May was a fun month to watch the progress of the ever-growing number of women participating in the two leagues on PokerStars. With rankings being updated every few days now, it’s easy to check in regularly and see who jumps off to a great start at the beginning of the month, how things look in the middle, and the various races that ensue toward the final days.

The Women’s Poker League saw a month of league climbers that kept us guessing until the last day of May. And now, we can announce the top ten prize winners for May, as well as introduce our featured player. Going forward, we’ll highlight one player every month who stands out from the crowd, and this inaugural edition features Gabriela of Lima, Peru, better known online as danico7777. That feature follows the final May league results.

Read on, por favor.

$.10 League

Several players started the month of May very strong in this league. Considering the winner of April accumulated 141 points in total for that month, it was all the more impressive that danico7777 was out in front of this league by May 8 with 78 points. Littleknelle wasn’t far behind with 63, and ~Chipsqueak~ held her own with 52.

By the 12th of the month, danico7777 was still soaring, having accumulated 94 points, and ~Chipsqueak~ was pushing forward with a strong 92 point total. And a few days later, at the halfway point of May, danico7777 maintained that lead with 108 points with ~Chipsqueak~ holding a strong second with 95.

The point totals with only a week left in the month made it look as if danico7777 had the top spot locked up with 147 points, and though ~Chipsqueak~ held on in second place with 125, littleknelle was climbing rather quickly with 113 points. Maadcaroma was also in the mix with an even 100.

Things really changed in the last week. ~Chipsqueak~ made a mad dash for the lead and took it, ending the month with a whopping 183 points for playing 31 tournaments. That made a Canadian player the winner of the lead again, as ~Chipsqueak~ made her debut in the top ten this week with an impressive victory, for which she will be awarded $100 for being the May chipleader.

Danico7777 of Peru was unable to maintain that lead into the last few days of the month but still looked at a $90 prize for finishing in second place. Out of 30 tournaments she played in May, she grabbed 168 points.

Third place for the month went to butterflysh of Spain with 142 points, who bettered her overall finish from fourth place in last month’s standings and was one of only two players to make the top ten for two months in a row.

Littleknelle finished fourth with 135 points in May, followed by sapatova91 with 121 points, maadcaroma with 117, megg23 with 112, and fullmeat7 with 110. Rounding out the top ten were Pro100Killer in ninth place with 109 points and SARITA15350 (the other player who made the top ten in April) with 107 points in tenth place.

$1.10 League

Players in this league were on point to squash the ranking leaders’ numbers very early in May. By the 8th day of the month, crzcanuck2 already had 56 points, and sapatova91 was sneaking up with 51.

Only a few days later, the ranking list on May 12 showed crzcanuck2 had fallen to fourth place with 64 points, surpassed by pointful92 with 78 points, fullmeat7 with 68, and sapatova91 with 66. And creeping up on the crowd was the $.10 league chipleader danico7777 with 60 points. The month was clearly going to be a contentious one. When the figures were presented for the midway point in May, it showed sapatova91 having taken over first place with a strong 104-point showing. Pointful91 was in second with 91, followed by wskynet. Danico7777 was also still in the mix with 73 points while leading the other league at the same time.

By May 22, sapatova91 simply soared with 140 points, quite a distance ahead of @Mapicienta with 112 points, who only made an appearance in the top ten in the middle of the month. Many others – hctiwdliw, fullmeat7, Poktor, CESISA, and danico7777 all sat above the 100-point mark.

This league held last-minute surprises as well! It was @Mapicienta of Peru who took everyone by surprise and leapt into first place at the end of the month with 167 points, earned over the course of only 24 tournaments. That performance warranted the first place prize of $250 for her debut spot in the top ten – and in first place.

Early leader sapatova91 of Peru kept up the pace with 31 tournaments but finished with 162 points. That still-impressive finish warranted a $170 cash reward, and she certainly improved upon her ninth place finish in the month of April.

Hctiwdliw of Brazil made it to third place with 152 points for 30 tournaments, meaning all three top players hailed from South America. She will take home $140 for that finish, as well as the knowledge that her hard work through the month paid some dividends.

Danico7777 finished fourth in this league with 147 points, in addition to her second place finish in the $.10 league. But fullmeat7, who finished fifth here with 129 points, was also in the top ten of the other league. Both players deserve the mention for fighting hard and placing so strongly in both leagues in May.

KleopatraRTS finished in sixth with 123 points, followed by pointful92 in seventh with 120 (more points than her 109 in April that won her second place), maurfun in eighth with 118, and o0ONoraO0o in ninth with 117 points. Rounding out the top ten was Poktor with 116 points.

Featured Player: danico7777

It was apparent in the first week of the month that danico7777 was a player to watch. She not only dominated the $.10 league and eventually finished second but climbed forcefully into the top ten of the $1.10 league. Playing enough tournaments – and doing well in them – is tough enough, but to do it in both leagues was more than enough to grab our attention.

Gabriela Romero Mezinto is not shy about expressing her passion for poker and the PokerStars Women’s Poker League. When asked if she would answer some questions for this column, she responded with that excitement that clearly brings her to the online poker tables on a regular basis.

The native Peruvian lives in Lima and is retired from a career in social assistance. Her love for poker began several years ago, as her husband spent much time playing poker with friends in clubs. He insisted that she learn, and she did just that in local casinos. But when she discovered PokerStars, an affair with her computer blossomed. She found that PokerStars was a comfortable fit for her and just as exciting as casino play.

PokerStars Women attracted Gabriela because the chat was more pleasant, and the league gave her goals for which to strive. Though she plays open events on a regular basis, she enjoys the Women’s Poker League and the Women’s Sunday weekly tournament. She feels that more women are comfortable competing in a friendlier environment and has personally made numerous friends in the league. (She extended hearty greetings to her league friends as well!)

How has she found such success in the leagues, especially in light of her substantial placement in both of the leagues this month? The key is patience, she said, as well as paying close attention and staying involved. She is careful with all of her plays but tries to find spots for aggressive bluffing in the early stages of a tournament. Most of all, it is her enjoyment of the game and her desire to constantly improve.

We congratulate Gabriela, or danico7777 as we know her online, for her May success and wish her luck in the future!

Information about the PokerStars Women’s Poker League is provided on the home page, and current league standings are listed on the rankings page. And join us on Facebook for regular updates!

Tags: attention | ept | league | online | online-poker | pokerstars women | rio | spain | tournaments

On this first day of the 2011 World Series of Poker, the last Super Tuesday of May drew a larger-than-average field, with a total of 257 buying into the weekly $1,050 no-limit hold’em tournament.

That created a total prize pool of $257,000, well above the tourney’s $150K guarantee. The top 36 finishers would divide the loot, with $52,556.50 due the winner.

Just a short while after the three-hour break 100 players remained, with Aleseed well out in front, pushing the 60,000-chip mark. Laffen20 was next with just over 34,000, followed by patinho77 and Schildy1984, the only other players with more than 30,000.

By then Alexis “J0hnny_Dr@m@” Zervos (Team Greece Challenger) had already exited in 179th, as had André “acoimbra” Coimbra of Team Online in 172nd. Left to represent Team PokerStars were George Danzer (Germany) and Johnny Lodden (Nordics), both of whom were then hovering just outside the top 40 with slightly below-average stacks.

A little over an hour later just 50 players were left, with Aleseed still leading with more than 77,000, followed by ante_geia_AA in second with a little over 56,000 and Monk532 in third with almost 53,000. Meanwhile Lodden had chipped up into 13th place while Danzer had sunk to the danger zone, sitting dead last in 50th on the super-short stack.

Danzer would double-up once, but soon ran [Qd][Qh] into DutchRaise72′s [Ks][Kd] to be bounced in 45th place. Not too long after there were just 37 left when wizowizo open-raised all in with his 18-BB stack with [A][5] and got called by tytkto who held [A][Q]. No help came for wizowizo, the unfortunate last elimination prior to the money.

Monk532 went out shortly thereafter in 36th ($1,927.50), then the remaining 35 reached the five-hour break. By then RSlijkhuis had pushed out ahead of the pack with more than 124,000, followed by calasanz438 with just over 101,000 and Jamil11 with about 88,000. Meanwhile, Lodden continued to lurk with a touch under 40,000, good for 12th place.

After the players returned, eight more hit the virtual rail over the next 15 minutes, each earning $1,927.50: Rickyroodido (35th), patinho77 (34th), steve3331 (33rd), alexo18 (32nd), Sphinx87 (31st), bastet2004 (30th), Laffen20 (29th), and kartt (28th).

Over the next 45 minutes, nine more players were eliminated, all of whom more than doubled their buy-ins by earning $2,184.50: wh0mp (27th), mobaboba (26th), hardcore1976 (25th), EKANDUTERIO (24th), Gorrioncillo (23rd), Shildy1984 (22nd), Vojta_R (21st), Bushman (20th), and Aleseed (19th).

With two tables left, RSlijkhuis continued to enjoy the chip lead with more than 180,000, but tytkto was closing in having just crested the 174,000-chip mark. ante_geia_AA remained nearby as well, in third place with a little more 150,000.

Vekked soon went out in 18th place ($2,827), then came the six-hour break at which point lone remaining Team PokerStars Pro sat 17th out of 17 with just over 25,000 chips (about 14 big blinds).

But Lodden hung on as three more players were eliminated, 88DrugDealer (17th, $2,827), Jamil11 (16th, $2,827), and Cod Meharly (15th, $3,469.50). Lodden then scored a double-up, picking up [Kh][Kc] on the same hand calasanz438 drew [Qc][Qh]. mrvogt went out in 14th ($3,469.50), then Lodden doubled up one more time, again picking up [Kh][Ks] which this time stood up against alin111′s [Ad][Kd].

