Mix turbo and Pot-Limit Omaha and you are bound to get one fast and furious tournament.

That proved true on Monday as 1,086 entrants in Event #25 of the 2011 WCOOP, a $215 buy-in PLO tournament with one rebuy and one add-on, were narrowed to a final table of nine in just over three-and-a-half hours.

Those 1,086 players made 756 rebuys and added-on 246 times to create a $417,600 prize pool, well over the PokerStars guarantee of $225,000.

Plenty of Team PokerStars pros tried their hand at the four-card game. Liv Boeree, Johnny Lodden, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Chad Brown, Leo Fernandez, Ana Marquez and Marcin "Goral" Horecki were among those who failed to make the cash.

Notable players in the green include Javier "El_Canonero" Dominguez in 110th place ($793.44), George Danzer in 106th place ($835.20) and Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu in 62nd place ($1,127.52.)

After short stacked Mafews [Kc] [6c] [Th] [2s] could not crack aces preflop our final nine was set.

Final table seating and chip counts:

Seat 1 -- MiPwnYa (446,032)
Seat 2 -- joejoe1337 (613,490)
Seat 3 -- L0ve2playU (3,236,874)
Seat 4 -- sllvllasH (747,556)
Seat 5 -- 2FLY2TILT (1,162,555)
Seat 6 -- Schermanator (1,049,612)
Seat 7 -- zwacke (1,218,314)
Seat 8 -- tbac1 (895,943)
Seat 9 -- asik17 (1,069,618)

It didn't take long for action to heat up as the first hand featured a double elimination and a huge triple up:

Joejoe1337 finished in ninth for $4,802.40 while asik17 collected $8,352 for the eighth-place nod.

Tbac1 was next to go. After 2FLY2TILT raised to 700K from early position, tbac1 called all in for 355K. The others folded and the hands were:

2FLY2TILT [Ad] [6c] [Tc] [Jh]
tbac1 [Qh] [Ts] [Td] [Kh]

The board ran out [5c] [Jd] [Ah] [9s] [6h] and tbac1 earned $12,528 for coming in seventh.

L0ve2playU found himself in dominating position after this second double elimination of the final table:

This hand sent 2FLY2TILT out of the tournament in sixth, but the he continued an amazing run in 2011 WCOOP. With one win, two final tables and a fourth cash, 2FLY2TILT is well ahead in the WCOOP Player of the Series race.

L0ve2playU continued his run by busting Schermanator next. Schermanator raised all in for 557K under the gun with [9s] [Tc] [Ad] [8h] and L0ve2playU shoved from the small blind with [9c] [Jc] [Qd] [6d].

The board of [4h] [Qs] [2h] [7s] [7d] gave L0ve2playU the victory with a pair of queens and sent the Swedish Schermantor out the door in fourth place with nearly $30,000.

Just three hands later, L0ve2playU was back at his player eliminating ways. The Dutchman raised to 900K from the small blind and sllvllasH pushed all in for 1.56 million from the big blind.

The hands:
L0ve2playU [8d] [6c] [9d] [5s]
sllvllasH [Ts] [Qd] [Qh] [2d]

Those wired queens couldn't hold as L0ve2playU made a straight with [As] [5c] [7s] [Ks] [8c] to knock the Canadian out in third, which was worth $39,672.

This set up a heads up battle between L0ve2playU and MiPwnYa. The former held a 7.95 million to 2.49 million chip lead, but this being a turbo PLO tournament anything was--and proved to be--possible.

MiPwnYa doubled up on the fourth hand when the man from France got 2.2 million all in preflop with [As] [Ad] [Js] [4d], which held against Love2playU's [Th] [4c] [8h] [6c] pn a board of [3c] [Jd] [9s] [Td] [Ah].

MiPwnYa was able to grab a narrow chip lead after that and, pulled out the victory on the 10th hand of heads-up play. After MiPwnYa raised to 1.2 million from the button, L0ve2playU made it 3.6 million and MiPwnYa put L0ve2playU all in.

The hands:
MiPwnYa [Ks] [3s] [Js] [9h]
L0ve2playU [Qd] [4c] [Ad] [6c]

L0ve2playU looked golden after a flop and turn of [6h] [Qh] [Ah] [4h], but the four outer came for MiPwnYa on the river with the [Td].

MiPwnYa claimed the top prize of $72,996.48 and the WCOOP champion's bracelet while L0ve2playU settled for a nice consolation prize of $53,035.20.

Final table payouts:

1st -- MiPwnYa ($72,996.48)
2nd -- L0ve2playU ($53,035.20)
3rd -- sllvllasH ($39,672)
4th -- Schermantor ($29,649.60)
5th -- zwacke ($20,880)
6th -- 2FLY2TILT ($16,704)
7th -- tbac1 ($12,528)
8th -- asik17 ($8,352)
9th -- joejoe1337 ($4,802.40)

Day 9 of the PokerStars SCOOP series started with a game full of capped betting, snowing, drawing slim and other agonizing moments -- triple-draw lowball. The attractive $11 buy-in drew a field of 2,440 entries, creating a prize pool of $24,400 divided among the final 360 players.

A pair of players from Team PokerStars picked up some cash: Team Poland Pro Marcin "Goral" Horecki (45th), and Team Asia Pro Bryan Huang (178th).

