Eight. Ocho. Huit. Acht. Otto. Oito. Osm. Otte. Opt. Kahdeksan. Åtta. Åtte. Ósemka. Восемь.

Doesn’t matter what language you speak, 8-Game is a universal format to determine the best all-around poker players. In case you just woke up from a coma and never heard of 8-Game mixed games, then let me give you a quick tutorial. 8-Game tests your acumen in varying limit, pot-limit, and no-limit formats. The eight games are: Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, LHE, Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Limit Razz, Limit Stud, Limit Stud Hi/Lo, NL, and PLO. The 8-Game format forces you to confront your weaknesses because you can run, but can’t hide.

2,951 card enthusiasts from all over the globe bought a ticket for a chance to win a SCOOP title in Event #31-L $27 8-Game. The total prize pool was $73,775. The top 390 places paid with $11,621.43 set aside for the champion.

Notables who cashed in this 8-Game fiesta included Team PokerStars Online Shane “Shaniac” Schleger (25th) and Team PokerStars Online Bhasin “GodlikeRoy” Rohit (67th).

GodlikeRoy busted out in 67th place during a round of PLO. GodlikeRoy hit his flush draw with [9s][9h][3d][3s] on a board of [Ts][7s][5h][Qs][Ah]. However, Scarer won the pot holding [As][9d][5s][3h] for a nut flush.

“When you go your way and I go mine.”

With 90 remaining, Shaniac (pictured above) hovered in the top 10 in chips. With 64 remaining, Shaniac dipped to 25th overall. With 45 remaining, Shaniac took a hit during Omaha Hi/Lo and slid under 100K. Shaniac attempted a comeback during Razz, but unfortunately got run down when poosnack11′s 6-4-3-2-A low bested his 9-8-6-5-4 low. Shaniac hit the road in 43rd place, but cashed for $173.37.

UP ON CRIPPLE CREEK

With 40 to go, Scarer took command of the lead after becoming the first player to pass the 1 million chip mark. With 18 to go, berserk64 from Russia seized the top slot after passing 2 million. With 12 players left, berserk64 retained the lead and inched up to 2.6 million. With ten to go, berserk64 surged to 3.5 million during Triple Draw. But the pack finally caught up to the Russian, when bxlmaestro made a run for the top spot after winning a 1.1 million pot with a 7-6-5-3-2 low in Triple Draw.

Things went awry for berserk64 during LHE when he lost a 1.7 million pot to Scarer. The slide spilled over into Omaha Hi/Lo. Scarer finished off berserk64 in back-to-back pots, and berserk64 busted out in eighth place.

The final table bubble did not last very long. During a round of Omaha Hi/Lo, dr davy11 opened with a raise to 200,000 and woodbine ave defended the big blind. The flop was [Qs][Th][9s], which incited dr davy11 to bet 100,000, and woodbine ave called. When the [Qh] appeared on the turn, dr davy11 fired out 200,000 and woodbine ave called. The [3h] fell on the river and dr davy11 shoved all-in for 156,696, and woodbine ave called. dr davy11 showed [As][Ks][Kh][4d] for two pair, but woodbine ave won the pot holding [Qd][8h][6d][5h] for a flush. Alas, dr davy11 was eliminated in seventh place and missed the final table one spot.

Event #31-L 8-Game – Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: Ghoyteep (787,969)
Seat 2: woodbine ave (1,576,082)
Seat 3: The Cooker (1,803,986)
Seat 4: Scarer (5,523,333)
Seat 5: danylaroo2 (900,156)
Seat 6: bxlmaestro (4,163,474)

Scarer began the final table as the lead, while Ghoyteep brought up the rear as the short stack. By the way, Scarer was seeking his second career SCOOP title. The Scottish player took down a heads-up SCOOP event in 2009 after he won 13 straight heads-up matches.

THE NIGHT THEY DROVE OLD DIXIE DOWN: danylaroo2 eliminated in 6th place

During Stud, we had the first bust out at the final table. Scarer was dealt the [2s] and brought it in for 36,000, but danylaroo2 was dealt (X-X)[Jh] and bumped it up to 120,000. Scarer called.

On 4th street… danylaroo2 bet 120,000 with (X-X)[Jh][Qd], and Scarer called with (X-X)[2s][6s].

On 5th street… danylaroo2 fired out 240,000 with (X-X)[Jh][Qd][5s], Scarer raised to 480,000 with (X-X)[2s][6s][3d], danylaroo2 shoved all-in for 654,312, and Scarer called.

After sixth and seventh streets were dealt, Scarer won the hand with two pair — tens and deuces — with [2d][Ts][2s][6s][3d][Td][Qh] against danylaroo2′s inferior two pair holding [9s][9h][Jh][Qd][5s][5h][8h]. danylaroo2 hit the road in sixth place, earning $1,318.35.

With five players remaining, Scarer chipped up to over 7.5 million.

RAG MAMA RAG: Ghoyteep eliminated in 5th place

During NL, the action perked up.

Short-stacked Ghoyteep open-shoved for 1,063,938 and woodbine ave re-raised all-in for 1,372,082. Everyone else bailed to let those two slug it out. Ghoyteep trailed with [Ah][8h] against woodbine ave’s [Tc][Td]. Although Ghoyteep picked up an open-ended straight draw on the turn, woodbine ave’s pocket tens held up when the board ran out [7c][6s][2s][9h][2h]. Ghoyteep was knocked out in fifth place, but took home $2,582.12.

With four remaining, Scarer was still out in front with 7.5 million. In second place sat bxlmaestro with 2.8 million. Third place was occupied by woodbine ave with 2.6 million. The Cooker was the short-stack by default with 1.8 million.

LOOK OUT CLEVELAND: bxlmaestro eliminated in 4th place

Although there were zero casualties during PLO or Triple Draw, when the game switched to LHE (with betting limits at 200K/400K), another player busted.

Scarer kicked off the action with a raise to 400,000, bxlmaestro three-bet, and Scarer called. On a flop of [Kh][Tc][9c], bxlmaestro fired out 200,000, Scarer raised to 400,000, and bxlmaestro called all-in for 77,824. bxlmaestro showed [Ad][Qh] for nothing but a Broadway gutshot draw. Scarer was ahead with a pair of Kings holding [Ks][3c]. The turn was the [8h] and the river was the [4c]. Neither card helped bxlmaestro. For a fourth-place finish, bxlmaestro collected $4,057.62.

With three to go… Scarer stacks almost topped 8 million, meanwhile woodbine ave had 3.9 million and The Cooker had 2.8 million.

During Omaha Hi/Lo, Scarer’s big stack came under assault. The Cooker took down a 3.5 million pot against Scarer, and then six hands later, woodbine ave shipped a pot worth 3 million against Scarer. Scarer slipped to 5.4 million, while woodbine ave seized the lead with 6 million. Despite the setback, Scarer dug in and regained the lead after scooping a pot with [Qh][Qc][7c][6h] for a full house and a 7-6-3-2-A low.

JEMIMA SURRENDER: woodbine ave eliminated in 3rd place

When the game switched to Razz, tragedy struck. The betting limits were 250K/500K.

Scarer picked up the [9s] and brought it in for 75,000. When woodbine ave called with (X-X)[4d], The Cooker bumped it up to 250,000 with (X-X)[7c]. Scarer called, but woodbine ave re-raised to 500,000. Both The Cooker and Scarer called.

On 4th street, The Cooker fired out 250,000 with (X-X)[7c][6c]. Scarer folded, but woodbine ave called with (X-X)[4d][Kh].

On 5th street, The Cooker bet 500,000 with (X-X)[7c][6c][Qd], woodbine ave raised to 1 million with (X-X)[4d][Kh][5d], and The Cooker called.

On 6th street, woodbine ave fired out 500,000 with (X-X)[4d][Kh][5d][Qc]. The Cooker raised to 1 million with (X-X)[7c][6c][Qd][Kd], woodbine ave raised all-in for 1,271,424, and The Cooker called.

After seventh street, the players turned up their cards. The Cooker won the pot with a 7-6-4-2-A low holding [Ac][2h][7c][6c][Qd][Kd][4s], meanwhile woodbine ave showed [3s][6h][4d][Kh][5d][Qc][Js] for a J-6-5-4-3 low. For a third place finish, woodbine ave took home $6,270.87.

HEADS-UP: The Cooker (Canada) vs. Scarer (U.K.)
Seat 3: The Cooker (9,266,500)
Seat 4: Scarer (5,488,500)

KING HARVEST: Scarer eliminated in 2nd place; The Cooker wins SCOOP title

The game was still Razz and although Scarer won a 3 million pot at the onset of heads-up, The Cooker counterattacked and won a 6.1 million pot with the nuts (5-4-3-2-A). The Cooker improved his lead 11.8 million to 2.9 million.