With 13 left, Lodden was back to an average stack, sitting in 7th place. Before the seven-hour break arrived, four more players exited: philbort (13th, $3,469.50), Sir_winalot9 (12th, $4,112), ante_geia_AA (11, $4,112), and calasanz438 (10th, $4,112).

They were down to nine.

Seat 1: RSlijkhuis — 173,035
Seat 2: tytkto — 399,926
Seat 3: DutchRaise72 — 143,597
Seat 4: delaney_kid — 168,005
Seat 5: alin111 — 128,848
Seat 6: rany01 — 53,270
Seat 7: Iloveyz — 32,956
Seat 8: johnnylodden — 115,657
Seat 9: flashkowski — 69,706

tytkto had pushed out to a healthy lead with more than twice second-place RSlijkhuis. Meanwhile, the table’s short-stack Iloveyz needed to find a double-up PDQ. Or at least ASAP.

About five minutes after the players returned from the seven-hour break, the blinds were 1,600/3,200 when flashkowski opened with a raise to 9,600 from under the gun. RSlijkhuis, sitting to flashkowski’s left, called the raise, and it folded back to Iloveyz in the small blind who promptly pushed all in for 35,356. Johnny Lodden folded from the big blind, but both flashkowski and RSlijkhuis called the reraise.

The flop came [Qs][4h][Jh], and flashkowski wasted little time pushing all in with his last 44,350. RSlijkhuis stepped aside, and flashkowski showed [Kh][Kc] for the overpair. Iloveyz had hit the flop with his [Ad][Qc], but the turn was the [Js] and the river the [4c], and Iloveyz was out in ninth.

About 25 minutes passed before the next elimination. With the blinds up to 2,000/4,000, DutchRaise72 open-shoved from UTG for 44,045, then it folded to flashkowski who reraised over the top from the button. The blinds got out, and DutchRaise72 showed [Ad][Td]. Meanwhile flashkowski had picked up another big pocket pair with [Qs][Qd].

The flop brought an ace for DutchRaise72, but a queen as well for flashkowski, coming [As][Qc][3c]. The turn was the [Kh], which meant a straight was still possible for DutchRaise72. But the river was the [9c] and DutchRaise72 was out in eighth.

About 10 minutes later Johnny Lodden had become the table’s short stack with 58,581 and was again looking for a spot to regain some chips and start mounting another comeback.

Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden

Lodden then opened with a minimum-raise to 8,000 from early position. RSlijkhuis reraised to 33,500 from a couple of seats over, and it folded back to Lodden who snap-shoved the rest of his stack all in. RSlijkhuis called quickly, too, showing [Kc][Kh]. But Lodden had the one hand RSlijkhuis didn’t want to see — [As][Ac]!

Then came the flop, bringing one card Lodden didn’t want to see — [Ks][4s][9c]! A set for RSlijkhuis! The turn was the [7s], making a spade flush a possibility. But the river brought the [Tc], and Lodden hit the rail in seventh.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Soon after the blinds were still 2,000/4,000 when delaney_kid opened for 8,000 from the cutoff, then alin111 reraised to 20,075 from the button. The blinds folded, then delaney_kid shipped it for 119,401 total, getting a call from alin111.

delaney_kid [Jh][8h]
alin111 [Jd][Js]

Tough match-up for delaney_kid, and five community cards later — [5d][9d][Kh][8d][9c] — he was out in sixth.

A little later flashkowski would pick up yet another big pocket pair at the final table — [Ah][Ac] this time — but rany01 had him matched with [Ad][As], and the pair ultimately split the pot.

Shortly after the eight-hour break, the blinds were 2,400/4,800 when tytkto open-pushed from the small blind, having his lone remaining opponent, alin111, well-covered. alin111 called from the big blind with the 74,416 he had left, showing [Ac][8d] and having the advantage over tytkto’s [Ad][6d]. But the flop came [4h][2d][Jd], giving tytkto a flush draw, then the [7d] on the turn sealed it, making the river no matter and sending alin111 out in fifth.

The blinds moved to 2,800/5,600 and tytkto was soon raising again, making it 11,760 to go from UTG. It folded back to RSlijkhuis in the big blind who reraised all in for 92,199. tytkto made the call, showing [Jh][Th] while RSlijkhuis had [As][Qc]. RSlijkhuis remained best through the turn — [2h][5c][Kd][6s] — but the [Ts] on the river paired tytkto, sending RSlijkhuis out in fourth.

A short while later rany01 opened with a raise to 16,800 from the small blind and flashkowski made the call from the big blind. The flop came a provocative [9c][5h][8d], and both players checked. Then the turn brought the [Js] and a lot of interest from both players. rany01 bet 22,400, then flashkowski bumped it to 44,800. rany01 responded by shoving the 200,000-plus he had left all in, and flashkowski called with the 128,243 he had left.

flashkowski showed [Ks][Jd] for top pair, but rany01 had him outkicked with [Ac][Jh]. The river was the [2c], and they were down to two.

RSS readers click through to see replay

When heads-up play began, tytkto had the advantage with 862,453 to rany01′s 422,547. The two played a couple of small pots, then agreed to pause in order to make a deal. Some time passed while they waited for a host to come help facilitate the deal, during which time the pair chatted a bit.

rany01: congratulation tytkto
tytkto: ty
rany01: well played
tytkto: u2
rany01: ty
tytkto: gg
rany01: was not always easy for me
rany01: many heartattacks

Eventually the host showed and the pair agreed to tytkto receiving $45,106.50, rany01 $43,000, with $3,000 left to play for.

Once play resumed, the stacks started to even up after the first dozen hands, but then tytkto retook the advantage, building back to 804,982 to rany01′s 480,018 when the final hand took place.

The blinds were 3,200/6,400. rany01 opened for 19,200 from the button/small blind, then tytkto pushed all in. rany01 made the call, showing [Ah][6s] to tytkto’s [3h][3d]. The board came [Td][Ks][Qs][5d][7c], and tytkto’s pair had held.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congrats to tytkto, winner of this week’s Super Tuesday!

Super Tuesday results for 5/31/11 (*reflects two-way deal):

1st: tytkto ($48,106.50)*
2nd: rany01 ($43,000)*
3rd: flashkowski ($29,041)
4th: RSlijkhuis ($21,845)
5th: alin111 ($14,906)
6th: delaney_kid ($11,565)
7th: Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden ($8,995)
8th: DutchRaise72 ($6,425)
9th: Iloveyz ($4,883)

Tags: advantage | blinds | dutch | greece | greed | money | online | pair | players | pokerstars | rio | river | team pokerstars pro | time | virtual

On this first day of the 2011 World Series of Poker, the last Super Tuesday of May drew a larger-than-average field, with a total of 257 buying into the weekly $1,050 no-limit hold’em tournament.

That created a total prize pool of $257,000, well above the tourney’s $150K guarantee. The top 36 finishers would divide the loot, with $52,556.50 due the winner.

Just a short while after the three-hour break 100 players remained, with Aleseed well out in front, pushing the 60,000-chip mark. Laffen20 was next with just over 34,000, followed by patinho77 and Schildy1984, the only other players with more than 30,000.

By then Alexis “J0hnny_Dr@m@” Zervos (Team Greece Challenger) had already exited in 179th, as had André “acoimbra” Coimbra of Team Online in 172nd. Left to represent Team PokerStars were George Danzer (Germany) and Johnny Lodden (Nordics), both of whom were then hovering just outside the top 40 with slightly below-average stacks.

A little over an hour later just 50 players were left, with Aleseed still leading with more than 77,000, followed by ante_geia_AA in second with a little over 56,000 and Monk532 in third with almost 53,000. Meanwhile Lodden had chipped up into 13th place while Danzer had sunk to the danger zone, sitting dead last in 50th on the super-short stack.

Danzer would double-up once, but soon ran [Qd][Qh] into DutchRaise72′s [Ks][Kd] to be bounced in 45th place. Not too long after there were just 37 left when wizowizo open-raised all in with his 18-BB stack with [A][5] and got called by tytkto who held [A][Q]. No help came for wizowizo, the unfortunate last elimination prior to the money.

Monk532 went out shortly thereafter in 36th ($1,927.50), then the remaining 35 reached the five-hour break. By then RSlijkhuis had pushed out ahead of the pack with more than 124,000, followed by calasanz438 with just over 101,000 and Jamil11 with about 88,000. Meanwhile, Lodden continued to lurk with a touch under 40,000, good for 12th place.

After the players returned, eight more hit the virtual rail over the next 15 minutes, each earning $1,927.50: Rickyroodido (35th), patinho77 (34th), steve3331 (33rd), alexo18 (32nd), Sphinx87 (31st), bastet2004 (30th), Laffen20 (29th), and kartt (28th).

Over the next 45 minutes, nine more players were eliminated, all of whom more than doubled their buy-ins by earning $2,184.50: wh0mp (27th), mobaboba (26th), hardcore1976 (25th), EKANDUTERIO (24th), Gorrioncillo (23rd), Shildy1984 (22nd), Vojta_R (21st), Bushman (20th), and Aleseed (19th).

With two tables left, RSlijkhuis continued to enjoy the chip lead with more than 180,000, but tytkto was closing in having just crested the 174,000-chip mark. ante_geia_AA remained nearby as well, in third place with a little more 150,000.

Vekked soon went out in 18th place ($2,827), then came the six-hour break at which point lone remaining Team PokerStars Pro sat 17th out of 17 with just over 25,000 chips (about 14 big blinds).

