Gribnogrib was no stranger to high stakes poker or stacked tables. A 2011 Sunday Warm-Up victory proved that the Russian had what it took to compete in prestigious online poker tournaments and win. Event 31 was another challenge, and stayed aggressive throughout Day 2, fighting for the chip lead and refusing to relinquish it late in the game. As names like Faraz Jaka and Steve Gross exited the table, Gribnogrib hung on and followed through with a win.

*****

A tournament like Event 29 is special, not just because it’s part of the SCOOP series. It offers players big antes, which means that the structure may consist of normal blind increases and 30-minute levels, but antes are introduced from the very beginning and increase rapidly. Besides, it was also a rebuy tournament, putting another level into the tournament entirely.

The high $1,050 buy-in version of this event nearly doubled the guarantee with its registration numbers, and here’s where it stood:

Players: 277
Rebuys: 249
Add-ons: 252
Guarantee: $400,000.00
Prize pool: $778,000.00
Paid players: 36

The first day of action took players through 20 levels and saw a number of Team PokerStars players out during that time. Team Online’s Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen exited in 217th place, followed by two-time SCOOP champion and fellow Team Online member Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom in 196th, as well as Randy “nanonoko” Lew in 180th. Team PokerStars Pro Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth busted in 167th, and Team Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind finished in 155th. Team Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier ended his run in 135th place.

That took players to the money toward the end of the first night of play. While PearlJammer finished in 37th place on the money bubble, Team PokerStars Pro Jose “nachobarbero” Barbero cashed in 36th for $5,835.00.

When the night finally ended, there were 15 players remaining on two tables, and holdplz was the chip leader.

Day 2

The second day began in Level 21, with blinds of 1,250/2,500 and a 500 ante. The average chip stack was 189,200, but all of the chip counts of the remaining players were as follows:

holdplz (Mexico) – 345,034
Gribnogrib (Russia) – 330,971
bigbluffzinc (Canada) – 292,020
Shhh00kem (Canada) – 290,643
Jymaster11 (Canada) – 263,658
The-Toilet 0 (Mexico) – 236,608
zugzwang16 (Uruguay) – 224,991
Face333X (Germany) – 185,123
JackOrsen72 (Germany) – 176,176
gboro280 (Canada) – 116,102
Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jorgensen (Denmark) – 115,018
Matfrankland (UK) – 99,992
ThePateychuk (Russia) – 90,458
Artem205 (Ukraine) – 38,079
TMoney0209 (Canada) – 33,127

Action started with the quick elimination of TMoney0209. A few hands later, Face333X and pocket kings took on Theo Jorgensen and A-3 of diamonds, but the Q-T-T-Q-9 board didn’t help. Team PokerStars Pro Theo “Theo J” Jorgensen exited in 14th place with $10,503.00.

EPT 2011 San Remo champion Andrey “ThePateychuk” Pateychuk exited in 13th place, followed by Jordan “Jymaster11″ Young” in 12th. The 11th place elimination of zugzwang16 brought on hand-for-hand play on the final table bubble, which lasted more than a few minutes. Finally, Jack Orsen72 on the button and bigbluffzinc from the small blind got into a preflop raising war that led to bigbluffzinc calling all-in with [As][Qd]. JackOrsen72 showed [Ad][Kh], and the board came [4d][5d][6d][3d][3c]. JackOrsen72 had the higher flush, and bigbluffzinc exited in tenth place with $12,448.00.

Face333X faces off to defend chip lead

The final table began in Level 22, with blinds of 1,500/3,000 and a 600 ante, along with these player chip counts:

Seat 1: Shhh00kem (548,061 in chips)
Seat 2: Matfrankland (62,713 in chips)
Seat 3: holdplz (222,772 in chips)
Seat 4: Artem205 (91,043 in chips)
Seat 5: Gribnogrib (496,579 in chips)
Seat 6: Face333X (595,049 in chips)
Seat 7: JackOrsen72 (448,966 in chips)
Seat 8: The-Toilet 0 (303,365 in chips)
Seat 9: gboro780 (69,452 in chips)

The first elimination came from a big hand that started with an UTG raise from JackOrsen72 and call from The-Toilet 0. Everyone else folded, and the flop came [9h][8c][Tc]. A bet and call led to the [5s] on the turn, and another bet and call brought the [2h] river card. JackOrsen72 bet again, and The-Toilet 0 raised. JackOrsen72 reraised, and The-Toilet 0 called all-in with [Th][Ts] for the set of tens. But Jack Orsen72 had [Qd][Jd] for the straight, and that left Faraz “The-Toilet 0″ Jaka out of the event in ninth place with $14,782.00.

On the very next hand, Artem205 challenged from middle position and found Gribnogrib as the caller from the button. The flop of [9h][Qh][7c] prompted a bet and call, as did the [Jc] on the turn. The [8d] on the river brought an all-in bet from Artem205 with [Qc][Tc], but Gribnogrib called with [Kc][Ts] and the better straight. Artem205 had to leave in eighth place with $19,450.00.

Gribnogrib grabs first and runs with it

Gribnogrib was close to the top of the leaderboard at the start, but sheer aggression put that player out in front of the rest in no time. A pot worth 383K chips from Face333X was only one of many examples of the chipping up process for Gribnogrib, the first player to climb over the million-chip mark.

Gboro780, on the other hand, struggled. A double-up through JackOrsen72 helped, but another move was niecessary. When Gribnogrib raised preflop UTG, gboro780 reraised from middle position, and Gribnogrib moved all-in. Gboro780 called the 96,172 remaining chips all-in with [Ah][Qd], which looked good against the [As][9h] of Gribnogrib. But the board came [3s][Jc][9c][Kc][6d], and the pair of nines eliminated gboro780 in seventh place with $27,230.00.

Before the second break of the day, Face333X was able to double through JackOrsen72, and Matfrankland doubled twice, once through Shhh00kem and then through Gribnogrib.

