Just call him KidComeback.

Last week's SuperStar Showdown was nothing less than a disaster for Daniel Negreanu. A terrible run in all-in pots ended with all $150,000 of his challenge bankroll in Viktor "Isildur1" Blom's pockets after only 1,439 hands. What was supposed to be a two-part, 5,000-hand challenge looked to be over after only a few hours. But "KidPoker" wasn't finished with the 20 year-old Swedish wunderkind and was willing to put another $150k on the line for a rematch.

The rules were the same. Four tables of $50/$100 heads-up no-limit hold'em for 2,500 hands. And for a while there, the match unfolded in a shockingly similar fashion to last week's meeting. Blom played a dominating first half, claiming $120,000 of Negreanu's challenge bankroll within 1,300 hands. However, Negreanu turned it around in stunning fashion, mounting a comeback to finish $26,500 to the good and end Blom's five-game winning streak.

Blom leapt out to a fast start, winning close to $28,000 in the first 350 hands. Much of that sum came from two all-in pots-- in the first, Blom's pocket kings held against Negreanu's [As][Qc] and a few minutes later, Negreanu called Blom's three-bet shove on a [Tc][8c][6c] flop with [Kc][Ts] only to be shown pocket queens. Although Negreanu managed to win a bit back when Blom turned two pair against his set of sevens (which rivered quads for good measure), he was about to get involved in a hand that left most of the rail wondering if PokerStars really did have a "doom switch***."

Negreanu opened for his standard raise to $300, Blom three-bet to $1,000 and Negreanu called. Blom led out for $1,200 on the [5h][4h][2h] flop, Negreanu raised to $3,100, Blom shoved and Negreanu called, turning up [Jh][8h] for the flopped flush. Blom showed pocket jacks. The board paired with the [5d] on the turn and in a gut-wrenching three-outer, tripped on the river with the [5s], the $27,700 pot going to Blom with fives full of jacks.

One hour into the match, Blom was not only winning the big pots, he was taking more than his fair share of the mid-sized pots as well, especially those that did not end in a showdown. Blom's natural aggression coupled with his signature move, the river overbet, was quite effective.

As Blom's winnings crept past the $40,000 mark, Negreanu picked up [Ac][Kh] and called Blom's preflop five-bet shove. A 3 to 1 favorite over Blom's [As][Qs], Negreanu's tilt-meter started pushing into the red zone as a queen hit the flop and his nemesis dragged the $20,100 pot.

"This is unreal," Negreanu wrote in the chat window.

Negreanu did his best to quell the bleeding, not only by throwing the river overbet right back at Blom, but with some good old-fashioned soul-reading. In a $12,000 pot, Negreanu called Blom's river bet holding an unimproved [Ac][Kc] after correctly deducing that Blom was betting a busted draw. A few minutes later, Negreanu called Blom's opening raise, then check-called his $500 lead bet on a [Ks][3h][2c] flop. Negreanu check-called another $1,400 when the [Jd] hit the turn, and checked a third time when the [As] fell on the river. Blom shoved, setting Negreanu in for his remaining $8,700 and this time KidPoker couldn't call quickly enough, having rivered Broadway with [Qs][Td]. Blom could only show [4d][6s]. Although Negreanu was still down overall, things were starting to look up for the four-time bracelet winner. But as we all know, in no-limit hold'em, everything can turn around on a dime.

Fifteen minutes and two preflop coolers later, Negreanu was down over $80,000. After five-bet shoving with pocket tens, he ran into Blom's pocket queens in a $22,500 pot, then made the same move with pocket jacks only to run into aces in a $41,900 pot. Negreanu was more than a little tilted.

"You run insane against me," he wrote.

"Yep its really insane," Blom replied.

Negreanu scarcely had time to recover before another hand sent him reeling. All the money went in on a [Ad][Jc][6d] flop, Blom making the final raise and Negreanu calling all-in. Although Negreanu flopped top two pair with [Ac][Js], Blom's [Kd][3d] turned a flush when the [Qd] hit. The river blanked with the [3s] and another Negreanu buy-in sailed into Blom's stack, the damage now totaling $89,350 after 975 hands.

A pretty reckless river call from Blom with bottom pair against a king-high flush yielded Negreanu a $39,500 pot and put a small dent in Blom's lead, but it only took Blom a few minutes to regain that lost ground... and then some. Negreanu dusted off another buy-in when his pocket kings ran into Blom's pocket aces in a preflop all-in, then got the last of his remaining chips on Table 4 in the middle with [As][Qc] against Blom's pocket threes. The board ran out so comically it... well, just see for yourself:

Down $119,600 in 1,279 hands, things were looking grim for KidPoker. His remaining $30,000 was spread across three tables, his $10k stacks dwarfed by Blom's virtual towers. Could Negreanu really go broke again? And in even fewer hands than last week's match?