But Lodden hung on as three more players were eliminated, 88DrugDealer (17th, $2,827), Jamil11 (16th, $2,827), and Cod Meharly (15th, $3,469.50). Lodden then scored a double-up, picking up [Kh][Kc] on the same hand calasanz438 drew [Qc][Qh]. mrvogt went out in 14th ($3,469.50), then Lodden doubled up one more time, again picking up [Kh][Ks] which this time stood up against alin111′s [Ad][Kd].

With 13 left, Lodden was back to an average stack, sitting in 7th place. Before the seven-hour break arrived, four more players exited: philbort (13th, $3,469.50), Sir_winalot9 (12th, $4,112), ante_geia_AA (11, $4,112), and calasanz438 (10th, $4,112).

They were down to nine.

Seat 1: RSlijkhuis — 173,035
Seat 2: tytkto — 399,926
Seat 3: DutchRaise72 — 143,597
Seat 4: delaney_kid — 168,005
Seat 5: alin111 — 128,848
Seat 6: rany01 — 53,270
Seat 7: Iloveyz — 32,956
Seat 8: johnnylodden — 115,657
Seat 9: flashkowski — 69,706

tytkto had pushed out to a healthy lead with more than twice second-place RSlijkhuis. Meanwhile, the table’s short-stack Iloveyz needed to find a double-up PDQ. Or at least ASAP.

About five minutes after the players returned from the seven-hour break, the blinds were 1,600/3,200 when flashkowski opened with a raise to 9,600 from under the gun. RSlijkhuis, sitting to flashkowski’s left, called the raise, and it folded back to Iloveyz in the small blind who promptly pushed all in for 35,356. Johnny Lodden folded from the big blind, but both flashkowski and RSlijkhuis called the reraise.

The flop came [Qs][4h][Jh], and flashkowski wasted little time pushing all in with his last 44,350. RSlijkhuis stepped aside, and flashkowski showed [Kh][Kc] for the overpair. Iloveyz had hit the flop with his [Ad][Qc], but the turn was the [Js] and the river the [4c], and Iloveyz was out in ninth.

About 25 minutes passed before the next elimination. With the blinds up to 2,000/4,000, DutchRaise72 open-shoved from UTG for 44,045, then it folded to flashkowski who reraised over the top from the button. The blinds got out, and DutchRaise72 showed [Ad][Td]. Meanwhile flashkowski had picked up another big pocket pair with [Qs][Qd].

The flop brought an ace for DutchRaise72, but a queen as well for flashkowski, coming [As][Qc][3c]. The turn was the [Kh], which meant a straight was still possible for DutchRaise72. But the river was the [9c] and DutchRaise72 was out in eighth.

About 10 minutes later Johnny Lodden had become the table’s short stack with 58,581 and was again looking for a spot to regain some chips and start mounting another comeback.

Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden

Lodden then opened with a minimum-raise to 8,000 from early position. RSlijkhuis reraised to 33,500 from a couple of seats over, and it folded back to Lodden who snap-shoved the rest of his stack all in. RSlijkhuis called quickly, too, showing [Kc][Kh]. But Lodden had the one hand RSlijkhuis didn’t want to see — [As][Ac]!

Then came the flop, bringing one card Lodden didn’t want to see — [Ks][4s][9c]! A set for RSlijkhuis! The turn was the [7s], making a spade flush a possibility. But the river brought the [Tc], and Lodden hit the rail in seventh.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Soon after the blinds were still 2,000/4,000 when delaney_kid opened for 8,000 from the cutoff, then alin111 reraised to 20,075 from the button. The blinds folded, then delaney_kid shipped it for 119,401 total, getting a call from alin111.

delaney_kid [Jh][8h]
alin111 [Jd][Js]

Tough match-up for delaney_kid, and five community cards later — [5d][9d][Kh][8d][9c] — he was out in sixth.

A little later flashkowski would pick up yet another big pocket pair at the final table — [Ah][Ac] this time — but rany01 had him matched with [Ad][As], and the pair ultimately split the pot.

Shortly after the eight-hour break, the blinds were 2,400/4,800 when tytkto open-pushed from the small blind, having his lone remaining opponent, alin111, well-covered. alin111 called from the big blind with the 74,416 he had left, showing [Ac][8d] and having the advantage over tytkto’s [Ad][6d]. But the flop came [4h][2d][Jd], giving tytkto a flush draw, then the [7d] on the turn sealed it, making the river no matter and sending alin111 out in fifth.

The blinds moved to 2,800/5,600 and tytkto was soon raising again, making it 11,760 to go from UTG. It folded back to RSlijkhuis in the big blind who reraised all in for 92,199. tytkto made the call, showing [Jh][Th] while RSlijkhuis had [As][Qc]. RSlijkhuis remained best through the turn — [2h][5c][Kd][6s] — but the [Ts] on the river paired tytkto, sending RSlijkhuis out in fourth.

A short while later rany01 opened with a raise to 16,800 from the small blind and flashkowski made the call from the big blind. The flop came a provocative [9c][5h][8d], and both players checked. Then the turn brought the [Js] and a lot of interest from both players. rany01 bet 22,400, then flashkowski bumped it to 44,800. rany01 responded by shoving the 200,000-plus he had left all in, and flashkowski called with the 128,243 he had left.

flashkowski showed [Ks][Jd] for top pair, but rany01 had him outkicked with [Ac][Jh]. The river was the [2c], and they were down to two.

RSS readers click through to see replay

When heads-up play began, tytkto had the advantage with 862,453 to rany01′s 422,547. The two played a couple of small pots, then agreed to pause in order to make a deal. Some time passed while they waited for a host to come help facilitate the deal, during which time the pair chatted a bit.

rany01: congratulation tytkto
tytkto: ty
rany01: well played
tytkto: u2
rany01: ty
tytkto: gg
rany01: was not always easy for me
rany01: many heartattacks

Eventually the host showed and the pair agreed to tytkto receiving $45,106.50, rany01 $43,000, with $3,000 left to play for.

Once play resumed, the stacks started to even up after the first dozen hands, but then tytkto retook the advantage, building back to 804,982 to rany01′s 480,018 when the final hand took place.

The blinds were 3,200/6,400. rany01 opened for 19,200 from the button/small blind, then tytkto pushed all in. rany01 made the call, showing [Ah][6s] to tytkto’s [3h][3d]. The board came [Td][Ks][Qs][5d][7c], and tytkto’s pair had held.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congrats to tytkto, winner of this week’s Super Tuesday!

Super Tuesday results for 5/31/11 (*reflects two-way deal):

1st: tytkto ($48,106.50)*
2nd: rany01 ($43,000)*
3rd: flashkowski ($29,041)
4th: RSlijkhuis ($21,845)
5th: alin111 ($14,906)
6th: delaney_kid ($11,565)
7th: Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden ($8,995)
8th: DutchRaise72 ($6,425)
9th: Iloveyz ($4,883)

Tags: greece | lodden | money | online | pair | players | rio | river | Super Tuesday | team pokerstars pro | time | virtual | world-series

Eleven hours against the H.O.R.S.E. contest, couple men were impassive station — George Danzer vs. Anders “Donald” Berg. It was a competition of Germany vs. Norway, scarves vs. no-scarves, also an conclusive counter-up amid a PokerStars Club Professional besides PokerStars Club Online, where bragging valids were on the queue to define which clique of experts represented the preeminent of the defeat.

If the craniums-up tournament were a tagline to 1970s kung fu haze, it ability predict: “Couple men entered the Octagon. Solely sole would weather.”

A destroy of 64 champions plunked dejected $2,100 to standard their mongrel game talents at H.O.R.S.E. Entirely seven of them would obtain a scrumptious crumb of the pastry further receive a opportunity at the $128,000 reward jackpot, which included $44,800 fixed apart to the future heroine (hardly to allusion a streamlined untried spy awarded to entire HOLLOW combatant).

A quantity of PokerStars Club Experts participated in Occasion #36-H including Sebastian Ruthenberg, JP Kelly, ElkY, Lex Veldhuis, Jude Ainsworth, further Stroke Pezzin — still entire exclusive undivided of them fell by the wayside untimely on furthermore everyone failed to currency. Notwithstanding, a trinity of their brethren emerged from the battlefield uninjured — Noah “Sole” Boeken, Anders “Donald” Berg, also George Danzer — they total ahead to the definitive counter moreover made the money pare.

They vocation me “Donald”

Among twin lists to go, Danzer was upon of the leaderboard among a authoritative manage. Among 12 actors to go, Danzer, Donald, furthermore Boeken were 1-2-3 in nicks. At that juncture, the trinity seemed destined to swoop the crown trio smears. By the stretch fiddle reached the conclusive index blister, Danzer slipped external of the crest locate furthermore Boeken had snagged the guide.

The underprivileged 10th seat finisher was tunnny. He got crippled amid Omaha hi/lo moreover made a latter stand beside [As][Jd][8s][3h]. The lodge scan [Qs][9d][3s][2c][4c] besides tunnny made a brace of treys plus an 8-4-3-2-A dejected. H

Tags: boeken | danzer | ept | game | george | jp kelly | jude ainsworth | norway | online | rio | river | spring | street | time | united-kingdom

This event belonged to Mother Russia. Just look at the results– five of the top eight finishers hailed from the land that brought us poker champions Alex Kravchenko, Ivan Demidov, and SCOOP leaderboard fixture Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn. Although the latter played this event and did not cash, it was three of his countrymen who ended up taking the gold, silver and bronze in Event #32-M, a $530 buy-in six-handed limit hold’em extravaganza that drew 246 players into the fray. 36 players earned a share of the $123,000 prize pool with first place set to earn $27,060 and a SCOOP champion’s watch.