Holdplz was the first day’s chip leader, but everything changed on Day 2. Holdplz had a tough time gaining any traction and finally looked down at [Ah][Ac] for a solid double-up opportunity. An initial raise took that pocket pair into action against Matfrankland to see a [6h][Td][8h] flop. Holdplz bet, Matfrankland check-raised, and holdplz shoved. Matfrankland called with [9s][8s] for middle pair, and the [9h] came on the turn to make that two pair. The [Js] on the river ended the tournament for Anthony “holdplz” Spinella, who took home $35,010.00 for sixth place.

Shhh00kem shakes ‘em

When Shhh00kem doubled through Gribnogrib, as seen here, the distance from first place got ever shorter for Shhh00kem:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Forever five-handed

After one hour of five-handed action, the chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: Shhh00kem (558,751 in chips)
Seat 2: Matfrankland (449,025 in chips)
Seat 5: Gribnogrib (895,114 in chips)
Seat 6: Face333X (675,007 in chips)
Seat 7: JackOrsen72 (260,103 in chips)

Gribnograb had no intention of giving up the chip lead, though Face333X and Shhh00kem were pretty set on getting out of second place and into the top spot eventually.

Move it along, folks

Five-handed play lasted for nearly 1.5 hours. JackOrsen72 had the toughest time. Despite a double-up through Gribnogrib, Face333X doubled throguh JackOrsen72 to leave the latter in trouble again. JackOrsen moved all-in soon after for 138,047 chips with [As][3c], and original raiser Gribnogrib called with [Jh][Js]. The board came [5h][8d][Td][Qs][4c], and the jacks held to eliminate JackOrsen72 in fifth place with $45,124.00.

Shhh00kem doubled through Face333X, and but it was Matfrankland who was the next player to be at risk in this event. Face333X started the hand with an UTG raise, but Matfrankland reraised from the small blind. Gribnogrib reraised from the big blind, and Matfrankland pushed it up again. After one more raise (and obviously a fold from Face333X), Matfrankland moved all-in with [Jd][Js], but Gribnogrib showed the [Ah][Ad]. The flop of [9c][4d][3c] changed nothing, and the [Ac] on the turn only gave Gribnogrib trip aces. The [Qd] on the river sent Matt “Matfrankland” Frankland out in fourth place with $66,130.00.

Face333X started three-handed play with a reasonable stack of chips but lost momentum quickly. At the point that the stack dipped below 120K, Face333X risked it all with [Kh][7s]. Gribnogrib was along holding [As][6h], and the board only helped that hand when it came [3d][5s][Ah][9d][Jd]. Face333X received no help and exited in third place with $87,914.00.

Two tangle for the title

The final two players started heads-up play with these stacks:

Seat 1: Shhh00kem (847,350 in chips)
Seat 5: Gribnogrib (1,990,650 in chips)

It took less than 20 hands for Shhh00kem to make a move. The hand started with a raised flop of [Qs][Tc][Jc]. Gribnogrib led out with a bet, and Shhh00kem check-raised. Several more raises led to Gribnogrib pushing all-in with [Ks][9c] for the flopped straight, but Shhh00kem called all-in with [9d][8c] for the lesser straight. The [7s] on the turn and [3s] on the river ended the match and gave Shhh00kem second place and $116,700.00.

Gribnogrib won the SCOOP title, Movado watch, and $159,101.00 cash payout. Congrats!

2012 SCOOP Event #29-H ($1,050+R NLHE, Big Antes) Results:

Total players: 81
Paid players: 12

1st place: Gribnogrib (Russia) – $159,101.00)
2nd place: Shhh00kem (Canada) – $116,700.00
3rd place: Face333X (Germany) – $87,914.00
4th place: Matthew “Matfrankland” Frankland (UK) – $66,130.00
5th place: JackOrsen72 (Germany) – $45,124.00
6th place: Anthony “holdplz” Spinella (Mexico) – $35,010.00.
7th place: Steve “gboro780″ Gross (Canada) – $27,230.00
8th place: Artem205 (Ukraine) – $19,450.00
9th place: Faraz “The-Toilet 0″ Jaka (Mexico) – $14,782.00

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

Tags: archives | Battle of the Planets | European Poker Tour | facebook | gribnogrib | italian | italian poker tour | portugal | SCOOP

By now, if you read the PokerStarsBlog at all, you’ve probably read about how Shaun Deeb is absolutely dominating the Player of the Series race. He’s made a joke out of it, really, by crushing souls in the stud events. There are still 10 low, medium and high events to go, but it looks like Deeb will run away with the Player of the Series title.

But poker isn’t always about domination. Ask tua133 about that. You see, tua133 is a new SCOOP champion, having taken down 2012 SCOOP Event 29-Low, $11+$ NLHE (Big Antes). But tua133 didn’t dominate the final table. tua133 used skillful survival and opportunism to grab the Movado watch.

Poker is very much a game of numbers, so try these numbers on for size: 9,995 entries. 11,891 re-buys. 7,032 add-ons. A total of $289,180 into the prize pool, smashing yet another SCOOP guarantee. Of those 9,995 entries, 1,260 would see monetary reward before Day 1 of the two-day event was done.

Day 1 lasted 40 levels. By the time those 40 levels expired, the field of 9,995 had been compressed to just 22 survivors. Gone were Team PokerStars Pros Marcin “Goral “Horecki (315th, $112.78) and Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom (763rd, $72.29) and Jose “nachobarbero” Barbero (1046th, $57.83). PokerStars Team Online player Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen made a final table in Event 28-low yesterday, but in this event he barely squeaked into the money (1232nd, $52.05).

Team Online player George “jorj95″ Lind survived to Day 2, however. He started the day 4th in chips, just trailing three players who were all within one big blind of each other: tollefishy (7,961,590), MrWeesy (7,861,943) and JBzzzr (7,821,817). Tollefishy and JBzzr made the final table; MrWeesy (13th) and Lind (14th) did not.