A few hands later, The Cooker won a 4.1 million pot with a 9-6-5-2-A and his stack grew to 13.1 million, meanwhile Scarer slipped to 1.5 million. Scarer hoped his luck would change when the game switched to Stud, but it only took three more hands before The Cooker finished him off.

During Stud… short-stacked Scarer got into a raising war and eventually bombed it all-in on third street with (X-X)[Qc] against The Cooker’s (X-X)[Kc]. The board ran out [Ts][Kh][Qc][Qh][Ah][2s][5h] for a pair of Queens, but The Cooker took down the pot with a pair of Kings holding [4h][8c][Kc][Qd][Kd][5s][3d]. Scarer was denied his second career SCOOP title, but earned $8,484.12 for a runner-up performance.

The Cooker shipped the tournament, won the SCOOP watch and took home $11,621.43 for first place.

Check out the final hand here:

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Event #31-L $27 8-Game – Final Table Results and Payouts:
Entrants: 2,951
Places Paid: 390

1. The Cooker (Canada) – $11,621.43
2. Scarer (U.K) – $8,484.12
3. woodbine ave (Canada) – $6,270.87
4. bxlmaestro (Belgium) – $4,057.62
5. Ghoyteep (Russia) – $2,582.12
6. danylaroo2 (U.K.) – $1,318.35

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

Tags: australia | festival | italian poker tour | latin-america | micromillions | SCOOP | Top 10 | videos

Shaun Deeb woke up this morning with a near lock on Player of the Series. He could have taken the day off and went surfing or hang gliding. But instead of those high-end adventure sports, he fired up his computer, logged onto PokerStars and bought into another SCOOP tournament — Event #26 $27 Stud Hi/Lo.

The format was Stud Hi/Lo. Deeb was seeking his third title this year and fourth overall. When the tournament commenced, Deeb had five final tables under his belt along with 15 cashes and the top spot on the Leader Board.

Even though this event was a “Low” format, that didn’t mean Deeb took it less serious than any other event he played in. He slashed and burned his way through a treacherous field of 2,178 players and somehow, his run good continued and he found himself among the final eight players for his seventh final table this SCOOP (he also made the final table of Event #27-High).

But Deeb was denied another title in this event. When the dust settled, it was PokerStars Team Online George “Jorg95″ Lind who prevailed. Lind has been in the top 10 on the Leader Board for the last week and has 16 cashes under his belt. Now, you can now add a SCOOP title to his accolades.

Another day at the office for Team PokerStars Online George “Jorj95″ Lind

The total prize pool for Event #27-Low $27 Stud Hi/Lo was $54,450 and the top 288 places paid out. Other notables who cashed in this Stud Hi/Lo event included Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer (8th), Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jorgensen (75th), and Team PokerStars Online Anders “Donald” Berg (136th).

With 45 players to go, Shaun Deeb emerged as the leader. Although he wouldn’t retain the top spot for very long, he never dipped below the Top 10 in chips en route to the final table

With 33 to go, George Lind took over the lead and Deeb slipped to 8th overall. With 28 to go, Deeb won a couple of pots to jump into second.

With two tables left, Lind held the lead with 2.4 million. Deeb slipped to 7th in chips and Danzer fought tooth and nail with a short stack.

With nine remaining and playing hand-for-hand, Danzer was clinging on to dear life with a short stack. Danzer doubled up with two pair — Kings and Queens — against MBPoker26′s Jacks and treys. He avoided a double up and squeaked into the final eight.

MBPoker26 bubbled off the final table in ninth place. MBPoker26′s pair of Queens could not compete with vas_panev74, who scooped the pot with a 7-6-5-4-A low and an eight-high straight.

Event #27-L $27 Stud Hi/Lo – Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: vas_panev74 (2,137,538)
Seat 2: xParaBelluMx (1,205,934)
Seat 3: Team PokerStars Pro George “GeorgeDanzer” Danzer (116,648)
Seat 4: peanut_no. 1 (1,180,550)
Seat 5: shaundeeb (699,234)
Seat 6: Team PokerStars Online George “Jorj95″ Lind (3,660,327)
Seat 7: Chrucx2 (72,628)
Seat 8: Seylo (1,817,141)

With the final table set, George Lind held the lead with over 3.6 million. Meanwhile, Chrucx2 brought up the rear as the short stack.

ROCKS OFF: GeorgeDanzer eliminated in 8th place; shaundeeb eliminated in 7th place

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Two players busted out on a single hand — George Danzer and Shaun Deeb. Here’s how it happened:

Third Street:
xParaBelluMx: (X-X) [4h]
GeorgeDanzer (X-X)[6h]
shaundeeb (X-X) [Ad]
Seylo (X-X) [Tc]

xParaBelluMx brought it in for 24,000, GeorgeDanzer shoved all-in for 68,648, shaundeeb re-raised to 80,000, and both Seylo and xParaBelluMx called.

Fourth Street:
xParaBelluMx: (X-X) [4h][8d]
GeorgeDanzer (X-X) [6h][8s]
shaundeeb (X-X) [Ad][2d]
Seylo (X-X) [Tc][5c]

Deeb bet 80,000, and both Seylo and xParaBelluMx called.

Fifth Street:
xParaBelluMx: (X-X) [4h][8d][9d]
GeorgeDanzer (X-X) [6h][8s][As]
shaundeeb (X-X) [Ad][2d][Jd]
Seylo (X-X) [Tc][5c][7d]

Deeb fired out 160,000. Seylo called, but xParaBelluMx bailed.

Sixth Street:
GeorgeDanzer (X-X) [6h][8s][As][3d]
shaundeeb (X-X) [Ad][2d][Jd][8h]
Seylo (X-X) [Tc][5c][7d][Ac]

Deeb bet 160.000, Seylo raised to 320,000, and Deeb called.

On the river, Deeb moved all-in for his last 11,234, and Seylo called. Danzer showed [3c][3h][6h][8s][As][3d][Qs] for trip treys. Deeb showed [6d][5h][Ad][2d][Jd][8h][5d] for a Ace-high flush and an 8-6-5-2-A low. Neither hand could beat Seylo. Seylo held [6c][Kc][Tc][5c][7d][Ac][4d] for a better flush (Ace-King flush vs. Deeb’s Ace-Jack flush) and a better low hand 7-6-5-4-A.

Alas, Danzer hit the road in eighth place and won $544.50. Deeb earned $1,089 for a seventh place finish. Another deep run for Deeb, who had one less tournament to worry about as he focused on the final table in Event #27-High.

Check out this double-elimination hand here:

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SHAKE YOUR HIPS: Chrucx2 eliminated in 6th place

Short-stacked Chrucx2 was the next player to bust. Chrucx2 bombed it all-in on third street. Seylo and peanut_no. 1 both called and attempted to take out Chrucx2. In the end, Seylo won the hand with [As][Jc][3h][Qc][4d][2d][Qd] and a pair of Queens. Chrucx2 had (X-X)[Ad][8s][Qs][2h](X) showing but mucked his losing hand. Chrucx2 collected $1,633.50 for a sixth-place finish.

With five to go, vas_panev74 held the lead with 3.3 million, Seylo was second with 2.9 million, Lind was not far behind with 2.8 million, peanut_no. 1 held 1 million and shot-stacked xParaBelluMx held under 800K.

CASINO BOOGIE: Seylo eliminated in 5th place

Seylo’s stack was under assault. Seylo lost a couple of minor pots to both Lind and peanut_no. 1. Seylo got into a tough spot with a dwindling stack and made a valiant final stand. On third street… vas_panev74 brought it in for 36,000, Lind raised to 120,000, Seylo bumped it up to 240,000, vas_panev74 folded, Lind re-raised to 360,000, Seylo called all-in for 69,899. Heads-up between Lind and Seylo. After the hands were dealt, no one qualified for a low. Lind won the entire hand with [3s][Ts][As][9h][Qs][7d][Ac] for a pair of Aces. Seylo lost with a pair of Jacks holding [2h][Jd][Js][4d][5d][3d][Tc]. Seylo, from Switzerland, won $2,722.50 for fifth place.

With four to go, Lind held the lead with 5.7 million and xParaBelluMx was the shorty with 675K.

TUMBLING DICE: xParaBelluMx eliminated in 4th place

A raising war broke out on third street. Lind capped the betting with (X-X)[6c] and xParaBelluMx called with (X-X)[Ah]. On fourth street, holding (X-X)[Ah][8c], xParaBelluMx was all-in after betting out, then calling a raise from Lind’s (X-X)[6c][7s]. Once again, there was no qualifying low and Lind won the pot with a pair of sixes holding [5s][4c][6c][7s][Qh][9s][6s] against xParaBelluMx’s Ace high and [5h][Ts][Ah][8c][Jh][Kh][7d]. xParaBelluMx was knocked out in fourth place and won $3,811.50.

