Time to mix things up.

No-Limit Hold’em is still the most popular form of poker in the world. The game’s balance of revealed information and mystery make mastering it a lifetime goal. The “No-Limit” limit to betting attracts all the gambling fanatics and thrill seekers.

But another game has also gained popularity with gambling and strategy junkies. That game is Pot-Limit Omaha.

With four hole cards at a player’s disposal, the action is relentless. There are straight and flush draws in almost every hand, there are pairs of pairs and the pots are large.

If only there was a way to combine these two games for players…hmmm…

Wait, we can! We have the technology.

Event #22-H let players from around (most of) the world play a PLO and a NLHE tournament for the price of one. The cost? $1,050. What did you get? A 5,000 starting stack, 30-minute levels alternating between PLO and NLHE and a chance at a $436,000 prize pool.

436 players made the $1,050 investment today, including 14 members Team PokerStars Pro and Team PokerStars Online.

Out of those 14, George “jorj95″ Lind would be the only one to cash. The top 54 players made the money in Event #22-H, and Lind finished 53rd.

While Lind’s finish won him $2,180, the tournament champion would have a $83,668 payday.

That payday went to marroca5, who had to best a field of some of the best PLO and NLHE players in the world.

There was a combination of WSOP bracelet winners, EPT Champions, and WCOOP and SCOOP watch owning players like ElkY, Isildur1, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, Vanessa Selbst, Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet and Julian “MrCoco” Gardner in today’s field.

While marroca5 had a dominating lead throughout most of the final table, it’s safe to say that he didn’t have an easy road to victory.

ROAD TO THE FINAL TABLE

marroca5 would start the final table as chip leader but, like every player in the tournament, he only started with 5,000 chips.

He had to work his way to the top. marroca5 first closed in on the chip lead with 14 players left.

In a PLO round with 1,500/3,000 blinds, Sira Al Aziz raised to 6,000 from UTG. marroca5 called and the flop came [ad][jh][jc].

Sira Al Aziz led out for 8,250 and marroca5 raised to 21,000. Sira Al Aziz called and a [4c] came on the turn, marroca5 raised to 29,800 and Sira Al Aziz moved all in for 85,394.

marroca5 called and Sira Al Aziz showed [ac][as][kd][qd] for a full house. But marroca5 could beat a full house, he showed [jd][js][5c][6s] for quad jacks.

That’s Pot-Limit Omaha.

The turn was an uneventful [8d] and Sira Al Aziz was eliminated while marroca5 saw his stack grow to 325,587. Python817 held the lead at the time with 339,623, but marroca5 would win a few more hands and snatch the lead away.

marroca5 really pulled away when he burst the final table bubble.

The game was NLHE and the blinds were 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante. marroca5 raised to 8,000 from UTG and Exclusive re-raised to 22,500. Action was back to marroca5, who 4-bet to 44,800, Exclusive then moved all in for 278,836, a bet that marroca5 quickly called.

Exclusive showed [ah][kh] while marroca5 turned over [kd][kh].

The [10h][qd][5h] gave Exclusive hopes for a straight draw, but the turn was a [5c] and the river brought another 4, the [4d].

Exclusive was elimated in 10th place and marroca5 entered the final table with the chip lead.

FINAL TABLE

When our final table was set, it looked something (exactly) like this:

Seat 1: JIZOINT – 353,239
Seat 2: benzidebuc – 95,841
Seat 3: RunThisTable – 215,930
Seat 4: charder30 – 296,118
Seat 5: ZeeJustin – 86,929
Seat 6: birs320 – 56,569
Seat 7: Python817 – 263,629
Seat 8: marroca5 – 727,911

We reached the final table on the last hand hand before the break. When the final nine came back from their five-minute intermission, we had our first elimination.

The game was NLHE and on the first hand of the final table, MrCoco — who recently won Event #18-H — moved all in for 83,334.

benzidebuc called and MrCoco showed a pair of 6s. If he was hoping for a flip, he must’ve been incredibly disappointed to see benzidebuc’s [ks][kc].

The board fell [jh][3c][5h][4d][8h] and MrCoco was eliminated. His 9th place finish earned him $7,237.60.

The next elimination came with the next round of Pot-Limit Omaha. Blinds were 2,500/5,000 and birs320 raised to 10,000.

marroca5 — who had 760,000 compared to birs320′s 79,000 — called and the flop came [7h][5d][4h]. birs320 checked and marroca5 bet 12,500. birs320 raised and marroca5 re-raised, prompting birs320 to move all in.

marroca5 called and showed [5h][6h][8h][8s] while birs320 showed [ad][qc][jh][3h]. The turn was an [ac] and a [6c] came on the river, giving marroca5 an 8-high straight.

birs320 was eliminated in 8th place, a finish worth $9,810. marroca5, on the other hand, saw his lead grow to 872,035. Christian “charder30″ Harder was sitting in second with 443,443.

A few hands later, benzidebuc raised from UTG:

RSS readers click through to see replay

benzidebuc was eliminated in 7th place, earning $14,170.

benzidebuc’s elimination left Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo as the tournament short stack with just under 90,000.

In the same round of PLO, ZeeJustin raised to 10,000 from UTG and marroca5 called from the button. RunThisTable re-raised to 42,500 and ZeeJustin moved all in for 88,429.

RunThisTable called and showed [ac][6s][qc][kd], while ZeeJustin held [kc][ks][qs][js].

The [9c][2d][8h] flop gave ZeeJustin a straight draw and the river would complete it with a [10c].

ZeeJustin doubled up to about 190,000 while RunThisGame saw his stack shrink to 50,000.

The game switched back to NLHE and the blinds were 3,000/6,000 with a 750 ante.

JIZOINT raised to 144,000 from the small blind and RunThisTable called from the big, putting himself all in.

RunThisTable showed [jd][8d] and was up against JIZOINT’s [ad][ks].

The flop brought an [as] and RunThisTable was eliminated in 6th place. His finish would add $18,530 to his bankroll.

THE SLOW FOUR

ZeeJustin entered the table short-stacked but managed a double up. But despite his double up, he’d find himself short-stacked again with five players to go

Python817 raised to 12,655 and ZeeJustin called from the big blind. The flop came [6d][4h][10s] and Python817 bet 17,455. ZeeJustin raised to 44,000 and Python817 moved all in for 230,624.

When ZeeJustin called, Python817 showed [as][ad]. ZeeJustin’s [6c][4c] was significantly worse pre-flop, but now he had two-pair.

ZeeJustin’s hand would hold up and he’d double up to 337,966.

Python817 — on the other hand — was left with around 70,000. He wouldn’t last long.

Python817 moved all in for 66,421from the button and JIZOINT called from the big blind.

JIZOINT showed [qs][10s] and was going to need some improvement to knock out Python817, who held [as][7h].

The [3s][10h][8s] flop brought the help JIZOINT needed, and a [qd] on the turn brought even more. A [5c] came on the river and Python817 was eliminated in 5th place. He’d take home $24,416 for his finish.

When play got down to four players, Justin Bonomo suggested a deal.

“4-way even chop?” asked Bonomo. “it’s 56K for all.”

“serious question?” morroca5 asked. At the time, Bonomo had around 238,000 while marooca5 had more than 1MM.

The table didn’t agree on Bonomo’s deal.

But then Bonomo started chipping up:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Bonomo would keep winning pots until — all of the sudden — he snatched the lead away from marroca5 for the first time:

RSS readers click through to see replay

THE QUICK ONE

Four-handed play had been going on for about an hour without an elimination. Then, all of the sudden, marroca5 re-claimed his tournament dominance.

In a NLHE round with 5,000/10,000 blinds and a 1,250 ante, ZeeJustin raised to 20,000. marroca5 re-raised to 50,800 and ZeeJustin made it 100,000 to go.

marroca5 called and the flop came [6h][8s][10c]. ZeeJustin led out for another 100,000 and — after thinking for a bit — marroca5 raised to 220,000.

ZeeJustin folded and was left with 445,571 while marroca5 was back up to over 1MM. Two hands later, marroca5 would get himself a double kill.

marroca5 raised to 20,000 and JIZOINT moved all in for 253,296. Charder30 reshoved for 396,293 from the small blind and ZeeJustin folded from the big blind.

