I am not a psychiatrist. I am not a psychologist. I have no medical training whatsoever outside of a class in infant CPR which scared me away from children for several months. That is a long way of saying, I cannot, with any degree of medical certainty, diagnose PokerStars Team Online’s George Lind III with any sort of attention deficit disorder. But, if there was ever a time to offer a lay opinion, this is it.

George Lind recently won his first Spring Championship of Online Poker title. He did it in a Stud-8 event (as chronicled in this Exile on Main Street-themed recap from Paul McGuire). It was the sixth time he played a SCOOP Stud-8 tournament in his life. In the five previous runnings, he had a runner-up and third place finish.

So you’d think Lind would be really, really focused on the title. Instead?

“I was 6-12 tabling hypers throughout the final table,” he said.

For the uninitiated, the hypers of which he speaks are hyper-turbo sit & go tourneys. They are SNG crack, and in some jurisdictions considered a Schedule-1 amphetamine. Lind eats them or breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Seriously, if McGuire was looking for a Stones tune in a Lind recap, he might have picked “Mother’s Little Helper.”

Keep in mind, Lind did this while playing a Stud-8 final table–the kind of tournament where paying attention is sort of a big deal. I’ve played my fair share of Stud-8, and for people like me (read: sort of slow on the uptake), if I’m not watching every card that comes off the stub, you might as well just take my chips and call me a cab. And then ask the cab driver to run me over.

Lind? While he was freaking winning a SCOOP event, he was playing up to a dozen hyper turbo SNGs at a time.

The logical question is this: how much could Lind legitimately be expected to win in the hypers if he’s actually winning the SCOOP event?

The unexpected answer: Lind profited $80,000 in the hypers and 76,000 VIP player points that day.

As I said, I’m no doctor.

Two years ago, Lind took third in the very same event. He’s a man who has a brain that can flip switches faster than most people can find the switches to flip.

“It’s nice to have a chance to improve on that in such a big field tournament,” he said. “I’m really happy to finally get a SCOOP title after winning Player of the Year in 2010, but not actually winning an event that year. It’s definitely nice to get a watch to go along with my 2010 POTY trophy.”

As of this morning, Lind held the top spot on the low buy-in leaderboard. If he can manage to keep his head in the game, the payoff could offer a little more than pride.

“I’m hoping to win that PCA package with a consistent final few days,” he said.

Consistency? How much consistency can Lind possibly have if he’s dozen-tabling hyper tourneys?

Well, a lot apparently.

*Consult your physician before beginning any sort of Lind regimen. Side effects include trouble sleeping, motion sickness, and not having enough places in your house to hide all your money.

Season 8 on the European Poker Tour was one for the ages. Not only were 13 champions crowned and millions of dollars won, but also, numerous memories were made. We’re here to talk about some of those memories, specifically the most memorable ones as we see them. It’s important to point out that these are in no particular order. Let’s get to it.

We’ll start all the way back to EPT London and Benny Spindler’s big win, which took place at the end of September and beginning of October in 2011. Spindler was often regarded as one of the best young players in the game, but he hadn’t won a major title to really solidify his stance. He had previous deep runs in all kinds of events across the EPT, the World Series of Poker and also the World Poker Tour, but no major victories.

When the final table in London began, Spindler was third in chips. He assumed the chip lead early on at the final table after picking off a big bluff from Mattias Bergstrom. Then, he won a massive flip with start-of-the-day chip leader Martins Adeniya to get a massive stack. When heads-up play began, only American Steve O’Dwyer stood in the young German’s way. Spindler had the lead to start the battle and it didn’t last too long.

Many were saying that because of Spindler’s previous close calls, this victory knocked the monkey off his back. When asked if he felt like he had a giant weight lifted off his back, Spindler simply shook his head and responded, “No.”

Speaking of EPT London runner-up Steve O’Dwyer, he had one heck of a season on the EPT and that brings us to the next memorable moment. He banked numerous cashes including two big final table appearances in London and then in Copenhagen. In London, O’Dwyer scooped £465,000 for his second-place finish to Spindler and in Copenhagen he took seventh for DKr 290,000. He also had a second-place finish in the EPT Campione High Roller for €74,000. Not a bad season for the American, who really broke out over on European soil.

If we’re going to talk about players who broke out during Season 8 of the EPT, the biggest of them all was German Philipp Gruissem. When it came to High Roller events, Gruissem always had his hands on a massive amount of chips deep at a final table it seemed.

Things all started when Gruissem took third in last season’s EPT Berlin €10,000 High Roller for €67,000. He then went on to win the EPT Barcelona High Roller for €234,500 and beat Igor Kurganov in the EPT London High Roller to win the title and £450,200. Along with those impressive scores, Gruissem took fourth in the EPT San Remo High Roller, third in the EPT Prague High Roller and cashed in the EPT Berlin Main Event. All of that came before he went on to final table the EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller and take third for €266,000. Basically, Gruissem is the resident EPT high roller and we can’t wait to see the results he puts up in Season 9.

It’s always been known that no player has ever won a second EPT title. In Season 8, Kevin MacPhee nearly did it twice and each time everyone was pulling for him to become the first to do so.

