Nick Wealthall

SCOOP 2012: kleath ousts theczar19, wins Event #14-H ($700 NLHE Ante Up)

SCOOP logo.gif Watch the final table of a typical NLHE event and you’ll see players working average stacks anywhere between 25 and 45 big blinds. Watch a turbo final table and that number will drop to 10 or 15. Say what you want about sky-high blinds, “shove-monkey” poker and “standard” spots, but you’re usually on your way in an hour or two.

This event was a whole other ballgame. Kiss the blinds goodbye and say hello to antes. The Ante Up format takes preflop play and turns it inside-out. Giant blinds aren’t flying around the table every few hands, they remain at 5/5 for the duration with only the antes increasing. The slow structure and deep stacks led to a methodically played two-day tournament that finished with a five-hour final table– something more akin to live play than online. In the end, however, it was a consummate online grinder who rose to the top of the field, Malta’s kleath earning his first SCOOP title and more than $41,000.

372 players paid the $700 price tag on Event #14-H, creating a $249,240 prize pool. 45 places were paid, with first place set to earn $48.227.94. Eleven members of the Red Spade army were in the mix, among them Eugene Katchalov, Andre Akkari, Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom, and Jason Mercier. The only one to make the money, however, was George Danzer.

As Day 1 play drew to a close, Danzer was at the back of the pack with 14 players remaining. Four players limped in an tRaMp$d0PrAy raised to 2,860. Lechuckpoker and Rens02 both called. Danzer looked down at [Kc][Th] and shoved for 43,432, no doubt hoping to take it down right there. Although tRaMp$d0PrAy got out of the way, lechuckpoker called with pocket eights. Danzer grabbed the lead when he hit top pair on the [Kh][9c][6h] flop and retained it when the [4c] hit the turn, but lechuckpoker spiked his two-outer on the river, the [8d] falling to make him a set and send Danzer to the rail in 14th place.

Hold me closer, George Danzer. Take my bad beat blues away.**

Play was suspended after 21 levels with 11 players remaining and resumed this morning at 11am EDT. It took an hour and 25 minutes to lose two more players. Ultimately it was RB79s who finished as the final table bubble boy, running [Qc][Qs] into Rens02′s [Ad][Ac].

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: Rens02 (338,651 in chips)
Seat 2: tRaMp$d0PrAy (139,654 in chips)
Seat 3: Face333X (160,600 in chips)
Seat 4: lechuckpoker (363,632 in chips)
Seat 5: joacowalter (318,353 in chips)
Seat 6: theczar19 (188,538 in chips)
Seat 7: kleath (167,353 in chips)
Seat 8: julianherold (100,878 in chips)
Seat 9: 1BigAceHole (82,341 in chips)

Lost races, cracked aces, and runner-runner straights

This marked the second final table appearance for joacowalter in the 2012 SCOOP; he won Event #5-H for more than $200,000 less than a week ago. He moved out to the chip lead in the first hour when his [Ah][5h] flopped the nut flush draw and filled it on the turn. Joacowalter got three streets of value from Rens02 and moved up to 517,000 while Rens02 fell to 130,500.

TRaMp$d0PrAy lost most of his stack early on when 1BigAceHole’s [Kc][Jd] rivered a king against his [Ac][Qh]. Down to 29,000, and the ante up to 1,500, tRaMp$d0PrAy picked up [Ad][Ts] and three-bet shoved behind Rens02′s 6,459 opening raise. Rens02 called with [9d][9h], the pocket pair holding up to eliminate tRaMp$d0PrAy in ninth place.

About ten minutes later, Rens02 snapped off pocket aces to claim the rest of Face333X’s stack. Joacowalter opened the betting with a raise to 7,500, 1BigAceHole three-bet to 17,200 and Rens02 cold four-bet to 32,968. Face333X shoved for 86,656, joacowalter and 1BigAceHole ducked out of the way, and Rens02 called, turning over [7c][8c] to Face333X’s [Ah][As]. Rens02 hit a miraculous [Qh][7h][7d] flop, his trip sevens sending Face333X to the rail in eighth place.

Moments later, theczar19 was looking down the barrel of a gun. His [Kh][Jh] was up against joacowalter’s [Ks][Th] on a [Kc][Td][5h] flop and he was two cards away from a seventh-place finish. The [Qc] on the turn gave him a gutshot straight draw and the [Ac] on the river filled it, theczar19 hitting running cards to make a Broadway straight and double up to 311,000.

joacowalter and lechuckpoker jam into aces, kleath crushes 1BigAceHole

Two hours of final table play resulted in the completion of only 60 hands. Kleath suggested making a seven-way deal, but Rens02 but the kibosh on it, telling his opponents he was enjoying himself. Moments after the deal talk evaporated, joacowalter ran pocket kings into julianherold’s pocket aces. Joacowalter fell to only 72,500 while julianherold took the chip lead with 385,000.

Although joacowalter doubled through kleath three hands later when his pocket nines held on against pocket fives, he was out by the end of the level. After three-bet shoving for his last 100,000 from UTG+1, joacowalter was in a pickle when Rens02 reshoved behind him and julianherold called.

Rens02 [Ad][Ah]
julianherold [Js][Jd]
joacowalter [Ac][Th].

Rens02′s aces held up on the [Kd][Qs][9c][4c][9h] board and won the 613,000 pot. Julianherold was left with 174,000 and joacowalter was eliminated in seventh place, earning $8,474.16.

Lechuckpoker met a similar fate, losing over two-thirds of his stack when he four-bet shoved with pocket sevens, only to run headlong into kleath’s pocket aces. Down to 55,500, he put the rest of his chips in the middle with [8c][8h] but they were no match for julianherold’s [9c][9s]. Lechuckpoker departed in sixth place, banking $10,966.56.

