I just had the pleasure of watching the very first two people register for the 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker. We saw the announcement. We saw the early schedule. Now, the events are posted in the PokerStars tournament lobby and the website is up and running. The first satellites start in less than an hour. It's official, folks.
SCOOP is open for business.
And what a business it shall be. Beginning May 6, there will be120 SCOOP tournaments spread out over 40 events. Every one of those 40 events will have a low, medium, and high buy-in. When you total up all the guarantees, you have a tournament series that's guaranteeing $30 million.
The centerpiece of the festival is the May 20th main event: three tournaments that will guarantee $5 million by themselves.
Low: $109 Main Event: $1 million guaranteed
Medium: $1,050 Main Event: $1.5 million guaranteed
High: $10,300 Main Event: $2.5 million guaranteed with $500,000 guaranteed for first place
Now it's time for 2012. Stay tuned for details on the 2012 SCOOP Player of the Series race and everything else that will be going on during the two-week festival.
If you are a big user of PokerStars Steps tickets, SCOOP could make you very happy. Twenty-seven of the SCOOP events are priced perfectly for using Steps 1-6 tickets ($7.50, $27, $82, $215, $700 and $2,100). Qualifying has never been so easy. You can final all the satellites under Events > SCOOP > FPP Satellites / Cash Satellites.
For now, visit the 2012 SCOOP website for the full schedule of tournament guarantees, satellites, and all you need to know about the upcoming SCOOP party.
This just in: PokerStars has put the finishing touches on its 2012 SCOOP schedule, and it is a doozy. Just try to count all the events, buy-in levels and guaranteed money. I dare you. Try it!
Or, if you prefer, I can make it easier for you. In all, there are 120 SCOOP tournaments spread out over 40 events. Each of those events have three buy-in levels suited for all bankrolls. In total, PokerStars is guaranteeing $30,000,000. Thirty million bucks.
In all, we'll see two weeks of tournaments starting on May 6 and running up through the May 20th main event. If you've not yet taken a look at that main event, you might be interested to see these projected details:
Low: $109 Main Event: $1 million guaranteed
Medium: $1,050 Main Event: $1.5 million guaranteed
High: $10,300 Main Event: $2.5 million guaranteed with $500,000 guaranteed for first place
Note, those guarantees are preliminary, but should be set in stone within a week or so. Stay tuned on that.
The 2011 SCOOP festival was an amazing one . It hosted 114 events with 403,378 buy-ins from 107,697 players in 156 countries. In total, they won $43,165,800.
How big will this year be? We'll find out in one month. Satellites begin in just about one week. For now, here's the final schedule.
Back in the days when I worked on British national newspapers (not listening in on anyone's voicemails, I hasten to add), getting scoops was the measuring stick of success. Today is a little like old times: I've got my hands on a SCOOP scoop. And while that makes me happy, you should be pretty pleased as well. Why? This breaking news sets out the much-anticipated schedule for the 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker.
Thirty eight events across all disciplines, each played out with high, medium and low buy-in ranges to make 114 tournaments, allow PokerStars players to pocket huge cash prizes throughout a festival that will run Sunday May 6 through Sunday May 20.
How big are those prize payouts? I'm glad you asked, because it allows me to remind you of last year's SCOOP Main Event (High) champion Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro, who took home $505,000, and that was after a five-way deal at the final table. In all, more than $40 million was paid out in SCOOP 2011.
So without further delay, feast your eyes on the SCOOP 2012 schedule below. Satellites will be announced in due course:
PokerStars SCOOP 2012 Schedule
Note: Before the Tournaments Team sets things in stone, they'd like to hear from our players with feedback on the planned events. If you'd like to give feedback on what's planned, please drop the SCOOP team a line by writing to scoop@pokerstars.com
Sunday, May 6th
11:00 ET - Event 01-L: $27 (2) NL Hold'em (6-Max)
11:00 ET - Event 01-M: $215 (4) NL Hold'em (6-Max)
11:00 ET - Event 01-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold'em (6-Max)
14:30 ET - Event 02-L: $27 (2) NL Hold'em
14:30 ET - Event 02-M: $215 (4) NL Hold'em
14:30 ET - Event 02-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold'em
Monday, May 7th
11:00 ET - Event 03-L: $5.50 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Rebuys)
11:00 ET - Event 03-M: $55 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Rebuys)
11:00 ET - Event 03-H: $530 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Rebuys)
14:00 ET - Event 04-L: $7.50 (1) FL Badugi
14:00 ET - Event 04-M: $82 (3) FL Badugi
14:00 ET - Event 04-H: $700 (5) FL Badugi
17:00 ET - Event 05-L: $11 NL Hold'em (Rebuys, 2x-Turbo)
17:00 ET - Event 05-M: $109 NL Hold'em (Rebuys, 2x-Turbo)
17:00 ET - Event 05-H: $1,050 NL Hold'em (Rebuys, 2x-Turbo)
Tuesday, May 8th
11:00 ET - Event 06-L: $11 NL Draw
11:00 ET - Event 06-M: $109 NL Draw
11:00 ET - Event 06-H: $1,050 NL Draw
14:00 ET - Event 07-L: $7.50 (1) NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
14:00 ET - Event 07-M: $82 (3) NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
14:00 ET - Event 07-H: $700 (5) NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
Saturday, May 19th
11:00 ET - Event 34-L: $55 PL Omaha (6-Max)
11:00 ET - Event 34-M: $530 PL Omaha (6-Max)
11:00 ET - Event 34-H: $5,200 PL Omaha (6-Max)
14:00 ET - Event 35-L: $27 (2) HORSE
14:00 ET - Event 35-M: $215 (4) HORSE
14:00 ET - Event 35-H: $2,100 (6) HORSE
Sunday, May 20th
11:00 ET - Event 36-L: $27 (2) NL Hold'em (6-Max)
11:00 ET - Event 36-M: $215 (4) NL Hold'em (6-Max)
11:00 ET - Event 36-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold'em (6-Max)
12:30 ET - Event 37-L: $215 (4) NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
12:30 ET - Event 37-M: $2,100 (6) NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
12:30 ET - Event 37-H: $21,000 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up)
14:30 ET - Event 38-L: $82 (3) Main Event - L
14:30 ET - Event 38-M: $700 (5) Main Event - M
14:30 ET - Event 38-H: $7,500 Main Event - H
Guarantees will be announced when the series is posted to the PokerStars client.
Legend:
(1) accepts Step 1 ticket for entry
(2) accepts Step 2 ticket for entry
(3) accepts Step 3 ticket for entry
(4) accepts Step 4 ticket for entry
(5) accepts Step 5 ticket for entry
(6) accepts Step 6 ticket for entry
- 2x-Turbo: The rebuy period is 60 minutes, twice the normal length for a turbo tournament. The starting, rebuy, and add-on stacks are tailored to fit the format.