With three players left in the hunt for the SCOOP title, Lind led the way with 6.5 million, while vas_panev74 trailed with 2.4 million, and peanut_no. 1 was last in chips with 1.9 million.

TORN AND FRAYED: vas_panev74 eliminated in 3rd place

The ultimate key to hi/lo games is to win the entire pot, and peanut_no. 1 picked one heck of a time to scoop. On sixth street, vas_panev74 got it all-in with (X-X)[3d][7c][3c][Th], and peanut_no. 1 called with (X-X)[3h][Qh]Ad][5c]. Without a qualifying low hand, vas_panev74 finished up with [8s][7h][3d][7c][3c][Th][6h] for just two pair. Unfortunately, peanut_no. 1 showed [4h][2d][3h][Qh][Ad][5c][5s]. The Wheel scooped the high and the low. Alas, vas_panev74 was knocked out in third place, but won $5,172.75.

HEADS-UP: George “Jorj95″ Lind (Canada) vs. peanut_no. 1 (Germany)
Seat 4: peanut_no. 1 (3,516,698)
Seat 6: Jorj95 (7,373,302)

With two to go, George Lind held over a 2-1 advantage.

LOVING CUP: peanut_no. 1 eliminated in 2nd place; George Lind ships SCOOP title

Lind set the pace once heads-up began and peanut_no. 1 failed to get any momentum going after Lind won the first decisive pot. With (X-X)[8s][3c][9s][Jc](X) showing, peanut_no. 1 folded on the river against Lind’s (X-X)[4d][Ks][Ah][Qd](X). Lind won a 4 million pot and peanut_no. 1 was crippled. The nightmare would finally ended two hands later.

On the final hand, peanut_no. 1 was dealt the (X-X)[4s] and Jorj95 was dealt the (X-X)[2c]. Lind brought it in for 60,000, peanut_no. 1 bumped it up to 200,000, Lind re-raised to 400,000, peanut_no. 1 re-raised all-in for 586,792, and Lind called. At showdown, peanut_no. 1 held [9h][Kh][4s][5h][7h][Js][Qs] for nothing more than King high. Lind won the pot with a pair of Queens and [7c][3d][2c][Qc][8d][Qd][9s].

For a runner-up performance, peanut_no. 1 earned $6,615.67. Meanwhile, PokerStars Team Online George “Jorj95″ Lind won his first SCOOP title this year and collected $9,352.58 for first place.

Check out Lind’s winning hand here in the replayer:

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Event #27-L Stud Hi/lo – Final Table Results and Payouts:
Entrants: 2,178
Places Paid: 288

1. PokerStars Team Online George “Jorj95″ Lind (Canada) – $9,352.58
2. peanut_no. 1 (Germany) – $6,615.67
3. vas_panev74 (Bulgaria) – $5,172.75
4. xParaBelluMx (Russia) – $3,811.50
5. Seylo (Switzerland) – $2,722.50
6. Chrucx2 (Denmark) – $1,633.50
7. Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb (Mexico) – $1,089
8. Team PokerStars Pro George “GeorgeDanzer” Danzer (Germany) – $544.50

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

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Event #22 on the SCOOP schedule offered a chance for players with skills in both of the “big-bet” flop games — no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha — to test their mettle.

The “medium” version featured a $109 buy-in, and by the time late registration ended 1,903 players had joined the fray. That meant a prize pool of $190,300, more than twice the $75K guarantee. The top 252 finishers made the money, with $30,448.68 due the winner barring any final table deals.

It took about six hours to play down to that money bubble, with GermanBraine leading the way just after the bursting, followed by RoyalMacc, Rounder63, Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, and Shuller_A1t.

Meanwhile, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree lurked just inside the top 50. Also representing the home team were Martin “AABenjaminAA” Hruby hovering just outside the top 100, with Marcin “Goral” Horecki and Henrique “Henrique.P” Pinho both hanging on with super short stacks.

Horecki would soon go out in 221st ($180.78), followed closely by Pinho in 214th ($190.30), and about an hour-and-a-half after that they were down to 100 with Elvispen on top, VibizSbrissa second, nkeyno third, and Hruby (63rd) and Boeree (92nd) still with chips.

Boeree would soon fall in 95th ($313.99). However, Hruby would continue to maintain his stack as the field shrunk below 50 and approached the final two tables. By the time 18 were left, Elvispen was out in front with about 1.27 million chips, followed by DJG1989 with almost 1.09 million and hazelasty with just over 1.02 million. And Hruby was still there, too, sitting in 7th place with a just-above-average stack of about 535,000.

Team PokerStars Pro Martin “AABenjaminAA” Hruby

Hruby would survive to see eight more competitors eliminated as well. johninstock (18th), Schermanator (17th), and Dymlovic (16th) each earned $837.32. Then ultravires (15th) and tuck you up (14th) went out, and after sliding in the counts Elvispen joined them on the rail with a 13th-place finish to claim the same $1,160.83 payday. And Desmoplakin (12th) and simonek1323 (11th) followed thereafter, taking away $1,484.34 apiece.

Down to a short stack, Hruby would then push with [8h][8d] and get a caller in teruliro who held [As][Js]. The flop came [9h][8c][Td] — a set for “AABenjaminAA,” but an open-ender for teruliro. The turn then brought the [7h] to fill teruliro’s straight, and after the [5c], Hruby had bubbled the final table in 10th place.

The final table was set.

Seat 1: teruliro — 967,047
Seat 2: omeram — 403,777
Seat 3: hazelasty — 1,299,028
Seat 4: Pav_Juli — 1,798,090
Seat 5: GermanBraine — 1,164,895
Seat 6: DJG1989 — 1,700,116
Seat 7: ManiacRazor — 669,113
Seat 8: VibizSbrissa — 1,084,063
Seat 9: Rounder63 — 428,871

The first elimination would come during the hold’em round. After Pav_Juli opened with a raise to 62,500 from the cutoff, it folded to ManiacRazor in the big blind who three-bet to 159,975. Pav_Juli responded with an all-in push, and ManiacRazor called with the 468,513 he had left.

ManiacRazor had [Tc][Ts], but had run into Pav_Juli’s [Qs][Qh]. The board came [3d][6h][Jh][Jc][4d], and ManiacRazor was out in ninth.

A little while later the game had switched to PLO when omeram opened with a pot-sized raise to 105,000 from the hijack seat, then GermanBraine reraised to 345,000 from the small blind.

It folded back to omeram who called with the 235,787 he had left, showing [Kh][Kc][Qd][Qc]. GermainBraine had a nice starter, too, with [Ac][Ad][7c][4h], and in the end GermanBraine had the best finisher as the board came [8s][8h][Ts][4c][4s] to give GermainBraine trip fours and send omeram railward in eighth.

It switched back to NLHE, and another big clash involving big starting hands ensued between Rounder63 and GermanBraine. In this one Rounder63 open-pushed from UTG for 435,242 (not quite 11 big blinds), and only GermanBraine called from the button. Rounder63 had [Kd][Kh], but GermanBraine held [Ah][As], and when the community cards came ten-high, Rounder63 had been knocked out in seventh.

A few minutes later VibizSbrissa min-raised to 80,000 from the cutoff, and Pav_Juli defended the big blind. The flop came [8d][2d][4s], and Pav_Juli check-called a 95,855 bet from VibizSbrissa. The turn was the [5h] and Pav_Juli checked again. VibizSbrissa bet 109,800 this time, prompting a big reraise from Pav_Juli which VibizSbrissa called with the 270,000 left behind.

Pav_Juli had [6h][4d] for fours and a gutshot draw while VibizSbrissa held [Ad][3c] for a wheel. Then came the river… the [7h]! Pav_Juli had made an eight-high straight, thus ending VibizSbrissa’s run in sixth.

A few minutes later they were still playing NLH when hazelasty raised to 80,000 (UTG), Pav_Juli called (UTG+1), DJG1989 raised all in for 506,877 (SB), and it folded back to Pav_Juli who quickly called. DJG1989 had [9s][9c], but pocket rockets had shown up again at the final table as Pav_Juli tabled [Ac][Ah]. The community cards came [Td][3d][Th][4h][8s], and they were down to four.

A few minutes later they’d switched back to PLO (Level 34, blinds 25k/50k). GermanBraine opened to 122,000 from the button, teruliro reraised to 416,000 from the small blind, and it folded back to GermanBraine who called. The flop came [Kh][3h][Qc], terurliro bet his last 444,893, and GermanBraine called.

terurilo: [Ad][Jc][Ts][9d] — super-mecha-godzilla wrap draw
GermanBraine: [8s][7d][4d][3s] — a pair of threes

terurilo had a slight edge here with two cards to come, but the turn was the [5d] and river the [Qs], and without improving teruliro was eliminated in fourth.

The final trio played on to the 13-hour break, at which point hazelasty had pushed ahead with more than 4.84 million, GermanBraine was next with about 3.27 million, and Pav_Juli third with 1.39 million.

