.50.
Freshleo111 battled back from a very short stack to double again and again to an average stack. But the turbo structure prompted freshleo111 to move again soon, and [Kc][Kd] looked like a good hand to do it with. MrAndreeew was there with [Ah][2h], and though the [6h][Qc][Ts] didn’t change much, the [7h] on the turn brought the flush draw. The [Kh] on the river completed that heart flush to eliminate freshleo111 in fourth place with $49,606.20.
Final three agree
The last three players paused the tournament to discuss a deal, and the numbers offered by PokerStars were good enough. With $7K set aside to be added to the winner’s money, in addition to a Movado watch, they agreed to these payouts:
Seat 3: Slavik_Krs (10,341,516 in chips) = $98,845.18
Seat 4: Sr amarillo (7,465,095 in chips) = $92,913.65
Seat 7: mrAndreeew (9,490,389 in chips) = $97,278.68
A few hands later, mrAndreeew pushed all-in with [Kh][Ts], and Slavik_Krs reraised all-in with [Ad][7c]. Sr amarillo folded, and the board produced [9c][Ac][Td][4h][Qs] to flop the better pair for Slavik_Krs. The table’s original chip leader, mrAndreeew, exited in third place with $97,278.68.
Turbo takedown
Heads-up play began with these chip counts:
Seat 3: Slavik_Krs (19,456,905 in chips)
Seat 4: Sr amarillo (7,840,095 in chips)
On the third hand, Sr amarillo found the perfect double-up opportunity:
That was all it took for the turbo tournament to reverse its direction. Slavik_Krs risked a stack of less than 9 million chips with [Ad][Tc], and Sr amarillo played along with [8s][7s]. The board came [6h][Js][5d][5s][7h], and the river gave Sr amarillo two pair and the win. Slavik_Krs, who finished in third place in a 2009 SCOOP event, did one better with a second place finish and $98,845.18.
Sr amarillo of the United Kingdom won the SCOOP tournament title, $99,913.65, and a beautiful Movado watch for the efforts. Congratulations!
2012 SCOOP Event #5-M ($109+R NLHE Turbo) Results (reflects deal):
1st place: Sr amarillo ($99,913.65)*
2nd place: Slavik_Krs ($98,945.18)*
3rd place: mrAndreeew ($97,278.68)*
4th place: freshleo111 ($49,606.20)
5th place: adam_0925 ($36,004.50)
6th place: dejanaceking ($28,003.50)
7th place: Zareta ($20,002.50)
8th place: mcbleeman ($13,601.70)
9th place: anonymstruts ($7,600.95)
*Based on a three-way chop with $7K added to winner’s money
May 082012
It has already been a very good 2012 for Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom. His win in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Super High Roller 8-max event was a landmark in his career, given that he’s always been best known as a cash-game player of the highest stakes. And he proved his abilities in that arena anew when he scored his biggest SuperStars Showdown win ever back in April, beating Isaac Haxton for $500,000 in a 5,030-hand match.
Now Blom can add another bullet point to his list of accomplishments this year: SCOOP champion. Blom outlasted a mammoth field of 8,240 players over the course of two days of poker in SCOOP Event #2-M, a $215 no-limit hold’em freezeout. In doing so, he won his first major online poker title and proved his versatility at the table.
Day 1 of this two-day event ran from 2:30pm ET on Sunday until the end of Level 30. Through those 30 levels, each lasting 20 minutes, Viktor Blom worked his way to a stack of 1,522,992 chips, good for 16th place among the 89 players who survived the day. His fellow Team PokerStars Pro, Romania’s Toni Judet, also made it to Day 2 with 820,148 chips, good for 46th place. The lone Team PokerStars Pro player to cash on the first day was Sandra Naujoks in 637th place ($461.44), while Kevin “WizardOfAhhs” Thurman represented Team Online in 1,047th place ($346.08).
