The latest incarnation of the Spring Championship of Online Poker kicked off on May 10 with four events at three different buy-ins each. Sundays are already a busy time around here and fields explode during the big series, Sunday was no different.
The mid-sized Event #1 was a Sunday Kickoff Special Edition with a hefty $150,000 guaranteed prize pool for the $109 entrance price. That guarantee was crushed early and the prize pool topped $200,000 before the first 20-minute level was complete.
A total of 5,283 players put up their money to create a $528,300 prize pool with over $80,000 up top for the winner. The last 675 players earned a piece of the money with Team PokerStars members Liv Boeree, Eugene Katchalov, Jake Cody, Fatima DeMelo, Tyler Frost, and Grzegorz Mikielewicz among them.
Boeree was looking good for a deeper run than her 80th place finish and she near the top of the leaderboard late. She was unable to maintain the momentum but that wasn’t true for Jason Mercier.
Day 1 of the event was winding down and the two-time WSOP bracelet winner was in the lead at different portions of action. The nifty PokerStars chip graph shows his heater late in the day and he returns with the 5th best stack of the 17 remaining.
Pausing action at the end of Day 1 was also a big of a surprise to the pro grinder when he saw the 12-hour break.
Didn’t even know it was a two day… Thought it was gonna finish tonight. Oh well. Two 4/800 8 game tables popped off … #OnlineGrind
— Jason Mercier (@JasonMercier) May 10, 2015
Mercier was one of seven players over the chip average as they restarted in Level 32 with boahgerding leading the way. A few players were in the danger zone but none were around as the final table bubble loomed.
Day 2 Top Ten Counts:
1. boahgerding (3,789,490 in chips)
2. yayo8422 (3,297,520 in chips)
3. fsalman (2,689,260 in chips)
4. fczpiter (2,518,522 in chips)
5. Jason Mercier (1,850,946 in chips)
6. powerpokerBR (1,771,471 in chips)
7. ballenAAgra (1,581,920 in chips)
8. CarlitosWayH (1,505,950 in chips)
9. Putkimies8 (1,333,217 in chips)
10. SV(nmgn)EN (1,318,975 in chips)
Blinds: 20k/40k/with 4k ante
Things were looking up for Mercier when moved up the counts after knocking out Bubble20 almost immediately after the restart. That is where the good news ended though. He played a four-bet pot against fczpiter that saw 850k in the middle before the Q♥ 10♥ 5♠flop.
Two more bets and all the chips were in the middle with Mercier’s huge draw showing K♥ J♥ against fczpiter’s Aâ™ A♥ . The A♦ turn hit Mercier’s straight draw while setting up fczpiter for the full house river 5♥ . The hand left Mercier will less than 10 big blinds and he was gone soon after in 15th.
They reached the final table bubble one hour after the restart and it took six rounds of hand-for-hand action before the table was set. The final table was formed when fsalman called a three-bet shove from powerpokerBR and A♣ K♦ was no good against K♠K♥
Final Table chip counts:
Seat 1: yayo8422 (1,918,758 in chips)
Seat 2: ballenAAgra (2,642,155 in chips)
Seat 3: boahgerding (3,640,607 in chips)
Seat 4: 3P3NIPA (1,728,372 in chips)
Seat 5: fczpiter (5,513,570 in chips)
Seat 6: fsalman (4,267,953 in chips)
Seat 7: JJUCIFER (3,151,259 in chips)
Seat 8: joice_verle (1,346,226 in chips)
Seat 9: SV(nmgn)EN (2,206,100 in chips)
Blinds: 40k/80k with 8k ante
3P3NIPA doubles out of the gate
3P3NIPA wasn’t the shortest player to start the final table but he still took a quick shot after the pay jump. 3P3NIPA three-bet shoved from the small blind with A♥ Q♣ after boahgerding opened from the button with Aâ™ 6â™ . boahgerding hit the K♥ 6♣ 5♥ flop but 3P3NIPA stuck around after the Q♥ river saved him for the big double.