A former EPT Berlin champion, MacPhee’s first real shot in Season 8 came in San Remo when he found himself at the final table. Unfortunately, the short-stacked MacPhee couldn’t gather any momentum and bowed out in eighth place. From there, he recorded a few in-the-money finishes with aspirations of a second title, but the second really big push didn’t come until Berlin.

In the same city he won his first EPT title, MacPhee found himself still alive on the penultimate day with the field down to 24 players. With this being the last stop before the EPT Grand Final and the culmination of the season, MacPhee had a second EPT Main Event trophy dangling right in front of him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards for MacPhee as he was eliminated short of the final table in 19th place.

Even with hopes of a two-time champion in MacPhee falling, Anton Wigg and Vladimir Geshkenbein were two other former champions still in the mix. As the day wore on, it looked at though both of them may make the final table, but then Wigg fell in 14th place and left only Geshkenbein carrying the torch to a would-be two-time champion. But just like his fellow former champions fell before him, Geshkenbein headed to the rail short of the final table in 10th place to open up the throne to a brand new title winner.

One of those players remaining after Geshkenbein’s exit was Belgian pro Davidi Kitai. Although there may be some skepticism about the defining criteria behind Kitai’s WPT Celebrity Invitational win, he technically had a WPT title to go along with his WSOP gold bracelet coming into the final table and that made him eligible for poker’s Triple Crown achievement. Even though the excitement of having a two-time EPT champion crowned in Berlin was washed away with the eliminations of MacPhee, Wigg and Geshkenbein, Kitai could still win the Triple Crown and steal the headlines.

Kitai had a tough group of competitors in front of him, but he gathered a ton of chips early on in the final table to really put a stranglehold on things. From there, he seemed to cruise to victory and win a massive payday of €712,000 along with a prestigious EPT title.

While on the topic of close calls, plenty of big-name pros had their fair share of them this season, including many Team PokerStars Pros. Eugene Katchalov took third in Barcelona before fellow Team Pro Juan Manuel Pastor took fourth in London the following stop. Luca Pagano, who is arguably the best overall performer on the EPT since its inception, took seventh in Deauville and Pierre Neuville finished runner-up to Mickey Petersen in Copenhagen.

Speaking of Petersen, as if all those final table runs by team players weren’t good enough, the PokerStars Team Online member went out and won his first major title at EPT Copenhagen. Petersen seemed to use his youth, energy and aggressive online nature to beat down the older Team Pro until Neauville just couldn’t hold on any longer.

Prior to Copenhagen, another Team Pro had a major result and that was Viktor Blom. He conquered the elite field that came out for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller for his first major victory and $1,254,400. The final table was jam-packed with poker power, including some of the biggest names in the game maneuvering their way to the final five spots that were all in the money. Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel finished in fifth and fourth place, respectively, and then Galen Hall fell in third before Blom dismantled Dan Shak to win the trophy.

Besides Blom winning his first major title, the other name that sticks out from the 2012 PCA was Duhamel’s. After scoring fourth in this event for $313,600, the 2010 WSOP Main Event champion took fifth in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo event for $17,990, won the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event for $239,830 and then finished runner-up to Leonid “Alex” Bilokur in the $25,000 High Roller for $634,550. Altogether, Duhamel scored over $1,200,000 from his trip to the Bahamas and shot his way to the top of nearly all Player of the Year leaderboards around the community.

Duhamel may have won over seven figures from his four cashes in January, but between the PCA and the EPT Grand Final alone, nine players had seven-figure scores. Those players included Blom and Bilokur for the aforementioned wins at the PCA along with John Dibella and Kyle Julius, who took one and two in the PCA Main Event. The rest of the list is made up by Justin Bonomo, who won the EPT Grand Final €100,000 Super High Roller, the second-place finisher from that event, Tobias Reinkemeier, the EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller champion Igor Kurganov and then places one and two from the EPT Grand Final Main Event, Mohsin Charania and Lucille Cailly. Just think about this for a second: nine people had a single score of seven figures or more just from the PCA and EPT Grand Final in Season 8. We, too, just said “wow” out loud.

The final moment we’re going to talk about was from the EPT Grand Final and it’s only fitting that arguably the most memorable moment from the entire season came at the final stop in Monaco. Everyone knows the name Justin Bonomo. He’s young, he’s solid and he has plenty of results on record. No week will compare to the one he had in Monaco, though, at the EPT Grand Final.

Things didn’t start off in the right direction for Bonomo, as he found himself firing in a second €100,000 bullet in the Super High Roller. Went it came time for the final table, Bonomo had a massive lead on the rest of the field. He rode that chip lead all the way to a victory and one worth a whopping €1,640,000 — easily the largest score of his career.

From there, Bonomo took his run good to the Main Event and worked his way into the money. We kept an eye on him at all times and he was playing with a massive amount of confidence coming off the big win. He ended up finishing in 28th place for €35,000, but we had yet to hear the last from him. After that very deep run from the field of 665 players, Bonomo entered the €25,000 High Roller and again found himself making a big splash. He bobbed and weaved his way down to the final eight and was at a second major final table within a week. Bonomo eventually fell in fourth place, but it was worth another €266,000 in prize money to put his weekly total at €1,941,000. Easily one of the best weeks of poker we’ve ever seen.