Day 2 began at 2:30pm ET on Monday with the players redrawing seats to resume play with 10K/20K blinds and 2.5K antes. Germany’s LoveWrecked held the lead with 2,386,671 chips, followed by Antigua’s rzr900rzr with 2,183,006 chips and Honduras’ FU_15 with 2,169,999 chips. Toni Judet had maintained his spot on the leaderboard for some timewhile the number of players below him continued to shrink, but he would eventually have the misfortune of picking up [Qc] [Qh] on the button after vitalij300 had raised in front with pocket aces. No miracles meant an exit in 55th place ($2,603.84) for the Romanian pro. It also left Blom as the lone PokerStars player in the field.
Shifting into gear
The young man known as Isildur1 displayed plenty of patience through the first few hours of Day 2 as the field continued to grow smaller. Though he’s known as an action player – and rightfully so – the Swede spent most of the early part of the day biding his time, looking for an opportunity to move ahead. Just after the field condensed to five tables, he found it, picking up this monster pot to move into 4th place overall with 4.14 million chips:
That allowed him to get a little more involved the way his fans are accustomed to seeing, so his stack began to fluctuate a bit more. As the day’s second break arrived, he was 6th of the last 38 players remaining with 3,864,176 chips.
About 12 minutes later the Swedish wunderkind would see his lot improve further. After opening for a minimum raise to 160K under the gun with [Js] [Jh], Blom was called by vikAAAA in the small blind. Then EmilZapata5 shoved from the big blind for a total of 2.035 million chips. Blom didn’t waste much time isolating with an all-in move of his own, getting vikAAAA out of the way to find himself up against EmilZapata5′s [Th] [Tc]. The board steered clear of trouble, coming [5c] [As] [Ks] [2s] [Kd], and suddenly Blom was the chip leader with a stack of 6,499,176 chips.
Just about any poker player will use a chip lead to beat up on the smaller stacks, and Blom was no exception. Coupled with his reputation as one of the game’s most fearless gamblers, his position as the leader seemed to give several players the impression that all of his raises were coming light. Sometimes they were, but even the most aggressive players sometimes pick up a hand – and Blom picked up enough to expand his lead by the third break. With 22 players remaining, Blom’s 11,349,999 chips put him more than 2.5 million ahead of his nearest competition, Malta’s szwindel (8,829,507 chips).
As the field dropped to just two tables, szwindel was seated two spots to Blom’s left. The two of them led the way at their table, both crossing the 13-million-chip mark with 14 players left. Denmark’s Fred_Brink, a former winner of the Nightly Hundred Grand, the Sunday Million, and a WCOOP Event 15 last year, closed in on them a little while later, jumping over 12.6 million chips after his [Ks] [8h] outflopped dean6745‘s [As] [Kc]. Then Fred_Brink surged ahead of the field after picking up a 6.37-million-chip pot with pocket aces again szwindel’s [Ac] [Qh] on a queen-high board just before the day’s fourth break.
On the bubble of the final table, szwindel was moved to the other table, leacing Fred_Brink and Isildur1 to battle it out with each other. Blom managed to reclaim the lead on this pot:
He would remain in the leader’s spot when the bubble popped minutes later, giving him a prime opportunity to add to his reputation with a SCOOP win in a large-field tourney.
Jostling for position
As the final table began with blinds at 100K/200K and antes at 25K, the players were seated like so:
Seat 1: vikAAAA (8,453,341 in chips)
Seat 2: Fred_Brink (14,547,435 in chips)
Seat 3: rzr900rzr (5,107,198 in chips)
Seat 4: cloaknet (3,386,506 in chips)
Seat 5: Gusparo (4,010,171 in chips)
Seat 6: szwindel (11,597,376 in chips)
Seat 7: lubor74 (7,485,800 in chips)
Seat 8: Isildur1 (16,843,943 in chips)
Seat 9: RaisingRay91 (10,968,230 in chips)
It didn’t take long for the lead to change hands, though Blom’s reputation for action actually had nothing to do with the proceedings. Instead it was szwindel and lubor74 who tangled in the largest pot of the tournament.
