Joining professional players such as Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso, were stars from other parts of the world with enough money to play poker with the big boys and the amateurs with a dream.  If you played in the Main Event you may have held a virtual seat next to the likes of Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame, former pitching great Orel Hershiser, or former tennis superstar Boris Becker, as all three took their shot at the million dollar payday.

Unfortunately for the pros, Day 1 was not too kind, as all but one were among the 1,966 players eliminated by the end of the first day.  Only German PokerStars Pro Jan Heitmann remained, in 47th place.  He would end up going out in 141st place, collecting $13,936 for the effort.

Here’s the top 10 leaders in chips at the end of day 1:

1. TheMasterJ33 – 925,921 chips
2. pakd650 – 776,413 chips
3. 5902838181 – 734,682 chips
4. SexSeen – 696,659 chips
5. HEMIpowerSWT – 695,540 chips
6. GIVE_IT2 – 654,843 chips
7. Jovial Gent – 632,010 chips
8. reddeevil – 611,559 chips
9. GtRealGtOut – 580,712 chips
10. djk123 – 555,410 chips

Many of the leaders found it tough to stay on top throughout the day though as even the chip leader at the start of the day was gone fairly quickly.  TheMasterJ33 couldn’t make it past 87th place, but still took home $17,152.

A few of the Day 1 leaders did continue their good fortune, however. The final table featured 3 players who battled through day 2 to make it to the last 9 standing.  The chip leader was djk123, with over 12 million in chips.  Next was another survivor, Jovial Gent, with over 10 million in chips.  The remaining 7 players and their chip counts were:

Udon Wannit – 4,549,346
reddeevil – 4,222,220
Chong94 – 3,857,482
PeachyMer – 3,617,956
Xaston – 2,150,576
Supa4real – 1,004,760
Mudvaynes – 700,486

Eventually, it would come down to the final two players, Jovial Gent and Udon Wannit, with Gent holding a commanding 3 to 1 chip lead going into heads-up play.  His lead would hold as the players didn’t take long to get it in.  The final hand saw Jovial Gent flop 2 pair with K6 and Udon Wannit playing very aggressive with his pair of sixes and that was the end of the tournament and the end of another great WCOOP series.

Final table finish and payouts:

1st place: Jovial Gent – $1,715,200.00
2nd place: Udon Wannit – $1,286,400.00
3rd place: reddeevil – $933,712.00
4th place: djk123 – $643,200.00
5th place: Xaston – $482,400.00
6th place: Chong94 – $375,200.00
7th place: Mudvaynes – $268,000.00
8th place: Supa4real – $182,240.00
9th place: PeachyMer – $96,480.00

Final Table payouts:
1) ElkY, $263,323
2) jektiss, $193,620
3) chilipepp, $137,285.80
4) KNtheKid, $92,200
5) Profeshigh, $73,760
6) kezug, $55,320
7) jm18, $36,880
bundesmiro, $20,284
9) Trippple_A, $12,908

Notable Finishes: Victor Ramdin (22), Lex “RasZi” Veldhuis (152), Barry Greenstein (203), Princesa (301), ICuRaRook (442), Orel Hershiser (470)

Team PokerStars pro and avid StarCraft player Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier showed us how it was done though. Once he reached the final table, he started to prey upon the rest of the hopefuls that accompanied him that far, and emerged with the win, the 2009 WCOOP bracelet and a first prize worth $232,730!!!

Congrats to mr. ElkY who still has not lost his touch, and continues to dominate final tables everywhere!!! Teach me please?

PokerStars WCOOP Event #38: $530 1R1A NL Holdem $1M Guaranteed
1160 entries, 742 re-buys, 827 add-ons, $1,369,000 prize pool
Final Table payouts were as follows:
1: ElkY, $232,730
2: Ginsash, $171,125
3: Pinnekjøtt, $129,918
4: hafizzle, $93,092
5: cashryders22, $67,765.50
6: natefive, $54,075
7: ICuRaRook, $40,385.50
8: Kid Canepa, $26,695.50
9: jeff710, $14,785.20

Notable finishes: paulgees81 (19), mig.com(11), SixthSense19 (22), Pearljammer (35), (Orel hershiser (49),  AJKHoosier1(65), N00000ooooo (74), g0lfa(76), USCphildo (86), Mr_BigQueso(153), Humberto Brenes(156).
Other notable participants: hustla16, SirWatts, THAY3R, Chad Brown, TorontoToro, Barry Greenstein, XthedecanoX, Bill Chen, Steve Paul-Ambrose, William Thorson, Lex Veldhuis, Katja Thater, DDBeast, apestyles, Victor Ramdin, Andre Akkari, Bel0wAb0ve, stevie444, John Duthie, Hevad Kahn, Vaga_Lion, Soren Kongsgaard.

