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Posts Tagged ‘2011’

Team Titan’s players both ranked high on the final Bluff Magazine’s 2011 Poker Player of the Year leaderboard, with Sam Trickett listed in 6^th place and Marvin Rettenmaier right behind him in 7^th place.

In August, Marvin had been in third place on the rankings, and at the time the magazine cited his “cashes left and right” and his 6th place finish in the Merit Cyprus $ 5,500 buy-in Main Event as attributing to his high ranking.

Bluff Magazine ranks players according to a formula that “takes into consideration alternate scoring methodologies for shootouts, re-buys, short-handed and heads-up tournaments. Players receive points if they cash in any open tournament which meets the field size criteria. Only a player’s top ten finishes through the calendar year will count towards the Player of the Year standings.”

Finishing 2011 as Bluff Magazine’s Poker Player of the Year was American Eugene Katchalov. In 2011, Katchalov earned $ 2.5 million, made final table appearances at the EPT, NAPT, and at the WSOP, and earned his first WSOP gold bracelet.

“We congratulate Eugene on reaching the pinnacle of success that every poker player is striving for -Player of the Year,” said Bluff’s Editor-in-Chief Lance Bradely.

Finishing just behind Katchalov in the rankings was Bertrand Grospellier. 2011 WSOP Main Event winner Pius Heinz was listed in 10^th place, followed by Erik Seidel.

Lex Veldhuis versus Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. Phil Hellmuth versus Ben Lamb. Pius Heinz versus Martin Staszko. These are just a few of the matchups made famous in 2011, each for very different circumstances. The first was an entertaining kickboxing match, the second a heated race in the 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year, and the latter a battle for poker’s biggest title. Now, another duo is making headlines — Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies and Rafi “refaelamit” Amit — two men locked in a battle to become the biggest winner on PokerStars for 2011.

Of the two, Sahamies is the most familiar to the poker masses. He is a long time high-stakes pro, and has played pot-limit Omaha against some of the world’s best. The Finnish pro, known for trash talking, has had the benefit of appearing on several poker television programs and developed a fan base in both the online and live realms. Meanwhile, Amit is an two-time WSOP bracelet winner from Israel, who has essentially given up live play to focus on crushing online.

Both players are mainstays in the high-stakes games, and their results certainly speak to their abilities. The two men are the biggest winners of 2011 on PokerStars, with the Sahamies currently leading by $ 400,000. Given the stakes and volume the duo play, the poker would anxiously awaits the end-of-the-year race that will inevitably transpire. It has also inspired us to take a look back at 2011 and explore the origins of this friendly rivalry.

Surprisingly, Sahamies’ journey to the top didn’t begin until August; in fact, up until that point he was a small loser on the year. On the flip side, Amit started right out of the gates, toeing the line at around $ 800,000 in profits between March and August. It seems the latter month was when the real race between Sahamies and Amit began. Here is a month-by-month look for each player leading up to December 8, 2011:

Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies 2011 Results

• January | $ 0
• February | -$ 132,430
• March | -$ 278,420
• April | -$ 373,090
• May | -$ 225,890
• June | -$ 610,760
• July | -$ 873,360
• August | -$ 362,660
• September | $ 536,340
• October | $ 1,300,000
• November | $ 2,070,000
• December | $ 2,390,000
• Rafi “refaelamit” Amit 2011 Results
• January | $ 262,480
• February | $ 205,270
• March | $ 767,470
• April | $ 800,990
• May | $ 800,990
• June | $ 800,990
• July | $ 800,990
• August | $ 756,930
• September | $ 1,830,000
• October | $ 1,810,000
• November | $ 1,920,000
• December | $ 1,970,000
• At a low of minus $ 873,360 in July, Sahamies switched things into high gear and recoup all of his losses, plus a half-million dollar profit, in just two months. Since then, he hasn’t looked back, improving every month in the last third of the year. On the contrary, Amit was never in the red in 2011; instead, he was up $ 200,000 in January and continued to build on that, though he faced a small setback in February. Interestingly, Amit didn’t play between March and July for reasons untold, though it isn’t a stretch of the imagination to picture him venturing to Las Vegas for the summer.It is also worth noting that both of these players were involved in the biggest pot ever played on PokerStars, which occurred on Sept. 7.

  The hand occurred at a six-handed $ 200/$ 400 PLO table and saw Sahamies ($ 247,909) opened for $ 1,400 from the cutoff. While Amit had folded prior to Sahamies’ raise and did not play the hand, he was still present in the game. As it turned out, Andreas “Skjervøy” Torbergsen ($ 30,208) and “bernard-bb” ($ 195,609) were the only to players to make the call, creating three-way action to the [Ks][2h][3s] flop. After a check, Sahamies fired out $ 4,595, Torbergsen raised to $ 18,380, and both bernard-bb and Sahamies made the call. When action checked to Torbergsen on the [9h] turn, he moved all-in for $ 10,428, bernard-bb check-raised to $ 91,019 and Sahamies called. The [3h] river saw bernard-bb bet $ 84,810, Sahamies called, and suddenly there was a pot worth $ 421,826 on the line. Sahamies revealed [Ah][Kh][6h][4c] for a flush, which bested the [Ad][As][2d][7s] of bernard-bb. Torbergsen simply mucked and Sahamies took down the largest in PokerStars’ history.

  While Amit didn’t make the history books in the aforementioned hand, at least as the winner, he’s managed to take down a few decent pots. In fact, his three biggest pots of 2011 were $ 134,534, $ 140,397, and $ 170,394, with the first and third both coming in the same game on Aug. 25.

  In his biggest pot of the year, Amit ($ 155,605) was playing three-handed $ 100/$ 200 PLO against Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom ($ 98,241) and Ronny “1-ronnyr3″ Kaiser ($ 29,296), with the latter folding from the button. Amit took the opportunity to raise to $ 600, Blom three-bet to $ 1,800, and Amit four-bet to $ 5,400. Blom opted for a call, and then called his opponent’s $ 5,600 bet on the [2s][6h][Qc] flop. When the [Ks] hit the turn, Amit slowed down with a check, Blom bet $ 17,400, and Amit called. The [2c] river saw Amit check-call a bet once again, this time a hefty $ 56,768, and Blom rolled over [5s][3c][9c][4h] for a missed wrap. Amit rolled over [Ah][Jc][Ad][Qd] and took down the pot.

  More recently, Dec. 2 to be exact, Amit returned to action for a quick 100 hands, which saw him win $ 78,700 and make him the day’s biggest winner. Unfortunately for him, Sahamies has been grinding a bit more, winning $ 317,000 as of Dec. 8 and extending his lead to a little over $ 400,000.

  Given the stakes these two play, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that lead disappear in a single night. With that said, we expect the last three weeks of December to be ripe with high-stakes action as two titans race to be 2011′s best.

  

Hello and welcome to 5th edition of EPT Prague in the prestigious Hilton Prague Hotel. Yesterday, a total of 234 took part of Day 1A and much more are expected for Day 1B. Marvin Rettenmaier from Team Titan unfortunately didn’t get through yesterday. Even if he made a remarkable day, he was elimintaed at the really end of the day. 

 

Level 1 – Blinds 50/100

Marvin Rettenmaier started the tournament at the middle of this 1st level of the day.

He joined his compatriot Philip Gruissem and the french player Ilan Rouah at the table and just before the change of level Marvin took down a big pot.

Our german Titan pro raised under the gun to 250 and his direct neughboor Ilan Rouah called.

On the flop 8♦7♠2♣ Marvin continuation bet to 425. The french man 3-bet to 1,625. Marvin took a while before firing a 3,625 bet. Ilan made the call.

Marvin bet 4,125 on the turn, the 3♠ and Rouah paid him.

Marvin bet a last time on the river, the 5♥ Ilan Rouah asked “How much is the bet ?”

The dealer made the count and Rouah finally called the 5,425 bet.

Marvin Rettenmaier showed 7♥8♥ and Rouah mucked his card. A little bit later Rouah told us he had Aces.

Marvin ended the level with 42 K.

Level 2 – Blinds 75/150

UTG +2 player raised to 350, the high-jack called and Marvin Rettenmaier called from the big blind.

The flop fell 10-7-6 rainbow and everybody checked.

The turn brought a 3 and one more time we had no action.

River: 6

Marvin bet 825 and UTG +2 player 3-bet to 2,025. The high-jack gave up and Marvin made the call.