Flying the flag for Team PokerStars in this event were Marcin Horecki, Vicky Coren, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Marcel Luske, Lex Veldhuis, Anders “Donald” Berg, George “gkap13″ Kapalas, JP Kely, and Greg DeBora along with Team Online’s Richard “Tzen1″ Veenman and Javier “El_Canonero” Dominguez. Two Team Pros made the money, Dutchmen Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart (31st) and Noah Boeken (21st).

Kroko-dill (also Russian!) was this event’s final table bubble boy, exiting in seventh place. After three-betting pre from the big blind, kroko-dill got the rest of his chips in on a [8d][6s][5s] flop and beng_51 called. Neither player had hit much of anything, kroko-dill with [Jc][Th] against beng_51′s [Qc][9h]. Neither player improved on the turn or river and beng_51′s queen-high took it, sending kroko-dill to the rail with a $3,321 payday and a few more TLB points.

Here’s how the six finalists stacked up:

Seat 1: beng_51 (410,954 in chips)
Seat 2: a.v.kopli (177,748 in chips)
Seat 3: dynamoM (120,990 in chips)
Seat 4: kizoku2008 (231,424 in chips)
Seat 5: Cjnybre (149,637 in chips)
Seat 6: slavistas (139,247 in chips)

Slavistas lost most of his chips when he went to showdown on a six-high board with an unimproved [As][9s]. A.v.kopli had him just outpipped with [Ah][Ts], leaving him on less than two big bets. The rest of his stack went in pre-flop against beng_51 but his [Ah][4d] did not improve against pocket fives. For sixth place, slavistas earned $4,920.

Kizoku2008 began to pull away from the pack after this hand, where he defended his big blind against a button raise and flopped bottom two pair:

Next to depart was a.v.kopli, who put the last of his chips in on a [Jc][8c][5s] flop after hitting middle pair with [Kc][8d]. Cjnybre was behind with [Ah][9h], but spiked an ace on the river to end a.v.kopli’s run in fifth place. Cjnybre’s chip infusion was short-lived, however as beng_51 claimed most of his stack on the very next hand. Two minutes later, Cjnybre staked his tournament life on [As][6h],but ran into beng_51′s dominating [Ah][Th]. Cjnybre did not improve and collected $9,840 for fourth place.

Beng_51 was sitting comfortably on 570,000 in chips when kizoku2008 won back-to-back pots to assume the chip lead. The second was the larger of the two and was capped pre-flop in a small blind vs. big blind raising war between kizoku2008 and dynamoM. Kizoku2008 check-called a bet on the [Js][8c][2h] flop, then check-raised when the [4h] fell on the turn. DynamoM three-bet, kizoku2008 capped and dynamoM called. Kizoku2008 led out on the [5c] river and dynamoM called to see kizoku2008′s turned set of fours. DynamoM couldn’t manage more than another few hands, the last of his chips going in the middle on a [Ac][Kc][Jh][2c] board against kizoku2008. Although dynamoM got his money in good with [Ah][8s] against [As][7c], kizoku2008 hit the [5c] on the river to make an ace-high flush and eliminate dynamoM in third place.

Kizoku2008 held a 1.6 to 1 chip lead over beng_51 as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 1: beng_51 (473,586 in chips)
Seat 4: kizoku2008 (756,414 in chips)

Beng_51 quickly evened up the chip counts after winning back to back pots, one with second pair and the other kings up. Kizoku2008, however, rivered his own two pair in an even larger pot to pull out to a 2 to 1 lead. Now holding 816,000 to beng_51′s 413,000, this hand set off a run where kizoku2008 won six consecutive pots to move up to 1.1 million in chips, leaving beng_51 on 100,000:

Beng_51 slipped all the way to 58,000 in chips before flopping two pair and doubling up to 117,000. Now it was his turn to go on a run. Beng_51 ground his way back to half a million in chips after putting together a string of pots, including a 288,000 monster where he got maximum value on his flopped queen-high flush. But kizoku2008 wasn’t nearly finished and pushed his chip count back over 900,000 after three pots that saw him river a ten-high straight, river an eight-high straight, and flop trips.

With beng_51 back down to 300,000 chips kizoku2008 picked up pocket kings at the perfect time and flopped a set to boot:

In what would turn out to be the final hand, beng_51 opened for a raise, kizoku2008 three-bet and beng_51 made the call. Kizoku2008 led out on the [Ks][6h][5s] flop and beng_51 made the call. When the [3s] hit the turn kizoku2008 led again, beng_51 raised all-in to 40,688 and kizoku2008 made the call, turning over [As][Tc] for only ace-high. Beng_51, however, only had queen-high with [Qh][8s]. The river was the [Jd] and kizoku2008 sealed the victory, the SCOOP watch, and a $27,060 payday. For his runner-up finish, beng_51 earned $18,880.50.

SCOOP Event #32-M ($530 6-max limit hold’em) results:
1. kizoku2008 (Russia) $27,060.00
2. beng_51 (Russia) $18,880.50
3. dynamoM (Russia) $14,145.00
4. Cjnybre (Belarus) $9,840.00
5. a.v.kopli (Finland) $7,380.00
6. slavistas (Belarus) $4,920.00

Missing an episode of “Inside SCOOP” is missing out on free money (and a lot of laughs). Join Joe Stapleton and James Hartigan live at 22:00 GMT on PokerStars.tv– there’s a T$500 giveaway in every episode!

Tags: alex kravchenko | chip | event | gold | money | online | player | pokerstars | river | russia | SCOOP | stack | turn

Fixed limit hold’em is popular with many hold’em fans, though it doesn’t boast of the popularity it once did. It requires a bit of a different strategy than NLHE and offers a little more play without the ease of the automatic all-in move at one’s fingertips.

Players who enjoy hold’em will often step up to nearly any hold’em opportunity, and Event 32 provided just that. It was a limit event with a prestigious SCOOP title on the line, and it certainly offered a substantial enough buy-in to attract some of the biggest high-stakes player in the world of online poker.

The high buy-in level of Event 32 offered a $100K guarantee for a $5,000 + $200 price tag. Considering the list of players whose bankrolls allow such an expensive endeavor, the field was full of some of the biggest names in poker from around the world. They relished in the opportunity to play in an event with their peers.

After the two-hour registration period closed, the final numbers were as follows:

Players: 46
Guarantee: $100,000
Actual prize pool: $230,000
Paid players: 6

A solid percentage of the field consisted of players listed with the PokerStars logo. But some of them didn’t last more than a few hours into the tournament with such stiff competition. The first to exit was Team PokerStars Pro Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart in 38th place, and Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 37th. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken left in 29th place, Lex Veldhuis in 27th, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Hoyer Berg in 20th.

Still in contention with three tables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Greg DeBora, the latter holding a strong spot in the top ten. Grospellier soon departed in 16th place, leaving DeBora (pictured below) as the last pro standing.

The elimination of Terrence “Unassigned” Chan in 13th place led to the final two tables of the tournament, but into the sixth hour of play, ten players still remained. Halfway through that hour, they reached the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament just after Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora exited in eighth place, courtesy of crocky.

Short-stacked ferocious666 moved all-in and received calls from Andy McLEOD and rompsa, and they took it all the way through the [8c][6s][7d][Jc][Th] board. Andy McLEOD’s [Ad][Kd] couldn’t beat the [Js][Jh] of rompsa, and ferocious666 simply mucked. After finishing in second place in the 2011 SCOOP Event 9-H, ferocious666 bubbled this tournament and finished in seventh place.

Black88 holds initial lead at final table

The final table was set in Level 12, with blinds at 600/1,200, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: ozenc (32,323 in chips)
Seat 2: K_0_S_T_Y_A (14,905 in chips)
Seat 3: BIack88 (55,348 in chips)
Seat 4: römpsä (34,520 in chips)
Seat 5: crocky (44,337 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (48,567 in chips)

Within ten hands, Andy McLEOD had taken over the chip lead by a slim margin, and it was clearly going to be a fight to the finish in this event.

Short-stacked K_0_S_T_Y_A had trouble from the start, with a short stack that kept decreasing. Finally from the big blind, K_0_S_T_Y_A got involved from the big blind with Andy McLEOD. Betting was capped preflop, as well as after the [3s][4s][8d] flop. K_0_S_T_Y_A moved all-in after the [8s] on the turn, and Andy McLEOD called with [Jh][Jc], which beat the [7h][7s] of K_0_S_T_Y_A. The sixth place finish was worth $12,650.00.

Slowly and quietly, rompsa snuck up on the two chip leaders and climbed into that number one spot. Ozenc sunk to the bottom of the counts but doubled through Black88 to stay alive a bit longer; however a loss of a pot to Black88 put ozenc down under the 3K chip mark.

A double for ozenc through rompsa bought a little more time, but ozenc then got involved with Black88 again. With betting capped on the [3c][2s][Ah] flop, it was the [9s] on the turn that put ozenc all-in with [5h][5s]. Black88 called with [Ac][Js] and top pair, which stayed good through the [8s] on the river. Ozenc, who won Event 30-H just today, had to accept fifth place and $17,250.00 in this event.

Crocky was the other very short-stacked player, and a battle with Andy McLEOD ensued. After the [2s][Ah][Jc] flop, crocky pushed all-in with [Qc][Th], and Andy McLEOD called with [Ad][4d]. Crocky never made the draw as the [6s] and [4h] completed the board, and Andy McLEOD collected the pot. Crocky finished in fourth place with $23,000.00.

