The citizens of PokerStarslandia hath spoken and picked the format for Event #13. The high version for this year's Player's Choice would be $700 NL Progressive Super-Knockout. Normally, that would be the primary story, but I completely buried the lede here and waited now to reveal that another Brazilian won a SCOOP event. If the calculations from our crack team of stat geeks locked in the basement at HQ are correct, then the victory by Thiago 'tgrigoletti' Grigoletti marks the eighth SCOOP bracelet for Brazil. Eight? Yes, eight. Vamooooooooooo!
Brazilians know how to throw a proper party. They also know how to crush poker tournaments. I have a theory why Brazilians do so well in SCOOPs. It has to do with the Catholic religion and the Lent holiday leading up to Mardi Gras a.k.a. Fat Tuesday, or the wildly festive Carnival in Rio and all over Brazil. Lent is a time for fasting. That's why the weeks leading up to Carnival is so crazy because everyone is partying hard one last time before they have to stay clean for 40 days and 40 nights and avoid sinful pleasures and vices. Alas, online poker is the perfect thing to fill the void during those sober, lonely nights of Lent. So by the time Lent is over when Easter rolls around, Brazilians have been grinding online poker for 40 straight days and nights. When SCOOP hits, they are in peak form. Sounds crazy...but the more you think about it, it makes perfect sense why Brazil is crushing SCOOP this year. You better bust out the rosary and brush up on your Hail Marys and Our Fathers.
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Somerville was near the front of the pack on all of Day 2 until it got down to the final two tables. He couldn't get anything going and barely made the final table as one of the short stacks. He busted in ninth place, but it was not meant to be for Somerville. After all, it was Brazil's day with a trio of Brazilians advancing to the final table.
The high version of SCOOP-13-H $700 NL Progressive Super-Knockout attracted 1,360 runners. They contributed to a prize pool worth $904,400. Only the top 153 places paid out with $78,049.72 set aside to the champion. In a Progressive Super-KO event... the more players you busted, the bigger your own bounty. Therein lies the rub because the more players you knock out, the bigger the price on your own head so your opponents have even more of a fiduciary incentive to terminate your stack with extreme prejudice.
Event #13-H was another spacious two-day event. Day 1 ended with Colombia's maoosalazar in the lead with 372K. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Somerville bagged up 224,420, which was good enough for seventh overall.
Fellow Team PokerStars Pro Elky also made it to Day 2, but he was at the opposite end of the spectrum with a shorty stack. On Day 2, super-short Elky busted when his [Ad][Js] lost to [Ks][Tc] after akis_333 caught running tens to win the pot. Elky busted in 92nd place.
When the final two tables were set, Jason Somerville looked comfortable in fourth overall with a shade under 1M. Yet, that would be the highest he'd peak because action slowed down immensely as the final table neared. It was a little strange with all of the big stacks at Somerville's table while all of the smaller stacks were on the other. With 11 to go, Somerville slipped and was treading water with a short stack. He also had the lowest bounty remaining. Somerville stayed alive long enough to make it to the final nine, but he was 9/9 in chips.
SCOOP-13-H - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: Kot_Spartac (740,464)
Seat 2: U_2GOOD4_M3 (2,778,251)
Seat 3: tgrigoletti (2,487,225)
Seat 4: maoosalazar (1,240,500)
Seat 5: vitinhorrn15 (992,284)
Seat 6: swordfish007 (1,180,010)
Seat 7: gilcoe (2,308,002)
Seat 8: Mr.Kingball (1,379,551)
Seat 9: Jason 'jcarverpoker' Somerville (493,713)
The final table commenced during Level 33 with blinds at 12K/24K and a 3K ante. Jason 'jcarverpoker' Somerville barely made the final table, but he made it as the short stack with 493K. Taiwan's U_2GOOD4_M3 held the big stack but a pair of Brazilians were hot on the trail with tgrigoletti right behind with approximately 2.5M and gilcoe holding 2.3M.
Somerville is one of the most known personalities in poker due to his popular Run It Up streams. He live-streamed his entire run in Event #13-H via Twitch, much to the delight of his legion of fans. It was his first final table at this year's SCOOP.
Three Brazilians made the final table, which meant that there was a decent chance a Brazilian would ship yet another SCOOP. Thiago 'tgrigoletti' Grigoletti has nearly $1 million in combined live/online earnings. He final tabled the BSOP in Brazil last year. And Victor 'vitinhorrn15' Santos has nearly $850K in online winnings.
Other notables included Manig 'swordfish007' Loser, who made a pair of WSOP final tables in 2013-14 and he went deep in a 2012 SCOOP, and Rory 'Mr.Kingball' Brown who has $1 million combined live/online winnings. Mr.Kingball final tabled a WCOOP Main Event last year and finished in sixth place for a $273K score. He also final tabled a WCOOP in 2014 and cashed in the 2014 WSOP Main Event.