After the action folded to szwindel in the small blind, he came in for a small raise to 500K. Then lubor74 put in a reraise to 1.24M, and szwindel responded after some thought with an all-in bet. The call with [Ah] [Jh] built the pot to 15.09M chips and put lubor74 in a rough spot against szwindel’s [As] [Ks]. The [Kd] [7h] [9c] flop only made it rougher, and the [2s] turn and [6d] river made lubor74 the final table’s first casualty, good for 9th place and $12,772.
For the second time of the day, szwindel held the chip lead over Isildur1, with 20.49M chips to Blom’s 16.79M. This time, however, it was Isildur1 who had position. While the two of them had plenty of time to decide which spots to pick, the players with shorter stacks had no such luxury; any good hand was a reason to push. A few orbits later, two of them would collide in the next big confrontation. With just 23K in chips separating them, both Gusparo and cloaknet were essentially putting their tournaments on the line when they clashed preflop, Gusparo with [Jh] [Jd] and cloaknet with [Ad] [Kc]. Gusparo wasn’t technically eliminated by the [Ah] [2s] [2d] [5h] [Ac] board, but he would bow out on the next hand in 8th place ($19,776).
The action continued to move along without too many noteworthy pots until the fifth break of the day was looming. Viktor Blom’s chances of winning his first major online tournament were good before then, but they increased significantly on the final hand before that break. The opening raise to 600K – the minimum bet – came from cloaknet in the cutoff. The action folded to Blom in the small blind, and after a dip into the time bank he opted to raise to 1.435M. That cleared out RaisingRay91 in the big blind and put the decision back to cloaknet. With 2.6M already in the pot, cloaknet chose to put in a fourth bet to 3M, and Blom immediately moved all-in. His [Ac] [Ks] was ahead after the cloaknet called with [As] [Jd] for his entire stack of 7.2M chips, and it stayed there through the entire [8s] [4c] [6d] [Ad] [2s] board. It was a 7th-place exit ($35,432) for cloaknet, and a new stack of 29.73 million chips for Blom.
The home stretch
Even with equal stacks, taking on Viktor Blom would be scary enough for msot players to consider. But when he outchips everyone else at the table, and the table becomes more shorthanded, the strengths of his style are maximized. He can take as many chances as he likes, especially against players in far more desperate situations than his own. So after he added to his stack further, flopping top two pair with [Ah] [9h] and outrunning rzr900rzr’s open-ended straight draw with [Qs] [Tc] to eliminate rzr900rzr in 6th place ($51,088), the outcome began to look inevitable. Though szwindel momentarily closed in a bit by knocking out vikAAAA in 5th place ($67,568), calling with [As] [Ks] after vikAAAA had shoved with [Qs] [9d], Blom surged back ahead just four hands later on this hand:
That brutal flop kept Fred_Brink from both winning the single largest pot of the tournament so far and adding a SCOOP title to an already impressive resume. But his consolation prize was a 4th-place finish worth $87,344 – not bad for two days’ work.
Closing it out
Meanwhile, Blom had stacked up to 46.09 million chips. On his right was szwindel, with a stack of 25.18 million chips, and on his left was Canada’s RaisingRay91 with 11.12 million. With blinds at 200K/400K and antes at 50K, the game was essentially Blom’s to dictate. That drew some star power to the rail, with no less a luminary than Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier chiming in: “good luck to all 3 of u guys 
Sick feat to be here already.”
There wasn’t much movement in the range of stack sizes at the table for a while as all three players took their turn claiming a series of small- and medium-sized pots. There was, however, plenty of action, as Isildur1 and szwindel put in several three-bets and RaisingRay91 proved himself willing to make the fourth bet all-in on a few occasions. The Canadian player inched closer to his two opponents, eventually overtaking szwindel just after the blinds went up to 250K/500K with a 62.5K ante.
That had szwindel looking to chip back up out of third place, so when Blom opened for 1M on the button he reraised to 2.5M. Blom called with position to take a flop of [8c] [4s] [3d]. Acting first, szwindel led out for 2.25M, but was met with a quick raise by Blom to 5.65M. Holding [Qc] [Jd] for queen-high, szwindel had a big decision to make; he eventually shoved all-in on a bluff for 18,735,650 chips. Blom, who held [8h] [7s] for top pair, wasted no time calling. He dodged szwindel’s six outs through the [6h] turn and [Tc] river, taking the 42.9M-chip pot and ending szwindel’s run in 3rd place ($131,840).