Final trio in play

Though Black88 had a reasonable lead to start three-handed play, the other players soon caught up and nearly evened the stacks. But rompsa was on the worse side of several hands and eventually relegated to a fairly low amount of chips, especially as compared to the other two players who both flirted with the 100K point.

Finally, rompsa went all-in preflop with [Ks][8d], but Andy McLEOD had [Ah][8h]. The board of [Td][Qc][5h][Th][9d] brought no help for rompsa, who finished the tournament in third place with $34,500.00.

Andy McLEOD aims for another title

The final two players started their battle with the following stacks:

Seat 3: BIack88 (90,386 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (139,614 in chips)

Andy McLEOD immediately took charge and increased the lead over Black88, but over a series of aggressively played hands, Black88 came back with a vengeance. A sample of the action can be viewed here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Andy McLEOD lost ground quickly and finally got involved on a hand that saw bets and raises as the [Qc][Js][5h][Jd] flop and turn appeared. It was then that Andy McLEOD put the last of his chips in the pot with [Ac][8h], but Black88 called with [Qs][Jh] for the full house. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, who won a WCOOP in 2008, SCOOP in 2009, and final tabled two 2011 SCOOP events this year, was denied another title. He accepted $57,500.00 for the second place finish.

Black88 won the SCOOP watch and title, along with the first place prize of $85,100.00. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #32-H Results:

1st place: Black88 ($85,100.00)
2nd place: Andy McLEOD ($57,500.00)
3rd place: rompsa ($34,500.00)
4th place: crocky ($23,000.00)
5th place: ozenc ($17,250.00)
6th place: K_0_S_T_Y_A ($12,650.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Tags: biggest | black88 | ept | event | field | online | poker | SCOOP | team pokerstars pro | wcoop | world

Fixed limit hold’em is popular with many hold’em fans, though it doesn’t boast of the popularity it once did. It requires a bit of a different strategy than NLHE and offers a little more play without the ease of the automatic all-in move at one’s fingertips.

Players who enjoy hold’em will often step up to nearly any hold’em opportunity, and Event 32 provided just that. It was a limit event with a prestigious SCOOP title on the line, and it certainly offered a substantial enough buy-in to attract some of the biggest high-stakes player in the world of online poker.

The high buy-in level of Event 32 offered a $100K guarantee for a $5,000 + $200 price tag. Considering the list of players whose bankrolls allow such an expensive endeavor, the field was full of some of the biggest names in poker from around the world. They relished in the opportunity to play in an event with their peers.

After the two-hour registration period closed, the final numbers were as follows:

Players: 46
Guarantee: $100,000
Actual prize pool: $230,000
Paid players: 6

A solid percentage of the field consisted of players listed with the PokerStars logo. But some of them didn’t last more than a few hours into the tournament with such stiff competition. The first to exit was Team PokerStars Pro Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart in 38th place, and Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 37th. Noah “Exclusive” Boeken left in 29th place, Lex Veldhuis in 27th, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Hoyer Berg in 20th.

Still in contention with three tables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Greg DeBora, the latter holding a strong spot in the top ten. Grospellier soon departed in 16th place, leaving DeBora (pictured below) as the last pro standing.

The elimination of Terrence “Unassigned” Chan in 13th place led to the final two tables of the tournament, but into the sixth hour of play, ten players still remained. Halfway through that hour, they reached the hand-for-hand portion of the tournament just after Team PokerStars Pro Greg DeBora exited in eighth place, courtesy of crocky.

Short-stacked ferocious666 moved all-in and received calls from Andy McLEOD and rompsa, and they took it all the way through the [8c][6s][7d][Jc][Th] board. Andy McLEOD’s [Ad][Kd] couldn’t beat the [Js][Jh] of rompsa, and ferocious666 simply mucked. After finishing in second place in the 2011 SCOOP Event 9-H, ferocious666 bubbled this tournament and finished in seventh place.

Black88 holds initial lead at final table

The final table was set in Level 12, with blinds at 600/1,200, and the players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: ozenc (32,323 in chips)
Seat 2: K_0_S_T_Y_A (14,905 in chips)
Seat 3: BIack88 (55,348 in chips)
Seat 4: römpsä (34,520 in chips)
Seat 5: crocky (44,337 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (48,567 in chips)

Within ten hands, Andy McLEOD had taken over the chip lead by a slim margin, and it was clearly going to be a fight to the finish in this event.

Short-stacked K_0_S_T_Y_A had trouble from the start, with a short stack that kept decreasing. Finally from the big blind, K_0_S_T_Y_A got involved from the big blind with Andy McLEOD. Betting was capped preflop, as well as after the [3s][4s][8d] flop. K_0_S_T_Y_A moved all-in after the [8s] on the turn, and Andy McLEOD called with [Jh][Jc], which beat the [7h][7s] of K_0_S_T_Y_A. The sixth place finish was worth $12,650.00.

Slowly and quietly, rompsa snuck up on the two chip leaders and climbed into that number one spot. Ozenc sunk to the bottom of the counts but doubled through Black88 to stay alive a bit longer; however a loss of a pot to Black88 put ozenc down under the 3K chip mark.

A double for ozenc through rompsa bought a little more time, but ozenc then got involved with Black88 again. With betting capped on the [3c][2s][Ah] flop, it was the [9s] on the turn that put ozenc all-in with [5h][5s]. Black88 called with [Ac][Js] and top pair, which stayed good through the [8s] on the river. Ozenc, who won Event 30-H just today, had to accept fifth place and $17,250.00 in this event.

Crocky was the other very short-stacked player, and a battle with Andy McLEOD ensued. After the [2s][Ah][Jc] flop, crocky pushed all-in with [Qc][Th], and Andy McLEOD called with [Ad][4d]. Crocky never made the draw as the [6s] and [4h] completed the board, and Andy McLEOD collected the pot. Crocky finished in fourth place with $23,000.00.

Final trio in play

Though Black88 had a reasonable lead to start three-handed play, the other players soon caught up and nearly evened the stacks. But rompsa was on the worse side of several hands and eventually relegated to a fairly low amount of chips, especially as compared to the other two players who both flirted with the 100K point.

Finally, rompsa went all-in preflop with [Ks][8d], but Andy McLEOD had [Ah][8h]. The board of [Td][Qc][5h][Th][9d] brought no help for rompsa, who finished the tournament in third place with $34,500.00.

Andy McLEOD aims for another title

The final two players started their battle with the following stacks:

Seat 3: BIack88 (90,386 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (139,614 in chips)

Andy McLEOD immediately took charge and increased the lead over Black88, but over a series of aggressively played hands, Black88 came back with a vengeance. A sample of the action can be viewed here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Andy McLEOD lost ground quickly and finally got involved on a hand that saw bets and raises as the [Qc][Js][5h][Jd] flop and turn appeared. It was then that Andy McLEOD put the last of his chips in the pot with [Ac][8h], but Black88 called with [Qs][Jh] for the full house. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst, who won a WCOOP in 2008, SCOOP in 2009, and final tabled two 2011 SCOOP events this year, was denied another title. He accepted $57,500.00 for the second place finish.

Black88 won the SCOOP watch and title, along with the first place prize of $85,100.00. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #32-H Results:

1st place: Black88 ($85,100.00)
2nd place: Andy McLEOD ($57,500.00)
3rd place: rompsa ($34,500.00)
4th place: crocky ($23,000.00)
5th place: ozenc ($17,250.00)
6th place: K_0_S_T_Y_A ($12,650.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Tags: biggest | greg debora | online | poker | river | SCOOP | team pokerstars pro | tournaments | wcoop | world

Some call Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, PLO with a safety net. It is true that despite your chips going forward and not having the best hand high hand at the end, half that pot can come your way from having the low hand (if three non-pairing cards below an eight appear on the board). Hands with wheel cards in them become premium as shooting for just the high hand can leave you grasping at the mist of your chips as they slide across to the savvy player across the table that chased a two-way draw and got there.

Tonight’s SCOOP Event #30-L Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo had 6,257 players chasing scoops while avoiding being quartered. The tournament with a $30,000.00 guarantee and thanks to those masses who found $11 in their bankroll, the prize pool over doubled the guarantee to $62,570.00 and set out 900 places paid. $9,521.63 and a beautiful SCOOP champion’s watch would be sitting at the final table but to get there we had to eliminate a few players and go through many, many chop talks.

Team PokerStars pros and Team Online showed up at the starting gun but would not reach the final table tonight as Juan Manuel Pastor (3,680th place), Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (3,183rd place), Henrique Pinho (1,682nd place and was still alive in the high buy-in version of this tournament with 20 players left, ultimately finishing 19th in the money), Rino Mathis (1,169th place), George Danzer (1,136th place), Marcin “goral” Horecki (1,054th place), Anders “Donald” Berg (945th place) got quartered one too many times and found their tournament chips gone before robbiebox busted to break the bubble.

Just two Team PokerStars pros were able to slip into the cash as Bryan Huang was able to notch a small cash tonight ($20.02, 610th place) along with Nuno Coelho (453rd place, $21.89) as the big cash was still several hours away.

Ten hours and forty minutes away to be exact as the blinds stood at 50K/100K as diegokeep popped it to 350,000 from UTG, and galia32 in the cutoff made it 1.2 million to go. Stackfield wanted to take a gamble preflop and shoved for 2.27 million as diegokeep made the call for less and galia32 covering both players also made the call.