The Czech grinder began the day with $1.7 million in career online tournament earnings, more than Mercier’s $1.5 million but well behind his live earnings of nearly $14 million.
boahgerding collapse complete, eliminated in 9th
boahgerding started his day off sitting atop the leaderboard but nothing went right from the start. Doubling up 3P3NIPA at the start of the final table was just the next step down the ladder and he only lasted another two orbits without winning a pot.
His final hand began when he shoved for less than nine big blinds after SV(nmgn)EN min-raised under the gun. It was a quick call and they were racing with SV(nmgn)EN’s Aâ™ Q♦ needing to catch up to boahgerding’s 9♥ 9♦ .
SV(nmgn)EN did just that on the A♥ 6♣ 2♦ flop and boahgerding never caught up as the board completed K♠J♣ to send him out in 9th place for $4,226.
3P3NIPA’s comeback turned away, eliminated in 8th
3P3NIPA had a nice river comeback to stay alive and double on the first hand of the final table but still needed to do some work to move further up the payout ladder. He outlasted that opponent before racing off to find another.
It was a dull few orbits with few seven-digit pots until 3P3NIPA moved all-in from UTG+1 for his short stack. fczpiter immediately called next to act and they were heads up with 3P3NIPA’s A♦ K♦ against 8♥ 8♦ .
3P3NIPA was in line for another stay alive double after the K♥ 7♠2♠put him ahead but the dreaded 8♣ turn was unkind. 3P3NIPA was drawing dead to the 7♣ river to be sent out in 8th place for $6,603.
The hand also gave fczpiter a healthy chip lead with 8,779,888 versus second position JJUCIFER’s 4,874,059 and they were the only two of the seven remaining players over the chip average.
joice_verle rocketed out, eliminated in 7th
joice_verle found a tough place to get all his chips in the middle and ran into a monster. Near the end, joice_verle almost pulled off a miracle.
The crazy hand began with JJUCIFER opeding under the gun for a min-raise and joice_verle moved all-in for just over 1 million. Not to be left out of the fun, SV(nmgn)EN moved in over the top but picked up no callers for his A♦ A♠.
joice_verle was in deep trouble with A♣ Q♦ but it got worse on the A♥ 10♣ 10♦ flop. joice_verle was drawing dead for a win and just 0.1% for a miracle chop. The first part of a possible runner-runner perfect finish came on the 10♥ to “improve” joice_verle but he couldn’t find the case Ten on the river. The running chop board would have been fun to watch but joice_verle was gone in 7th place for $11,866.
yayo8422 staying alive
yayo8422 was waiting for his turn to get in the action and the MicroMillions III Event 26 champ finally saw a hand he liked. He was by far the shortest stack at the six-handed table when he opened for a small raise before leader fczpiter three-bet it back to him.
yayo8422 moved in over the top and fczpiter called with a chance to move the tournament one step closer to a champ. fczpiter needed to get lucky to knock out yayo8422 with 6♣ 6♥ against A♥ A♣ but the Q♥ 10♣ 8♥ K♠4♠run out gave yayo8422 the much needed double.
fczpiter falls apart, eliminated in 6th
Russian fczpiter was looking pretty comfortable after knocking out 3P3NIPA in 8th place but it all went sideways after that. His big lead quickly disappeared as SV(nmgn)EN and fsalman took huge pots from him without a showdown.
The top stacks evened out until fczpiter began falling behind those two. There was some chatter about looking at the chop numbers but fsalman was the lone holdout, opting to wait until further down the road.
fczpiter was forced to take a stand and moved all-in under the gun with 4♦ 4♠and SV(nmgn)EN called on the button with A♥ J♥ . SV(nmgn)EN wasted no time storming ahead when the flop came K♥ 7♥ 6♥ and his flush was a lock after the 5♥ turn. fczpiter was drawing dead and gone in 6th place for $17,169.