The only thing standing between Blom and his first big online tournament win now was RaisingRay91. The Canadian player was at a disadvantage from the start, holding just 16.44 million chips to Blom’s 65.95 million, so it’s unsurprising that the fifth hand of heads-up play would see him all-in for his tournament life. RaisingRay91 held [Kh] [8h], good enough to four-bet all-in for 15.5M after opening on the button and seeing Blom put in a third bet. This time Blom held [Ad] [Jh], and it held up as the board fell [Qh] [2c] [Qc] [Ts] [6c], sending RaisingRay91 to the rail with a healthy 2nd-place prize of $181,889.76.
The last man standing, Blom earned $247,200. But perhaps more importantly, the cash-game legend demonstrated for the second time this year that he’s a threat to win any tournament he plays – and in a field of more than 8,000 players, no less. It was an impressive performance from start to finish for Blom, and he deserves all the congratulations that are surely coming his way.
SCOOP Event 2-M: $215 No-Limit Hold’em
$1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool
8,240 entrants, $1,648,000 prize pool
1,080 places paid
1st place: Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom (United Kingdom) $247,200
2nd place: RaisingRay91 (Canada) $181,889.76
3rd place: szwindel (Malta) $131,840
4th place: Fred_Brink (Denmark) $87,344
5th place: vikAAAA (Russia) $67,568
6th place: rzr900rzr (Antigua and Barbuda) $51,088
7th place: cloaknet (Russia) $35,432
8th place: Gusparo (Hungary) $19,776
9th place: lubor74 (Czech Republic) $12,772
With Viktor Blom’s win, SCOOP is now officially off and running at top speed. Check out the full schedule here and plan on taking your seat at the table.
You never know about tomorrow. That’s why no matter what happens today — good or bad — we all go to bed hoping that tomorrow will be filled with hope and promise. Last night, 70 players were tantalized by dreams of winning a SCOOP title, but only one would emerge victorious. Winning a single poker tournament is not an easy task, especially when you are forced to outlast over 28,000 other combatants.
SCOOP Event #2-L $27 NL Hold’em was scheduled as a two-day event and attracted 28,876 runners, all of whom contributed to a prize pool worth $721,900 — a number which smashed the $400,000 guarantee. The top 3,960 places in Event #2-L paid out with $66,892.27 set aside for the champion.
PokerStars Team Online member from Spain Javier ‘El_Cañonero’ Dominguez (104th place) and Germany’s Team PokerStars Pro Jan Heitman (497th place) were among the notable players who cashed and finished in the Top 500.
Russia’s reckoner4 ended Day 1 as the chip leader with 10.7 million. Only 70 players returned to action for Day 2. With three tables to go, it appeared as though reckoner4 was going to run away with the title when he became the first player to surpass the 100 million chip mark.
The final table Bubble Boy honors went to itsourekas. On the fateful hand in question, itsourekas found himself all-in pre-flop with [8d][8c] against SkiP009′s [Kc][5c]. Skip flopped a King to take the lead and improved to a flush on the river. Greece’s itsourekas hit the rail and uncermoniously bubbled off the final table in tenth place.
SCOOP Event #2-L Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: reckoner4 (39,561,959)
Seat 2: Soco2l (33,995,952)
Seat 3: Nty9Problems (13,380,736)
Seat 4: sonicdeep (12,189,636)
Seat 5: SkiP009 (52,791,405)
Seat 6: DiegoSouz7 (11,141,488)
Seat 7: SirLordJames (28,188,441)
Seat 8: Danil joker (60,273,430)
Seat 9: yargen (37,236,953)
Although recknoer4 held the lead at the onset of Day 2, Danil joker began the final table with the overall lead.