The increased pace continued for at least a few more hands, 1BigAcehole three-betting to 12,800 with [Kc][Qh] only to be met with a shove from kleath. 1BigAceHole called off his remaining 119,000 and was no doubt delighted to see kleath’s [Qc][Jc], but he flopped a jack and turned a queen, the board running out [Js][3c][2d][Qs][6s] to send him home in fifth. He picked up $14,206.68 for his efforts. Kleath had this to offer in the chat box:

kleath: gg chirps
kleath: u put me in the cage
kleath: but i snagged the key

The final four

Two and a half hours after the final table began, four players remained. None are strangers to a big-money final. Rens02 won the Sunday Million for $234,000 in March 2011. Julianherold final tabled the Super Tuesday last month. Kleath has made the Super Tuesday final table as well and took down the $109 rebuy twice. And Bryan “theczar19″ Piccioli, a consummate grinder if there ever was one, has more online MTT wins than we can count. They slugged it out for another hour and forty-five minutes before kleath cracked julianherold’s [Kc][Kh] with [Kd][9d] to eliminate him in fourth place.

Four hours and fifteen minutes of final table play behind them, and the antes still relatively low at 4,000, the final three agreed to pause the action and discuss a deal. After looking at both chip-count chop and ICM numbers, the trio agreed to the former, striking a deal that left $1,500 in play for the eventual winner.

Action resumed, and on the first hand back theczar19 opened for 7,645 on the button. Rens02 three-bet to 22,887 and they saw a [9c][4h][3c] flop. A raising war broke out and all the money went in, Rens02 five-bet shoving for 531,031 and theczar19 calling all-in for 220,078. Rens02 turned over [Ad][4c] for middle pair, while theczar19 held [Kc][Qc] for a flush draw. The [9d] on the turn was a blank for both players, but the [Kh] on the river made theczar19 top two pair, taking him up to 952,775 in chips while Rens02 was left with 83,500.

“Guess I made a deal at the right time lol,” Rens02 quipped.

A few hands later, Rens02 committed the last of his chips with [As][5s] but could not improve against theczar19′s [Ad][Kd]. Rens02 finished in third place, his share of the deal totaling $35,825.65.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 6: theczar19 (1,004,788 in chips)
Seat 7: kleath (855,212 in chips)

Even with only a tiny percentage of the prize pool left in play, heads-up play still took over thirty minutes. Kleath hacked away at theczar19′s stack, moving up to more than a million in chips until theczar19 turned a Broadway straight and cut kleath’s stack in half. Kleath doubled back when he turned two pair and got all his chips in against theczar19′s straight and flush draws, moving back into the chip lead with 1.1 million. The lead swung back and forth dozens of times, neither player willing to let go.

Theczar19 had a 1.1 million to 706,000 lead over kleath when they saw a [9d][5s][3h] flop. The czar19 check-raised kleath’s 16,270 bet to 52,345 and kleath called. When the [Kh] hit the turn, theczar19 led out for 78,465, kleath raised to 212,212, and theczar19 looked him up. The river was the [Tc] and theczar19 checked over to kleath. Kleath moved all-in for 428,886 and theczar19 called, turning over [Ah][Kd] for top pair. Theczar19 could only show [Jc][Td] for a pair of tens and kleath picked up to 1.4 million pot.

It was all over on the next hand. Although theczar19 had the best of it preflop and on the flop, kleath hit a miracle ten on the river to make a Broadway straight and lock up the win:

Congratulations to kleath on a hard-fought battle and his first SCOOP title. He earned $41,391.90 while runner-up theczar19 banked $34,566.59.

2012 SCOOP Event #14-H ($700 NLHE Ante Up!) results:

1. kleath (Malta) $41,391.90*
2. theczar19 (Mexico) $34,566.59*
3. Rens02 (Netherlands) $35,825.65*
4. julianherold (Germany) $20,562.30
5. 1BigAceHole (Canada) $14,206.68
6. lechuckpoker (United Kingdom) $10,966.56
7. joacowalter (Uruguay) $8,474.16
8. Face333X (Germany) $5,981.76
9. tRaMp$d0PrAy (Cyprus) $4,361.70

*= reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $1,500 in play for the winner
**= with apologies to Joe Stapleton, Nick Wealthall, and Sir Elton John

There’s still another week of SCOOP action on the books. Head over to the SCOOP page for a full schedule and satellite information.

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EPT8 Copenhagen: Following the live stream

EPT Live has been running some five seasons now, a true pioneer in the poker field. The likes of James Hartigan, Lee Jones and Nick Wealthall (and associated guests) have been streaming the action end last of European Poker Tour main events, bringing you moving pictures, insight and banter (not to mention plenty of obscure movie references courtesy of Hartigan).

Here in Copenhagen we are running the EPT Live Lite service. It’s a lower-in-cholesterol service rather than the creamy full fat serving of EPT Live (which runs on a delay with hole cards exclusively at events which are being recorded for televised).

ept copenhagen_day 3_tv set.jpg

The TV table at EPT Copenhagen

Used to watching poker with the holecards?
Back in the early days of EPT Live and the likes of Late Night Poker, the hole cards were not always exposed to viewers. Many argue that it provides a better experience for the poker purists, which is a solid hypothesis. Watching live poker when you know the hands makes for a fantastic viewing experience, you can watch the car crashes as they happen and marvel at the incredible bluffs and astounding laydowns. However, when you can’t see the hole cards you have to think about what each bet represents and the range of the hands that can be taking part given the position, board, chip stacks and players involved.

James Hartigan is joined by Matt Broughton, a goatee-wearing tiramisu lover (as you’ll know if you were following the EPT Deauville stream). Watch EPT Live Lite now but do stay logged on to our live updates to follow the action on and off the tables as it happens.

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UKIPT Galway: Ireland’s Emmett Mullin cruises to maiden title

At the end of day 1B at UKIPT Galway, a comment appeared on the PokerStars Blog from a user calling himself “mully”. The request was fairly straightforward: “In the updates im down as being from the United Kingdom, is there any way this can be changed to Ireland?”