- SuperKnockout: Buy-in and knockout amounts are equivalent. For example, in Event 08-L, $13 will go to the prize pool, $13 to the knockout pool ($1 rake).
- Ante Up: In this tournament type, (invented at PokerStars), the blinds do not rise at any point in the structure. Antes are in place from the start and rise steadily.
- 2x Chance: Players may rebuy after having been busted. Each player may rebuy a maximum of one time.
- 1R1A: Players may take up to 1 rebuy and 1 add-on. Rebuys are available at any time during the rebuy period, regardless of the player's stack size.
- Big Antes: The antes, in place from the start of the tournament, are larger than normal for a NL Hold'em structure.
While that all sinks in, why not get yourself pumped up further by looking back at the PokerStars Blog's entire SCOOP 2011 coverage here.
Three years ago, the people at PokerStars devised a little experiment. With the already successful World Championship of Online Poker a firm fixture in the early autumn, PokerStars wanted to try something different in the spring. The idea went like this: create a tournament series like WCOOP, but give everybody a chance to play for championship titles. They called it theSpring Championship of Online Poker, better known as SCOOP, a tournament series with buy-ins for every bankroll.
Three years later, that experiment has priven successful beyond measure. Late last night, Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro proved just how successful when he won more than half a million bucks in the 2011 SCOOP $10,300 main event. As Kristin Bihr reported, 380 players entered the big event, including Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem who finished just off the final table bubble. In the end, the headline read like this: Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro seizes SCOOP Main Event title in Event #38-H ($10,300 NLHE)
Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro
When it was all said and done, here's the 2011 SCOOP by the numbers:
Events played: 114
Total number of buy-ins: 403,378
Number of unique players: 107,697
Total Prize Money: $43,165,800.00
Countries represented: 156
Among those 107,697 unique entrants were -DrawingDad- and cal42688, two players who managed to win not just one, but two SCOOP championship watches during 2011. The series-long performances were great, but not quite enough to snag the Player of the Series award. That laurel hangs nicely around the neck of Team PokerStars Online's Anders "Donald" Berg. After winning a SCOOP watch, Berg racked up enough points to earn himself the top prize, the Player of the Series trophy, a 2011 WCOOP main event ticket, a 2012 PCA prize package, and an EPT Grand Final prize package.
Here are all the wrap-ups from the final two SCOOP events of 2011.
If you'd like to look back on all the wrap-ups from this year, visit the 2011 SCOOP final tables page for links to every wrap-up.
Finally, as SCOOP draws to a close, so does the Inside SCOOP Web Show. Not only does the story of host Nick Wealthall get even odder, but they also have Team PokerStars Pros ElkY and Ivan Demidov.
So, that's all, folks. SCOOP has come and gone for another year. Congratulations once again to Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro for his big buy-in main event win, and to Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg for his Player of the Series title.
From the moment the 2011 SCOOP schedule was released, the fact that the Main Event would crown its champions on May 23 did not go unnoticed. Eight years ago tonight, a 28 year-old accountant defeated a slick Vegas veteran in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, turning a $39 investment on PokerStars into $2.5 million and igniting the worldwide poker boom. In one way or another what happened that night at Binion's propelled all of us to where we are now. Certainly we wouldn't be talking about online events with $10,000 buy-ins and seven-figure prize pools if not for the Moneymaker effect.
Eight years ago tonight, Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro was a 16 year-old student in Finland without the faintest idea that one day he'd be better-known by the alliterative moniker "Lars Luzak" and trading six-figure cash game pots on a regular basis. Since emerging on to the high-stakes scene in 2007, Kelopuro has won and lost millions online playing nosebleed-stakes no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha. However, despite banking over $200,000 in live earnings including two deep EPT runs, he's never been looked at as a serious force in tournaments. All that changed tonight, though, as Kelopuro joined Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth and Ryan "toetagU" Fair in the SCOOP $10K Main Event champions' club.
Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro, 2011 SCOOP $10K Main Event champion
380 players put up $10,300 apiece for a shot at the title, creating a $3.8 million prize pool that smashed through the $2.5 million guarantee. 45 players earned a share of it with first place set to receive $735,300. More than two dozen members of Team PokerStars bought in, including Liv Boeree, Ivan Demidov, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Maxim Lykov, Humberto Brenes, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, Lex Veldhuis, JP Kelly, Alexandre Gomes, Leo Fernandez, Noah Boeken, Johannes Strassmann, and Jonathan Duhamel. Three Team Pros made the money, Ville Wahlbeck squeaking past the bubble in 45th place, Nacho Barbero finishing up in 34th place, and Joe Hachem making it to Day 2 where he just missed the final table, exiting in 11th place.
The final table bubble popped when Lrslzk opened for 16,500 from the cutoff and nikov moved all-in for 170,633 from the big blind. Lrslzk snap-called with pocket kings, nikov in dire shape with [Kd][6d]. The board ran out [As][7d][4h][6s][5d], nikov departing in tenth place as the final table was set.
Two players who already won SCOOP events this month advanced to the final table; Hernan "HN Kakaroto" Novick shipped Event #10-H ($3,150 seven-card stud) and danksemann won Event #22-M ($320 NLHE 4-max). Here's how they stacked up as action commenced:
Seat 1: danskemann (482,370 in chips)
Seat 2: 810ofclubs (284,144 in chips)
Seat 3: HN Kakaroto (95,527 in chips)
Seat 4: Lrslzk (1,032,309 in chips)
Seat 5: GotURead (202,616 in chips)
Seat 6: StigR (550,966 in chips)
Seat 7: altiFC (192,964 in chips)
Seat 8: Tagult (589,209 in chips)
Seat 9: el_klonkador (369,895 in chips)
Double, toil, and trouble
GotURead scored a double-up on the first hand of the final table, his pocket jacks holding up against 810ofclubs' pocket nines. Left with less than 100,000, 810ofclubs open-shoved preflop and got a call from Lrslzk in the big blind. 810ofclubs needed serious help on the board, his [Js][9s] up against [Ad][2s], but the poker gods complied, bringing him a spade on the flop, another on the turn, and a third on the river. Back up to a healthier 206,000 at 4,000/8,000 blinds, 810ofclubs opened for 18,000 from the cutoff with pocket threes but was quickly put to a decision for nearly half his stack when HN Kararoto shoved for 79,527 on the button. 810ofclubs made the call only to watch HN Kakaroto turn over [Jh][Jd]. Things looked grim until the river, when the [3s] spiked, 810ofclubs two-outerting a set to send HN Kakaroto to the rail in 9th place. He earned $66,500 for his finish.
Next to succumb was el_klonkador, who three-bet shoved for 329,895 after Tagult opened for a min-raise to 24,000. Tagult insta-called with [Ac][Ad], el_klonkador in poor shape with [2c][2d]. Both players flopped sets on the [As][Ts][2h][Js][6d] but the end result was the same, el_klonkador hitting the rail in eighth place for a $91,200 score.