As much fun as Season 8 of the EPT was, we had a great time reliving all of the big moments with you here. When August rolls around, it’s going to be time for Season 9 of the tour and things will be kicking off in Barcelona. With all of these amazing moments from Season 8, Season 9 sure has a lot to live up to, but we’re confident things will be bigger and better than ever.

7.05pm: Chip leaders
During the break my blogging colleague and I did a sweep of the tables to unearth the chip leaders. It’s still Niclas Martinsson who heads the field, he’s followed closely by Martin Baláž and Tom Kitt – he finished third in this event in Season One.

Niclas Martinsson, Sweden, PokerStars player, 94000
Martin Baláž, Czech Republic, PokerStars player, 84000
Thomas Kitt, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, 80000
Terry Plummer, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, 59000
Patricia Mclean, Ireland, PokerStars player, 57000

7pm: Back at it
Cards are once more in the air, roughly 216 of the 398 players who started the day have made it to the start of level seven. — NW

6.45pm: And break
The remaining players are now on their last 15 minute break of the day. They’ll return to play two more levels before bagging and tagging. — NW

6.40pm: Taxi for…
Players continue to bust out in their droves here in Dublin, tournament staff are, it seems, shuttling us large numbers of Player I.D cards every 15 minutes or so. So…there’s no easy way to say this but: Ian Woodley, Daiva Barauskaite, David Caffrey, Philipp Hardy, Stacey Coore, Pauric Martin, Robert Nooney, Phil Bowler, Kieran Mccloskey, William Duffy, Aleksander Doan, David Van-Cauter, Mark Wagstaff, Mario Lazarou, Dominick Hever, Damian Porebski, Christopher Barrow, Nico Kostons, Thomas Dunwoodie, Anthony Rafter, Fiachra Meere, Rory Curtis and Noel Murphy are all free to hit Dame Street for a few beers. –NW

6.35pm: False celebrations
Never celebrate too soon. It’s bad karma, you know. Steven Bartley (not the PokerStars blogger) let out a yelp when his [9s][9h] connected better than Robert Scott’s [ah][kh] on a [9c][6h][ac] flop. The chips had all gone in pre-flop ad Scott was in need of a runner-runner.

Runner 1: [jh]

Runner 2: [7h]

Scott doubled to around 20,000 leaving Bartley short.

At another table Stacey Coore must have thought for a moment that his [td][8d] had won on the [2d][2c][7d][6c][3d] board. He’d shoved the flop and been tank-called by Darren Taylor with pocket threes, which had filled up on the river. Coore was sent to pasture, Taylor topped up to 35,000. — RD

6.25pm: Chips
I’ve just updated the chip counts page, Niclas Martinsson from Sweden appears to be the current chip leader, he has 64,00. — NW

6.10pm: Atherton stacking up again
Lee Atherton is getting himself into a prime position for another deep UKIPT run. In Nottingham last month Atherton finished 15th for a decent £8,000 payday, but the big money final table just managed to elude him. On the penultimate day a short stacked Atherton three-bet jammed with [as][jc] into the [ah][kh] of Ian Senior. He failed to catch a jack, Senior’s kicker played.

Here in Dublin however things are looking up again. He’s just won a decent pot check-calling down with [9d][9c] on a [jc][jh][js][4d][2s] board against Alan Mcauly’s pocket sevens to chip up to 48,000. — RD

6pm: Curse of the chip leader
They say that being chip leader can be as much of a curse as a blessing and Bastiaan Van Den Brink has definitely strengthened that argument. The Dutchman doubled up to 30,000 early on after eliminating a player and although he climbed to a peak of 34,000 he’s slid back down to around 18,000.

But, he’s still fighting and I just saw him pick up a useful pot. It folded to Keith Brennan in the cut-off and he put in a min-raise to 600. This bet was flat called by both Thomas Dunwoodie and Adrian Gray before Van Den Brink raised it to 2,900 from the big blind. This quickly forced out Brennan and Dunwoodie, but Gray, who was getting a massage at the time, was not so swift to fold. “You don’t want a call do you?” said Gray before eventually folding [4s][4c] face-up. — NW

5.50pm: Bettingen loses flip, still doing well
Tim Bettingen opened for 700 from the cut-off and was quickly shoved on by Rober O´Reilly from button. The action folded back to Bettingen who requested a count. The shove was for 5,350. Bettingen made the call.

Bettingen: [7c][7s]
O´Reilly: [js][td]

It wasn’t the ideal flop for Bettingen: [ad][qh][kd]. O´Reilly had flopped Broadway. The [2d] turn and [kc] made little difference. Bettingen still sits healthily on 40,000. Quinn up to 11,000. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 150-300, ANTE 25

5.40pm: Exits
There’s no easy way to say this but if you had a bet on: Mick Mccloskey, Nik Stylianou, Michael Pantelli, Grzegorz Cichocki, Peter Gors, Majid Iqbal, Euan Cameron, Eric Tam, Anibal De Campos Sanchez , Michael Muldoo, Marc Radgenn, Raymond Caabay, Michael Coleman, Gary Ludgate, Balbir Singh Potttiwal, Michael Leedham, Colette Murphy, Hasmukh Khodiyara, Noel O’Brien, Dimitri Pembroke, Andy Flannaghan, Antonis Poulengeris, Tobias Revenäs, Marko Ojdanic, Bill Mulrooney, Paul Jackson, Albert Sapiano, Shella O’Donoghue, Joe Murray, Robert Panayi or Etienne Kramer then tear up that slip, it’s about as much use as a chocolate fireguard as they’re all out. — NW

