Although Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier busted late in Day 1 in tenth place, he did not cash. Neither did fellow Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer, which is somewhat of a shocker because it seems like Danzer cashes in every event he plays. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara went deep in this Badugi event with a final table appearance and a cash in third place. He also went deep in the medium version of this event with a third-place finish in Event #23-M. Yup, that's twin third-place finishes for nkeyno.

Event #23-H Day 1 ended with 8 players remaining out of 45 and Bulgaria's silna_rakia out in front with 132K. nkeyno bagged up 82K in chips, which was good for second overall. Only the top 6 paid so the money bubble had not burst yet even though the "final" table was set.

SCOOP-23-H - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: goleafsgoeh (54,830)
Seat 2: Fresh_oO_D (12,615)
Seat 3: Adamyid (55,110)
Seat 4: Team Online nkeyno (81,920)
Seat 5: wizarddd (38,285)
Seat 6: warcabista (27,600)
Seat 7: BiatchPeople (48,060)
Seat 8: silna_rakia (131,580)

The final table commenced during Level 25 with 1,400/2,800 betting limits. The final table began with eight players even though the top 5 places paid out. Several familiar faces at this final table including a couple of WCOOP winners (BiatchPeople and goleafsgoeh) and a couple of players (Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara, adamyid and Fresh_oO_D) who came close to winning a SCOOP but never got as far as second.

Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah won 2 WCOOPs. He took third in the 2011 WCOOP Main Event. Won a Badugi WCOOP back in 2011. He won his second title at the 2015 WCOOP in PLO. Leah also finished 2nd and 4th in 2015 WCOOP events. Narrowly missed a SCOOP title with a runner-up finish in 2012 SCOOP Triple Stud.

Alex 'BiatchPeople' Luneau (most known via his Alexonmoon documentary) is a high-stakes regular who won a 2013 WCOOP High Roller event.

Germany's Fresh_oO_D has a bad history of being a bridesmaid but never the bride with a runner-up finish in a 2015 WCOOP and runner-up finish at 2014 SCOOP.

Oddly enough, Adam 'Adamyid' Owen and Fresh_oO_D both made the same final table of a 2015 WCOOP Triple Draw event (they finished in fifth and sixth).

Adam 'Adamyid' Owen had a stellar 2015 WSOP with a final table and 2 near-final tables. Speaking of bridesmaids... Adamyid took second in an earlier SCOOP event #3-H last weekend. He was a runner-up at the 2015 WCOOP Badugi event and also finished second in a 2015 SCOOP event. It really seemed like no one wanted to win this more than Adamyid.

Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara came close to winning a bracelet last year at the 2015 SCOOP, but he got edged out by SirWatts and busted in second place.

Also of note... Ukraine's warcabista final tabled a 2013 SCOOP Triple Draw event and silna_rakia final tabled a 2015 SCOOP Badugi event with a fourth-place finish.

ON THE RUN/TIME: wizarddd eliminated in 8th place

Fifteen minutes into the pseudo-final table, Russia's wizarddd busted in eighth place after losing with a 3-card hand 5-4-A against warcabista's 8-7-4-A Badugi. warcabista discarded one on the first draw and then stood pat for the second and third draws. wizarddd narrowly missed the money.

THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY: Fresh_oO_D eliminated in 7th place

Five minutes later, Fresh_oO_D was picked off in seventh place in a multi-way pot. BiatchPeople stood pat before the first draw with a strong 7-3-2-A Badugi. silna_rakia drew one every round but mucked at showdown. Fresh_oO_D also rew a single card during all three draws but could only piece together a 3-card hand 6-5-2. BiatchPeople dragged the main pot and side pot, and Fresh_oO_D was dunzo in seventh place. At that juncture, this tournament finally reached the money bubble with silna_rakia still the leader with over 120K, but BiatchPeople right behind. No money for Fresh_oO_D who busted two places out.

MONEY: adamyid eliminated in 6th place

Bubble time. Three-way. Shorty Adamyid opened to 4,800, warcabista called and BiatchPeople called. On the first draw, warcabista and BiatchPeople both drew two cards, but adamyid only selected one. During the betting round... warcabista checked, BoatchPeople fired out 2,400, Adamyod called all-in for 490, and warcabista called. On the second draw, BiatchPeople stood pat, but warcabista discarded two and adamyid drew one. warcabista checked, BiatchPeople bet 4,800, and warcabista folded. Heads-up. On the final draw, BiatchPeople stood pat and adamyid drew one. At showdown, Adamyid lost with [4h][3c][Ad][5c] and a 3-card hand 4-3-A against BiatchPeople's 7-5-4-2 Badugi and [7s][5h][4c][2d]. Adam 'Adamyid' Owen bubbled this event and busted in sixth place. With five to go, everyone secured themselves a min-cash worth $7,200.00.