Cold four-bet can't freeze Finn
With 16 big blinds left, GotURead was probably waiting for a moment just like this, picking up [Qc][Qh] after 810ofclubs opened for 27,000 and Lrslzk reraised to 58,500. GotURead shoved for 195,057, drawing a fold from 810ofclubs. Lrslzk, however, decided to gamble with [9c][Tc]. GotURead maintained his lead on the [Jh][Js][5d] flop, he held it on the turn when the [7d] fell, but couldn't survive the river, the [8d] landing to make Lrslzk a jack-high straight. GotURead's Main Event came to an end with a seventh-place finish, an extra $129,200.00 lining his pockets.
EPT Vilamoura champ Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis out in sixth place
With that elimination, Lrslzk tied the surging Tagult for the chiplead. Next, Lrslzk went to work on 810ofclubs, snagging more than half his stack in this hand when he caught running straight cards on the turn and river (again):
810ofclubs slipped below 250,000 after that hand, Tagult claiming the rest of his chips when he called 810ofclubs' three-bet shove with pocket deuces. 810ofclubs turned over [Ac][3d], but did not improve on the [Th][9c][6h][5d][Qc] board. He earned $167,200.00 for sixth place.
Five still fighting
Five-handed play dragged on for the better part of two levels. Table short stack altiFC doubled through StigR when his [Kd][Qd] rivered top pair against pocket threes, moving up to half a million in chips. Left with less than ten big blinds, StigR moved his chips in preflop with pocket tens and got a call from Lrslzk with pocket eights, final table host Ivan Demidov calling the play live on the air during an interview on Inside SCOOP. The tens held, StigR doubling to 319,000.
AltiFC was the first to propose a deal, his four opponents quickly agreeing to have a look at numbers. When the action was paused to do the math, the chip counts looked like this:
Demidov brought back the chip count chop numbers and after one small adjustment (StigR gave up about $1,500 to altiFC), everyone agreed to the deal, leaving $50,000, the title, and the SCOOP champion's watch at stake.
danskemann down, altiFC foiled, StigR sacked
Shortly after action resumed, StigR and danskemann went to war on a [Td][8h][2h] flop, StigR check-raising danskemann's 41,900 bet to 121,055. Danskemann fired back with a three-bet to 219,999, StigR shoved, and danskemann called off his last 296,000. StigR needed a heart with [4h][6h], danskemann holding the lead with [Tc][7c] for top pair. StigR hit his flush on the turn, though, the [Qh] falling to leave danskemann drawing dead. StigR zipped into the chip lead while danskemann was left with 210,000.
Those chips went in a few hands later, danskemann three-bet shoving from the small blind holding [As][Kc] and Tagult making the call with [Ah][Qs]. Tagult hit top two pair on the [Ad][Qd][Ts] flop, leaving danskemann drawing only to a king or a jack. The turn and river, however, fell the [9d] and the [7h], danskemann departing in fifth place with $430,002,05.
Only two hands later, altiFC made his stand with [4d][4h], moving all-in for 472,681 after Lrslzk opened for 40,500. Lrslzk called with pocket tens and flopped a set, the board running out [Kd][Tc][7s][8c][2s] to send altiFC to the rail in fourth place. His share of the loot came out to $369,581.05.
Three-handed play hadn't gone on for more than a couple of minutes before a massive pot unfolded between StigR and Lrslzk. With the blinds at 12,500/25,000, Lrslzk opened for 51,000 on the button and StigR three-bet to 150,000. Lrslzk called and they saw a [Kd][6s][5d] flop. StigR led out for 150,000 and Lrslzk called. The turn brought the [5h] and StigR instantly shipped in his last 921,768. Lrslzk called, turning over [Kc][Js] for two pair while StigR showed [Jd][8d] for a flush draw. StigR missed the river, however, the [5s] falling to make Lrslzk fives full of kings. StigR exited stage left $390,000.00 richer as Lrslzk and Tagult went heads-up for $50,000 and the watch.
Finland vs. Germany
Heads-up chip counts:
Seat 4: Lrslzk (2,659,525 in chips)
Seat 8: Tagult (1,140,475 in chips)
Lrslzk started heads-up play with a 2.3 to 1 lead and quickly chipped up to 3.3 million after having a full house paid off on the river. Whittled all the way down to 382,000, Tagult staved off elimination when his [Kc][Qd] held up against Lrslzk's [Qs][Jd] in a preflop all-in, then picked up a 565,000 pot after flopping trip eights to take him back over a million. The chip counts were essentially back to where they were when heads-up started until Lrslzk took down this 1 million-chip pot with only a pair of fours and a busted flush draw:
Tagult was left on 578,000 after that hand and slipped to 413,000 before doubling up with [Ah][9s] against Lrslzk's [Ks][Th]. Tagult continued to chip up, reaching 1.3 million before Lrslzk swooped in and picked off a bluff. On a flop of [6h][5s][3d], Lrslzk check-called Tagult's 48,888 bet, then check-called another 135,225 when the [8h] hit the turn. The river was the [Jh] and Lrslzk checked a third time, Tagult firing a final 375,000 bullet. Lrslzk looked him up with [Ad][8s] for second pair, Tagult showing only [Qh][7d] for a stone bluff.
Lrslzk took his chip count back over 3 million on that hand, but Tagult managed to find one more double-up. With the board reading [8h][5d][3s][4c], Tagult bet 145,000, Lrslzk raised to 328,645, and Tagult shoved for 810,497. Lrslzk called, turning up [Ac][2h] for a wheel, but Tagult had him with [6h][7h] for an eight-high straight. The river fell the [Tc] and Tagult raked in the pot, moving up to 1.84 million in chips while Lrslzk was left with 1.96 million.
After more than 90 minutes of heads-up play, these two were virtually deadlocked. However, as we all know, in no-limit hold'em, everything can turn around on a dime. The final hand started innocently enough, Tagult min-raising to 80,000 on the button. Lrslzk three-bet to 194,500, Tagult four-bet to 385,555, Lrslzk shoved for 2.08 million and Tagult made the call, turning up [Kh][Kd] to Lrslzk's [As][Qc]. The sun was shining on Finland, however, the flop coming down [Ah][Js][2d] to pair Lrslzk's ace. The [Jh] came on the turn and now only a king would save Tagult. But it was not to be, the river falling the [Th] to seal Lrslzk's SCOOP Main Event victory. Although runner-up Tagult missed out on the title, he collected the most money at the final table, earning $540,125.82 as a result of the five-way deal while Lrslzk banked $504,691.09 for the win.
Congratulations to Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro on a fantastic run!
*=reflects a five-way deal made at the final table
Kelopuro's victory brought the 2011 SCOOP to a close after 16 days, 114 tournaments and more than $40 million in prize money dispersed. For all of us at the PokerStars Blog, it's been a pleasure sharing the SCOOP with you over the last couple of weeks. To catch a final final wrap-up of all the action, including the results of the TLB race, make sure to catch the final episode of "Inside SCOOP" tomorrow at 22:00 GMT.