Chad Brown, Ylon Schwartz, and Andre “aakkari” Akkari all found themselves amongst the final three tables in the 6-handed format.  Unfortunately for the Team Pros none of the three were able to make the final table.  A few other big names made nice runs but ultimate fell short of the final 6 including world class tournament professional Christian “charder30″Harder and “valesco” who finished in 20th and 22nd place respectively.

Heading into the final table the favorite had to be Terrence “Unassigned” Chan, a high-stakes limit professional who nearly shipped a WSOP bracelet in the 2007 NL Shoot-Out.  Final table chip-leader “SoulMaster7″ was unable to get much going before busting in 4th place for just over $30,000.  Below are the final table stacks and bust-out hands:

Seat 1: Tommy2tyme (717508 in chips)
Seat 2: Vingtcent (507884 in chips)
Seat 3: Unassigned (836891 in chips)
Seat 4: KINGKUNG (478883 in chips)
Seat 5: SoulMaster7 (984600 in chips)
Seat 6: makavelyces (844234 in chips)

Seat 1: Tommy2tyme (189508 in chips)
Seat 2: Vingtcent (893884 in chips)
Seat 3: Unassigned (1046891 in chips)
Seat 4: KINGKUNG (243766 in chips)
Seat 5: SoulMaster7 (947717 in chips)
Seat 6: makavelyces (1048234 in chips)
Unassigned: posts small blind 10000
KINGKUNG: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SoulMaster7: folds
makavelyces: raises 20000 to 40000
Tommy2tyme: folds
Vingtcent: folds
Unassigned: folds
KINGKUNG: raises 20000 to 60000
makavelyces: calls 20000
*** FLOP *** [2c 9s 5s]
KINGKUNG: bets 20000
makavelyces: raises 20000 to 40000
KINGKUNG: raises 20000 to 60000
makavelyces: raises 20000 to 80000
Betting is capped
KINGKUNG: calls 20000
*** TURN *** [2c 9s 5s] [7s]
KINGKUNG: bets 40000
makavelyces: raises 40000 to 80000
KINGKUNG: raises 23766 to 103766 and is all-in
makavelyces: calls 23766
*** RIVER *** [2c 9s 5s 7s] [Ac]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
KINGKUNG: shows [Ad As] (three of a kind, Aces)
makavelyces: shows [6s Qs] (a flush, Queen high)
makavelyces collected 497532 from pot

Seat 1: Tommy2tyme (189508 in chips)
Seat 2: Vingtcent (853884 in chips)
Seat 3: Unassigned (1426891 in chips)
Seat 5: SoulMaster7 (737717 in chips)
Seat 6: makavelyces (1162000 in chips)
makavelyces: posts small blind 10000
Tommy2tyme: posts big blind 20000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Vingtcent: folds
Unassigned: raises 20000 to 40000
SoulMaster7: raises 20000 to 60000
makavelyces: calls 50000
Tommy2tyme: raises 20000 to 80000
Betting is capped
Vingtcent said, “hehe”
Unassigned: calls 40000
SoulMaster7: calls 20000
makavelyces: calls 20000
*** FLOP *** [Ac Th Jd]
makavelyces: checks
Tommy2tyme: bets 20000
Unassigned: calls 20000
SoulMaster7: raises 20000 to 40000
makavelyces: folds
Tommy2tyme: calls 20000
Unassigned: calls 20000
*** TURN *** [Ac Th Jd] [Td]
Tommy2tyme: checks
Unassigned: checks
SoulMaster7: bets 40000
Tommy2tyme: calls 40000
Unassigned: folds
*** RIVER *** [Ac Th Jd Td] [2h]
Tommy2tyme: checks
SoulMaster7: bets 40000
Tommy2tyme: calls 29508 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (10492) returned to SoulMaster7
*** SHOW DOWN ***
SoulMaster7: shows [Ah Jc] (two pair, Aces and Jacks)
Tommy2tyme: shows [Qh Qd] (two pair, Queens and Tens)
SoulMaster7 collected 579016 from pot

Seat 2: Vingtcent (1490134 in chips)
Seat 3: Unassigned (995916 in chips)
Seat 5: SoulMaster7 (74450 in chips)
Seat 6: makavelyces (1809500 in chips)
Vingtcent: posts small blind 20000
Unassigned: posts big blind 40000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
SoulMaster7: raises 34450 to 74450 and is all-in
makavelyces: folds
Vingtcent: folds
Unassigned: calls 34450
*** FLOP *** [Tc Qd 5h]
*** TURN *** [Tc Qd 5h] [Jd]
*** RIVER *** [Tc Qd 5h Jd] [9s]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Unassigned: shows [7c Td] (a pair of Tens)
SoulMaster7: shows [5s Ah] (a pair of Fives)
Unassigned collected 168900 from pot