Pav_Juli was still the short stack a little later when GermanBraine opened a NLHE hand with a 146,400 raise from the button, then Pav_Juli shoved for 1,754,717 total from the big blind and GermanBraine called.

Pav_Juli had [3h][3s], and couldn’t have been too happy to see GermanBraine turn over another, better baby pocket pair, [4d][4c]. The board came [5c][7s][8c][Ah][Qs], and Pav_Juli was out in third.

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Heads-up play began with hazelasty out front with 5,623,296 to GermanBraine’s 3,891,704. The pair battled for a while, then paused proceedings to talk about a possible chop at point where hazelasty still enjoyed a lead. The players were able to come to terms, and soon cards were back in the air.

Soon after the restart, GermanBraine grabbed the advantage, then pushed out close to 6.59 million to hazelasty’s 2.92 million. Then came a PLO hand in which GermanBraine opened for 240,000, hazelasty made it 560,000, GermanBraine four-bet to 1.68 million, hazelasty shoved, and GermanBraine called.

hazelasty: [Ad][Kd][Kh][4s]
GermanBraine: [Ah][Kc][8d][7c]

The board brought four small cards and an ace, coming [3d][7h][3s][6d][As]. GermanBraine’s aces and sevens beat the aces and treys of hazelasty, and the tourney was over.

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Congratulations to GermanBraine for taking the title and SCOOP watch, and to hazelasty as well for taking away the most cash following the two-way chop.

2012 SCOOP Event 22-Medium, Mixed No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha (*reflects two-way deal)
1st: GermanBraine ($25,784.68)*
2nd: hazelasty ($27,500)*
3rd: Pav_Juli ($17,127)
4th: teruliro ($12,512.22)
5th: DJG1989 ($9,039.25)
6th: VibizSbrissa ($7,041.10)
7th: Rounder63 ($5,138.10)
8th: omeram ($3,330.25)
9th: ManiacRazor ($1,903)

Check those SCOOP Player of the Series races lately? Click here to see who’s winning here at the start of the final week.

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | european | events | france poker series | italian | rio | SCOOP | TOC | tournaments

If Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom thought he was going to run away with the overall SCOOP 2012 Player of the Series title, he probably should’ve consulted Shaun Deeb first. As of the most recent update, Deeb had jumped up to tie Blom for the overall lead.

As has been widely and exhaustively reported, Blom won two back-to-back SCOOP titles in the first week of this year’s online festival. The two first place finishes combined with a quarterfinal finish in the $2,100 PLO Heads-Up event and top 100 finish (okay, he finished 100th) in SCOOP-02-H: $2,100 NL Hold’em rocketed Blom to the very top of the overall leaderboard.

Blom: Who is that creeping up on me?

Deeb (profiled here yesterday) seems to have decided to make a run for the title, too. He’s cashed seven times already, including a win in the $2,100 Stud event and a final table in the $27 NLHE turbo last night. If there was any question about whether his move to Play del Carmen, Mexico was a good one, put those concerns to rest. Deeb is on his game this year and prepared to give the King of Swing a run for his money.

Deeb: See these people? I beat them all. Blom is next.

The two leaders are joined in the hunt by (the only) three-time SCOOP winner, cal42688; Team PokerStars Pros ElkY and Martin Staszko; Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Berg; as well as a lot of other immeditely recognizable names. With nearly half of this year’s events in the can, this race is shaping up to be one worth watching.

Here’s what the overall leaderboard looks like at this hour.

SCOOP 2012 Player of the Series Leaderboard

1-2. Isildur1 — 250

1-2. shaundeeb — 250

3 . cal42688 — 230

4 . Donald — 225

5 . joacowalter — 220

6 . UhhMee – 190

7-12. ElkY — 185

7-12. gbmantis — 185

7-12. ImDaNuts — 185

7-12. M. Staszko — 185

7-12. paulgees81 –185

7-12. SebbyGl –185

As you might be aware, this year, in addition to the overall race, PokerStars is awarding Player of the Series prizes across all buy-in levels. As it stands today, Switzerland’s DeeKay8686 leads the low buy-in race, Germany’s cyberkanguru is on top of the medium buy-in battle, and Canada’s paulgees81 is on top of the high buy-in leaderboard.

While that’s how it stands now, there are still nine more days of action before the finish line. It’s literally still anyone’s game.

To keep an eye on the leaderboard over the weekend and into next week, check out the SCOOP Player of the Series page.

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | ept | eureka poker tour | isildur1 | pokerstars macau | Super Tuesday | tcoop | TOC

It’s the game that was played by Civil War soldiers, Wild Bill Hickok, and painted dogs on a 1903 calendar. The original poker game — five-card draw — here finding a place in the 21st-century virtual card rooms at PokerStars as part of the wildly popular SCOOP series. And despite the attractions of no-limit hold’em and other more popular, modern variants, draw can still draw, as evidenced by the turnouts for Event #6.

The “low” version of the no-limit five-card draw event cost $11 to play, and 4,883 players took up the invitation, thereby creating a $48,830 prize pool — nearly twice the $25K guarantee. The top 660 finishers would come away from their five-card draw experience with a profit, with $7,449.46 due the winner.

Once the money bubble burst there were still three representatives of Team PokerStars in the hunt, although one — Marcin “Goral” Horecki — would soon be gone in 652nd for a $17.09 min-cash. Henrique “Henrique.P” Pinho made it much deeper before finally falling in 127th ($43.94).

That left just one player with the red spade to battle onward, the WCOOP/SCOOP superhero Anders “Donald” Berg of Team Online. Berg battled with an average stack as the field shrunk below 100, then began to move upwards, establishing himself on the first page of the counts as the tourney wore on.

Anders “Donald” Berg, Team Online

With 50 left, “Donald” was in the top 20, and once the field was whittled to 35 Berg had already been in the top 10 for a while. By then it was Born2Ca$h leading all as the only player with more than 2 million chips, with serzhinho the nearest challenger with a little under 1.6 million.

As they crossed the 11-hour mark of the tourney just a dozen remained, with Berg still there with an average stack and SLAH 97 having pushed ahead of Born2Ca$h to sit in the top spot with more than 6 million.

Over the next half-hour five more fell — valetudo22 (12th, $402.84), comeback17 (11th, $402.84), Zach Loh (10th, $402,84), pesho_lulin7 (9th, $512.17), and bustos14 (8th, $512.17), with SLAH 97 staying in front while Berg slipped to short-stacked status.

Finally with blinds at 50,000/100,000, “Donald” shoved his last 215,434 and got one caller in Mazinho1977. Both players took two cards, and in the end Mazinho1977′s pair of sevens bested Berg’s pair of fours, sending the latter out in 7th ($512.17).

The final table was set.

Seat 1: carabinatos — 80,524
Seat 2: PUCIPUCO — 3,040,763
Seat 3: Mazinho1977 — 2,707,177
Seat 4: SLAH 97 — 7,535,520
Seat 5: Born2Ca$h — 4,584,692
Seat 6: serzhinho — 6,466,324

On the very first hand of the final table, carabinatos called all in for his total stack of just over 80,000 from UTG, and Mazinho1977 reraised to 400,000 a couple of seats over to force folds all around.

carabinatos took three cards while Mazinho1977 took two, and they tabled their cards. Both had made a pair of aces, but Mazinho1977′s [Ah][Ac][Kc][Td][6d] meant he had a better second kicker than carabinatos with [Ad][As][Kh][9s][7s], sending the latter out in sixth.

A little while later the blinds were 70k/140k when PUCIPUCO open-shoved for 840,319 from UTG, getting a single caller in serzhinho in the big blind. Both players took three, then serzinho turned over [Qs][Qh][Qd][9c][7d] for trip queens, better than PUCIPUCO’s [As][Ac][4s][4h][6c] to eliminate him in fifth.

After a while the remaining four found themselves all hovering above or below the 6 million-chip mark, inspiring Mazinho1977 to remark on the fact and to suggest they perhaps consider looking at the numbers for a chop. Not everyone was on board, though, and play continued.

A half-hour later Born2Ca$h had tipped things back in his favor, pushing up over 11 million while SLAH 97 and Mazinho1977 slipped back to below average stacks. Then with the blinds at 100,000/200,000, serzhinho raised to 400,000 from UTG, then SLAH 97 shoved from the small blind for 2,907,945. It folded back to serzhinho who called, and SLAH 97 discarded two cards while serzhinho threw away one.

At showdown SLAH 97 turned over [Kd][Ks][Ad][4h][3h] for kings, but serzhinho had [Kh][Kc][5c][5s][Qs] for two pair and SLAH 97 was gone in fourth.