The only thing Negreanu could do at this point was hope to double up while he still had enough chips left to do some damage. He did it on Table 2, pulling in a $17,600 pot when he made a better two pair than Blom, then did it again seconds later on Table 5 when his [Ac][8h] caught an ace on the flop against Blom's pocket nines. On Table 1, Blom tried to wrest control preflop, five-bet shoving for $27,550 over Negreanu's $2,400 four-bet. Holding [Jc][Ts], he clearly didn't want a call, but Negreanu happily pushed in $12,800 more with his pocket queens, which held up to win the $30,400 pot. Finally, just past the 1,500-hand mark, the money went in on a [Th][7s][6s] flop, Negreanu with [8d][9h] for the ten-high straight and Blom drawing to the same with [5s][9s]. No disasters on the turn or river and Blom suddenly found his lead cut in half.

After a short break, Negreanu returned to the grind and insta-doubled his stack on Table 4. After calling Negreanu's preflop four-bet with [7h][9h], Blom shoved for $55,700 into the $4,400 pot when he hit middle pair on the [Tc][9c][4d] flop. Negreanu called off the $9,550 he had behind with [Kd][Kc] and the overpair held, shrinking Blom's lead to $55,000. Only a few hands later on the same table, Negreanu made another preflop four-bet and Blom came along with [Qd][Jh]. Blom hit top pair on the [Js][6c][5c] flop but just couldn't let it go, even when he encountered some serious resistance. Blom checked, Negreanu bet $3,100, Blom raised to $7,650, Negreanu shoved, and Blom called off his remaining $17,700. Negreanu revealed [Ah][As] and picked up the $56,300 monsterpotten. While that hand played out on Table 4, Negreanu was also busy doubling his stack on Table 5 when he picked off Blom's river bluff:

Less than an hour after being down 80% of his buy-in, Negreanu trailed Blom by only $7,800. But with 842 hands to go, this roller-coaster ride was far from over.

Blom regained a bit of traction when he took down back-to-back $20k pots on Table 5. In the first one, Negreanu tried to use Blom's own signature move against him, shoving for $23,550 on the river with the board reading [2c][5s][2h][3h][Js]. Although Negreanu had the best hand through the turn with [5h][9h], Blom called off the $5,800 he had behind having rivered top pair with [Qh][Jh]. On the next deal, Blom checked to the preflop raiser on the [Ac][Kh][9c] board. Negreanu bet $500, Blom raised to $1,600 and Negreanu called. The turn came the [2h] and Blom made it $2,650 to go. Negreanu looked him up and they went to the river which fell the [Kd]. Blom checked, Negreanu bet $5,800, and Blom came back over the top, moving all-in for $16,350. Negreanu let it go and Blom took down the $20,700 pot.

With Blom back in the lead by $20,000 and 600 hands remaining, the largest pot of the match unfolded. On a [Kc][Kd][3s] flop, Negreanu check-raised Blom's $500 bet to $1,800 and earned a call. The turn came the [8s] and Negreanu decided to fire again, betting $3,100. Blom called and the [Qd] hit the river. Negreanu bet $7,100 and Blom moved all-in for $34,700. With $17,450 behind, Negreanu went into the tank, using almost his entire time bank before deciding to look him up with [Ks][Js]. Negreanu's trips were no good, though, as Blom turned a boat with [Kh][8c]. In a situation where most players would just snap-call, you've got to hand it to Negreanu for actually taking the time to really think over that river bet.

Although Blom pulled out to a $46,650 lead after that pot, Negreanu went on another run over the next 20 minutes and closed the gap to $8,400. He even found a bit of "Isildur"-style run-good when he boated on the turn in this hand after Blom flopped a straight:

With 350 hands remaining, Negreanu pulled out to his first lead of the match. On a [As][7c][5s][6h] board, Blom moved all-in for $6,400 holding [7d][8d] for second pair and a straight draw and Negreanu called with [Ah][8h] for top pair. The [8c] on the river improved KidPoker to aces up, good for the $20k pot and a $9,150 overall lead. This was truly anybody's match now and like a basketball playoff game, it would all come down to the last few possessions.

The lead moved back and forth with nearly every hand until a massive cooler tipped the scales. This time, Blom was on the receiving end, getting his money in with a set of fours on a [Ts][9c][4d] flop only to run into Negreanu's set of tens. The $36,300 pot put Negreanu out front to the tune of $15,350, but Blom quickly caught back up when he flopped the nut flush and got full value on it when Negreanu rivered a straight. Back and forth, back and forth it went until the action was briefly paused on all four tables with only 38 hands to go. Negreanu took the time-out to make a little confession in the chat box.