5.30pm: Ludgate flops top set, busts
Gary Ludgate has just bust after squeezing jacks on the button. Ludgate flopped top set on a [j][t][7] flop and was check-called. The turn was an ace and Ludgate was check-raised into to. He called and was shown king-queen for Broadway. The board didn’t pair and he was sent to the rail. — RD

5.20pm: Graydon let off the hook?
Mick Graydon has chipped back up to around 12,000 after seemingly being let off the hook by Barry Foley. On a flop of [4c][6c][6d] Foley led for 1,400 and Graydon moved all-in for around 8,500. After a short think Foley passed [ac][qc] face-up. Quick eyebrow raise from Graydon who seemed happy to rake in the chips unopposed. — RD

5.10pm: Cookie getting chips
Tim ‘BakinCookies’ Bettingen is one of the many names and notable that we’re keeping track of on the chip counts page. The German is going great guns at the moment and he’s motoring along on 49,500. — NW

5pm: Gilligan gets value
Ronan Gilligan might just have the most unenviable record in UKIPT main events – he’s finished runner-up on two occasions. The first of those was right here in Dublin in 2010, Max Silver got the better of him that time. The second was in Galway this season where Emmett Mullin defeated him heads-up. And, Gilligan’ two other Hendon Mob entries are for third place finishes so the man obviously goes deep or goes out early.

It’s looking more likely to be the former at the moment as he’s up to 29,000. I saw him bet 700 on the turn and 1,5000 on the river of a [8c][10s][4c][Kd][3d] board with [ks][7s] and get paid off. He’s looking comfortable right now. – NW

4.53pm: Someone was out on the tiles last night
Andy Black snuck in just before the end of registration and we’ve been reliably informed that he was enjoying himself out on the town last night. Our photographer Mickey May went hunting for the evidence.

Good papping by May.

4.40pm: There’s no easy way to say this but…
If you’re relying on your percentage of Amby Travers, Ronald Lawton, David Langridge, Lars Stockenschneider, Sinem Melin, John Kelly, Mads Onsberg, George Power, Artur Olczyk, Chris Cooper, David Barnes, Darren Miller, Ciaran Taggart, Cathal O’Malley, Michael Sheridan, Thomas Gill, Krisztian Rack, Mark Spelman and Robert Lawrie to win you a new motorbike, you’re going to have to stick to your push bike. They’re all out.

Play is just about to resume. Antes kick in next level. — RD

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Galway (in order of hot dogs consumed): Nick Wright (one) and Rick Dacey (soon to be one). Photos by Mickey May (who you calling a dog?).

The Estrellas Poker Tour continued Thursday with 154 more players. On those Day 1B players, 37 qualified on PokerStars. When play concluded for the day, there were 72 players remaining. A total of 121 players will return Friday for Day 2 of the €1,000+€100 Estrellas Poker Tour Ibiza Main Event.

Casino Ibiza plays host to this event, the second time the tour has visited the Med’s favourite party island. A total of 269 players from 29 different countries have participated in this leg, including 47 Swedish players. In total, 32 players will cash, with the winner taking home €65,800 from a total prize pool of €258,240.

It was once again a tough day on the felt here in Ibiza, with many players being eliminated, including Estrellas Poker Tour 2011 Tournament Leaderboard winner (Álvaro Santamaría Velasco) and runner up (German player Fabian Deimann). Team PokerStars Online Javier Dominguez Gomez and Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez are other players who now have more time to concentrate on the remainder of the SCOOP schedule.

Team PokerStars Pros Juan Manuel Pastor and Jaume Niell Alomar, a finalist in Valencia, have both made it through the day and will be back on Friday for Day 2.

The overnight chip leader is Jaume Niell Alomar with 111,700 chips, followed by Pablo Rojas, who has 96,300 chips. In third position is Carlos Sanchez Brito, with 77,900.

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

2.22pm: Back from the break
The remaining players are now back in their seats and level three is underway.

There’s no easy way to say this but: George Stewart, Marinos Mina, Richard Heelas, Kevin Steele, Dag Ahlse, Michael Watson, Gareth Parry, Darren Sweeney, Stephen Kenna, Roman Dohnal, Romero Borze, Daniel Perez, Jamil Ogunmakinwa, Michalis Michael, Julian Thew and Tomlin Colburn are not back in their seats as they were all eliminated during the first two levels. — NW

2.02pm: Break time
That’s two levels in the books, players are now on a 20 minute break. — NW

1.50pm: Blain picks one off
When you think of Ireland and poker, names like Padraig Parkinson, Fintan Gavin, Roy Brindley and Andy Black come to mind. There are all of the chatty, eccentric, up for the craic type personalities but there is another rarer breed of Irish poker player, the get it quietly type.

One player who fits that mould is Dermot Blain, no table histrionics, no fuss just impeccable table presence and consistency. The young Irishman has a string of impressive cashes to his name including winning the APPT Maccau Main Event in 2009 and a fifth place finish in the WSOPE Main Event in 2011.

