When it came time to square up the table for nine-handed play, the dealer told Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom he had to move directly in the center of the felt. It must be exactly how he’s felt for the past 24 hours: at the center of the poker world. Known almost entirely for his nosebleed cash games, Blom showed everyone he had tournament chops as he defeated everyone in the PCA $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event.

Famous among fans and infamous among the media for his reticence, Blom nearly escaped after his victory without saying a word. Instead, he gave a rare on-camera interview during which he said, in part, “It feels good to succeed.”

Viktor Blom in the main event

Today one would expect every aspect of Blom’s tournament game to be under close scrutiny. People would examine how he looks at his cards one at a time, immediately as he receives them; or how he seems so eager to fold out of the small blind; or how many times he check-calls an opponent out of position. Instead, it seems as if nobody is watching at all. Over the past couple of hours, we’ve learned this: there is nothing interesting about what is happening at Table 13, which could be one of the most interesting things about it.

Table 13 at the PCA main event

It should be the most interesting tables in the room. After all, the mischievous hands of fate made sure the last two people to win the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller were at the same table. How it happened will be water cooler talk in the Official Office of Randomness. What it means is still something we’re trying to figure out. What it is, without question, is the toughest table on Day 1B of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Among the notables at the table: Eugene Katchalov, Viktor Blom, Noah Boeken, and Nick Schulman. How could it not be interesting?

Katchalov across from Blom

Katchalov is last year’s Super High Roller winner, a Team PokerStars Pro, the 2011 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year, and recently won his first WSOP bracelet.

Blom, also a Team Pro, might be the most famous high stakes poker player in Europe today. Just yesterday he won his first major tournament, which just happened to be the 2012 PCA Super High Roller for $1.25 million.

Boeken is Team PokerStars Pro and an EPT champion with dozens of major event cashes over his eight-year live poker career.

Schulman is a world-class pool player who started playing against adults at age 13. Also, for what it’s worth, he has nearly five million in lifetime poker winnings.

Nick Schulman

Normally, this would be the table that had three TV cameras, three still cameras, five bloggers, two massage therapists, and 40 railbirds. Instead, for a great while today, there was only me (and then photographer Joe Giron who happened to appear, as usual, at just the right moment).

In all seriousness, how could this not be interesting?

Exhibit #1: Gadgets–Half the people playing at the table have allowed their faces to absorb into their iPhones, iPads, and related technology. For his part, Boeken is working with both an iPad and a Blackberry.

Exhibit #2: Headphones–Four of the players, most notably Blom, are blissed out on whatever music is pumping from their iPods into their heads via giant over-ear headphones.

Exhibit #3: The buy-in–98% of this room believes the $10,000 they put up for the buy-in is a lot of money. At least two of the people at Table 13 put up 10x that to play another event a couple of days ago.

Meanwhile, nobody at the table is speaking to each other. Blom is immersed in his music and looks frustrated with the current state of his stack (sub-15,000 at the moment). In fact, the only real excitement at the table came when David “Viffer” Peat showed up at the table to get Schulman’s opinion on a recent $50,000 bet that involved the odds of a six appearing when a player squeezes a three-across…well, you know, it was really confusing and I’m going to get it wrong no matter how I type it. In any case, Viffer soon wandered off to get in some tense tête-à-tête with Greg DeBora.

The point is this: on Day 1B of a massive main event, even some of the most interesting players in the world are just trying to make sure their 30,000 stack doesn’t turn to dust before Day 2.

Even Viktor Blom.

Update: Shortly after this was published, Blom’s day ended unceremoniously. That is to say, we guess he’ll have to settle for just that $1.25 million win.

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | cards | entertainment | festival | france poker series | news | pca | planets | portugal | UKIPT

This event belonged to Mother Russia. Just look at the results– five of the top eight finishers hailed from the land that brought us poker champions Alex Kravchenko, Ivan Demidov, and SCOOP leaderboard fixture Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn. Although the latter played this event and did not cash, it was three of his countrymen who ended up taking the gold, silver and bronze in Event #32-M, a $530 buy-in six-handed limit hold’em extravaganza that drew 246 players into the fray. 36 players earned a share of the $123,000 prize pool with first place set to earn $27,060 and a SCOOP champion’s watch.

Flying the flag for Team PokerStars in this event were Marcin Horecki, Vicky Coren, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Marcel Luske, Lex Veldhuis, Anders “Donald” Berg, George “gkap13″ Kapalas, JP Kely, and Greg DeBora along with Team Online’s Richard “Tzen1″ Veenman and Javier “El_Canonero” Dominguez. Two Team Pros made the money, Dutchmen Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart (31st) and Noah Boeken (21st).

Kroko-dill (also Russian!) was this event’s final table bubble boy, exiting in seventh place. After three-betting pre from the big blind, kroko-dill got the rest of his chips in on a [8d][6s][5s] flop and beng_51 called. Neither player had hit much of anything, kroko-dill with [Jc][Th] against beng_51′s [Qc][9h]. Neither player improved on the turn or river and beng_51′s queen-high took it, sending kroko-dill to the rail with a $3,321 payday and a few more TLB points.

Here’s how the six finalists stacked up:

Seat 1: beng_51 (410,954 in chips)
Seat 2: a.v.kopli (177,748 in chips)
Seat 3: dynamoM (120,990 in chips)
Seat 4: kizoku2008 (231,424 in chips)
Seat 5: Cjnybre (149,637 in chips)
Seat 6: slavistas (139,247 in chips)

Slavistas lost most of his chips when he went to showdown on a six-high board with an unimproved [As][9s]. A.v.kopli had him just outpipped with [Ah][Ts], leaving him on less than two big bets. The rest of his stack went in pre-flop against beng_51 but his [Ah][4d] did not improve against pocket fives. For sixth place, slavistas earned $4,920.

Kizoku2008 began to pull away from the pack after this hand, where he defended his big blind against a button raise and flopped bottom two pair:

Next to depart was a.v.kopli, who put the last of his chips in on a [Jc][8c][5s] flop after hitting middle pair with [Kc][8d]. Cjnybre was behind with [Ah][9h], but spiked an ace on the river to end a.v.kopli’s run in fifth place. Cjnybre’s chip infusion was short-lived, however as beng_51 claimed most of his stack on the very next hand. Two minutes later, Cjnybre staked his tournament life on [As][6h],but ran into beng_51′s dominating [Ah][Th]. Cjnybre did not improve and collected $9,840 for fourth place.

Beng_51 was sitting comfortably on 570,000 in chips when kizoku2008 won back-to-back pots to assume the chip lead. The second was the larger of the two and was capped pre-flop in a small blind vs. big blind raising war between kizoku2008 and dynamoM. Kizoku2008 check-called a bet on the [Js][8c][2h] flop, then check-raised when the [4h] fell on the turn. DynamoM three-bet, kizoku2008 capped and dynamoM called. Kizoku2008 led out on the [5c] river and dynamoM called to see kizoku2008′s turned set of fours. DynamoM couldn’t manage more than another few hands, the last of his chips going in the middle on a [Ac][Kc][Jh][2c] board against kizoku2008. Although dynamoM got his money in good with [Ah][8s] against [As][7c], kizoku2008 hit the [5c] on the river to make an ace-high flush and eliminate dynamoM in third place.

Kizoku2008 held a 1.6 to 1 chip lead over beng_51 as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 1: beng_51 (473,586 in chips)
Seat 4: kizoku2008 (756,414 in chips)

Beng_51 quickly evened up the chip counts after winning back to back pots, one with second pair and the other kings up. Kizoku2008, however, rivered his own two pair in an even larger pot to pull out to a 2 to 1 lead. Now holding 816,000 to beng_51′s 413,000, this hand set off a run where kizoku2008 won six consecutive pots to move up to 1.1 million in chips, leaving beng_51 on 100,000:

Beng_51 slipped all the way to 58,000 in chips before flopping two pair and doubling up to 117,000. Now it was his turn to go on a run. Beng_51 ground his way back to half a million in chips after putting together a string of pots, including a 288,000 monster where he got maximum value on his flopped queen-high flush. But kizoku2008 wasn’t nearly finished and pushed his chip count back over 900,000 after three pots that saw him river a ten-high straight, river an eight-high straight, and flop trips.