Marvin: 10♠7♠

UTG +2: 66 for a quads

This one could have been much worse for our Team Titan player.

Few hands later, Marvin got lucky against Philip Gruissem. Marvin opened to 375 and Philip made the call.

Marvin check-called 525 on the flop 7♠A♠5♠ and 1,125 on the turn A♥

The 5 doubled on the river and both players checked. Marvin showed A♣2♣ for full-house and his friends and opponent flashed his hand before mucking: K♠Q♠

Philip just flopped the nuts but Marvin ran good on that one.

Marvin lost two hands which didn’t go until the end against Ilan Rouah who were already short stack and won their last confrontation in the level before the break. In middle position, a german player opened to 375. Rettenmaier and Rouah made the call from the cut-off and the button.

Flop 2♣7♥6♣

Marvin bet 1,225 and Rouah paid.

Same action on the turn, the K♥ for 1,225.

Marvin bet 2,650 on the river, the J♥ and obtained the fold of his french adversary.

Marvin finished the 2nd level with 44.5 K while the average was 31 K.

Level 3 – Blinds 100/200

Marvin Rettenmaier raised to 450, a player 3-bet to 1,100 and Marvin 4-bet to 2,900. His opponent decided to complete to see the flop.

When the cards fell 5♦5♣8♥ Marvin bet 3,125. His opponent 3-bet to 6,725 but Marvin wasn’t in the mood to let his opponent winning the pot and 4-bet to 11,775.  After a long time thinking and stretching his arms and speaking to himself, Marvin’s opponent gave it up. Marvin was up to 55 K.

Marvin openend to 450 in middle position and Philip Gruissem raised to 1,525 from the cut-off. Marvin Rettenmaier 4-bet to 3,825 and succeed to make his compatriot folding his hand.

Marvin showed a 5 to his friend just to make it more funny.

After two hours playing Marvin Rettenmaier was sitting behind a healthy 56.5 K stack while the average was 31.2 K.

Level 4 – Blinds 100/200 ante 25 

The romanian and pro player Toni Judet joined the table short-stacked with 16 K for probably more action.

UTG +2 player raised to 425, a mid-position player made the call as did Marvin from the button, Rouah in small blind and Judet in big one.

Flop: 4♥A♠5♥

Rouah and Judet checked, UTG +2 player bet 825. Marvin raised to 1,825. Rouah 4-bet to 3,675. The initial raiser and Marvin paid. 

Turn: J♦

Ilan Rouah moved all-in for around 6 K and UTG +2 shoved for 16 K. Marvin decided to give up and we discovered the hands.

Rouah: 2♠3♣

UTG +2: A♥2♥

River: 3♣ and the two players split the pot.

Level 5 – Blinds 150/300 ante 25

The american Kenney Bryn ($ 1.8 million gain in tournament) arrived at the table to complete what is one of the most difficult table of the day 1A.

Marvin Rettenmaier called the preflop raise to 800 from Bryn. The big blind put the 800 as well.

On the flop 9-7-3, Byrn bet 1.4 K and only Marvin called.

Turn: A

Bryn bet 2,5 K and get paid by the german member of Team Titan.

River: 9

Bryn check-called the 4,6 K bet from Marvin and mucked his hand after Marvin had shown A♦J♦

At the middle of the level Marvin Rettenmaier climbed to 63 K. Average 34 K – 206 players left on 234 registrated at the beginning of the day.

Then Marvin Rettenmaier had dinner at the table and asked for a massage. He stayed really quiet for the end of the level and the next hour at blinds 200/400 ante 50.

An italian player in early position raised to 825 under the gun, Marvin Rettenmaier and Ilan Rouah called from the cut-off & the button.

On the flop 9♦A♠2♦ the initial raiser and Marvin checked. Rouah fired a 2,100 bet probably thinking to take the pot down but the preflop raiser made

the call. After two minutes Marvin reraised to 6,425. Rouah instantly folded and the italian paid.

Turn: 10♦

The italian checked and folded after Marvin had bet 5,625.

Marvin Rettenmaier finished the level with 70 K.

Level 7 – Blinds 250/500 ante 50 - Average 39 K for 180 players left

Marvin Rettenmaier lost a big coin flip directly after the break against the italian player of the table. Marvin raised to 1,200 and the italian player moved all-in for 19,5 K.

Marvin called with A♣Q♣

His opponent showed 33 and the final board was 9-7-4-9-6 which means that our german Titan was back to 50.5 K.

Then Marvin was eliminated in one hour. First he lost almost 10 K preflop.

He raised to 1,225 in middle position. Ilan Rouah made the call and a Czech player who just arrived few minutes before at the table 3-bet to 4 K. Marvin 4-bet to 8,625 and succeed to discard Rouah but not the Czech player who moved all-in. Rettenmaier gave up after a long hesitation.

Marvin raised preflop twice in a row and took the blinds. He concluded the level with 42 K. The avzerage was 47 K for 149 left.

Level 8 – 300/600 ante 75

The famous russian player Vitaly Lunkin (2 WSOP bracelets and 4.2 millions $ gains) arrived at the table and unfortunately after 30 minutes eliminated Marvin Rettenmaier.

First Marvin lost a small pot. A czech player raised at the button to 1,600 and Marvin 3-bet in small blind. The Czech player made the call to see the flop falling A♥K♥7♣

Marvin bet 3,625 and his opponent called.

When Marvin checked on the turn, the 10♦ Marvin folded and was down to 34.5 K.

The last hand:

Marvin opened to 1,325 in mid-position, Rouah called and Lunkin completed from the big blind.

On the flop 4♦5♥9♦ Vitaly Lunkin checked, Marvin Rettenmaier bet 2,625 and Ilan Rouah 3-bet to 5,625. Lunkin chose to make it more expensive raising to 10,525.

Marvin Rettenmaier moved all-in. Ilan Rouah folded and Lunkin immediately called.

Lunkin had flopped a set of 9 and Marvin held K♥K♦

The turn and the river didn’t change anything and Marvin Rettenmaier was brutaly eliminated of the tournament.

The three french players of Team Titan Yann Brosolo, Florian Desgouttes and Christophe Benzimra started the Day 1B at noon. As we did yesterday, we will play 8 levels without dinner break. Shuffle-up and Deal.

So, you’ve read our final table report of Thomas ‘Kallllle’ Pedersen’s PokerStars WCOOP 2011 Main Event victory. You then enjoyed Brad Willis’ interview with the Dane, a new millionaire and a man who always wants to be the last man standing. Now you can watch our video of his powerful final table performance.

Brought to you by the good people of PokerStars.tv, with the bubbly Nick Wealthall as commentator, you’ll be able to grasp just what it takes to win the world’s largest online poker tournament.

Enjoy!

Thomas Pedersen

“Seems like everyone at this table is trying to win, that’s no fun!” exclaimed Daniel “KidPoker” Negreanu near the sixth hour of play and holding a sizable stack going towards the money bubble of 117 places paid. Indeed PLO8 is not for the faint of heart nor timid betting if a final table, five figure scores, or WCOOP bracelet is in your future. While the betting is restricted to pot limit, big bet poker plus skillful players like Team PokerStars pro Nuno Coelho trying to make it back to the final table as he did last year finishing 4th for $ 27K, there was no easy money to be had despite Daniel’s pleas.

907 players total would drop into Event #51′s $ 320 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low tournament, meaning the PokerStars guarantee of $ 175,000 was not needed once again as the $ 272,100.00 prize pool would provide funds for 117 players to enjoy, including $ 48,978.00 for the champ.

Another final tablist from last year, Brazilian caprioli, would head into the sixth hour with chips along with Team PokerStars pros Marcin “Goral” Horecki, Bryan Huang, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, and Team Online’s Anders “Donald” Berg who was trying to notch his seventh cash of the WCOOP 2011 series (but behind his teammates ElkY with eight cashes, and Negreanu with nine). However, being in fifth place in the WCOOP Player of the Series race starting tonight and of course his runner-up finish last night nearly notch his record breaking fourth WCOOP bracelet after capturing his third win in Event #16 , Berg was standing the tallest of all the Red Spade holders being just a runner-up finish from catching 2FLY2TILT in the overall series race and holding three WCOOP bracelets overall.