I just saw a hand that encapsulated all this, he called a raise of 275 from Matthew Gilmartin and the two of them checked all the way to the river on a board of [2s][Qs][6c][8h][Jh]. At his juncture Gilmartin threw out a bet of 400, no insta-call here from Blain, he made a face that looked like he was chewing a wasp, thought for about 15 seconds and then called.

Gilmartin showed [8s][7s] but Blain had [Ac][Js] to take the pot. — NW

1.35pm: One for the cameras
Small round of applause for Damien Quinlivan who just three-barrel bluffed [8h][5h] into a [ad][jd][5d][6s][3s] board. Well, I assume it was a bluff. That would be some pretty thin value betting if not.

Mike Hill had opened the pot for 225 and had picked up three callers, including Quinlivan in the small blind and Mark Spelman in the big.

Flop: [ad][jd][5d]
Quinlivan led 450 and was called by Spelman. The others passed

Turn: [ad][jd][5d][6s]
Quinlivan fired another 1,000 into the pot. Spelman called again.

River: [ad][jd][5d][6s][3s]
Quinlivan confidently – perhaps too confidently – threw 2,600 into the middle. Spelman tank-folded.

Quinlivan took a look at his cards, looked up, caught my eye and showed the table the bluff. Bravo, sir. It was one for the cameras. Mike Hill was still chortling as I walked away. — RD

1.10pm: Tables chips and exits
The table draw has thrown up the odd doozy, which we’ll be keeping an eye on. Like table 42 where Dean Lyall, Jeff Burke, Bastiaan Van Den Brink and Daiva Barauskaite are sat in a row. That table has already seen one elimination, earlier we reported how Van Den Brink had doubled up but didn’t have the name of the first player out. We can now report that the unlucky player to exit was Antonius Van Venrooij.

Meanwhile Richard Sinclair (18,000) and Iwan Jones (17,000) have got off to good starts whilst things have gone south so far for Julian Thew (7,000) and Nick Newport (13,900). — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100

12.50pm: Seat open
By this time on Day 1A two players (including Nick Abou Risk) had been sent to the rail, both as the result of aces versus kings (although the kings won on one occasion). Today it took a bit longer to lose the first player, around 50 minutes in fact.

The identity of the eliminated player is unknown but Bastiaan Van Den Brink was the beneficiary and he told me what happened: “I opened the button with [10][9], he three-bet with [10][5] and I called. The flop came [9][7][5] he c-bet, I called. The turn was a ten he fired a second barrel and I called. The river was a blank, he shoved all-in and I called.”

So two pair against smaller two pair accounts for the first player today, much more interesting than boring aces versus kings. — NW

12.35pm: Walking the floor
This looks to be a great event to play. A lot of players that you might not want to see at your table – think of the likes of Jake Cody, Matt Perrins, JP Kelly, James Keys, Chris Brammer, Rupiner Bedi – aren’t here because of the upcoming World Series, some have headed out early, and because of SCOOP, which has been hitting some unbelievable numbers.

That’s a chunk of tough players who would severely reduce your tournament expectation so to the 500 or so that are playing this €770 main event, well done, you’ve made a fantastic decision.

Among the players today that do have some previous are EPT winner Julian Thew, EPT and UKIPT regular Dermot Blain, Dean ‘deanosupremo’ Lyall and SCOOP hero Sam ‘SamSquid’ Grafton. We’ll be catching up with Grafton at the break to speak to him about his $234,193 bink. He doesn’t know it yet, but we will.

Thew is at a table nearby sporting a small red and yellow dollar bill badge. It’s not a bounty button, it’s a lucky charm from one of his kids: “I thought I’d check out its luckbox potential. I’ll give it a couple of hours,” said Thew.

Fifteen minutes of the first level remain. — RD

12.20pm: Who’s here?
There’s a much larger field today than yesterday and amongst the 300 or so runners is a sprinkling of stardust. So far I’ve spotted EPT winner Julian Thew, UKIPT Champion of Champions Richard Sinclair who’s resplendent in his usual Day 1 Ed Hardy hoodie.

Also spotted were UKIPT Galway runner-up Ronan Gilligan, UKIPT Nottingham S2 fourth place finisher Tim Bettingen, Paul Jackson, Nicholas Newport and UKIPT Killarney champion Femi Fakinle.

True to form Fakinle was involved in a pot as I passed his table, he bet 600 on the river of a [8c][6d][8h][4h][9s], his opponent called but mucked when Fakinle showed [8s][6h] for a full house. Keep an eye on the chip counts page, where we’ll be keeping track of the names, notables and big stacks as stories develop on Day 1B. — NW

12pm: And we’re off…
The clock is running/the cards are in the air/add your own ‘the tournament has begun’ euphemism here. — RD

11.50pm: Day 1B revving up
Today’s looking like a busy one. Plenty of players milling around and making their way to the tables. We had 199 player yesterday, 91 of whom made it through the eight one-hour levels. We’ll be playing the same today: no dinner break and done by 9pm. Lovely. The board is currently showing 300 players so we can expect a field of 500-plus.

We can break the news that the defending champion Dutchman Joeri Zandvliet will not be defending his title. He’s in Ibiza at the Estrellas Poker Tour trying win a new one instead.