Blogging poker tournaments is not a precise science, so an error like this is not unusual. We quickly determined that “mully” was Emmett Mullin, a proud Irishman, who had been receiving some gibes from friends about his inadvertent change of nationality.

After meeting Mullin in person, we agreed that he could be called an Irishman in our updates, but joked that if he won, he would be English. “Aye, like Andy Murray,” Mullin said.

Thing is, Emmett Mullin has now just gone and won UKIPT Galway, taking €100,000 for first place after a rapid final day on the Emerald Isle’s west coast. We can’t really make him English can we?

“It’s unbelievable,” he said, after defeating Ronan Gilligan heads up. “I’ve actually won a tournament as big as this, with such a tough field…It’s been a bit of a drain but there’s a buzz at the minute. We’ll have a few drinks tonight.”

Ah, the promise of a big old drink up tonight. He is an Irishman after all.

Emmett Mullin, UKIPT Galway champion

We actually began today with nine players instead of the recognised eight, the result of day three’s battles lasting long into the night. That meant we needed to shed one man before we reached our official final, and no one seemed keen to burst this strange pseudo-bubble.

When it came to it, it was the Dutchman Joris Ruijs who fell. He was still licking his wounds from a massive hand against Craig Burke late yesterday, which robbed him of a dominant chip lead. His riches to rags story was complete when he took king high up against Ronan Gilligan’s ace. Ruijs took €7,800 for 10th.

Once we were officially at the final, things loosened up dramatically. Richard Haile departed within the first few hands, and then it was time to say goodbye to Nick Abou Risk.

Abou Risk was sitting at the third final table of his UKIPT career, and no one had ever knocked him off one. But the run came to an end today when Mullin’s [ah][jc] earned him all of Abou Risk’s short stack, which the Canadian had shoved with [ks][jh].

Nick Abou Risk busts from a final table. Really?

With relatively even stacks when they went six handed, any big pot could destroy the hopes of one player and potentially send another into a commanding position. John Willoughby had a massive pile at that point, but lost some to Joe Roberts, some more to Gilligan and the rest to Aleksandras Rusinovas, the lone representative of continental Europe at the final table.

Rusinovas, though, was next out. He found a big ace at the same time that Mullin had found a bigger one. Rusinovas had also been cheered on by a rowdy group of Lithuanians on the rail, but they bellowed their last when Mullin accounted for their man in fifth.

Aleksandras Rusinovas, back to Lithuania with €24,150

This was the start of a remarkable surge from Mullin, who would eventually knock out everyone else on the table. Craig Burke went next, out in fourth. Joe Roberts was then despatched, after Mullin found jacks.

That brought us to heads up play between the wrecking ball, Mullin, and the immovable object, Gilligan.

Heads up in Galway

Gilligan had recently finished third at the WPT stop in Dublin, slightly more than a year after he finished second there to Max Silver in a UKIPT event on season one. His results database showed only a third and a second place. Surely a first was next?

Ronan Gilligan, with anxious rail awaiting a first victory

At one point it seemed nailed on. Gilligan, with a bigger stack than Mullin, flopped a straight at the same time Mullin had flopped a set. That, heads up, is a cooler, and all the money went in.

However the board paired on the river, which gave Mullin a full house, and sent his rail into raptures.

From there, the momentum was all with Mullin, and he polished off Gilligan with the minimum of fuss. The final hand was another heads up cooler. Gilligan had pocket sevens on a six-high board. But Mullin had flopped a set of threes, and that meant all the money was going in again.

Ronan Gilligan’s day is done

Mullin managed to fade the two outs and he was champion.

It’s been a splendid week in Galway, and the home crowd has a worthy champion. Assuming the United Kingdom doesn’t lay claim to him, of course.

Emmett Mullin and friends celebrate

You can see how it all played out in our play-by-play report. And you can see details of all the prizewinners from the main event on the prizewinners page.

Thanks to Mickey May for her pictures throughout the festival here. All the snaps you see on PokerStars Blog retain her copyright. You can see video highlights from Galway, hosted by Nick Wealthall, at the Channel 4 poker website from next week.

That’s it then. We’re off to find a big pool of black stuff and dive right in.

Goodnight!

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UKIPT Galway, Day 3: Levels 23-24 updates (12,000-24,000 3,000 ante)

9.05pm: End of the level
Players are now taking a 20-minute break. We’ll be back with full chip-counts, etc., shortly – and in a new post.

9pm: Ten bigs. Wheeeee!
Thomas Hall is down, significantly, but he’s not out. He lost almost all his chips – all but 72,000 of them – when his [as][jc] couldn’t beat Ronan Gilligan’s [qh][qd] when they got it all in pre-flop. There was a Hollywood flop of [ks][jd][ad] but then the [10h] swung it back to Gilligan. and the [2c] was an irrelevance.

“That’s me basically busto,” said Hall. “Gee-gee,” he added. Gilligan was stacking about 1.2m after that.

Ronan Gilligan

Hall was all in under the gun on the next hand, with [jd][6d]. Gilligan called with [as][jh]. But the board this time ran [6c][2d][9c][kd][6d] and the flush took it for Gilligan. That’s when Hall uttered the line: “Ten bigs. Wheeee!”

He’s still alive. — HS

8.45pm: Andre Wade eliminated in 12th place (€4,270)
Don’t call it a comeback…

Ok it might be as Joris Ruijs has damn near doubled up and eliminated Andre Ward in the process.

It was Ruijs who started the action, moving all-in for around 500,000, it folded to Wade in the big blind, he had around 450,000 in total and he announced call.

Ruijs: [5s][5d]
Wade: [Ad][Qs]

Flop: [Kc][5h][Jc] – set against a gutshot
Turn: [10d] – Wade turned his straight
River: [Jd] – Ruijs re-sucked and made a full house.