Action was on marroca5, who tanked for a bit before making the call.

marroca5: [10h][10c]
JIZOINT: [4c][4h]
charder30: [ac][jc]

The board came [6h][6c][8d][3d][8s] and all of the sudden we were heads up.

JIZOINT was eliminated in 4th — earning $34,880 — while charder30 got 3rd place, a finish worth $45,780.

This last hand also gave marroca5 a 3-1 chip lead in the heads up match.

marroca5: 1,679,274
ZeeJustin: 500,726

ZeeJustin raised to 20,000 in the first hand of the heads up match and took down the blinds.

The next hand would be the last.

marroca5 raised to 20,000 and ZeeJustin called. ZeeJustin checked the [7d][8d][ks] flop and marroca5 bet 21,800. ZeeJustin raised to 52,000 and marroca5 made it 110,000.

ZeeJustin then 4-bet to 180,000 and marroca5 moved all in. ZeeJustin made the call and showed [kd][5d] for a pair of kings.

marroca5 held [kc][8h] for a pair of kings and a pair of 8s. The turn was an [8c], giving marroca5 the full house and the title of Event #22-H Champion.

ZeeJustin was eliminated in 2nd place for $63,130 while marroca5 won his first SCOOP watch and $83,668.

2012 SCOOP Event #22-H ($1,050 NLHE/PLO) Results:

1st place: marroca5 ($83,668.40)

2nd place: ZeeJustin ($62,130)

3rd place: charder30 ($45,780)

4th place: JIZOINT ($34,880)

5th place: Python817 ($24,416)

6th place: RunThisTable ($18,530)

7th place: benzidebuc ($14,170)

8th place: birs320 ($9,810)

9th place: MrCoco ($7,237.60)

There’s still plenty of SCOOP action to go. Be sure to check out the SCOOP homepage for a full schedule of the remaining events. Congratulations to marroca5 for his first SCOOP victory, we’ll see you next time.

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | australia | gambling | harrah's | rio | russian poker series | technology | TOC

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.

RSS readers click through to see replay

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.

RSS readers click through to see replay

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

You never know about tomorrow. That’s why no matter what happens today — good or bad — we all go to bed hoping that tomorrow will be filled with hope and promise. Last night, 70 players were tantalized by dreams of winning a SCOOP title, but only one would emerge victorious. Winning a single poker tournament is not an easy task, especially when you are forced to outlast over 28,000 other combatants.

SCOOP Event #2-L $27 NL Hold’em was scheduled as a two-day event and attracted 28,876 runners, all of whom contributed to a prize pool worth $721,900 — a number which smashed the $400,000 guarantee. The top 3,960 places in Event #2-L paid out with $66,892.27 set aside for the champion.

PokerStars Team Online member from Spain Javier ‘El_Cañonero’ Dominguez (104th place) and Germany’s Team PokerStars Pro Jan Heitman (497th place) were among the notable players who cashed and finished in the Top 500.

Russia’s reckoner4 ended Day 1 as the chip leader with 10.7 million. Only 70 players returned to action for Day 2. With three tables to go, it appeared as though reckoner4 was going to run away with the title when he became the first player to surpass the 100 million chip mark.

The final table Bubble Boy honors went to itsourekas. On the fateful hand in question, itsourekas found himself all-in pre-flop with [8d][8c] against SkiP009′s [Kc][5c]. Skip flopped a King to take the lead and improved to a flush on the river. Greece’s itsourekas hit the rail and uncermoniously bubbled off the final table in tenth place.

SCOOP Event #2-L Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: reckoner4 (39,561,959)
Seat 2: Soco2l (33,995,952)
Seat 3: Nty9Problems (13,380,736)
Seat 4: sonicdeep (12,189,636)
Seat 5: SkiP009 (52,791,405)
Seat 6: DiegoSouz7 (11,141,488)
Seat 7: SirLordJames (28,188,441)
Seat 8: Danil joker (60,273,430)
Seat 9: yargen (37,236,953)

Although recknoer4 held the lead at the onset of Day 2, Danil joker began the final table with the overall lead.

TAX MAN: DiegoSouz7 eliminated in 9th place

It didn’t take very long before the first player busted from the final table. SkiP009 opened to 2,400,000 and DiegoSouz7 called. The flop was [Js][Th][4h]. SkiP009 bet 8,800,000, which was more than DiegoSouz7′s retaining stack. DiegoSouz7 called all-in for 8,341,488. SkiP009 flipped over [Qs][Jd] and held the lead with a pair of Jacks. Meanwhile, DiegoSouz7 trailed with [7s][7c] and desperately needed a miracle. The turn was the [2s], and the river was the [5s]. DiegoSouz7 failed to improve and busted out in ninth place, collecting $3,515.65.

After winning that pot, SkiP009 seized the chip lead.

HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE: Nty9Problems eliminated in 8th place

With blinds at 500,000 and 1 million, short-stacked Nty9Problems open-shoved for 8,680,736. Danil joker called from the big blind with [Ac][8s]. He was ahead and dominated Nty9Problems’ [Qs][8c]. The board ran out [9c][7d][3s][Ad][6c]. The Ace on the turn sealed the victory for Danil joker (who retained the chip lead). Nty9Problems busted out in eighth place and won $5,977.33.

YELLOW SUBMARINE: sonicdeep eliminated in 7th place

Short-stacked sonicdeep picked a spot and moved all-in for 4,189,636. Yargen called, reckoner4 called, and Soco2l called. Four-way pot. All three players checked it down to the river. The board ran out [6c][4c][4d][2h][2s]. Shorty sonicdeep mucked, and yargen won the pot with [5s][5h]. Alas, sonicdeep was knocked out in seventh place, but won $8,785.52.

AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING: SirLordJames eliminated in 6th place

SirLordJames shoved for 24,331,588 and yargen called from the big blind. yargen was ahead with [9h][9s] against SirLordJames’ [6s][6h]. The board ran out [Jc][Th][8s][Ts][2s], and yargen won the pot with two pair — tens and nines. SirLordJames was eliminated in sixth place, collecting $12,654.90.

Danil joker held the lead with over 96 million. Soco2l was the shorty with 20.8 million.

SHE SAID SHE SAID: yargen eliminated in 5th place

In the first mega-pot of the final table… yargen opened to 3,010,000, reckoner4 raised to 7 million, yargen shoved all-in for 48,830,399. reckoner4 called with [Ah][Jd], but yargen trailed with [Ad][7s]. The board ran out [Kh][6s][4h][9s][Ac]. yargen was outkicked and busted. For a fifth-place finish, yargen won $18,978.75. Meanwhile, reckoner4 surged to over 100 million and seized the lead with four players to go.

Deal Time

With four remaining, the action was paused so everyone could discuss a deal. An agreement was reached with an ICM chop and $8,000 left on the table for the winner.

GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE: SkiP009 eliminated in 4th place

When play resumed, the last two Russians at the final table would meet their fate. SkiP009 hit the road and bowed out in fourth place on a cooler.
SkiP009 got it all-in preflop with [Qd][Qh] against Soco2l’s [As][Ac]. The pocket rockets held up and Soco2l won the pot. SkiP009 earned $41,390.40 for third place.

I’M ONLY SLEEPING: reckoner4 eliminated in 3rd place

Unfortunately, the Day 1 chip leader would not win the event. Reckoner4 made a move and got his entire stack in preflop with [2c][2d] against Danil joker’s [Th][Ts]. The board ran out [As][Qs][6s][6h] [Tc], and Danil joker won the pot with a full house. For third place, reckoner4 won $45,709.83.

Heads-Up: Danil Joker (Ukraine) vs. Soco2l (Czech Republic)

Both players were almost dead even inn chips with approximately five million separating the two.

TOMORROW NEVER KNOWS: Danil Joker eliminated in 2nd place

The final two danced around during the onset of heads-up, but Soco2l was the one who took advantage of the tempered play. Soco2l slowly chipped away at Danil Joker and passed 200 million in chips, but he could not deliver the fatal blow.