Seat 1: tua133 (7071955 in chips)
Seat 2: tucaluc (4718510 in chips)
Seat 3: gmanrom (25066745 in chips)
Seat 4: DrUPSWING (3701550 in chips)
Seat 5: allinnchic (6834815 in chips)
Seat 6: JBzzzr (36446294 in chips)
Seat 7: bliblablupbp (5795079 in chips)
Seat 8: Aik2k (3077720 in chips)
Seat 9: tollefishy (8105332 in chips)

Level 45: blinds 125k-250k, ante 50k
Average: 11,202,000

The chip average to start the final table was 11.2 million, or 45 big blinds, but only two players were above that average: gmanrom and chip leader JBzzzr. The medium and short stacks would have to do quite a bit of jockeying if they hoped to put themselves in position to mount a serious run at the SCOOP title.

The first consolidation of the shorter stacks occurred about fifteen minutes into the final table. Blinds were up to 150k-300k with a 60k ante, and bliblablupbp open-shoved the small blind for almost 6 million. Aik2k, sitting in the small blind with 2.4 million and [ac][ts], called all in. That ace-ten was a better hand than bliblablupbp’s [kh][9c], and even flopped better by making a pair of 10s, [8d][td][7d]. The [qh] turn card changed nothing, but a [js] on the river give bliblablupbp a king-high straight to knock out Aik2k in 9th place.

tucaluc was the next player bound for the rail. tucaluc’s 2.3 million chips weren’t many at the 200k-400k level. They went in pre-flop from second position with [as][7s]. Big stack gmanrom called with pocket 10s and never had to sweat on a jack-high, no-spade board. Two hands later it was DrUPSWING’s turn to downswing all the way to zero. The basic story was the same: a short stack of 1.5 million chips that went into the middle pre-flop with [tc][8c] and couldn’t best tollefishy’s [as][9h] on a board of [5h][4c][qs][3s][2c].

With six players remaining, JBzzzr remained the dominant chip leader and gmanrom was comfortably in second. The other four players, despite some consolidation amongst themselves, all had 20 big blinds or fewer to their names. Two of them, tollefishy and tua133, clashed in the 250k-500k level:

RSS readers click through to see replay

That loss left tollefishy with just 800k in chips, which went into the middle the next hand with another unsuited king. allinnchic, in the big blind, was dealt an unsuited ace and called. tollefishy did not improve, exiting the tournament in 6th place.

The chip disparity between JBzzzr and the rest of the table persisted, even moreso after JBzzzr took a big pot off of 2nd-place player gmanrom. JBzzzr had almost 60% of the chips in play, with each of the other four players having roughly 10% (10 million) each.

tua133 was the player to break the four-way deadlock and build a head of steam. First pocket queens held against gmanrom’s pocket 10s for a double-up to 20 million that crippled gmanrom to about 2 million in chips. Then bliblablupbp opened all in for 6.9 million from the button with [ad][2d] and ran right into tua133′s [ac][qs]. tua133 flopped a queen, then hung on as the board developed a flush draw, [qc][5h][kd][9d]. The river was a harmless [9c], knocking bliblablupbp out in 5th place. tua133 finished off gmanrom a few hands later.

The three-handed battle saw tua133 continue to build chips, mainly at JBzzzr’s expense, while short stack allinnchic looked for good spots. Shoving all in for 21 million on a [ts][4d][8d] flop with [tc][9s], over the top of a continuation bet of 1.7 million from tua133, must have looked like one of those good spots to allinnchic. Turns out, it wasn’t – tua133 snap-called with [4s][4c], a set of fours. The turn [7s] was a hopeful card for allinnchic, giving allinnchic an up-and-down straight draw, but improving to two pair with the [9c] on the river wasn’t enough. allinnchic’s tournament ended in 3rd place.

That huge pot gave tua133 the chip lead starting heads-up play by about a 5-to-4 margin. tua133 inquired about the possibility of a deal, but JBzzzr politely responded, “no ty. gl.”

So they played. And not for very long. tua133 increased the the chip lead to about 5-to-3 through a series of very small pots. On the final hand of the tournament, in the 400k-800k level, JBzzzr opened to 1.6 million, tua133 three-bet to 4.1 million, JBzzzr four-bet to 7.9 million and then tua133 five-bet shoved for 62.9 million. JBzzzr elected to call off 29.6 million more with [ac][9h]. tua133 showed [4h][4s] and the two were off to the races. Fours won this particular race, [ks][8s][qs][7h][jh].

Was it the most dominating final table performance ever? No, it was not. But poker isn’t always about dominance. Just as often it’s about skillful survival and opportunism. tua133 demonstrated both skills at the final table of Event 29-Low and for that reason tua133 is a new SCOOP champion.

2012 SCOOP Event 29-Low, $11+R NLHE (Big Antes) results:

Number of entrants: 9,995
Places paid: 1260

1st: tua133 ($42,544.38)
2nd: JBzzzr ($31,086.85)
3rd: allinnchic ($21,688.50)
4th: gmanrom ($14,459.00)
5th: bliblablupbp ($11,567.20)
6th: tollefishy ($8,675.40)
7th: DrUPSWING ($5,783.60)
8th: tucaluc ($3,180.98)
9th: Aik2k ($2,241.14)

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

Tags: 2011 | ept | event | festival | isildur1 | latin-america | series | Super Tuesday | tcoop | TOC | videos

In the fog of poker war, hours evaporate. At the beginning of a session, the first fifteen minutes can take two hours. The rest of the 13-hour session is over in the blink of an eye. A big poker festival is no different. When the Spring Championship of Online Poker began, it seemed like its two-week schedule would last forever. Now, it’s almost at its end.

Almost.

There are four more days of SCOOP events. Four more days left to get your first, second, third, fourth, or, Shaun Deeb, your fifth SCOOP watch. As we wake up to the waning moments of what has been a most amazing festival, let’s get a feel for the state of play as things stand in the fourth quarter.

So far, the 2012 SCOOP as seen 438,228 entries. That’s 34% more than this time last year. As you might expect, the prize pools have seen an impressive jump as well. As of right now, SCOOP has racked up $41,360,449 in prizes. Last year at this time, that number was $27,812,180.