US AND THEM: warcabista eliminated in 5th place

Once the money bubble burst, we saw a quickie elimination. Betting got capped preflop in a pot between warcabista and BiatchPeople. warcabista would be all-in by the second draw. On the opening draw, both players discarded one. On the second draw, both players discarded one and warcabista check-raised all-in for 5,760. On the third and final draw, warcabista stood pat and BiatchPeople pulled a single card. At showdown, BiatchPeople won with a 8-4-2-A Badugi and [8s][4c][2h][Ad] against warcabista's 9-8-4-3 Baugi and [9s][8d][4h][3c]. Germany's warcabista was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $7,200.00.

With four remaining, silna_rakia and BiatchPeople battled for the lead with 161K and 151K respectively. nkeyno was third with 90K and goleafsgoeh brought up the rear with 42K.

ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE: goleafsgoeh eliminated in 4th place

Short-stacked Mike Leah tried to double up...but whiffed. goleafsgoeh opened to 4,800 an BiatchPeople called. Both players discarded two during the opening draw. BiatchPeople check-called a 2,400 bet from goleafsgoeh. On the secon draw, both players only selected one card. BiatchPeople checked, goleafsgoeh bet 4,800, BiatchPeople check-raised to 9,600, and goleafsgoeh called. On the final draw, BiatchPeople stood pat, but goleafsgoeh drew one. BiatchPeople bet 4,800 and goleafsgoeh was all-in for 2,830. At showdown, BiatchPeople won the pot with a 7-4-2-A Baugi and [7s][4h][Ad][2c]. goleafsgoeh could only make a 3-card hand with 5-4-A and lost with [5c][4d][Ah][4s]. Mike Leah a.k.a. goleafsgoeh was dunzo in fourth place, which paid out $9,000.00. With three left in the hunt for the bracelet, BiatchPeople led with 204K, followed by silna_rakia's 165K and nkeyno 80K.

BRAIN DAMAGE: nkeyno eliminated in 3rd place

It was do or die for nkeyno with a gaunt stack around 16K. He found a spot and attempted to double up against on the biggies. On the first draw, silna_rakia discarded one and nkeyno drew two. The betting got capped and nkeyno moved all-in for his final 9,720. On the second draw, silna_rakia stood pat and nkeyno drew a single card. On the third and final draw, silna_rakia stood pat once again and nkeyno discarded one. At showdown, nkeyno lost with [8s][2d]Ah][Td] and a 3-card hand of 8-2-A. silna_rakia dragged the pot with a K-10-8-6 Badugi with [Kd][Th][8c][6s]. Team Online nkeyno was knocked out in third place, which paid out $13,500.00.

HEADS-UP: BiatchPeople (U.K.) vs. silna_rakia (Bulgaria)
Seat 7: BiatchPeople (153,715)
Seat 8: silna_rakia (296,285)

Frenchman BitachPeople (living in the U.K.) was down almost 2-1 against silna_rakia. If the legendary "Alexonmoon" was going to win a SCOOP, then he was going to have to orchestrate a comeback win.

Heads-up lasted fifteen minutes spanning 43 hands. BiatchPeople won 9 out of the first 10 hands to seize the lead. That's as high as BiatchPeople would get. silna_rakia launched an effective counterattack and resized lost ground. silna_rakia won a clutch 83.2K pot with a 5-4-2-A Badugi and BiatchPeople was on the ropes during the last few minutes of the match. Once he dipped under 100K in chips, it was like blood in the water or something, because silna_rakia went in for the kill.

ECLIPSE: BiatchPeople eliminated in 2nd place; silna_rakia wins SCOOP bracelet

BiatchPeople got crippled in a 57.6K pot after losing to silna_rakia's K-6-5-4 Badugi. BiatchPeople was left with less than 3.5K and was all-in on the next hand for 3,430. silna_rakia stood pat, which left it up to BiatchPeople to pull off a sick draw. He tossed away three on the first draw, and tossed away three again on the second draw. By the third and final draw, BiatchPeople discarded only one. Alas, he never improved beyond a 3-card 5-3-A with [5c][3h][Ad][Th] and lost to silna_rakia's King-high Badugi with K-J-5-3 and [Kd][Js][5h][3c].

French pro Alex 'BiatchPeople' Luneau busted in second place and won $24,300.00. Congrats to Bulgaria's silna_rakia for winning the bracelet in the Badugi high event. First place paid out $36,000.00 plus a special sleek watch courtesy of Movado.

SCOOP-23-H ($2,100 FL Badugi) results
Entrants: 45
Total prize pool: $90,000
Places paid: 5

1. silna_rakia (Bulgaria) $36,000.00
2. Alex 'BiatchPeople' Luneau (U.K.) $24,300.00
3. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara (Japan) $13,500.00
4. Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah (Canada) $9,000.00
5. warcabista (Germany) $7,200.00

Visit the SCOOP homepage for a complete schedule of remaining events and other geeky stats. Also, find out who is in contention for Player of the Series.

Pauly McGuire is the author of "Lost Vegas" and a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.