Seat 2: Vingtcent (300134 in chips)
Seat 3: Unassigned (2350366 in chips)
Seat 6: makavelyces (1719500 in chips)
Unassigned: posts small blind 25000
makavelyces: posts big blind 50000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Vingtcent: raises 50000 to 100000
Unassigned: folds
makavelyces: calls 50000
*** FLOP *** [Jc Qc Ah]
makavelyces: checks
Vingtcent: bets 50000
makavelyces: calls 50000
*** TURN *** [Jc Qc Ah] [Ts]
makavelyces: checks
Vingtcent: bets 100000
makavelyces: raises 100000 to 200000
Vingtcent: calls 50134 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (49866) returned to makavelyces
*** RIVER *** [Jc Qc Ah Ts] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
makavelyces: shows [5s Kc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
Vingtcent: shows [2s Ac] (a pair of Aces)
makavelyces collected 625268 from pot

Seat 3: Unassigned (4051464 in chips)
Seat 6: makavelyces (318536 in chips)
Unassigned: posts small blind 40000
makavelyces: posts big blind 80000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Unassigned: raises 80000 to 160000
makavelyces: raises 80000 to 240000
Unassigned: raises 80000 to 320000
Betting is capped
makavelyces: calls 78536 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1464) returned to Unassigned
*** FLOP *** [Kd Qs Qc]
*** TURN *** [Kd Qs Qc] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [Kd Qs Qc 7d] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
makavelyces: shows [9h 9c] (two pair, Queens and Nines)
Unassigned: shows [Jc Kh] (two pair, Kings and Queens)
Unassigned collected 637072 from pot

Congratulations goes to Unassinged and all 66 players making the money in WCOOP Event #39!

PokerStars WCOOP Event 39 $400k Guaranteed
437 Entrants; $437,000 prize pool

1. Unassigned $83,030
2. makavelyces $61,180
3. Vingtcent $44,792.50
4. SoulMaster7 $30,590
5. Tommy2tyme $21,850
6. KINGKUNG $13,984

That was no doubt thanks to the 1000 rebuys and 722 add-ons these players contributed. The cash influx boosted the prize pool to a total of $1,376,000, easily covering the $1 million guarantee PokerStars had laid on for the event. The lengthy running time was also aided by the quality of the field. Masses of well known pros turned up for the event and, unlike many previous tournaments, put on a strong performance.

Among those notable names who made the money were: Hevad Khan (145th), James “mig.com” Mackey (149th), Jason “JasonGray” Gray (134th), Humberto Brenes (97th), Adam “Roothlus” Levy (78th), Sorel Mizzi (74th), Dan “Wretchy” Martin (41st), Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll (32nd), Jason Mercier (26th), and Shaun Deeb (21st). The highest finishing pro of all was a Team PokerStars Pro member. Argentinean Leo Fernandez ended his run in 17th place for $11,558.40. Leo is a highly skilled chess player and, since taking up poker in 2004, has recorded 3 WSOP cashes – including a Main Event money finish.

Further along at the final table, the chip counts looked like this:

Seat 1: VLs85s (4,364,672 in chips)
Seat 2: djalminha (1,330,034 in chips)
Seat 3: GtRealGtOut (7,037,219 in chips)
Seat 4: Astrolux85 (5,670,990 in chips)
Seat 5: oncommand (2,111,695 in chips)
Seat 6: supadphat (1,930,390 in chips)

Shortly after the final table started, djalminha and oncommand got all their chips in before the flop. After oncommand responded to djalminha’s 137,000 bet with a 1.3 million push, dj called off his final 1 million. With the hands face up, djalminha held Ah-Jh against oncommand’s Ks-9s. The board ran out Qd-2c-4h-Jd-3h and djalminha scooped the pot with second pair. The damage was done and two hands later oncommand would exit the tournament in sixth. With just over $100k left he put his last chips in against Astrolux85 and VLs85s – who both checked down a board of J-8-2-10-3. After VLs85s showed his 9-8 for second pair everyone else mucked and oncommand was out in 6th.

As is the way with final tables, there followed a lull in the action while the players recovered from the quickfire elimination. Then, for no apparent reason, two players were out in the next six hands.

First up, former execution djalminha put his final 1.3 million in the middle and faced a call from supadphat. It was a straight coin flip between djalminha’s K-Q and supadphat’s pocket 9s. Nothing connected on the flop for djalminha and his tournament ended in 5th place. With djalminha eliminated it was GtRealGtOut’s turn to shove his in 1.4 million stack. After a call by Astrolux, GtRealGtOuts’s A-5 suited looked in good shape against his opponent’s K-Q, but a board of 4-K-2-9-6 soon changed that.