The star of the series so far is impossible to question: Shaun Deeb, who already had one SCOOP title coming in to today, put together three more championship runs to essentially lock up the overall Player of the Series title. He is also leading the high buy-in leaderboard. Here are all the Player of the Series leaders as of right now:

Overall: Shaun Deeb

High: Shaun Deeb

Medium: SebbyGl

Low Drew M Scott tied with Team Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind III

By the way, keep your eye on Lind, as he’s in the top ten of Event #29-L that re-restarts today. More on that below.

George Lind III looking good for second SCOOP title today

If that’s not enough to satisfy the stats junkie in you, here are some 2012 numbers to make your head spin.

Overall money leader: Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom ($438,597.29)

Most cashes Shaun Deeb (21)

Most final tables Shaun Deeb (7)

Most winnings by country: Canada ($6,634,905)

Most cashes by country: Germany (6,513)

Most final tables by country: Canada (95)

Events won by country Canada tied with UK (13)

In just a few hours, Day 2 of SCOOP Event #29, a big ante no-limit hold’em event, will kick off. The high buy-in competition features a ton of rock stars, including Faraz “The-Toilet 0″ Jaka, Steve “gboro780″ Gross, Andrey “ThePateychuk” Pateychuk and Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jorgensen.

Here are the top ten players from each of those tourneys in advance of their 2pm ET re-start.

SCOOP Event #29-H Day 2 Top Ten
First prize: $159,101

1. holdplz 345034
2. Gribnogrib 330971
3. bigbluffzinc 292020
4. Shhh00kem 290643
5. Jymaster11 263658
6. The-Toilet 0 236608
7. zugzwang16 224991
8. Face333X 185123
9. JackOrsen72 176176
10. gboro780 116102

Theo Jorgensen, also in the hunt in 11th place

SCOOP Event #29-M Day 2 Top Ten
First prize: $80,614

1. djalminha 2359508
2. kripap 1482543
3. djk123 1413416
4. ro_Man777 1283273
5. pistons87 1273102
6. matt20 1246945
7. montjeu8 997495
8. jtizzo222 928679
9. Blackbeaty 830090
10. SvZff 795361

SCOOP Event #29-L Day 2 Top Ten
First prize: $42,544

1.. tollefishy 7961590
2. MrWeesy 7861943
3. JBzzzr 7821817
4. Jorj95 6803705
5. bliblablupbp 6368678
6. DrUPSWING 6255553
7. LTUkaunas 6103375
8. allinnchic 5994230
9. gmanrom 5398773
10. brains-wave 4754773

Good luck to everyone still in action today and as we head toward Sunday’s main events.

Tags: 2011 | ept | European Poker Tour | events | harrah's | lapt | russian | team pokerstars pro | twitter

We had a large field today.

Event #27-L drew 19,289 entrants. That’s more than three times as many players as last year’s WSOP Main Event, and almost as many leagues as Captain Nemo traversed along the seas in the Nautilus.

But unlike the Main Event, players didn’t have to face 12 days of poker to play down to a champion. Our Event #27-L champ would be crowned (or watched) in only two days.

Players also didn’t have to face nefarious sea creatures and giant cuttlefish. They faced a different giant, a giant prize pool.

There was $192,890 up for grabs today, but only 2,475 players would get a piece. The largest piece of that freshly-baked money pie would go to first place. That slice was worth $20,817.57, not bad for an $11 investment and two days of work.

Today, that lucky investor was padjes.

FIVE TO NINE

Day 2 of Event #27-L started at 5pm ET and it took almost seven hours to get down to our last nine players. During that time, padjes acquired almost a third of the chips in play.

With 11 players left, padjes was slightly below average stack with 7MM. His claim to Event #27-L fame would come from two big hands, the first was against cep27.

With 125K/250K blinds and a 31,250 ante, cep27 raised to 500K from the button. padjes re-raised to 1,278,888 from the big blind and cep 27 — who had padjes covered — moved all in.

padjes called and showed [qs][qh]. He’d only have to dodge a few cards to beat cep27′s [8d][8c].

The board ran [10h][2c][9h][jh][4d] and padjes doubled up to 15MM. This gave padjes the chip lead, but only around 1/6th of the chips in play.

There was more chip hoarding to be done.

Nutty raised to 675,000 and padjes called. AIMANpoker raised to 2,125,000 from the button and padjes moved all in for 15MM.

AIMANpoker was 2nd in chips at the time and a call would mean risking his tournament life. AIMANpoker thought for a while before he finally called all in for 13MM.

AIMANpoker showed [qc][qs] and was crushed when padjes revealed [kc][kd].

The board brought no miracle cards for the at-risk player and AIMANpoker was eliminated. In just one hand, AIMANpoker went from 2nd in chips to 11th place finisher.

C’est le poker en ligne.

padjes’ stack grew to 30MM, the closest contender at the final table would have 13MM.

While padjes took care of 11th place on one table, vondaaa burst the final table bubble at the other.

With 200K/400K blinds and a 50K ante, chumacher06 raised to 800,000. ady_ciupanez moved all in for 5,117,809 and vondaaa called.

ady_ciupanez showed [6c][6h] but was up against vondaaa’s [kd][kc].

The [8h][3c][as][5d][10d] board was no help for the smaller stack and ady_ciupanez was eliminated in 10th place.

FINAL TABLE

Our final table was set.

Seat 1: Keystone_FoH – 8,983,478
Seat 2: yogi0987 – 3,958,788
Seat 3: marinac2626 – 13,199,321
Seat 4: cep27 – 2,111,321
Seat 5: Nutty – 4,736,626
Seat 6: padjes – 31,935,622
Seat 7: shefoldedlol – 9,483,885
Seat 8: vondaaa – 13,685,791
Seat 9: chumacher06 – 8,050,168

A few players started the final table in the red zone and were looking for a quick double up. Things didn’t work out for a couple of them.