Stackfield: [6h] [2h] [2d] [Ad]
galia32: [Ks] [Jh] [2s] [As]
diegokeep: [7c] [Ac] [Kc] [3d]

Three suited aces and only one of them would come out with chips. Stackfield took a big lead with the [8d] [7d] [Qh] having the best draw for a nut-nut hand, but the diamonds stopped there as the [8h] turn and killer [Jc] river laid out no low and just a pair of jacks for galia. Those jacks were good enough however for the double elimination as diegokeep took 11th place ($350.39) and bubble boy Stackfield got the same amount ($350.39) in tenth starting the final table below:

Seat 1: begood9999 (2401161 in chips)
Seat 2: My 428 river (5122087 in chips)
Seat 3: freakz2 (2691784 in chips)
Seat 4: donut604 (3425053 in chips)
Seat 5: uebby1986 (4468483 in chips)
Seat 6: sirfluhsalot (3372366 in chips)
Seat 7: galia32 (5936438 in chips)
Seat 8: WoytAAstars (1764666 in chips)
Seat 9: Fanthomas07 (2102962 in chips)

Can’t fathom the outcome

Despite several all-ins in the first twenty minutes of the final table, we would only say good bye to one player (remember the safety net analogy?). With the blinds at 80K/160K Fanthomas07 would raise UTG to 560K and only found WoytAAstars in the big blind calling. [Tc] [Ah] [9h] high flop and WoytAAstars turned as the aggressor by pushing out 1.2 million that would set Fanthomas07 all-in. Holding just a lower pair of aces, a backdoor low draw and flush draw [Ac] [2c] [2d] [4c] Fanthomas07 made the call facing the flopped two pair of WoytAAstars [3s] [Qc] [9s] [As]. [6c] gave Fanthomas07 the two-way draw, but the [Ad] on the river completed a full house for WoytAAstars as Fanthomas07′s run for the watch was done in ninth place ($484.91).

A wheel will get you everywhere

Watch below as WoytAAstars gets rolled over by My 428 river:

With the blinds moved up to 100K/200K WoytAAstars pushed out 600,000 from UTG as My 428 river and galia32 out of the big blind made the call. A coordinated low flop [2d] [6c] [4s] got galia32 to check as WoytAAstars bet 1.9 million. Holding the nut low and a pair [3d] [6d] [Ac] [Tc] My 428 river shoved for 443,442 more as galia32 quickly folded and WoytAAstars made the call with [5s] [Qh] [As] [7d]. [Ts] gave My 428 river top two and the [5d] on the river completed a wheel for My 428 river as WoytAAstars was left with just 183,927 chips. Those leftovers would be eaten by begood9999 on the next hand as WoytAAstars sat out in eighth place ($750.84).

Sir needs-a-flush

Ten hands later with the blinds still at 100K/200K sirfluhsalot fell on hard times after losing a 5.2 million chip pot to begood9999 while shoving an interesting [8s][7s][Js]9h] into the middle preflop. Left with 421,561 chips, sirfluhsalot would ship it preflop again finding callers in My 428 river and dount604. Check-check on the [4c] [Tc] [3s] flop. [5d] turn and donut604 woke up with a 600,000 chip bet that was called. [9c] on the river and donut604 pushed out 2,564,683 chips which My 428 river wanted no part of as expected donut604 showed not only a wheel but a deuce to six straight [Ah] [9d] [2c] [6d] as sirfluhsalot could only muster two pair [4s] [Kd] [Js] [9s] while watching the last of his tournament chips swirl down the drain in seventh place ($1,376.54).

Just as the blinds moved up to 125K/250K Anders “Donald” Berg, an accomplished O8 player in his own right, was on hosting duties as the final six requested chop numbers. Unfortunately, the chip leader donut604 wanted a little more than everyone wanted to him and play was ordered on.

That will be $1,000.00 please

The difference between chopping and not chopping for uebby1986 as the very next hand after Anders started up the tournament again uebby1986 would be all-in preflop facing galia32′s double suited aces [As] [8s] [7h] [Ah]. Holding [Ac] [3s] [5d] [6h] uebby1986 was looking for a low board or two pair after the turned [5c] [Jd] [Qc] [7d]. But neither would hit the [Th] river as galia32′s aces held and uebby1986 who would have received $3K in the chop agreement, settled for $2,002.24 in sixth place.

Changing of the guard

While donut604 may have ruled the last chop talks, someone else was sure to control the next chat after the three-way hand below:

begood9999: [6c] [As] [5c] [Qd]
freakz2: [2s] [Ad] [3c] [8h]
donut604: [7s] [5d] [4h] [Ac]

After a raise to 555,555 from begood9999 both freakz2 and donut604 in the blinds called to see an all-low [8d] [4c] [3s] flop. freakz2 checked as donut604 bet 1.66 million and begood9999 shoved for 3.3 million total. freakz2 followed suit and also shoved for 4.3 million total as donut604 covered both and made the call. Only freakz2 had the nut-low along with two pair and both would hold up on the [Ts] turn and [Kd] river to scoop the entire 13.6 million chip pot eliminating begood9999 in fifth place ($2,627.94) and shipping the chip lead to freakz2.

Again the players tried for a chip chop split, some wanted ICM, and others wanted rice krispies treats, but none took hold as the dealer pitched the cards once again till the 12th hour dinner break that had freakz2 still holding 50 percent of the chips in play. Leading for more disagreements, our final four could not even decide on shortening the 15 minute break, as the entire time was used to stretch out before getting back to the business of winning a SCOOP championship watch. Then just after the first hand was folded around to My 428 river, the players paused once again as freakz2 has a live outside of poker and needed to go to work.

freakz2: $8,500.00
galia32: $5,354.24
donut604: $5,327.44
My 428 river: 4,771.11

After another 10 minute round of who’s on first, the chop agreement above was in place with $1,054.91 set aside for the champ.

Served for breakfast

With the money mostly out of the way, the all-ins started coming in quickly as once time massive chip leader donut604 lost over two thousand dollars after not taking the first deal, and with the blinds at 150K/300K he would not be getting anymore. galia32 made a raise from the cutoff to 1.5 million, called by My 428 river and donut604 in the big blind. A high coordinated [8s] [Qc] [Tc] got the attention of donut604 who shoved for 2.09 million as galia32 min-raised to get My 428 river out of the way. It did, as galia32 flipped up the nut flush draw [2c] [Ac] [6h] [7s] and donut604 was hurting with a lower flush draw and worse backdoor low draw [3c] [5c] [4s] [Ah]. The low and flush never appeared but the [9s] turn and [Ts] river gave galia32 a straight, good enough for the 7.4 million chip pot sending donut604 out for coffee in fourth place ($5,327.44).

This job probably pays more

Watch below as galia32 and freakz2 get it all in post flop for a massive 23.5 million chip pot:

freakz2: [9d] [Qh] [5d] [Ac]
galia32: [6s] [4d] [As] [Ts]

freakz2 would be clinging to top pair on the [4s] [Qs] [Jc] flop as galia32 had flush, straight, trips, and two pair outs. The clincher wasted no time hitting as the [Kd] fell on the turn giving galia32 a broadway straight and the 23.5 million chip pot. The very next hand freakz2 got his wish and was off to work in third place after making $680.00 an hour for 12 and half hours of “work” ($8,500.00) in third place.

Not giving up

Despite starting off with a 24.9 million to 6.3 million deficit, My 428 river would briefly take the chip lead over the course of their half hour heads-up battle. But, with the blinds moved up to 250K/500K My 428 river’s chances to grab the extra $1,054.91 up for grabs ran into a straight. After galia32 raised to 1.5 million from the button, My 428 river made the call to see a [5c] [4c] [7d] flop. My 428 river liked his top two pair [5s] [Qd] [7s] [Kh] enough to bet three million as galia32 bumped it up enough to put the short stack all-in. My 428 river made the call and would be looking for four outs as galia32 hit a straight [Qh] [6h] [9c] [3s]. With no chance for a low, only a boat would bail My 428 river out. [9h] turn and [4d] river did not look like a five or a seven and the board locked up the extra $1,054.91 and Event #30-L SCOOP champion’s watch for galia32!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow as Event #30-H will be starting up at 1400 ET for day two action along with Event #33 NLO8 turbo which may actually finish first!

SCOOP 2011 Event #30-L Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo results (05-19-11)
(*denotes part of four way deal leaving $1,054.91 for the winner)
1. galia32 (Russia) *$6,409.15
2. My 428 river (Germany) *$4,771.11
3. freakz2 (Germany) *$8,500.00
4. donut604 (Canada) *$5,327.44
5. begood9999 (Brazil) $2,627.94
6. uebby1986 (Germany) $2,002.24
7. sirfluhsalot (Greece) $1,376.54
8. WoytAAstars (Poland) $750.84
9. Fanthomas07 (Hungary) $484.91

Tags: 2010 WSOP | 428-river | attention | bryan-huang | business | chip | dealer | event | money | online | tournament

A few days ago we watched RusAttack666 take down a sizable 7,907 player field in Event #13-L NLHE Ante Up tournament. That was also a two-day event, similar to today’s Event #28-L NLHE w/rebuys big antes tournament. While the blind structure is the normal one allowing for plenty of play during the SCOOP tournament series, the antes carry a little more weight than just throwing in ten percent of the big blind each hand. Starting with level 45 today the players will be paying 50,000 chips with every hand along with the 125K/250K blinds and despite the average stack holding 40 big blinds some gamble will be needed as twiddling your thumbs while waiting for aces will have you watching daytime soap operas instead of vying for the $38,739.86 first prize and the SCOOP championship watch.

9,719 players managed 11,512 rebuys and 6,436 add-ons to crush the $175,000.00 guarantee while producing a $276,670.00 prize pool that paid off 1,440 places. Not bad for an $11 investment as five of the nine players still sitting down today would walk away with at least five figures. Playing $11 worth of pull-tabs at the local dive bar would not come close to producing these types of winnings.