Andre Wade

This pot took him back to around the one million mark and a short time later he won a pot of around 300,000 from John Willoughby to take him to 1,200,000. — NW

8.30pm: Lordy
We’ve been waiting all day for something like this to happen, one of those monster confrontations between two enormous stacks. It finally has happened, and it means that Joris Ruijs is no longer the chip leader here. Far from it in fact. The Dutchman is down to 505,000 and Craig Burke has close to two million, having just doubled up through Ruijs.

It happened like this: Burke opened from the cut off, making it 50,000 to play. Ruijs called from one seat to his left, and everyone else wisely got out the way of them.

The flop came [10c][9s][ah] and Burke led for 72,000. Ruijs called. So far, Burke was doing to Ruijs what Ruijs has been doing to everyone else all day.

The turn was [ac] and the pattern simply continued. Burke bet 123,000 and Ruijs called. This was now becoming a mighty pot. The river was [4c] and the inevitable occurred.

Burke bet 221,000. Ruijs raised to 683,000 and Burke then shoved all in. No one was immediately sure if this was a raise or simply an under-call, least of all Burke himself, who almost showed his hand. “How much more is it?” Ruijs asked. “Is it more?”

The dealer chopped down the stacks and revealed that it was 105,000 more for Ruijs to call. He chuckled ruefully, as if contemplating – and then immediately eliminating – the prospect of a fold here. He put in the extra and Burke tabled [as][10d].

Ruijs nodded and mucked, muttering, “The thing is, I can beat ace-four.”

Craig Burke, chip leader

Ruijs’s comment suggested he mucked ace-nine, and if so, then that’s one huge nuts v second nuts cooler between the two biggest stacks on the table.

Now there’s only one massive stack there, and it’s sitting in front of Craig Burke. — HS

8.20pm: Bounced around the Hall
Thomas Hall has been bounced around the tables today, every time it has come to move the next big blind to another table for balancing purposes he seems to be the one having to rack up his chips and move.

After Shane Dempsey was eliminated it was Hall who inevitably found himself on the move and he took a perch to the direct left of Nick Abou Risk.

It didn’t take him long to get accustomed to his new table though, he raised to 49,000 from under-the-gun and Aleksandras Rusinovas defended from the small blind. On the flop of [5s][4s][9c] Hall c-bet 67,00 and Rusinovas called. That was the end of the betting though as they both checked the [5h] turn and [Th] river, Hall revealing pocket twos, which were good. — NW

8.20pm: Mullin doubles
In a blind on blind battle with Joris Ruijs, Emmett Mullin has just doubled up. Ruijs had [qh][7d] and Mullin had [ad][2s] and the ace held. Mullin moves to about 600,000. — HS

LEVEL UP. PLAYING 12,000-24,000 3,000 ANTE

8.10pm: Dempsey dies at the hands of Abou Risk
Nick Abou Risk isn’t one to cower away after losing some chips, and he’s just got a bunch back against Shane Dempsey, eliminating the latter in 12th place. It was blind on blind, with Abou Risk shoving from the small and Dempsey calling from the big. Abou Risk’s [ah][6c] faded all the chop outs against Dempsey’s [ac][3s].

The all in was about 270,000, so that gets added to Abou Risk’s stack. Dempsey earns €4,270 for 13th. — HS

8pm: Heading back to Holland
Arnoud van der Werf is out. He shoved for about 304,000 with [7s][7h] but was picked off by the [9d][9h] of Aleksandras Rusinovas in the big blind. The board had nothing exciting on it, and Van der Werf leaves in 14th.

7.55pm: Haille takes chunk from Abou Risk
Nick Abou Risk opened to 40,000 from early position and picked up two callers: Ronan Gilligan on the button and Richard Haile in the big blind. The three went to a flop of [ah][jh][9s] and Haile led 89,000 at it. Abou Risk wasn’t going to let that happen unchallenged, raising to what looked like about 250,000.

Gilligan folded, but Haile moved all in, a total of about 280,000. Abou Risk couldn’t fold, even though he clearly suspected his [ac][5h] couldn’t be good here. It wasn’t. Haile had [9d][9h] and the turn and river brought nothing that could change that.

Haile moves up beyond 600,000. That’s also about as much as Abou Risk now has left. — HS

7.50pm: Gilmore over a million
Alan Gilmore is the second player to break the million chip mark. He’s got there without going to showdown, instead he’s just bludgeon opponent’s off of pots by using the all-in hammer.

It’s poor Ronan Gilligan who seems to be on the receiving end of most of the blows. In the latest skirmish Gilmore raised to 50,000 from the hijack and Gilligan defended from the big blind.

On the flop of [Kc][Qc][7h] Gilligan check-called a bet of 70,000. The turn was the [2s] and after Gilligan checked, Gilmore announced he was all-in. This was a large overbet as Gilligan had about 700,000 back and the latter threw his arms in the air in frustration, he had a hand of that there was no doubt, but how strong?

After mulling it over for a couple of minutes, Gilligan mucked his hand in frustration, he lost this battle but he might yet win the war. We’ll be keeping an eye on those two for sure. — NW

7.45pm: The Joris Ruijs show
If you’re going to play a pot against Joris Ruijs, you know he’s going to make you speculate a load of your stack. Andre Wade just figured that out the hard way.

Ruijs opened to 40,000 from the cut off, which is his general M.O. Wade called in the big blind, and they saw a flop of [6s][4d][7c]. Wade checked, Ruijs bet 52,000 and Wade showed strength with a raise to 110,000. Ruijs couldn’t care less and called.