Event #37 was the 2011 SCOOP's last-chance saloon. It was the last chance to rack up TLB points, make a big score, or even get unstuck before the Main Event. The lure of six-max action and a $500,000 prize pool drew 3,775 players into the fray, topping that guarantee by $255,000. 480 of them scored a cash finish with the champion set to earn $117,025.00. Team PokerStars made a strong showing in this event with six Team Pros--Alexis "J0hnny_Dr@m@" Zervos (40th), Ruben Visser (68th), Bryan Huang (215th), Viktor "Isildur1" Blom (221st), Richard Toth (452nd), and Arnaud Mattern (473rd) along with Team Online's Grzegorz "DaWarsaw" Mikielewicz (47th), finishing in the money.
Action kicked off on Sunday afternoon and finished as the sun set on Europe Monday evening. 19 players advanced to Day 2 after 33 levels of play. A bit over two hours after action recommenced on Monday, burns1986 three-bet shoved for his last 2 million with pocket deuces only to run headlong into filthyfish's pocket aces, the board running out [7c][5d][4c][8c][7s] to take us to the final table.
Filthyfish arrived at the final table with the chip lead while pisha4 was hanging on with less than six big blinds:
Seat 1: steel144 (4,523,327 in chips)
Seat 2: marquitos74 (9,003,366 in chips)
Seat 3: filthyfish (11,578,553 in chips)
Seat 4: pisha4 (705,056 in chips)
Seat 5: Praetoriani (8,677,502 in chips)
Seat 6: 7tHEcROw7 (3,262,196 in chips)
Luckily for pisha4, he quickly found a double-up, three-bet shoving for 855,056 behind filthyfish's 249,000 opening raise. Steel144 re-shoved for 4.95 million from the big blind to isolate and filthyfish let his hand go. Pisha4's [Qs][Qh] held up against steel144's [Js][Jh], giving the short stack a reprieve. With the blinds up to 60,000/120,000, pisha4 was now on 17.5 BB with 2.1 million.
With 21.5 big blinds remaining, 7tHEcROw7 open-shoved for his last 3 million from the button and steel144 re-shoved from the small blind after picking up [As][Kd]. 7tHEcROw7 's [Ks][Jd] was dominated and although he picked up a gutshot straight draw on the [Ad][Tc][3h] flop, the turn and river blanked out, falling the [Td] and the [8d] to send him to the rail. For his sixth-place finish, 7tHEcROw7 collected $13,212.50.
Marquitos74 moved into the chip lead after his hand, where he got three streets of value pff Praetoriani when he flopped two pair and turned a boat:
Although Praetoriani took a huge blow on that hand, dropping to 5.2 million, he quickly chipped back up to 9.8 million when he picked up [Kd][Kh]. After opening for a min-raise to 320,000, steel144 three-bet shoved for 4.2 million on the button and Praetoriani quickly called. The kings held against [As][Qd] and steel144 departed in fifth place, earning $24,220.40.
Still holding the chip lead, marquitos74 increased his margin even further after going to war with filthyfish on a [9d][9s][8s] flop. Marquitos74 check-raised filthyfish's 800,000 bet to 1.6 million, then made the call when filthyfish re-popped it to 2.4 million. Both players checked down the [Kc] on the turn and the [7s] on the river, marquitos74 turning up pocket jacks to take down the 5.9 million-chip pot. After the hand, marquitos74 was up to 20.8 million while filthyfish was left on 7.2 million.
Remarkably after all this action, pisha4 was still hanging on despite starting Day 2 in 19th place out of 19 remaining players. Down to 454,000, pisha4 open-shoved for his last 2.5 big blinds and both Praetoriani and marquitos74 called. They checked down the [9s][6d][4d][Jc][6h] board, pisha4 turning over [Jh][8h] for the win. Pisha4 tripled to 1.3 million on that hand, was whittled back down to 612,000, then tripled a second time against the same two players when he turned a set of sixes. His opponents started joking about how he seemed to have nine lives and pisha4 himself made a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that they make a deal.
Filthyfish claimed more than half of Praetoriani's stack in an 8 million pot where he flopped a Broadway straight. Down to 4.2 million with the blinds up to 100,000/200,000, Praetoriani opened for a min-raise on the button. Filthyfish shoved from the big blind and Praetoriani made the call, his [Ah][Qc] racing against pocket nines. Although Praetoriani hit top pair on the [Qs][5c][2d] flop, filthyfish spiked a two-outer on the river, making a set of nines to eliminate Praetoriani in fourth place.
No one was happier about that river card than pisha4, still on only 1.9 million chips and now guaranteed third-place money. He made his last stand, shoving from the small blind with [Ad][2h], but ran into marquitos74's [7c][7s]. Marquitos74 flopped a set of sevens, leaving pisha4 drawing dead by the turn on the [9c][7h][3h][8d][Jc] board. For an extremely patient day of play, pisha4 scored $62,665.00.
Less than 2.5 million separated marquitos74 and filthyfish as heads-up play commenced:
Seat 2: marquitos74 (20,060,710 in chips)
Seat 3: filthyfish (17,689,290 in chips)
Only a few hands into their match and the counts even more balanced, marquitos74 proposed a deal. Filthyfish quickly agreed to the proposal, which gave each player $96,170 and left $10,000 in play.
marquitos74: deal?
filthyfish: 50 50 deal?
marquitos74: yep and 10k for champ
filthyfish: yes
Even with the vast majority of the prize money squared away, filthyfish and marquitos74 still played heads-up for 30 minutes. After a match that started and remained remarkably even, filthyfish went on a rush and won six consecutive pots to pull ahead of marquitos74. Then, one 30 million-chip monster pot decided it all.
Filthyfish limped in on the button and marquitos74 raised to 900,000 from the big blind. filthyfish called and they saw a [Th][8s][2c] flop. Marquitos74 led out for 900,000, filthyfish raised to 2.1 million, marquitos74 three-bet to 4.2 million and filthyfish shoved for more than 21.4 million. Marquitos74 quickly called off the 10.2 million he had behind, turning up [Kd][Ks]. Filthyfish was in dire shape after getting a little fresh with [Jh][8c]. The [8d], however, fell on the turn, making filthyfish trip eights. Marquitos74 couldn't pull a king on the river and the 2011 SCOOP had its final preliminary event champion in filthyfish. For the victory, he collected $106,170 and a snazzy Movado watch, while runner-up marquitos74 earned $96,170.
Don't miss the final episode of "Inside SCOOP" airing live tomorrow night at 22:00 GMT. Catch Main Event highlights, find out who won the TLB and enter for your chance to win T$500!