After it looked as though the two were settling in for a drawn out brawl, the two engaged in fireworks. Danil joker opened to 4 million, Soco2l raised to 10 million, and Danil joker called. The flop was [As][8d][7h]. Soco2l fired out 10,250,000 and Danil joker called. The turn was the [Ad]. Soco2l bet 18,853,853 and Danil joker called. The river was the [Tc]. Soco2l bet 28,258,698. Danil joker rraised all-in for 67,655,875 and Soco2l called. Danil joker showed [Jc][9c] for a Jack-high straight, but Soco2l won the hand with [Ah][Th] and a full boat. Rough way to go. Ukraine’s Danil joker won $42,755.67 for a stellar runner-up performance.

Soco2l won the pot and shipped the tournament. The Czech Republic’s Soco2l collected $42,239.91 for first place, not to mention winning a SCOOP title!

RSS readers must click thru to view the replayer

Final Table Results and Payouts:
1. Soco2l (Czech Republic) – $42,239.91 **
2. Danil joker (Ukraine) – $42,755.67 **
3. reckoner4 (Russia) – $45,709.83 **
4. SkiP009 (Russia) – $41,390.40 **
5. yargen (Israel) – $18,978.75
6. SirLordJames (Czech Republic) – $12,654.90
7. sonicdeep (Ukraine) – $8,785.52
8. Nty9Problems (Australia) – $5,977.33
9. DiegoSouz7 (Brazil) – $3,515.65

** denotes a deal was cut among the final four

Don’t forget to checkout the 2012 SCOOP home page for schedule of events including satellite information,

Tags: 2011 | Battle of the Planets | belgian poker series | delicious | entertainment | gambling | harrah's | isildur1 | pokerstars macau | russian | twitter

6:50pm: Ten-minute break

6:35pm: Aldridge misses

Ian Aldridge started today with just 10,900 in chips. He fought hard to get himself into the top 50 players, but ultimately, that’s where his run would end.

Aldridge committed himself with the adventurous [9h][6s] on a flop of [7h][ks][8d] for an open-ended straight draw against Paul Satzke’s [kd][3h] top pair.

The turn bricked the [4d] and the river was an equally bricky [3s]. Aldridge is out as Satzke is now up to 150,000.

6:25pm: The curse of the ace

When you hold pocket kings, the odds of an ace hitting the board increase astronomically. It’s a well-known fact of poker. Usually it costs you money because you’re opponent has hit a pair with a raggedy ace, but this time is cost Lynn Brooks money after scaring her opponent out of the pot.

Brooks and her lone opponent got busy on a [2s][3d][2h] flop when Brooks checked to her opponent who bet 12,000. Brooks check-raised the minimum to 24,000 and her opponent quickly called. The turn was the dreaded [ah] but it didn’t stop Brooks from moving all in for around 50,000.

Her opponent was pained by the ace and quickly folded, what he said was pocket tens, as Brooks showed [kc][kh]. Brooks moves up to 130,000.

Lady in red, Lynn Brooks is one of two remaining ladies in the field

6:10pm: One to watch

A few moments ago, Vince Moro told us to keep an eye on PokerStars qualifier Daryl Alderson. Moro told us that he’s a very good player who regularly reaches final tables in Adelaide. It took only a few moments for Moro’s wisdom to resonate onto the felt.

We caught Alderson in action on a flop of [ad][8d][8s]. From middle position, Alderson bet 7,500 before his opponent raised to 22,000. That didn’t slow Alderson, who peeked at his cards once again before re-raising to 57,500. His opponent folded and Alderson slammed [qs][jc] defiantly down on the table as his opponent admitted to folding pocket queens.

One to watch for sure, Alderson is now up to 160,000.

5:50pm: Level up, blinds 1,500-3,000, ante 500

5:45pm: Just jacks

Didier Guerin has just recalled to us another nice pot that recently went his way. With an open raise to 10,000, Guerin made the call in the small blind to see a queen-high flop.

Guerin checked and quickly called a bet of 20,000, before both players checked the deuce turn. The river repeated another deuce, and Guerin check-called for 25,000. His pocket jacks were good as his opponent mucked. Guerin is up to 330,000.

5:30pm: All-in time waster

There’s a strange technique employed by the dealers here in the Burswood poker room which has had players (and media) a little perplexed.

When there is an all-in clash, the dealers always count down the chips of both players and bring the bet amounts into the pot before the cards are dealt. In just about every other casino in the world, the chips are sorted out after the hand to save time in case the larger stack wins the hand anyway.

We’ve been noticing it over the past few days, but it was exaggerated in the recent Anthony Aston hand where there were stacks of chips were cut down all over the table as the dealers and floor staff took several minutes to sort out the all-in bet amounts before the turn and river could be dealt.

It wasted several minutes of time, so we had to find out about this rule and why it was going on. Apparently it’s a government regulation that the dealers must break down the bets amounts and bring them into a pot. There’s not much that the staff can do about it. It was a rule designed for cash games, but unfortunately the poker room hasn’t yet been able to secure an exemption for tournaments where the chips have no monetary value and wasted time is so crucial.

Hopefully common sense prevails and the room can get around this annoyance in future, but for now, don’t blame the dealers as they are just doing the job they’ve been instructed to do.

5:20pm: Another set jumps Aston to the top

Anthony Aston is a set machine! After storming out to a huge chip lead at the start of the day yesterday, Aston has again got himself motoring on Day 2 after winning the biggest pot of the tournament to date with yet another set.

The chips were in on a flop of [jh][4h][6s] with Aston tabling [js][jc] for top set as his opponent was in trouble with [kd][kc]. With only two cards to fade, the [2d] turn and [9s] river completed the board to see Aston rake in a massive pot and move up to 340,000 for the tournament chip lead.

Anthony Aston is challenging room mate Didier Guerin for the chip lead

5:10pm: Pairing the kicker

Warrick Spratling has secured a double up but he had to come from behind to do it. Spratling was all in with [ah][7h] and had one foot out the door when he was called by a dominant [ac][qc] but he paired his kicker on the board of [7c][8d][3h][jh][9c].

Spratling is up to 48,000.

5:00pm: Pagana perishes

ANZPT regular Sebastian Pagana has struggled with a short stack during the day today as he just couldn’t find a double up to get himself back into contention. His tournament is now over after he shoved his last 8,700 with [ah][7d] but was called by an opponent with [ad][qs].

The board arrived [3c][tc][3s][4d][9h] to see Pagana join his mates on the rail.

4:50pm: Play resumes

The players are back for Level 12 with the blinds up to a hefty 1,200-2,400 with a 400 ante. There are currently 65 players still in contention with Didier Guerin and Mark Johnson our current chip leaders.

The next two hours could prove to be pretty interesting as we inch our way closer to the money stage of the tournament.

Tags: ept | facebook | france | lapt | latin-america | UKIPT | videos | wbcoop | world cup of poker

Being the first Tuesday in May, this edition of the PokerStars Super Tuesday will attempt to channel the spirit of a certain horserace running on the first Saturday in May. This week’s a field of 456 nominees, each putting up $1,050 dollars, create a purse of $456,000 to be passed out among the top 54 finishers with the winner expecting to earn over $87,000. Several notable players made the final table, but only one was the leader as Stefan “I’amSound” Huber never lost his chip lead to win in dominating fashion.

Fortunately, no players were harmed in the running of this tournament, although there may have been some crushing of souls.

Cashing contenders and Team PokerStars players

Popular selections such as Felipe “Improved” Montenengro (29th), TJ “1BigAceHole” Ulmer (33rd), Alex “Assassinato” Fitzgerald (43rd), Pascal “Pass_72″ Lefrancois (45th), Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman and Fabian “fabstinho” Quoss (50th) visited the pay window, but not collecting a desired final table seat.

Players sponsored by PokerStars had trouble making the money. Two players cashed as Team PokerStars Online players Diego “vgreen22″ Brunelli (38th) and Anders “Donald” Berg (46th, below) earned a few bucks. They fared better than
Kevin “WizardOfAhhs” Thurman, Toni Judet, Andre Akkari, and Javier ‘El_Cañonero’ Dominguez as the red spade logo couldn’t guarantee a money-earning position.