No final table for the Norwegian as Berg would meet a quick end to his tournament after the 15 minute break finishing outside the money in 139th place along with Mike “SirWatts” Watson in 141st place who nearly made a final table in Event #27 Badugi and was seen last year heads-up in SCOOP 2011′s Event # 34-Medium but falling just short of the championship watch. Negreanu, Grospellier, Horecki, and Huang would cross the bubble safely, as would Finland’s villepn who notched his 12th cash of the series and was looking to add a bracelet to the SCOOP watch earned in 2010′s Event #14-High.

Of the four Team PokerStars pros ElkY would be the first to get scooped as he tried to get his small stack of 12,299 chips with blinds at 1,250/2,500 in the middle preflop with a pot size raise. Called only by mickeyknox7 in the small blind, the Triple Crown winner was unable to match up with the board after throwing in the rest of his stack post-flop as mickeyknox7′s pair of sixes would take it down and Grospellier collected $ 680.25 in 73rd place. Bertrand was followed closely by Bryan Huang on the rail as the Singapore pro was also short on chips failing to salvage half the pot after flopping the nut flush draw as his opponent Pokerccini (late night poker playing pizza topping?) would scoop the 24,162 chip pot with a straight and nut low ending Huang’s night in 71st place ($ 734.67).

Horecki saw the cruelness of aces cracked in PLO8 when mnstrkll reraised the Polish pro until all of Marcin’s stack was in the middle holding [Kc][7h][Ac][As]. mnstrkll held a decent two-way hand [Kh] [5c] [3h] [Ad] that turned into a monster as low cards kept coming off the deck [9h] [7s] [4c] [6h] [2s] giving mnstrkll a seven-high straight to go with the nut-low and a tidy 141,736 chip pot eliminating “Goral” in 58th place ($ 789.09).

At the ninth hour break and four tables left, Daniel would still be in the running for the bracelet holding his own with 87,428 chips and blinds at 2.5K/5K. But, ImaLucSac, currently tied for 10th on the Player of Series leaderboard was sitting two his right with double of the 150K average chip stack. The shortstack would bobble up and down a bit before going underwater with the blinds at 4K/8K in a battle of the blinds with akkenny the two would see a [Kh] [4d] [7h] flop with 48,000 chips already in the middle. Immediately akkenny shoved out a pot bet which covered Negreanu’s stack, and holding two pair [Qs] [Kd] [3s] [7d] Daniel made the call hoping to fade the low draw to scoop a much needed 126,824 chip pot. [5h] locked up half the pot for akkenny and in runner-runner fashion, the [Js] stole the high end as akkenny’s set of jacks knocked out Kid Poker in 21st place ($ 1,251.66).

Marcin Horecki was not the only Polish player to make it deep tonight. lukro8, who has a SCOOP 2011 watch from taking down Event #33-High NLO8, would nearly miss the final table after busting in 14th place ($ 2,312.85).

After Barseggg and YaaGy both earned $ 2,857.05 in 12th and 11th place respectively, the shortstacks were anything but weak with several all-ins on both tables and ten players go for the win versus eeking out another step on the pay scale. With only a little more than four big bets left, PKgrower managed to get most of those chips in the middle preflop with a pot bet as only Burkolo made the call from the button. [Js] [6c] [2c] flop and PKgrower was all-in as Burkolo called and hit the flop hard with a nut low/nut flush draw [3d] [5c] [Ac] [3c], PKgrower however was wilting with a lot of nothing [5s] [9s] [As] [7h]. Flush on the turn [Qc] and PKgrower was down to three deuces in the deck for a quarter and a sliver of life, but the [7d] river closed the book on PKgrower in tenth place ($ 2,857.05) opening the final table below:

Seat 1: Kanolio (782812 in chips)
Seat 2: akkenny (504899 in chips)
Seat 3: Cloudag88 (306384 in chips)
Seat 4: mnstrkll (1070566 in chips)
Seat 5: Burkoló (840026 in chips)
Seat 6: dev209 (242944 in chips)
Seat 7: ImaLucSac (285718 in chips)
Seat 8: nccarvalho11 (345421 in chips)
Seat 9: IRLMedic (156230 in chips)

And a lovely lady was there waiting for the final nine to be seated as Team Online’s Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome welcomed our players to the table.

Blink and you would think we started with eight

No, tonight’s Event #51 final table started with a full table of nine but IRLMedic would bust from the table like there was an emergency to attend to as on the final table’s second hand 352,460 chips would be scooped by mnstrkll. With the blinds at 8K/16K IRLMedic would trade raises with mnstrkll until the shortstack’s very strong double suited ace-deuce was exposed [2s] [7d] [6s] [Ad]. mnstrkll turned up a high hand with a low possible [3s] [Kd] [Js] [Ah]. King on the flop and nine on the turn locking out any possible low [Qh] [6h] [Kc] [9h] left IRLMedic in need of some poker CPR with a two-outer. No six on the river [Qd] and IRLMedic flatlined in ninth place ($ 3,401.25).

Trying to knock out the entire table?

One might ask mnstrkll this after the hand shown the video below:

Cracking aces in Omaha is not the same as doing so in Hold Em’ but nccarvalho11 probably does not want to hear that after mnstrkll’s [6d] [Ac] [2c] [Js] found on a couple of jacks on the flop [Jd] [4s] [Jh] [5s] [Kd] smashing nccarvalho11′s [Ad] [9h] [Kh] [Ah] heart-broken aces into $ 5,578.08 for eighth place.

Shoot to strkll

As the blinds moved up twice to 12.5K/25K mnstrkll continued to dominate the final table and got a little stronger after pushing akkenny all-in after the lighter stack tried to pot raise from the button while the chip leader sat in the big blind. Both with strong aces and two-way hands, akkenny holding [Ts] [3s] [Ah] [Jc] and mnstrkll [Ad] [5d] [4d] [Ks] as akkenny would jump out to an early lead flopping two pair [3d] [9c] [Td]. But, akkenny’s two pair were made with diamonds and sure enough by the river a third one would appear [8c] [6d] knocking out akkenny in seventh place ($ 8,271.84) for mnstrkll’s third straight elimination.

Who’s going to tell mnstrkll there’s no bounty for taking out players?

Nine players to start and shortly before the 12th hour 15 minute (8 minutes after a consensus to keep the tourney moving) break there would only be five heading out to grab a quick bite to eat, run a marathon, or whatever one does after twelve intense hours of high stakes poker. With the blinds at 15K/30K once again the resident bulldozer, mnstrkll, would flatten another player. After a min raise UTG, mnstrkll would call Cloudag88′s shove to 153,019 chips total showing [Qh] [Kd] [8s] [Ah]. Cloudag88′s tournament life would be floating on double suited jacks and tens [Jc] [Jd] [Td] [Tc]. However the wispy Cloudag88′s hand would turn into vapor after a turned ace [9s] [6h] [2h] [Ad] [8h] giving mnstrkll yet another non-bounty as Cloudag88 collected $ 10,992.84 in sixth place.

Playing for second place

Apparently, mnstrkll is immune to fatigue and aces. Watch the video below for another pair of bullets falling to the unstoppable force known as mnstrkll:

Started like the previous cracking where mnstrkll opened with a min raise and a three-bet by the big blind, this time Kanolio both would gaze briefly at the [Ts] [3h] [Ks] flop. Kanolio wanted to no decision and shoved for 254,812 holding the aforementioned aces [As] [6d] [Ac] [6h] as mnstrkll flipped up a very dirty [Td] [Jd] [Qh] [7d] which held several outs to two pair and straight draws. [9d] on the turn brought the straight and a collective sigh from the rest of the table as mnstrkll scooped the 914,624 chip pot sending Kanolio home in fifth place ($ 13,713.84).

VERY costly jack

ImaLucSac, no not that one, the other one, would leap into second place in the Player of the Series standings with a win tonight. But, someone not named mnstrkll decided to ruin the party. With the blinds now at 20K/40K ImaLucSac would decide his fate preflop after trading raises with Burkolo till nearly one million chips sat in the middle to take on the massive stack of mnstrkll. Kings for ImaLucSac [Kc] [6s] [Kh] [8d] while Burkolo held jacks with a better low draw [5s] [Ad] [Jh] [Jc]. Flop was great for ImaLucSac nearly getting rid of the low with the [8c] [9s] [5h] flop. But, the jack on the turn [Js] could very well cost ImaLucSac that massive Player of the Series package as the [3d] fell limply on the river to hand $ 19,727.25 the Canadian in fourth place.