TAX MAN: DiegoSouz7 eliminated in 9th place
It didn’t take very long before the first player busted from the final table. SkiP009 opened to 2,400,000 and DiegoSouz7 called. The flop was [Js][Th][4h]. SkiP009 bet 8,800,000, which was more than DiegoSouz7′s retaining stack. DiegoSouz7 called all-in for 8,341,488. SkiP009 flipped over [Qs][Jd] and held the lead with a pair of Jacks. Meanwhile, DiegoSouz7 trailed with [7s][7c] and desperately needed a miracle. The turn was the [2s], and the river was the [5s]. DiegoSouz7 failed to improve and busted out in ninth place, collecting $3,515.65.
After winning that pot, SkiP009 seized the chip lead.
HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE: Nty9Problems eliminated in 8th place
With blinds at 500,000 and 1 million, short-stacked Nty9Problems open-shoved for 8,680,736. Danil joker called from the big blind with [Ac][8s]. He was ahead and dominated Nty9Problems’ [Qs][8c]. The board ran out [9c][7d][3s][Ad][6c]. The Ace on the turn sealed the victory for Danil joker (who retained the chip lead). Nty9Problems busted out in eighth place and won $5,977.33.
YELLOW SUBMARINE: sonicdeep eliminated in 7th place
Short-stacked sonicdeep picked a spot and moved all-in for 4,189,636. Yargen called, reckoner4 called, and Soco2l called. Four-way pot. All three players checked it down to the river. The board ran out [6c][4c][4d][2h][2s]. Shorty sonicdeep mucked, and yargen won the pot with [5s][5h]. Alas, sonicdeep was knocked out in seventh place, but won $8,785.52.
AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING: SirLordJames eliminated in 6th place
SirLordJames shoved for 24,331,588 and yargen called from the big blind. yargen was ahead with [9h][9s] against SirLordJames’ [6s][6h]. The board ran out [Jc][Th][8s][Ts][2s], and yargen won the pot with two pair — tens and nines. SirLordJames was eliminated in sixth place, collecting $12,654.90.
Danil joker held the lead with over 96 million. Soco2l was the shorty with 20.8 million.
SHE SAID SHE SAID: yargen eliminated in 5th place
In the first mega-pot of the final table… yargen opened to 3,010,000, reckoner4 raised to 7 million, yargen shoved all-in for 48,830,399. reckoner4 called with [Ah][Jd], but yargen trailed with [Ad][7s]. The board ran out [Kh][6s][4h][9s][Ac]. yargen was outkicked and busted. For a fifth-place finish, yargen won $18,978.75. Meanwhile, reckoner4 surged to over 100 million and seized the lead with four players to go.
Deal Time
With four remaining, the action was paused so everyone could discuss a deal. An agreement was reached with an ICM chop and $8,000 left on the table for the winner.
GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE: SkiP009 eliminated in 4th place
When play resumed, the last two Russians at the final table would meet their fate. SkiP009 hit the road and bowed out in fourth place on a cooler.
SkiP009 got it all-in preflop with [Qd][Qh] against Soco2l’s [As][Ac]. The pocket rockets held up and Soco2l won the pot. SkiP009 earned $41,390.40 for third place.
I’M ONLY SLEEPING: reckoner4 eliminated in 3rd place
Unfortunately, the Day 1 chip leader would not win the event. Reckoner4 made a move and got his entire stack in preflop with [2c][2d] against Danil joker’s [Th][Ts]. The board ran out [As][Qs][6s][6h] [Tc], and Danil joker won the pot with a full house. For third place, reckoner4 won $45,709.83.
Heads-Up: Danil Joker (Ukraine) vs. Soco2l (Czech Republic)
Both players were almost dead even inn chips with approximately five million separating the two.
TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS: Danil Joker eliminated in 2nd place
The final two danced around during the onset of heads-up, but Soco2l was the one who took advantage of the tempered play. Soco2l slowly chipped away at Danil Joker and passed 200 million in chips, but he could not deliver the fatal blow.