The turn was [6d] and Wade checked again. Ruijs fired again (of course) and asked for 133,000 more. Wade called. The river was the [ac] and now Ruijs fired 264,000, a third barrel at this one. Wade deliberated and folded. That’s how Joris does it. — HS

7.40pm: Tumbleweed
Don’t worry we’re still here, it’s just little or nothing blogworthy has happened in the last 10 minutes. Even the rail have been more interested in watching Nick Wealthall and a camera crew film bits and pieces for a tour highlights show that you’ll be able to find on www.Channel4.com/poker about a week after this event has finished. — NW

7.30pm: John Willoughby doubles through Joris Ruijs
Earlier today Joris Ruijis cracked a pair two pips higher than his when his pocket eights bested pocket tens. But, he couldn’t repeat the trick against John Wiloughby.

The latter three-bet all-in with pocket queens for 299,000 and Ruijis called with pocket tens, the ladies held up though as the board came [3s][8s][5d][7s][9d]. A mere flesh wound for the Dutchamn, although we’ve just learned that the WCOOP bracelet isn’t his, but belongs to a friend who lent it to him for good luck. — NW

John Willoughby, ladies man

7.15pm: One double up, one elimination
George Stewart shoved from the button, for what was about 190,000. Alan Gilmore announced that he was all in too, from the small blind, which persuaded everyone else out the way. Stewart was left rolling his eyes when he saw Gilmore’s cards: [ad][9h]. His [jc][9c] were less live than he would have liked.

The board ran [kh][6c][4s][2s][6d] and Stewart made his exit.

Game is up for George Stewart

Shortly prior to that, on the other table, there was better news for Andre Wade. He shoved all in over an open to 35,000 from John Willoughby. Willoughby called the shove with [ac][kh].

Wade had [7s][7d] and the board this time came [8s][5s][9h][jd][4c], which was totally blank. Wade’s pocket pair held up and he now has about 790,000. Willoughby is down to 335,000. — HS

7.10pm: Chips
Sure you could get your chip counts in descending order over on the chip count page but we’re a helpful bunch here on the blog so we figured we’d give them to you in table/seat order too.

Table One:

George Stewart 235,000
Alan Gilmore 790,000
Aleksandras Rusinovas 460,000
Nick Abou Risk 750,000
Shane Dempsey 400,000
Ronan Gilligan 950,000
Arnoud van der Werf 340,000
Richard Haile 340,000

Table two:

John Willoughby 675,000
Andre Wade 325,000
Thomas Hall 725,000
Joe Roberts 510,000
Craig Burke 825,000
Joris Ruijs 2,000,000
Emmett Mullin 700,000

7.10pm: Fifteen for it
We now move into level 23, with 15 players still in the hunt. When they get down to nine, the players will move onto a single table, but we won’t finish for the day until we reach eight.

That could take any amount of time, but we’ll keep abreast of all of it on the Blog.

The latest chip-counts are gradually being fed onto the chip-count page. Have a click over there to see how they all stand. (Short version: Joris Rujis is miles ahead. He has more than double anyone else.)

In the meantime, how about a generic image of some chips?

Generic image of some chips

Reporting team in Galway: Howard Swains and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May.

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UKIPT Galway, Day 3: Levels 19-20 updates (5,000-10,000 1,000 ante)

4.20pm: Break Time
The remaining players are now on a 20 minute break. You’ll find level 21 updates in a new post. — NW

4.20pm: Alan Gilmore doubles through Nick Abou Risk
Just before the break Alan Gilmore and Nick Abou Risk played a 500,000 chip pot. Gilmore raised, Abou Risk three-bet, Gilmore moved all-in for 243,000 and Abou Risk made the call.

Abou Risk: [10h][10s]
Gilmore: [As][Ad]

Flop: [4d][2d][10d] – Abou Risk flopped a set, Gilmore had the nut flush draw
Turn: [Ac] – Gilmore turned a bigger set
River: [2c]

Abou Risk congratulated Gilmore on a nice hand and counted his stack which is still around 500,000.
4.15pm: Two exits and a double up
Almost simultaneously there were three all-in and calls at three different tables and as the title suggests two perished and one survived. First the exits:

Aurimas Klastaitis went out in 23rd when he shoved from the button for 150,000 with [As][4d] and Thomas Hall woke up with [Ah][Kd] in the small blind, no fours or miracle straights came and he was gone.

Seconds later Aidan Butler was also heading to the cashiers desk as his [Ah][Qc] lost out to the pocket fives of Joris Ruijs in a pot worth 275,000. The board of [As][Kc][5c][4h][Qs] providing a few twists and turns along the way.

And Hector Garcia Cabanillas was the one that survived. He moved all-in for 88,500 from the small blind with [Qd][2s] and Arnoud van der Werf made the call with [Kd][7s]. Cabanillas was out his seat when the [5c][Jd][Jc] flop and [Qd] turn missed his hand but the [2h] river kept him in it.

21 players left on three tables. — NW

4.05pm: Burke v Butler
Craig Burke, button, and Aidan Butler, big blind, were the only two players looking at a flop of [qc][8h][6h]. Butler led for 26,500 and Burke called. The turn was [8d] and after Butler checked, Burke took over the betting, asking a 36,500 chip question. Butler called.

The [2c] rivered and Butler checked. Burke bet 68,000 and there was an air of resignation about Butler’s call here. Burke duly showed him [ah][8c] and Butler folded. — HS

3.55pm: All Haile king Richard
Richard Haile came back with 29,000, spun that up to 400,000, spun it down to 170,000 and now has more than 500,000 as he just trebled up. It’s been a roller-coaster for him but he has now bested his previous high point on the UKIPT, which was 25th place at UKIPT Manchester in Season 2.

To the double up: Aleksandras Rusinovas opened to 20,500 from early position, Haile then moved all in for 170,000. Next to act Adrian Cawley cold called the 170,000, Rusinovas moved all in (covering Cawley) and Cawley then called all in. The main pot was 510,000, the side about 100,000. On their backs:

Haile: [Kc][Ks]
Rusinvoas: [10d][10s]
Cawley: [9d][9s]

The board was a blank [6h][8s][5s][4d][2h] and Haile took the main pot, Rusinovas the side and Cawley was eliminated in 24th place. — NW

3.45pm: Gilligan v Van der Werf
Decent pot this for Ronan Gilligan, who got Arnoud van der Werf to fold to a hefty bet on the river. Van der Werf started it, raising to 21,000 from the cut off. Gilligan called in the big blind.