Yeah, I think we have seen this before

Personally this writer has played a lot of Omaha but cannot recall such a hating on aces in a short time. With the blinds still at 20K/40K in what is the theme of this final table, player gets aces, player gets aces all-in against mnstrkll, player collects $ XXXXX.XX in anything but first place. This time the victim was Burkolo for a huge 2.1 million chip pot as the script played out yet again. mnstrkll min raised, Burkolo three-bet, mnstrkll called. The flop [Jh] [2h] [3c] was big enough for Burkolo to continue pushing those aces [Ad] [Ac] [8s] [4d] but this time there was a redraw to a wheel and any non-pairing low card for a lock low as mnstrkll turned over top pair and a flush draw [Jd] [Td] [9h] [7h] and no possible low. Much like knowing someone’s about to get whacked in The Godfather when the violin music pipes up, the river delivered after a blank turn [Qd], as the [9s] gave mnstrkll the huge pot leaving Burkolo wondering what went wrong so quickly in third place ($ 26,393.70).

Cracking aces not necessary

dev209 tried to approach a deal with mnstrkll but Finnish turned down all requests politely, perhaps due to the roll those four cards in front that name was on. Despite the 807,577 to 3.7 million chip advantage, dev209 did not go meekly into the night or cower to mnstrkll’s domination of the final table. Six hands into heads-up play dev209 would show the spectators that mnstrkll was indeed human by getting a double up to 1.7 million.
But, seven hands later mnstrkll would have a WCOOP bracelet after the hand below laid on ace on the river:

All the money for the 3.7 million chip pot went in after the [3c] [9h] [5d] flop with dev209 hoping to hit with an open-ended straight draw [2h] [3d] [Kd] [4c] and a pair against mnstrkll’s top pair and gutshot. [7h] turn gave mnstrkll the low and a flush draw and the river ace [Ac] polished the new acquired bracelet for mnstrkll with a wheel to win the high, low, and $ 48,978.00 as the Event #51 champion!

If you wish to rehear the snap, crackle, and pop of aces tonight, check out WCOOP TV and WCOOP Radio for all the commentary and great prizes being awarded during the broadcast!

$ 175,000 guarantee WCOOP 2011 Event #51 Pot Limit Omaha High-low results (09-21-11)
1. mnstrkll (Finland) $ 48,978.00
2. dev209 (Germany) $ 35,373.00
3. Burkoló (Hungary) $ 26,393.70
4. ImaLucSac (Canada) $ 19,727.25
5. Kanolio (Spain) $ 13,713.84
6. Cloudag88 (Poland) $ 10,992.84
7. akkenny (Ireland) $ 8,271.84
8. nccarvalho11 (Brazil) $ 5,578.05
9. IRLMedic (Ireland) $ 3,401.25

Going from rags to riches is the dreams for most of the poker players in the world. Event #42, a $ 1,050 No Limit Hold’em event, included a player with such dreams, hoping to turn his depositors freeroll into a decent cash so that he did not have to deposit again for the near-future.

Day 1:

A total of 2,207 players signed up generating a $ 2,207,000 prize pool with 288 earning $ 1,765.60 or more. Day one’s schedule brought 22 half-hour levels before play was paused with 111 players remaining. Leading the way was po77a who also had maintained the lead since the field got into the money, during level 19.

Making it into the money but not surviving to the end of level 22 were PokerStars Team Online members Kevin “WizardOfAhhs” Thurman (122nd), Grayson “spacegravy” Physioc (131st), Tyler “frosty012″ Frost (207th), Mathew “chipstar1″ Didlick (277th), and Team PokerStars Pros Leo “LeoFernandez” Fernandez (211th) and Maxim Lykov (258th). While those players made their exit Team Pro’s Matthias “mattidm” De Meulder, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Andre “aakkari” Akkari survived the day.

Day 2:

The remaining 111 players returned at 2pm EST to continue their quest for a WCOOP bracelet and the $ 353,120 first place prize. Among those in the field was sporty_2311, who won his way into the tourney via a depositor freeroll qualifier. Starting the day in sixteenth place sporty_2311 navigated his way to the final table where he came in eighth in chips after surviving the hour long final table bubble.

Although they survived Day one all three Team Pro members made their exit before the the final table. Matthias “mattidm” De Meulder was the last one standing making his exit in 12th place collecting $ 16,552.50. He was preceded by Andre “aakkari” Akkari (90th) and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (94th) who both received $ 3,531.20.

When the final table began a familiar face was at the top, po77a has held the lead most of the way since the field reached the money.

Final Table Chip Counts:

Seat 1: 68ioweyou1 (1,617,024 in chips)
Seat 2: joejoe1337 (5,611,680 in chips)
Seat 3: bajskorven87 (2,717,935 in chips)
Seat 4: Langustee (564,348 in chips)
Seat 5: munchenHB (6,195,054 in chips)
Seat 6: sporty_2311 (1,489,361 in chips)
Seat 7: FlipflopUK (1,105,111 in chips)
Seat 8: po77a (11,858,795 in chips)
Seat 9: davidmoreira (1,945,692 in chips)

Langustee out in 9th:

Langustee started the final table with the shortest stack and finally stuck his stack into the middle from the big blind after a preflop raise and call from po77a and davidmoreira respectively. po77a re-raised the all-in of Langustee and davidmoreira folded. Langustee showed [7c][7d] while po77a had [Kh][Qd]. The [Tc][9d][6s] flop delivered po77a a few extra outs now needing any king, queen, or jack to eliminate Langustee. When the [Jd] appeared on the turn Langustee’s hopes of winning vanished and he was eliminated in ninth place for $ 20,966.50.

bajskorven87 eliminated in 8th:

After raise and the re-raise from po77a and joejoe1337, bajskorven87 moved all-in for 3,278,684 from the small blind. munchenHB then moved all-in from the big blind for 3,665,372, both po77a and joejoe1337 folded and bajskorven87 showed [Jc][Js] while munchenHB showed [Kd][Kh]. The [Ah][8h][7d][2d][4d] board brought no help to bajskorven87 eliminating him in eighth place for $ 37,519.

Freeroller sporty_2311 eliminated in 7th:

Blinding down to under eight big blinds, sporty_2311 went all-in under-the-gun with [8d][8h]. 68ioweyou1 called the all-in from the button with [Ac][Td] and the players were off to the races. The [Kc][9d][4d] flop was relatively safe for sporty_2311 but the [Ah] turn and finally [Th] river meant that sporty_2311 was eliminated collecting $ 55,175. Not bad for getting in on a depositors freeroll, we don’t think he will be depositing anytime soon.

68ioweyou1 gets another:

davidmoreira moved all-in from the big blind after 68ioweyou1 min-raised from under-the-gun who called the all-in and showed [Kd][Kc]. davidmoreira’s [Kh][Qc] was severely outclassed and needing lots of help, which did not come on the [9d][8c][5d][7h][8s] board.

po77a loses the lead:

Facing a 225,000 button raise from munchenHB, po77a re-raised to 674,232. munchenHB called and the two saw the [Ts][8d][4c] flop. po77a lead out to 623,222 and munchenHB called. The [4d] turn brought another bet from po77a, this time for 1,232,222. munchenHB once again called to see the [2d] river which brought a 2,122,111 bet from po77a. munchenHB called and showed [Js][Jd] which was good to beat po77a’s [Ah][Qh], collect the 9,414,074 pot, and the chip lead.

68ioweyou1 gets eliminated:

Even though 68ioweyou1 eliminated the last two players five-handed play was not so good for him. He eventually ended up being the short stack on the table and he put all his chip in the middle from under-the-gun with [Ac][Jd]. munchenHB called from the button and showed [Kh][Kd]. The [Ks][Jc][6d] flop was all that munchenHB needed to send 68ioweyou1 out in fifth place to collect $ 99,315.

po77a eliminated in 4th:

After holding the chip lead for most of Day 2 and then finally losing it midway through the final table, po77a made his exit in fourth place to FlipflopUK. All the chips went into the middle preflop and their cards were revealed with FlipflopUK holding [Ah][Kd] against po77a’s [Ac][2d]. After the [9s][8h][4d] flop and [8s] turn po77a was looking for any two to win the pot or a nine or four to chop the pot. The [Jd] was not one of those cards eliminating him in fourth place for $ 136,834.

