One of my personal favorite things about TCOOP is how great the series is for helping me put time into perspective. For instance, on a normal day, I'd say that four hours and six minutes isn't really time enough to accomplish anything significant. But today, the first day of TCOOP, I learned me that four hours and six minutes is exactly enough time to win a turbo no-limit Omaha hi-lo tournament. The education was indirect, of course - I'm just the reporter here. It's rekri from Hungary who learned it all firsthand by becoming the champion of TCOOP 2016's second event.

Event #2 kicked off at 2:00 p.m. ET and attracted a field of 1,649 players by the time late registration closed one hour and 15 minutes in. Each was given 5,000 starting chips and the blinds rose every five minutes. Less than an hour after that there were just 216 players left, all guaranteed a payout of at least $129.85. Where moments before the short stacks had clung to their chips, now they started to put them into action. And before the tournament could reach a third break, the field had been reduced to just these six players:

Seat 1: homasapiens (1,208,136 in chips)
Seat 2: rekri (1,153,394 in chips)
Seat 3: Nopaleva (1,822,898 in chips)
Seat 4: ouchbadbeat (801,878 in chips)
Seat 5: Shtopol' (1,625,242 in chips)
Seat 6: isDatLekker? (1,633,452 in chips)

With even the biggest stacks worth just 20 big blinds, nobody had a significant advantage. That could've made things tense, especially since it was a first TCOOP final table for everyone involved, but ouchbadbeat kept things light from the start. The short stack, runner-up in a SCOOP event back in 2013, rattled off a list of shout-outs in the chat box like an Oscar winner and then raised all but 1 chip and typed, "folding to reraise."

Nobody took up the offer, but the action wasn't too long coming. rekri climbed out of the cellar with a scoop after moving in with [Ac] [Kc] [Jh] [2c], falling behind homasapiens's [As] [Kd] [Ts] [5d] on the [Kh] [6c] [5h] flop, and moving back ahead with kings and jacks thanks to the [Jd] on the turn and the harmless [Tc] on the river.

rekri and Shtopol' split a pot two hands later with the nut flush and nut low, respectively. Then homasapiens open-shoved for 524K three hands after that, holding [6d] [4h] [3c] [3d] and looking for a board with some low cards. ouchbadbeat isolated all-in from the small blind and showed down [As] [Ad] [9d] [4d], which held up when the [9s] [Jc] [Qc] [8d] [Kd] kept the pair of aces ahead of the pair of treys. With that, homasapiens was out in 6th place ($3,091.87).

Discussions for a deal followed two hands later, no big surprise given the biggest stack being worth just 19 big blinds. 2015 WCOOP Super High Roller finalist Nopaleva held out for a little more than ICM, asking for $60 more from each player, and even there ouchbadbeat was still entertaining. While the others figured out whether to agree, he typed, "i pay my donation of $60 tribute to putin" (in reference to Nopaleva's Vladimir Putin avatar). Eventually Nopaleva got the extra $60 from everyone, leaving $1,000 and the champion's watch on the table for the winner.

From there it took just eight minutes to bring the tournament to a close. Shtopol' took on Nopaleva immediately when play resumed, moving all-in from the cutoff with [Ac] [Kc] [Qs] [5s]. Nopaleva called in the big blind with [As] [Tc] [9h] [5h] and the board came [8d] '[Jc] [3c] [8s] [3s], leaving no low and making both players' top two cards the kickers to a pair of treys.

Following two split pots, first between rekri and Nopaleva and then isDatLekker? and Shtopol', ouchbadbeat got the chance to take out the player that had exacted "tribute" during the deal. Nopaleva open-shoved for 1.15M with [Ad] [Js] [Jc] [8h] and ouchbadbeat successfully isolated by re-shoving for 1.24M with [Ac] [8c] [6c] [2d], leaving ouchbadbeat with just 86K after the [4s] [Th] [Jd] [5c] [5s] board made no low possible and gave Nopaleva jacks full of fives.

ouchbadbeat survived twice and typed, "expart chip and chair comeback coming. i warn u now." But the first hand the player from the U.K. was dealt after that, [Qc] [6s] [5d] [2d], couldn't pull off the trick. ouchbadbeat shoved with it, Shtopol' called with [7c] [5c] [5s] [3h], and tens and sevens scooped the pot when the board came [Ts] [Tc] [Ad] [Kh] [2s]. That sent ouchbadbeat to the rail in 5th place ($11,142.72).

isDatLekker? doubled up two hands later, shoving with [Ah] [Qs] [Th] [5c] and scooping the 2.59M-chip pot when Nopaleva called with [9d] [7s] [5s] [4d] but couldn't make a hand on the [8h] [3d] [Kc] [8s] [Jd] board. Five hands later Nopaleva called all-in from the big blind with [Ad] [Kh] [Js] [Ts] after rekri shoved in the small blind with [Ah] [7d] [5h] [4d]. Broadway cards and spades could have kept Nopaleva in the game, but the board came [8h] [3d] [6s] [2d] [Qh], rekri scooped the pot with a six-high straight, and Nopaleva departed in 4th place ($13,304.68).

rekri climbed to 3.38M with that pot, providing crucial momentum for the final stretch. The Hungarian player called in the small blind with [Ad] [9d] [7h] [7s] and 1.37M left behind when past WCOOP finalist isDatLekker? shoved from the button with [Ah] [6c] [5c] [3h], but the cushion ended up being unnecessary. The [Qs] [Ac] [Ks] [Js] [Qc] board made both players aces and queens, and rekri's nine kicker was good for the whole 4.35M-chip pot. That knocked isDatLekker? out in 3rd place ($11,439.90).

The heads-up showdown for the last $1,000 and the title lasted a single hand. rekri opened all-in on the button with [As] [9h] [8h] [7d] and was called by Shtopol', who was a slim favorite before the flop with [Ac] [Ks] [9d] [2h]. The [Qs] [7c] [2c] [Ts] [Qc] made two pair for both players, but rekri's queens and sevens took the pot and brought the tournament to a close.

Just four hours and six minutes after putting down $82 for a stack of chips, Shtopol' took $10,017.82 from the deal as the runner-up. And rekri earned $12,717.66, the champion's watch, and a first career TCOOP title to go along with a MicroMillions 7 win in 2014. Congratulations to both players for hanging on until the end!

TCOOP-02 ($82 NL Omaha Hi-Lo, 6-Max, Turbo) results

Entrants: 1,649 
Total prize pool: $123,675.00

Places paid: 216

1. rekri (Hungary) $12,717.66*

2. Shtopol' (Ukraine) $10,017.82*

3. isDatLekker? (Netherlands) $11,439.90*

4. Nopaleva (Russia) $13,304.68*

5. ouchbadbeat (United Kingdom) $11,142.72*

6. homasapiens (Poland) $3,091.87

*Reflects the results of a five-way deal that left $1,000 in play for the winner