The field was whittled down to just seven players with the stakes at 60,000/120,000 when copach was jettisoned from the table in 7th place for $292.80. Down to just 109,836 in chips with 60,000 committed in the big blind, Masyainlove raised from the small blind as copach called. Masyainlove drew 2 cards on the first draw, standing pat on the second and third draws. Copach drew three cards on all three draws and was left with [8s][8d][3s][3c][4d] for two pair, crushed by [8c][7c][5c][4c][3d] for an 8-low to set up the final table, which looked like this:

Seat 1: Mefistah (2,655,908 in chips)
Seat 2: SWBuelse (2,235,424 in chips)
Seat 3: Moondog711 (2,384,409 in chips)
Seat 4: Masyainlove (3,628,923 in chips)
Seat 5: 2T!lt4Fold (702,799 in chips)
Seat 6: wesco23 (592,537 in chips)

Let's try to make a deal, part 1

Shortly after the final table began, all six players wanted to look at the numbers of a chip-count deal. The deal figures looked as follows ($300 set aside to go to the winner):

Mefistah - 1,845,908 $1,712.91
SWBuelse - 2,235,424 $1,982.35
Moondog711 - 2,834,409 $2,396.69
Masyainlove - 3,388,923 $2,780.26
2T!lt4Fold - 702,799 $922.17
wesco23 - 1,192,537 $1,260.94

The negotiating didn't take long when 2T!lt4Fold wanted $1,400, a suggestion scoffed at by the rest of the table as play resumed.

2T!lt4Fold has 0Ch!ps4FT

Several times when one player decides to pass on a deal, they become the first player to get knocked out. This would also be the case for 2T!lt4Fold, sent packing in 6th for $436.02. The stakes were now up to 80,000/160,000 as 2T!lt4Fold raised, Mefistah made it three bets as 2T!lt4Fold called. Each player took one card on the first draw as 2T!lt4Fold bet, Mefistah raised and 2T!lt4Fold called for their remaining 22,799 chips. 2T!lt4Fold stood pat on the second and third draws as Mefistah drew one card twice. 2T!lt4Fold showed [9h][7d][6d][3h][2s] for a 9-low, but Mefistah did one better with an 8-low, [8d][5h][4d][3d][2h] as five remained.

Let's try to make a deal, part 2

Once again the players halted play to talk deal and a second round of deal figures were given (once again $300 set aside for the eventual winner):

Mefistah - 948,707 $1,347.74
SWBuelse - 2,435,424 - $2,121.48
Moondog711 - 4,314,409 $3,099.37
Masyainlove -3,868,923 $2,867.53
wesco23 - 632,537 $1,183.20

After a heated discussion that lasted nearly 10 minutes, they couldn't come to an agreement and the tournament resumed.

Wesco's chips go 23-Skidoo

In a battle of the micro-stacks, wesco23 was eliminated in 5th place for $854.00 as Mefistah finished off the Canadian. The limits were now at 100,000/200,000 as wesco23 raised from the small blind to put their 167,611 chips at risk as Mefistah called from the big blind. Wesco23 drew two, two and one cards on their draws as Mefistah drew two cards on the first draw and stood pat on draws two and three. Wesco23 turned over [3h] [3c] [9h][4c][2s] for a pair of threes while Mefistah turned over [9d][8d][6h][4h][3s] for a 9-low with a quartet of players battling for the title.

Mefistah miffed in 4th

Shortly after the elimination of wesco23, Mefistah succumbed in 4th for $1,342.00. Here's how that hand played out:

Let's REALLY make a deal this time, part 3

Right after Mefistah was eliminated the call went up once again to make deal. This time, the players would quickly agree to a deal with these figures ($300 set aside to the winner):

SWBuelse 4,462,986 - $2,879.28
Masyainlove 4,158,923 - $2,824.42
moondog711 3,578,091 - $2,719.62

Masyainlove says no-mas

The trio of survivors locked up most of the money as the battle was on for a SCOOP title and Movado watch to the deserving winner. The chips were a flying as each player held the lead. Eventually it would be Masyainlove falling in 3rd for $2,824.42. The stakes jumped to 120,000/240,000 as Masyainlove and SWBuelse went into a raising war, capping the action at four bets before the draw. On the first draw, SWBuelse took one card as Masyainlove drew two. SWBuelse bet out for 120,000 as Masyainlove called. Both players drew one on the second draw as SWBuelse bet, Masyainlove raised and SWBuelse called. On the final draw, SWBuelse drew one while Masyainlove stood pat. SWBuelse bet out once again, Masyainlove re-raised for their last 88,923 chips as SWBuelse called. Masyainlove turned over [9c][7d][6h][3h][2s] for a 9-low, but SWBuelse drew one better with an 8-low: [8c][7h][6d][3c][2h] to leave two players standing.

Moondog711 gives SWBuelse the blues, wins title

SWBuelse held a slight chip lead over Moondog711 when heads-up play started and widened his lead over the first few hands. Moondog711 roared into the lead in a pot good for over 5,700,000 chips. Before the draw, the betting was capped. The same held true after the first, second and third draws. Both players stood pat after the second draw and when Moondog711 turned over a wheel: [7c] [5h][4h][3c][2h] to hold over 8 million in chips.