KidPoker: I was stuck like 120k at one point I think
Isildur1: yeah crazy =)
KidPoker: I broke lots of stuff in my room btw lol
KidPoker: smashed everything

Those final hands saw only one all-in confrontation, Blom three-bet shoving on a [Qd][4s][3h] flop with [Ad][2h] and Negreanu making the call with [As][Qh]. There was no miracle wheel on the turn or river, which safely fell the [4d] and the [6d] to give Negreanu the $20,000 pot.

As it turned out, KidPoker and Isildur1 played a couple of bonus hands, bringing the evening's total to 2,502 when the tables finally closed. And much to his surprise, the final tally was Negreanu +$26,500.

Isildur1: gg, nice comeback!
KidPoker: I won? wow sick! gg man thanks
KidPoker: I broke so much stuff in this room the first half
KidPoker: my assistant has lots of cleaning to do lol jkjk

Negreanu scurried off to grab a celebratory cocktail to unwind, but not before offering his opponent quite the compliment.

"Isildur is incredible. I hope to do a training lesson with him one day. He's the best."

The SuperStar Showdown will return in one week with the first installment of another 5,000-hand, two-part match. Blom's next opponent? None other than nosebleed-stakes cash game fixture Scott 'urnotindangr' Palmer. Join us next Sunday, April 3 for what should be a thrilling, heads-up master class.

***= The doomswitch does not exist. Really. It's not in Negreanu's bathroom, you paranoid sickos.

In the movies, the underdog wins, the guy gets the girl, and dreams come true despite overwhelming odds. Hollywood loves nothing more than a happy ending and it was only fitting that on Oscar Sunday, an online qualifier held his own against one of the world's best. Cast in the role of David versus Viktor Blom's Goliath, Hungary's Attila "DodgyFish72" Gulcsik won (via an $11 satellite) the opportunity to take on the infamous "Isildur1" in a special edition of the SuperStar Showdown. And by the time the credits rolled on this epic, only one big blind separated the two.

You read that right. One big blind. A ten-spot. €7.29. Dinner for two at Taco Bell. Considering Blom was up more than $10,000 at one point, Gulcsik's final result was nothing short of miraculous.

While the format of the SuperStar Showdown remained the same-- 2,500 hands of heads-up no-limit hold'em played across four tables-- the blinds were set at $5/$10 rather than the usual $50/$100. Gulcsik was staked $15,000 for the match; he'd keep whatever remained of his challenge bankroll at the end of the session plus any profits. There was also a special $10,000 bonus at stake for either player if they managed to win their opponent's entire $15k.

Gulcsik got off to a strong start, doubling up twice within the first twenty minutes. On Table 1, the money went in on a [Ad][4h][2d] flop, both players holding top pair with Gulcsik's [Ac][Qs] outkicking Blom's [Ah][Tc]. Then, on Table 3, Gulcsik check-raised the river on a [Qs][Th][6s][5c][5h] board with queens up, Blom paying him off with tens and fives. As these two felt each other out, it quickly became apparent that Blom was playing this one fast and loose, fearlessly building large pots preflop with holdings like small suited gappers. Here's a prime example, as Blom's aggressive preflop action slowed Gulcsik down despite decent board texture for his pocket tens:

Although Gulcsik held a $1,323 lead at the end of the first half-hour, Blom quickly began to assume control over the match and pulled even when he scored a double-up on Table 4. Holding pocket threes, Blom opened for his standard 3x raise to $30 and Gulcsik three-bet to $110 with [8d][9d]. Blom called, hitting bottom set on the [Kd][9s][3d] flop. Gulcsik led out for $125 with middle pair and a flush draw and Blom called. The turn was the [Th] and Gulcsik fired another $250. Blom looked him up. Gulcsik moved in for $515 when the [8c] on the river made him two pair and Blom called, taking down the $2,000 pot.

Near the 500-hand mark, Blom caught the first wave of a tsunami of run-good that propelled him to a substantial early-match lead. Following a $20 opening raise from Gulcsik, Blom three-bet to $80 holding [Ah][6d] and Gulcsik made the call with [Jd][9d]. Gulcsik hit top pair on the [Jh][5h][2s] flop, but played it a little coy, smooth-calling Blom's $100 lead bet. Blom got what Tony G would call an "ace from space" on the turn, the [Ac] falling to give him the advantage. Blom bet $220 and Gulcsik called. The [6s] on the river made Blom aces up and he got full value on his hand, setting Gulcsik all-in for $745 and earning a call. Five minutes later, Gulcsik caught the the bad end of a cooler. In a $2,800 pot, Gulcsik flopped top pair with [Qc][Js], but Blom had him outkicked with [Ks][Qs]. Then, Gulcsik got his money in good, three-bet shoving a [Th][7h][4s] flop holding [As][Ts]. Blom called with [Tc][5c] only to receive another blessed turn card, the [5s], to make him two pair. The river blanked with the [9h] and after 634 hands, Blom's lead grew to $5,076. With 25% of the hands complete, Blom had already laid claim to more than a third of Gulcsik's challenge bankroll.