With the chance to go heads up for a WCOOP bracelet on the line, the three remaining players began a cagey exchange of chips. When the pivotal hand finally came it was sudaphat who suffered. After completing in the small blind, sudaphat responded to VLs85s 350,000 raise by pushing all-in for 3.4 million. VL made an easy call with K-K and had sudaphat’s K-Q severely dominated. The board fell 8-6-7-2-4, a million miles away from anyone’s cards, and sudaphat was out in 3rd.

As heads up play began VLs85s had the 14.2 million chip lead verses Astrolux85 with 8.1 million. With their opponents dispatched the pair began to discuss a chop. After some lengthy back and forth Astrolux negotiated a very healthy $190,000 for his half of the deal. Despite his sold chip lead, VLs85s agreed to sum of $192,480. That left a mandatory $20k and the WCOOP bracelet to play for.

The confrontation was nearly over when Astrolux85 committed all his chips with Ks-10s against A-9. A flop of As-Qc-3s put the chip leader firmly in the driving seat, but plenty of flush outs left Astrolux with a chance of recovery. A Kd on the turn added another layer of straight and two pair outs and sure enough, on the river, a Jc completed the straight and confirmed the double up.

Astrolux85 took a lead he would refuse to relinquish in an 8 million pot. With pocket 3’s in the hole, a board of 3-J-K-8-8 completed a boat. VLs85s then disastrously took matters into his own hands. Holding only 8-7 on a board of 10-5-5-Q-4 he fired bet after bet in a vain attempt to get his opponent to fold. Despite a number of scare cards, Astrolux85 could not be moved from his 10-9 and a made a number of excellent calls to win the 6 million pot.

With VLs85s on the ropes, the final hand was not too far off. After Astrolux completed from the small blind, VL put in a 960,000 raise. Astro called and saw a 2h-10h-5d flop hit the board. Two checks and a 9d turn later and Astro was leading out with a 7.2 million bet. VLs85s decided it was time to gamble and committed his last chips via a 6.7 million raise. Astrolux85 made the call and showed a Q-J straight draw to go up against his opponent’s A-2 bottom pair flush draw. An 8 on the river gave Astro the slice of luck he needed and confirmed him as WCOOP Event #36 Champion.

Final table payouts were:

1st place: Astrolux85 ($210,000.00)
2nd place: VLs85s ($192,480.00)
3rd place: supadphat ($130,720.00)
4th place: GtRealGtOut ($89,440.00)
5th place: djalminha ($58,617.60)
6th place: oncommand ($41,280.00)

There was little doubt that plenty of the PokerStars Pros would make it for this one with a prize like that on the line.  The list of pros included Chris Moneymaker, Chad Brown, Jason Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Elky – Bertrand Grospellier and Humberto Brenes.  The popular Costa Rican, Brenes, was the big winner of the pros.  However, he wont be retiring on his 239th place finish – a win of $474.50.

PokerStars tried to pump up the action and aggression in this tournament by collecting antes from the very first hand.  That meant that sitting around for the nuts would be tough, as the more aggressive players would just take pot after pot, building their stacks.  However, even with the “big antes”, it was over 14 hours until the final table bubble finally burst, sending the final nine to a very coveted position in a tournament such as this.  Even 9th place would be guaranteed over $5,800, but everyone was gunning for the 1st place prize of over $100k!

The top nine players held the following chip stacks heading into the final table:

Seat 1: 72good with 1,935,503 in chips
Seat 2: PokerProGG with 2,185,321 in chips
Seat 3: Raoeoiku with 866,555 in chips
Seat 4: JUNFI with 247,593 in chips
Seat 5: Artiecat with 859,772 in chips
Seat 6: vara33 with 3,227,438 in chips
Seat 7: Koln4ever with 4,886,063 in chips
Seat 8: Shark 00100 with 1,115,769 in chips
Seat 9: joeppiej with 2,925,986 in chips

After the long battle to get to the main stage, it only took about a half-hour for three players to be quickly eliminated.  Then things changed considerably, as the players slowed down a little.  This event started at 2:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday, but it wasn’t until early Thursday morning that play got down to three-handed.

When there were three, the players – Koln4ever, vara33, and PokerProGG, decided to discuss a deal.  The host of this tournament, PokerStars Pro Tom McEvoy, moderated the discussion and announced the final deal numbers to which the players agreed.  PokerStars had set a rule that $10,000 must be set aside for the eventual winner, but other than that, the players agreed that Koln4ever would get $98,282.70, vara33 would get $83,779.11, and PokerProGG would take $68,183.19.

vera33 would be the next eliminated, and thus probably most happy about the deal.  That put Koln4ever and PokerProGG heads-up, with Koln4ever have a dominating lead of over 16 million in chips to about 1.9 million for PokerProGG.  It didn’t take long for the final hand to come, as PokerProGG pushed with AK pre-flop and was called by the 33 of Koln4ever.  The board was no help to PokerProGG and he was eliminated in second place.  That left the $10,000 extra prize money as well as the title of WCOOP Champion to Koln4ever.