FlipFlopUK eliminated in 3rd:

When you eliminate a player you usually don’t think you will be the next one out the door but that is just what happened to FlipFlopUK when he ran his [Tc][Ts] into the [Kh][Ks] of joejoe1337. The two got into a raise war preflop that saw FlipflopUK finally call off his 7 million chip stack off. The [Kd][3h][2h] flop pretty much sealed the deal, leaving FlipflopUK needing running cards to survive. the [4h] on the turn ended his hopes and sending him on his way to count the $ 198,630 he collected for finishing third.

Heads-up:

The heads-up battle began with both players holding around 100 big blinds with the blinds at 70,000/140,000 and an ante of 17,500.

Seat 2: joejoe1337 (19,406,340 in chips)
Seat 5: munchenHB (13,698,660 in chips)

After winning an all-in earlier in the heads-up battle when his pocket fours held off the ace-queen of joejoe1337 to draw back to even munchenHB was once again all-in, this time the two were separated by only 459,150. Once again joejoe1337 held ace-queen ([As][Qc]) and munchenHB had a pocket pair, [Ts][Tc]. The [Jd][5c][4d][Kc][2h] board meant that muchenHB had joejoe1337 on the ropes and just needed to execute the final kill shot.

That kill shot came in two hands, the first hand joejoe1337 doubled up to 918,300. The second hand saw munchenHB move all-in and joejoe1337 call. MunchenHB’s [Qc][Ts] had joejoe1337′s [Qh][6c] dominated. When the board ran out [8s][4d][3s][Qs][9d] the match was over with joejoe1337 collecting $ 264,840 while munchenHB gets $ 353,120 and the WCOOP bracelet. Congrats munchenHB.

Event #42 $ 1,050 No Limit Hold’em – Final Table Results:

1st: munchenHB – $ 353,120.00
2nd: joejoe1337 – $ 264,840.00
3rd: FlipflopUK – $ 198,630.00
4th: po77a – $ 136,834.00
5th: 68ioweyou1 – $ 99,315.00
6th: davidmoreira – $ 77,245.00
7th: sporty_2311 – $ 55,175.00
8th: bajskorven87 – $ 37,519.00
9th: Langustee – $ 20,966.50

You only have six days left to get in on the action of the 2011 WCOOP series, You can find information on what events remain along with satellites on the main WCOOP page. While you are there check out the special stats page. Don’t forget to check out the WCOOP Radio Shows for daily prizes, special guests, and WCOOP commentary.

College.

We remember the keg parties, rushing fraternities, and living off ramen noodles and Spam with a tight budget. Besides waking up at 11am having a dozen week old donuts for breakfast, college was all about taking courses outside of your comfort zone in order to grab that degree after four or five years (lawyers and doctors not included). Intro to Anthropology for an Accounting student, Advanced Statistics for an Art major, just like a NLHE specialist weaving their way through the streets of a Razz hand, being a “specialist” will not get you on the podium this evening. Tonight’s WCOOP 2011 Event #39 $ 320 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament with a $ 125,000 guarantee lays out five poker classes the players must master (Hold Em’, Omaha Hi-Low, Razz, Stud-Hi, and Stud Hi-Low) in order to become the valedictorian. Instead of a pretty tassel, cardboard square hat, and a piece of paper, the top of the class will earn a WCOOP bracelet along with $ 33,332.52 for their studious efforts.

591 students paid their tuition to PokerStars U for this special elective course and only 80 of them would walk away with a passing grade, earning some cash back from the prize pool fund. Team PokerStars pros and Team Online lined up like honor roll students, with well-prepped notes, but the competition for scholarships was fierce. Daniel “Kid Poker Negreanu, Anders “Donald” Berg, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Nuno Coelho, Noah “Exclusive” Boeken, George Danzer, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, and Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome would all bow out before the field was trimmed to double digits.

Henrique Pinho got all his chips in before 4th street in Stud, and nailed a set of eights on fourth street against kleopl for a 9,186 chip pot with the stakes at 1,200/2,400. But kleopl went runner-runner-runner diamonds to river a flush knocking out the Portuguese Team PokerStars pro in 97th place.

This left Team PokerStars pro Chad Brown who was oh so close to a final table in Event # 33′s PLO and Team Online’s Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen to carry on for the Red Spades as both of them crossed the 80 player mark, earning a minimum of $ 505.30 after AceNorway busted in 81st place.

Petersen would finish in 69th place ($ 531.90) as Chad Brown pushed forward and was determined to do a little extra credit tonight and grabbing that bracelet that eluded him a couple of days ago. Also earning some extra credit and cash tonight was e1mdopp who took down the aforementioned Event #33 and Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, who heading into tonight, was sitting in second place for the WCOOP Player of the Series award trailing 2FLY2TILT by 55 points (a third place finish or better would close the gap).

e1mdopp would drop out in 40th place ($ 886.50), followed closely behind by Chad Brown. Playing Razz (otherwise known as the elective almost no one wants to take, but had to) and 3K/6K stakes with 600 antes, Brown would complete with [7h] showing on the door as Papartis88 made it two-bets with a [6s] as Chad called. Brown led out with the [4h] as Papartis88 called [9h] on fourth. Fifth street brought an [Ac] for Brown and [4s] for Papartis88 as the rest of the Team PokerStars pro’s chips went into the middle for a 43,610 chip pot. 8-7 low for Chad exposing the [8h][2c] in the hole as Papartis88 held a 9-6 with [3s][5h] down below. [8c] on sixth vaulted Parartis88 into the lead with an 8-6 low and it would hold as Brown bricked, catching a [4d] and [Jc] to finish in 32nd place ($ 1,063.80). And just after Chad’s smiling photo left the table, MacPhee would sit down for just five more hands at the same table, losing to feliX Groni’s straight in Stud-Hi to finish in 30th place which should give him 10 more Player of the Series points.

Down to two tables a familiar name floated to the top of the leaderboard. Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn would go into the final 16 with the chip lead, but as those who play limit tourneys know that the swings are sometimes even bigger than the big bet games. Niendorfer, highland, JRIXYZLE, and ChinaBoy420 would finish 13th – 16th place all earning $ 1,773.00 as joiso’s stack took a dive and was in danger of not making the final table.

juliapups’ short stack was gobbled up by ViTamin_F22′s flush in Omaha Hi-Low to finish in 12th place ($ 2,216.25). Papartis88, who knocked out Team PokerStars pro Chad Brown, would hit the rail right before the ninth hour break after watching Kaas81 river an eight low in Razz to beat his 9-7, collecting $ 2,216.25. If the name sounds familiar Papartis88 managed to final table two out of the three SCOOP 2011 Event #21 tables (taking 4th place for $ 12K in the medium buy-in and 5th for $ 19K in the high buy-in).

UltraNine’s pair of tens failed to hold against Kaas81 who caught queens on fourth and a flush overkill by the river to sunk the Norwegian’s chances in 10th place ($ 2,216.25) setting up the final table bubble. DENISZHARKOV would cling desperately to less than one big bet for several hands but with the stakes at 12K/24K ante 2,400 not even two pair after fourth street in Stud Hi-Low would save the Russian. All in against bisbiki78 holding kings over tens [Kh] [Kd] / [Td] [Tc] [9d] [7s] / [Js], bisbiki78 found diamonds on sixth and seventh street to nail a flush and an unneeded low [6d] [2d] / [Jd] [6s] [5c] / [Ad] [3d] to eliminate DENISZHARKOV on the bubble ($ 2,216.25) and start up the eight player final table below:

Seat 1: bisbiki78 (531552 in chips)
Seat 2: playitsafe (539768 in chips)
Seat 3: joiso (395756 in chips)
Seat 4: KJulius10 (215512 in chips)
Seat 5: CACAFOGO (212844 in chips)
Seat 6: ViTaMin_F22 (153135 in chips)
Seat 7: gboro780 (647094 in chips)
Seat 8: Kaas81 (259339 in chips)

Bang Bang!

Class was dismissed for two players on the same hands, after the final table played a full round of Omaha Hi-Low, the Razz round found Kaas81, CACAFOGO, and playitsafe in a three-way all-in. Who took the other player’s chips? Watch below:

Stakes at 20K/40K ante 4K and despite eliminating two players near the final table bubble, Kaas81 was all-in on fourth street as CACAFOGO would wait until sixth street to get the rest of his chips in against playitsafe for a massive 599,027 chip pot.

playitsafe [4c] [5s] / [3h] [Kd] [6d] [Jc] / [7h]
CACAFOGO [4h] [2c] / [5d] [3s] [3d] [Jd] / [Tc]
Kaas81 [4d] [2h] / [Ah] [5h] [8h] [8d] / [Td]

A rivered 7-6 for playitsafe beat out Kaas81′s 8-5 and CACAFOGO’s J-5-4-3-2 for the entire pot eliminating Kaas81 in eighth place ($ 2,659.50) and CACAFOGO ($ 3,989.25) in seventh.