Moondog711 continued to grind down SWBuelse's stack until they held about 800,000 in chips with stakes at 140,000/280,000. SWBuelse raised from the small blind as Moondog711 called. Both players drew two cards which appeared to be to both players liking as they capped the betting at four bets with SWBuelse making the final raise for their remaining chips. Moondog711 drew a single card as SWBuelse stood pat. On the final draw, it was Moondog711 standing pat as SWBuelse broke their rough 9-low and drew one. Moondog711 turns over [9h][6c][4s][3c][2d] for a 9-6 low. SWBuelse shows [Jc][9s][8s][7s][4d] for a measly jack-low and that would conclude the action.

Just 12 events remain in the 3rd annual PokerStars SCOOP, see who's leading the Player of the Year races and other cool stats on the official SCOOP website.

5/17/2011 SCOOP Event #24-L ($11 Triple Draw Lowball) Final Table Results:

*1st: Moondog711 - $3,019.62
*2nd: SWBuelse - $2,879.28
*3rd: Masyainlove - $2,824.42
4th: Mefistah - $1,342.00
5th: wesco23 - $854.00
6th: 2T!lt4Fold - $436.02

The second week of PokerStars' SCOOP tournament series kicked off Sunday with more no-limit hold'em tournament action. Event 20-L drew a field of 22,065 entries generating a prize pool of $441,300 paid out to 3,150 positions. The one lucky and skilled enough to go though that field is expected to win over $44,000.

Members of Team PokerStars who made their way through the field and picked up some money for their efforts: Team Netherlands Pro Lex Veldhuis (151st), Team Netherlands Pro Joep van den "Pappe_ruk" Bijgaart (1,162nd), Team Canada Pro Pat Pezzin (1,878th), Team France Pro Arnaud "frenchkiss" Mattern (2,668th), and Team Netherlands Pro Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser (2,943rd).

A pair of Team PokerStars: Online players finished in the money: Richard "Tzen1" Veenman (194th) and Javier "El_Cañonero" Dominquez (1,624th).

After 44 levels of play Sunday, just 24 players remained when day 2 resumed Monday afternoon. Nearly 90 minutes into Day 2, the field was at the final table bubble with blinds at 500,000/1,000,000 and an ante of 125,000, making the average stack just 20 big blinds. From the small blind, asso 1 raised to 3,000,000 with [kc][7c]. In the big blind, orlyone looked down at [ad][3c] and shoved for their remaining 12,081,696 chips as asso 1 called. The [2h] [4h] [9s] flop and [6c] on the turn changed nothing. However, orlyone likely said "O RLY" when the [7d] appeared on the river to send orlyone to the rail in 10th place, cashing for $1,654.87 to set up the final table. Here's how the final nine were seated:

Seat 1: riverdr3amer (16,809,874 in chips)
Seat 2: dejwiz (26,913,737 in chips)
Seat 3: pipemaster55 (15,407,697 in chips)
Seat 4: canhaveitall (27,866,656 in chips)
Seat 5: Flowkid1 (47,006,339 in chips)
Seat 6: asso 1 (31,187,237 in chips)
Seat 7: MUSATHI1 (19,141,975 in chips)
Seat 8: The Grass (12,662,425 in chips)
Seat 9: assCARDSsin (23,654,060 in chips)

Pipemaster55 clogged

Despite the numerous short stacks at the final table, the first elimination would take over 30 minutes when pipemaster55 was the first to cash, earning $2,647.80. The blinds had jumped up to 700,000/1,400,000 with an ante of 175,000 as canhaveitall min-raised from UTG to 2,800,000, asso 1 called and pipemaster55 called from the big blind. The trio saw the flop of [Qs] [Jd] [7s] as pipemaster55 checked, canhaveitall bet 5,600,000, asso 1 folded as pipemaster55 moved in for 14,932,697 as canhaveitall called. Cards were on their backs as canhaveitall flopped top pair with [ac][qc], while pipemaster55 held the nut flush draw with [as][8s]. The turn and river were red as the [kd] turn and [8d] river sent pipemaster55 to the rail.

Dreams dashed for riverdream3r

Next to visit the virtual cashier in 8th place was riverdream3r, earning $3,971.70. Blinds were now 1,000,000/2,000,000 with the ante of 250,000 as riverdream3r open-shoved from UTG+1 for just under four big blinds with [ac][6d], only flowkid1 called with [kh][jh]. The flop gave flowkid1 the lead, [2h] [9c] [Kc] and the [td] turn and [2c] river leaves seven players in the field.

Flowkid1 runs dry

Holding the chip lead, flowkid1 certainly didn't expect to become the next player knocked out, but a series of bad beats left the German's seat open in 7th, collecting $6,200.26. Shortly after riverdream3r's elimination, flowkid1 found pocket aces against dejwiz's pocket kings in an over 53 million chip pot preflop. The runbad started for flowkid1 when another king appeared on the turn to give dejwiz a huge double-up. The blinds had now jumped to 1,250,000/2,500,000 with an ante of 312,500 when flowkid1 was involved in another KK v AA hand. This time he was up against MUSATHI1 in a pot with over 43,000,000 chips in the middle preflop, moving into the lead when a king hit the flop, but the dreaded ace on the river left his stack with less than two big blinds.