A while after that a hand arose in which Born2Ca$h called a big post-draw bet by Mazinho1977 holding two pair while the latter had but king-high. That left Mazinho1977 with only 575,177 — just over two big blinds. On the next hand, Born2Ca$h min-raised from the button, serzhinho called from the small blind, Mazinho1977 pushed all in for a little more and both of his opponents called.

serzhinho and Born2Ca$h each took three cards while Mazinho1977 took two, and when serzhinho showed [6c][6c][4d][4h][2d] the others mucked and Mazinho1977 was out in third.

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Heads-up play began with Born2Ca$h leading with 15,394,950 to serzhinho’s 9,020,050. After just a few hands serzhinho pulled even, but Born2Ca$h pushed back out in front, chipping up over 19.7 million to serzhinho’s 4.7 million. Then, just over 13 hours after the tourney began, the final hand was dealt.

Born2Ca$h started it with a 2x raise to 500,000 and serzhinho called, taking two cards to Born2Ca$h’s three. Born2Ca$h led for 750,000, serzhinho made it 2,193,750, Born2Ca$h pushed all in, and serzhinho called.

serzhinho turned over [As][Ac][2h][2c][9h] for aces up, but Born2Ca$h had [6d][6h][6c][5d][2c] for trips to take the pot, the title, and the SCOOP watch.

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With such a name, it just had to be, didn’t it? Congratulations to Born2Ca$h, a SCOOP champion in five-card draw — the version of the game played when poker was born.

2012 SCOOP Event 6-Low, $11 Five-Card Draw results:
1st: Born2Ca$h ($7,449.46)
2nd: serzhinho ($5,371.30)
3rd: Mazinho1977 ($3,906.40)
4th: serzhinho ($2,473.23)
5th: PUCIPUCO ($1,464.90)
6th: carabinatos ($781.28)

As more events complete, the SCOOP leaderboard is starting to take shape. Take a look to see who is on top here in the early going.

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | attractions | Baltic Poker Festival | Battle of the Planets | flash | game | micromillions | news | russian poker series | Top 10 | world-series

With 120 tournaments in two weeks, SCOOP is already blistering along with tourneys going off at all hours and champions being crowned left and right. Event #3 gave players a chance to use the gas pedal a little more with a short-handed, turbo format with rebuys — with the “low” version being just $5.50 to start, and $5 for each rebuy and the add-on.

It was an action-seeker’s dream, and in the end a total of 20,244 such individuals took part, the group ultimately tossing in 38,211 re-buys and 10,526 add-ons to create a huge prize pool of $344,905, meaning another guarantee (this one $150K) had been crushed. The top 2,700 finishers would divide up the money, with $42,954.69 due the winner barring any late deal-making.

Just 93 survived a wild and woolly first day of turbo-charged play, with leaders Oakmeal, Yorkie966, DomeLek1987, Pr0fiteer, and Latin American Poker Tour regular Leandro “leopeluca” Csome together forming the six-million chip club overnight. Looking down the counts one spied Danny “THE__D__RY” Ryan and Alexios “J0hnny_Dr@m@” Zervos in 52nd and 53rd, respectively, both sitting with below average stacks of about 1.85 million.

Here’s how the top 10 looked to start Day 2:

1. Oakmeal — 6,849,810
2. Yorkie966 — 6,475,516
3. DomeLek1987 — 6,402,655
4. Pr0fiteer — 6,400,119
5. leopeluca — 6,066,307
6. DISCOSTICK — 5,886,956
7. geniuszdwa — 5,771,635
8. mddgfc — 5,692,830
9. morten85 — 5,115,405
10. tajlin — 4,449,929

Alas for Zervos, he’d be the first to hit the rail when play resumed on Tuesday, earning $248.33 for his 93rd-place finish. Danny “THE__D__RY” Ryan’s day went relatively better, although he, too, would fall short with a 21st-place finish ($1,083).

After three hours of play on Tuesday there were just a dozen players left, at which point Pr0fiteer led with more than 36.7 million, followed closely by Suodi with about 36.5 million.

Respect4life then grabbed pots to push out in front as the next five players fell, with toffee74 (12th), dimmmmi1 (11th), and mddgfc (10th) each earning $2,166 and nicodaalmeer (ninth) and Corrosion80 (eighth) both taking away $2,835.11.

With seven left it appeared for a moment that morten85 would be the last one out prior to the final six. That’s when a wild hand developed between morten85 and Suodi in which the pair got to the river with the board showing [Ad][8c][8h][Ts][Js] and Suodi led for 7.2 million into a 9.2 million pot. morten85 paused a beat, then pushed all in for nearly 12 million and Suodi quickly called.

Suodi had [Kc][Qs] for a rivered straight, but morten85 had been lying in wait with [Ah][8d] — a flopped full house — thus giving morten85 the 33 million-plus chip pot.

Soon thereafter it was Amsterdam/88 falling with [Qd][10s] to /7aXaH-777′s [Ah][9h] to finish in seventh ($2,835.11), and the final table was set.

Seat 1: leopeluca — 31,596,932
Seat 2: Suodi –22,747,081
Seat 3: /7aXaH-777 — 45,475,517
Seat 4: Pr0fiteer — 17,616,181
Seat 5: morten85 — 33,284,008
Seat 6: Respect4life — 77,275,281

Shortly after the final table began, a big hand developed between Pr0fiteer and Suodi. With the blinds 80,000/160,000, Pr0fiteer opened for 1,664,000 from the hijack and Suodi called from the big blind. The flop came [Qs][6h][7s] and Suodi check-called Pr0fiteer’s c-bet of 2,466,210. The turn was the [7d] and Suodi checked again. This time Pr0fiteer bet 5,304,168, leaving himself about 9.46 million behind, and Suodi check-raised to 16.8 million — enough to put Pr0fiteer all in.

After thinking for over a minute, Pr0fiteer called to show [Qc][Tc] for queens and sevens. It was a good call, as Suodi had [Qh][8d] for the same two pair with a lesser kicker, but the river brought the [As], thus making a split pot.

Pr0fiteer had to laugh at the result, typing “do you guys keep score of my theoretical chips?” in the chatbox afterwards. But all were distracted as on the very next hand, as Respect4life was min-raising to 2 million from the cutoff, Suodi reraised to 5 million fromthe small blind, and Respect4life called.

The flop came [Tc][Ks][5s] and Suodi led for 8 million, getting a call from the chip leader. The turn was the [3h] and Suodi pushed all in for 14,322,081. Respect4life quickly called, showing [Kc][Qc] for top pair, while Suodi needed help with [Ah][Qd]. The river was the [3h], and Suodi was out in sixth.

A little while later the blinds had climbed to 700k/1.4m when Leandro “leopeluca” Csome opened with a min-raise from under the gun, then Pr0fiteer reraised to 6,546,682 from the button. It folded back to Csome who pushed all in for 19,970,352, and Pr0fiteer — who had leopeluca covered — made the call.

leopeluca: [Tc][Ts]
Pr0fiteer: [As][Jc]

Csome was hoping his tens would hold, but the [9s][Kd][Js] put his opponent in front. The turn was the [4d] and river the [3h], and leopeluca was out in fifth.

Leandro “leopeluca” Csome

Next it was morten85 jamming for 19,753,008 from the small blind and getting a call from Respect4life in the BB. morten85 had [3c][3d] and was at risk versus Respect4life’s [Ah][9d]. That risk increased significantly after the flop came [9h][4h][6c] to give Respect4life a better pair of nines, and after the [Qs] turn and [7s] river they were down to three.

At that point Respect4life was in front with 104,400,788 chips, with Pr0fiteer next with 91,725,876 and /7aXaH-777 last with 31,868,336. Pr0fiteer would subsequently grab chips from Respect4life to take the lead, then a huge hand arose between the pair.

The blinds were 900k/1.8m, and Pr0fiteer opened for 3,744,000 from the button, then Respect4life reraised to 8,475,875 from the small blind, forcing /7aXaH-777 to skedaddle. Pr0fiteer made it 14,702,750 to go, Respect4life shoved his entire stack of nearly 70 million, and Pr0fiteer called.

Respect4life had [As][Jh] and Pr0fiteer [Th][Tc], and after the board rolled out [Ac][Qc][Jd][7h][Ad], Respect4life had a full house and the chip lead again while Pr0fiteer had tumbled to third. Take a look:

RSS readers click through to see replay

On the very next hand, /7aXaH-777 limped in from the small bind and Pr0fiteer pushed from the BB for 26,650,346, getting a call from his opponent. /7aXaH-777 had [Ac][5h] and Pr0fiteer [As][3c], and when the five community cards came [6d][7d][4s][3d][9c], /7aXaH-777 had a straight and Pr0fiteer was out in third.

Heads-up play began with Respect4life ahead with 141,626,060 to /7aXaH-777′s 86,368,940, and after a hand the tourney was paused to talk about a possible deal. “Chip chop” numbers were produced, leaving $3K for which to play, and after a bit of back-and-forthing the pair were able to come to an agreement.