Reversal of fortune

ViTaMin_F22 started out the final table on a very short stack, stalling, looking for the right spots and doubling in Razz, then again in Stud-Hi, and another 310,000 chip pot in Stud-Hi going from trying to move up the pay scale to trying to win a bracelet. On the other end KJulius10 could not find a pot to win and in Stud Hi-Low against ViTaMin_F22 it would be his last hand. With stakes at 25K/50K ante 5K all of KJulius10′s chips would be in the middle showing [7d] [Jd] / [As] [7s] [Td] for no possible low and a pair of sevens as ViTaMin_F22 flipped up [6d] [Ad] / [5s] [5d] [8h] for a pair of fives and just more low card to lock up half the pot. [7c] for ViTaMin_F22 on sixth locked up the low and the [4c] on the river gave ViTaMin_F22 the high as well with a straight as KJulius10 could not improve those sevens [9h] [3d] finishing in sixth place ($ 6,205.50).

ViTaMin_F22′s stalling tactics during certain games began to wear down on the table as gboro780 and joiso expressed a want to play more hands as ViTaMin_F22 would let his time bank roll down several times during LHE and O8 before folding preflop.

Going for broke and getting there

Fresh off losing a 555,000 chip pot to gboro780, bisbiki78 would be left with 171,476 chips playing Omaha Hi-Low with stakes at 30K/60K. Three-betting gboro780 preflop than four-betting all-in post [6c] [2d] [8h] flop, it was a surprise that neither player flipped up even a possible low. [4s] [Qh] [Ks] [Kc] kings for bisbiki78 and jacks [Jc] [Qd] [Ts] [Jd] for gboro780 as bisbiki78 was well ahead. Was being the definitive word as the [9d] turn opened up a wrap straight draw and flush draw. The third diamond (a lot of diamond flushes today?) on the river [Kd] would end bisbiki78′s night in fifth place($ 8,865.00).

Bricks for joiso

Deep in the Stud round with stakes at 40K/80K ante 8K, gboro780, ViTaMin_F22, and playitsafe all enjoyed more than 10 big bets in their stacks while joiso was left with just 158,156 chips after paying the ante. With a [Ks] door card Kostritsyn decided to make a run for it against gboro780 showing the [9s] getting all of those chips in on fourth street. joiso’s starting three broadway cards would hit exactly nothing [Ad] [Jh] / [Ks] [7d] [5h] [6s] / [Qh] as gboro780′s split nines improved to trips [9d] [Kc] / [9s] [7c] [9c] [Td] / [4h] as josio narrowly missed another chance for some wrist jewelry at PokerStars after his amazing run in the SCOOP 2011 series where he had three runner-up finishes and a third place but no watch. The Russian pro does add $ 13,297.50 to his bankroll for fourth place tonight.

Played it right

Oof? That’s all this scribe utter after this hand:

For the next half hour our final three would shove the chip lead amongst each other but with the stakes up to 50K/100K in the Omaha Hi-Low round any stack at this point was vulnerable. gboro780 was on a roll taking or splitting the past six hands increasing his stack to 1.6 million but folded to ViTaMin_F22′s raise from the button. playitsafe with 489,614 chips to start the hand called from the big blind to see a mid-range [7s] [8c] [8s] flop. playitsafe would check-raise after ViTaMin_F22′s followed through. [As] on the turn got the rest of the chips into the middle for a one million chip pot as playitsafe turned over the flopped boat [Jh] [7c] [8h] [9c] but ViTaMin_F22 did one better, turning aces full [3s] [Ac] [Tc] [Ad] then for giggles rivering quads [Ah] to eliminate playitsafe who seems to thrive in the Sunday Majors but could not pull off the victory tonight finishing in dramatic fashion for third place ($ 17,907.30).

Hard pill to swallow

gboro780 had no intentions of chopping up the final two spots perhaps for the stalling tactic that ViTaMin_F22 employed or knowing he had a skill advantage. Regardless of reason, heads-up play would only last four hands of Omaha Hi-Low, three wins and one split for gboro780, and three hands of Razz all won by gboro780. The finale showed both players with strong boards on sixth street as the two traded bets until ViTaMin_F22′s stack was all-in and a pot of 1.26 million showing in the middle. gboro780 rolled over [5c] [Qc] / [3d] [Jc] [Ah] [4c] a jack-five low as ViTaMin_F22 showed a nine low [As] [2s] / [9s] [9d] [3h] [5d]. gboro780 would spike a [6c] to improve to a six-five-four low leaving ViTaMin_F22 in need of a wheel or another six for a six-five-perfect low. ViTaMin_F22 would improve but only to an [8s] eight as gboro780 stepped up to the head of the class and received his prize as the WCOOP 2011 Event #39 H.O.R.S.E. champion earning $ 33,352.52!

$ 125,000 guarantee WCOOP 2011 Event #39 H.O.R.S.E. results (09-17-11):
1. gboro780 (Canada) $ 33,332.52
2. ViTaMin_F22 (China) $ 24,378.75
3. playitsafe (Norway) $ 17,907.30
4. Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn $ 13,297.50
5. bisbiki78 (Greece) $ 8,865.00
6. KJulius10 (Canada) $ 6,205.50
7. CACAFOGO (Norway) $ 3,989.25
8. Kaas81 (Spain) $ 2,659.50

Are you tired yet? 32 events down at the 2011 WCOOP and there are still another 31 to go, including today’s Event #33 $ 320 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha 6-max with one rebuy and one add-on tournament. So far the players have crushed the guarantees offered by PokerStars. But, don’t take my word for it; check out the WCOOP results page where every money finish is to see for yourself. And if you are into stats we have that too, as a quick check on the cashes leaderboard shows villepn and Big_Nemo proving to be no fish by reaching the cashier’s window nine times at the halfway point of the series.

But the number of cashes pales in comparison with bringing home the WCOOP Player of the Series title as Canada is currently dominating the top eight spots on the leaderboard with four players (Big_Nemo, Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, Mike “goleafsgoeh” Leah, and ImaLucSac). The top spot still belongs to Joel Adam “2FLY2TILT” Gordon bolstered by his second WCOOP bracelet earned in Event #8 Gordon will need to keep up his fast start in order to take down the stacked Player of the Series package that includes the Champion’s Trophy, EPT Season 8 Grand Final prize package, 2012 SCOOP Main Event ticket, 2012 PCA package, and a special edition chip set.

Gordon got off to great start today near the top ten chip positions after six hours into tournament. James “Andy McLEOD” Obst also seen near the top of the leaderboard at the mid-way point (but would finish in a respectable 30th place, $ 2,667.42) as the 706 runners used 481 rebuys and 346 add-ons to easily pass the $ 300,000.00 guarantee for a $ 459,900.00 prize pool. $ 82,782.00 of that pool being set aside for our champion, and so far country-wise it has been the United Kingdom taking down five tournaments thus far with The Netherlands and Russia needing a win today to tie their British counterparts.

Team PokerStars pros and Team Online are not a country but have two wins in the series and were out in force to capture a third. Alexis “J0hnny_Dr @m@” Zervos, Raymond Wu, Liv Boeree, Jorge “twin-caracas” Arias, Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen, Rino Mathis, Shane “shaniac” Schleger, Vicky Coren, Marcin “Goral” Horecki, and Anders “Donald” Berg looking for another Omaha bracelet this series fell short along with his teammates in 200th place.

Four Team PokerStars pros would survive the first six hours however. Humberto Brenes, Chad Brown, Pat Pezzin, and Jose “nachobarbero” Barbero all looking to bring home bracelet #3 to the PokerStars team or finish in the top 90 and grab some of that prize pool.

All four would safely cross the 90 player mark into the money after dryath busted in 91st place. Jose however would get a rude shove out the door while betting on every street against a365551 and as a flush hit the river Barbero tried to check-raise bluff a365551 off a king-high flush to no avail losing a 100+bb pot and his spot in the tournament finishing in 88th place ($ 1,195.74).