Looking over the numbers for the 2011 SCOOP Main Event tourneys, the "low," "medium," and "high" versions together attracted nearly 20,000 entrants, all fighting for a cool $7,983,200. Those tourneys culminated today, the eighth anniversary of Chris Moneymaker's historic win in the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event, for which the total prize pool was $7,802,700 -- just a bit less.
The "medium" version of the Main Event, a $1,050 buy-in no-limit hold'em tourney, drew 2,505 players, making the prize pool for this one $2,505,000 (well above the $1.5 million guarantee). The top 324 finishers would be dividing that money, with the winner due a life-changing $400,800, barring any final table deals.
Those are some big numbers. The kind that make you want to say "boom!"
Day 1: 2,505 to 324
After four hours and 15 minutes, the field had shrunk to 1,000 players, with tpleta, SeeYouWrong, jordi r1, Pr0fiteer, and mace_piri at the top of the counts. Of the nearly 20 Team PokerStars Pros still alive, Noah "Exclusive" Boeken had the most chips among them, which was good for a spot just inside the top 100.
It would be at about the seven-and-a-half-hour mark that the cash bubble would burst. With 324 players left, fish2013 was in front with more than 373,000, Pr0fiteer next with over 263,000, with FelipeNunes, KevBoyStar, and akulij2001 just behind hovering around a quarter million.
While Ruthenberg fell short of the cash (finishing in 442nd), the other eight Team PokerStars players had made the money, though all would fall over the next three hours.
A short-stacked Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth went out in 303rd ($1,878.75) after running [Ac][3c] into fabstinho's [Ad][Jc]. Just before the eight-hour break, Kwangsoo "PiS.ToTo" Lee of Team Online would follow in 238th ($2,254.50) when his pocket tens failed to hold up against 20mb's [As][Jd]. And just after the break, Fredy "sirfreddy83" Torres, also of Team Online, got caught up in a three-way preflop all-in in which he held pocket sixes, mimatadoro had [Jd][Jh], and fish2013 [Ah][Ks]. An ace flopped, then by the river four diamonds were on board, giving mimatadoro a flush and sending sirfreddy83 out in 232nd ($2,379.75).
A third member of Team Online, SCOOP Player of the Series leader Anders "Donald" Berg, would hit the rail shortly thereafter after taking [7s][7c] up against nnhheeoo's [Kc][Qd]. Berg's sevens were good through the turn, but the [Ks] on the river sunk him in 213th ($2,505).
Team Online member Anders "Donald" Berg
With 200 players left, Pr0fiteer was leading with more than 391,000, with Tryboorn close with over 375,000 and KevBoyStar right at 355,000.
SCOOP star Noah "Exclusive" Boeken would be the next Team PokerStars Pro to go. With the blinds 2,000/4,000, Boeken open-raised for 73,167 from the button with [6d][6s] and was called by FellipeNunes who held [As][Js] in the big blind. The flop brought a jack and Boeken couldn't catch up, finishing in 144th ($3,256.50).
Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser of Team PokerStars Netherlands soon followed Boeken to the virtual cashier's cage. Visser was crippled after reraising all-in versus Toby_Maps with [9s][9h] only to have Toby_Maps call with [Ac][Ah]. Then, on the very next hand Visser had more misfortune. He open-pushed his 5-big blind stack with [Ah][Kd] and got called by flexxx111 who held [As][Qc]. But a queen flopped, and soon rubenrtv was out in 127th place ($3,381.75).
That left just Arnaud "frenchkiss" Mattern (France) and Lex Veldhuis (Netherlands) to represent Team PokerStars. Mattern would go out in 71st ($4,383.75) after losing a three-way all-in versus fish2013 and Halfrek. Mattern had open-pushed 115,400 (about 11.5 big blinds) with [Ks][9s] only to see fish2013 reraise and Halfrek call. fish2013 had [9c][9h] and Halfrek [As][Kd], and after the board ran out [4s][Kc][8d][6h][5d] Halfrek claimed the huge 835,000-plus pot as Mattern was eliminated.
Not too long after, Veldhuis would be knocked out as well. In his final hand, nemmad had minimum-raised to 24,000 from early position, then Pkr_b777 reraised to 55,055 from the button. Veldhuis, sitting in the big blind, shoved over the top for 159,524, causing nemmad to step aside. But Pkr_b777 quickly called, showing [As][Ad] to the Dutchman's [Th][Tc]. An ace flopped, and by the turn Veldhuis was drawing dead. He earned $5,260.50 for finishing 53rd.
Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis
The Night Concludes: 52 to 16
They'd been playing almost 11 hours when just 50 remained. At that point five players sported stacks of more than 1 million: Phil "philbort" Gruissem (1.72 million), fish2013 (1.19m), Halfrek (1.18m), OMGchips (1.09m), and KevBoyStar (1.07m).
By the 12-hour break, just 29 remained, with philbort still out in front, now with more than 2.62 million, followed by Halfrek (2.37m) and FiatEruditio (2.07m). As the evening came to a close, FiatEruditio soon grabbed the lead and began pushing way out ahead of the field, approaching the 5 million-chip mark by the time play concluded.
Just 16 players made it to the end of Day 1. Here's how the counts looked while the players took 11 or so hours off to regroup:
Just before the first hands of Day 2 were dealt, Pr0fiteer -- who'd lost nearly all of his stack on the last hand of Day 1 -- cheekily typed "giving me a chance?" to the table, eliciting some chatbox chuckles.
Unfortunately for Pr0fiteer, he was in the small blind to start, meaning a third of his stack (17,500) was already committed before the cards were dealt. merkurstar opened from the button with [Qc][Jd], Pr0fiteer called with [10c][2s], and five cards later Pr0fiteer was out in 16th ($9,519).
About 15 minutes later with the blinds still 17,500/35,000, Fischer80 open-raised all in from the small blind with [Kc][7d] and got called by totaloser who woke up with [As][Kh]. That hand cost Fischer80 nearly half his stack, knocking him from over 870,000 down to about 450,000. Then, just two hands later, Fischer80 would push with pocket sevens only to run into flexxx111's [Qd][Qc] and get bumped in 15th ($13,276.50).
A short while after that Maksimu1978 got it all in on the turn versus nemmad with the board showing [Qh][Jd][5d][3h]. Maksimus1978 had [Qs][Jh] for two pair, while nemmad had [Ad][10d]. The [2d] fell on the river, giving nemmad the flush and sending Maksimus78 out in 14th ($13,276.50).
Then, as the first hour of Day 2 concluded, there came four more eliminations in quick succession.
First, Pkr_b77 would lose a race with pocket treys versus merkurstar's [As][Jh] to go out in 13th ($13,276.50). Then, KevBoyStar went out in 12th when his [Ac][Ts] failed to catch up to flexxx111's [As][Js].
totaloser got all in with pocket eights against shalzy13's [As][9h], but a nine fell on the turn to send totaloser out in 11th. And in the last hand before the first break of the day, nnhheeoo ran [Ts][Td] into Goldenboys' [Jc][Js] to go out in 10th. Those latter three to bust each earned $17,034 for their efforts.