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Dublin (in order of score out of ten they give Ballymaloe relish): Rick Dacey (8 – it’s tangy, tasty and just a little bit naughty) and Nick Wright (7 – it’s no Devonian chutney, but it’s close).

Watching the final table of the 8-Game tournament was a lesson in poker. Seeing the whole cards would be something any poker player could use to learn to be a better player. Six fine players fought so hard that was almost sweat beading up on my laptop screen. (That would have been terrifying but didn’t happen.) Team PokerStars Pro ElkY did his best but had to accept third place, and Chris Lee and Alexander Kostritsyn battled in an epic heads-up match for the title. After nearly 1.5 hours, Lee emerged victorious, and Kostritsyn was left with another second place finish.

*****

For poker players who enjoy a challenge, HORSE used to be it. Five games, constantly changing, pretty tough lineup. Not anymore. These days, they like to up the ante, so to speak, and play the increasingly popular 8-Game mix. Starting with Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, the games then change to Limit Hold’em Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, No Limit Hold’em, and Pot Limit Omaha. If that’s not a challenge, combined with 15-minute levels and a star-studded field, I’m not sure what is.

Event 31 was the 8-Game that players anticipated, and the high buy-in offered a $2,100 chance at a SCOOP title. Here’s the resulting field and numbers:

Players: 107
Guarantee: $75,000.00
Prize pool: $214,000.00
Paid players: 12

The field was small but deadly, and it contained a number of Team PokerStars Pros. The first to exit was Martin Staszko, followed by Chad Brown and Team Online’s Kristian “ChraismA3″ Martin. A bit later, Team Online lost two more representatives when George “Jorj95″ Lind exited in 47th and Anders “Donald” Berg took off in 43rd. Team Pros were next in the line of eliminations, as Jose “nachoberbero” Barbero exited in 33rd and George Danzer in 29th.

As play continued into the seventh and eighth hours, the field thinned slowly but surely. Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov exited in tenth place for $5,350.00, and Scott “BigRiskky” Clements took off in eighth place for $8,025.00.

It took over 45 minutes for the final table bubble to burst, but it did when short-stacked stevie444 pushed on a [8d][8s][6s][Qc] board with [Jh][9h]. Joiso called with [7h][7s], though, and that held up to the [Ah] on the river. Stephen “stevie444″ Chidwick departed in seventh place with $8,025.00.

CHUFTY in charge

The final table began in Level 34, a Limit Hold’em round with 2,000/4,000 blinds. The players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: Ig123456789 (10,492 in chips)
Seat 2: Genius28 (121,422 in chips)
Seat 3: Kecinpulach (68,400 in chips)
Seat 4: ElkY (122,299 in chips)
Seat 5: joiso (70,228 in chips)
Seat 6: CHUFTY (142,159 in chips)

Ig123456789 doubled up on the first hand of action, but another move came a few hands later. After a CHUFTY raise from the button, Ig123456789 called all-in for 2,738 chips. Genius28 raised, and CHUFTY called. They checked down the board of [Js][Kh][Tc][5c][5s], and Genius28 showed [7h][7s]. Both other players mucked their hands, and Ig123456789 had to leave the part in sixth place with $11,235.00.

A few minutes later, in the Omaha Hi/Lo round, Kecinpulach gets involved with a relatively short stack. Kecinpulach, ElkY, and joiso go to see a reraised flop of [Tc][9c][Js]. ElkY bet, joiso called, and Kecinpulach raised. When joiso bumped it up again, Kecinpulach moved all-in for 9,275 chips, and both players called. The [6d] on the turn and [6s] on the river completed the board, a bet from joiso on the river prompted a fold from ElkY. Kecinpulach showed [Jc][3s][2c][Kh] for two pair, but joiso had [Qd][Ac][8h][Kc] for the king-high straight. Kecinpulach, winner of a 2011 SCOOP, was denied one tonight and finished in fifth place with $14,980.00.

Deep stack poker

The final four chip stacks were:

Seat 2: Genius28 (131,410 in chips)
Seat 4: ElkY (108,024 in chips)
Seat 5: joiso (146,028 in chips)
Seat 6: CHUFTY (149,538 in chips)

Joiso took the reins and climbed toward the 200K mark while ElkY slipped below 100K but recovered. CHUFTY, on the other hand, suffered and became the shortest of the four stacks. That was only in the first 15 minutes, though. Genius28 then became the short stack, but at the 10-hour break, CHUFTY had 100,001 chips and joiso sunk down to 106,803. ElkY was the new chip leader and Genius28 was close behind.

CHUFTY chopped

After the break, CHUFTY had the most trouble, though he was able to double through ElkY to almost 60K. But his stack thinned quickly again, and in the Stud round, all 5,602 chips went into the pot against Genius28 and joiso. A bet a call took them to fifth and then sixth street, at which point a bet from Genius28 prompted joiso to fold. Genius showed [9c][5c][9d][As][Qc][Ts][8s], and that pair of nines was good enough to beat the [Qs][Jc][Td][6s][7c][5s][4d] hand of CHUFTY. Richard “CHUFTY” Ashby, winner of a 2010 WCOOP, was eliminated in fourth place tonight for $20,330.00.