With beng_51 back down to 300,000 chips kizoku2008 picked up pocket kings at the perfect time and flopped a set to boot:

In what would turn out to be the final hand, beng_51 opened for a raise, kizoku2008 three-bet and beng_51 made the call. Kizoku2008 led out on the [Ks][6h][5s] flop and beng_51 made the call. When the [3s] hit the turn kizoku2008 led again, beng_51 raised all-in to 40,688 and kizoku2008 made the call, turning over [As][Tc] for only ace-high. Beng_51, however, only had queen-high with [Qh][8s]. The river was the [Jd] and kizoku2008 sealed the victory, the SCOOP watch, and a $27,060 payday. For his runner-up finish, beng_51 earned $18,880.50.

SCOOP Event #32-M ($530 6-max limit hold’em) results:
1. kizoku2008 (Russia) $27,060.00
2. beng_51 (Russia) $18,880.50
3. dynamoM (Russia) $14,145.00
4. Cjnybre (Belarus) $9,840.00
5. a.v.kopli (Finland) $7,380.00
6. slavistas (Belarus) $4,920.00

Missing an episode of “Inside SCOOP” is missing out on free money (and a lot of laughs). Join Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan live at 22:00 GMT on PokerStars.tv– there’s a T$500 giveaway in every episode!

Tags: alex kravchenko | chip | event | gold | money | online | player | pokerstars | river | russia | SCOOP | stack | turn

Fixed limit hold’em is popular with many hold’em fans, though it doesn’t boast of the popularity it once did. It requires a bit of a different strategy than NLHE and offers a little more play without the ease of the automatic all-in move at one’s fingertips.

Players who enjoy hold’em will often step up to nearly any hold’em opportunity, and Event 32 provided just that. It was a limit event with a prestigious SCOOP title on the line, and it certainly offered a substantial enough buy-in to attract some of the biggest high-stakes player in the world of online poker.

The high buy-in level of Event 32 offered a $100K guarantee for a $5,000 + $200 price tag. Considering the list of players whose bankrolls allow such an expensive endeavor, the field was full of some of the biggest names in poker from around the world. They relished in the opportunity to play in an event with their peers.

After the two-hour registration period closed, the final numbers were as follows:

Players: 46
Guarantee: $100,000
Actual prize pool: $230,000
Paid players: 6

A solid percentage of the field consisted of players listed with the PokerStars logo. But some of them didn’t last more than a few hours into the tournament with such stiff competition. The first to exit was Team PokerStars Pro Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart in 38th place, and Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 37th. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken left in 29th place, Lex Veldhuis in 27th, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Hoyer Berg in 20th.

Still in contention with three tables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Greg DeBora, the latter holding a strong spot in the top ten. Grospellier soon departed in 16th place, leaving DeBora (pictured below) as the last pro standing.

The elimination of Terrence “Unassigned” Chan in 13th place led to the final two tables of the tournament, but into the sixth hour of play, ten players still remained. Halfway through that hour, they reached the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament just after Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora exited in eighth place, courtesy of crocky.

Short-stacked ferocious666 moved all-in and received calls from Andy McLEOD and rompsa, and they took it all the way through the [8c][6s][7d][Jc][Th] board. Andy McLEOD’s [Ad][Kd] couldn’t beat the [Js][Jh] of rompsa, and ferocious666 simply mucked. After finishing in second place in the 2011 SCOOP Event 9-H, ferocious666 bubbled this tournament and finished in seventh place.

Black88 holds initial lead at final table

The final table was set in Level 12, with blinds at 600/1,200, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: ozenc (32,323 in chips)
Seat 2: K_0_S_T_Y_A (14,905 in chips)
Seat 3: BIack88 (55,348 in chips)
Seat 4: römpsä (34,520 in chips)
Seat 5: crocky (44,337 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (48,567 in chips)

Within ten hands, Andy McLEOD had taken over the chip lead by a slim margin, and it was clearly going to be a fight to the finish in this event.

Short-stacked K_0_S_T_Y_A had trouble from the start, with a short stack that kept decreasing. Finally from the big blind, K_0_S_T_Y_A got involved from the big blind with Andy McLEOD. Betting was capped preflop, as well as after the [3s][4s][8d] flop. K_0_S_T_Y_A moved all-in after the [8s] on the turn, and Andy McLEOD called with [Jh][Jc], which beat the [7h][7s] of K_0_S_T_Y_A. The sixth place finish was worth $12,650.00.

Slowly and quietly, rompsa snuck up on the two chip leaders and climbed into that number one spot. Ozenc sunk to the bottom of the counts but doubled through Black88 to stay alive a bit longer; however a loss of a pot to Black88 put ozenc down under the 3K chip mark.

A double for ozenc through rompsa bought a little more time, but ozenc then got involved with Black88 again. With betting capped on the [3c][2s][Ah] flop, it was the [9s] on the turn that put ozenc all-in with [5h][5s]. Black88 called with [Ac][Js] and top pair, which stayed good through the [8s] on the river. Ozenc, who won Event 30-H just today, had to accept fifth place and $17,250.00 in this event.

Crocky was the other very short-stacked player, and a battle with Andy McLEOD ensued. After the [2s][Ah][Jc] flop, crocky pushed all-in with [Qc][Th], and Andy McLEOD called with [Ad][4d]. Crocky never made the draw as the [6s] and [4h] completed the board, and Andy McLEOD collected the pot. Crocky finished in fourth place with $23,000.00.

Final trio in play

Though Black88 had a reasonable lead to start three-handed play, the other players soon caught up and nearly evened the stacks. But rompsa was on the worse side of several hands and eventually relegated to a fairly low amount of chips, especially as compared to the other two players who both flirted with the 100K point.

Finally, rompsa went all-in preflop with [Ks][8d], but Andy McLEOD had [Ah][8h]. The board of [Td][Qc][5h][Th][9d] brought no help for rompsa, who finished the tournament in third place with $34,500.00.

Andy McLEOD aims for another title

The final two players started their battle with the following stacks:

Seat 3: BIack88 (90,386 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (139,614 in chips)

Andy McLEOD immediately took charge and increased the lead over Black88, but over a series of aggressively played hands, Black88 came back with a vengeance. A sample of the action can be viewed here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Andy McLEOD lost ground quickly and finally got involved on a hand that saw bets and raises as the [Qc][Js][5h][Jd] flop and turn appeared. It was then that Andy McLEOD put the last of his chips in the pot with [Ac][8h], but Black88 called with [Qs][Jh] for the full house. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, who won a WCOOP in 2008, SCOOP in 2009, and final tabled two 2011 SCOOP events this year, was denied another title. He accepted $57,500.00 for the second place finish.

Black88 won the SCOOP watch and title, along with the first place prize of $85,100.00. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #32-H Results:

1st place: Black88 ($85,100.00)
2nd place: Andy McLEOD ($57,500.00)
3rd place: rompsa ($34,500.00)
4th place: crocky ($23,000.00)
5th place: ozenc ($17,250.00)
6th place: K_0_S_T_Y_A ($12,650.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Tags: biggest | event | field | greg debora | online-poker | registration | rio | SCOOP | team pokerstars pro | tournaments

Fixed limit hold’em is popular with many hold’em fans, though it doesn’t boast of the popularity it once did. It requires a bit of a different strategy than NLHE and offers a little more play without the ease of the automatic all-in move at one’s fingertips.

