This time last year, the Australian poker community were celebrating the success of one of their finest, James "Andy McLEOD" Obst, who had won a third SCOOP title in the $1,050 Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max Event and over $166,000.

Fast forward 12 months and Obst has done it all over again.

In the recap for PokerStars Blog, my colleague Martin Harris used the headline "Obst obliterates field". Well, that same description seems entirely appropriate to use again today. Obst obliterated them once again with a crushing display of big-stack poker. Obst single-handedly eliminated every one of his opponents on the final table with a combination of aggression, skill and a little luck, on his way to his fourth SCOOP title (and sixth 'COOP) and over $155,000 in prize money.

Obst navigated his way through a tough field of 244 entrants, including many of the world's finest players, in Event #11-H $1,050+R Pot Limit Omaha 6-Max. Team PokerStars Pros Naoya Kihara, Jason Mercier, George Danzer and Andre Akkari all missed the money for the top 30 players with former Aussie Millions champion Ami "UhhMee" Barer the unfortunate bubble boy. Joseph "subiime" Cheong (24th - $6,066), Mustapha "lasagnaaammm" Kanit (17th - $7,751) and Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo (14th - $7,751) were some of the high-profile players to make the money, while the Twitch fanatics were going a little crazy about the deep run of Team PokerStars Pro Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville. 

Somerville reached the final two tables before he moved in preflop with [4c][Ac][Th][8h] against Andy McLEOD's [Ks][3c][Jc][Jd]. Somerville failed to connect as Andy McLEOD made two pair to eliminate the popular poker pro in 9th place for $19,209.

Andy McLEOD's domination started on the final table bubble with two huge seven-figure pots. The first was against Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde where Andy McLEOD doubled up with [2h][as][7c][ad] against ImaLucSac's connected [6s][9d][7s][8s]. That was followed by the elimination of former WCOOP champion TheFish77 in rather dramatic fashion. Andy McLEOD bet all three streets with the final bet to put TheFish77 all in. After some thought, he called with a king-high flush on the paired board but Andy McLEOD tabled a beautiful straight-flush to scoop the pot and see our final table set as follows:

Final Table Line Up
Seat 1: Domce (561,528 in chips)
Seat 2: huevo2000 (374,391 in chips)
Seat 3: Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez (254,433 in chips)
Seat 4: Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde (118,014 in chips)
Seat 5: Crisper (848,712 in chips)
Seat 6: James "Andy McLEOD" Obst (1,700,422 in chips)

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Andy McLEOD wasted no time in getting busy but ImaLucSac found aces on the first hand of the final table for a quick double up.

However that wouldn't be enough to save former SCOOP winner ImaLucSac from an early elimination. On a flop of [Ad][Kc][3d],  ImaLucSac led out with a pot-sized bet before Andy McLEOD put in a raise. By that stage, ImaLucSac was committed with [6c][9d][Kd][7s] but that was in deep trouble against Andy McLEOD's [Ah][2c][As][Qd]. The turn was the [qs] and river the [ac] for the cherry on the top, giving Andy McLEOD quads for the knockout. ImaLucSac picked up $27,634 for sixth place.

Domce halted the momentum of Andy McLEOD with a double up with aces, but the change was only temporary as Andy McLEOD dispatched of huevo2000 in brutal fashion. Andy McLEOD called a preflop raise before leading out at a board of [7d][2h][2c]. huevo2000 called all in for less and tabled [Kc][Ac][Ah][3d] which had Andy McLEOD's [As][9c][8c][Ts] in trouble. However incredibly the [6h] turn and [9h] river brought Andy McLEOD a runner-runner straight to take it down. An unlucky bust out for huevo2000 but he takes home $40,440 for fifth place.

Andy McLEOD continued to flex his muscles with the elimination of Crisper. After raising preflop, Andy McLEOD made a continuation bet on the flop of [3d][2c][Ts] and then made the call when Crisper moved all in. Andy McLEOD tabled [Qs][Jc][7h][Qh] for the overpair but again trailed as Crisper showed [6d][2d][Th][3h] for two pair. However the [4d] turn and [4h] river again delivered runner-runner relief for Andy McLEOD as he made a bigger two pair. Crisper would ultimately finish in fourth place for $53,920 in prize money.

By this stage Andy McLEOD had a commanding chip lead with over three-quarters of the chips in play, and he'd single-handedly been responsible for the last four eliminations of the tournament.

Andy McLEOD turned up the pressure on the two short stacks and it would be Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez to crack next. SixthSenSe19 opened with a raise and was committed for what was left after Andy McLEOD put in a three-bet. SixthSenSe19 opened [9c][Qs][6h][Ts] but Andy McLEOD held a monster [Ad][Ac][3d][Js]. SixthSenSe19 caught a pair but that was it on the board of [4c][9d][7d][5c][Kc] leaving him to depart in third place for a handsome $80,880 score.

Heads-up Chip Counts
Seat 1: Domce (482,056 in chips)
Seat 6: Andy McLEOD (3,375,444 in chips)

It was a huge chip lead for the Aussie entering heads-up play but Domce put up some stubborn resistance. Domce, a former SCOOP PLO champion, landed a double up immediately with a straight against two pair, before he doubled again when both players made a full house.

The chips were virtually dead level when the final hand erupted. A min-raise preflop would take the two players to a [Kc][3s][3c] flop. Andy McLEOD checked and then raised the continuation bet from Domce, but the Lithuanian made the call to see the [6h] hit the turn. Andy McLEOD bet again and Domce called as the [kh] double-paired the board on the river. After a little thought, Andy McLEOD moved all in and Domce snapped it off with [7d][Kd][7h][3h] for a full house, kings full of threes. But once again, Andy McLEOD had that pipped with his [Ts][Ks][6c][3d] making a full house with kings full of sixes for the victory!

Domce takes a six-figure score of $107,840 back to Lithuania but the SCOOP title goes Down Under with James "Andy McLEOD" Obst going back-to-back in this very event to win his fourth SCOOP title and $155,020 in prize money. Congratulations!

2016 SCOOP-11-H: $1,050+R PL Omaha - $200K Guaranteed
Entrants: 244
Rebuys: 235
Add-ons: 195
Prize Pool: $674,000
Places Paid: 30

1. James "Andy McLEOD" Obst (Australia) $155,020.00
2. Domce (Lithuania) $107,840.00
3. Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez (Uruguay) $80,880.00
4. Crisper (Argentina) $53,920.00
5. huevo2000 (Argentina) $40,440.00
6. Dylan "ImaLucSac" Linde (Canada) $27,634.00

The Spring Championship of Online Poker is the biggest and richest tournament festival of the year, with millions in prize money to be won, a packed schedule, and separate buy-in levels designed to suit all bankrolls.

A total prize pool of $40 million is guaranteed with the series running right through until May 22nd. Head to the SCOOP home page for more details.

Heath "TassieDevil" Chick is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.