In another suckout of epic proportions, Blom hit a runner-runner straight to win a $2,300 pot after getting his money in with a dominated hand:

Blom grew his lead to $6,300 over the next 250 hands and padded it even further with this pot. While Blom was deep-stacked on every table, Gulcsik could only say the same about the $3,300 he held to start this hand on Table 1. Holding [Qh][Th], Gulcsik opened for $20 and Blom three-bet to $80 with pocket kings. Gulcsik called and they saw a [Ks][Jd][3c] flop. Blom led out for $100 with top set and Gulcsik called with his open-ended straight draw. The turn brought the [2d] and Blom fired again, making it $220 to go. Gulcsik went for the big ammo and shoved for $3,121 total, Blom calling all-in for $1,095. Gulcsik did not find any of his outs on the river and had his lone deep stack halved. With close to 1,000 hands in the books, Blom was up $8,871.

Although Gulcsik caught a whiff of run-good when his nut flush draw came in against Blom's set in a $2,200 pot, he quickly lost it back on Table 4 when his [As][Kd] did not improve against Blom's pocket sixes in a preflop all-in. Following that hand, Gulcsik's stack auto-reloaded to only $573, indicating that his entire challenge bankroll was active. Fortunately, Gulcsik was able to double that short stack relatively quickly when his [As][Qc] held up against Blom's [Kd][Td]. Blom did not let up in the least, however, and in this hand, picked a good spot for a river shove. He might have had the nuts, it might have been a bluff, but whatever it was, it got Gulcsik to give up his hand:

Two hours into the match, things went from bad to worse for Gulcsik. Holding [Qh][8h], Gulcsik opened for $20, Blom three-bet to $80 with [Ac][Kc], Gulcsik came back over the top for $230 and Blom called. The flop came down [Tc][3d][2d] and Blom check-called Gulcsik's $240 continuation bet. The turn was the [2c], giving Blom the nut flush draw. He checked it, and rather than firing a second bullet, Gulcsik shut down and checked behind. The [Qc] on the river made things interesting, however; Blom made the nut flush while Gulcsik hit top pair. Blom went for his signature river overbet, moving all-in for $3,115 and Gulcsik called off the $1,385 he had behind. After raking in that pot, Blom was up by $10,768...and they weren't even halfway through.

With only $4,232 left in his challenge bankroll, Gulcsik was forced to split one of his stacks to keep the action going on all four tables and the rail began started setting lines on how many more hands it would take for Blom to clean him out. Perhaps that lit the fire Gulcsik needed to get himself out of this hole because in the next 15 minutes he managed to recoup 40% of his losses. It started when Blom opened for a min-raise to $20 and Gulcsik made the call. Gulcsik checked the [Qc][9c][7s] flop over to Blom, who bet $40. Gulcsik raised to $140 and Blom called. The turn came the [6h] and Gulcsik led out for $260. Blom quickly called and they went to the river which fell the [8s]. Gulcsik bet $650, Blom shoved, and Gulcsik called off the $670 he had behind, turning up [Jd][Ts] for a queen-high straight. Blom could only show a ten-high straight with [Ks][Th] and Gulcsik raked in the $3,480 pot.

Over on Table 5, Gulcsik four-bet his pocket jacks before the flop and Blom looked him up with [4d][5d]. The flop came down [8s][5h][3d] and Blom tried to blast Gulcsik out of the pot, check-raising his $220 bet to $670. Gulcsik responded with a three-bet shove to $1,800 and Blom tossed in his last $140 to see what he was up against. The jacks held through the [3c] on the turn and the [2s] on the river to cut Blom's overall lead to $6,076 after 1,367 hands.

The more Blom's profit shrunk, the more he seemed willing to gamble. After all, these aren't giant stakes for the "King of Swing." Witness this hand, the largest in the match thus far:

Only five hands later an even larger pot developed on the same table when Gulcsik picked up [Ac][As] and five-bet preflop. Blom called with [Kc][9s] and hit trips when the flop came [Kh][Ks][3s]. Gulcsik made a cautious play, check-calling Blom's $560 bet. However, Gulcsik got his own ace from space on the turn, the [Ah] falling to give him a full house. Gulcsik checked, Blom moved all-in for $1,435, and Gulcsik snap-called, the river blanking out with the [4s] to give him the $5,550 pot. Blom's overall lead was shaved to only $2,351.