Players who enjoy hold’em will often step up to nearly any hold’em opportunity, and Event 32 provided just that. It was a limit event with a prestigious SCOOP title on the line, and it certainly offered a substantial enough buy-in to attract some of the biggest high-stakes player in the world of online poker.

The high buy-in level of Event 32 offered a $100K guarantee for a $5,000 + $200 price tag. Considering the list of players whose bankrolls allow such an expensive endeavor, the field was full of some of the biggest names in poker from around the world. They relished in the opportunity to play in an event with their peers.

After the two-hour registration period closed, the final numbers were as follows:

Players: 46
Guarantee: $100,000
Actual prize pool: $230,000
Paid players: 6

A solid percentage of the field consisted of players listed with the PokerStars logo. But some of them didn’t last more than a few hours into the tournament with such stiff competition. The first to exit was Team PokerStars Pro Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart in 38th place, and Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 37th. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken left in 29th place, Lex Veldhuis in 27th, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Hoyer Berg in 20th.

Still in contention with three tables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Greg DeBora, the latter holding a strong spot in the top ten. Grospellier soon departed in 16th place, leaving DeBora (pictured below) as the last pro standing.

The elimination of Terrence “Unassigned” Chan in 13th place led to the final two tables of the tournament, but into the sixth hour of play, ten players still remained. Halfway through that hour, they reached the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament just after Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora exited in eighth place, courtesy of crocky.

Short-stacked ferocious666 moved all-in and received calls from Andy McLEOD and rompsa, and they took it all the way through the [8c][6s][7d][Jc][Th] board. Andy McLEOD’s [Ad][Kd] couldn’t beat the [Js][Jh] of rompsa, and ferocious666 simply mucked. After finishing in second place in the 2011 SCOOP Event 9-H, ferocious666 bubbled this tournament and finished in seventh place.

Black88 holds initial lead at final table

The final table was set in Level 12, with blinds at 600/1,200, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: ozenc (32,323 in chips)
Seat 2: K_0_S_T_Y_A (14,905 in chips)
Seat 3: BIack88 (55,348 in chips)
Seat 4: römpsä (34,520 in chips)
Seat 5: crocky (44,337 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (48,567 in chips)

Within ten hands, Andy McLEOD had taken over the chip lead by a slim margin, and it was clearly going to be a fight to the finish in this event.

Short-stacked K_0_S_T_Y_A had trouble from the start, with a short stack that kept decreasing. Finally from the big blind, K_0_S_T_Y_A got involved from the big blind with Andy McLEOD. Betting was capped preflop, as well as after the [3s][4s][8d] flop. K_0_S_T_Y_A moved all-in after the [8s] on the turn, and Andy McLEOD called with [Jh][Jc], which beat the [7h][7s] of K_0_S_T_Y_A. The sixth place finish was worth $12,650.00.

Slowly and quietly, rompsa snuck up on the two chip leaders and climbed into that number one spot. Ozenc sunk to the bottom of the counts but doubled through Black88 to stay alive a bit longer; however a loss of a pot to Black88 put ozenc down under the 3K chip mark.

A double for ozenc through rompsa bought a little more time, but ozenc then got involved with Black88 again. With betting capped on the [3c][2s][Ah] flop, it was the [9s] on the turn that put ozenc all-in with [5h][5s]. Black88 called with [Ac][Js] and top pair, which stayed good through the [8s] on the river. Ozenc, who won Event 30-H just today, had to accept fifth place and $17,250.00 in this event.

Crocky was the other very short-stacked player, and a battle with Andy McLEOD ensued. After the [2s][Ah][Jc] flop, crocky pushed all-in with [Qc][Th], and Andy McLEOD called with [Ad][4d]. Crocky never made the draw as the [6s] and [4h] completed the board, and Andy McLEOD collected the pot. Crocky finished in fourth place with $23,000.00.

Final trio in play

Though Black88 had a reasonable lead to start three-handed play, the other players soon caught up and nearly evened the stacks. But rompsa was on the worse side of several hands and eventually relegated to a fairly low amount of chips, especially as compared to the other two players who both flirted with the 100K point.

Finally, rompsa went all-in preflop with [Ks][8d], but Andy McLEOD had [Ah][8h]. The board of [Td][Qc][5h][Th][9d] brought no help for rompsa, who finished the tournament in third place with $34,500.00.

Andy McLEOD aims for another title

The final two players started their battle with the following stacks:

Seat 3: BIack88 (90,386 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (139,614 in chips)

Andy McLEOD immediately took charge and increased the lead over Black88, but over a series of aggressively played hands, Black88 came back with a vengeance. A sample of the action can be viewed here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Andy McLEOD lost ground quickly and finally got involved on a hand that saw bets and raises as the [Qc][Js][5h][Jd] flop and turn appeared. It was then that Andy McLEOD put the last of his chips in the pot with [Ac][8h], but Black88 called with [Qs][Jh] for the full house. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, who won a WCOOP in 2008, SCOOP in 2009, and final tabled two 2011 SCOOP events this year, was denied another title. He accepted $57,500.00 for the second place finish.

Black88 won the SCOOP watch and title, along with the first place prize of $85,100.00. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #32-H Results:

1st place: Black88 ($85,100.00)
2nd place: Andy McLEOD ($57,500.00)
3rd place: rompsa ($34,500.00)
4th place: crocky ($23,000.00)
5th place: ozenc ($17,250.00)
6th place: K_0_S_T_Y_A ($12,650.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Tags: ept | field | greg debora | rio | river | SCOOP | tournament | wcoop | world

Fixed limit hold’em is popular with many hold’em fans, though it doesn’t boast of the popularity it once did. It requires a bit of a different strategy than NLHE and offers a little more play without the ease of the automatic all-in move at one’s fingertips.

Players who enjoy hold’em will often step up to nearly any hold’em opportunity, and Event 32 provided just that. It was a limit event with a prestigious SCOOP title on the line, and it certainly offered a substantial enough buy-in to attract some of the biggest high-stakes player in the world of online poker.

The high buy-in level of Event 32 offered a $100K guarantee for a $5,000 + $200 price tag. Considering the list of players whose bankrolls allow such an expensive endeavor, the field was full of some of the biggest names in poker from around the world. They relished in the opportunity to play in an event with their peers.

After the two-hour registration period closed, the final numbers were as follows:

Players: 46
Guarantee: $100,000
Actual prize pool: $230,000
Paid players: 6

A solid percentage of the field consisted of players listed with the PokerStars logo. But some of them didn’t last more than a few hours into the tournament with such stiff competition. The first to exit was Team PokerStars Pro Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart in 38th place, and Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 37th. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken left in 29th place, Lex Veldhuis in 27th, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Hoyer Berg in 20th.

Still in contention with three tables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Greg DeBora, the latter holding a strong spot in the top ten. Grospellier soon departed in 16th place, leaving DeBora (pictured below) as the last pro standing.

The elimination of Terrence “Unassigned” Chan in 13th place led to the final two tables of the tournament, but into the sixth hour of play, ten players still remained. Halfway through that hour, they reached the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament just after Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora exited in eighth place, courtesy of crocky.

Short-stacked ferocious666 moved all-in and received calls from Andy McLEOD and rompsa, and they took it all the way through the [8c][6s][7d][Jc][Th] board. Andy McLEOD’s [Ad][Kd] couldn’t beat the [Js][Jh] of rompsa, and ferocious666 simply mucked. After finishing in second place in the 2011 SCOOP Event 9-H, ferocious666 bubbled this tournament and finished in seventh place.

Black88 holds initial lead at final table

The final table was set in Level 12, with blinds at 600/1,200, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: ozenc (32,323 in chips)
Seat 2: K_0_S_T_Y_A (14,905 in chips)
Seat 3: BIack88 (55,348 in chips)
Seat 4: römpsä (34,520 in chips)
Seat 5: crocky (44,337 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (48,567 in chips)

Within ten hands, Andy McLEOD had taken over the chip lead by a slim margin, and it was clearly going to be a fight to the finish in this event.