Danijelamik late scratch, out in 10th place ($5,928.00)

There were ten hopefuls jockeying for a spot at the final table, but only nine seats available as hand-for-hand play began, taking just one hand. The blinds were at 2,000/4,000 with an ante of 500 as Stefan “I’amSound” Huber opened with a min-raise holding [as][ks]. In the big blind, danijelamik moved in from the big blind with [6c][6s], and it appeared to be a head-bobbing finish. However, the flop was [Kh][8c][2c] as I’amSound moved clear. That lead was extended with the [5h] turn and [Ac] river sending danijelamik off to the paddock just short of making the final table.

Here’s how the field was positioned when the final table starting gate was released:

Seat 1: pokerpro_kk1 (248,563 in chips)
Seat 2: RLOG (267,958 in chips)
Seat 3: tonkaaaa (350,306 in chips)
Seat 4: UT99PL/YER (208,086 in chips)
Seat 5: Sebastian “p0cket00″ Sikorski (154,864 in chips)
Seat 6: Don Marato (330,073 in chips)
Seat 7: Stefan “I’am_Sound” Huber (408,176 in chips)
Seat 8: Greg” gregior” Howard (110,916 in chips)
Seat 9: Marvin “Ron Jovi 7″ Rettenmaier (201,058 in chips)

Several known players and some outsiders looking for a major score, how will it turn out?

Tonkaaaa starts fast, falls back to 9th ($7,569.60)

Starting the final table second in chips, tonkaaaa surely expected to be around a while and finish in the trifecta. Sometimes, you lose the irons and drift to the back. It also doesn’t help when you lose coinflips, which is what happened to tonkaaaa. Losing most of their chips when RLOG’s A-K outflopped their queens, tonkaaaa tried to get them back a few hands later against I’amSound. The blinds were now 2,400/4,800 with an ante of 600 as tonkaaaa min-raised to 4,800 with [ah][jh]. Holding [2s][2h], I’amSound re-raised to put tonkaaaa all-in, calling with their remaining 122,000 chips. Another neck-and-neck battle was quickly dashed on the flop: [jc][3h][2d], giving I’amSound a set versions tonkaaaa’s top-top. The turn was the [8c], ending any drama leaving the record to show the [4d] fell on the river.

Gregior’s ticket cancelled in 8th ($10,260.00)

Greg “gregior” Howard was a long shot to win tonight’s Super Tuesday, starting last in chips. Finding [ah][jh] on the button and a raise from p0cket00 was worthy of going all-in for their last 121,000 chips. The problem was p0cket00 had the better hand, calling with [ad][kd]. The board ran out [4h][2d][2c][9d] [3c], meaning Howard would have to wait a little longer to claim a 2nd Super Tuesday title (his first win was back in 2008).

UT99PL/YER mad at Marvin, dispatched in 7th ($14,820.00)

Marvin “Ron Jovi 7″ Rettenamier already earned a hefty score in a side event during the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo and was hoping to add an online score to his quest for cash. His stack enjoyed a healthy boost after eliminating UT99PL/ER. Play was now at 2,800/5,600 with a 700 ante as I’amSound limped, Rettenamier re-raised to 12,680. UT99PL/YER cold four-bet shoved for over 171,000 with [6d][6c]. I’amSound folded, but Rettenmaier couldn’t find a fold when he held [kc][ks]. It was a match race between a champion racehorse and a bottom-level claimer as the board runs out [9h] [7d] [3h] [5h] [Qc] leaving six runners to pick from to determine a winner.

No tomorrow for Don Morato, out in 6th ($19,380.00)

Stefan “I’amSound” Huber moved out to a widening lead as the other five players held back hoping for a stumble. But a pair of river cards in big spots would turn this competition from a competition into a near-walkover in spectacular fashion. The blinds were now 3,200/6,400 with an 800 ante as Don Morato took their shot at overtaking the leader.

RSS readers click through to see replay

The dreaded counterfeit moves Huber to over one million chips, almost as many as the other four players combined.

Rettenmaier steaming after Huber rivers again, finishing 5th ($25,536.00)

More fun on the river for Huber, as he flushes away Marvin “Ron Jovi 7″ Rettenmaier’s chance for a live/online double this week. The blinds were now 3,600/7,200 with a 900 ante as this hand played out:

RSS readers click through to see replay

The chip counts would be as follows going into the last half of the tournament:

I’am_Sound:1,651,793
RLOG: 317,905
pokerpro_kk1: 165,787
p0cket00: 144,515

The standings would give you the impression Stefan “I’amSound” Huber was moving like a tremendous machine, like Secretariat. Would someone make a Silky Sullivan-type comeback from the clouds to overtake Huber?

Pokerpro_kk1 rolled by RLOG, to the rail in 4th ($36,480.00)

While Huber was padding his stack, the other three were battling for the minor placings. Blinds are now 4,000/8,000 with a 1,000 ante as pokerpro_kk1 min-raised as RLOG set the Brazilian all in for their last 162,000 chips. Cards were on their backs as pokerpro_kk1 held the lead with [as][tc] against RLOG’s [kd][8d]. The door card on the flop was the [ks], followed by the [th] and [9c] giving both players a pair. The [7h[5c] turn and river helped neither player, which was fine for RLOG, establishing a solid second place with three players left.

I’amSound silences RLOG in 3rd ($47,880.00)

The odds gave the appearance it would be I’amSound and RLOG in the exacta, but p0cket00, a winner of the first Super Tuesday of 2011, had other ideas. P0cket00 was able to double through I’amSound, then eventually took 2nd place from RLOG with pocket queens v. A-8. Holding less than 20 big blinds at 4,500/9,000 with a 1,125 ante, that wouldn’t stop a five-bet raising war on the flop versus I’amSound in RLOG’s final hand:

RSS readers click through to see replay

P0cket00 humbled by Huber, runner-up for $64,980.00

No need to extend the drama, Stefan “I’amSound” Huber held an over 6-1 heads-up lead and wasn’t easing down as the wire approached. Sebastian “p0cket00″ Sigorski would only win two hands in their battle, with the final hand starting with the deficit now 10-1 in favor of Huber. A min-raise from the small blind by Huber induced a shove for the last 193,000 chips in the stack of Sigorski, none too pleased to see their [jh][th] dominated by Huber’s [as][jd]. The flop came [ah][kh][7d], giving Sigorski a flush draw, a straight draw and a royal flush draw. The [kd] was the right color, if players were using a two-color deck, but the [ks] on the river gave Huber an unnecessary full house, which was good for a boost of their account by $87,506.40. Sigorski “settles” for $64,980.00 for the second place finish.

Congrats to Stefan Huber, winning tonight’s Super Tuesday like a front-runner should.

May 1, 2012 Super Tuesday final table results:

1st: Stefan “I’amSound” Huber – $87,506.40
2nd: Sebastian “p0cket00″ Sigorski – $64,980.00
3rd: RLOG – $47,880.00
4th: pokerpro_kk1 – $36,480.00
5th: Marvin “Ron Jovi 7″ Rettenmaier – $25,536.00
6th: Don Marato – $19,380.00
7th: UT99PL/YER – $14,820.00
8th: Greg “gregior” Howard – $10,260.00
9th: tonkaaa – $7,569.60

A note for Super Tuesday fans: the tournament will not be held for the next two weeks as the SCOOP tournament series will take over in its place. Forty tournaments, each with three separate buy-ins, will give players plenty to chew on from May 6th through May 20th.

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | ept | eureka poker tour | European Poker Tour | events | facebook | france | italian poker tour | latin-america | news | portugal poker series | wbcoop

PokerStars’ weekly $1,050 no-limit hold’em tourney, the Super Tuesday, was back in action tonight, with yet another large field of online poker’s elite coming out. Once late registration closed a total of 438 had registered, creating a $438,000 prize pool and once more besting the tourney’s $300K guarantee. The top 54 places paid, with $84,052.20 due the winner and successor to last week’s victor, Team PokerStars Pro Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth.