It wouldn’t take long after that — just four hands — for a winner to be determined. After claiming a 40 million-plus chip pot on a hand that didn’t reach showdown, Respect4life was up close to 164 million — almost 100 million more than /7aXaH-777 — when the latter opened with a min-raise to 3.6 million. Respect4life three-bet to 8.1 million, /7aXaH-777 called, and the flop came [8h][8c][Ks].

Respect4life led for 7.2 million, and /7aXaH-777 called. The turn then brought the [Js] and checks from both. The river was the [5c]. Respect4life bet 21,457,858 this time, and /7aXaH-777 responded with an all-in shove for 48,648,051 which Respect4life called.

/7aXaH-777 had but [As][Ts] — just the eights on board — while Respect4life had [Ac][Kh] for two pair to claim the pot and a SCOOP title.

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Congratulations to Respect4life for topping that whopping field to turn just a few bucks into an eye-popping $40K-plus payday! Talk about mopping up!

2012 SCOOP Event 3-Low, $5.50+R NLHE Turbo (6-max) results (*reflects two-way deal):
1st: Respect4life ($40,292.83)*
2nd: /7aXaH-777 ($33,555)*
3rd: Pr0fiteer ($20,856.40)
4th: morten85 ($10,847.26)
5th: leopeluca ($6,242.78)
6th: Suodi ($3935.36)

It’s wall-to-wall SCOOP around here. Check the schedule, find a game and buy-in to suit you, and join the fun!

Tags: archives | Battle of the Planets | ept | eureka poker tour | italian poker tour | lapt | pca | poker | portugal poker series | Super Tuesday | videos

We knew the first “High” buy-in event of this year’s SCOOP series would be attracting a lot of familiar names, including many of the poker world’s elite. As it happened the one emerging from the tough-as-nails field as the victor would be an especially familiar one, with Alex “Allingomes” Gomes adding yet another triumph to his ever-growing list of poker achievements.

But let us not get ahead of ourselves. This, like the other events kicking off SCOOP, was a two-day affair, meaning lots of action would necessarily take place before a winner would be found.

By the time late registration had closed a whopping field of 784 had signed up for the $2,100 buy-in, six-handed no-limit hold’em event. That big group created a gigantic $1,568,000 prize pool to more than double the event’s $750K guarantee. The top 90 finishers would divide up the loot, with a nifty $282,240 payday awaiting the winner barring any final-table deals.

Day 1

“Good table in SCOOP 01-H with James Mackey and @PhilGalfond on my left. #SCOOP2012,” tweeted Team Online member Shane Schleger early Sunday afternoon, not long after play began. “Was thinking the same thing,” replied Galfond, a.k.a. “MrSweets28.”

Unfortunately for all three — Mackey, Galfond, and Schleger — none would survive the afternoon, with both Galfond and Schleger falling victim to Redd Barronn to go out shy of the top 400.

By the seven-hour mark the field had shrunk to 150, with Andy “andy123460″ Ganapathy on top as the only player with more than 200,000. Among those having hit the rail by then was Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree who fell in 179th after running pocket nines into the queens of fellow Team Pro Lex Veldhuis.

As the night wore on and they neared the money bubble, Veldhuis continued to battle while Angel Guillen of Team PokerStars Mexico slipped to short-stacked status. Finally Guillen busted in 105th when his [Jh][Jc] failed to hold up versus römpsä’s [Qc][9h].

Once the money bubble burst, Veldhuis would continue to hang on before finding himself all in on a [3h][9c][Kh] flop with [Qh][10h] versus Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich’s [Ac][Ah]. Neither of Veldhuis’ draws filled, and the Dutchman was out in 78th for a $4,390.40 score.

Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis

Others hitting the rail before play was paused included Tobias “PokerNoob999″ Reinkenmeier (71st, $4,547.20), Mayu “marroca5″ Roca (66th, $4,860.80), McLean “PureProfitFo” Karr (63rd, $4,860.80), Sorel “zangbezan24″ Mizzi (54th, $5,488), Torsten “jetkiss” Brinkmann (45th, $5,958.40), and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet (43rd, $5,958.40).

With just 41 players left, oncommand was in command with more than 500,000, with Alex “Allingomes” Gomes his nearest competitor in 2nd, Johan “busto_soon” van Til next in third, and Nick “FU_15″ Maimone and Luke “LukeFromB13″ Staudenmaier also in the top ten.

Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looked overnight:

1. oncommand — 507,554
2. Allingomes — 436,374
3. busto_soon — 414,864
4. Fiskin1 — 329,491
5. AJacejackAJ — 302,342
6. StingsHUH — 298,793
7. FU_15 — 261,608
8. E1ephant — 260,108
9. LukeFromB13 — 252,977
10. Tagult — 246,852.

Also among those still with chips and set to return on Monday were Andy “andy123460″ Ganapathy (17th), Liviu “0Human0″ Ignat (18th), Joseph “subiime” Cheong (23rd), Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich (32nd), Carter “cswidler” Swidler (38th), and Chris “Genius28″ Lee (39th).

Day 2

Play resumed on Monday with the short stacks falling in short order, including Carter “cswidler” Swidler (40th, $6,742.40), Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich (29th, $6,742.40), and Chris “Genius28″ Lee (36th, $7,840).

Monday didn’t start so well for AJacejackAJ, who swiftly fell from the top 10 to go out in 35th ($7,840). Not long after that Str8$$$Homey surged into the chip lead after a huge double up versus Alex “AllinGomes” Gomes in which Str8$$$Homey’s [Qh][Qd] held versus Gomes’ [Ah][Kh] to give Str8$$$Homey a 563,610-chip pot.

As the afternoon wore on, the field kept shrinking with Liviu “0Human0″ Ignat (31st, $7,840), Andy “andy123460″ Ganapathy (29th, $9,094.40), Luke “LukeFromB13″ Staudenmaier (28th, $9,094.40), oncommand (17th, $14,112), roi kin23 (16th, $14,112), and Joseph “subiime” Cheong (15th, $14,112) among those cashing out shy of the finish line.

Play continued, and when Johan “busto_soon” van Til went out in ninth ($31,987.20) and Fiskin1 was eliminated in eighth (both earning $31,987.20), they’d reached the final table bubble.

It appeared that the super short stack yasunori66 was destined to come up one spot shy of the last table after running pocket queens into raidalot’s aces to lose almost all of his chips. But he managed a double-up through Nick “FU_15″ Maimone to leave the latter with only about 80,000, and soon Maimone was all in with [J][T] against Artur “arturitooo” Alabart’s [A][Q]. The better hand held, and they were down to six.

Seat 1: Allingomes — 1,756,720
Seat 2: dirty.brasil — 788,432
Seat 3: raidalot — 685,609
Seat 4: arturitooo — 2,817,875
Seat 5: yasunori66 — 237,300
Seat 6: Str8$$$Homey — 1,554,064

It was an international final table, with two Canadians (dirty.brasil and Str8$$$Homey), raidalot of the U.K., Artur “arturitooo” Alabart of Spain, the familiar Alex “Allingomes” Gomes from Brazil, and what may well be the first SCOOP final tablist from Japan, the short stack yasunori66.

It wouldn’t take long for yasunori66 to commit his chips in an effort to double-up. With the blinds at 10,000/20,000, yasunori66 open-shoved from under the gun for 139,800 and got one caller in arturitooo from the big blind.

yasunori66 had [6h][6c] and was hoping his pair would hold versus arturitooo’s [Ad][Jh]. But the board ran out [9c][7s][8h][4d][Tc] — giving both players straights, but arturitooo the better one, and yasurnori66 was out in sixth.

Meanwhile dirty.brasil would become short-stacked, and just a few minutes after yasunori66′s elimination would be at risk as well when Gomes made a 3x opening raise from the small blind to 60,000, and dirty.brasil reraised all in for 71,829.

Gomes quickly called, showing [As][6s] to dirty.brasil’s [Jc][9c], and after the board rolled out [Kc][Qd][2c][Kd][Kh] they were quickly down to four.

At that point deal talk arose, but with only three of the four willing — raidalot was the exception — play continued. Then, just before the six-hour break of Day 2, a huge hand unfolded between arturitooo and raidalot.

The blinds were still 10,000/20,000, and after Gomes opened for 40,000 from UTG, raidalot made it 100,000 to go from the button. Then Artur “arturitooo” Alabart four-bet to 222,222 from the small blind, forcing folds from Str8$$$Homey and Gomes. raidalot responded by making it 445,000, Alabart shoved all in over the top, and raidalot called with the 926,953 he had left.

artiritooo: [Qc][Qd]
raidalot: [Kh][Kc]

A bad spot for artiritooo, made worse when the flop came [6d][Kd][8s] to give raidalot a set. Two cards later, it was raidalot scooping a better than 2.8 million-chip pot. Take a look:

RSS readers click through to see replay

They’d reached the break, at which point raidalot was in front with that stack of more than 2.8 million, Alex “Allingomes” Gomes was next with just over 1.86 million, Str8$$$Homey third with almost exactly 1.73 million, and Artur “arturitooo” Alabart last with a little over 1.43 million.