Deeper stacks

Three-handed play started with these stacks:

Seat 2: Genius28 (166,500 in chips)
Seat 4: ElkY (110,797 in chips)
Seat 5: joiso (257,703 in chips)

ElkY lost ground quickly and hovered under the 100K mark for much of the first hour, though chipping up was a frequent-enough occurrence to keep him in action. Joiso, on the other hand, increased his lead, and Genius28 took a few of ElkY’s chips as well but stayed far enough behind joiso that the former was comfortable enough.

ElkY eliminated

The last Team Pro standing was finally reduced to a stack of little more than 21K. In a Deuce to Seven hand, ElkY got involved with joiso. ElkY took one and joiso took two for a bet and a call, and joiso stood pat after that. ElkY took one card and was all-in, and took yet another one before showing [3c][4h][8c][2s][3d]. Joiso turned over [8s][4s][Jh][7c][Th], and that was enough to eliminated Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who simply has too many accomplishments to list here, finished third in this tournament for $29,960.00.

Tense battle

The final two competitors geared up for battle with these counts:

Seat 2: Genius28 (198,750 in chips)
Seat 5: joiso (336,250 in chips)

Genius28 was chipped down to less than 100K but battled back, hand by hand, through the Deuce to Seven round. By the time Limit Hold’em came into effect, Genius had a significant chip lead over joiso. The LHE round allowed joiso to make a comeback, though, and even the stacks.

By the time they began the Omaha Hi/Lo round, Genius28 was ahead by about 70K chips, but that lead increased as the level went on. By the time they made it to Razz, though, joiso climbed back up over 200K. But another level saw more difficulties for joiso, especially as they entered the last Stud round.

As the key hand began, joiso mentioned the elephant at the table in the chat box: ” I have 3 second places in scoops ” But with a stack of less than 40K, it was going to take a big comeback to grab that elusive win. The two go through the motions on third and fourth streets until all of joiso’s chips go in on fifth with [Ac][Jc][4c]. Genius28 showed [3h][Ah][7c] with his call. When the hands were complete, they were:

joiso: [3s][Kc][Ac][Jc][4c][Qs][Qh]
Genius28: [7h][7d][3h][Ah][7c][8h][As]

The full house eliminated Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn in second place – a record of his plight was mentioned in this blog last year – and he took home $39,055.00 to ease the pain.

Chris “Genius28″ Lee won Event 31-H and received $58,315.00 to go with the Movado watch and tournament title. Congrats!

2012 SCOOP Event #31-H ($2,100 8-Game) Results:

Total players: 107
Paid players: 12

1st place: Chris “Genius28″ Lee (Canada) – $58,315.00
2nd place: Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn (Russia) – $39,055.00
3rd place: Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (UK) – $29,960.00
4th place: Richard “CHUFTY” Ashby (UK) – $20,330.00
5th place: Kecinpulach (Czech Republic) – $14,980.00
6th place: Ig123456789 (Ukraine) – $11,235.00

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

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.

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:

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.

The 8-game format clearly tests poker players’ skills in a variety of ways. And in a multi-table tourney setting we might well add a ninth “game” to the mix, too — that of managing the increasing blinds/stakes and negotiating a path through a large field of opponents to the final table and eventual victory.

The “medium” version of the 8-game event in this year’s SCOOP, a $215 buy-in, attracted 577 entrants, thus creating a prize pool of $115,400. That more than doubled the event’s $50K guarantee. The top 78 finishers split that money, with $21,926 due the player able to succeed well enough in all eight of the games — plus the tourney game — to win all the chips.

It took nearly six hours for the field to be trimmed down to 78 and the money bubble to burst. At that point preppoker led all with nearly 145,000, with FABLISSE and javel the only others in six figures chip-wise.

Meanwhile several representatives of Team PokerStars were among those still alive, including Shane “shaniac” Schleger of Team Online (then in 9th position), George Danzer of Team PokerStars Germany (19th), George “Jorj95″ Lind of Team Online (54th), Marcin “Goral” Horecki of Team PokerStars Poland (56th), and Chad “ChadBrownPRO” Brown of Team PokerStars Canada barely hanging on in 78th place with a stack of less than 4,000 chips.

Brown would swiftly go out in 77th ($334.66), with Lind grabbing yet another SCOOP cash by following him shortly thereafter in 71st ($346.20). Horecki would then last a bit longer before running out of chips in an Omaha H/L hand versus Arttyomka to finish 45th ($461.60). A little while after that Danzer would fall in 33th ($600.08) in a stud hand against jay3400.

That left Schleger as the lone player with a red spade, and before long he’d find a no-limit hold’em hand with which to reraise shove his stack of just under 30,000 from the blinds over a Filthy999 open from the button. Filthy999 thought a bit, then called, showing [2d][2s] to Schleger’s [Ad][Kh]. A deuce flopped to give Filthy999 a set, and Schleger couldn’t catch up, hitting the rail in 29th ($692.40)

As they crossed the eight-and-a-half-hour mark the field had shrunk to 12 players, with FABLISSE well in front with more than 683,000 chips, about twice the stack of second-place jay3400. Then over the next hour, six more players fell, with jay3400 pushing way out in front while FABLISSE slid back to average and then short-stacked status.