But, first we had to get rid of 9,710 players to get to the final table shown below. Pierre “zoutechamp” Neuville (7,105th place), Bryan Huang (4,972nd place), Marcin “goral” Horecki (4,686th place), Georgios “gkap13″ Kapalas (3,597th place), Grzerorz “DaWarshaw” Mikielewicz (2,587th place), Matthias de Meulder (2,499th place), Stavros “IDOLLS” Kalfas (2,271st place) , Ruben “rubenrtv” Visser (2,177th place), Andre Acoimbra (2,125th place), Joep “Pappe_Ruk” van den Bijgaart (1,818th place) all received a ROI below zero as they failed to cash today.

Matthias’ brother Christophe would be the first Team PokerStars player to hit the cashier’s window in 1,357th place ($44.26). Followed by Martin “AABenjaminAA” Hruby (1,221st place, $49.80) and much further up the pay ladder was Romanian pro Toni Judet in 309th place ($107.90). The lovely Liv Boeree once again outlasted all of the Team PokerStars pros and Team Online members giving us an excuse (as if we need one) to include her photo below after finishing in 199th place ($132.80).

The chip leader starting day 2, 2Maise4U already has a deep cash in the SCOOP 2011 series with a 6th place finish in Event #7-M for a little over $8K and hopes to eclipse that today. Also looking for redemption from a deep run is MastaP89 who was seventh in chips after day one of Event #20-M but finished a disappointing 21st place ($3,160.01), he starts fifth in chips today as shown below:

Seat 1: mseiroz (6864798 in chips)
Seat 2: jamanabalada (7905270 in chips)
Seat 3: Xlisa (13303437 in chips)
Seat 4: 2Maise4U (19308586 in chips)
Seat 5: MastaP89 (8015843 in chips)
Seat 6: belexe88 (17721756 in chips)
Seat 7: DrPill1 (8496664 in chips)
Seat 8: H.FresnO (6460232 in chips)
Seat 9: TJFC_7 (7796414 in chips)

Timely jammin’

jamanabalada ran into a big decision early on the final table, watch below as the Brazilian makes the right decision…

… but gets the wrong result. After taking nearly the entire time bank to decide to call DrPill1′s push post-flop with the board showing all diamonds [9d] [5d] [7d] jamanabalada made the right call holding pocket queens with the queen of diamonds [Qd][Qh] and was correct that DrPill1 only held [Qs][Kd] but had a higher flush draw. [2s] was safe on the turn for the 12.5 million chip pot, but the fourth diamond hit the river [2d] shipping the pot to MrPill1 and eliminating jamanablada in ninth place ($1,881.35).

What the doctor ordered

As the blinds moved up to 200K/400K ante 80K TJFC_7′s future was looking bleak with just 1.8 million and sitting in the big blind. As the cards folded around to DrPill1 would continued to be very active at the table, he would push from the button holding [Jc][Kd] as TJFC_7 was handcuffed into making the call with [4s][Qs]. 4.4 million in the middle would help TJFC_7 get back into this tournament but neither player could match up on the [Ac] [Ah] [Ts] [5h] [Th] board and DrPill1 had his second elimination taking down TJFC_7 in eighth place ($2,766.70).

A hard pill to swallow

Despite MastaP89 taking command of the final table while leaping to a 27.7 million chip stack with blinds at 300K/600K ante 120K, it would be DrPill1 looking for his third straight elimination against another sizable stack in 2Maise4U. 32.6 million chips and the chip lead in the middle preflop. Who won? Check it out below:

32.6 million in the middle as DrPill1 flipped up pocket tens [Th][Tc] facing off against the [Ad][Jc] of 2Maise4U. The tens managed to dodge aces and jacks all the way [7s] [8d] [Ks] [7c] [2h] claiming the chip lead with six players left as 2Maise4U despite bringing the chip lead to the table, could not improve on his 6th place finish in Event #7-M, finishing in 7th place here for $5,533.40 as DrPill1 scored his third straight knockout.

Not so fast DrPill1

Eight hands later the other mega-stack, MastaP89, wanted a little action and raised UTG to 1.2 million. Folded around to mseiroz in the small blind who held 4.9 million and needed some breathing room from the massive antes shoved holding [Qd][Ks]. Back to MastaP89 looking down at [Jd][Td], made the call for 3.6 million more and was rewarded with a [8h] [9s] [7h] flop for the nut straight. [Jc] on the turn provided a little scare for a three-outer on the river but the [6h] safely fell as 11.1 million chips piled into MastaP89′s already impressive stack and sent mseiroz out in sixth place ($8,300.10).

Slicked up but not ready to go out

As the blinds held at 300K/600K ante 120K Xlisa would lead the betting from the cutoff for a raise to 1.202 million as belexe88 holding just two million shoved over the top for a little more than 800K more. Back to Xlisa holding big slick in hearts [Kh][Ah] made the easy call and was well ahead of the small ace [Ad][3d] of belexe88. Both players suited and it was belexe88 who would find two of the suit [Jd] [Tc] [Qd] on the flop yet caught more outs than preflop despite Xlisa catching the nut broadway straight. The diamond would fail to hit on the [Ts] turn and [5c] river sending belexe88 out in fifth place ($11,066.80).

Executioner switches roles

A few hands after Xlisa brought down the guillotine on belexe88′s tournament, Xlisa’s own neck would be on the chopping block as the blinds moved up to 400K/800K ante 160K. DrPill1 continued to be aggressive raising from the cutoff for 1.7 million as H.FresnO made it 2.9 million to go. and Xlisa shoved for the small blind for 7.2 million total. MastaP89 and DrPill1 folded as H.FresnO thought for a few ticks before calling with [9s][Ad]. Pocket queens [Qs][Qc] have not been lucky at this final table but looked good for Xlisa through the turn [7c] [7s] [Kh] [8c] but not the river as the timely ace [Ah] hit and sunk the pocket queens along with Xlisa’s SCOOP watch chances in fourth place ($13,833.50).

Did that just happen?

In what could only be described as an elaborate (and very expensive) game of chicken watch below as the two big stacks get it in preflop and only one holding a premium hand:

DrPill1′s bluff with [7h][9c] went for naught as MastaP89 held the real deal and flipped up big slick [Ac][Kh] for a 46.4 million chip pot. And somehow DrPill1 would find a way to hit a straight [5d] [Jc] [5h] [Tc] [8s] knocking MastaP89 into a deep chasm of tilt.

Masta, Masta, I’m pulling your strings

Wow. MastaP89 did everything to win, but the five board cards failed to agree as on the very next hand facing H.FresnO after raising to 2.1 million from the button and getting calls from both DrPill1 and H.FresnO the three players looked down at a [2s] [As] [4d] flop. Checks from both blinds as MastaP89 c-bet to 2.1 million and was check-raised by H.FresnoO to 6.3 million. Not letting go of that pair of fours [Jc][4c] and perhaps a little tilted, MastaP89 shoved for 23.5 million. H.FresnO would call all-in with a flush draw [Ts][9s] and another massive 49.5 chips in the middle. But, the poker gods smite MastaP89 once again and not only did a [9d] hit the turn a four [4s] would river that gave MastaP89 trips, but gave H.FresnO the winning flush knocking MastaP89 down to 2.2 million chips. Those would be scooped up by H.FresnO on the very next hand giving MastaP89 a disappointing third place finish ($19,920.24).

Prescription for second place

The shove on a scary board did not work out this time for DrPill1. With the blinds moving up to 600K/1.2MM ante 240K and H.FresnO holding a 60.1 million to 35.6 million chip lead DrPill1 would three-bet H.FresnO’s button raise to 5.5 million as the chip leader made the call. Two spades on the flop [Jd] [3s] [7s] and H.FresnO bet 3.6 million after DrPill1′s check, and DrPill1 made the call. Another spade on the turn [9s] the same check-bet-call but this time for 6.2 million. [Kc] on the river got DrPill1 trying to steal the 31 million chip pot with a shove for his remaining 20.1 million. But with [As][8s] H.FresnO mustered up the courage to call with the nuts and collected the remaining 71.3 chips and becoming the SCOOP 2011 Event #28-L champion claiming the $38,739.86 first prize along with the championship watch!

Be sure to check in for today’s version of Inside SCOOP with Nick and Joe bringing your yesterday’s slate of tournaments along with cal42688 becoming the second player to claim two watches this series.

SCOOP 2011 Event #28-L NLHE w/rebuys Big Antes result (05-19-11)
1. H.FresnO (Spain) $38,739.86
2. DrPill1 (Sweden) $28,220.34
3. MastaP89 (Germany) $19,920.24
4. Xlisa (Ukraine) $13,833.50
5. belexe88 (United Kingdom) $11,066.80
6. mseiroz (Brazil) $8,300.10
7. 2Maise4U (Sweden) $5,533.40
8. TJFC_7 (Portugal) $2,766.70
9. jamanabalada (Brazil) $1,881.35

Tags: 2011 | liv boeree | middle | online | pokerstars | SCOOP | time | turn | UKIPT | xlisa

A few days ago we watched RusAttack666 take down a sizable 7,907 player field in Event #13-L NLHE Ante Up tournament. That was also a two-day event, similar to today’s Event #28-L NLHE w/rebuys big antes tournament. While the blind structure is the normal one allowing for plenty of play during the SCOOP tournament series, the antes carry a little more weight than just throwing in ten percent of the big blind each hand. Starting with level 45 today the players will be paying 50,000 chips with every hand along with the 125K/250K blinds and despite the average stack holding 40 big blinds some gamble will be needed as twiddling your thumbs while waiting for aces will have you watching daytime soap operas instead of vying for the $38,739.86 first prize and the SCOOP championship watch.