Final Table Results:

1st place: Koln4ever – $108,282.70 (after Final Table deal)
2nd place: PokerProGG – $68,183.19 (after FT deal)
3rd place: vara33 – $83,779.11 (after FT deal)
4th place: Shark 00100 – $41,975.00
5th place: joeppiej – $31,025.00
6th place: Raoeoiku – $23,725.00
7th place: Artiecat – $16,425.00
8th place: 72good – $9,125.00
9th place: JUNFI – $5,840.00

A few members of Team PokerStars Pro had a little more success. The ever reliable Humberto Brenes finished in 144th for $1,860, the same amount received by Johannes Steindl in 139th. The 1,240 strong field that put up such strong opposition were all competing for a slice of the $1,240,000 prize pool. This was way ahead of the $500,000 PokerStars had guaranteed for the event, one of the very few occasions so far this WCOOP when PokerStars have been way off with their estimates.

After 10 hours of top level combat, the nine remaining players convened for the final table:

Seat 1: REDDYBABY902 (581,233 in chips)
Seat 2: nicelife (1,627,985 in chips)
Seat 3: shengy (1,759,378 in chips)
Seat 4: BrynKenney (802,863 in chips)
Seat 5: 011PokerDr (672,710 in chips)
Seat 6: df1986 (948,831 in chips)
Seat 7: scarface_79 (3,268,082 in chips)
Seat 8: redsxfan3300 (1,422,678 in chips)
Seat 9: Believer82 (1,316,240 in chips)

First to fall was BrynKenney, who committed his final 330,000 with a shaky 10c-6c. He nearly won the pot uncontested, but scarface_79 elected to take a chance in the big blind and made the call with Ks-4c. The board conspired to miss everyone’s cards – with no flush or straight outs to be seen – ending BrynKenney’s run in 9th place.

Two of the final table shortstacks were the next to tangle. 011PokerDr and REDDYBAB902 embroiled in an all in pot holding 9-9 and J-J respectively. Unsurprisingly, the jacks held up, leaving 011PokerDr clinging to his tournament life with a chip and a chair. Just four hands later it was all over. His 9-J failed to win the race against the 4-4 of redsxfan3300, putting him out in 8th place.

Starting the final table second in chips, shengy might have hoped for a deeper run. But it all went wrong when he faced off against fellow big-stack Believer82. It started with a 150k raise from shengy, which was picked off by Believer82’s 440k bet. shengy made the call and took his pocket fours to a flop of 3-J-J. Despite missing his set, shengy decided to push all his remaining chips in the middle, leaving Believer82 with a tough decision. He eventually elected to make the call, delighted to find his pocket 10s way ahead with two cards to come. A two and and a King on the end sealed the deal and put shengy out in 7th.

The next major pot began to develop when df1986, nicelife, and REDDYBABY902 saw a Js-4c-5c flop. Although df1986 folded to nicelife’s bet, REDDYBABY902 was less accommodating. His raise began a betting war that culminated with an all-in call from REDDYBABY902. He found himself well ahead of nicelife’s Q-J with A-J, but couldn’t fade a heartbreaking Queen on the turn. A meaningless 6 on the river confirmed REDDYBABY909’s exit in 6th place.

With plenty of play left in the structure things began to slow down; it would be over an hour before the next elimination. When the action finally ramped up again it did so in style, two players exiting the tournament in the space of 6 hands. First up was a confrontation between redsxfan3300 and df1986. Holding pocket Queens, redsxfan put in a 100,000 raise, to which df1986 responded with a massive 3.1 million bet. redsxfan quickly made the all-in call and was in good shape against his opponent’s A-Q. He was somewhat less happy with the T-7-A-K-A board which lost him the hand and put him out of the tournament in 5th place.

Just six hands later it was the turn of scarface_79, who ungainly ran into the pocket aces of niceline. With only a couple of 4’s to his name he was drawing at straws, but did get some hope from a flop which ran out 5-6-3. A four, a seven, or a three would have seen niceline’s aces cracked, but the deck could only muster a 5 and an 8 for the turn and river. scarface_79 out in 4th.

With three players remaining, discussions began about a possible deal. Well known high stakes pro Bertrand “ElkY’ Grospellier had been observing the tournament and stepped in to help broker an agreement. After some short discussion, the agreed totals were as follows:

Believer82: $134,892.57
nicelife: $177,084.33
df1986: $150,525.11

Although the majority of the prize money had already been distributed, there was still $10,000 and the coveted WCOOP bracelet to play for. With some serious prestige on the line it was quite a while before the the tournament reached the heads up confrontation. Proceedings finally came to a head between df1986 and Believer82. On a flop of 3c-Ks-8c Believer82 came out with a bet which was immediately raised by his opponent. Believer82 continued to employ the aggression that had served him so well and pushed his remaining chips all-in. df1986 called and found that his 8-6 second pair a fair way ahead of Believer’s A-10. A King on the turn left Believer82 without only six outs and the Queen that bookended the board was not one of them. He exited in third place, over $100,000 richer.