After it looked as though the two were settling in for a drawn out brawl, the two engaged in fireworks. Danil joker opened to 4 million, Soco2l raised to 10 million, and Danil joker called. The flop was [As][8d][7h]. Soco2l fired out 10,250,000 and Danil joker called. The turn was the [Ad]. Soco2l bet 18,853,853 and Danil joker called. The river was the [Tc]. Soco2l bet 28,258,698. Danil joker rraised all-in for 67,655,875 and Soco2l called. Danil joker showed [Jc][9c] for a Jack-high straight, but Soco2l won the hand with [Ah][Th] and a full boat. Rough way to go. Ukraine’s Danil joker won $42,755.67 for a stellar runner-up performance.
Soco2l won the pot and shipped the tournament. The Czech Republic’s Soco2l collected $42,239.91 for first place, not to mention winning a SCOOP title!
Final Table Results and Payouts:
1. Soco2l (Czech Republic) – $42,239.91 **
2. Danil joker (Ukraine) – $42,755.67 **
3. reckoner4 (Russia) – $45,709.83 **
4. SkiP009 (Russia) – $41,390.40 **
5. yargen (Israel) – $18,978.75
6. SirLordJames (Czech Republic) – $12,654.90
7. sonicdeep (Ukraine) – $8,785.52
8. Nty9Problems (Australia) – $5,977.33
9. DiegoSouz7 (Brazil) – $3,515.65
** denotes a deal was cut among the final four
Don’t forget to checkout the 2012 SCOOP home page for schedule of events including satellite information,
We knew the first “High” buy-in event of this year’s SCOOP series would be attracting a lot of familiar names, including many of the poker world’s elite. As it happened the one emerging from the tough-as-nails field as the victor would be an especially familiar one, with Alex “Allingomes” Gomes adding yet another triumph to his ever-growing list of poker achievements.
But let us not get ahead of ourselves. This, like the other events kicking off SCOOP, was a two-day affair, meaning lots of action would necessarily take place before a winner would be found.
By the time late registration had closed a whopping field of 784 had signed up for the $2,100 buy-in, six-handed no-limit hold’em event. That big group created a gigantic $1,568,000 prize pool to more than double the event’s $750K guarantee. The top 90 finishers would divide up the loot, with a nifty $282,240 payday awaiting the winner barring any final-table deals.
Day 1
“Good table in SCOOP 01-H with James Mackey and @PhilGalfond on my left. #SCOOP2012,” tweeted Team Online member Shane Schleger early Sunday afternoon, not long after play began. “Was thinking the same thing,” replied Galfond, a.k.a. “MrSweets28.”
Unfortunately for all three — Mackey, Galfond, and Schleger — none would survive the afternoon, with both Galfond and Schleger falling victim to Redd Barronn to go out shy of the top 400.
By the seven-hour mark the field had shrunk to 150, with Andy “andy123460″ Ganapathy on top as the only player with more than 200,000. Among those having hit the rail by then was Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree who fell in 179th after running pocket nines into the queens of fellow Team Pro Lex Veldhuis.
As the night wore on and they neared the money bubble, Veldhuis continued to battle while Angel Guillen of Team PokerStars Mexico slipped to short-stacked status. Finally Guillen busted in 105th when his [Jh][Jc] failed to hold up versus römpsä’s [Qc][9h].
Once the money bubble burst, Veldhuis would continue to hang on before finding himself all in on a [3h][9c][Kh] flop with [Qh][10h] versus Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich’s [Ac][Ah]. Neither of Veldhuis’ draws filled, and the Dutchman was out in 78th for a $4,390.40 score.
Others hitting the rail before play was paused included Tobias “PokerNoob999″ Reinkenmeier (71st, $4,547.20), Mayu “marroca5″ Roca (66th, $4,860.80), McLean “PureProfitFo” Karr (63rd, $4,860.80), Sorel “zangbezan24″ Mizzi (54th, $5,488), Torsten “jetkiss” Brinkmann (45th, $5,958.40), and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet (43rd, $5,958.40).
With just 41 players left, oncommand was in command with more than 500,000, with Alex “Allingomes” Gomes his nearest competitor in 2nd, Johan “busto_soon” van Til next in third, and Nick “FU_15″ Maimone and Luke “LukeFromB13″ Staudenmaier also in the top ten.
Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked overnight:
1. oncommand — 507,554
2. Allingomes — 436,374
3. busto_soon — 414,864
4. Fiskin1 — 329,491
5. AJacejackAJ — 302,342
6. StingsHUH — 298,793
7. FU_15 — 261,608
8. E1ephant — 260,108
9. LukeFromB13 — 252,977
10. Tagult — 246,852.
Also among those still with chips and set to return on Monday were Andy “andy123460″ Ganapathy (17th), Liviu “0Human0″ Ignat (18th), Joseph “subiime” Cheong (23rd), Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich (32nd), Carter “cswidler” Swidler (38th), and Chris “Genius28″ Lee (39th).
Day 2
Play resumed on Monday with the short stacks falling in short order, including Carter “cswidler” Swidler (40th, $6,742.40), Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich (29th, $6,742.40), and Chris “Genius28″ Lee (36th, $7,840).
Monday didn’t start so well for AJacejackAJ, who swiftly fell from the top 10 to go out in 35th ($7,840). Not long after that Str8$$$Homey surged into the chip lead after a huge double up versus Alex “AllinGomes” Gomes in which Str8$$$Homey’s [Qh][Qd] held versus Gomes’ [Ah][Kh] to give Str8$$$Homey a 563,610-chip pot.
As the afternoon wore on, the field kept shrinking with Liviu “0Human0″ Ignat (31st, $7,840), Andy “andy123460″ Ganapathy (29th, $9,094.40), Luke “LukeFromB13″ Staudenmaier (28th, $9,094.40), oncommand (17th, $14,112), roi kin23 (16th, $14,112), and Joseph “subiime” Cheong (15th, $14,112) among those cashing out shy of the finish line.
Play continued, and when Johan “busto_soon” van Til went out in ninth ($31,987.20) and Fiskin1 was eliminated in eighth (both earning $31,987.20), they’d reached the final table bubble.
It appeared that the super short stack yasunori66 was destined to come up one spot shy of the last table after running pocket queens into raidalot’s aces to lose almost all of his chips. But he managed a double-up through Nick “FU_15″ Maimone to leave the latter with only about 80,000, and soon Maimone was all in with [J][T] against Artur “arturitooo” Alabart’s [A][Q]. The better hand held, and they were down to six.
Seat 1: Allingomes — 1,756,720
Seat 2: dirty.brasil — 788,432
Seat 3: raidalot — 685,609
Seat 4: arturitooo — 2,817,875
Seat 5: yasunori66 — 237,300
Seat 6: Str8$$$Homey — 1,554,064
It was an international final table, with two Canadians (dirty.brasil and Str8$$$Homey), raidalot of the U.K., Artur “arturitooo” Alabart of Spain, the familiar Alex “Allingomes” Gomes from Brazil, and what may well be the first SCOOP final tablist from Japan, the short stack yasunori66.
It wouldn’t take long for yasunori66 to commit his chips in an effort to double-up. With the blinds at 10,000/20,000, yasunori66 open-shoved from under the gun for 139,800 and got one caller in arturitooo from the big blind.
yasunori66 had [6h][6c] and was hoping his pair would hold versus arturitooo’s [Ad][Jh]. But the board ran out [9c][7s][8h][4d][Tc] — giving both players straights, but arturitooo the better one, and yasurnori66 was out in sixth.
Meanwhile dirty.brasil would become short-stacked, and just a few minutes after yasunori66′s elimination would be at risk as well when Gomes made a 3x opening raise from the small blind to 60,000, and dirty.brasil reraised all in for 71,829.
Gomes quickly called, showing [As][6s] to dirty.brasil’s [Jc][9c], and after the board rolled out [Kc][Qd][2c][Kd][Kh] they were quickly down to four.
At that point deal talk arose, but with only three of the four willing — raidalot was the exception — play continued. Then, just before the six-hour break of Day 2, a huge hand unfolded between arturitooo and raidalot.