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TAKE ME AWAY: Team PokerStars Pro Jason 'jcarverpoker' Somerville eliminated in 9th place
Nearly 45 minutes before someone busted... and it was Somerville who picked a spot with [Ac][Qc] but lost a crucial hand against gilcoe's [9d][9c]. gilcoe opened to 59,360, Somerville shoved for 564,913, and gilcoe called. Somerville flopped a Queen, but gilcoe flopped a set of nines. Ouch. The board finished up [Qd][9h][4c][4s][5s]. Somerville lost with two pair against gilcoe's full house. Jason Somerville became the first player to bust at the final table. He won $4,974.20 for ninth place.
gilcoe gobbled up Somerville's bounty and banked half ($1,245.57), while his own bounty increased to $6,134.31.
Before signing off on Twitch, Somerville summed up: "I played this final table reasonable. I do not look back and see any hands I regret. Not a bad day. We had some really awkward things happen, especially with the final two tables. We hit some weird situations and tried to make the best of them.
We made our first SCOOP final table. Hopefully it won't be my last!"
With eight left, tgrigoletti was the new leader with 3.2M and swordfish007 trailed with 840K.
SPINAL MENINGITIS GOT ME DOWN: vitinhorrn15 eliminated in 8th place
A full orbit did not pass before we saw two bustouts in consecutive hands! In the first hand, Brazil's chances of winning another SCOOP diminised with vitinhorrn15's exit. The Brazilian vitinhorrn15 five-bet to 151,200 and maoosalazar called. The flop was [Jd][4c][2s], and maoosalazar check-called a 21,168 bet from vitinhorrn15. vitinhorrn15 was in trouble with [8h][6h] against maoosalazar's [Ks][9h]. The turn was the [Kd] and maoosalazar improved to a pair of Kings. The river was the [4h] and maoosalazar won the pot with two pair -- Kings and fours. Alas, vitinhorrn15 never improved and headed to the virtual rail in eighth place, which paid out $8,817.90.
Colombia's maoosalazar collected another bounty and banked $4,418.57 for picking off vitinhorrn15. maoosalazar's own bounty was bumped up to $12,684.22.
A TEAR FOR EDDIE: U_2GOOD4_M3 eliminated in 7th place
After a long lull at the final table, Somerville busted then less than eight hands later, two players hit the road on back-to-back hands. On the second hand, it was a situation where two of the smallish stacks rumbled. Mr.Kingball opened to 61,320, U_2GOOD4_M3 bombed it all-in for 394,571 with [Ks][Qc], and Mr.Kingball called with [As][5s]. The board finished up [8s][7d][3h][3s][Ah]. U_2GOOD4_M3 never improved and Mr.Kingball won the pot with Aces up. Taiwan's U_2GOOD4_M3 was knocked out in seventh place, which paid out $13,339.90.
Mr.Kingball picked up another bounty, banking $4,248.43 and increasing his own bounty to $14,668.82, which was the highest at the final table.
With six remaining, tgrigoletti continued to hold the lead with 3.4M, followed by three players with around 2.2M -- gilcoe, Kot_Spartac, and maoosalazar. The shorties were Mr.Kingball (1.7M) and swordfish007 (1.6M).
DRIFTER IN THE DARK: Mr.Kingball eliminated in 6th place
After a level of inaction...we had more fireworks. For a second time at this final table, we had players bust on consecutive hands. On the first hand, Mr.Kingball said his goodbyes and farewells. The Irishman open-shoved for 670,109 and got it all-in with the better hand and [Ac][Qc] against tgrigoletti's [Kh][Jh]. He even flopped an Ace, however, tgrigoletti rivered two pair to win the pot and bust the Irishman. For a sixth-place finish, Mr.Kingball collected $17,861.90. He also earned $14,668 in bounties, which would end up being the third most in the entire tournament. Mr.Kingball's total payday today was worth over $32,500. tgrigoletti banked a juicy bounty worth $7,334.41 for picking off Mr.Kingball. The Brazilian's own bounty swelled to $16,085.84.
I CAN'T PUT MY FINGER ON IT: swordfish007 eliminated in 5th place
On the next hand, we had another fight to the death when swordfish007 got hooked by maoosalazar. It was the battle of the blinds... maoosalazar opened to 100,000 and swordfish007 called. maoosalazar bet out on the flop for 99,000 and on the turn for 224,190, and swordfish007 called both times. By the river, the board looked like [Qc][5c][4s][Jh][9d]. maoosalazar fired out 261,414, swordfish007 bombed it all-in for 1,656,292 and maoosalazar insta-called. maoosalazar tabled [Qs][Tc] and won the pot with top pair. swordfish007 picked a wrong spot to bluff the river with [Ts][5h] and just a pair of fives. Austria's swordfish007 was dunzo in fifth place, which paid out $22,383.90.
Meanwhile, maoosalazar earned $2,747 for snaring swordfish007's bounty, and their own bounty jumped to $15,431.22.
With four left in the hunt for the bracelet, maoosalazar was the new leader with 5.5M, followed by tgrigoletti (4.1M), Kot_Spartac (2.6M), and shorty gilcoe (1.4M).