Short-stacked K_0_S_T_Y_A had trouble from the start, with a short stack that kept decreasing. Finally from the big blind, K_0_S_T_Y_A got involved from the big blind with Andy McLEOD. Betting was capped preflop, as well as after the [3s][4s][8d] flop. K_0_S_T_Y_A moved all-in after the [8s] on the turn, and Andy McLEOD called with [Jh][Jc], which beat the [7h][7s] of K_0_S_T_Y_A. The sixth place finish was worth $12,650.00.

Slowly and quietly, rompsa snuck up on the two chip leaders and climbed into that number one spot. Ozenc sunk to the bottom of the counts but doubled through Black88 to stay alive a bit longer; however a loss of a pot to Black88 put ozenc down under the 3K chip mark.

A double for ozenc through rompsa bought a little more time, but ozenc then got involved with Black88 again. With betting capped on the [3c][2s][Ah] flop, it was the [9s] on the turn that put ozenc all-in with [5h][5s]. Black88 called with [Ac][Js] and top pair, which stayed good through the [8s] on the river. Ozenc, who won Event 30-H just today, had to accept fifth place and $17,250.00 in this event.

Crocky was the other very short-stacked player, and a battle with Andy McLEOD ensued. After the [2s][Ah][Jc] flop, crocky pushed all-in with [Qc][Th], and Andy McLEOD called with [Ad][4d]. Crocky never made the draw as the [6s] and [4h] completed the board, and Andy McLEOD collected the pot. Crocky finished in fourth place with $23,000.00.

Final trio in play

Though Black88 had a reasonable lead to start three-handed play, the other players soon caught up and nearly evened the stacks. But rompsa was on the worse side of several hands and eventually relegated to a fairly low amount of chips, especially as compared to the other two players who both flirted with the 100K point.

Finally, rompsa went all-in preflop with [Ks][8d], but Andy McLEOD had [Ah][8h]. The board of [Td][Qc][5h][Th][9d] brought no help for rompsa, who finished the tournament in third place with $34,500.00.

Andy McLEOD aims for another title

The final two players started their battle with the following stacks:

Seat 3: BIack88 (90,386 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (139,614 in chips)

Andy McLEOD immediately took charge and increased the lead over Black88, but over a series of aggressively played hands, Black88 came back with a vengeance. A sample of the action can be viewed here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Andy McLEOD lost ground quickly and finally got involved on a hand that saw bets and raises as the [Qc][Js][5h][Jd] flop and turn appeared. It was then that Andy McLEOD put the last of his chips in the pot with [Ac][8h], but Black88 called with [Qs][Jh] for the full house. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, who won a WCOOP in 2008, SCOOP in 2009, and final tabled two 2011 SCOOP events this year, was denied another title. He accepted $57,500.00 for the second place finish.

Black88 won the SCOOP watch and title, along with the first place prize of $85,100.00. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #32-H Results:

1st place: Black88 ($85,100.00)
2nd place: Andy McLEOD ($57,500.00)
3rd place: rompsa ($34,500.00)
4th place: crocky ($23,000.00)
5th place: ozenc ($17,250.00)
6th place: K_0_S_T_Y_A ($12,650.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Tags: biggest | black88 | ept | event | field | online | poker | SCOOP | team pokerstars pro | wcoop | world

Fixed limit hold’em is popular with many hold’em fans, though it doesn’t boast of the popularity it once did. It requires a bit of a different strategy than NLHE and offers a little more play without the ease of the automatic all-in move at one’s fingertips.

Players who enjoy hold’em will often step up to nearly any hold’em opportunity, and Event 32 provided just that. It was a limit event with a prestigious SCOOP title on the line, and it certainly offered a substantial enough buy-in to attract some of the biggest high-stakes player in the world of online poker.

The high buy-in level of Event 32 offered a $100K guarantee for a $5,000 + $200 price tag. Considering the list of players whose bankrolls allow such an expensive endeavor, the field was full of some of the biggest names in poker from around the world. They relished in the opportunity to play in an event with their peers.

After the two-hour registration period closed, the final numbers were as follows:

Players: 46
Guarantee: $100,000
Actual prize pool: $230,000
Paid players: 6

A solid percentage of the field consisted of players listed with the PokerStars logo. But some of them didn’t last more than a few hours into the tournament with such stiff competition. The first to exit was Team PokerStars Pro Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart in 38th place, and Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 37th. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken left in 29th place, Lex Veldhuis in 27th, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Hoyer Berg in 20th.

Still in contention with three tables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Greg DeBora, the latter holding a strong spot in the top ten. Grospellier soon departed in 16th place, leaving DeBora (pictured below) as the last pro standing.

The elimination of Terrence “Unassigned” Chan in 13th place led to the final two tables of the tournament, but into the sixth hour of play, ten players still remained. Halfway through that hour, they reached the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament just after Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora exited in eighth place, courtesy of crocky.

Short-stacked ferocious666 moved all-in and received calls from Andy McLEOD and rompsa, and they took it all the way through the [8c][6s][7d][Jc][Th] board. Andy McLEOD’s [Ad][Kd] couldn’t beat the [Js][Jh] of rompsa, and ferocious666 simply mucked. After finishing in second place in the 2011 SCOOP Event 9-H, ferocious666 bubbled this tournament and finished in seventh place.

Black88 holds initial lead at final table

The final table was set in Level 12, with blinds at 600/1,200, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: ozenc (32,323 in chips)
Seat 2: K_0_S_T_Y_A (14,905 in chips)
Seat 3: BIack88 (55,348 in chips)
Seat 4: römpsä (34,520 in chips)
Seat 5: crocky (44,337 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (48,567 in chips)

Within ten hands, Andy McLEOD had taken over the chip lead by a slim margin, and it was clearly going to be a fight to the finish in this event.

Short-stacked K_0_S_T_Y_A had trouble from the start, with a short stack that kept decreasing. Finally from the big blind, K_0_S_T_Y_A got involved from the big blind with Andy McLEOD. Betting was capped preflop, as well as after the [3s][4s][8d] flop. K_0_S_T_Y_A moved all-in after the [8s] on the turn, and Andy McLEOD called with [Jh][Jc], which beat the [7h][7s] of K_0_S_T_Y_A. The sixth place finish was worth $12,650.00.

Slowly and quietly, rompsa snuck up on the two chip leaders and climbed into that number one spot. Ozenc sunk to the bottom of the counts but doubled through Black88 to stay alive a bit longer; however a loss of a pot to Black88 put ozenc down under the 3K chip mark.

A double for ozenc through rompsa bought a little more time, but ozenc then got involved with Black88 again. With betting capped on the [3c][2s][Ah] flop, it was the [9s] on the turn that put ozenc all-in with [5h][5s]. Black88 called with [Ac][Js] and top pair, which stayed good through the [8s] on the river. Ozenc, who won Event 30-H just today, had to accept fifth place and $17,250.00 in this event.

Crocky was the other very short-stacked player, and a battle with Andy McLEOD ensued. After the [2s][Ah][Jc] flop, crocky pushed all-in with [Qc][Th], and Andy McLEOD called with [Ad][4d]. Crocky never made the draw as the [6s] and [4h] completed the board, and Andy McLEOD collected the pot. Crocky finished in fourth place with $23,000.00.

Final trio in play

Though Black88 had a reasonable lead to start three-handed play, the other players soon caught up and nearly evened the stacks. But rompsa was on the worse side of several hands and eventually relegated to a fairly low amount of chips, especially as compared to the other two players who both flirted with the 100K point.

Finally, rompsa went all-in preflop with [Ks][8d], but Andy McLEOD had [Ah][8h]. The board of [Td][Qc][5h][Th][9d] brought no help for rompsa, who finished the tournament in third place with $34,500.00.