In the second hand of the final table, action was folded to cep27 who moved all in for 2,061,321.

Nutty, a fellow short stack, called.

Nutty showed a pair of nines and cep27 held [ad][3s] for his tournament life.

The [8s][4s][6d][7h][6h] board brought all low cards, but none that helped cep27.

Nutty’s stack grew to 7.7MM and cep27 was eliminated in 9th place, earning $1,157.34.

The following hand, yogi0987 decided to move all in for 3,858,788. Action would fold around to the big bling, where chumacher06 called with [js][jd].

yogi0987 showed [ad][kc] for the flip.

The board brought no face cards. No king, no ace, just [6c][4c][9h][10d][2d].

yogi0987 was eliminated in 8th place, a finish worth $1,736.01

A PILE FOR PADJES

After losing two players in the first few minutes of play, action slowed and some players managed to double up.

vondaaa raised to 800,000 and Nutty raised to 3.6MM from the small blind. There flop was [qc][8d][5c] and Nutty moved all in for 3,547,947.

vondaaa called and showed [ks][qs] for top pair. But Nutty turned over [kc][kd] for the overpair.

The turn was a [kh] and the river was a [10d], guaranteeing Nutty’s double up to 15MM.

vondaaa would then get a double up of his own. After moving all in and getting a call, vondaaa’s pocket 10s held up against marinac2626′s pocket 5s.

Actually, vondaaa’s pocket 10s did more than hold up, they turned into quads. The double up put vondaaa back at the 9.7MM mark.

Keystone_FoH would also manage to double up to 13.5MM before doom struck again. While some players were doubling up, padjes continued to act like a black hole of poker, sucking in all chips and dreams of SCOOP grandeur that came near him.

With 39MM, padjes called marinac2626′s 4,575,089 all in.

Aside from the dominating stack, padjes held the dominating hand. marinac2626 showed [as][9d] and was up against padjes’s [ah][kh].

The board ran [qs][6c][10d][6s][6h] and padjes was up to 45MM. But one player’s ascent was another’s downfall.

marinac2626 was eliminated in 7th place, earning $2,893.35

padjes would also be responsible for bringing the tournament down to five players.

With 300K/600K blinds and a 75K ante, Keystone_FoH raised to 1,248,000. padjes re-raised to 2,378,888 from the button and Keystone_FoH moved all in for 10,127,456.

padjes called and showed the dominating hand.

Again.

Keystone_FoH turned over [ad][9c] while padjes showed [as][qs].

The [js][5s][kc][6c][kh] board missed both players and padjes’s ace-queen suited stayed in the lead.

Keystone_FoH lost all his chips to padjes, whose stack grew to 56MM — almost two-thirds of the chips in play.

But while Keystone_FoH lost all his chips, he did win some money. Keystone_FoH won $4,822.25 for finishing 6th.

A CHALLENGER APPEARS!

It seemed like padjes was unbeatable. He dominated every all in situation and amassed the majority of the chips in play.

padjes then cooled down on the eliminations. He a few other players do the dirty work for a while.

Action was folded to chumacher06 who moved all in from the small blind. Nutty called the 4,319,978 bet from the big.

chumacher06 showed [qh][qc] and seemed to be in good shape against Nutty’s [kc][7c].

That was until the flop came [9d][ks][7h], giving Nutty two pairs. The turn was a [4s] and a [4d] came on the river, eliminating chumacher06.

chumacher06 finished in 5th place and won $6,751.15.

After Nutty took out number 5, vondaaa would take care of number 4.

shefoldedlol raised to 1.8MM from the small blind and vondaaa — who chipped up to about 20MM — called from the big.

The flop came [ks][9h][jc] and shefoldedlol checked. vondaaa bet 1.8MM and shefoldedlol moved all in for 10,444,385.

vondaaa called and showed [10s][8h] for a straight draw and shefoldedlol showed [kc][3h] for a pair of kings.

The turn was a [qh] and vondaaa hit the straight.

shefoldedlol was out in 4th, earning $8,680.05. vondaaa ended up with 35MM after the hand, inching closer to padjes’s 45MM tower.

Then, the impossible happened. vondaaa won a few smaller pots and took the lead away from padjes, but only for a moment.

The fury of padjes would return in the form of a massive double-up.

With 400K/800K blinds and a 100K ante, padjes raised to 1.6MM. There was a [10c][10s][ah] flop and padjes bet 1,288,888. vondaaa called and a [3d] came on the turn.

Both players checked and an [ad] came on the river.

vondaaa bet 10.4MM and padjes moved all in for 36,281,714.

vondaaa called and showed [jh][10h] for 10s full of aces. But the domination would continue, padjes revealed [as][7s] for the bigger full house and the 79MM pot.

vondaaa was left with 7.9MM after the hand.

SETS TO THE RESCUE

After the largest pot of the tournament, padjes moved all in from the small blind, trying to finish vondaaa off.

vondaaa called from the big blind and showed a pair of 4s, padjes held [ad][qs].

The [4s][ac][2s] flop brought padjes a pair of aces, but it gave vondaaa a set of 4s and the double up.

A few hands later, Nutty would move all in for 5,504,760 and padjes called.

It was another flip, with padjes showing [ad][10d] and Nutty turning over [5s][5h].

The flop was [8d][6c][10h], giving padjes the lead. An [as] come on the turn, increasing that lead.

Now, only a 5 could save Nutty.

The river: [5c].

Nutty doubled up to 12MM and managed to stay in the game.

BACK TO ACTION

Then, the giant stack that padjes fought so hard to get, took another hit.

padjes raised to 1.6M and vondaaa called. The flop came [ks][2d][7c] and vondaaa led out for 2.4MM. padjes called and turn was an [ad].

vondaa started the betting again, this time for 3.2MM. padjes called and a third diamond, the [3d], was dealt on the river.

vondaaa bet 4MM and padjes called again. vondaaa showed [kc][9c] and padjes mucked, giving vondaaa the 23.5MM pot.