Over the next stretch of hands Gulcsik was imbued with a bit more luck than he'd previously enjoyed, at least when it came to all-in confrontations. Gulcsik got his money in on the turn with two pair and was called by Blom with a straight only to boat up on the river. A few minutes later, Gulcsik five-bet shoved preflop with [Ah][Jd] and Blom called with [As][Kd], only to have a jack miraculously appear on the river. Before Gulcsik could really get on a roll, Blom decided to change gears. Translation? Gamboooool.

Blom ran well in the ensuing flurry of preflop all-ins. He called a six-bet shove with [8c][9c] against Gulcsik's [Ah][Qs] and rivered a nine to win a $4,720 pot. He called a four-bet shove holding [Ah][7d] against Gulcsik's pocket eights (the eights held for $2,250), and with the almighty [3s][7s], he stacked off against Gulcsik's [As][Jd], rivering a three on the [Kc][Kh][Qc][2c][3d] to felt his opponent. It was so ugly Blom apologized in the chat box.

Isildur1: ouch sry

Stacks were split. Tables were changed. The rail went beserk. Forum threads erupted. Three-seven suited, really? With 500 hands left to play, Blom was up by nearly $5,000 and Gulcsik's hopes of turning a profit were fading fast.

That's when all hell broke loose. Over the next 15 minutes, there were no fewer than 12 all-in pots. Nine were preflop all-ins and Gulcsik turned over the best hand each time. [Ad][Kh] against [Kc][5c]. Pocket nines against [5s][7s]. [Ad][Qc] against [As][7d]. Pocket eights against [Ks][6s]. Blom was unabashedly gambling and got as many chips as he could in the middle as fast as he could. Gulcsik won all but one of those nine preflop all-ins and when things finally settled down, Blom's lead was cut to $2,466.

The game tempo slowed down dramatically during the final 200 hands. Since Gulcsik would be able to keep whatever remained of his challenge bankroll at the end of the match, it was in his best interest to tighten up a bit and preserve what he had left. Blom, however, was still in a gambling mood and when he three-bet shoved for $1,065 over a $20 opening raise, Gulcsik made the call with [Ah][Qs]. Blom's pocket fours held up though the turn on a [Td][2c][5c][Jh] board, but the [Kc] spiked on the river to make Gulcsik's Broadway straight. Only moments later on the same table, Blom got another 100 big blinds in the middle. Gulcsik four-bet shoved and Blom called with [Ad][Td] only to run into pocket jacks. The fishhooks held and Gulcsik took it down.

In an ending that couldn't have been more perfectly scripted, Blom open-shoved on the final hand and Gulcsik folded. Little did either of them know that the $10 big blind that Blom stole would represent his entire profit for the 2,500-hand match. The fifth edition of the SuperStar Showdown ended in a draw and Gulcsik pocketed the $14,990 that remained in his challenge bankroll. Before departing the tables, Blom had some kind words for his opponent.

Isildur1: GG
DodgyFish72: gg
Isildur1: u played really good
DodgyFish72: thanks u 2
DodgyFish72: u r really a class guy

Attila "DodgyFish72" Gulcsik is a recreational poker player who works for a pharmaceutical company. He described Blom as a "very talented player" who adapts well to his opponents' styles and is capable of switching gears quickly. He was realistic about his chances in this match, stating "my main goal is to try and play well without making huge mistakes. It is obvious that I am a huge underdog as Viktor has significantly more experience being one of the best in the field of heads-up cashgames."

This time, even though David didn't defeat Goliath, it sure feels like he won.

If you look up the word "fast" in the thesaurus, you will find over a dozen synonyms, many of which perfectly describe the 2x Chance Turbo event in this year's SCOOP.

Accelerated. Breakneck. Brisk. Expeditious. Flying. Quick. Rapid. Swift. Velocious.

All of those words are synonymous with Event #15-H $1,575 NL 2x Chance Turbo. In this tournament, players had the option of a single re-buy during the first ninety minutes of the 2x chance turbo, provided that they were down to zero in chips.

The "high" version of the 2x turbo attracted 455 runners, with only 233 of whom opted for a re-buy, which boosted the prize pool to $1,032,000. The top 63 places paid out with $196,080 awarded to the winner.

Team PokerStars Pros dabbling in the 2x turbo included... Greg Raymer, ElkY, Noah Boeken, Chris Moneymaker, Humberto Brenes, Leo Fernandez, Vanessa Rousso, AABenjaminAA, and jorj95.

The field blazed into the money in an astounding 2 hours and 20 minutes. Notables who cashed included jorj95 (61st place), Xaston (54th), Shaniac (48th), mement_Mori (44th), AABenjaminAA (40th), TwinMSU (31st), Chris Moneymaker (30th), dpeters17 (23rd), StuMan123 (22nd), Sheets (21st), and EeeTee2008 (15th).