Andy McLEOD aims for another title

The final two players started their battle with the following stacks:

Seat 3: BIack88 (90,386 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (139,614 in chips)

Andy McLEOD immediately took charge and increased the lead over Black88, but over a series of aggressively played hands, Black88 came back with a vengeance. A sample of the action can be viewed here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Andy McLEOD lost ground quickly and finally got involved on a hand that saw bets and raises as the [Qc][Js][5h][Jd] flop and turn appeared. It was then that Andy McLEOD put the last of his chips in the pot with [Ac][8h], but Black88 called with [Qs][Jh] for the full house. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, who won a WCOOP in 2008, SCOOP in 2009, and final tabled two 2011 SCOOP events this year, was denied another title. He accepted $57,500.00 for the second place finish.

Black88 won the SCOOP watch and title, along with the first place prize of $85,100.00. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #32-H Results:

1st place: Black88 ($85,100.00)
2nd place: Andy McLEOD ($57,500.00)
3rd place: rompsa ($34,500.00)
4th place: crocky ($23,000.00)
5th place: ozenc ($17,250.00)
6th place: K_0_S_T_Y_A ($12,650.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Tags: biggest | greg debora | online | poker | river | SCOOP | team pokerstars pro | tournaments | wcoop | world

Razz by definition means to deride, heckle, or tease. After picking up four cards to a wheel and seeing the next three come out with pictures on them fits the definition perfectly. Not too many people like to be teased, and its most likely the reason why when poker players speak of the game of Razz a bitter beer face comes up even on the most positive players. It is the third game in H.O.R.S.E. and that why mixed-game specialists continue to sharpen their skills for a game that makes you feel like head butting a steel beam while playing at times.

Despite the potential for head injuries, 1,958 players piled into today’s Event #27-L with $25,000 guarantee and for a modest $22 investment one of them could walk away with the $6,726.26 first prize. 288 of them would take home a small profit on their buy-in. A few Team PokerStars pros and Team Online caught too many bricks and finished outside the money. Jorge “twin-caracas” Arias (1,316th place), Pat Pezzin (1,153rd place), Greg DeBora (1,066th place), Liv Boeree (744th place) were all shooting for that SCOOP championship watch and came up short.

After v3000s from Russia caught his last face card in 289th place, the money bubble opened up as Team PokerStars pro Bryan Huang (186th place, $35.24) and Team Online Richard “Tzen1″ Veenman (113th place, $46.99) managed to hold on to their sanity long enough to take a piece of the $39,160.00 guarantee busting prize pool.

Down to the final three tables one name seemed to stick out. UhhMee with two final tables already under his belt was looking for a third. Perhaps more importantly, some needed Player of the Series points as the Canadian currently stood in tenth place, 120 points behind joiso. With 100 points going to the champion (along with a stylish SCOOP champion’s watch), it was in UhhMee’s grasp as the number tables collapse to two. Unfortunately, during the 40K/80K ante 8K stakes round, UhhMee found one too many bricks against Leotiger608 and would have to settle for 20 Player of the Series points in 14th place ($215.38).

revares cannot reverse

With the stakes moved up to 60K/120K ante 12K revares69 sat with just over two big bets deciding to three-bet the chip leader le pistash despite holding a [Kc] on the door. le pistash with a [6h] made the call to see fourth street as revares69 caught a little better with an ace [Ac] this time as le pistash bricked [Qc]. Bet by vevares69 and a call to see fifth as revares69 pushed his last bet for 87,016 chips in the middle with a [6c] for and ace [Ah] for le pistash made the call. revares69 revealed a decent six-low draw [4d] [3h] / [Kc] [Ac] [6c] to le pistash’s [7c] [Th] / [6h] [Qc] [Ah]. But, two pair later [3s] [4h] revares69 could not even best the ten-seven low of le pistash [7d] [2d] finishing in ninth place ($293.70) and starting up the final table below:

Seat 1: Leotiger608 (1077730 in chips)
Seat 2: Rockchuvak (195768 in chips)
Seat 3: Dooppe (1975164 in chips)
Seat 4: MrKrabss (683635 in chips)
Seat 5: polarop (1275215 in chips)
Seat 6: mapocalyps (570957 in chips)
Seat 7: le pistash (3093201 in chips)
Seat 8: Vaio09 (918330 in chips)

Cool rocks

Just five hands into the final table Rockchuvak was looking to make a move holding under two big bets and found a decent [9h][5s] / [4h] starter to get his 105,768 chips in the middle after the door cards were dealt as MrKrabss and polarop joined along for the ride. MrKrabss would check call polarop’s bet on fourth showing [5c][4c] to polarop’s [5h][3s]. Fifth street MrKrabss led this time after catching an [8s] to polarop’s queen [Qh]. But, when polarop caught an ace [Ac] on sixth MrKrabss check-folded as polarop showed a seven-six [7d] [6s] / [5h] [3s] [Qh] [Ac] to Rockchuvak’s still alive [9h] [5s] / [4h] [2s] [7c] [Jc]. Needing an ace or three Rockchuvak instead got a lovely king [Ks] as the Razz gods were not playing nicely and Rockchuvak picked up eighth place cash ($391.60).

Doing the crab walk

After losing several chips to polarop during Rockchuvak’s elimination, five hands later MrKrabss would find himself all-in for 133,867 chips after the door cards were dealt. Vaio09 obliged with a call and caught an eight-seven by sixth street [3s] [6d] / [8d] [3h] [4d] [7d] / [Jd] while MrKrabss would have a big sweat on the river holding a wheel draw [4h] [3d] / [Ad] [Kc] [Qc] [2c]. Per the definition of Razz, once again it was just a tease as another face card fell [Qs] as Vaio09 claimed the 403,734 chip pot and MrKrabss did the crab walk out of the final table in seventh place ($783.20).

A small discussion of chip chop started up but quickly died due to lack of the necessary responses to stop the tournament clock.

The road to sixth place

Shortly after the tenth hour break mapocalyps, Dooppe, and polarop got involved in a huge 1.3 million chip pot that would send one player home in sixth place, watch below:

While mapocalyps was all-in after the door card, polarop shook Dooppe loose after sixth street to expose a nine-six that would improve to a six smooth after the river [6c] [3h] / [9h] [4h] [4c] [2c] / [As] mapocalyps was already drawing thin [9s] [8d] / [7s] [6h] [2s] [Qd] / [8s] but the river card became moot after polarop’s ace fell and mapocalyps was sent on the road to sixth place ($1,174.80). No stranger to big Razz games mapocalyps took third last month in the Sunday $215 Razz tourney ($1,764.00) but could not muster a victory tonight.

Another cold board

polarop’s name emits colder climates and seems to send those icy thoughts to his opponent’s boards after knocking out MrKrabss and mapocalyps. Then with the stakes moving up to 120K/240K ante 24K polarop would freeze out yet another player. Holding just 39,730 chips Leotiger608 nursed a short stack long enough to snag fifth place money. After polarop brought it in with a queen [Qd] Dooppe called with an ace [Ad] as Leotiger608 had no other decisions after his remaining 15,730 went into the pot. polarop’s bet on fourth street got rid of Dooppe and managed to run off a seven-six [8h] [3c] / [Qd] [2c] [6c] [5d] / [7h] as Leotiger608 found too many pairs [Ah] [Kc] / [4c] [Ks] [Qh] [8c] / [4h] ending with a fifth place finish ($1,958.00) with an ugly king low.

Team Online Andre Coimbra was on hand to help final four to the chop numbers below

le pistash $5,147.64
polarop $4,929.34
Vaio09 $4,030.87
Dooppe $3,337.75

But, Dooppe and polarop wanted a bit more than the offer and play continued without a chop in place.