Deal discussion arose once more as play resumed, but raidalot again declined the invitation to consider it and the final four marched on.

About 10 minutes later the blinds were at 12,500/25,000 when Str8$$$Homey opened for 50,000 from UTG, then Allingomes reraised to 112,780 from the button to chase out the blinds. Str8$$$Homey then made it 260,000 to go, and Gomes called.

The flop came [9d][Kh][Qd] and Str8$$$Homey led for 225,000, getting a call from Gomes. The turn was the [8c], and this time Str8$$$Homey bet 350,000. Gomes called once more.

The river brought the [2s] and an all-in shove for 1,111,312 from Str8$$$Homey. Gomes snap-called, turning over [Jd][Th] for the flopped straight. Str8$$$Homey had [Ad][Kc] for kings, and was out in fourth.

RSS readers click through to see replay

About 10 minutes after that raidalot opened with a min-raise to 50,000 from the button, Artur “arturitooo” Alabart made it 127,777 from the small blind, and Gomes folded. The action back on raidalot, he pushed all in for 714,247 total and Alabart quickly called.

raidalot had [As][Jh] but had run into arturitooo’s [Ah][Ks]. The five community cards came [8h][Qh][3d][7h][Kc], and they were down to two.

Heads-up play began with Gomes leading with 4,674,619 to Alabart’s 3,165,381. After just a hand they paused proceedings to talk about a deal, and after arturitooo started with a proposal Gomes responded with a clear statement of his position.

Allingomes: srry bro, I need 250k minimum
Allingomes: and play for 15k
Allingomes: otherwise we can play
arturitooo: sorry
Allingomes: ok gl
arturitooo: gl
Allingomes: lets play please

Having lasted through 20 half-hour levels on Sunday and another six-and-a-half hours plus on Day 2 — and seen 782 of their opponents felted before them — the final two combatants would play it out with that full $282,240 first prize awaiting the winner.

The pair would ultimately battle for more than an hour before a winner was decided. The first half-hour saw Gomes gradually chipping away at arturitooo’s stack, pushing him back to the 2 million-mark and below while Gomes crept up over 5.5 million.

They’d hold steady with those stacks for another 30 minutes, with no pots exceeding 1 million. Then came a hand in which Gomes shoved all in on a [As][9c][4c][8d][Kc] board and Alabart contemplated for nearly two minutes before letting it go, conceding the more than 1.6 million-chip pot.

That left arturitooo down to about 1.3 million, and Gomes continued the chipping away, pushing up close to 7 million while his opponent slipped below 900,000. Then came the final hand.

With the blinds 17,500/35,000, Gomes opened for 70,000 from the button and arturitooo shoved for 882,624 total. Gomes called, showing [Ks][Qs], and arturitooo was in need of help with [Kc][9c]. But the board came [3s][6c][Jd][5s][Ac], and Gomes had won.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congratulations to Alex “Allingomes” Gomes for taking down the first “High” event of this year’s SCOOP and a nifty $282,240 score! Now that’s a familiar smile…

Alex “Allingomes” Gomes, 2012 SCOOP 1-H Champion

2012 SCOOP Event 1-High, $2,100 NLHE (6-max) results:
1st: Allingomes ($282,240)
2nd: arturitooo ($211,680)
3rd: raidalot ($156,800)
4th: Str8$$$Homey ($109,760)
5th: dirty.brasil ($78,400)
6th: yasunori66 ($47,040)

Things are just getting started around here, SCOOP-wise. Check the SCOOP page for early results and the full 120-tournament schedule.

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | entertainment | ept | eureka poker tour | italian | pokerstars macau | season 8 | tournaments | twitter | UKIPT

“Form” in poker can be a strange old thing. People talk about “run good” as if it’s the sudden equivalent of liquid gold pouring out of bathroom taps. On the other hand, the player “running bad” might feel as though they are trudging through an arid desert without a drop of water in sight. (And even when they do find a well, then winch up the bucket to find it full of sand, maybe with someone else’s bad beat story kindly printed out, rolled up and poking out.)

The kind of players who enter $25,000 High Roller events tend to be less susceptible to the whole superstition thing. They know that a bad run will be cancelled out if they stick with it long enough, and that it’s sensible not to get too carried away by an uptick in form. Even Jason Mercier and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier don’t win every flip they play.

However this event in Monaco affords us the opportunity to conduct a very small investigation into the nature of short-term run good, based on its slightly unusual entry policy.

If you cast your mind back to yesterday, you’ll remember us talking about players re-entering the tournament after losing all their chips. For the first four levels, busted players could cough up another $25,000 and get another 50,000 tournament points. Clearly people didn’t believe that much in run bad if they were encouraged to buy in again.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were also a handful of players in the tournament who had won their seats via a live satellite event on the eve of the big dance. Those players were, by definition, running good, having paid only one tenth of the entry fee to book their spot.

So what became of the re-loaders (ie, those running bad) and the satellite winners (ie, those running good)? Let’s find out shall we.

The players who bought back in yesterday were as follows, and what transpired after they bought a second stack is in brackets:

Re-entries:

Dan Shak (32,500 chips at end of day 1)
Govert Metaal (38,900)
Daniel Negreanu (102,700)
Faisal Alfalasi (Busted)
JC Alvarado (Busted)
Viktor Blom (67,500)
Imad Derwiche (40,100)
Martin Finger (203,700 – top 10 in chips)
Tony Gregg (Busted)
Eui Kim (Busted)
Mikhail Korotkikh (Busted)
Mike McDonald (213,500)
Scott Seiver (Busted)
Roger Tondeur (Busted)

Daniel Negreanu. Has apple. Not afraid to use it

Satellite winners:

David Deutsch (Busted day one)
Vincent van den Fluit (341,200 – second in chips)
Martin Schleich (Busted day one)
Peter Akery (73,600)
Sorel Mizzi (120,200)
Dori Yacoub (Busted day one)
Ivan Kudriavtcev (Busted day one)
Igor Kurganov (279,900 – top ten in chips)
Andries Swart (Busted day one)
Georgios Karakousis (Busted day one)
Ognjen Sekularac (Busted day one)
JC Alvarado (Busted day one)

So seven of the 14 players who re-entered went on to dust off their second stacks too, with only really Martin Finger and Mike McDonald putting their re-entries to really good use.

Martin Finger

On the other hand eight of the 12 satellite winners were out before the end of yesterday, but of those whose survived – in particular Vincent van den Fluit and Igor Kurganov – prospered still. (You’ll notice that JC Alvarado won a satellite, busted, and bought back in. So he fits in both groups.)

I’m not at all sure that this really tells us anything. Indeed, probably all it really does is convince us once again that poker doesn’t really respect the rules of run good or run bad, at least not at this level.

Since all this tortuous calculation began, Viktor Blom has doubled up and then busted from the tournament. And Sorel Mizzi has also lost his 120,000 overnight stack. So any perceived run good that he was experiencing is also over.

Viktor Blom: Buy, bust, re-buy, sleep, bust

And so, they play on. There are 37 players left, meaning eight have departed already. That’s a full table. Now to lose three more.

Click here for live updates, chip counts and payout information from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

Tags: european | festival | france poker series | harrah's | latin-america | monte-carlo | portugal poker series | russian poker series | UKIPT | world cup of poker

Poker tour destinations afford poker pros, cashed-up entrepreneurs and satellite winners the opportunity to tick off some dream travel destinations around the globe. While the current hype surrounds the glitz and glamour of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final, on the other side of the map, there are plenty of ladies adding a little glamour to the tables on the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour. Taking a look back at the history of the ANZPT since it began in 2009, there have been several impressive and consistent performances from females on the tour, but we are still looking for our first female ANZPT champion to be crowned. This could be the year to make it happen.

The inaugural season of the ANZPT was the biggest year for women on the tour, with two final table results. In the very first event in Adelaide in 2009, it was Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin who added some glamour to the final showdown. Lin managed a seventh-place finish, taking home AU$23,475 for her efforts. It wouldn’t take long until the Shanghai-born beauty would hold a major trophy, as the first female to win a Macau Poker Cup later that year. The $50,932 lion’s share is Lin’s biggest live tournament score to date and helped her get within a sniff of the top 100 Australian All Time Money tournament earners. Over the past 12 months Lin has focused more on the growing live poker scene in her home base of Macau where she has been regularly spotted at Macau Poker Cup events and on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin

But it was a 49-year-old mother-of six from Australia’s sunshine state of Queensland who would give us the closest chance to a female ANZPT championship. One well versed in risk-reward and investment strategies, mortgage broker Lisa Walsh banked AU$162,690 for her runner-up finish in the 2009 ANZPT Sydney to a courageous victor in Paren “Puzz” Arzoomanian.