With 500K/1MM blinds and a 125K ante, Nutty’s newly-acquired 12MM stack was chipped down quickly.

vondaaa raised to 3MM from the small blind and Nutty — with only 2,232,520 remaining — called.

Nutty showed [kd][qh], an underdog to vondaaa’s [ah][5d].

The board ran [7c][9d][as][8h][8c] and vondaaa’s pair of aces would be responsible for Nutty’s elimination.

Nutty’s 3rd place finish led to a $12,537.85 bankroll boost.

HEADS UP

vondaaa: 16,604,816
padjes: 79,840,184

When you’re faced with a large deficit in a heads-up match, you usually try do one thing: double up.

vondaaa called from the big blind and padjes moved all in for 81MM.

vondaaa called with his 14MM and showed [as][ks], probably not the hand padjes, who held [qd][jh], was expecting.

The flop came [kh][kc][2h] and vondaaa doubled up to 30MM with his three kings.

vondaaa would manage to hang on until padjes won another large pot:

vondaaa raised to 2MM and padjes called, bringing a [jd][5c][9c] flop. Both players checked and a [7d] fell on the turn. padjes bet 2,278,888 and vondaaa raised to 4,557,776.

padjes called and the river brought a [4s]. padjes check-called vondaaa’s 10MM bet and showed [jh][10s]. padjes’s pair of jacks was better than vondaaa’s [qd][7c] and padjes was up to 87MM.

vondaa was left with 9MM.

padjes then put the pressure on vondaaa by continuously moving all in from the small blind.

vondaaa was down to 6,319,080 when he finally called padjes’s all in.

vondaaa chose [ac][8s] to make his move and padjes showed [qd][2s].

The flop came [10h][8h][7c] and vondaaa took the lead with a pair of 8s. A [kh] came on the turn and a game-ending [qs] fell on the river.

vondaaa was eliminated in 2nd place, winning $16,395.65 for his runner-up finish.

This made padjes the SCOOP Event #27-L champion, a title worth one SCOOP watch and $20,817.56.

2012 SCOOP Event 27-L $11 NLHE Results:

Entrants: 19,289
Places Paid: 2,475

1st: padjes (Netherlands) — $20,817.56
2nd: vondaaa (Czech Republic) — $16,395.65
3rd: Nutty (United Kingdom) — $12,537.85
4th: shefoldedlol (Mexico) — $8,680.05
5th: chumacher06 (Portugal) — $6,751.15
6th: Keystone_FoH (Mexico) — $4,822.25
7th: marinac2626 (Croatia) — $2,893.35
8th: yogi0987 (United Kingdom) — $1,736.01
9th: cep27 (Brazil) — $1,157.34

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

Tags: belgian poker series | delicious | entertainment | eureka poker tour | festival | france | lapt | micromillions | pokerstars | TOC | wcoop

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

*****

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sulbystar surges as chip leader

The final eight players began action with these chip counts:

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

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

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

Short-stacked strategies

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

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

“Blind down triple, my strat.”

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

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

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

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

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

Final three

The last three players standing started with these counts:

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

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

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

Two players, one title

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total players: 81
Paid players: 12

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

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

Tags: australia | Baltic Poker Festival | belgian poker series | ept | gambling | harrah's | power | russian | SCOOP | UKIPT | videos | world cup of poker

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

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

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

Final table chip counts:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Heads-up chip counts:

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

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

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

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

Entrants: 15,331
Places paid: 2,100

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The final table was set.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They were down to three.

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

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

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

RSS readers click through to see replay

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

RSS readers click through to see replay

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

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

Entrants: 462
Places paid: 64

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

Tags: australia | delicious | entertainment | france poker series | lists | news | SCOOP | team pokerstars pro | twitter

The chip lead is where every player strives to be during the tournament. That lead gives you some extra power, along with some added confidence to help you get to the end goal, a win. Although neto gol did not start the final table with the chip lead it only took one elimination to change that and from there, well another elimination and another then another before the rest of the field was gone and only one stood at the top. That one at the top was neto gol who took the chip lead and used it as an advantage on the way to eliminating every player on the final table eventually taking the first SCOOP title.

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The 30th event of the 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker was a No Limit Hold’em 6-Max, SuperKnockout, Turbo event. The medium version featured a $215 where $103 went to the prize pool, $103 went to the knockout bounty, and $9 went to tournament fees. By the time the hour-long extended registration ended 3,664 players had signed up generating a $377,392 prize pool where 480 get paid.

With the turbo structure it only took 104 minutes for 3,664 to become 480 getting the field into the money. From there they played 141 more minutes to get to the final six with c0mte leading the way.

A few Team PokerStars Pros and Team Online members made it to the money but fell short of getting to the final table. Leading the way for the PokerStars Pros was Randy “nanonoko” Lew who finished 106th place, one better than Vanessa “V.Selbst” Selbst. Both collected $471.14 from the prize pool plus any bounties that they collected along the way. Henrique “Hinrique.P” Pinho (224th), George “GeorgeDanzer” Danzer (315th), and Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom (381st) rounded out the PokerStars Pros while Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen (362nd) and George “Jorj95″ Lind III (418th) represented Team Online in the money.

Here is a look at how the final table started:

Seat 1: Runninggreat (2408414 in chips)
Seat 2: carlitos350 (1920037 in chips)
Seat 3: neto gol (3762354 in chips)
Seat 4: C. Darwin2 (1174482 in chips)
Seat 5: EaX40 (3899662 in chips)
Seat 6: c0mte (5155051 in chips)

Battle of the blinds:

The first elimination came in a battle of the blinds with carlitos350 in the small blind and neto gol in the big blind. A raise to 200,000 came from carlitos350 when everyone folded to the small blind. A raise to 521,232 came from neto gol which was called by carlitos350. The pair saw the [Jh][9h][4c] flop which brought an all-in shove from carlitos350 to 1,718,805 that was called by neto gol, who had carlitos350 covered. When their cards were revealed carlitos350′s [Qh][7h] needed any heart to pull ahead the [Qs][Jc] held by neto gol. That heart did not come on the [5c] turn or [Jd] river sending carlitos350 out in sixth place collecting $6,604.36.