Humberto would run into the 2FLY2TILT express train destined for that Player of the Series title. Right after 2FLY2TILT doubled up to over 300K in chips after rivering a full house against a turned straight, Humberto’s tiny stack of 15,850 chips went into the middle preflop holding [6s] [Ad] [5d] [Ks]. Gordon came along for the ride and turned up a similar [Jd] [Ac] [Kd] [6c] and both would flop top two [Kc] [Ah] [5c] but 2FLY2TILT held the re-draw. A “standard” [4c] on the turn gave 2FLY2TILT the nut flush shutting out Humberto in 71st place ($ 1,333.71) and it was just another victim for Gordon as his chip leading stack increased to 370,006 with blinds at just 800/1600.

Pezzin would retire in 38th place ($ 1,977.57) leaving Chad Brown to carry on the Team PokerStars flag hoping to join Berg and Boeken with a bracelet this year. After nine hours Brown sat mid-pack with 27 players left including a new chip leader, e1mdopp, who was last seen playing heads-up in SCOOP 2011 Event #17-H in a similar PLO rebuy event but losing out to adiprene1. With a million chips and blinds at 3K/6K it could be another final table in his future.

After chrispker23′s elimination in 13th place ($ 4,139.10) and two tables remaining, e1mdopp’s stack would turn south a bit but remained firmly in the race with near 750,000 chips and blinds at 6K/12K. It would be Chad Brown making the moves late as his stack grew to over 1.3 million trailing only zugzwang16 who has a Turbo Takedown (R.I.P.) win so perhaps tonight he will be looking for some wrist bling to go with that Audi TT? Another player looking for more bling is 2FLY2TILT who was adding at least 20 points towards his 200 in the Player of the Series race by finishing 10th-18th.

“Nacho” Barbero’s chips lasted until 12th place ($ 5,978.70) as his executor a365551 finally bowed out, followed closely behind by Germany’s wizowizo in 11th ($ 5,978.70).

moonwatch79 would score a double elimination, watch below as all four aces are flipped up preflop but none would factor in the outcome:

And with the rivered nines full of treys, moonwatch79 would take out both gaffel in 10th place ($ 5,978.70) and marwan24 in 9th place ($ 9,381.96).

Team PokerStars pro Chad Brown eliminated in 8th place

Action heated up very quickly as Chad Brown’s chip leading stack was turned to dust in a matter of three hands in a row. First, with the blinds at 10K/20K dropping a 690,000 chip pot to e1mdopp after checking down a coordinated board and e1mdopp’s set of sevens were good. Next, doubling up zugzwang16 when the TT champ turned trip queens for a 680,258 chip pot. And the final dagger with the money going in on the [6s] [9h] [5h] flop Chad Brown turned over the king-high flush draw [Kh] [Kd] [6c] [3h] with a pair of sixes and e1mdopp showed the ace-high flush draw, inside straight draw and pair of fives [5c] [Th] [7c] [Ah]. [4s] helped no one, but the [6h] on the river made both of their flush draws giving e1mdopp the 1.3 million chip pot, and a nasty exit for Brown finishing in 8th place ($ 9,381.96).

Forewarning to those trying to win the Player of the Series award, Joel Adam Gordon just made another WCOOP final table and may become the third player with three WCOOP bracelets tonight. With the blinds at 12.5K/25K mddgfc would raise to 58,901 and playing four-handed, Gordon made the call from the button to see a [2s] [4d] [Qc] flop. mddgfc checked as 2FLY2TILT bet 75,000 and mddgfc made the call as a second diamond hit the board [6d]. Again mddgfc checked and again 2FLY2TILT bet, this time 300,000 almost enough to put mddgfc all-in. A long pause by the UK rounder and perhaps a sigh as the all-in raise went in for another 34,299 chips holding [Qd] [Kh] [Kd] [Jd] good for top pair and the flush draw. Gordon called and had the lead firmly in hand holding top set [Qh] [Ad] [Jc] [Qs] only needing to fade a non-pairing diamond. A cruel repeat, as mddgfc was at Gordon’s final table in Event #8 last week finishing as the runner-up, the [As] river sent mddgfc home without a bracelet once again but collecting $ 9,381.96 in seventh place starting up the final table below:

Seat 1: moonwatch79 (677778 in chips)
Seat 2: Machiavelli3 (1877446 in chips)
Seat 3: 2FLY2TILT (1372193 in chips)
Seat 4: Reflexbakker (332694 in chips)
Seat 5: zugzwang16 (1272442 in chips)
Seat 6: e1mdopp (2132447 in chips)

Gag reflex

Just three hands into the final table Reflexbakker’s dance on the main stage was cut very short. With the blinds at 12.5K/25K renewed chip leader e1mdopp min raised from the cutoff as Reflexbakker 3-bet to 162,500 and e1mdopp called to see a [2h] [4d] [9d] flop. Most likely to push at any flop Reflexbakker would shove his remaining 170,1954 chips holding [7h] [4s] [Ks] [Kh] good for the overpair as the chip leader had plenty of tournaments pieces to splash with making the call holding just a pair of fours [Qs] [6c] [Ts] [4c]. However the [Kc] on the turn put away any two pair thoughts giving Reflexxbakker a set kings, but the [Js] completed a gag worthy runner-runner straight shipping 677,888 to e1mdopp’s stack and $ 13,797.00 to Reflexxbakker in sixth place. No worries as this was not Reflexbakker’s first go at a big final table, he scored a SCOOP watch in Event #31-L taking down $ 44K in the process.

Walking in the moonlight

Despite large stacks to the blinds, nine hands later fifth place would be named and e1mdopp looking more determined to overcome his previous runner-up finish. The blinds would move up to 15K/30K and e1mdopp again min raised from the cutoff as moonwatch79 3-bet from the button. The blinds wisely folded as e1mdopp called and [9h] [7s] [3c] was spread on the board. The chip leader checked as moonwatch79 put in the rest of those 350,278 chips as e1mdopp snap called with top two and redraw to a straight [8h] [7h] [9s] [5c]. moonwatch79′s night was setting, needing an eight for a higher straight [Ac] [Jh] [Tc] [5s]. [3h] on the turn was helpful as it opened up a possible higher two pair, but the [2c] did not match moonwatch79′s hand ending the stargazer’s night fifth place ($ 22,995.00).

Perhaps a direction from this author’s TV?

“15 minute break? time to watch the Rocky 4 training montage” quoted from 2FLY2TILT at the 12th hour dinner break, who was just three eliminations away from joining Anders Berg and Ryan D’Angelo as 3-time WCOOP champs. But, before Gordon flipped on Ivan Drago’s fall, your humble author was watching the Food Network’s “Chopped” and suddenly the final four, despite being on their 12th hour dinner break, decided to hash out some chop details. While the chefs tried to combine Rattlesnake, banana chips, guava squares, and Fig Newtons into a culinary delight we had an agreement leaving aside $ 6,000.00 to the champ:

e1mdopp $ 72,504.25
zugzwang16 $ 47,678,78
Machchiavelli3 $ 49,312.73
2FLY2TILT $ 47,555.74

Rocky goes down with bottle thrown from the crowd

2FLY2TILT took a rude sucker punch from the river to miss out on his third WCOOP bracelet. Check out the video below:

After a flop of [3h][8c][Th] the players threw the rest of their sizable stacks into the middle for a two million chip pot. Top two and redraw to a small straight [9s] [Ts] [6c] [8d] for Machiavelli3 and [Qh] [4s] [Jh] [Kd] for a flush draw and larger straight draw. The flush would get there on the turn [9h] but that bottle from the hostile crowd hit the two-time champ in the head for the knockout with the [Tc] river giving Machiavelli3 tens full and 2FLY2TILT another big payday ($ 47,555.74) in fourth place also adding 50 points to his Player of the Series total.

Zug’d when he should have zagged

Seven minutes later with this final table moving much quicker than the three hour marathon in last night’s Event #29 NLO8, zugzwang16 and e1mdopp got together for a 3.2 million chip pot. With the blinds at 20K/40K zugzwang16 tried limping from the small blind, but e1mdopp raised to 120,000 and zugzwang16 still wanted to play making the call. The [3s] [8d] [7h] flop got both players excited as they traded pot sized bets until zugzwang16′s chips sat in the middle riding an open-ended straight draw [Js] [7s] [6d] [9c] for his tournament life. e1mdopp showed top two with a smaller straight draw [7d] [4s] [5d] [8c] ready to sweat the final two cards. [Ks] gave zugzwang16 even MORE outs now with a flush draw, but the [Qc] river hit air and zugzwang16 will have to enjoy an extra $ 47,678.78 to fuel that Audi TT in third place.