The heads up contest was a fierce battle between two highly skilled players, each of whom  held relatively even chip stacks. df1986 assumed the role of aggressor and had built up a small chip advantage when the tournament ended with a surprise final hand. All of nicelife’s 5.8 million stack went in the middle on a flop of 4s-2c-5s, called by the 6.4 million of df1986. With the cards turned face up it was nicelife who lead with a 4-2 two pair. However, his he would need to dodge a lot of outs to maintain that advantage against the As-2s of df1986. The Queen of spades that fell on the turn all but ended the tournament, with an 8 on the river finishing the job. Although nicelife took home the largest share of the prize pool, the glory goes to df1986 – 2009 WCOOP Event #33 Champion.

Final table payouts were as follows:

1. df1986 (Las Vegas) *$160,525.11
2. nicelife (kasarnei) *$177,084.33
3. Believer82 (murfreesboro) *$134,892.57
4. scarface_79 (Tool) $84,320.00
5. redsxfan3300 (brandon) $60,760.00
6. REDDYBABY902 (Grande Prairie) $48,360.00
7. shengy (San Francisco) $35,960.00
8. 011PokerDr (Irvine) $23,560.00
9. BrynKenney (New York) $12,896.00

PokerStars implemented a double-chance tournament for their 30^th event of the WCOOP; a $320 No Limit Hold ‘Em event..  What exactly is a double-chance?  As the name suggests, players were given two chances in the tournament.  If a player was stacked during the first hour of the tournament, they had a chance to buy back into the tournament.  Of the 2,488 players in the tournament, 293 took advantage of this second chance.  This created a prize pool of $834,300 with 360 players being guaranteed money.

Many PokerStars pros bought into this event including Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Andre Akkari, and Humberto Brenes, who placed 322^nd.

The final table broke down as follows:

Seat 1 – spencerman3 – 1,716,986 chips

Seat 2 – buckguy2200 – 2,696,185 chips

Seat 3 – Akaperion – 772,247 chips

Seat 4 – DiverKRD – 854,916 chips

Seat 5 – grpoker2 – 2,054,689 chips

Seat 6 – BobbyDick66 – 739,663 chips

Seat 7 – Evilduke11 – 1,290,717 chips

Seat 8 – acehole60 – 1,262,135 chips

Seat 9 – Ginobili1988 – 2,517,462 chips

DiverKRD would be the first to go after raising 200,000 from UTG+1 and being called by spencerman3 in the big blind.  The flop came QhTc5c and spencerman3 checked to DiverKRD.  DiverKRD moved in and spencerman3 called immediately showing AdQs for top pair-top kicker.  DiverKRD’s AsKh was in big trouble.  The 5d and 8s on the turn and river gave him no help and he was sent packing.  For his ninth-place finish, DiverKRD earned $7,091.56.

The next knockout hand was a real interesting one.  Two players would seal their fate as Evilduke11 shoved his 859,467 chips from UTG+1 and acehole60 put all his 960,885 chips in behind him.  Spencerman3 called both their bets while the rest of the table folded.  He was in the lead with his pocket queens going against Evilduke11’s AdQd and acehole60’s AcKc.  His queens would hold up on the Jh8s6h4h8c board scoring him a double-knockout.  Evilduke11 and acehole60 left in eighth ($12,097.36) and seventh-place ($20,446.36), respectively.

Akaperion looked to double-up shorty after; shoving his chips from the cutoff.  Ginobili1988 made the call with AhQc; Akaperion’s Ad7s was dominated.  The AcQd2h8dTc board gave Ginobili1988 two-pair and the pot.  Akaperion was eliminated in sixth-place and took home $28,783.36 for his performance.

Spencerman3 would continue to control the table and knockout his opponents.  In a hand with BobbyDick66, spencerman3 opened for 160,000 chips.  BobbyDick66 moved in and spencerman3 called.  Spencerman3’s Ac4s was dominated by BobbyDick66’s Ad5s and it looked as if spencerman3 may finally lose a hand.  However, the poker gods had other ideas.  The flop was Tc7d4c and paired spencerman3’s kicker.  BobbyDick66 would not catch up on the 9s turn or the 6h river and was eliminated.  BobbyDick66 was the fourth player to be knocked out by spencerman3 at this final table and left in fifth place $37,126.36 richer.