It was only the two of them to a flop of [js][3d][6d], which Gilligan checked. Van der Werf bet 18,500, but Gilligan now cut out a raise to 42,000. However Van der Werf wasn’t convinced by that and made it 83,500 to go.

Gilligan called.

The [6h] turned, which they both checked. And then when the [5d] rivered, Gilligan fired 140,000. Van der Werf was finally persuaded that there was no point continuing, and he let it go.

They are now spread across three tables with 24 players remaining. — HS

3.35pm: Chip counts
We’ve kind of fixed the chip count problem and you can now find the latest counts here. — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 5,000-10,000 ante 1,000

3.25pm: More for Joris
Joris Ruijs has joined David O’Connor and Nick Abou Risk at the top of the chip charts after eliminating Lukasz Nagraba. After Ruijs had opened to 25,000, Nagraba raised all-in for 236,000 and after some though Ruijs made the call.

Nagraba: [10s][10d]
Ruijs: [8d][8c]

The flop of [9s][2d][8s] gave Ruijs a set and the board ran out [As][9h], Ruijs is up to 800,000. Aurimas Kiveris has also been eliminated. — NW

3.15pm: Abou Risk purrs back into contention
We knew it would happen and it duly did: Nick Abou Risk and Alan Gilmore have just clashed in a pot worth more than 600,000. It’s the two-time former champion Abou Risk who won it – of course – and he is now among the chip leaders again.

Nick Abou Risk on day three at UKIPT Galway

Abou Risk opened to 16,000 from under the gun and it was folded to Gilmore in the small blind. He called. It was just the two of them to a flop of [9c][10d][2d] and here’s where the fireworks started.

Gilmore checked, Abou Risk bet 21,500 and Gilmore check-raised to 70,000. Abou Risk announced that he was all in, for a total of 283,500, and Gilmore didn’t wait too long before calling.

Abou Risk: [ad][10s] (top pair, plus the nut-flush blocker)
Gilmore: [9d][7d] (middle pair, plus a flush draw)

At this stage were all but flipping: Abou Risk was a 54 percent favourite. And the [6c][2h] turn and river were both in his favour.

Not quite so happy Gilmore

Gilmore is still alive, but Abou Risk is positively purring. He soon won another pot of about 200,000 from Aleksandras Rusinovas. — HS

3.05pm: A few hands
Action has certainly slowed down this level although that’s not altogether surprising as the average stack is 48 big blinds and it tends to level out at around 40 big blinds in the latter stages.

I didn’t catch any showdowns or eliminations during my latest stint on the floor but Dean Lyall did tank about 85,000 from David O’Connor and John Willoughby took 40,000 from Andrew Grimason when he four-bet all-in.

Also Nick Abou Risk tweeted that he is down to 345,000 after losing a race with [A][Q] against pocket sevens. — NW

2.55pm: New chip leader
We have a new chip leader and his name is David O’Connor. He just won a huge pot against Kevin Monroe, the man who was third in chips coming into day. Monroe is now out and O’Connor has 930,000.

It was a battle of the blinds and both men had pocket pairs. Monroe had queens and although O’Connor only had eights, he spiked another on the river. I’m not sure when the money went in, but the chips are now only in one place: O’Connor’s stack. — HS

2.50pm: Gremlins
It appears gremlins have got to our chip counts page as despite us updating them on our software, they refuse to show up on the blog. These guys are the top five at the moment although my colleague has news of a huge pot coming right up.

Aleksandras Rusinovas, Lithuania, PokerStars Qualifier, 665,000
Joris Ruijs, Netherlands , PokerStars Qualifier, 550,000
Arnoud van der Werf, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, 495,000
Hector Garcia Cabanillas, Spain, PokerStars Qualifier, 487,000
Richard Haile, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 480,000

2.45pm: Tuckered out
After losing 30 players in 120 minutes during the first two levels it took 25 minutes to lose one player in this level.

Roy Tucker is the unlucky man. He got his last 100,000 in with pocket sixes against John Willoughby’s [As][9c] but the overcards spiked on the [Ah][4s][7d][Qs][8c] board. Willoughby is up to 450,000. — NW

2.40pm: The stylistic secret to Galway success
As style guru Nick Wright noticed, there were four men in today’s field sporting fair-haired pony-tails. Three of them are now in a line on table five, and two of them have just played a pot against one another.

Dean Lyall (pony tail 1) opened from early postion, making it 16,000 to play. Thomas Hall (pony tail 2) called from one seat to his left. Kevin Monroe (no ponytail) called from the button and the three of them saw a flop of [8h][9s][10s]. Lyall checked, but Hall bet 36,000, which prompted Monroe to ask, “Roughly how much do you have?”

Three ponytails at UKIPT Galway

Hall, beneath headphones, didn’t seem to hear and most certainly didn’t answer. Monroe folded anyway. Lyall, however, called and they went to a [7s] turn. Check, check.

The river was the [2s] and Lyall bet 58,000. Hall didn’t seem to like it very much, but called. Lyall tabled [qs][6s] and Hall mucked in evident disappointment. — HS

2.30pm: Chips in
The chip-counts, correct at the end of the first break of the day, are now on the chip count page. — HS

2.25pm: Dempsey doubles
We mentioned earlier how the worst hand seems to be winning a lot so far today, and isn’t Shane Dempsey happy about that. He just got his 152,000 stack in the middle with [as][qs] against Richard Haile’s [ad][ks] but ended up making a spade flush to win. He moves comfortably into the 300,000s. — HS

2.20pm: Half and half
Over half the remaining field were eliminated in the first two levels as just 29 of the 59 starters remain. Below is a list of whose finished where so far today.