MISTER, WOULD YOU PLEASE HELP MY PONY: Kot_Spartac eliminated in 4th place
The brisk pace continued. Only two orbits passed before we saw another liquidation. Rough. Tough. Brutal. Nothing can prepare you for the carnage witnessing pocket Aces get whacked in a drive-by shooting. All the money went in on the action-inducing flop of [Qd][Jc][5d] when maoosalazar bet 174,000, Kot_Spartac shoved for 1,128,011 and maoosalazar called.
Kot_Spartac: [Ac][As]
maoosalazar: [Qc][Tc]
Kot_Spartac was ahead with Aces versus top pair. However, doom was imminent when maoosalazar turned an open-ended straight flush draw. It seemed inevitable that Aces were gonna get crushed. maoosalazar never got there on the river, but instead, maoosalazar rivered trip Queens. Kot_Spartac faded the monster draw, yet Aces were snapped off by backdoor trips. Kot_Spartac was knocked out in fourth place. The Russian took home $31,473.12.
Another bounty for maoosalazar, who banked $1,319.60. Meanwhile, maoosalazar's bounty was a juicy $16,750.81.
VOODOO LADY: gilcoe eliminated in 3rd place
Four hands later it was Brazil vs. Brazil in another fight to the death. Two Brazilians entered, and only one was left standing. The board read [Jd][9h][2c][8c] with over 352K in the pot. gilcoe fired out 172,480, tgrigoletti raised to 494,960, gilcoe shoved for 1,512,784 and tgrigoletti called. tgrigoletti turned a straight with [Qc][Th] and gilcoe was in deep trouble with [Ks][9c] and only a pair of nines. The [2d] on the river was a formality because tgrigoletti dragged the pot with a Queen-high straight. Brazil's gilcoe was knocked out in third place, which paid out $42,959.00. One Brazilian remained. tgrigoletti banked half of gilcoe's bounty worth $3,067.16. tgrigoletti's own bounty was bumped up to a whopping $19,152.99.
HEADS-UP: tgrigoletti (Brazil) vs. maoosalazar (Colombia)
Seat 3: tgrigoletti (6,770,730)
Seat 4: maoosalazar (6,829,270)
After nearly two hours of play at the final table, it was dead even when heads-up began. Could Brazil win another SCOOP? Or will it Colombia's turn to step onto the winner's podium?
DEAL
With both players essentially even, they decided to chop it up. Any deal had to leave $2,000 on the table for the champ. They opted for split down the middle or $66,287.36 each. They quickly agreed on those simple terms and play resumed.
ROSES ARE FREE: maoosalazar eliminated in 2nd place; tgrigoletti wins another SCOOP for Brazil!
Heads-up lasted over an hour without anyone able to get anything close to a legit knockout. Something sparked tgrigoletti and the Brazilian went on a sick rush. He won 15 out of the last 18 hands en route to the victory. He started that rush trailing 7.2M to 6.3M. Most of the pots were small. He smallballed maoosalazar for the majority of the rush. Going into the final hand, tgrigoletti opened up a 2-1 edge 9.2M to 4.4M.
A raising war broke out when maoosalazar four-bet shoved for 4,380,906 and tgrigoletti called. Big Slick versus pocket deuces. The classic race. maoosalazar was flipping with [2c][2h] against [Ah][Kc]. As luck would have it, A king hit the flop and another crashed the party on the turn. tgrigoletti won the pot with trip Kings when the board ran out [Kh][6d][Jc][Ks][7d]. Brazil had secured another win.
Colombia's maoosalazar won $66,287.36 for a top-notch runner-up performance. maoosalazar also won an additional $16,750.81 in bounties for a total payday in excess of $83K!
tgrigoletti pocketed $8,375.41 for knocking out maoosalazar. He won $27,528.39 in overall bounties, which was the most in the Super-KO event.
Congrats to Thiago 'tgrigoletti' Grigoletti for winning Event #13-H. The People's Choice event paid out $68,287.36 to the winner in addition to a special commemorative watch by Movado. tgrigoletti's finally tally was $95,815. It's going to be another festive night in Brazil. Vamooooooo!
SCOOP-13-H ($700 NL Hold'em, Progressive Super-Knockout) results
Entrants: 1,360
Total prize pool: $904,400
Places paid: 153
1. Thiago 'tgrigoletti' Grigoletti (Brazil) $68,287.36 * + $27,528.39 bounties
2. maoosalazar (Colombia) $66,287.36 *+ $16,750.81 bounties
3. gilcoe (Brazil) $42,959.00 + $6,134.31 bounties
4. Kot_Spartac (Russia) $31,473.12 + $2,639.19 bounties
5. swordfish007 (Austria) $22,383.90 + $5494.00 bounties
6. Mr.Kingball (Ireland) $17,861.90 + $14,668.82 bounties
7. U_2GOOD4_M3 (Taiwan) $13,339.90 + $8,496.86
8. vitinhorrn15 (Brazil) $8,817.90 + $8,837.13
9. Team PokerStars Pro Jason 'jcarverpoker' Somerville (Canada) $4,974.20 + $2,491.13
* Denotes a deal between the final two players
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Pauly McGuire is the author of "Lost Vegas" and a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.
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