Flowkid1 doubled through on the next hand, but another river card finally ending the tumultuous closing minutes at the final table. Down to just over 12,000,000 chips with blinds at 1,250,000/2,500,000 with an ante of 312,500 as flowkid1 open-shoved with [ad][7h]. From the big blind, assCARDSsin found [ah][6h] and called. The board runs out [9c] [Jd] [Qh] [Jc] [6s] to send the former chip leader off in a huff.

The Grass no longer greener

The 6th place finisher was The Grass, earning 8,826 greenbacks. In the big blind with over one-third of their stack, asso 1 raised from the button with [ad][5c] as a pot-committed The Grass calls with two live cards, [4c][3s]. The flop gave each player a pair on the [3h] [Td] [Ac]. The Grass could not improve on the [7d][ks] turn and river as five players remained.

Asso 1 kicked

In just two hands, asso 1 saw their sort of robusto 50 million chip stack into busto to become the first to receive a five-figure payday of $13,239. First, assCARDSsin doubled thru asso 1 ([ac][kd] v [ah][7h]) in a pot good for over 57 million chips. Asso 1 shoved over dejwiz's raise with [qs][jc] as dejwiz found [ac][6c] worth the call. The [Ad] [Ks] [4s] flop moved dejwiz further in front while asso 1 held a gutshot straight draw. The [4d] turn and [jd] river didn't change the results as asso 1 left a quartet of players going for the SCOOP title.

canhaveitall can't have any chips

Another two-hand series would send canhaveitall down to no chips, finishing 4th for $17,652. Blinds were bumped to 1,750,000/3,500,000 with an ante of 375,000 as canhaveitall found [ac][8c] from the button and shoved for over 56 million chips but assCARDSsin woke up with [kd][kc] and made the quadruple-fist pump snap-call. No improvement for canhaveitall left them with just under 20 million in chips, moving in on the next hand with [ac][4h] from UTG as assCARDSsin finds [ad][js] in the small blind and calls. Five cards later, neither player improved on the [Th] [Qh] [7c] [Td] [3d] board leaves three players in the hunt.

MUSATHI1 leaves the fold in third

While assCARDSsin and dejwiz were approaching the 100 million chip mark, MUSATHI1 was down to just 22 million in chips, about 15 big blinds when they find [qs][9h] UTG and shoves. In the small blind, assCARDSsin re-raises from the small blind with [as][kd] to get dejwiz out of the action. The flop of [6s] [2h] Ks] put MUSATHI1 deep in a hole and needing a lot of help to stay alive. The [8d] on the turn closed out MUSATHI1's tournament and the [th] was a mere formality, earning 3rd place money of $22,065 as assCARDSsin held the chip lead at the start of heads-up action.

Dejwiz comes from behind to take down the crown

Before the first hand was dealt, assCARDSsin asked dejwiz if he wanted to make a deal, "play" was dejwin's answer. Just a few hands in, dejwiz gained control of the chip lead eventually holding a 3-1 chip lead. However, assCARDSsin was able to double through dejwiz in consecutive hands (K5 > A6 and K4 >66) to hold over 156 million chips to dejwiz's 64 million chips.

The final level would see blinds of 2,000,000/4,000,000 with an ante of 500,000 as the final pairing kept trading the chip lead. Dejwiz would retake the chip lead as assCARDSsin raised from the small blind with [as][ts] only to find dejwiz wake up with [ad][ac] in the big blind to hold a 3-2 chip lead. Less than ten hands later, dejwiz would take down the SCOOP title, $44,141.63 and SCOOP watch. Dejwiz min-raised to 8,000,000 with [ah][qc] as assCARDSsin shoved for over 58 million holding [th][tc] for an exciting race situation. Dejwiz takes the lead on the [Qs] [3h] [Jc] flop and improves with the [qh] on the turn. Down to just two outs with one card to come, assCARDSsin wanted a ten but instead saw the [3c] on the river to conclude SCOOP #20-L as assCARDSsin finishes with $32,793.00.

SCOOP Event #20-L ($22 NL) Final Table Results:

1st: dejwiz - $44,141.63
2nd: assCARDSsin - $32,793.00
3rd: MUSATHI1- $22,065.00
4th: canhaveitall - $17,652.00
5th: asso 1 - $13,239.00
6th: The Grass - $8,826.00
7th: Flowkid1 - $6,200.26
8th: riverdr3amer - $3,971.70
9th: pipemaster88 - $2,647.80

Be sure to catch all the action from the previous SCOOP final tables on the PokerStars blog here and catch the Inside SCOOP as Joe Stapleton and Nick Wealthall go over the latest news, interviews and give away lots of $T to lucky winners.

Event 13 of the PokerStars SCOOP tournament series is an "Ante Up" event. Put simply, the blinds remain at 5/5 throughout the tournament, but the antes go up each level. This event was at the medium $162 buy-in as a field of 1,243 entries created a $186,450 prize pool divided amongst the final 162 players with the winner earning a payday of over $31,000.

Team Canada PokerStars Pro Greg Debora led the five members of Team PokerStars who scooped up some cash, finishing in 24th place. He was followed by Team PokerStars: Online players Anders "Donald" Berg (45th), Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra (52nd), Team Asia Pro Bryan Huang (99th) and Team Czech Republic Pro Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hrubý (125th).