An orbit had passed when FiatEruditio, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000, opened for 137,375 from the hijack seat. All folded except flexxx111 who called from the big blind. The flop came [6d][As][9c]. flexxx111 checked, FiatEruditio continued for 147,800, and flexxx111 called. The turn was the [Jc]. flexxx111 checked again, and this time FiatEruditio bet 365,400. flexxx111 check-raised all in for 1,814,179 and FiatEruditio made the call.
flexxx111 showed [Ac][9d] for two pair on the flop, but FiatEruditio had [Ah][Jh] -- he'd turned a better two pair. The river was the [Ks], and flexxx111 was out in ninth.
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About 20 minutes later nemmad was all in and at risk versus FiatEruditio, but his [Ac][As] held up against FiatEruditio's [Kd][Jc]. On the very next hand, with the blinds up to 40,000/80,000, shakzy13 opened for 190,000 from UTG and got one caller in merkurstar from the big blind. The flop came [7d][8c][Qc], and merkurstar pushed all in with the 1,373,342 he had left. shalzy13 called, showing [Qh][Th] for top pair of queens. merkurstar had [Ts][9s] and an open-ender, but the turn was the [Kd] and the river the [5h], and merkurstar was out in eighth.
A few minutes later the table had folded around to Coilmaster85 in the small blind who raised to 199,955, then Halfrek pushed his stack of 3.04 million-plus all in from the BB. Coilmaster85 called with the 1,867,629 he had left, tabling [9d][9s] and hoping it would hold versus Halfrek's [Kh][Qc]. The flop came [Td][2h][Kd], giving Halfrek the better pair. The [Qd] turn gave Halfrek two pair while also giving Coilmaster85 hopes for a gutshot, but the river was the [As] and Coilmaster85 was out in seventh.
The very next hand saw the next elimination. After FiatEruditio opened for 176,375 under the gun, it folded back to Philipp "philbort" Gruissem who pushed all in for 1,265,297 from the small blind. nemmad folded the BB, and FiatEruditio snap-called, showing [Kd][Kh] to philbort's [Ad][9s]. The board came [Qs][Td][5c][Jc][5h], and Gruissem was gone in sixth.
As they neared the next five-minute break, talk arose among the final five of a possible deal, but that got interrupted by an all-in situation on the last hand before the break.
With the blinds at 50,000/100,000, shalzy13 opened for 210,000 from under the gun, then Halfrek, sitting to shalzy13's left, reraised to 423,475. It folded around, then shalzy13 pushed all in for 1,812,957 total and Halfrek called.
shalzy13 [As][Qc]
Halfrek [Td][Ts]
The five community cards came [5d][4h][4d][Jh][8c], and shalzy13 was out in fifth, having made a six-figure score for doing so.
During the break, nemmad, FiatEruditio, and Goldenboys all expressed a desire to talk about a deal, but Halfrek wasn't responding, and so they played on. At that point, FiatEruditio led with 10,592,904, Halfrek was next with 8,648,225, Goldenboys was third with 3,589,372, and nemmad last with 2,221,499.
Over the next half-hour, Halfrek pushed out ahead of FiatEruditio, then put significant distance between himself and the other three, building a stack of more than 15 million -- about 60% of the chips in play. Then came a huge hand in which Halfrek had turned two pair against Goldenboys top pair-top kicker and had the latter in dire straits after getting his whole stack in with one card to come. But the river saved Goldenboys. Take a look:
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A few hands later the blinds were 70,000/140,000 when Halfrek opened for 280,000 from the button, then nemmad shoved all in for 1,818,548 from the small blind. FiatEruditio folded, and Halfrek called, showing [As][6h] to nemmad's [2d][2s]. Halfrek didn't pair up, but the board came [Qh][5d][Qs][Kc][Kh], counterfeiting nemmad who went out in fourth.
That hand helped extend Halfrek's lead again, giving him 13,566,479 to Goldenboys' 8,651,588 and FiatEruditio's 2,831,933. FiatEruditio would soon enjoy a double-up (through Halfrek) to tighten things up again, after which Goldenboys again proposed deal talk. But Halfrek still wasn't responding.
The final trio fought their way to the three-hour break, during which time Goldenboys seized the advantage while Halfrek saw his stack start to slip. At that point Goldenboys had 11,107,188, FiatEruditio 9,352,916, and Halfrek 4,589,896.
Soon Halfrek was all in with [Kd][Qs] against Goldenboys' [Ks][Qd]. The flop came a scary (for Halfrek) [5s][As][Ts], but the turn and river brought no more spades and Halfrek survived.
A half-dozen hands later Halfrek would be all in again, open-pushing for 3,496,421 from the small blind. FiatEruditio called from the BB, showing [Kd][Js] to Halfrek's [Ad][3s]. The flop was good for Halfrek, coming [2c][4s][7d], but the turn was the [Kh], pairing FiatEruditio. The river was the [2s], and they were down to heads-up.
FiatEruditio and Goldenboys were almost even in chips when heads-up began, and both immediately agreed to sit out and discuss a deal. "At least one russian doing well in the main event," chimed Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov from the rail, referring his fellow countryman FiatEruditio.
Goldenboys (from the United Kingdom) had a slight edge with 12,723,888 to FiatEruditio's 12,326,112, and suggested to FiatEruditio they do an even 50-50 split, leaving $30,000 on the table -- and the SCOOP watch -- for which to play. FiatEruditio agreed to the idea, meaning both would be guaranteed $335,386.88.
"Now it's time to call your friends and family" said Richard "Tzen1" Veenman, host of the Event #38-M final table. A few moments later the cards were back in the air.
Goldenboys took a quick advantage, then scored a large, 15 million-plus chip pot in a hand in which FiatEruditio floated the flop with air, then bluffed the turn and river unimproved only to get called by Goldenboys who'd flopped top pair.
Not long after that, FiatEruditio was down to a little over 3 million and all in with [Ks][6h] versus Goldenboys's [5c][5h]. But a six fell on the river, ensuring FiatEruditio's survival for a few more hands.
Finally the end arrived. Back down to 2,390,562 (about 11.5 big blinds), FiatEruditio shoved from the button with [9h][5c] and Goldenboys couldn't have called any more quickly with [Kc][Kh]. The flop came [Ks][3s][4c], giving Goldenboys a set, and FiatEruditio was already typing "gg" as the turn and river fell.
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Congratulations to both Goldenboys and FiatEruditio for chopping Event #38-M, and especially Goldenboys for scoring the next-to-last SCOOP watch of 2011!
Thanks for following our coverage of this year's Spring Championship of Online Poker at PokerStars. For all the results and stats from all three years' worth of SCOOPs, check out the SCOOP page.