Chip lead gets bigger:

Holding the chip lead gives you the luxury of playing looser and more aggressive. That is just what neto gol did with the chip lead on the path to eliminating the next player. It all started with neto gol raising to 500,000, EaX40 moved all-in for 1,391,430 from the small blind and neto gol called. EaX40 held [As][7h] against neto gol’s [Qh][Td]. That lead was only good pre flop as the [Qc][Th][3d] flop gave neto gol two pair queens and tens for the lead. The [2s] turn and [6c] river meant nothing but the end for EaX40 who collects $12,106.73 for fifth place.

Another elimination for the chip leader:

The play the lead up to the next elimination was all dictated by neto gol. It mainly featured all-in shoves pre flop from neto gol and folds from the other three players. Eventually it was c0mte who called one of those shoves. When the cards were revealed it was neto gol who was behind again with [7d][6d] against c0mte’s [As][4d]. That lead held through the [9h][3h][2d] flop but the [7h] turn changed things giving neto gol a pair and the lead. The [Jc] river sent c0mte out in fourth place collecting $20,001.77.

Can he be stopped?

It was much of the same three-handed as it was four-handed with neto gol doing lots of shoving and the others just folding. It was C. Darwin2 who did the shoving in the hand that brought the next elimination. Moving the 1,354,298 from under-the-gun C. Darwin2 was all-in. The small blind got out of the way and neto gol called, showing [8c][8s] against C. Darwin2′s [Jh][9d]. The [Ts][6h][2s] [Ac] [Qd] board was good enough for neto gol’s eights to eliminate Darwin2 in third place collecting $31,323.53.

HEADS-UP

Heads-up play featured four hands, two of which had Runninggreat folding from the small blind while the other two featured a shove from neat gol in the small blind. It was the second shove that Runninggreat called with [Kh][4c], neto gol showed [8c][6h]. Runninggreat was looking to get doubled up and the [Td][5d][5s] [Th] board was favorable to doing just that. It was the [8h] river that brought the end to the tournament giving Runninggreat $42,645.29 for second.

Congrats neto gol on your new SCOOP watch along with the $58,497.82 you get with the win.

SCOOP Event #17-M ($215 NLHE 10-max Shootout) Results (Reflects a deal):

Entrants: 3,664
Places Paid: 480

1st place: neto gol (Brazil) – $58,497.82
2nd place: Runninggreat (Canada) – $42,645.29
3rd place: C. Darwin2 (Sweden) – $31,323.53
4th place: c0mte (Finland) – $20,001.77
5th place: EaX40 (United Kingdom) – $12,106.73
6th place: carlitos350 (Colombia) – $6,604.36
*Reflects a deal

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

Tags: 2011 | Asia Pacific Poker Tour | gambling | isildur1 | latin-america | news | pokerstars macau | russian | SCOOP | Super Tuesday | tcoop | tournaments

Down to one big bet on sixth street of the final table bubble in a limit poker tournament and facing a bet, what would you do if things seemed hopeless? Would you toss that bet into the pot and pray? Or would you fold your chance at a stack-redeeming pot and hope that something good would come your way?

That was the choice facing TheGame131 in 2012 SCOOP Event 28-Low, $27 Razz. And although TheGame131 would not go on to win the tournament – an honor that went to Mr-G450 – TheGame131 would parlay the more unorthodox option into a runner-up finish.

Yes, it was razz day for the 2012 SCOOP. If there were one tournament on the SCOOP calendar where the guarantee might not be met, you’d be forgiven for thinking it would be razz. But once again PokerStars players proved PokerStars wise. But don’t take it from me; take it from BLUFF Magazine editor-in-chief Lance Bradley:

@Lance_Bradley: Playing #SCOOP-28-L and can’t believe there are 2,184 people who know how to play Razz.

That’s right, 2,184 players registered for Event 28-low. 288 of them would make the money (though no word on Twitter whether Bradley was among them). Four members of the Red Spade Bridge counted themselves among the ranks of the 288. Team PokerStars Pros Marcin “Goral” Horecki (249th) and Liv Boeree (115th) had minor success. PokerStars Team Online players Roy “GodlikeRoy” Bhasin (35th) and Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen made it much deeper.

Petersen, in fact, was one of eight players at the final table.

Seat 1: Mr-G450 (3222610 in chips)
Seat 2: Ambullanz (2143155 in chips)
Seat 3: goldendevil1 (694200 in chips)
Seat 4: Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen (1144822 in chips)
Seat 5: baffana (1033236 in chips)
Seat 6: marodon (1358369 in chips)
Seat 7: TheGame131 (78458 in chips)
Seat 8: rolfgal (1245150 in chips)

Level 34: stakes 60k-120k, ante 12k
Average: 1,365,000

The chip average to start the final table was “standard” for a limit tournament, at 11 big bets. But one player had significantly fewer bets. TheGame131 came into the final table with 78k, less than a single big bet. But two quick double-ups on the first two hands pushed TheGame131 back up to 505k and a fighting chance.

When the stakes went up to 80k-160k, several players were one bricked hand from the precipice of ruin. roflgal suggested a straight 8-way chop that nobody seriously entertained – especially with baffana and Petersen on the short stacks. Petersen bricked out several hands in a row, finally making a stand with 8-2 / 3-Q against Mr-G450′s 5-3 / 6-J. Petersen finished with a 10-8, a hand barely pipped by Mr-G450′s 10-6. Petersen had entered the final table 5th in chips, but at late stages of a limit razz tournaments it doesn’t take much to find yourself on the rail.