Money800 = 30th place

Chris Moneymaker had gotten off to a good start, and the former WSOP Main Event champ hovered in the Top 10 in chips for most of the tournament until he met his demise when his [Ac][Qc] was pitted against [As][Kh]. Moneymaker was crippled, only to bust out on the next hand.

Bubblicious a.k.a. Find Another Way to Pay Your Plastic Surgeon

TheLipoFund walked away with the dubious honor of being today's Bubble Boy. TheLipoFund did not win any money with a disappointing 64th place finish.

With five tables to go, the basic strategy in the 2x turbo seemed fairly simple... shove with any Ace, or any pair, and depending on the situation... sometimes shoving with any two.

With ten players to go, Hotpockets77 was all in with [Jc][Tc] and couldn't run down
mrvogt's [Qs][Js] to stave off elimination. Hotpockets77 finished in an untimely 10th place and bubbled off the final table. With nine players to go, mrvogt held the chip lead wit almost 580K.

The Final Table

SCOOP Event #15-H $1,575 NL 2x Chance Turbo - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: szusza84 (192,908)
Seat 2: Al K. Holick (459,111)
Seat 3: Phantom0082 (245,768)
Seat 4: takechip (301,812)
Seat 5: Belabacsi (460,658)
Seat 6: smokrokflock (487,630)
Seat 7: cpfactor (260,943)
Seat 8: mrvogt (579,099)
Seat 9: The Rounderr (452,071)

It took 3 hours and 13 minutes hours to get down to a final table, such is the nature of turbo tournaments.

Takechip Takeout

And it didn't take too long before we had our first elimination when takechip ran into Peter "Belabacsi" Tarply (the first ever Hungarian bracelet winner, which he won at the 2009 WSOP). Most recently, Belabacsi finished in second place in Event #9-M Mixed Hold'em. Belabacsi was on a mission to win his first ever SCOOP event and takechip became just one of his many victims.

The two players were all-in preflop with takechip's [Qc][Jd] trailing Belabacsi's [Ah][9c]. The board ran out [Kd][Th][8c][7d][6s] and Belabacsi dragged the pot with a straight. Takechip won $17,131.20 for 9th place and Belabacsi was just getting warmed up.

Phantom0082 Phades Out

Short-stacked Phantom0082 was the next casualty after losing a flip to The Rounderr. Phantom0082's [Qh][Jc] did not improve agaist pocket sevens. Phantom0082 took home $23,220 for 8th place.

Szusza84 Swept Away

Szusza84 open shoved for 243,533, cpfactor re-shoved, and everyone else folded.

cpfactor: [Ac][Qc]
szusza84: [Qs][9c]

The board ran out [Ts][7d][3d][6h][Th], and cpfactor won the pot with ace-high to pad his chip lead to over 763K. Szusza84 hit the road in 7th place with a $44,540 score.

The Rounderr = Nevermore

Guess what? Another pre-flop all-in flip. Mrvogt open-shoved to 491K and The Rounderr called all-in for 68,506.

mrvogt: [Ah][Kh]
The Rounderr: [7c][7d]

The flop was [Qd][Ts][3d] and The Rounderr dodged a huge bullet, however, he wouldn't be so lucky on the turn when the [Ks] fell. The river was the [5s] and The Rounderr bailed out in 6th place. He won $43,860.

With five players remaining, the action was paused while the players embarked on what would be a lengthy discussion about a deal. At that juncture, mrvogt held the chip lead with 864K, or approximately 25 BB. After tense negotiations, the final five agreed on a deal (with an extra $15,000 going to the winner) and play resumed.

Al K. Holick Loses His Crutch

Smokrokflock shoved for over 500K. Al K. Holick called all-in with [Ad][Kc]. He couldn't win a race against smokrokflock's [5d][5c] and was crippled. That hand pushed smokrokflock over 1 million in chips, while Al K. Holick slipped to a mere 60,000.

Al K. Holick Heads to the Bar

Belabacsi open-shoved for his last 206K. cpfactor had him covered and called. Al K. Holick called all in from his big blind for his last 15K.

Belabacsi: [Kh][Ks]
cpfactor: shows [7d][7s]
Al K. Holick: [4h][2d]

The board ran out [Ts][Tc][3c][8d] [2s] and Belabacsi's kings held up. He won the main pot and the side pot. Al K. Holick was eliminated in 5th place. He won $111,306, which should cover his bar tab for a few weeks.

Mrvogt Falls in 4th

Mrvogt was the shortest stack at the table with four to go. He made a stand with A-7, but Belabacsi's [Ac][Kc] thwarted any chance of a potential double up. Mrvogt finished in 4th place and won $123,371.