The old saying goes that the best are saved for last. That certainly seemed to be the case with the 2011 SCOOP tournaments. While the entire series boasted of amazing guarantees and very solid fields of players from around the globe, it was the last of the events that drew in the biggest crowds. It wasn't particularly surprising, though, as SCOOP comes around only once each year, and players were anxious to go for the titles left for the last events.
Event 37 was the second-last tournament of the series, starting just hours before the Main Event. But players seeking their SCOOP fame and fortune turned out in solid numbers for this second-last event and the very last of the six-max tournaments.
The high buy-in level of Event 37 offered a $500K guarantee for a $2,000 + $100 buy-in, though satellites offered cheaper seats for many of the players. And they came out strong, more than doubling the prize pool from its original guarantee and making for one exciting tournament.
As the hours passed on the first day of action, many players exited without extra cash to show for their efforts. One of them was Team PokerStars Pro Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, who was eliminated in 85th place, several spots shy of the money bubble.
The bubble finally burst just past the nine-hour mark of the tournament, leaving the rest of the field guaranteed a minimum of $3,906.00 payout. One of the players who took that amount was Team Online's Anders "Donald" Hoyer Berg, who ended his run in 63rd place.
But as players were relegated to five tables, the last PokerStars player was in jeopardy and ultimately eliminated. Team Online's Diego "vgreen22" Brunelli departed the field in 27th place with $7,254.00 in prize money.
At the end of Level 21, there were 21 players left on four tables, but another 30 minutes remained before action paused for the night. Only 18 players at three tables were left 15 minutes later, but allinstevie exited in 18th place and Mexitexi in 17th, both receiving $10,602.00 for their play. That left 16 players to end the day.
The break of more than 11 hours ensued, and the final chip counts for the night were:
Level 23 was the first of the second day of play, with blinds at 2,500/5,000 and a 625 ante. The first to take a risk and lose was Face333X, who accepted 15th place, and nikov exited in 14th. Short-stacked AlexanderT followed in 13th to set the final two tables.
The first to depart at that stage of the game was Frrrrrr in 12th place, and 4rebmun followed in 11th. The final ten played on for some time before Traumatize left in tenth place. After the first break of the day, more than a half hour passed before former chip leader 1ncorrigible was ousted in ninth place. Two hours into the day, danceofddead eliminated wolfeman99 in eighth place.
Two hands later, Hagbart made a big preflop reraise, and padjes called all-in for nearly 310K with [Ad][Tc]. Hagbart55 showed [Jd][Js], a hand that only improved on the [Jh][3c][8c][5s][Td]. Padges was gone in seventh place with $23,436.00.
Danceofddead waltzes into chip lead
It was just into Level 27, with blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 1,250 ante, that the final table was set. The players' beginning chip counts were as follows:
Seat 1: danceofddead (1,606,920 in chips)
Seat 2: vic_xcite (602,527 in chips)
Seat 3: hahila (788,943 in chips)
Seat 4: lb6121 (608,481 in chips)
Seat 5: Hagbart55 (1,463,201 in chips)
Seat 6: IAmSoSo (509,928 in chips
While danceofddead maintained the lead going into the final table, Hagbart55 was close behind. Lb6121 took a pot worth 244,500 from vic_xcite to leave the latter as the new short stack.
A short time later, vic_xcite looked down at [Ad][Jd] and pushed all-in. Original raiser danceofddead called with [8c][8s], and the race was on. The board only provided [Tc][3d][5s][5h][Kd], giving danceofddead two pair. Vic_xcite was the first to leave the table, taking $35,712.00 for the sixth place finish.
Lb6121 took a pot worth nearly 750K from IAmSoSo, leaving IAmSoSo with less than 150K chips behind. A few hands later, IAmSoSo moved that stack all-in preflop with [Tc][8h]. Hahila reraised all-in from the small blind, which worked to isolate the two players. Hahila showed [Ad][Js], and the board brought [Jh][6c][Kh][6s][8s] to give two pair to each, but hahila's were best. IAmSoSo left in fifth place with $55,800.00.
The comeback of hahila
Hahila was on the short stack but doubled not once, not twice, but three times through danceofddead, the last one putting hahila in very close chip position with lbe6121.
Hagbart55 soon jumped into the chip lead, knocking danceofddead out of that position for the first time during Day 2. But it didn't take long for those two players to battle, and the 605K pot that resulted from the preflop raises and reraises went to danceofddead, who regained the lead.
But danceofddead put hahila to the test once more, and the result gave hahila quite a bit of new life:
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Into the sixth hour of the day, the final four players changed position drastically, as hahila was in first with Hagbart55 in a close second. Lb6121 and danceofddead were both under the 1 million mark but hanging tough.
But danceoftheddead finally made a push with [Kh][Td] from the big blind. Original raiser hahila called 528,399 more with [Ad][Qd], a hand that dominated all the way through the [4d][8c][2h][7d][8s] board. That left danceofddead out in fourth place with $78,120.00.
Lb6121 doubled through Hagbart55 more than once, but it was a battle with hahila that would make the difference. LB6121 pushed all-in with [7c][7s], and hahilacalled with [Jh][Jc]. The board brought [3c][5c][5d][6d][Js] to give hahila the full house, and lb6121 was eliminated in third place with $114,390.00.
Hagbart55 and hahila haggle for the title
The final two began their match with the following counts:
Seat 3: hahila (3,706,030 in chips)
Seat 5: Hagbart55 (1,873,970 in chips)
More than an hour and a half into the match, hahila was still in charge with a substantial lead, but Hagbart55 found the following opportunity to double up:
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But Hagbart55 couldn't gain much more ground. After two hours of heads-up play, Hagbart55 moved all-in again, this time with [Ad][Js]. Hahila had [Ac][Qd] with which to make the call, and the board of [Ks][Tc][Jc][5s][8h] turned that already-winning hand into a straight. Hagbart55 conceded defeat and took home $156,240.00 for second place.
Hahila of Denmark collected $212,040.00 and a SCOOP watch for winning Event 37-H. Congrats!
Most series have a finale. Television shows typically have a finale at the end of each season, books have a final chapter that pulls everything together, and sports have a season-ending championship to determine the ultimate winning team. And poker tournaments have their main events, the finale of each series that wraps it up, offers a massive guarantee, and looks to crown the player who makes it through arguably the toughest field of the series.
Welcome to the 2011 SCOOP Main Event.
Call it Event 38 if you'd like, but it's the Main Event of the 38-event series that boasted of 114 tournaments in all, three buy-in levels for each event. And this level of the main event was the lowest of the three, offering a $100 + $9 buy-in with a very substantial $750K guarantee. What a way to conclude this year's SCOOP!
And for this low buy-in Main Event, otherwise known as Event 38-L, the numbers were quite strong, with the turnout more than doubling the guarantee:
The money bubble burst rather quickly in the event considering the substantial field. It happened just after the 5.5-hour mark of the tournament and guaranteed the top 2,475 players at least $151.03 for their efforts. But with six-figure payouts for the top three finishers, there was a lot of motivation to strive for that final table.