Players coming up one table shy of the last one included txipy2005 (12th), LadyDoDo91 (11th), and Mitorun (10th), each of whom earned $1,557.90, and ColdBryan (9th), Senor JeeveS (8th), and Tunnelvisie (7th), who earned $2,411.86 apiece.

Just six remained.

Seat 1: FABLISSE (Netherlands) — 146,338
Seat 2: javel (Norway) — 600,399
Seat 3: bart3r (Australia) — 361,598
Seat 4: Jan2000 (Germany) — 135,996
Seat 5: wyatt_earp14 (Austria) — 96,556
Seat 6: jay3400 (Denmark) — 1,544,113

Of the final six bart3r had seen the most success thus far in the 2012 SCOOP series with a dozen cashes and one other final table, a sixth-place showing in Event #4-L ($27 Badugi). But all would be chasing jay3400 who carried a commanding lead to this final table.

It took about 10 minutes for the first to go. The game was seven-card stud, and after Jan2000 completed, wyatt_earp14 raised with the [As] showing, then FABLISSE three-bet showing the [4h]. It folded back to wyatt_earp14 who capped it (at 80,000), and FABLISSE called.

FABLISSE then led the betting through the next three streets, with wyatt_earp4 calling all the way, then wyatt_earp4 raised on the river, to which FABLISSE responded with an all-in call. FABLISSE had [Ks][Ks] / [4h][7s][Ts][Tc] / [7c] for kings and tens, but wyatt_earp14 ended with [Jh][Ad] / [As][5h][4d][Td] / [Jc] for aces and jacks and FABLISSE was out in sixth.

The game changed to stud hi/lo where soon back-and-forthing between Jan2000 and chip leader jay3400 resulted in Jan2000 being all in by third holding [Ts][Tc] / [2h] to jay3400′s [7c][3c] / [5h]. Jan2000 ended up drawing [7s][Jh][9d] / [Kd] on the last four streets, failing to improve that pair of tens and not making a low, either. Meanwhile jay3400 picked up [5d][4s][Ac] / [3s] to make two small pair and a 7-low to scoop the pot and knock Jan2000 out in fifth.

The remaining four played on, crossing the 10-and-a-half-hour mark and into another round of limit hold’em (stakes 30,000/60,000) when javel, down to just 35,920, called a preflop raise by wyatt_earp14 to leave just 5,920 behind. jay3400 called as well from the blinds, and when the flop came [8h][Ad][2c] jay3400 led with a bet, javel called all in, and wyatt_earp14 called as well.

The turn was the [Tc], and when jay3400 bet again wyatt_earp14 gave up. jay3400 showed [Td][8d] for two pair, while javel had but [5h][3h] and faint gutshot hopes. The river was the [5d], however, and javel was out in fourth.

The gap had closed, but jay3400 still led with three left, sitting with almost 1.15 million to the nearly 943,000 of wyatt_earp14 and bart3r’s stack of just under 795,000.

They moved into another round of Omaha hi/lo (stakes 40,000/80,000), by which point bart3r’s stack had slid under 200,000 while jay3400 had improved up over 1.8 million. Then, suddenly, within the space of four hands, the tournament was over.

First came a hand involving all three players in which the betting was capped before the flop with bart3r being all in for 146,447 total. The flop came [2c][8s][3s], jay3400 bet, and wyatt_earp14 called. wyatt_earp14 would call jay3400′s bets following the [Qh] turn and [4h] river as well, and when jay3400 then showed [5d][4d][2h][Ad] for a wheel, both wyatt_earp14 and bart3r mucked, the latter having been knocked out in third.

That hand left jay3400 with 2,343,408 to wyatt_earp14′s 541,592 to start heads-up play. Three hands later it was still Omaha hi/lo when jay3400 raised from the button and wyatt_earp14 called. The flop came all big cards — [Kd][Th][9c] — and wyatt_earp14 checked. jay3400 bet, wyatt_earp14 check-raised, and jay3400 made the call. The turn was the [8s], and this time wyatt_earp14 bet out, jay3400 raised, and the pair kept going until wyatt_earp14 was all in. Cards on their backs…

jay3400: [Qh][Jc][8d][4d] — a king-high straight
wyatt_earp14: [Kc][Td][5s][4s] — two pair, kings and tens.

The river brought the [Jh], meaning jay3400′s straight had held and the tourney was over.

Congratulations to jay3400 who came to the final table as the big leader and managed to carry that lead all of the way to a SCOOP title and nearly $22K score! A great performance in all the games, including the game of tournament poker.

2012 SCOOP Event 31-Medium, $215 8-Game:
1st: jay3400 (Denmark) — $21,926
2nd: wyatt_earp14 (Austria) — $16,156
3rd: bart3r (Australia) — $11,828
4th: javel (Norway) — $8,078
5th: Jan2000 (Germany) — $5,770
6th: FABLISSE (Netherlands) — $3,588.94

Entrants: 577
Places paid: 78

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

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

*****

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 2

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

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

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

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

Face333X faces off to defend chip lead

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

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

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

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

Gribnogrib grabs first and runs with it

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

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

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

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

Shhh00kem shakes ‘em

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

Forever five-handed

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

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

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

Move it along, folks

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

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

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

Two tangle for the title

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

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

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

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

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

Total players: 81
Paid players: 12

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

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