Petersen, in happier times on the EPT

baffana’s fortunes improved; goldendevil1′s did not. baffana threatened to climb back to an average stack even as goldendevil1 ended the tournament in 7th place. 470k was looking awfully small with stakes up to 100k-200k-20k. A few antes and bring-ins later it was even smaller. Down to 172k, goldendevil1 three-bet all in with 10-4 / A. Mr-G450 had opened with 5-4 / 8 and called. By the river, Mr-G450′s three-card eight turned into an 8-7; goldendevil1 only improved to a 9-4 and was eliminated in 7th place.

Limits went up again to 120k-240k as chips continued to fly around the table. TheGame131 wound up as the chip leader with more than 4 million chips. This, after folding a huge pot near the money bubble with just one big bet behind. That fold did not go unnoticed by rolfgal.

“61000 chips left in a big pot, on 30-60k and u folded, game, made u so far 1200$ more, WP!”

But TheGame131 wasn’t finished. After sitting on the sideline while baffana eliminated marodon by running down marodon’s three-card wheel, TheGame131 took care of Ambullanz the very next hand:

RSS readers click through to see replay

That hand pushed TheGame131 to more than 5 million in chips, double the nearest competitor. Quite a remarkable turnaround for a player down to a single big bet with 10 players to go. The question now: could TheGame131 complete a monumental comeback from a single big bet to become a SCOOP champion?

One thing quickly became clear: baffana could not. baffana suffered several second-best hands and wound up in the unenviable position of calling all in on fourth street holding 7-2 / K-J. Mr-G450 was baffana’s opponent and showed a better hand, 2-3 / 7-7. That three-card 7 turned into a 10-7 by the river, while baffana barely improved to a Q-J. It wasn’t enough to avoid a 4th-place finish.

As three-handed play began, rolfgal was the definite short stack, with about 1 million chips Mr-G450 and TheGame131 were both pushing 5 million. They played 3-handed for ten or fifteen minutes but rolfgal was unable to mount any serious challenge to the chip dominance of the other two players – especially after the limits climbed to 200k-400k. A three-card eight was too good to pass up at that point; rolfgal was all in by fifth street showing 8-5 / 3-10-6, a 10-8. TheGame131 had that beat with 9-6 / 7-A-4. Neither player improved by the river. rolfgal’s tournament ended in 3rd place.

The chip stacks were almost dead even at the start of heads-up play. TheGame131 had a slight chip lead over Mr-G450, but that lead was less than one big bet. There was no talk of a deal.

Heads-up play lasted exactly 11 minutes. The big blow came after Mr-G450 ground out an 8-to-3 chip lead. TheGame131 raised over Mr-G450′s bring-in, then put in a third raise after Mr-G450 raised back. Each player put 600k into the pot on third street. Fourth street saw Mr-G450 pair 6s, x-x / 6-6, while TheGame131 showed x-x / 5-9. Mr-G450 called all the way down from there, drawing into a board of 5-8 / 6-6-3-10 / 7 for and 8-7 low, while TheGame131′s board came 6-A / 5-9-A-7-9 for a 9-7.

Losing that pot left TheGame131 with only 843k, or two big bets. From there it was six hands to the end, and ending no less bitter for TheGame131. An 8-5 low wasn’t good enough to climb back into the match after Mr-G450 rivered a 7-6.

The ending had to be disappointing for TheGame131, but the $6,633.90 prize for finishing as the runner-up had to sit better than the $409.50 it seemed TheGame131 was destined to receive on the final table bubble.

And for Mr-G450, a self-professed razz regular? How about $9,377, a Movado watch, and the title of 2012 SCOOP Event 28-Low champion.

2012 SCOOP Event 28-Low, $27 Razz results:

Number of entrants: 2,184
Places paid: 288

1st: Mr-G450 (United Kingdom) ($9,377.42)
2nd: TheGame131 (Germany) ($6,633.90)
3rd: rolfgal (Norway) ($5,187.00)
4th: baffana (Russia) ($3,822.00)
5th: Ambullanz (Sweden) ($2,730.00)
6th: marodon (Moldova) ($1,638.00)
7th: goldendevil1 (Russia) ($1,092.00)
8th: Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen (Denmark) ($546.00)

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

Tags: 2011 | final | france | gambling | harrah's | liv boeree | micromillions | news | SCOOP | twitter | wcoop | world-series

Where have you done it? On a boat? In a moat? On a Carnival float? You can do it anywhere you like these days, and now PokerStars is set to give you a free iPad just for a picture of you doing it.

PokerStars Mobile gives you the ability to play poker wherever you like. As long as you have a reliable connection to the internet, you can play on the world’s biggest, safest, most secure poker site. Want proof? Here’s Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree getting in a few hands (note the life jacket–safety first, we say).

Smooth sailing for the mobile Liv Boeree

So, here’s your chance. Go play PokerStars Mobile somewhere. Get a picture of yourself playing. Upload it to Twitter using the #playpokerhere hashtag and mentioning @PokerStarsUK. The best one out there will get a free iPad. In addition to the grand prize, PokerStars.co.uk will also be giving away a series of spot prizes for the best entries.

So get out there and find somewhere weird–but safe!–to play.

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Terms and Conditions

1) All entries must be submitted via Twitter using the hashtag #PlayPokerHere
2) The competition will run from Wednesday 16th May 2012 to midnight on the 30th May 2012 – Any entries submitted after this time will be deemed invalid
3) Images of a sexual, racist, violent or that of another offensive nature are prohibited from the competition. Any entrants that submits such a nature are held liable and are not supported by the PokerStars or its partners
4) Images that exploit copyright law are prohibited and the entrants will be responsible for any legal action that transpires
5) The competition is run by PokerStars and not Twitter
6) The winner(s) will be selected by PokerStars and PokerStars decision is final.
7) Spot prizes will be issued to entrants throughout the competition at PokerStars discretion
The main prize will be an ipad 2 – 16GB Wifi + 3G in white
9) No cash alternative is available for spot prizes or the main competition prize
10) All prizes will be distributed to the winner(s) within 30 days of the end of the competition

Tags: Battle of the Planets | ept | european | france poker series | gambling | liv boeree | napt | portugal poker series | SCOOP | tcoop | UKIPT | videos