Heads up again

Not many players get a second chance being heads-up at a major final table but e1mdopp has done so and holding a 5.8 million to 1.8 million chip lead with blinds at 20K/40K there is more reason to believe e1mdopp would pull it off. The start was a rocky one for e1mdopp as the third hand of heads-up play would go Machiavelli3′s way when an overpair of queens would get out-turned by Machiavelli3 making two pair for a 3.7 million chip pot, evening up the match.

Keeping the faith, getting the gold

Despite losing the chip lead a few times over the next half hour heads-up battle, e1mdopp kept battling, determined to take this one down after the SCOOP watch slipped off his wrist.

Then it happened.

With the blinds moved up to 30K/60K and e1mdopp stretching to a 4.7 to 2.9 million chip lead, the final hand was here. A standard min raise from e1mdopp on the button as Machiavelli3 three-bet to 360,000. A call saw [5c] [3h] [3c] laid on the board as Machiavelli3 kept up the aggression with a 420,000 chip bet, but e1mdopp did not fade pushing back for 1.98 million. Holding aces [Ah][Td][Ac][7s] and not believing e1mdopp could have hit that flop Machiavelli3 shoved for 2.54 million total. e1mdopp snap called with the flopped boat [5d] [6s] [3d] [2h] needing only to fade the remaining two aces in the deck. [Jh] on the turn had too much paint and the [2s] river was too small as e1mdopp went wire-to-wire for tonight’s victory scoring $ 78,504.25!

$ 300,000 guarantee WCOOP 2011 Event #33 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max 1R1A results (09-15-11)
(* denotes part of four-way chop)
1. e1mdopp (Russia) *$ 78,504.25
2. Machiavelli3 (Sweden) *$ 49,312.53
3. zugzwang16 (Uruguay) *$ 47,678.78
4. Joel Adam “2FLY2TILT” Gordon (Spain) *$ 47,555.74
5. moonwatch79 (United Kingdom) $ 22,995.00
6. Reflexbakker (Netherlands) $ 13,797.00

For players seeking hold’em action in WCOOP today, they had only one choice, and that was Event 26. And it was an equal mix of limit and no-limit hold’em, alternating with 10-minute levels. If that wasn’t enough, the tournament was set up as the ever-popular six-max format. Not a bad option for a Tuesday, right?

The details were simple. It was the $ 300 + $ 20 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event with a $ 225,000 guarantee. Early registrants were hoping for an overlay, mentioning that possibility on social networking sites like Twitter, but the lengthy registration period allowed plenty of players to register, with the prize pool eclipsing the guarantee without a problem.

The final numbers were:

Players: 841
Prize pool: $ 252,300
Paid players: 108

Instead of listing the vast number of PokerStars players in the field, let’s get right to the in-the-money finishers. The money bubble burst courtesy of Black88, the bubble player, and fever4ever was the first to cash in the tournament for $ 529.83.

Team PokerStars Pro Marcin “Goral” Horecki was the first team member to cash, finishing 67th for $ 681.21. Stavros “IDOLLS” Kalfas was next in 62nd place for $ 706.44, and still going strong into the tenth hour of play was Noah “Exclusive” Boeken. With three tables left, he was in first place on the leaderboard, and he stayed there as the field was reduced to two tables.

Exclusive lost a little ground when shaundeeb and Goldenboys edged in front, but he stayed in the top half of the field and climbed back into first, becoming the first player with over 1 million chips.

The elimination of jdtjpoker in eighth place led to hand-for-hand play, and almost immediately, fx100 was all-in with [Js][Tc] against the [Ks][2h] of gboro780 preflop. The board came [5s][Ad][6h][3s][4c], giving gboro780 the straight and eliminating fx100 in seventh place with $ 4,818.93.

Team Pro Noah Boeken leads final table

The final table was under way in the 11th hour, and Level 56 provided 4,000/8,000 blinds and a 1,000 ante in the NLHE round. The players’ initial stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: gboro780 (872,014 in chips)
Seat 2: Exclusive (1,216,941 in chips)
Seat 3: shaundeeb (488,022 in chips)
Seat 4: gangst3rn1 (582,397 in chips)
Seat 5: Goldenboys (384,128 in chips)
Seat 6: Fulham8 (661,498 in chips)

Shaundeeb lost chips in several big pots during the first few rounds of final table action. With a stack of less than 30K, he did double up through Exclusive to stay alive, and he then tripled through Exclusive and gboro780.

Exclusive was jetting out to a significant lead and staying aggressive. So when he raised, Goldenboys took an opportunity to reraise. Exclusive responded by moving his stack all-in, and Goldenboys called all-in with [Ah][Jh]. Exclusive had the goods and showed [Ks][Kh], which held up to the [7h][6s][8d][Qc][9s] board. Goldenboys, winner of a 2011 SCOOP tournament, was the first to exit the table, taking $ 7,569.00 for sixth place.

By the 11-hour break, Exclusive was holding steady just under the 2 million mark, and gangst3rn1 was nearly 1 million.

Deeb done

Shaundeeb was low on chips again and decided to push preflop, but Fulham8 and Exclusive were both in the hand as well. When the flop came [Ac][Jc][Th], Exclusive checked but folded when Fulham8 bet 25,000. Fulham8 then showed [Ad][Js] for two pair, and shaundeeb was at risk with [Kd][6c] and his straight draw. The turn was the [4h] and the river the [Ah], giving Fulham8 the full house. Shaundeeb, who took his second career WCOOP title last year, was eliminated in fifth place with $ 12,615.00.

Gboro780 86′d

A big pot then developed between Exclusive and gboro780. The latter raised preflop and Exclusive called to see a [6h][2c][Ad] flop. Gboro780 bet again, and Exclusive check-raised. Gboro780 called, and the turn brought the [4c]. A simple bet and call led them to the [7d] on the river, and Exclusive moved all-in. Gboro780 called all-in for 561,712 chips with [Ac][6d] and the flopped two pair, but Exclusive showed [2s][2h] for the flopped set. Gboro780 was out in fourth place with $ 17,661.00.

Fulham8 forced out

Fulham8 was the shortest of the final three but doubled up in a 500K pot through gangstr3rn1 to stay in contention.

Soon, however, Fulham8 had been chipped down to less than 100K and moved all-in preflop with [9h][8c]. Exclusive called with [Ad][6c], and that hand held up to the [Tc][Js][Jh][5d][4s]. Fulham8 was eliminated in third place with $ 25,230.00.

An Exclusive fight to the finish

The last two players began their battle as follows:

Seat 2: Exclusive (3,456,653 in chips)
Seat 4: gangst3rn1 (748,347 in chips)

Chips were exchanged on a pretty cautious basis for awhile, but soon the pots increased. But gangst3rn1 couldn’t seem to find the right spot to take the lead.

Finally, the two got involved in what was to be the final hand. Exclusive started with a raise and ganst3rn1 called. The flop came [Jd][5s][8d], and a bet from Exclusive brought a check-call from gangst3rn1. The [8s] on the turn prompted another bet from Exclusive, and gangst3rn1 check-raised all-in for 149,999 chips. Exclusive called with [Kd][5d] and the two pair, while gangst3rn1 showed [Kc][Th]. The [Qs] on the river ended the match, and gangst3rn1 took second place and the $ 32,799.00 that went with it.

Team PokerStars Pro Noah “Exclusive” Boeken won the WCOOP bracelet and $ 44,480.49. Congratulations!

WCOOP Event 26 ($ 320 Mixed HE 6-Max) Results:

1st place: Team PokerStars Pro Noah “Exclusive” Boeken ($ 44,480.49)
2nd place: gangst3rn1 ($ 32,799.00)
3rd place: Fulham8 ($ 25,230.00)
4th place: gboro780 ($ 17,661.00)
5th place: shaundeeb ($ 12,615.00)
6th place: Goldenboys ($ 7,569.00)

There are many more WCOOP events on the schedule, and satellites are running around the clock. All of the pertinent information can be found on the main WCOOP page, along with the special stats page. And check out the WCOOP Radio shows for daily prizes, special guests, and WCOOP commentary.