The Scent of Blood Entices Belabacsi

After busting mrvogt, Belabacsi had seized the chiplead with almost 1.4 million. He couldn't hold onto the lead for too long before he ran his [Ad][8d] into cpfactor's [Kc][Kd]. Belabacsi slipped to under 200K, but he clawed his way back into contention. He doubled up on the very next hand to stay alive. And then, he caught a break...

With Belabacsi on the ropes, the two big stacks clashed. When the dust settled, smokrokflock was doing the walk of shame and heading to the rail. Both players were all-in preflop. Cpfactor had smokrokflock covered, and was also ahead with pocket queens against [Ah][5d]. Cpfactor faded the ace and his queens held, while smokrokflock finished in third place. He won $105,780.

The Final Two: Belabacsi vs. cpfactor

It didn't look promising for the Hungarian. He found himself extremely outchipped, but that did not deter him one bit.

Heads Up Chip Counts:
Seat 5: Belabacsi (380,204)
Seat 7: cpfactor (3,059,796)

Belabacsi found little river luck to double up with [Kd][2d] against cpfactor's [8d][8s]. Now with over 760,408, Belabacsi secured himself some breathing room, but he was still nowhere close to being out of jeopardy.

[Qs][6s] Is the Nuts

Belabacsi seized momentum with a timely double up.

cpfactor: shows [Ad][3s]
Belabacsi: shows [Qs][6s]

The flop was [As][Qh][9h] and although both players hit the flop, cpfactor was ahead with a pair of aces. The turn was the [Jd], but the [6d] spiked on the river, giving Belabacsi two pair. It was good enough to win the pot and he all of sudden went from 360K to 1.4 million.

"How's it going over there?" wondered cpfactor.

"I need that watch, lost SCOOP HU twice already," explained Belabacsi about his desire to win their heads-up battle.

The Swing

Cpfactor's lead shrunk to 2 million compared to Belabacsi's 1.36 million. The two did not waste time before they got it all in once again.

cpfactor: [Ad][5d]
Belabacsi: [8s][8h]

The flop was [Ks][Js][3s] and Belabacsi couldn't have been happier with flopping a spade-draw. The turn was the [Ts] and he flushed out cpfactor.

Here's what happened on the final hand...

Both players were all-in preflop. Cpfactor was slightly ahead with pocket fours, while Belabacsi was racing with [Th][9c]. Belabacsi must have known it was his time to finally win a SCOOP event, because he flopped trip tens, which held up. He won the hand and knocked out cpfactor in second place. Cpfactor collected $144,480 for his efforts.

The heads-up battle only lasted 26 hands. And when it was over, Belabacsi had pulled off a successful coup and come-from-behind victory to win his first SCOOP title an avenge his runner-up finish in Event #6.

SCOOP Event #15-H $1,575 NL 2x Chance Turbo Final Table Results:
1. Peter "Belabacsi" Traply - $128,216*
2. Danny "cpfactor" Smith - $116,534*
3. Smokrokflock - $104,169*
4. mrvogt - $123,371*
5. Al K. Holick - $111,306*
6. The Rounderr - $43,860
7. szusza84 - $44,540
8. Phantom0082 - $23,220
9. takechip - $17,131.20

* Denotes a five-way chop.

There's still plenty of time to get in on all the SCOOP action. Check out our SCOOP page for more information and a full schedule of events.

Log on to PokerStars at any hour of the day and you'll find at least a dozen pot-limit 5-Card Draw games running. What was once your grandfather's game is now more of a lark for gamblers and grinders looking for a change of pace. Feel like your eyes will fall out of your head if you see another hand of no-limit hold'em? Try pot-limit draw. Four cards not enough in your starting hand, Omaholics? Try five. The $1,050 buy-in installment of Event #6 drew a diverse field to the virtual felt, 97 players creating a $97,000 prize pool that blew past the $75,000 guarantee. 18 spots were paid. with first place set to earn $25,220.

Flying the mighty red spade for Team PokerStars Pro were Anders Berg, Johnny Lodden, George Danzer, George Lind III, and Johannes Steindl, who made the money with a 15th place finish. Sorel "zangbezan24" Mizzi came in 14th.

Players were on the final table bubble for better than a level and a half when StitzDogg made his last stand, three-betting all-in for 4,483. RehabJack four-bet to 10,800 to isolate and original raiser JannotLapin got out of the way. RehabJack drew two while StitzDogg discarded one. StitzDogg couldn't show more than ace high, no match for RehabJack's trip sevens, and we headed to the final table.

Among the six finalists were several players who are no stranger to big buy-in online final tables. Fishbone72 finished eighth in the $215 PL 5-Card Draw event at the 2009 WCOOP. TabberNackle earned a third place finish in Event #17 NLHE Shootout at 2009 WCOOP. Back in March 2009, highland won the Sunday 500 for over $94,000 and JannotLapin won the $109 buy-in NLHE Main Event at last year's SCOOP.