30 – Jakub Michalak, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier, €2,140
31 – Christoph Rüegg, Switzerland, PokerStars Qualifier, €2,140
32 – Gary Jordan, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €2,140
33 – Adam Pollock, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, €2,140
34 – Barry Carson, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €2,140
35 – Richard Derks, Netherlands, PokerStars Qualifier, €2,140
36 – Darren Kearney, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, €2,140

37 – Michael Huber, Austria, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900
38 – William Robinson, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900
39 – Filip Hanusek, Czech Republic, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900
40 – JP Whyte, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900
41 – Omer Haskic, Bosnia, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900
42 – Colin Myott, United Kingdom, €1,900
43 – Andrew Hulme, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900
44 – Patrick Hirtzer, Austria, €1,900
45 – James Estrop, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,900

46 – Nicolas Hahn, Germany, PokerStars Player, €1,660
47 – Tom Corcoran, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,660
48 – Kevin Connolly, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,660
49 – Tim Slater, United Kingdom,PokerStars Qualifier, €1,660
50 – Simon Hahn, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,660
51 – Austin Crowe, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,660
52 – John Ward, Ireland, €1,660
53 – Gavin Flynn, Ireland, €1,660
54 – Thomas Ward, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, €1,660

55 – Conor Power, Ireland, €1,420
56 – David Cleary, Ireland, PokerStars player, €1,420
57 – David Phelan, United Kingdon, PokerStars qualifier, €1,420
58 – Joe O’Toole, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, €1,420
59 – Matthew McKinlay, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, €1,420

Adam Pollock

2.20pm: Level 19
We are quite literally taking it to the next level here in Galway. It’s level 19, with blinds at 4,000-8,000 and an ante of 500. There are 29 players remaining and their full chip counts will soon be appearing on the chip-count page.

We have also updated the payouts page with the recent eliminations.

Remember, we’re playing down to a final table of eight today, so although it’s gone quickly in these opening stages, a massive slow down will invariably soon occur. — HS

Nick Wealthall and Liv Boeree at the PokerStars party last night

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Radio WCOOP Launched

By Pauly
San Francisco, CA

Yesterday marked the debut of Radio WCOOP.

What the hell is that? Radio WCOOP is a “Morning Zoo” format starring Joe Stapleton and Nick Wealthall. Those two recap all the goodness and goofiness called the 2011 WCOOP.

You all know about WCOOP, it’s that yearly tournament series on PokerStars that finally inspired a group of rogue Americans to re-locate overseas so they can get their online MTT fix. I don’t blame them. I’m not what you would ever call an “online grinder” but I’ve been feeling the itch to play online poker the last few weeks. It’s like have a limb amputated and you reach down to scratch… nothing.

Why the hell am I not living in Vancouver? They have awesome Chinese food, ~~an awesome NBA franchise~~, British Columbia’s phinest herbs, plus I can play online poker legally and open a Pinnacle sportsbetting account. Well, shiiiiiiiit, if I didn’t just move to San Francisco, I’d consider migrating to the Great White North.

Anyway, while American online pros scrambled to find residences in Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada… the folks at PokerStars have been hard at work behind the scenes creating new facets of multimedia to keep you up to date with all the happenings in WCOOP. Earlier this year during SCOOP, they launched a daily highlights show and now, they went old school with a radio show.

If you are multilingual, or trying to bang exotic strippers, then Radio WCOOP will also be launched in other languages — Russian, Spanish, and German. Wait, no French, WTF? That’s Booshit!

For more details, visit the PokerStars Radio WCOOP page.

To listen to the debut episode of Radio WCOOP featuring the uber-chatty Daniel Negreanu, click here.

Support indie writers by buying Pauly’s book Lost Vegas.

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The Roller Coaster

Had an awesome month in May, working every single day and now enjoying a quieter time in June. I say working but it didn’t feel like that.

Most days I was broadcasting including a lot of live stuff like this.

Live TV (I know this was a web show- but there’s less and less difference) is like being on a roller coaster. As they count down to it ‘being live’ it’s like that bit when the roller coaster chugs up the hill to the first drop and it stops being exciting and that bit of your brain that looks after your survival screams at you ‘what are we doing here!!!!’
Then you go ‘live’ and it’s the best thing in the world – exciting, organic, fun; it’s one of my favourite things to do ‘work or not’

The NBA playoffs have just finished and I can get back to some kind of normal sleep pattern. I have rotating obsessions in life and this is my latest. I’ve always loved American sport but am late to basketball. It’s been a great playoffs and a fitting end to the narrative of the season which was the league’s best player Lebron James moving to Miami to create a ‘super team’.

They lost in the finals last night pleasing a lot of ‘neutrals’ and making this premature pre-season victory party (having won nothing) even more hilariously lame than it was at the time.

The finals were a victory for teamwork over individual talent – that said Dirk Nowitzki was outstanding… not only his level of execution but his grace under pressure. He is officially my favourite German (the list now runs 1. Dirk 2. Steffi Graf 3. Boris Becker pre restaurant toilet conception 4. Mr Mercedes and Mr Benz).

It’s UKIPT Newcastle. Sadly we’re not filming it but the cool thing is that means I can play the event; first time I’ll be able to play a UKIPT – should be a lot of fun. I’m going to do a video diary while there so check it out.

UKIPT Manchester final table where Nick Wealthall is undoubtedly hiding in the background looking up NBA scores

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The Daily SCOOP (5-21-11): $25K heads-up event, big prizes on Inside SCOOP

SCOOP logo.gif If you’re going to play the big ones in the Spring Championship of Online Poker today, pack your checkbook. This is where it starts getting big.