Just over four hours into the tournament the total field had shrunk to less than 100 players. Among those having hit the rail by then were Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari (322nd), Shane “shaniac” Schleger of Team Online (200th), and Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez (118th).

At that point REDDYBABY902 had surged out in front with more than 100,000 chips, well ahead of second-place karamelungen who sat with just under 60,000. About an hour later the money bubble burst and they were down to 54, with karamelungen having moved up into a virtual tie for first with REDDYBABY902 with both hovering just over 96,000. Meanwhile, trindade69 had moved into third place with about 88,000.

By the six-hour mark just 25 remained, with several familiar names among those cashing, including patronemesmo (53rd, $2,190), Carter “cswidler” Swidler (49th, $2,190), Annette “Annette_15″ Obrestad (42nd, $2,409), Brian “Halfrek” Elgaard (35th, $2,628), Stefan “I’am_Sound” Huber (32nd, $2,628), Berndsen12 (31st, $2,628), and James “croll103″ Carroll (30th, $2,628).

With 25 left Oscar “MendaLerenda” Serradell had pushed past everyone into the lead with 203,735, followed by APowers1968 (186,630), karamelungen (144,290), and REDDYBABY902 (141,153).

An little over an hour later just 10 remained, with Crazy Elior (21st, $3,066), seymouraces (19th, $3,066), Luke “lb6121″ Schwartz (16th, $3,942), Dylan “ImaLucSac” Linde (15th, $4,818), and B4d3m3!st3r (12th, $5,694) among those having been eliminated.

Soon a short-stacked jordie1982 was all in before the flop with [9s][9h] against Eu_Duque’s [Ah][9c], and while the eight-high flop was fine for jordie1982, an ace fell on the turn to pair Eu_Duque. When the river didn’t bring the case nine, jordie1982 was out in 10th ($5,694).

The final table was set.

Seat 1: karamelungen — 544,735
Seat 2: APowers1968 — 606,763
Seat 3: entim — 48,586
Seat 4: Hustlaaaaaa — 97,330
Seat 5: MendaLerenda — 300,021
Seat 6: GeniPoker — 123,768
Seat 7: Eu_Duque — 181,991
Seat 8: REDDYBABY902 — 245,157
Seat 9: PAAD72 — 41,649

On the very first hand of the final table, it folded around to the short stack PAAD72 who shoved from the small blind with [Ac][2d] and karamelungen quickly called with [Qd][Qh]. The board ran out [6d][3h][7d][Kh][2s], and they were swiftly down to eight.

Less than an orbit later it was karamelungen again getting involved, this time opening with a 2x raise to 7,200 from UTG. entim reraised all in for 48,786 from a couple of seats over, and when it folded back around karamelungen called, showing [4h][4d] to entim’s [Ac][Qd]. The five community cards rolled out [6d][Ks][9s][8s][7d] and karamelungen’s fours had held, sending entim out in eighth.

A short while later the blinds had climbed to 2,000/4,000 when Dan “APowers1968″ Colpoys raised to 8,000 from UTG, then Hustlaaaaaa reraised all in for 69,030 from a seat over. It folded around to REDDYBABY902 who reshoved over the top for more than 113,000, forcing a fold from Colpoys.

REDDYBABY902 talbed [Qc][Qd], better than Hustlaaaaaa’s [Jd][Jh], and five cards later — [Ac][6s][8d][Ts][Tc] — Hustlaaaaaa was eliminated in seventh.

The remaining six would battle for nearly an hour before the next elimination, after which stretch karamelungen was out in front with nearly 700,000, MendaLerenda second with about 530,000, REDDYBABY902 third with just over 400,000, APowers1968 and Eu_Duque battling for fourth and hovering around 250,000, and GeniPoker on the short stack with just over 62,000.

The blinds were 3,600/7,200 and it folded to Oscar “MendaLerenda” Serradell
in the cutoff who made a 2x raise, then GeniPoker reraised all in from the button, forcing folds from both blinds. MendaLerenda called, showing [Ks][Jh], while GeniPoker turned over [Td][8d]. The board ran out [5s][2h][9h][Qh][4d], and Serradell’s king-high was best, knocking GeniPoker out in sixth.

They played on, and with the blinds up to 4,500/9,000 a hand arose in which karamelungen open-raised all in from the small blind and Dan “APowers1968″ Colpoys
called with the 78,962 he had left in the BB. karamelungen had [As][Tc] and Colpoys [Ac][3c]. The flop came [Qd][Jc][Kc], giving karamelungen a Broadway straight although APowers1968 still had hopes to complete his flush draw. But the turn was the [Ad] and the river the [5s], and APowers1968′s run had ended in fifth place.

The remaining four edged toward the tourney’s 10-hour mark while the blinds moved up to 6,000/12,000. Then Eu_Duque pushed all in for 176,545 from the button with [Qc][9s] and got a call from karamelungen in the big blind who held [Ks][Qs]. The board didn’t help Eu_Duque, coming [5c][Jh][Tc][Ts][6h], and he was gone in fourth.

Soon after they returned from the 10-hour break, REDDYBABY902 opened with a min-raise to 24,000 from the button, then karamelungen reraised all in from the small blind for 197,642. MendaLerenda folded, but REDDYBABY902 called, showing [Kd][Qc]. karamelungen needed help with [Jc][Tc], but the board ran out [5h][8h][4s][Kc][Qs], giving REDDYBABY902 two pair and sending karamelungen railward in third.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Heads-up play began with Oscar “MendaLerenda” Serradell enjoying the chip advantage with 1,265,676 to REDDYBABY902′s 924,324. The pair played nine hands with smallish pots, then Serradell won a couple of larger ones to increase his advantage to better than 3-to-1. And a couple of hands after that it was all over.

In the final hand, the blinds were 7,000/14,000 when MendaLerenda opened with a raise to 28,000 from the button. REDDYBABY902 reraised to 49,555, Serradell made it 77,000, REDDYBABY902 pushed all in fro 556,577 total, and MendaLerenda snap-called.

REDDYBABY902: [7d][7h]
MendaLerenda: [Ah][Ad]

A couple of pocket pairs, but Serradell had the best you can get. The board ran out [4c][3d][Qs][Jc][4d], MendaLerenda’s aces held, and all of the chips slid his way.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congratulations to Oscar “MendaLerenda” Serradell for topping a tough field of 438 to win this week’s Super Tuesday and $84K-plus first prize!

Super Tuesday results for 4/24/12:
1st: MendaLerenda ($84,052.20)
2nd: REDDYBABY902 ($62,415)
3rd: karamelungen ($45,990)
4th: Eu_Duque ($35,040)
5th: APowers1968 ($24,528)
6th: GeniPoker ($18,615)
7th: Hustlaaaaaa ($14,235)
8th: entim ($9,855)
9th: PAAD72 ($7,270.80)

Have you checked out the schedule for the Spring Championship of Online Poker yet? 114 events packed into two weeks in May! Check out the full schedule here.

Tags: 2011 | events | festival | france poker series | italian | lapt | micromillions | SCOOP | super | wcoop | world-series

4.30pm: The alpha dogs

These are the elite, the best of the best, the top 5 chip counts in the tournament.

At least that’s how it stands for now but we all know how quickly your fortunes can change on the whim of lady luck.

Mate Mecs Croatia 128000
Ivan Brkicic Bosnia and Herzeg. 111000
Yavor Tutev Hungary PS Qualifier 107000
Tonci Restovic Hungary PS Qualifier 102000
Goran Mandic Romania 98000

The full chip counts from the end of level 11 can be found by scooting over to the right and clicking the chp count link. Go have a look!>>>>>>>>

Mate Mecs, half of him’s your friend, the other half a chip gathering machine

4.20pm: LEVEL UP; BLINDS 800/1600/100)

4.00pm: END OF LEVEL 11; 15 MINUTE BREAK

3.40pm Risers and fallers

Up to 88k is Stelyan Georgiev, who has added a nice padding to the 70k stack he started the day with, whilst falling by a similar amount, although still in the hunt is Zeljka Peric, who holds 31,300 right now.

Michal Misterek, who came into the day near the head of the leaderboard has also slipped back, the Pole now reduced to a still healthy 50,550.