9,719 players managed 11,512 rebuys and 6,436 add-ons to crush the $175,000.00 guarantee while producing a $276,670.00 prize pool that paid off 1,440 places. Not bad for an $11 investment as five of the nine players still sitting down today would walk away with at least five figures. Playing $11 worth of pull-tabs at the local dive bar would not come close to producing these types of winnings.

But, first we had to get rid of 9,710 players to get to the final table shown below. Pierre “zoutechamp” Neuville (7,105th place), Bryan Huang (4,972nd place), Marcin “goral” Horecki (4,686th place), Georgios “gkap13″ Kapalas (3,597th place), Grzerorz “DaWarshaw” Mikielewicz (2,587th place), Matthias de Meulder (2,499th place), Stavros “IDOLLS” Kalfas (2,271st place) , Ruben “rubenrtv” Visser (2,177th place), Andre Acoimbra (2,125th place), Joep “Pappe_Ruk” van den Bijgaart (1,818th place) all received a ROI below zero as they failed to cash today.

Matthias’ brother Christophe would be the first Team PokerStars player to hit the cashier’s window in 1,357th place ($44.26). Followed by Martin “AABenjaminAA” Hruby (1,221st place, $49.80) and much further up the pay ladder was Romanian pro Toni Judet in 309th place ($107.90). The lovely Liv Boeree once again outlasted all of the Team PokerStars pros and Team Online members giving us an excuse (as if we need one) to include her photo below after finishing in 199th place ($132.80).

The chip leader starting day 2, 2Maise4U already has a deep cash in the SCOOP 2011 series with a 6th place finish in Event #7-M for a little over $8K and hopes to eclipse that today. Also looking for redemption from a deep run is MastaP89 who was seventh in chips after day one of Event #20-M but finished a disappointing 21st place ($3,160.01), he starts fifth in chips today as shown below:

Seat 1: mseiroz (6864798 in chips)
Seat 2: jamanabalada (7905270 in chips)
Seat 3: Xlisa (13303437 in chips)
Seat 4: 2Maise4U (19308586 in chips)
Seat 5: MastaP89 (8015843 in chips)
Seat 6: belexe88 (17721756 in chips)
Seat 7: DrPill1 (8496664 in chips)
Seat 8: H.FresnO (6460232 in chips)
Seat 9: TJFC_7 (7796414 in chips)

Timely jammin’

jamanabalada ran into a big decision early on the final table, watch below as the Brazilian makes the right decision…

… but gets the wrong result. After taking nearly the entire time bank to decide to call DrPill1′s push post-flop with the board showing all diamonds [9d] [5d] [7d] jamanabalada made the right call holding pocket queens with the queen of diamonds [Qd][Qh] and was correct that DrPill1 only held [Qs][Kd] but had a higher flush draw. [2s] was safe on the turn for the 12.5 million chip pot, but the fourth diamond hit the river [2d] shipping the pot to MrPill1 and eliminating jamanablada in ninth place ($1,881.35).

What the doctor ordered

As the blinds moved up to 200K/400K ante 80K TJFC_7′s future was looking bleak with just 1.8 million and sitting in the big blind. As the cards folded around to DrPill1 would continued to be very active at the table, he would push from the button holding [Jc][Kd] as TJFC_7 was handcuffed into making the call with [4s][Qs]. 4.4 million in the middle would help TJFC_7 get back into this tournament but neither player could match up on the [Ac] [Ah] [Ts] [5h] [Th] board and DrPill1 had his second elimination taking down TJFC_7 in eighth place ($2,766.70).

A hard pill to swallow

Despite MastaP89 taking command of the final table while leaping to a 27.7 million chip stack with blinds at 300K/600K ante 120K, it would be DrPill1 looking for his third straight elimination against another sizable stack in 2Maise4U. 32.6 million chips and the chip lead in the middle preflop. Who won? Check it out below:

32.6 million in the middle as DrPill1 flipped up pocket tens [Th][Tc] facing off against the [Ad][Jc] of 2Maise4U. The tens managed to dodge aces and jacks all the way [7s] [8d] [Ks] [7c] [2h] claiming the chip lead with six players left as 2Maise4U despite bringing the chip lead to the table, could not improve on his 6th place finish in Event #7-M, finishing in 7th place here for $5,533.40 as DrPill1 scored his third straight knockout.

Not so fast DrPill1

Eight hands later the other mega-stack, MastaP89, wanted a little action and raised UTG to 1.2 million. Folded around to mseiroz in the small blind who held 4.9 million and needed some breathing room from the massive antes shoved holding [Qd][Ks]. Back to MastaP89 looking down at [Jd][Td], made the call for 3.6 million more and was rewarded with a [8h] [9s] [7h] flop for the nut straight. [Jc] on the turn provided a little scare for a three-outer on the river but the [6h] safely fell as 11.1 million chips piled into MastaP89′s already impressive stack and sent mseiroz out in sixth place ($8,300.10).

Slicked up but not ready to go out

As the blinds held at 300K/600K ante 120K Xlisa would lead the betting from the cutoff for a raise to 1.202 million as belexe88 holding just two million shoved over the top for a little more than 800K more. Back to Xlisa holding big slick in hearts [Kh][Ah] made the easy call and was well ahead of the small ace [Ad][3d] of belexe88. Both players suited and it was belexe88 who would find two of the suit [Jd] [Tc] [Qd] on the flop yet caught more outs than preflop despite Xlisa catching the nut broadway straight. The diamond would fail to hit on the [Ts] turn and [5c] river sending belexe88 out in fifth place ($11,066.80).

Executioner switches roles

A few hands after Xlisa brought down the guillotine on belexe88′s tournament, Xlisa’s own neck would be on the chopping block as the blinds moved up to 400K/800K ante 160K. DrPill1 continued to be aggressive raising from the cutoff for 1.7 million as H.FresnO made it 2.9 million to go. and Xlisa shoved for the small blind for 7.2 million total. MastaP89 and DrPill1 folded as H.FresnO thought for a few ticks before calling with [9s][Ad]. Pocket queens [Qs][Qc] have not been lucky at this final table but looked good for Xlisa through the turn [7c] [7s] [Kh] [8c] but not the river as the timely ace [Ah] hit and sunk the pocket queens along with Xlisa’s SCOOP watch chances in fourth place ($13,833.50).

Did that just happen?

In what could only be described as an elaborate (and very expensive) game of chicken watch below as the two big stacks get it in preflop and only one holding a premium hand:

DrPill1′s bluff with [7h][9c] went for naught as MastaP89 held the real deal and flipped up big slick [Ac][Kh] for a 46.4 million chip pot. And somehow DrPill1 would find a way to hit a straight [5d] [Jc] [5h] [Tc] [8s] knocking MastaP89 into a deep chasm of tilt.

Masta, Masta, I’m pulling your strings

Wow. MastaP89 did everything to win, but the five board cards failed to agree as on the very next hand facing H.FresnO after raising to 2.1 million from the button and getting calls from both DrPill1 and H.FresnO the three players looked down at a [2s] [As] [4d] flop. Checks from both blinds as MastaP89 c-bet to 2.1 million and was check-raised by H.FresnoO to 6.3 million. Not letting go of that pair of fours [Jc][4c] and perhaps a little tilted, MastaP89 shoved for 23.5 million. H.FresnO would call all-in with a flush draw [Ts][9s] and another massive 49.5 chips in the middle. But, the poker gods smite MastaP89 once again and not only did a [9d] hit the turn a four [4s] would river that gave MastaP89 trips, but gave H.FresnO the winning flush knocking MastaP89 down to 2.2 million chips. Those would be scooped up by H.FresnO on the very next hand giving MastaP89 a disappointing third place finish ($19,920.24).

Prescription for second place

The shove on a scary board did not work out this time for DrPill1. With the blinds moving up to 600K/1.2MM ante 240K and H.FresnO holding a 60.1 million to 35.6 million chip lead DrPill1 would three-bet H.FresnO’s button raise to 5.5 million as the chip leader made the call. Two spades on the flop [Jd] [3s] [7s] and H.FresnO bet 3.6 million after DrPill1′s check, and DrPill1 made the call. Another spade on the turn [9s] the same check-bet-call but this time for 6.2 million. [Kc] on the river got DrPill1 trying to steal the 31 million chip pot with a shove for his remaining 20.1 million. But with [As][8s] H.FresnO mustered up the courage to call with the nuts and collected the remaining 71.3 chips and becoming the SCOOP 2011 Event #28-L champion claiming the $38,739.86 first prize along with the championship watch!

Be sure to check in for today’s version of Inside SCOOP with Nick and Joe bringing your yesterday’s slate of tournaments along with cal42688 becoming the second player to claim two watches this series.

SCOOP 2011 Event #28-L NLHE w/rebuys Big Antes result (05-19-11)
1. H.FresnO (Spain) $38,739.86
2. DrPill1 (Sweden) $28,220.34
3. MastaP89 (Germany) $19,920.24
4. Xlisa (Ukraine) $13,833.50
5. belexe88 (United Kingdom) $11,066.80
6. mseiroz (Brazil) $8,300.10
7. 2Maise4U (Sweden) $5,533.40
8. TJFC_7 (Portugal) $2,766.70
9. jamanabalada (Brazil) $1,881.35

Tags: 2011 | blinds | bryan-huang | chip | online | remaining | SCOOP | time | turn | united-kingdom