Along the way, as players cashed out of the tournament, many of the players with PokerStars logos next to their names departed sooner than they hoped. The first to do so was Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree in 2353rd place, followed by Team Online's Kwangsoo "PiS.ToTo" Lee in 2160th place. Friend of PokerStars Charlotte "Sjlot" Van Brabander exited in 1617th place, Team Pro Toni Judet in 1593rd, Joep "Pappe_Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart in 1559th, and Stavros "IDOLLS" Kalfas in 1503rd.
Play continued into the ninth hour as the field dropped below the 200-player mark, and it was well into the tenth hour that the payouts at 117th place exceeded the $1K rate. The field thinned quite a bit by the start of the 11th hour, when only 68 players remained. And by the time Level 44 was ready to end, Zoukki became the 17th finisher with $3,440.31 cash.
Level 45 welcomed the players back to the tables for the second and final day, with blinds at 150,000/300,000 and a 37,500 ante.
In the first 30 minutes of the second day of play, Flush_Entity doubled through chip leader vossiman to gain serious ground and jump into the top five. Emmmmmmm and fittungen also climbed while BOZLAD fell toward the bottom of the pack.
But Cheprykalov took the toughest fall and became the first player to exit, walking away with $3,440.31 for 16th place. Meanwhile, JGagMan doubled and climbed up the ladder into the top ten. Valerich112 couldn't improve on his short stack coming into the day and left in 15th place with $4,866.78, andBOZLAD followed in 14th for the same payout.
Le Dolce struggled and finally exited in 13th place, and 120568 failed to find any positive momentum on Day 2 and left in 12th place with $6,293.25. And the subsequent elimination of JGagMan led to hand-for-hand play.
Just into the second hour of the day, socutiesf made the all-in move with [Kd][Ts], and tyumenChere called all-in from the big blind with [Ad][Qh]. The board of [7d][Qd][Kh][6h][9c] gave the pot to socutiesf with the pair of kings, and tyumenChere departed in tenth place with $6,293.25.
LuckBox4Life locks up initial chip lead
The final table was then set, starting in Level 29 with 400,000/800,000 blinds and a 100,000 ante. Starting chip counts were listed as follows:
Seat 1: nagyy88 (10,705,390 in chips)
Seat 2: SeriouzFox (13,336,762 in chips)
Seat 3: socutiesf (22,257,979 in chips)
Seat 4: fittungen (9,073,100 in chips)
Seat 5: Flush_Entity (10,355,796 in chips)
Seat 6: Luckbox4Life (31,903,474 in chips)
Seat 7: vossiman (24,574,645 in chips)
Seat 8: Emmmmmmm (20,724,406 in chips)
Seat 9: Smicer32 (24,888,448 in chips)
Soon after action got underway, fittungen doubled through Flush_Entity, leaving the latter with a short stack. Those 382,696 chips went all-in from the big blind on the next hand with [4h][2d], but original raiser vossiman had [Ac][Tc] and made the call. The board of [Td][8s][7h][2s][5h] eliminated Flush_Entity, who final tabled Event 31-M, in ninth place with $10,069.20.
Fittungen doubled through Smicer32, and Smicer32 then did the same through socutiesf.
Meanwhile, nagyy88 tried the same thing, moving all-in for little more than 7 million chips preflop, but original raiser vossiman called with [Td][7d]. The double-up looked promising as nagyy88 showed [Ad][Kh], but the board of [7c][Qc][4c][4h][Qh] gave vossiman queens and sevens. Nagyy88 finished the tournament in eighth place with $15,103.80.
Smicer32 was at risk again, pushing all-in with [Kd][9h], but Luckbox4Life called with the [Ad][Ac], and nothing on the [Tc][8d][Qd][7s][Ah] board could beat Luckbox4Life. That left Smicer32 out in seventh place with $25,173.00.
Socutiesf soars
SeriouzFox doubled through vossiman. And vossiman took another big hit courtesy of socutiesf:
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While socutiesf rivaled Luckbox4Life at the top of the chip counts, Emmmmmmm was in jeopardy. The all-in move was made after an initial raise from vossiman, and Emmmmmmm reraised with [Kc][Jc]. Vossiman called with [4d][4h], which won the race when the board produced [Ts][Ks][3h][4c][3d] for the full house. Emmmmmmm departed in sixth place with $41,955.00.
Shortly thereafter, a hand developed as SeriouzFox raised and fittungen reraised. SeriouzFox responded by pushing all-in for more than 17 million chips with [Ts][Th], and fittungen made the call with [As][Qs]. Another race situation ensued, and the [8h][8d][7h] gave SeriouzFox two pair. But the [Ah] turn and [Ad] river gave fittungen the full house and eliminated SeriouzFox in fifth place with $58,737.00.
Fittungen then doubled through socutiesf in a risky move that paid off and pushed fittungen into the top spot on the leaderboard:
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Socutiesf then doubled through Luckbox4Life to stay in the game. Vossiman doubled through fittungen.
But vossiman was itching to move again. After a raise from socutiesf, vossiman made the move for more than 10 million chips with [As][Jc], and socutiesf called with [Td][9s]. The board of [Kc][8d][Js][Qc][9c] gave socutiesf a straight, and vossiman vanished in fourth place with $75,519.00.
Luckbox4Life came back to double through fittungen to dominate three-handed action.
Socutiesf finally made another move, this time with [Ks][Ts], and fittungen was along for the ride with [As][7s]. The ace improved to trips on the [8s][Ah][Qh][2c][Ac] board, and socutiesf had to depart in third place with $109,083.00.
Final two battle for Main Event title
The last two players standing took their positions as follows:
Seat 4: fittungen (79,458,766 in chips)
Seat 6: Luckbox4Life (88,361,234 in chips)
They paused the action almost immediately to discuss a chop, and they agreed to the numbers given, noting that an extra $15,000 was to be set aside for the eventual winner:
Luckbox4Life came out strong by taking a pot worth 60.3 million chips early in the match. But the following double-up for fittungen changed everything:
RSS readers click through to see replay
Two hands later, Luckbox4Life risked it all with [9h][4s], and fittungen called with [Ks][9d]. The board was virtually blank when it came [5c][Ac][6d][Jd][Qd], and the kicker played. Luckbox4Life was eliminated in second place with $155,092.54.
Fittungen of Sweden claimed the Event 38-Low Main Event title, along with a SCOOP championship watch and $168,574.13 in prize money. Congratulations!
SCOOP Event #38-L Main Event Results (reflecting two-way deal):
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I just had the pleasure of watching the very first two people register for the 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker. We saw the announcement. We saw the early schedule. Now, the events are posted in the PokerStars tournament lobby and the website is up and running. The first satellites start in less than an hour. It's official, folks. 