Here's how they stacked up as the final table got underway:

Seat 1: highland (118,125 in chips)
Seat 2: Wing-Tsun (27,220 in chips)
Seat 3: RehabJack (41,905 in chips)
Seat 4: TabberNackle (30,095 in chips)
Seat 5: JannotLapin (138,998 in chips)
Seat 6: Fishbone72 (128,657 in chips)

Only six hands passed before the first player was eliminated from the final table. With blinds at 700/1,400 and a 350 ante, RehabJack opened for 4,200. TabberNackle re-potted all-in for 14,641 and RehabJack made the call, each player discarding one.

"Wow" was all TabberNackle could say as he say RehabJack turn over his [8s][Td][Tc][8d][Th] for tens full of eights. TabberNackle made aces up with [As][Ac][Ks][5h][5c] but his hand was sadly no good, spelling his elimination in sixth place. TabberNackle collected $4,365 for his efforts.

Wing-Tsun suffered a similar cooler on his elimination hand. JannotLapin opened for 3,500, Fishbone72 flat-called, highland called and Wisng-Tsun re-potted to 19,250. The reraise shook everyone but Fishbone72, who made the call. Wing-Tsun drew two cards while Fishone72 drew one. Wing-Tsun's last 6,470 sailed into the middle after the draw and Fishbone72 called, showing aces full of deuces. Wing-Tsun's three nines were up in flames an he settled for a fifth place finish, earning $6,305.

At this point, RehabJack wanted to look at the chip count numbers, but his three opponents were non-responsive on the topic. Play ground on for another hour, RehabJack building his stack up to nearly 200,000 while JannotLapin suffered a slow decline, dropping from 100,000 in chips to around 38,000.

Again, it was a massive cooler that spelled another player's elimination. JannotLapin five-bet all-in before the draw and highland called. Highland drew three cards and JannotLapin drew two. Although JannotLapin showed down [Kd][Qh][Qd][7d][Qs] for trip queens, highland drew out on her, showing down [As][3s][Kc][Ac][Ah]. For fourth place, JannotLapin earned $8,245.

As three-handed play began, RehabJack once again asked his opponents if they would like to look at chip count chop numbers and this time, everyone agreed to have a gander. At that point, highland held the chip lead with 234,000, RehabJack had 186,000 and Fishbone72 was on the short stack with 64,000. Tournament host Dennis Phillips paused the action and worked up the numbers.

Although highland and RehabJack agreed to the numbers, Fishbone72 wanted a bigger payday and with neither of his opponents willing to concede the amount of cash he was looking for, negotiations fell apart and the tournament was restarted.

Fifteen minutes later, a huge game-changer of a hand unfolded, resulting in the largest pot of the tournament. The two big stacks went to war pre-draw, more than 400,000 chips landing in the middle. Let's just say a pat nut flush and trip tens were involved. Check it out below:

After that monsterpotten, RehabJack was up to 411,000, highland was down to 40,000 and Fishbone72 was the short stack with 34,000.Both players did their best to hang on in the face of RehabJack's monster chip lead, but their stacks steadily dwindled. Finally, Fishbone72 pulled the trigger, opening for 8,500 of his 10,119 remaining chips. Highland moved all-in behind him for 20,025 and RehabJack called. Fishbone72 decided to save his last 1,000 or so chips and decided to fold, presumably hoping highland would bust so he could have a shot a second-place money.

Highland drew two cards and RehabJack stood pat. Uh-oh. Highland's [Qs][3s][6c][Ks][As] shriveled up in the face of RehabJack's pat wheel and he departed in third place, earning $12,610.

The heads-up chip counts were, well, more than a little lopsided:

Seat 3: RehabJack (483,881 in chips)
Seat 6: Fishbone72 (1,119 in chips)

It was all over on the second hand. The last of Fishbone72's chips went in before the draw and RehabJack called. Fishbone72 drew three cards and ended up with [9c][Qs][3d][Qh][Ad] for a pair of queens, but RehabJack had two pair,jacks and nines, enough to eliminate Fishbone72 and seal up the SCOOP title. RehabJack took home $25,220 for the win while runner-up Fishbone72 earned a tidy $16,975.

SCOOP Event #6-High, $1,050 Pot-Limit 5-Card Draw Results

1. RehabJack ($25,220)
2. Fishbone72 ($16,975)
3. highland ($12,610)
4. JannotLapin ($8,245)
5. Wing-Tsun ($6,305)
6. TabberNackle ($4,365)

There are still more than 80 SCOOP events on the docket. Get in on the action and check out the SCOOP page for more information and a full schedule.