3.22pm Sweet Muzic back in action

Followers of day 1a’s updates will remember Verdan Premuzic held the chip lead early on in day 1a.

He’s been battling away with a shortstack today, and although he is still relatively short, he has boosted his chances a little.

A recent hand saw him shove for 22k on the flop of a [Jc][9d][5d] board over a bet of 4.7k from Ante Varnica, getting the Croatian to lay his hand down.

“Set” he told him as he mucked his hand, although he didn’t provide any evidence to back up this claim. Premuzic up to 20k, Varnica back to 28.7k.

Play that funky muzic

3.14pm Scannell falls from grace

Martin Scannell has had an incredible fall from his position as chip leader come the start of the day – he’s still in but only just.

He’d already lost a large chunk of his stack, before we saw him call an allin raise from a shortstack-shoving Ante Varnica with [As][Jc], only for Varnica to showdown a dominating [Ah][Ks].

Both players flopped a pair on the [Kc][Jd][7d] flop, but a blank [4c] and [4h] on the turn and river meant Varnica takes down the pot and moves to 30,500 whilst a floundering Scannell has seen his earlier monster stack reduced to just 24k…

We’re not sure exactly how he lost those chips although both Tonci Restovic
and Ivan Brkicic have chipped up to 95k and 90k respectively suggesting they may have been the men to have inflicted the damage.

Ante’s up!

3.05pm LEVEL UP, BLINDS 600,1200,100

2.55pm: We have a champion!

Calm down people, it’s not over yet. But there is one player in the field who has already tasted sweet success at this leg of the Eureka Poker Tour and that is none other than one of the three ladies remaining in the main event field, Hana Soljan.

Hana won the €200 Omaha freezeout tournament yesterday for around €2,000 (there was a deal done headsup) in the early hours of the morning but had to forego excessive celebrations as she was returning for day 2 with a healthy stack, still in contention for the main event.

Here is Hana celebrating her moment of success.

Four cards better than two cards

2.38pm: Scannell accelerating through the field

Martin Scannell is chipped up and dangerous. The Irishman was seen being very active at his table, his latest coup seeing him flat an early position raise to 2.2k from Karolj Kis, which was also called behind by Zoltan Kapitany.

Scannell was the only man to show any interest in the board of [Td][5d][4d], his 4k bet uncalled by the two other players, so he scoops another pot to push him yet further into the chip lead with 128k.

2.26pm Gavin has loads of Biggs

Christea Ionut may have been fortunate to outdraw Bogdan Capitan earlier, but his fortune wasn’t to last.

We joined the hand with a [Qs][4s][Tc] board showing and both Ionut and the larger stacked Englishman Gavin Biggs had their chips in the middle. – Ionut showing [Qd][9d] and Biggs [Ac][Qh] – both players holding top pair.

Ionut was in dire shape though, looking down the barrell of elimination with his inferior kicker and when the turn and river ran out the [8h] and [7h] respectively, nothing had changed and Ionut was heading out the door.

Biggs up to just over 100k after that hand.

Gavin Biggs: Q-9 don’t cut the mustard, son.

2.14pm Capitan goes down with the ship

Bogdan Capitan was similarly shortstacked come the start of the day, though when he shipped his chips in with pocket kings and was looked up by Christea Ionut’s [Kd][Qh], he looked in great shape to double up and stay in contention,

A board of [2s][5d][Th] looked like sealing that double, though an ominous [9h] on the turn opened up a slim shot for a backdoor straight.

The [Jc] that cruelly fell on the river turned the tables, drawing assorted gasps from the table, but Capitan took the beat well, shook hands with the victor and hit the rail.

Capitan of a sinking ship

2.05pm Matic out-kicked and kicked out

As expected its been a fast start with 6 eliminations in the early stages.

One of those to go was local Tomislav Matic. We joined the river of a [Js][7c][7s][Kd][5h] board, Matic with all his chips in the middle showing down J-9, which was inferior to Yavor Tutev’s A-J.

Having come into the day shortstacked he was forced into taking his shot, which sadly this time didn’t pay off.

2.00pm There can be only one

We return for day 2 here in Croatia with 61 players having survived the carnage of the first two days, Martin Scannell from Ireland emerging from the chaos to top the chip listings with 115,500.

The pride of Ireland leads the way

Just behind him though sits the dangerous Croatian Dragan Galic, who also managed to build a six figure stack of 100,100 and he will be a major obstacle to pass for anyone harbouring hopes of winning this tournament.

The players will be returning shortly to start level 10. There will be a host of shorter stacks most likely looking to take a shot at chipping up or busting out so we could be in for a fast start.

If day 2 is cast from the same fire and brimstone that we saw on days 1a and 1b, then we should be in for some exciting poker.

Tags: australia | Baltic Poker Festival | Battle of the Planets | croatia | entertainment | estrellas poker tour | pokerstars macau | portugal poker series | russian | sunday-million | tcoop

The Super Tuesday, the weekly $1,050 no-limit hold’em tournament that has routinely drawn huge fields over recent weeks, brought out another big group this week with 462 players joining in. That meant a prize pool of $462,000, easily besting the event’s $300K guarantee. The top 54 would divide the cash, with $88,657.80 of it due the winner barring any late night deals.

There were a few Team PokerStars members among the field this week, including Team Pro Pius Heinz, Shane “shaniac” Schleger of Team Online, and Team Pro Ana Marquez, although none could do better than Marquez’ 146th-place finish.

As they crossed the five-hour mark the field had shrunk to less than 60 as the money bubble approached. By then Jerrage06 was the lone player in six figures, sitting atop the counts with better than 113,000, with Tarjei82, MORTIIIIIIII, and turataika all hovering between 90k and 100k.

Soon it was scott96dl becoming the unfortunate 55th-place finisher and last eliminated before the cash.

Players continued to fall over the next hour and 45 minutes, among them AceSpades11 (52nd, $2,310), Ansgar2000 (49th, $2,310), C. Darwin2 (43rd, $2,541), danloulou (38th, $2,541), aleks1917 (35th, $2,772), turataika (33rd, $2,772), Zackattak13 (29th, $2,772), simon1471 (26th, $3,234), julianherold (23rd, $3,234), StatusUp (20th, $3,234), and 00psiedaisy (19th, $3,234).

They were approaching the seven-hour mark and 18 remained, at which point Halfrek had moved in front with better than 273,000, arnon shraga was next with just over 247,000, and robinho third with almost 217,000.

It would take another hour-and-a-half for nine more to fall, over which stretch Halfrek saw his stack shrink while robinho grabbed the top spot, pushing up over the 500,000-chip mark.

During that stretch alexandrapau (18th), tigbitties56 (17th), and Akademnuk (16th) all earned $4,158; REIPOKERXX (15th), Riz Tarde (14th), and Halfrek (13th) each took away $5,082; and Tarjei82 (12th), zoraleonas (11th), and Jerrage06 (10th) each saw $6,006 added to their PokerStars accounts.

After Jerrage06 was knocked out on one five-handed table in 10th, the remaining players waited for the hand to complete on the other where bearsfan75 had opened with a min-raise to 11,200 from the button, then MORTIIIIIIII reraised to 20,275 from the small blind, forcing a fold from robinho in the BB. bearsfan75 then shoved with the 163,354 he had left and MORTIIIIIIII quickly called.

bears75 showed [As][Kc], better than MORTIIIIIIII’s [Ah][Jh]. But when the board came [Qh][Th][9d][3h][6c], MORTIIIIIIII had made a flush and bears75 was out in ninth.

The final table — with one seat already empty — was underway.

Seat 1: mypokerf — 272,872
Seat 2: MaxFury20 — 31,926
Seat 3: empty
Seat 4: ns600 — 184,148
Seat 5: arnon shraga — 324,675
Seat 6: MORTIIIIIIII — 416,002
Seat 7: mmmaikk — 130,738
Seat 8: robinho — 601,410
Seat 9: gottama — 348,229

It would take a little over two orbits for the first elimination of the final table to come. After arnon shraga opened with a min-raise to 12,800 from UTG, it folded around to the table’s short stack MaxFury20 in the small blind who shoved for 42,352. ns600 stepped aside, and arnon shraga called, tabling [Ac][3h] to MaxFury20′s [Ah][Qc].