Buckguy2200 was the next to go.  An open by buckguy2200 followed by grpoker2’s three-bet shove and buckguy2200’s call set-up our next race: buckguy2200’s sevens against grpoker2’s AdKs.  The 4h4d3s flop was safe for buckguy2200, but the Kd on the turn gave grpoker2 top-pair.  The river Qc did not improve buckguy2200 and he joined the spectators.  $48,806.56 was added to his bankroll for his fourth-place finish.

Two hands later, grpoker2 continued to make moves; four-betting all-in with Ginobili1988 making the call.  Another hand, another race: grpoker2’s pocket fives were looking to hold up against Ginobili1988’s AsKh.  A king on the turn and an ace on the river gave Ginobili1988 two-pair and gave grpoker2 a seat next to the spectators.  With his third-place finish came $70,915.91.

Ironically, the final hand of the tournament was NOT a race.  After both player limped to see the 9s4d2s flop, Ginobili1988 bet 200,000 and spencerman3 called.  The turn came Qc and Ginobili1988 check-called spencerman3’s 500,000 chip bet.  The river fell Ah and proved to be a devastating card for Ginobili1988.  Spencerman3 bet 800,000 chips and Ginobili1988 shoved all-in.  Spencerman3 made the call and showed the two-pair that he had made with the river ace (Ac2c).  Ginobili1988 lost with his pair of nines (9d5c) and was runner-up in the tournament.  He won $99,006.39 for his deep run.  As for spencerman3, he won $131,819.41 along with his bracelet.  Congratulations spencerman3!

The event took over 30 hours to complete, spread over two separate days. The room for maneuver allowed in these events is bound to attract in the cream of the Team PokerStars Pro crop. The pros know that this kind of structure gives them the best chance to leverage their skill advantage. Well known pros who failed to make it past Day 1 included Chris Moneymaker, Hevad Khan, Dennis Phillips, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Humberto Brenes, Ivan Demidov, and Joe Hachem. The number of pros who made the money was surprisingly small, with Ylon Schwartz (185th) the top sponsored finisher. Accompanying him to the virtual cage were Marcel Luske (461st) and Jason Mercier (441st).

The event was hosted by little known semi-pro player Nuno Coelho. The Portuguese has made a name for himself at events in his home country, although is yet to make a big splash on the world stage. He spends some of his time working as a successful lawyer, but now finds himself devoting much of his day to perfecting his poker game. His most high profile outing came when he represented Portugal in the 2007 PokerStars World Cup of Poker in Barcelona. His motto is one which will ring true with many live and online experts – ‘Play the player, not the cards’.

As the lengthy two-day stretch approached its climax there were just two players remaining. Unsyatisfied was pitting his 18 million stack against the 30 million chips held by his opponent, GAKingChaser. The action was relatively calm for much of the contest, with a few big pots dictating the eventual outcome.

One pivotal confrontation came when Unsyatisfied put in a 320k preflop raise, only to see GAKing bump it up to 1 million. Following the quick call, a surprising K-K-K flop found the board. GAKing came out firing with a 1 million bet and Unsyatisfied responded by raising to 2.5 million. The pot began to build as GAKing made the call, followed by a less thrilling 9 on the turn. A check from GAKing prompted a large 6 million bet from Unsyatisfied. Once again GAKing was not to be outdone and pushed his whole stack into the pot – easily covering Unsyatisfied’s remaining chips. In the end he needed little time to make up his mind, gleefully pushing his final chips in to reveal the case King with a Jack kicker. Despite being called and raised all the way, GAKing had been running a stone cold bluff with 6-5 suited. A meaningless 6 on the river completed the formalities and saw a near exact swap in fortunes. Unsyatisfied now up to around 30 million, while GAKing languished on 16 million.

As the tournament crept into the early hours of the morning the pair began to discuss the possibility of a chop. They elected not to stop play while they negotiated, a decision which GAKing may love to regret. When the deal was floated, Unsyatisfied held a more than 2-1 chip advantage and was understandably unsatisfied with his cut of the prize money. Things were moving closer to a final decision when, just as Unsyatisfied was deliberating GAKing’s latest offer, the tournament came to an end in a flash.

GAKing started things off with a raise to 400k. Unsyatisfied ramped up the action with a 1.4 million re-raise, to which GAKing responded with a 3.8 million re-re-raise. Unsyatisfied then put GAKing to a decision by committing his whole stack, with the short stack eventually electing to make the call. With deal talks on hold GAKing found himself hopelessly dominated with his tournament life on the line – his 9-9 languishing behind the J-J of Unsyatisfied. The outcome was practically decided with the first card after the board ran out J-3-8-K-A. Event #28 champion Unsyatisfied picks up a coveted WCOOP bracelet along with a $513,076 in prize money. GAKingChaser picks up a very healthy $382,256 for his second place finish. Tournament host Nune Coelho was on hand to congratulate both players on their gargantuan two-day effort.