Dooppe dumped

Yet another slaying by polarop who seemed to be well in control of this final table, especially as Vaio09 and Dooppe fell to holding under a big bet a piece. With the stakes at 160K/320K ante 32K. Dooppe would call the bring-in holding a [6d]. After catching a [4d] on fourth Dooppe got the remainder of that short stack in the middle against polarop holding a modest [9h] [9c] / [7d] [6s]. Dooppe also held a pair but managed to improve to a nine-eight [9d] [6h] / [6d] [4d] [5h] [8s] / [5s] but polarop caught just a little better finding a deuce and five on fifth and sixth [2s] [5c] / [7h] to make a nine-seven and claim the 569,312 chip pot while dropping Dooppe in fourth place ($2,741.20).

Squeezed out

Just five hands later watch below as Vaio09 could not make a huge comeback from holding just one big bet:

le pistash: [4h] [9s] / [Kh] [2s] [5c] [6s] / [Qc]
Vaio09: [Ad] [9d] / [3h] [Ts] [Th] [2h] / [2d]

Two pair on the end was not victorious for Vaio09 as the Russian took home $3,720.20 in third place.

Germany vs. Spain

le pistash (Spain) and polarop (Germany) could not agree on chop numbers and began a great heads up battle which each player held the chip lead multiple times. The two would battle for nearly 45 minutes until this decisive hand went down with polarop already holding a 7.4 million to 2.3 million chip lead and the stakes at 250K/500K ante 50K:

le pistash could not counter the eight-six [5c][6d] / [2s][8h][9s][Kh] / [4d] shown by polarop as the 4.1 million chip pot left le pistash with just 302,936 chips left.

Two hands later polarop collected the le scraps and became the SCOOP 2011 Event #27-L Razz champion earning $6,726.26 for the victory!

Be sure to check out the Inside SCOOP show tomorrow for all the highlights of tonight’s exciting action as the SCOOP Main Event creeps even closer.

SCOOP 2011 Event #27-L Razz results (05-18-11)
1. polarop (Germany) $6,726.26
2. le pistash (Spain) $4,757.94
3. Vaio09 (Russia) $3,720.20
4. Dooppe (Denmark) $2,741.20
5. Leotiger608 (China) $1,958.00
6. mapocalyps (Netherlands) $1,174.80
7. MrKrabss (Germany) $783.20
8. Rockchuvak (Russia) $391.60

Tags: bryan-huang | door | greg debora | leotiger608 | lists | middle | On the Road | rio | rockchuvak | russia | stakes

If you have a short commute, it might take 16 minutes for you to drive to work in the morning. You might wait 16 minutes for the bus or a burger and fries at the diner. In a live tournament, it can take 16 minutes to play a single hand let alone a single orbit, but tonight, in 16 minutes and only 38 hands the nine final tablists in Event #26-Medium managed to play down to a new SCOOP champion. God bless turbo no-limit hold’em.

4,345 players put up $109 each for entry into this rapid-fire tournament, creating a $434,500 prize pool. 585 places paid, with first place set to earn $68,217.76. Team PokerStars was well represented by Team Pros Marcin Horecki, George Danzer, Henrique Pinho, Liv Boeree, Greg DeBora, Toni Judet, Jude Ainsworth, Pat Pezzin, Maxim Lykov, and Pieter De Korver while Anders “Donald” Berg, Diego “vgreen22″ Brunelli, Vadim Markushevski, and Andre Coimbra flew the red spade for Team Online. Finishing in the money were Tyler “frosty0212″ Frost (570th), Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin, Juan Maceiras (109th) and Noah Boeken, who made it all the way to the final three tables before bowing out in 25th place.

Since he had only three big blinds left, it looked like dummypuppy would end up as the bubble boy, but those honors ended up going to atzektm when he called wolfeman99′s small blind shove with [Ah][8s] in the big blind. Wolfeman99 was behind with [Qd][4h], but hit middle pair on the [Ks][4s][2d] flop. Atzektm couldn’t find an ace, an eight or running straight cards, the turn and river falling the [9c] and the [2s] to eliminate him on the final table bubble.

Thanks to that pot, wolfeman99 entered the final table as the chip leader. Here’s how they stacked up:

Seat 1: wolfeman99 (7,938,198 in chips)
Seat 2: RunningAlone (5,900,390 in chips)
Seat 3: dummypuppy (1,380,612 in chips)
Seat 4: g0epr0 (5,350,753 in chips)
Seat 5: Macoquito (5,771,596 in chips)
Seat 6: Cleggalfish (2,590,774 in chips)
Seat 7: dean23price (4,293,750 in chips)
Seat 8: kidious23 (2,950,640 in chips)
Seat 9: titcar (7,273,287 in chips)

Dummypuppy may have survived the final table bubble, but he couldn’t make it any further than ninth place. With the blinds up to 250,000/500,000, titcar moved all-in for 6.2 million from the cutoff and dummypuppy called off his last 580,612 from the big blind. Although dummypuppy had the best hand when the money went in, with [Ah][2s] against [8c][9h], an eight hit the flop, sending dummypuppy home with a $3,476 payday.

Two hands later, Cleggalfish got the rest of his chips in against g0epr0 with [Ah][8d] against [Ac][Jh], but like titcar before him, flopped an eight to take down the pot and double to 7.7 million. On the next hand, titcar open-shoved for 7.9 million and dean23price called all in for 4.4 miilion from the big blind, his pocket jacks holding against [Ah][9c]. The 10.5 million pot gave dean23price the chip lead and he padded it even further one hand later when Cleggalfish shoved for 7.3 million from the button with [Kc][Qc]. Dean23price looked down at pocket kings in the small blind and re-shoved to isolate, chasing away kidious23. The kings were good on the [5h][3h][3d][Ad][6d] board and Cleggalfish departed in eighth place ($5,431.25), while dean23price chipped up to 18.8 million.

Titcar just couldn’t control his trigger finger and a few minutes later, he open-shoved for just under 3 milliion from UTG+1 holding [Kh][6d]. RunningAlone woke up with [Ac][Ks] and reshoved behind him, the board running out [4d][9c][4s][8c][7d] to eliminate titcar in seventh. He collected $9,776.25 for his efforts.

Dean23price ran into a bit of foul luck when he doubled up g0epr0. Although dean23price got his money in good with [As][Qs] against [Ad][8d], g0epr0 made an ace-high flush when the flop landed [Kd][Jd][4d]. Dean23price’s woes, however, were quite temporary as he picked up [Ad][Ks] on the very next hand and three-bet shoved over Macoquito’s opening raise. Macoquito quickly called with pocket queens, but dean23price hit top pair on the [Ac][5d][3d] flop. Macoquito couldn’t manage a two-outer on the turn or river and exited in 6th place, $14,121.25 richer.

A few hands later, the action folded around to RunningAlone in the now-400,000 small blind. He called all-in for 397,981 with [6s][7d], g0epr0 turning up [2c][8c] in the big blind. Miraculously, the eight played on the [Kh][Kc][Jc][3c][5s] board, leaving RunningAlone with $18,466.25 for fifth place.

On the next hand (seriously, the next hand), kidious23 bowed out in fourth place when his [As][5s] did not improve against g0epr0′s pocket queens after a preflop all-in. Three hands later, wolfeman99 staked his tournament life on a pocket pair of nines, calling all-in for 14.4 million after dean23price shoved 17.3 million from the button. This time dean23price’s [Ac][7h] was not the best hand, but sevens from heaven on the flop and turn gave him the 30 million-chip pot and the KO. Not all was lost for wolfeman99, though– now he has $35,846.25 to spend on summer Phish tour.