The flop came [3s][Th][8h], pairing arnon shraga’s kicker and leaving MaxFury20 seeking a queen. The turn was the [8c] and river the [5d], and MaxFury20 was out in eighth.

Meanwhile, gottama had seen his stack slide under 200,000, then he would lose most of that after three-bet shoving over a robinho raise with [9c][8c] only to run into ns600′s [Ac][As]. The board brought no help for gottama and he was down to less than 3,000 — not even a small blind.

gottama was all in on the next hand against both arnon shraga and mmmaikk. The remaining two checked the [8s][Ac][8h] flop, then when the turn brought the [5h] arnon shraga bet 16,371, a little less than half the pot, and mmmaikk called.

The river was the [3h], and this time arnon shraga bet 31,105. mmmaikk raised to 70,400, and arnon shraga gave up. mmmaikk showed [Ah][Kh] for the nut flush, and gottama flashed his [6h][2c] before leaving in seventh.

The final six then had the tourney paused to discuss a possible deal, although after some discussion no agreement could be reached and play soon resumed.

They played on for another 20 minutes, then came a hand in which MORTIIIIIIII opened for the minimum to 16,000 from early position, then mmmaikk reraised all in for 212,533 from a seat over. It folded back to MORTIIIIIIII who called with the 156,037 he had left.

MORTIIIIIIII had [Ts][Tc] while mmmaikk showed [Ac][Kh], and after the community cards came [As][5d][9c][6h][Qs], mmmaikk had the better pair and MORTIIIIIIII was out in sixth.

The tourney was paused once more with the final five now talking about a possible deal. At that point robinho still lead with almost 590,000, mypokerf was second with a little over 511,000, arnon shrago third with about 492,000, mmmaikk fourth with almost 393,000, and ns600 last with about 324,000.

ICM numbers — saving $6,000 to play for — were produced and after a little tweaking the five agreed to terms.

After play resumed, robinho slid back to short-stacked status while mypokerf and ns600 pushed to the top of the counts. The blinds had moved to 4,500/9,000 when ns600 raised to 27,000 from the cutoff, then arnon shraga called from the button. It folded to robinho in the big blind who shoved for 242,833. ns600 folded, but arnon shraga made the call.

robinho: [Ks][Qc]
arnon shraga: [9d][9h]

The board ran out [Ac][Ts][6s][8d][6h], meaning robinho hadn’t improved and was out in fifth.

Shortly after it was ns600 opening for 28,000 from UTG and arnon shraga calling from next position. Then mmmaikk pushed all in for 275,192 from the small blind. It folded all of the way back to arnon shraga who called, showing [Jd][Td] to mmmaikk’s [7c][7s]. All was fine for mmmaikk through the turn as the board had come [5d][4c][5s][8d], but the river brought the [Js] to pair arnon shraga and send mmmaikk railward in fourth.

With three left arnon shraga had the big lead with more than 1.3 million while both ns600 and mypokerf hovered just under 500,000. They crossed the ten-hour break, then the dynamic shifted after mypokerf won a preflop all-in with [Qd][Qs] against arnon shraga’s [As][7s] to claim the chip lead.

Then, with the blinds 5,000/10,000, ns600 opened for 20,000 from the button and arnon shraga made it 60,000 from the small blind. mypokerf folded, then ns600 pushed all in for 385,527 and arnon shraga called.

ns600 had [Ad][Jh] and arnon shraga [Th][Ts]. The flop brought a jack, but a ten as well, coming [Jd][2s][Tc] to put arnon shraga way ahead. The turn was the [2d], giving arnon shraga a full house. ns600 was looking for a saving jack on the river, but the fifth community card was an unhelpful [Ac] and ns600 was out in third.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Heads-up play began with arnon shraga in the lead with 1,276,167 to mypokerf’s 1,033,833. The pair would play about 20 hands after which mypokerf had pulled even, then over then next few edged out ahead of arnon shraga, building up to more than 1.38 million to arnon shraga’s 926,897. Then the final hand took place.

The blinds were 6,000/12,000. mypokerf opened to 24,000 from the small blind/button, arnon shraga reraised to 72,000, and mypokerf called. The flop came [7h][Ks][As], and arnon shraga bet 66,150. mypokerf called. The turn was the [Ts], and both players checked.

The river brought the [3c] and an all-in shove from arnon shraga which mypokerf quickly called. arnon shraga was bluffing as he tabled [8c][5d], meaning mypokerf’s [Kd][Th] for two pair was more than enough to win.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congratulations to mypokerf for topping a tough field of 462 to claim this week’s Super Tuesday and more than $60K! And kudos as well to robinho and arnon shraga who both managed $50K-plus scores thanks to the five-way chop.

Super Tuesday results for 4/10/12 (*reflects five-way deal):
1st: mypokerf ($60,039.61)*
2nd: arnon shraga ($53,371.28)*
3rd: ns600 ($46,396.90)*
4th: mmmaikk ($49,521.57)*
5th: robinho ($56,505.44)*
6th: MORTIIIIIIII ($19,635)
7th: gottama ($15,015)
8th: MaxFury20 ($10,395)
9th: bearsfan775 ($7,669.20)

Hear the story of Team Pro Victoria Coren buying a UKIPT Nottingham entry for a player turning in stellar showings in a couple of her PokerStars Home Games recently? Check it out.

Tags: Battle of the Planets | cash | events | italian | rio | SCOOP | TOC | world cup of poker

The Super Tuesday, the weekly $1,050 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament that routinely brings out online poker’s best, was back on tonight with another big field coming out to do battle. A total of 480 players bought in this week, creating a $480,000 prize pool and easily besting the event’s $300K guarantee.

The top 54 finishers would divide up that money, with $92,112 due the winner barring any final-table deals.

After four hours and 15 minutes the field had shrunk to 100 players, at which point Ami “UhhMee” Barer was leading everyone with almost 83,000, Jamil11 was closest with nearly 69,000, and GoToCa$hier third with about 64,000.

An hour-and-a-half later the money bubble had burst, with Team PokerStars Pro Pat Pezzin among those making the money while nursing a short stack. He’d continue to survive, however, as others began to hit the virtual rail over the next half-hour, including Leonard “Gerritss” Gerritss (51st, $2,400), WhEADa (47th, $2,400), katya03 (42nd, $2,640), magic 1717 (39th, $2,640), seymouraces (31st, $2,880), and GoToCa$hier (28th, $2,880).

With 27 left it was NoaTheArk leading all with almost 327,000, rportaleoni next with about 234,000, and bobivey third with just over 226,000. Pezzin was still there, too, sitting with less than 10 big blinds in 26th of 27.

A half-hour later just 18 were still with chips and gathered around two tables, with stauso (27th), MrBarret82 (25th), and Assani “jwvdcw” Fisher (19th) among the group going out with $3,360 cashes. Pezzin was still hanging on, then 18th of 18.

Greenback215 would be the next out in 18th ($4,320). Then Pezzin would jam his short stack of 14,328 (about five big blinds) with [Ac][4s] and get a caller in LFmagic with [Ah][3c]. The flop brought a trey to pair LFmagic, and two cards later Pezzin’s run had finally ended in 17th ($4,320).

Team PokerStars Pro Pat Pezzin

OCC480 would take away $4,320 as well for a 16th-place finish. The next three to go — bobivey (15th), claudioney18 (14th), and IMFICKLE (13th) — would all earn $5,280. And MrKlout (12th), LFmagic (11th), and danceofddead (10th) saw $6,240 added to their PokerStars accounts.

After about seven-and-a-half hours of poker, the final table was set.