The highest female to rank on the Australian All Time Money List tournament winnings is Amanda De Cesare. The speech pathologist from Melbourne burst on to the local poker scene when she won The Poker Star, a reality TV show hosted by Joe Hachem. The then 34-year old single mother of two was crowned the winner of the show after proving herself to have the ideal characteristics of a poker player. De Cesare won the juicy prize of $100,000 and entry into four major events (Aussie Millions, APPT Grand Final, EPT Monte Carlo and WSOP Main Event). Within the poker community, De Cesare’s poker skills were scrutinized on public forums, however hosts and mentors, Hachem along with Lee Nelson, saw star qualities in their new protégé. Their decision was validated just one week after the final episode was aired, when De Cesare took down the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series 3 Main Event for AU$77,500. In a dream year, De Cesare also final tabled the 2010 ANZPT Melbourne, finishing in 4th place for AU$52,261 to squash any lingering doubts of her ability.

Amanda De Cesare

Other ladies to get close to ANZPT immortality include Kristina Jenney (Griffiths) who shared the 2010 ANZPT Melbourne final table with De Cesare. Jenney finished in 6th place (AU$33,846) that year, and more recently finished in 15th place (AU$9,220) at the ANZPT Sydney last month. Selina Bodel also finished just shy of an ANZPT final table, with her 10th place at the 2010 ANZPT Canberra worth AU$6,878.

The 2012 ANZPT kicked off last month, with the Main Event in Sydney outlaying a tempting AU$922,000 prize pool. Perth, the capital of western Australia, is the next stop on the tour and while it may not have millionaires zooming around stunning Mediterranean cliff tops in ridiculously expensive fast cars like Monte Carlo, it does have a certain charm all its own. If it’s sunshine, white sandy beaches, the freshest seafood and top surf in a laid-back sun-kissed rhythm that you’re after, Perth delivers in spades. And if it’s poker immortality, by re-writing this history and becoming the first ANZPT female champion you’re after, then I’d gladly document your glory.

Tags: asia | Battle of the Planets | entertainment | European Poker Tour | events | micromillions | planets | pokerstars macau | russian poker series | UKIPT

April is a big month for PokerStars Women. We’re in our second year of the Women’s Sunday, which is exciting in itself, and we’re in our fourth month of the 2012 Women’s Poker League with the three divisions. And we’re going to host our third $11 Women’s Tuesday in a few days with its $1K guarantee.

This is also the last month to qualify for the PS Women Live tournament in Monte Carlo. There are still a few €2,500 prize packages to be awarded, but there’s not much time left! The action will happen at the EPT Grand Final from April 29 to May 2, so get in on those daily satellites and work your way to next Sunday’s prize package giveaway soon!

Back to the action today, here’s our Women’s Sunday numbers:

Total players: 265
Prize pool: $13,250.00
Paid finishers: 45

Of the Team Pros in the field today, Team Online’s Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome was the first to exit, giving up her $50 bounty in the first hour of play. Further into play, Team Pro Vivian Im made a deep run but finished in 99th place, and Liv Boeree left in 52nd place, just a few spots away from the money.

That money bubble burst when sm2011 busted in 46th place, and Mariiia91 then took home $79.50 for her 45th place finish. At that point, with only five and then four tables remaining, none other than Team Pro Ana Marquez was in the top spot on the leaderboard. Scarey Pelt did take over that lead, and Ms. Marquez fought to stay in the top 10 as the field was reduced to three tables.

About 3 hours and 15 minutes into the tournament, bbchoc exited in 11th place to bring on hand-for-hand play. Moments later, short-stacked Brigitte7 pushed her 9,240 chips all-in with [Ad][2h], and RoseKoehler and .Ta2.Terry! both called. They checked the [7c][5c][9c] flop, and when RoseKoehler bet the [5s] turn, .Ta2.Terry! folded. RoseKoehler showed [Ac][6c] for the flopped flush, and the [9d] ended the tournament for Brigitte7 in tenth place, which was worth $198.75.

Things looking rosy for RoseKoehler

These were the starting stacks a few hands into the final table action:

Seat 1: Elz442 (68,317 in chips)
Seat 2: .Ta2.Terry! (94,168 in chips)
Seat 3: SummerLove X (111,973 in chips)
Seat 4: 1989masha (114,852 in chips)
Seat 5: kino8 (62,576 in chips)
Seat 6: Scarey Pelt (74,786 in chips)
Seat 7: ana marquez (101,678 in chips)
Seat 8: MothaPoka (24,483 in chips)
Seat 9: RoseKoehler (142,167 in chips)

It didn’t take long for Ana Marquez to jump into the lead, but Elz442 was close behind and soon climbed into the number one spot.

After the 3.5-hour break, the first hand back was a big one. MotherPoka moved all-in from middle position for her short stack of 12,083 chips. RoseKoehler reraised to 27,000, and SUmmerLove X reraised all-in for 90,073 chips. RoseKoehler called again.

MothaPoka: [Ac][6c]
SummerLove X: [Ah][Ks]
RoseKoehler: [Qs][Qc]

the board blanked with [2s][Jh][9s][5s][3h], and the queens held up to eliminate MothaPoka in ninth place with $231.87 and SummerLove X in eighth with $318.00.

Kino8 was the next of the short stacks to move all-in, doing so from the button with [As][9s]. Elz442 was the original raiser and called with [Ad][4h] but made a straight on the [7c][5d][6d][2s][3c] board. Kino8 was ousted in seventh place with $450.50.

A few double-ups followed, as Scarey Pelt doubled through Elz442, and the latter then doubled through RoseKoehler. But RoseKoehler maintained a substantial lead over the group of remaining players.

When .Ta2.Terry! was ready to make her all-in move, RoseKoehler was there to make the call with [Th][Tc], and .Ta2.Terry! needed help for her [Ah][2s]. The board of [8h][9s][8d][4s][6d] didn’t provide it, though, and .Ta2.Terry! was eliminated in sixth place with $583.00.

More double-ups ensued. 1989masha doubled through Ana Marquez, who then doubled through RoseKoehler to stay alive. Scarey Pelt then took a pot worth 248,500 chips from RoseKoehler to jump into the chip lead.

Elz442 was the next player to risk everything, and she did it UTG with [AH][2h]. RoseKoehler called from the big blind with [Ac][Qc], which improved to an even better hand when the [Js][Ks][7h][Td][2c] gave her the straight. Elz442 had to leave in fifth place with $755.25.

Adios Ana

Ana Marquez had been working a short stack and finally pushed it all-in preflop from the big blind with [6d][6s]. Original raiser RoseKoehler called, as did 1989masha from the button. Both players checked the [5d][Jd][Qh] flop, as well as the [Qc] turn and [Qd] river. Ana Marquez showed her full house, but 1989masha turned over [Ad][Js] for queens full of jacks and the better full house. Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez finished the tournament in fourth place with $1,093.12.

RoseKoehler was the shortest of the three remaining players, and she soon moved all-in preflop with [Ac][8s]. Scarey Pelt called with [Qc][Qs], though, and that pocket pair improved to two pair on the [6d][Kd][9d][Tc][6s] board. RoseKoehler was ousted in third place, which was worth $1,457.50 in prize money.

Switzerland vs. Netherlands

The final two players began their battle with these stacks:

Seat 4: 1989masha (238,658 in chips)
Seat 6: Scarey Pelt (556,342 in chips)

On the eighth hand, we had fireworks. Action started with a raised flop of [5s][7s][7c]. 1989masha bet, and Scarey Pelt check-raised. 1989masha responded with an all-in call holding [Jd][Jc], but the two pair wasn’t good enough to compare with the [Ac][7h] and trip sevens of Scarey Pelt. The [4s] and [6d] finished the board and left 1989masha out in second place with $1,921.25.

Scarey Pelt of Switzerland became this week’s Women’s Sunday champion and won $2,563.99 in cash. Congrats!

Women’s Sunday Results for 04/08/12:

1st place: Scarey Pelt ($2,563.99)
2nd place: 1989masha ($1,921.25)
3rd place: RoseKoehler ($1,457.50)
4th place: Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez ($1,093.12)
5th place: Elz442 ($755.25)
6th place: .Ta2.Terry! ($583.00)
7th place: kino8 ($450.50)
8th place: SummerLove X ($318.00)
9th place: MothaPoka ($231.87)

There are many ways to get in on the Women’s Sunday action. Take a look at the home page for information on daily satellites. And join us on Facebook for news and monthly freerolls, and Twitter for the latest information. See you next week!

Tags: delicious | European Poker Tour | latin-america | liv boeree | marquez | micromillions | napt | news | scarey-pelt | SCOOP | TOC