Five-way chop
The remaining five played a few more hands after fczpiter’s elimination before they paused action to talk deal. PokerStars host Lex Veldhuis quickly presented them with the ICM numbers and discussions were underway.
SV(nmgn)EN: $59,017.34
JJUCIFER: $49,403.23
fsalman: $45,558.02
ballenAAgra: $44,260.13
yayo8422: $39,076.85
Everyone seemed to like their deal until fsalman asked for an extra $1,500. That idea was quickly shot down and they all agreed to the ICM numbers and they were back underway, with much faster action than before.
fsalman chops and runs, eliminated in 5th
It took just a few hands before fsalman cashed in his chop. ballenAAgra moved slightly ahead in the counts before they tangled in the next huge pot.
ballenAAgra open shoved with 5♣ 5♠and fsalman called off his stack with A♥ K♦ . fsalman fell further behind when ballenAAgra hit the Q♥ 9♦ 5♥ and was drawing dead on the 6♣ to exit in 5th place for $45,558.
ballenAAgra not ballin, eliminated in 4th
While that hand was a nice boost for ballenAAgra, he lost a seven-digit pot on the next hand to yayo8422 and gave the rest away one hand later. Wasting no time at all, yayo8422 three-bet to just under 1 million after an open from SV(nmgn)EN and ballenAAgra moved in over the top.
SV(nmgn)EN let his hand go but yayo8422 came along, leading with 10♥ 10♣ against ballenAAgra’s A♥ 9♦ . They both hit the A♦ K♥ 10♦ but yayo8422’s set was unbeatable after the 4♥ turn to send ballenAAgra out in 4th place for $44,260.
JJUCIFER done dirty, eliminated in 3rd
ballenAAgra’s elimination moved yayo8422 into the unlikely lead but that only lasted one hand. The biggest pot of the entire tournament took six bets to get nearly 21 million in the middle between the three remaining players.
JJUCIFER: A♠A♣
yayo8422: 10♠10♥
SV(nmgn)EN: K♦ Q♦
JJUCIFER was the shortest stack with the best hand while SV(nmgn)EN was in second place and needed to catch to stay alive. He hit a piece of the Q♣ 9♠5♥ flop and completed the Ace cracking on the Q♠turn.
SV(nmgn)EN had his two opponents looking for two outs each and they missed the 8♥ river. The hand sent JJUCIFER out in 3rd place while SV(nmgn)EN had a big lead for the title.
SV(nmgn)EN finishes off yayo8422 to win SCOOP title
Seat 1: yayo8422 (5,686,286 in chips)
Seat 9: SV(nmgn)EN (20,728,714 in chips)
The heads up battle lasted only five hands with an extra $3,000 on the line for the winner. yayo8422 had a chance to double back into the game when he shoved with 3♥ 3♣ and SV(nmgn)EN called with K♥ 10♦ .
The lead switched places on the K♦ 8♣ 2♦ flop and yayo8422 was unable to come from behind when the board completed 9♦ 6♠to close down the tournament. yayo8422 earned a nice $39,076 pay day while SV(nmgn)EN became the latest SCOOP champion plus the $62,017 which comes along with the title.
SCOOP 01-M: $109 NL Hold’em (Sunday Kickoff SE)
Entrants: 5,283
Prize pool: $528,300
Places paid: 675
1. SV(nmgn)EN (Netherlands) – $62,017.34*
2. yayo8422 (Panama) $39,076.85*
3. JJUCIFER (Brazil) $49,403.23*
4. ballenAAgra (United Kingdom) $44,260.13*
5. fsalman (Brazil) $45,558.02*
6. fczpiter (Russia) $17,169.75
7. joice_verle (Brazil) $11,886.75
8. 3P3NIPA (Czech Republic) $6,603.75
9. boahgerding (Germany) $4,226.40
* – denotes five-way deal