Seat 1: KAROyal — 73,210
Seat 2: rportaleoni — 338,088
Seat 3: LetsFlipIt — 174,560
Seat 4: NoaTheArk — 645,737
Seat 5: o_omx — 84,026
Seat 6: 10IsTheYear — 329,786
Seat 7: RLOG — 457,979
Seat 8: enrique tech — 17,074
Seat 9: Jamil11 — 279,540

The final table’s super-short stack enrique tech started out folding hands for nearly an orbit, then doubled through rportaleoni after picking up [As][Qc] versus rportaleoni’s [Ac][2s]. enrique tech then folded for another orbit before picking up pocket nines and tripling up to more than 35,000.

Then came a hand in which NoaTheArk opened with a minimum-raise to 11,200 from early position, and it folded around to KAROyal in the small blind who pushed all in from 74,510. rportaleoni folded the BB, and NoaTheArk made the call, showing [Qc][Js] to KAROyal’s [Ah][Ks].

The flop came [Qd][6s][Jh] to pair NoaTheArk twice while giving KAROyal a chance at Broadway. The turn was the [7h] and river the [4h], and KAROyal was out in ninth.

enrique tech would pick up pocket sevens to double-up yet again to nearly 60,000, then slide back before doubling yet another time. Finally, however, enrique tech’s run would come to an end after open-shoving from UTG with 29,628 with [Qh][Qs] and getting a call from RLOG who held [Kc][5d]. The flop came [Kd][Kh][5c] to give RLOG trips, and after the [9d] turn and [Ad] river enrique tech was out in eighth.

They were just about at the nine-hour break when RLOG raised for the minimum (14,400) from UTG, then LetsFlipIt reraised to 46,800 from the cutoff, leaving but 2,732 behind. It folded back to RLOG who pushed all in and LetsFlipIt called.

RLOG: [Kc][Kh]
LetsFlipIt: [7s][7d]

The board ran out [Qh][2h][Ac][8c][4s] and LetsFlipIt was gone in seventh.

Shortly after they returned from the break, o_omx raised all in from the cutoff for 71,408 and Jamil11 called from the big blind. o_omx had [Kh][6h] and Jamil11 [As][8s], and after the five community cards came [5s][2d][7c][4d][Ah] Jamil11 had a pair and o_omx was out in sixth.

About 15 minutes later the blinds were up to 4,500/9,000 when Jamil11 raised to 18,000 from UTG+1/the cutoff and NoaTheArk called from the small blind. 10IsTheYear then reraised all in for 250,878 from the big blind, prompting another all-in shove from Jamil11 for about 886,000 total. NoaTheArk stepped aside, 10IsTheYear showed [As][Jd], and Jamil11 turned over [Ah][Kc]. The board ran out [5h][7h][Ts][Qh][Th], and fifth was the finish for 10IsTheYear.

With four left Jamil11 was the leader with about 1.16 million, NoaTheArk second with almost 658,000, RLOG third with just under 297,000, and rportaleoni last with a little more than 284,000.

Soon Jamil11 was raising to 18,000 from the button, then rportaleoni reraised all in from the small blind for 236,073. NoaTheArk then came over the top with another all-in push from the big blind for 554,169, and Jamil11 folded. rportaleoni had [2s][2s] and needed help against NoaTheArk’s [Js][Jd]. But the board came [3h][7d][Ts][4s][Ac], and they were down to three.

Shortly after that it appeared as though Jamil11 was about to send NoaTheArk out in third after the latter went all in with [Kc][Jc] against Jamil11′s [Js][Jd] and the community cards came nine-high through the turn. But the river brought a saving king for NoaTheArk and the three players pressed on.

The tide then turned in a big way after another preflop all-in confrontation between Jamil11 and NoaTheArk in which Jamil11 held [Ac][Kd] and NoaTheArk [7c][7h]. The sevens held, catapulting NoaTheArk to more than 1.24 million and the lead and leaving Jamil11 with just a little over 100,000. Take a look:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Jamil11 would survive to double up once through RLOG, but the end soon came in a hand in which RLOG opened with a min-raise of 24,000 from the button, then Jamil11 reraised all in for 190,946 from the small blind. NoaTheArk called the reraise, and after thinking for a bit RLOG did as well.

The flop came [2h][Ad][6h], and when NoaTheArk checked RLOG bet 156,889, forcing a fold from NoaTheArk. RLOG had [As][Kh] for aces, while Jamil11 was drawing thin with [Kc][7s]. The [8c] on the turn meant the [7c] was no matter, and Jamil11 was out in third.

Heads-up play began with RLOG ahead in chips with 1,336,250 to NoaTheArk’s 1,063,750. NoaTheArk quickly grabbed the advantage, however, in a huge hand in which he got all of his chips in the middle on the river with the board showing [6s][7d][Kd][2c][Jc] and RLOG called.

RLOG had [Kh][7s] for two pair, but NoaTheArk had [6c][6d] for a set of sixes and suddenly had a commanding lead with more than 2.15 million to RLOG’s 245,000.

The stacks were roughly the same a few hands later when they’d reached the ten-hour break, during which the pair chatted a little.

NoaTheArk: are you tired?
RLOG: yes
RLOG: even chop?
NoaTheArk: lol

On the fifth hand back it looked like the end was near as RLOG was all in with [Ad][6h] against NoaTheArk’s [9s][8s], then the flop came [4h][6s][8d] to put NoaTheArk ahead. The turn was the [Ts], but the river brought the [Ac] to save RLOG with a double up to almost 475,000.

RLOG’s good fortune was short-lived, though, as about a half-dozen hands after that he’d min-raise to 24,000 from the button, NoaTheArk would reraise to 72,000, RLOG pushed all in for 290,615 total, and NoaTheArk called.

NoaTheArk: [Kd][Jd]
RLOG: [Ad][8h]

The flop came [5c][2d][4h] and RLOG was still best, but the [Kh] on the turn put him in need of an ace or trey to survive. The river then brought the [6c], and NoaTheArk had won.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congratulations to NoaTheArk for surviving a huge field of 480 to win this week’s Super Tuesday and a handsome $92K-plus score!

Super Tuesday results for 3/27/12:
1st: NoaTheArk ($92,112)
2nd: RLOG ($68,400)
3rd: Jamil11 ($50,400)
4th: rportaleoni ($38,400)
5th: 10IsTheYear ($26,880)
6th: o_omx ($20,400)
7th: LetsFlipIt ($15,600)
8th: enrique tech ($10,800)
9th: KAROyal ($7,968)

The European Poker Tour is making its first ever stop this week in Campione, a small Italian municipality located just within Switzerland. Check the PokerStars blog for start-to-finish coverage of the main event at EPT Campione.

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | Baltic Poker Festival | facebook | france | planets | pokerstars macau | portugal | portugal poker series | russian | UKIPT | wbcoop | world cup of poker

Make way in Valencia, because Sergio Garcia has a tee time. In this case, however, you won’t find him on the first tee or sipping a cocktail at the 19th Hole. No, this week, Garcia is going caddy-less to Valencia for the Estrellas Poker Tour. While he may not have anyone there advising him on how many yards it is to the pin, he is not going into this round blind.

As you might remember, Garcia is a keen enough poker player that he made a very deep run in this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. The pro golfer outlasted hundreds of players to finish in the top 5% of runners in the PCA main event. His adventure only ended after his ace-jack couldn’t outrun pocket queens.

Despite that disappointment, Garcia’s competitive spirit turned the experience into something he wanted to repeat.

Hoping for a favorable river, or thinking, “When can I do this again?”

At the time, Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor said of his friend, “This is entertainment for him and he has enjoyed himself a great deal. It’s like a dream for him.”

The good thing about being Sergio Garcia (apart form the prowess at golf and, apparently, poker) is that people actually like to have you around. As such, Garcia has decided to accept an invitation to Day 1B of the Estrellas Poker Tour main event in Valencia, Spain this week.

As you probably already know, Estrellas is the hottest poker tour in Spain and has been drawing people from al over the world to the fantastic games on the Iberian Peninsula.

Tomorrow, the Valencia main event kicks off. A day later, Señor Garcia will be teeing up.

Seats are still available to the event if you’re looking for a chance to play with Garcia. You may never get the opportunity to get in 18 with him, but you could check-raise him all you want this week.

For more information on the tour, visit the Estrellas Poker website.

Tags: australia | estrellas-poker | lapt | news | russian | russian poker series | SCOOP