The fast-paced action of the Ante Up event meant the final table bubble would take place during Day 1 action, as each player put in 4,500 chips giving players plenty of incentive to take down hands. The action started with kmichael14 raising from UTG to 8,545 followed by Bananajones1 shoving for their remaining 232,033 chips with [ad][4d]. Babeklu woke up with [ah][ks] and made the four-bet shove for 483,638 to isolate as kmichael14 got out of the way. Bananajones1's tournament life was at stake as the flop revealed to all [3c] [9h] [Kh], now needing a lot of help to slip past babeklu. The [6s] left Bananajones1 drawing dead and the [qd] finished the results, earning $1,640.76 and setting up our final table. Here's the final table situation when play resumed:

Seat 1: OU THE NICK (1,454,742 in chips)
Seat 2: as1025 (1,071,420 in chips)
Seat 3: jokkee_apart (1,081,822 in chips)
Seat 4: JustSaba (360,431 in chips)
Seat 5: tigreayu23 (147,406 in chips)
Seat 6: LiroLa (649,294 in chips)
Seat 7: EDWARDHOPPER (557,617 in chips)
Seat 8: babeklu (746,926 in chips)
Seat 9: kmichael14 (145,342 in chips)

Day 1 final table action

One level remained in the schedule for day 1 as the tournament continued with players kicking in a 5,000-chip ante. The all-in confrontations kicked into gear as tigreayu23 doubled through jokkee_apart twice (QQ v A4 and KK v Q9). However the player whose stack was affected the most in the last level was as1025, tumbling from third in chips to the short stack at the end of level 33 in the last four hands. In the first hand, as1025 raised to 20,000 holding [qc][jd]. JustSaba found [ad][ks] worthy of a three-bet to 53,250 as as1025 four-bet shoved and JustSaba snap-called. The board ran out [2s] [6h] [3d] [8c] [8s] as ace-high held up. Most of as1025's remaining chips went into EDWARDHOPPER's stack, this time the dominating hand wasn't as fortunate:

Here's how the stacks looked when play resumed on Saturday, with the antes now at 6,000 per player and a table redraw switches up the seat assignments:

Seat 1: LiroLa (773779 in chips)
Seat 2: JustSaba (625596 in chips)
Seat 3: tigreayu23 (531614 in chips)
Seat 4: babeklu (735782 in chips)
Seat 5: EDWARDHOPPER (607944 in chips)
Seat 6: as1025 (157047 in chips)
Seat 7: OU THE NICK (1661237 in chips)
Seat 8: jokkee_apart (924274 in chips)
Seat 9: kmichael14 (197727 in chips)

as1025 falls fast, first

Just seven hands into Saturday's play, the rest of as1025's chips were gone. EDWARDHOPPER kicked off the action with a raise to 2,850 followed by as1025 making the three-bet shove for 115,022 chips with [ac][7c]. OU The NICK folded, but jokkee_apart called with [th][td] as the rest of the table folded. The board ran out [8d] [5s] [Kd] [Tc] [6d], sending as1025 to the rail, picking up 9th place winnings of $2,013.66.

Babeklu triples, busts kmichael14

Two hands later, jokkee_apart looked to eliminate two players as babeklu and kmichael14 were the players at risk. Here's how that hand played out:

The elimination of kmichael14 in 8th place was good for $3,635.77.

jokkee_apart straightened out

Eight handed, jokkee_apart was 2nd in chips, but after tripling up babeklu, the downward slide continued. Players were now adding 7,000 each hand to the pot as jokkee_apart opened with a raise to 20,810 from UTG. Only two players called, babeklu and OU THE NICK as the trio saw the [8h] [Ts] [7c] flop. OU THE NICK and jokkee_apart checked as babeklu bet 50,145 and only jokkee_apart called leaving two to see the [6h] on the turn. Jokkee_apart check-called the bet of 95,276 as the river brought the [9c]. A river shove by jokkee_apart for 303,689 was quickly called by babeklu and when the cards were revealed, it was easy to see why. Jokkee_apart made a straight on the river, turning over [6c][5c] for the bottom end of the straight. That was easily topped by babeklu, turning over the [qs][js] for a higher straight, no jokkee. The Norwegian left with $5,500.27 as six players remained.

The eye of the tigreayu23 closed

Argentina's hopes of a 4th SCOOP title were dashed when tigreayu23's tournament ended in 6th place, collecting $7,364.77. The antes were bumped up to 9,000 as EDWARDHOPPER limped, OU THE NICK re-raised to 26,545, LiroLa flatted and tigreayu23 four-bet shipped for 221,193. EDWARDHOPPER decided to pass, OU THE NICK five-bet shoved for 1,240,772 as LiroLa passed. Cards were on their backs as OU THE NICK revealed [ad][kd] as tigreayu23 held the lead with [8h][8s]. The first three cards that would decide the tournament future of tigreayu23 were [Jd] [9s] [Qs], giving OU THE NICK the gutshot straight draw to go with their two overcards. The prettiest card in the deck [as] gave OU THE NICK the lead and held on when the [3d] hit the river.

EDWARDHOPPER bounced

The stack of EDWARDHOPPER experienced the most fluctuation among the five players remaining, doubling up a short stack or doubled through one of the bigger stacks. The antes were now 10,000 a player as JustSaba limped, babeklu re-raised to 22,755 and when EDWARDHOPPER found [js][jh] on the button and moved in for 526,742, poised to double once again. However, LiroLa was next to act and found [qc][qd] worthy of a four-bet shove for over 2,000,000 chips as JustSaba and babeklu moved out of the way. The board runs out [5h] [8c] [Ad] [6d] [Td] giving LiroLa the chip lead as EDWARDHOPPER cashes in for $9,229.27 but still had chips in the High event, eventually finishing 2nd for almost $40,000 more.