Dean23price had a better than 3 to 1 advantage as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 4: g0epr0 (10,094,219 in chips)
Seat 7: dean23price (33,355,781 in chips)

It took all of seven hands for this match to be decided. The most significant pot was the first they played heads-up, dean23price getting some nice value on his pocket aces:

Five blind steals later, the final hand unfolded. Dean23price set g0epr0 all-in for his last 2.3 million and the Norwegian called, turning over [Ah][6d]. Dean23price needed some help with [5c][9c], but once again, the poker gods obliged. Although the flop was a relatively innocuous [Qc][Ts][8s], the [9s] fell on the turn, pairing up dean23price. G0epr0 needed an ace on the river to survive, but the [6s] appeared instead, sealing up the SCOOP win for dean23price.

This isn’t the first time dean23price has found the winner’s circle. Back in March 2010 he won the Super Tuesday for over $75,000 only two days after finishing second in the Sunday Million for a $205,000 score. Tonight he added another $68,217.76 to the till while runner-up g0epr0 earned $50,836.50.

SCOOP Event #26-Medium ($109 Turbo NLHE) results:
1. dean23price (United Kingdom) $68,217.76
2. g0epr0 (Norway) $50,836.50
3. wolfeman99 (Canada) $35,846.25
4. kidious23 (Ireland) $24,983.75
5. RunningAlone (Sweden) $18,466.25
6. Macoquito (Spain) $14,121.25
7. titcar (Hungary) $9,776.25
8. Cleggalfish (United Kingdom) $5,431.25
9. dummypuppy (Hungary) $3,476.00

Don’t forget to tune in to “Inside SCOOP” every night at 22:00 GMT on PokerStars.tv. There’s a T$500 giveaway in every episode and really, who doesn’t like free money?

Tags: button | cleggalfish | flop | greg debora | jude ainsworth | lists | liv boeree | match | money | norwegian | phish | pokerstars | rio | running | Super Tuesday

If you have a short commute, it might take 16 minutes for you to drive to work in the morning. You might wait 16 minutes for the bus or a burger and fries at the diner. In a live tournament, it can take 16 minutes to play a single hand let alone a single orbit, but tonight, in 16 minutes and only 38 hands the nine final tablists in Event #26-Medium managed to play down to a new SCOOP champion. God bless turbo no-limit hold’em.

4,345 players put up $109 each for entry into this rapid-fire tournament, creating a $434,500 prize pool. 585 places paid, with first place set to earn $68,217.76. Team PokerStars was well represented by Team Pros Marcin Horecki, George Danzer, Henrique Pinho, Liv Boeree, Greg DeBora, Toni Judet, Jude Ainsworth, Pat Pezzin, Maxim Lykov, and Pieter De Korver while Anders “Donald” Berg, Diego “vgreen22″ Brunelli, Vadim Markushevski, and Andre Coimbra flew the red spade for Team Online. Finishing in the money were Tyler “frosty0212″ Frost (570th), Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin, Juan Maceiras (109th) and Noah Boeken, who made it all the way to the final three tables before bowing out in 25th place.

Since he had only three big blinds left, it looked like dummypuppy would end up as the bubble boy, but those honors ended up going to atzektm when he called wolfeman99′s small blind shove with [Ah][8s] in the big blind. Wolfeman99 was behind with [Qd][4h], but hit middle pair on the [Ks][4s][2d] flop. Atzektm couldn’t find an ace, an eight or running straight cards, the turn and river falling the [9c] and the [2s] to eliminate him on the final table bubble.

Thanks to that pot, wolfeman99 entered the final table as the chip leader. Here’s how they stacked up:

Seat 1: wolfeman99 (7,938,198 in chips)
Seat 2: RunningAlone (5,900,390 in chips)
Seat 3: dummypuppy (1,380,612 in chips)
Seat 4: g0epr0 (5,350,753 in chips)
Seat 5: Macoquito (5,771,596 in chips)
Seat 6: Cleggalfish (2,590,774 in chips)
Seat 7: dean23price (4,293,750 in chips)
Seat 8: kidious23 (2,950,640 in chips)
Seat 9: titcar (7,273,287 in chips)

Dummypuppy may have survived the final table bubble, but he couldn’t make it any further than ninth place. With the blinds up to 250,000/500,000, titcar moved all-in for 6.2 million from the cutoff and dummypuppy called off his last 580,612 from the big blind. Although dummypuppy had the best hand when the money went in, with [Ah][2s] against [8c][9h], an eight hit the flop, sending dummypuppy home with a $3,476 payday.

Two hands later, Cleggalfish got the rest of his chips in against g0epr0 with [Ah][8d] against [Ac][Jh], but like titcar before him, flopped an eight to take down the pot and double to 7.7 million. On the next hand, titcar open-shoved for 7.9 million and dean23price called all in for 4.4 miilion from the big blind, his pocket jacks holding against [Ah][9c]. The 10.5 million pot gave dean23price the chip lead and he padded it even further one hand later when Cleggalfish shoved for 7.3 million from the button with [Kc][Qc]. Dean23price looked down at pocket kings in the small blind and re-shoved to isolate, chasing away kidious23. The kings were good on the [5h][3h][3d][Ad][6d] board and Cleggalfish departed in eighth place ($5,431.25), while dean23price chipped up to 18.8 million.

Titcar just couldn’t control his trigger finger and a few minutes later, he open-shoved for just under 3 milliion from UTG+1 holding [Kh][6d]. RunningAlone woke up with [Ac][Ks] and reshoved behind him, the board running out [4d][9c][4s][8c][7d] to eliminate titcar in seventh. He collected $9,776.25 for his efforts.

Dean23price ran into a bit of foul luck when he doubled up g0epr0. Although dean23price got his money in good with [As][Qs] against [Ad][8d], g0epr0 made an ace-high flush when the flop landed [Kd][Jd][4d]. Dean23price’s woes, however, were quite temporary as he picked up [Ad][Ks] on the very next hand and three-bet shoved over Macoquito’s opening raise. Macoquito quickly called with pocket queens, but dean23price hit top pair on the [Ac][5d][3d] flop. Macoquito couldn’t manage a two-outer on the turn or river and exited in 6th place, $14,121.25 richer.

A few hands later, the action folded around to RunningAlone in the now-400,000 small blind. He called all-in for 397,981 with [6s][7d], g0epr0 turning up [2c][8c] in the big blind. Miraculously, the eight played on the [Kh][Kc][Jc][3c][5s] board, leaving RunningAlone with $18,466.25 for fifth place.

On the next hand (seriously, the next hand), kidious23 bowed out in fourth place when his [As][5s] did not improve against g0epr0′s pocket queens after a preflop all-in. Three hands later, wolfeman99 staked his tournament life on a pocket pair of nines, calling all-in for 14.4 million after dean23price shoved 17.3 million from the button. This time dean23price’s [Ac][7h] was not the best hand, but sevens from heaven on the flop and turn gave him the 30 million-chip pot and the KO. Not all was lost for wolfeman99, though– now he has $35,846.25 to spend on summer Phish tour.

Dean23price had a better than 3 to 1 advantage as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 4: g0epr0 (10,094,219 in chips)
Seat 7: dean23price (33,355,781 in chips)

It took all of seven hands for this match to be decided. The most significant pot was the first they played heads-up, dean23price getting some nice value on his pocket aces:

Five blind steals later, the final hand unfolded. Dean23price set g0epr0 all-in for his last 2.3 million and the Norwegian called, turning over [Ah][6d]. Dean23price needed some help with [5c][9c], but once again, the poker gods obliged. Although the flop was a relatively innocuous [Qc][Ts][8s], the [9s] fell on the turn, pairing up dean23price. G0epr0 needed an ace on the river to survive, but the [6s] appeared instead, sealing up the SCOOP win for dean23price.

This isn’t the first time dean23price has found the winner’s circle. Back in March 2010 he won the Super Tuesday for over $75,000 only two days after finishing second in the Sunday Million for a $205,000 score. Tonight he added another $68,217.76 to the till while runner-up g0epr0 earned $50,836.50.