The blinds were still 10,000/20,000, and after Gomes opened for 40,000 from UTG, raidalot made it 100,000 to go from the button. Then Artur “arturitooo” Alabart four-bet to 222,222 from the small blind, forcing folds from Str8$$$Homey and Gomes. raidalot responded by making it 445,000, Alabart shoved all in over the top, and raidalot called with the 926,953 he had left.
artiritooo: [Qc][Qd]
raidalot: [Kh][Kc]
A bad spot for artiritooo, made worse when the flop came [6d][Kd][8s] to give raidalot a set. Two cards later, it was raidalot scooping a better than 2.8 million-chip pot. Take a look:
They’d reached the break, at which point raidalot was in front with that stack of more than 2.8 million, Alex “Allingomes” Gomes was next with just over 1.86 million, Str8$$$Homey third with almost exactly 1.73 million, and Artur “arturitooo” Alabart last with a little over 1.43 million.
Deal discussion arose once more as play resumed, but raidalot again declined the invitation to consider it and the final four marched on.
About 10 minutes later the blinds were at 12,500/25,000 when Str8$$$Homey opened for 50,000 from UTG, then Allingomes reraised to 112,780 from the button to chase out the blinds. Str8$$$Homey then made it 260,000 to go, and Gomes called.
The flop came [9d][Kh][Qd] and Str8$$$Homey led for 225,000, getting a call from Gomes. The turn was the [8c], and this time Str8$$$Homey bet 350,000. Gomes called once more.
The river brought the [2s] and an all-in shove for 1,111,312 from Str8$$$Homey. Gomes snap-called, turning over [Jd][Th] for the flopped straight. Str8$$$Homey had [Ad][Kc] for kings, and was out in fourth.
About 10 minutes after that raidalot opened with a min-raise to 50,000 from the button, Artur “arturitooo” Alabart made it 127,777 from the small blind, and Gomes folded. The action back on raidalot, he pushed all in for 714,247 total and Alabart quickly called.
raidalot had [As][Jh] but had run into arturitooo’s [Ah][Ks]. The five community cards came [8h][Qh][3d][7h][Kc], and they were down to two.
Heads-up play began with Gomes leading with 4,674,619 to Alabart’s 3,165,381. After just a hand they paused proceedings to talk about a deal, and after arturitooo started with a proposal Gomes responded with a clear statement of his position.
Allingomes: srry bro, I need 250k minimum
Allingomes: and play for 15k
Allingomes: otherwise we can play
arturitooo: sorry
Allingomes: ok gl
arturitooo: gl
Allingomes: lets play please
Having lasted through 20 half-hour levels on Sunday and another six-and-a-half hours plus on Day 2 — and seen 782 of their opponents felted before them — the final two combatants would play it out with that full $282,240 first prize awaiting the winner.
The pair would ultimately battle for more than an hour before a winner was decided. The first half-hour saw Gomes gradually chipping away at arturitooo’s stack, pushing him back to the 2 million-mark and below while Gomes crept up over 5.5 million.
They’d hold steady with those stacks for another 30 minutes, with no pots exceeding 1 million. Then came a hand in which Gomes shoved all in on a [As][9c][4c][8d][Kc] board and Alabart contemplated for nearly two minutes before letting it go, conceding the more than 1.6 million-chip pot.
That left arturitooo down to about 1.3 million, and Gomes continued the chipping away, pushing up close to 7 million while his opponent slipped below 900,000. Then came the final hand.
With the blinds 17,500/35,000, Gomes opened for 70,000 from the button and arturitooo shoved for 882,624 total. Gomes called, showing [Ks][Qs], and arturitooo was in need of help with [Kc][9c]. But the board came [3s][6c][Jd][5s][Ac], and Gomes had won.
Congratulations to Alex “Allingomes” Gomes for taking down the first “High” event of this year’s SCOOP and a nifty $282,240 score! Now that’s a familiar smile…
2012 SCOOP Event 1-High, $2,100 NLHE (6-max) results:
1st: Allingomes ($282,240)
2nd: arturitooo ($211,680)
3rd: raidalot ($156,800)
4th: Str8$$$Homey ($109,760)
5th: dirty.brasil ($78,400)
6th: yasunori66 ($47,040)
Things are just getting started around here, SCOOP-wise. Check the SCOOP page for early results and the full 120-tournament schedule.
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