Babe, I'm gonna leave klu

LiroLa continued to add to the chip lead until running into a cooler by JustSaba to double up the Dutch player when LiroLa's pocket jacks ran into pocket kings in a pot worth over 3.6 million chips to take a commanding chip lead.

LiroLa would get some of the chips back after eliminated babeklu in 4th place, good for $12,678.60. The antes were now at 15,000 a person as LiroLa raised to 25,500 with [9h][9s]. Babeklu looked down at [6c][6h] and shoved for 560,892 as LiroLa called. The situation had not changed after the board came down [Qc] [7s] [Ts] [Qd] [Kd] as three players remained.

THE NICK gets nicked in 3rd

One level later heads-up play would take place after the elimination of OU THE NICK in 3rd place, picking up winnings of $17,694.10. Antes were now at 17,500 as LiroLa opened the action with a raise to 22,025. OU THE NICK found [qh}[tc] in the big blind and shipped it for 751,944 total, a development the Brazilian appreciated as they held [jd][jh] and called. Another queen was not in the works this hand as the board runs out [8s] [5h] [8h] [5s] [As] as JustSaba started heads-up play with a 3.8m to 2.3m chip lead.

All JustSaba does is win

Heads-up play consisted of JustSaba grinding down the stack of LiroLa, eventually holding a 5-1 chip lead. The antes were now at 25,000 when JustSaba checked, LiroLa re-raised to 38,800, followed by a three-bet by JustSaba to 98,000, then a four-bet shove by LiroLa for 980,736 total as JustSaba called. JustSaba held the lead, revealing [ks][kc] while LiroLa was dominated with [9d][9c], hoping for one of the next five cards to be one of the remaining nines. The [8d] [Qd] [2s] changed nothing, but the [jh] on the turn gave LiroLa four additional outs. Unfortunately, the board paired for LiroLa as the [qh] on the river gave JustSaba the checkmark, a SCOOP victory for $31,696.84 and a Movado watch. LiroLa picks up a nice payday for $23,306.25 for coming in second.

SCOOP Event 13-M: $162 NL Holdem, Ante-Up Final Table Results:

1st: JustSaba - $31,696.84
2nd:LiroLa - $23,306.25
3rd: OU THE NICK - $17,694.10
4th: babeklu - $12,678.60
5th: EDWARDHOPPER - $9,229.27
6th: tigreayu23 - $7,364.77
7th: jokkee_apart - $5,500.27
8th: kmichael14 - $3,636.77
9th: as1025 - $2,013.66

Event 13 of the PokerStars SCOOP tournament series is an "Ante Up" event. Put simply, the blinds remain at 5/5 throughout the tournament, but the antes go up each level. This event was at the medium $162 buy-in as a field of 1,243 entries created a $186,450 prize pool divided amongst the final 162 players with the winner earning a payday of over $31,000.

Team Canada PokerStars Pro Greg Debora led the five members of Team PokerStars who scooped up some cash, finishing in 24th place. He was followed by Team PokerStars: Online players Anders "Donald" Berg (45th), Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra (52nd), Team Asia Pro Bryan Huang (99th) and Team Czech Republic Pro Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hrubý (125th).

The fast-paced action of the Ante Up event meant the final table bubble would take place during Day 1 action, as each player put in 4,500 chips giving players plenty of incentive to take down hands. The action started with kmichael14 raising from UTG to 8,545 followed by Bananajones1 shoving for their remaining 232,033 chips with [ad][4d]. Babeklu woke up with [ah][ks] and made the four-bet shove for 483,638 to isolate as kmichael14 got out of the way. Bananajones1's tournament life was at stake as the flop revealed to all [3c] [9h] [Kh], now needing a lot of help to slip past babeklu. The [6s] left Bananajones1 drawing dead and the [qd] finished the results, earning $1,640.76 and setting up our final table. Here's the final table situation when play resumed:

Seat 1: OU THE NICK (1,454,742 in chips)
Seat 2: as1025 (1,071,420 in chips)
Seat 3: jokkee_apart (1,081,822 in chips)
Seat 4: JustSaba (360,431 in chips)
Seat 5: tigreayu23 (147,406 in chips)
Seat 6: LiroLa (649,294 in chips)
Seat 7: EDWARDHOPPER (557,617 in chips)
Seat 8: babeklu (746,926 in chips)
Seat 9: kmichael14 (145,342 in chips)

Day 1 final table action

One level remained in the schedule for day 1 as the tournament continued with players kicking in a 5,000-chip ante. The all-in confrontations kicked into gear as tigreayu23 doubled through jokkee_apart twice (QQ v A4 and KK v Q9). However the player whose stack was affected the most in the last level was as1025, tumbling from third in chips to the short stack at the end of level 33 in the last four hands. In the first hand, as1025 raised to 20,000 holding [qc][jd]. JustSaba found [ad][ks] worthy of a three-bet to 53,250 as as1025 four-bet shoved and JustSaba snap-called. The board ran out [2s] [6h] [3d] [8c] [8s] as ace-high held up. Most of as1025's remaining chips went into EDWARDHOPPER's stack, this time the dominating hand wasn't as fortunate:

Here's how the stacks looked when play resumed on Saturday, with the antes now at 6,000 per player and a table redraw switches up the seat assignments:

Seat 1: LiroLa (773779 in chips)
Seat 2: JustSaba (625596 in chips)
Seat 3: tigreayu23 (531614 in chips)
Seat 4: babeklu (735782 in chips)
Seat 5: EDWARDHOPPER (607944 in chips)
Seat 6: as1025 (157047 in chips)
Seat 7: OU THE NICK (1661237 in chips)
Seat 8: jokkee_apart (924274 in chips)
Seat 9: kmichael14 (197727 in chips)

as1025 falls fast, first

Just seven hands into Saturday's play, the rest of as1025's chips were gone. EDWARDHOPPER kicked off the action with a raise to 2,850 followed by as1025 making the three-bet shove for 115,022 chips with [ac][7c]. OU The NICK folded, but jokkee_apart called with [th][td] as the rest of the table folded. The board ran out [8d] [5s] [Kd] [Tc] [6d], sending as1025 to the rail, picking up 9th place winnings of $2,013.66.

Babeklu triples, busts kmichael14

Two hands later, jokkee_apart looked to eliminate two players as babeklu and kmichael14 were the players at risk. Here's how that hand played out:

The elimination of kmichael14 in 8th place was good for $3,635.77.

jokkee_apart straightened out

Eight handed, jokkee_apart was 2nd in chips, but after tripling up babeklu, the downward slide continued. Players were now adding 7,000 each hand to the pot as jokkee_apart opened with a raise to 20,810 from UTG. Only two players called, babeklu and OU THE NICK as the trio saw the [8h] [Ts] [7c] flop. OU THE NICK and jokkee_apart checked as babeklu bet 50,145 and only jokkee_apart called leaving two to see the [6h] on the turn. Jokkee_apart check-called the bet of 95,276 as the river brought the [9c]. A river shove by jokkee_apart for 303,689 was quickly called by babeklu and when the cards were revealed, it was easy to see why. Jokkee_apart made a straight on the river, turning over [6c][5c] for the bottom end of the straight. That was easily topped by babeklu, turning over the [qs][js] for a higher straight, no jokkee. The Norwegian left with $5,500.27 as six players remained.

The eye of the tigreayu23 closed

Argentina's hopes of a 4th SCOOP title were dashed when tigreayu23's tournament ended in 6th place, collecting $7,364.77. The antes were bumped up to 9,000 as EDWARDHOPPER limped, OU THE NICK re-raised to 26,545, LiroLa flatted and tigreayu23 four-bet shipped for 221,193. EDWARDHOPPER decided to pass, OU THE NICK five-bet shoved for 1,240,772 as LiroLa passed. Cards were on their backs as OU THE NICK revealed [ad][kd] as tigreayu23 held the lead with [8h][8s]. The first three cards that would decide the tournament future of tigreayu23 were [Jd] [9s] [Qs], giving OU THE NICK the gutshot straight draw to go with their two overcards. The prettiest card in the deck [as] gave OU THE NICK the lead and held on when the [3d] hit the river.

EDWARDHOPPER bounced

The stack of EDWARDHOPPER experienced the most fluctuation among the five players remaining, doubling up a short stack or doubled through one of the bigger stacks. The antes were now 10,000 a player as JustSaba limped, babeklu re-raised to 22,755 and when EDWARDHOPPER found [js][jh] on the button and moved in for 526,742, poised to double once again. However, LiroLa was next to act and found [qc][qd] worthy of a four-bet shove for over 2,000,000 chips as JustSaba and babeklu moved out of the way. The board runs out [5h] [8c] [Ad] [6d] [Td] giving LiroLa the chip lead as EDWARDHOPPER cashes in for $9,229.27 but still had chips in the High event, eventually finishing 2nd for almost $40,000 more.

Babe, I'm gonna leave klu

LiroLa continued to add to the chip lead until running into a cooler by JustSaba to double up the Dutch player when LiroLa's pocket jacks ran into pocket kings in a pot worth over 3.6 million chips to take a commanding chip lead.

LiroLa would get some of the chips back after eliminated babeklu in 4th place, good for $12,678.60. The antes were now at 15,000 a person as LiroLa raised to 25,500 with [9h][9s]. Babeklu looked down at [6c][6h] and shoved for 560,892 as LiroLa called. The situation had not changed after the board came down [Qc] [7s] [Ts] [Qd] [Kd] as three players remained.

THE NICK gets nicked in 3rd

One level later heads-up play would take place after the elimination of OU THE NICK in 3rd place, picking up winnings of $17,694.10. Antes were now at 17,500 as LiroLa opened the action with a raise to 22,025. OU THE NICK found [qh}[tc] in the big blind and shipped it for 751,944 total, a development the Brazilian appreciated as they held [jd][jh] and called. Another queen was not in the works this hand as the board runs out [8s] [5h] [8h] [5s] [As] as JustSaba started heads-up play with a 3.8m to 2.3m chip lead.