Final Table payouts were:

1st place: Unsyatisfied ($513,076.00)
2nd place: GAKingchaser ($382,356.00)
3rd place: Visionary129 ($269,610.00)
4th place: reilly11014 ($187,910.00)
5th place: runslikerubs ($138,890.00)
6th place: goin4br0ke ($106,210.00)
7th place: johnnyv5000 ($73,530.00)
8th place: thepractice ($40,850.00)
9th place: Ginsash ($26,144.00)

 The bubble burst at 1,440 players and these players were guaranteed a minimum of $313.44.  A number of PokerStars pros cashed in this event including Humberto Brenes, JC Alvarado, and Alex Kravchenko.

 About sixteen hours into the tournament, the second bubble was set to burst.   RJules12 busted UhhMee in tenth place for a $9,795 prize.  With 1.5 million chips, UhhMee three-bet shoved all-in from the small blind after RJules12 opened the hand from UTG+1.  RJules called his all-in and turned over AdKh.  UhhMee’s JhTs were way behind and lost on the 4d5c3d9d9c board.

 With this knockout, the final table was set.  At level 42 the blinds were 60K/120K with a 15K ante.  The players and their chips were seated as follows:

Seat 1 – ole6 – 2,602,554 chips

Seat 2 – dunkmaster50 – 8,977,303 chips

Seat 3 – jimenezzzz – 3,390,253 chips

Seat 4 – Holmesy1978 – 5,099,088 chips

Seat 5 – candy1203 – 2,648,386 chips

Seat 6 – equinespy – 4,268,457 chips

Seat 7 – PepaG – 7,121,501 chips

Seat 8 – RJules12 – 7,159,911 chips

Seat 9 – leijk22 – 7,707,547 chips

 Not so long into the final table, candy1203 raised all-in with AsKh.  Holmesy1978 called from the big blind with his pocket tens.  The board came Tc4hAd3sJh with Holmesy1978 winning with a set of tens.  Candy1203 left the tournament in ninth place and $13,321.20 richer.

 Soon after, ole6 chose to shove all-in with his pocket queens.  This time, PepaG called with AcKc and both watched the board read Ad6h6c2c7h.  Ole6’s tournament was over in eighth place; he walked away with $19,590.

 Jimenezzzz was next to make his move to win chips through an all-in.  He would shove with AcKh to only be dominated by leijk22’s pocket aces.  The board of 2sKs8s7sJd held the aces up and jimenezzzz was knocked out of the tournament.  He was awarded $39,180 for his effort.

 PepaG, who became a relative shortstack after a troublesome few rounds, looked for any opening to double up.  This opening came when he shoved with AcJd.  The big blind, dunkmaster50, woke up with AhKs and called PepaG’s all-in bet.  PepaG was sent to the rail in sixth place after the 5cQh4c2d8c board sent him packing.  PepaG took home $58,770.

A hand between dunkmaster50 and Holmesy1978 would send another player to the rail.  A flop of 5dKc2s spawned enough action to get both players all-in.  Holmesy1978 showed his pocket tens only to see his opponent held Kd8d for a pair of kings.  These kings held up as the turn and river came up 5c and Kh, respectively.   Holmesy1978 was knocked out by a full house in fifth place worth $78,360.

 RJules12 would soon combat with leijk22.  RJules12 would call a three-bet shove by leijk22 with KcJc.  Unfortunately, leijk22 had pocket tens that would hold up on the Qd6s7d6d4s board.  RJules12’s fourth-place finish boosted his bankroll by $97,950.

 Three-handed play began with equinespy being the shortest of the three stacks.  He chose to go all-in from the big blind with AdJh.  Leijk22 called with pocket tens.  The Js4c8s flop paired equinespy’s jack and put him in the lead.  Unfortunately, a Ts peeled on the turn and equinespy was drawing dead.  The irrelevant river (2d) marked the end of equinespy’s tournament; a third-place finish worth $141,048.

 Heads-up play began with leijk22 having an almost 2-1 advantage over dunkmaster50’s chip stack; 32,197,600 chips against 16,777,400 chips.  The final hand began with leijk22 being out-of-position.  Dunkmaster50 raised from the button and leijk22 would three-bet.  Dunkmaster50 called his three-bet and the flop came 8h9cJs.  Leijk22 bet the flop, dunkmaster50 reraised, and leijk22 put dunkmaster50’s tournament life at stake with a shove.  Dunkmaster50 called with his JcTd to make top pair.  However, leijk22 hit the flop harder, flopping a set of eights.  The turn came Tc giving dunkmaster50 hope.  The river 2h ended the tournament for both players, with leijk22 taking home the bracelet and the grand prize of $274,260.  Dunkmaster50 was compensated $199,818 for his second-place finsh.  Congratulations to both players!