SCOOP Event #26-Medium ($109 Turbo NLHE) results:
1. dean23price (United Kingdom) $68,217.76
2. g0epr0 (Norway) $50,836.50
3. wolfeman99 (Canada) $35,846.25
4. kidious23 (Ireland) $24,983.75
5. RunningAlone (Sweden) $18,466.25
6. Macoquito (Spain) $14,121.25
7. titcar (Hungary) $9,776.25
8. Cleggalfish (United Kingdom) $5,431.25
9. dummypuppy (Hungary) $3,476.00

Don’t forget to tune in to “Inside SCOOP” every night at 22:00 GMT on PokerStars.tv. There’s a T$500 giveaway in every episode and really, who doesn’t like free money?

Tags: button | cleggalfish | lists | liv boeree | pocket | SCOOP | time

If you have a short commute, it might take 16 minutes for you to drive to work in the morning. You might wait 16 minutes for the bus or a burger and fries at the diner. In a live tournament, it can take 16 minutes to play a single hand let alone a single orbit, but tonight, in 16 minutes and only 38 hands the nine final tablists in Event #26-Medium managed to play down to a new SCOOP champion. God bless turbo no-limit hold’em.

4,345 players put up $109 each for entry into this rapid-fire tournament, creating a $434,500 prize pool. 585 places paid, with first place set to earn $68,217.76. Team PokerStars was well represented by Team Pros Marcin Horecki, George Danzer, Henrique Pinho, Liv Boeree, Greg DeBora, Toni Judet, Jude Ainsworth, Pat Pezzin, Maxim Lykov, and Pieter De Korver while Anders “Donald” Berg, Diego “vgreen22″ Brunelli, Vadim Markushevski, and Andre Coimbra flew the red spade for Team Online. Finishing in the money were Tyler “frosty0212″ Frost (570th), Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin, Juan Maceiras (109th) and Noah Boeken, who made it all the way to the final three tables before bowing out in 25th place.

Since he had only three big blinds left, it looked like dummypuppy would end up as the bubble boy, but those honors ended up going to atzektm when he called wolfeman99′s small blind shove with [Ah][8s] in the big blind. Wolfeman99 was behind with [Qd][4h], but hit middle pair on the [Ks][4s][2d] flop. Atzektm couldn’t find an ace, an eight or running straight cards, the turn and river falling the [9c] and the [2s] to eliminate him on the final table bubble.

Thanks to that pot, wolfeman99 entered the final table as the chip leader. Here’s how they stacked up:

Seat 1: wolfeman99 (7,938,198 in chips)
Seat 2: RunningAlone (5,900,390 in chips)
Seat 3: dummypuppy (1,380,612 in chips)
Seat 4: g0epr0 (5,350,753 in chips)
Seat 5: Macoquito (5,771,596 in chips)
Seat 6: Cleggalfish (2,590,774 in chips)
Seat 7: dean23price (4,293,750 in chips)
Seat 8: kidious23 (2,950,640 in chips)
Seat 9: titcar (7,273,287 in chips)

Dummypuppy may have survived the final table bubble, but he couldn’t make it any further than ninth place. With the blinds up to 250,000/500,000, titcar moved all-in for 6.2 million from the cutoff and dummypuppy called off his last 580,612 from the big blind. Although dummypuppy had the best hand when the money went in, with [Ah][2s] against [8c][9h], an eight hit the flop, sending dummypuppy home with a $3,476 payday.

Two hands later, Cleggalfish got the rest of his chips in against g0epr0 with [Ah][8d] against [Ac][Jh], but like titcar before him, flopped an eight to take down the pot and double to 7.7 million. On the next hand, titcar open-shoved for 7.9 million and dean23price called all in for 4.4 miilion from the big blind, his pocket jacks holding against [Ah][9c]. The 10.5 million pot gave dean23price the chip lead and he padded it even further one hand later when Cleggalfish shoved for 7.3 million from the button with [Kc][Qc]. Dean23price looked down at pocket kings in the small blind and re-shoved to isolate, chasing away kidious23. The kings were good on the [5h][3h][3d][Ad][6d] board and Cleggalfish departed in eighth place ($5,431.25), while dean23price chipped up to 18.8 million.

Titcar just couldn’t control his trigger finger and a few minutes later, he open-shoved for just under 3 milliion from UTG+1 holding [Kh][6d]. RunningAlone woke up with [Ac][Ks] and reshoved behind him, the board running out [4d][9c][4s][8c][7d] to eliminate titcar in seventh. He collected $9,776.25 for his efforts.

Dean23price ran into a bit of foul luck when he doubled up g0epr0. Although dean23price got his money in good with [As][Qs] against [Ad][8d], g0epr0 made an ace-high flush when the flop landed [Kd][Jd][4d]. Dean23price’s woes, however, were quite temporary as he picked up [Ad][Ks] on the very next hand and three-bet shoved over Macoquito’s opening raise. Macoquito quickly called with pocket queens, but dean23price hit top pair on the [Ac][5d][3d] flop. Macoquito couldn’t manage a two-outer on the turn or river and exited in 6th place, $14,121.25 richer.

A few hands later, the action folded around to RunningAlone in the now-400,000 small blind. He called all-in for 397,981 with [6s][7d], g0epr0 turning up [2c][8c] in the big blind. Miraculously, the eight played on the [Kh][Kc][Jc][3c][5s] board, leaving RunningAlone with $18,466.25 for fifth place.

On the next hand (seriously, the next hand), kidious23 bowed out in fourth place when his [As][5s] did not improve against g0epr0′s pocket queens after a preflop all-in. Three hands later, wolfeman99 staked his tournament life on a pocket pair of nines, calling all-in for 14.4 million after dean23price shoved 17.3 million from the button. This time dean23price’s [Ac][7h] was not the best hand, but sevens from heaven on the flop and turn gave him the 30 million-chip pot and the KO. Not all was lost for wolfeman99, though– now he has $35,846.25 to spend on summer Phish tour.

Dean23price had a better than 3 to 1 advantage as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 4: g0epr0 (10,094,219 in chips)
Seat 7: dean23price (33,355,781 in chips)

It took all of seven hands for this match to be decided. The most significant pot was the first they played heads-up, dean23price getting some nice value on his pocket aces:

Five blind steals later, the final hand unfolded. Dean23price set g0epr0 all-in for his last 2.3 million and the Norwegian called, turning over [Ah][6d]. Dean23price needed some help with [5c][9c], but once again, the poker gods obliged. Although the flop was a relatively innocuous [Qc][Ts][8s], the [9s] fell on the turn, pairing up dean23price. G0epr0 needed an ace on the river to survive, but the [6s] appeared instead, sealing up the SCOOP win for dean23price.

This isn’t the first time dean23price has found the winner’s circle. Back in March 2010 he won the Super Tuesday for over $75,000 only two days after finishing second in the Sunday Million for a $205,000 score. Tonight he added another $68,217.76 to the till while runner-up g0epr0 earned $50,836.50.

SCOOP Event #26-Medium ($109 Turbo NLHE) results:
1. dean23price (United Kingdom) $68,217.76
2. g0epr0 (Norway) $50,836.50
3. wolfeman99 (Canada) $35,846.25
4. kidious23 (Ireland) $24,983.75
5. RunningAlone (Sweden) $18,466.25
6. Macoquito (Spain) $14,121.25
7. titcar (Hungary) $9,776.25
8. Cleggalfish (United Kingdom) $5,431.25
9. dummypuppy (Hungary) $3,476.00

Don’t forget to tune in to “Inside SCOOP” every night at 22:00 GMT on PokerStars.tv. There’s a T$500 giveaway in every episode and really, who doesn’t like free money?

Tags: final | flop | lists | pocket | running | SCOOP | Super Tuesday | united-kingdom