All JustSaba does is win

Heads-up play consisted of JustSaba grinding down the stack of LiroLa, eventually holding a 5-1 chip lead. The antes were now at 25,000 when JustSaba checked, LiroLa re-raised to 38,800, followed by a three-bet by JustSaba to 98,000, then a four-bet shove by LiroLa for 980,736 total as JustSaba called. JustSaba held the lead, revealing [ks][kc] while LiroLa was dominated with [9d][9c], hoping for one of the next five cards to be one of the remaining nines. The [8d] [Qd] [2s] changed nothing, but the [jh] on the turn gave LiroLa four additional outs. Unfortunately, the board paired for LiroLa as the [qh] on the river gave JustSaba the checkmark, a SCOOP victory for $31,696.84 and a Movado watch. LiroLa picks up a nice payday for $23,306.25 for coming in second.

SCOOP Event 13-M: $162 NL Holdem, Ante-Up Final Table Results:

1st: JustSaba - $31,696.84
2nd:LiroLa - $23,306.25
3rd: OU THE NICK - $17,694.10
4th: babeklu - $12,678.60
5th: EDWARDHOPPER - $9,229.27
6th: tigreayu23 - $7,364.77
7th: jokkee_apart - $5,500.27
8th: kmichael14 - $3,636.77
9th: as1025 - $2,013.66

Playing short handed brings out the aggressive style in players as they see more hands and have less opponents to have to worry about in every hand. In this tournament that aggression turned into bad bluffs and bad beats.

A $265,935 prize pool was generated when 17,240 players that added 24,934 re-buys, and 11,013 add-ons entered this event with $32,350.62 going to first place. Of the 3,000 that made the money during Day 1 play only 5 were Team PokerStars Pros or Team Online members. The top finisher out of that group was Team Online member twin-caracas in 230th place ($117.01). He was followed by Lex Veldhuis in 235th ($117.01), Bryan Huang (551st - $69.14), Kristian "CharismA3" Martin (1387th - $34.57), and George Danzer (2286th - $23.93).

By the time the 44 15-minute levels were completed to bring Day 1 to a conclusion only 18 players remained. Here is a look at the top 6 at the completion of Day 1.

1st: Vingtcent (27,911,280 in chips)
2nd: MusonToch (23,046,331 in chips)
3rd: DnCarlos (18,677,645 in chips)
4th: rd4aces (18,505,188 in chips)
5th: juanpert (13,797,990 in chips)
6th: Boartskiepke (11,803,247 in chips)

Day 2:

Day 2 started off fast with the first six players getting eliminated in the first 20 minutes of play. The players needed 54 minutes to eliminate the next 7 players to get down to the shorter than planned final table thanks to a double knock out on the final table bubble.

With the double knock out MusonToch lead the final 5 into the final table with the lead. Here is a look at the chip counts by seat as the final table began:

Seat 1: Boartskiepke (30,686,746 in chips)
Seat 2: MusonToch (51,795,141 in chips)
Seat 3: holy h3ll (29,583,811 in chips)
Seat 4: Vingtcent (50,019,342 in chips)
Seat 5: cybermitzu (19,501,960 in chips)

The first all in of the final table came in just nine hands when holy h3ll 3-bet shoved all in with [Th][Td] to put cybermitzu all in. Cybermitzu made the call for his tournament life with [Ac][Kh]. The race was all but over when the [Ah][7h][4s] flop came leaving holy h3ll looking for one of the remaining tens. The [9c] came on the turn followed by the [Kd] giving cybermitzu the a much needed double up leaving holy h3ll with only 13,606,851 in chips.

It would take 18 more hands before holy h3ll would get called on an all in shove looking to catch one of his cards like cybermitzu did a few hands before.

MusonToch soars above 100 Million:

After eliminating holy h3ll in 5th place MusonToch continued to build his chip lead while inching closer and closer to 100 million in chips. He became the first to 100 million when his [Kd][Kh] flopped a full house on a [Ks][9h][9c] flop. He managed to extract 24 million from Vingtcent on his way to holding more chips than his other three opponents combined.

MusonToch did not slow down there eliminating Boartskiepke in 4th place in a battle of kickers.

Vingtcent battles back:

Vingtcent was the short stack when play got down to three-handed with each player having at least double his stack. It only took Vingtcent seven hands to get the double he needed when his [2c][2d] survived against the [Ad][Jc] of MusonToch.

Vingtcent did not stop there eliminating cybermitzu 22 hands later in third place when his pocket pair held up against cybermitzu's smaller pocket pair.

A bluff of a finish:

After starting Day 2 in first and second MusonToch and Vingtcent found themselves battling it out for the $32,350.62 with these starting stacks:

Seat 2: MusonToch (113,678,414 in chips)
Seat 4: Vingtcent (67,908,586 in chips)

Vingtcent managed to get as close as 4,969,828 before he tried a triple-barrel bluff when he missed his flush and double gutter straight draws to bring this tournament to a conclusion 32 hands into the heads-up match.

2011 SCOOP Event 3-Low $5.50+R No-Limit Hold'em 6-max results:

1st: MusonToch ($32,350.62)
2nd: Vingtcent ($23,934.15)
3rd: cybermitzu ($15,956.10)
4th: Boartskiepke ($7,978.05)
5th: holy h3ll ($5,318.70)
6th: juanpert ($2,659.35)

Be sure to catch all the other results at the SCOOP homepage as well as listening to the daily web show Inside SCOOP.