In just a couple of hours, the $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up event takes off. ElkY and Isildur1 are already signed up, so it’s going to be that kind of tournament. You could always cobble together your loose change and see if you can scratch up a buy-in. Or, if you prefer, there are smaller buy-ins for $2,600 and $270. You know…whatever feels more comfortable.

In other news, Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn has taken over the top spot on the SCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard. He’s been having one of those series that will make just about anybody jealous. Last night, Kostritsyn moved into the #1 spot with just two days of SCOOP left to go. He’s been a monster for the past two weeks, and we’re not expecting any let up now. However, his lead isn’t that big, so the Player of the Series title is still up in the air.

Over in the land of television production, I got word this morning that they will be giving away some big prizes on tonight’s Inside SCOOP Web Show. Up for grabs are a $1050 medium main event seat and three $109 low seats, not to mention a $2,000 freeroll. Also, it looks like Nick Wealthall may have lost his job for good (serves him right for abusing that sound board like that). In his absence, James Hartigan remains in the anchor chair. In the episode below, Hartigan and Joe Stapleton interview SCOOP event winner Igor Kurt and Team PokerStars Pro’s Pat Pezzin and JP Kelly.

If that didn’t fill you in on all you need to know, we have wrap-ups from every event that finished overnight. They’re right here in handy bullet-pointed form.

Event #30: PLO Hi-Lo

ozenc follows the yellow brick road to Event #30-H PLO8 win

ozenc on his way to a SCOOP watch

Event #31: NLHE (NLHE 1R1A)

Reflexbakker goes wire-to-wire in Event #31-Low ($22 NLHE, 1R+1A)

patinho77 wins one for John Wayne; Victorious in Event 31-M $215 NL 1R1A

Gambit360 runs the gamut to win Event #31-High ($2,100 NLHE w/Rebuy)

Event #32: FLHE (6-max)

Tremendous win for tremendez in Event #32-Low ($55 FLHE 6-max)

kizoku2008 crushes the competition in Event #32-M ($530 6-max limit hold’em)

Black88 beats tough field to win Event #32-High ($5,200 FLHE 6-max)

Event #33: NLO8 (10-minute levels)

Pacolos prevails in Event #33-L

maxcon007 leaves foes shaken and stirred in Event 33: $215 buy in NL Omaha Hi-Lo

lukro8 scoops JP Kelly for Event #33-H NLO8 title

As SCOOP winds down toward its end, here’s the final table replay of the big Event 29 8-Game event featuring LuckyGump, SirWatts, Sirocko, ozenc and Stavros.

Saturday May 21 SCOOP schedule

Event #34: PLO–6-max ($55, $530, $5,200) 11:00 ET

EVent #35: NLHE Heads-Up — 2 Day ($270, $2,600, $25,000) 12:30 ET

Event #36: HORSE ($22, $215, $2,100) 14:00

Remember, the main event begins tomorrow. If you haven’t played your One Time Chip yet, this may be the appropriate day.

Good luck to all.

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UKIPT Cork: Day 1B, level 5 & 6 updates (blinds 150-300, ante 25)

8.50pm: Split banquet
The introductory part of the gridiron is going on banquet shiver pronto. Unused degree 7 & 8 announce human clique up forthwith. — RD

8.38pm: Burland up further depressed
Burland is up to 43,000 besides attitude a puny dejected about hardly having also. The UKIPT Brighton conqueror told us that he had preoccupied a 40,000 caldron beside flyer-monarch to hero-sovereign unconditional-in pre-fizzle, which would acquire given him a famous mound at this proposition in the date. He objective astray a tiny wager to David Connors, who had brake-called depressed on a [2s][kc][6c][td][2c] accommodate accompanying [ks][js] to declare a 8,000 caldron. Connors is up to 55,000. — RD

8.20pm: Climbing up that Elevation
Rife UKIPT leaderboard forehead smuggler Mike Knob has ethical doubled up at the cost of Bait Urdiales. The Mancunian raised to somewhere among 600 plus 1,000 (there was merely a solitary nugget 1,000 chisel on the felt in oppose of him), Barry Donovan trio-bet to 2,800 further Worry Urdiales next moved total-in for 12,475. Spine on Bank moreover he moreover moved sum-in, for 9,400 total also Donovan got absent the method.

Pile: [Qc][Qs]
Donovan: [Jh][Jc]

The tribunal of [7s][9c][8s][4c][Ad] was a conservative united for Mound, Donovan was eliminated directly posterior. — NW

Mike Dune – ago to an typical stow

8.06pm: Astray in rendition
Gloss online qualifier Robert Borzyszkowski is currently stood six feet begone from hellos schedule looking a miniature thoughtful. A crisp curvaceous foe had called from the chop-away which he had opinion was an total-in, he pushed in after further threw hellos crackerjack-matriarch on their abet (so I heard). Hellos antagonist, who held cavity sevens, had indeed righteous called pre-loser however positive to originate the elect anyway (well, you would). Borzyszkowski won the extremity moreover was therefore docked a undivided-ammunition punishment. — RD

7.55pm: No standpoint, content
Brett Angell ripe messenger-up at UKIPT Nottingham in a scope o

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Inside SCOOP snags Berg, Luske

SCOOP logo.gif If you have yet to check in on Inside SCOOP, you’re missing out on your best opportunity to catch up with all things related to the Spring Championship of Online Poker. The nightly 30-minute show replays the big hands from the day, interviews winners and Team PokerStars Pros, and offers the comedic stylings of Joe Stapleton and Nick Wealthall.

Last night’s show–deemed by some as “the best episode yet”–features Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Berg and Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske.

Anders Berg

If you didn’t have the time to watch the show live, you can watch the replay right here:

If you haven’t yet heard, you can win T$500 every night just by listening to the show and answering a question or two. What’s more, you can chat with everybody in the show live.

You can see Inside SCOOP just by clicking that link every night through May 24th beginning at11pm CET.

Go forth and enjoy!

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