Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is not exactly a spectator sport. A game where chopped pots are the norm makes it difficult viewing and when a heads-up battle lasts over two-and-a-half hours, it's not the sort of thing that will be bringing droves of new fans to the sport.
But that didn't worry bernard-bb.
The player from Finland was able to ensure a gruelling tournament and a spirited heads-up battle with Canadian Antonio7. When it looked like the duel would never end, bernard-bb flopped the nuts against the second nuts, and improved to a better low, and that was enough to scoop the SCOOP title and over $70,000 in prize money.
It was Event #42-H of the 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker -- a $2,100 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max Event which attracted a field of 136 players. That created a prize pool of $272,000 which more than doubled the promised guarantee.
Adrienne Rowsome, Jason Somerville, Jason Mercier, George Danzer and Eugene Katchalov were amongst the starters representing Team PokerStars but sadly they were out well before the money stage.
The top 18 players would finish in the money, but at the end of the first day of play, the tournament was delicately poised with just 21 players remaining and Canada's Antonio7 leading the way:
When play resumed it would be DonkPredator, Yakiddinme and Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez who missed out on the money as the remaining 18 players assured themselves at least $3,536 in prize money.
James "Andy McLEOD" Obst made another deep SCOOP run before falling in 17th place, while Team PokerStars Online's Naoya Kihara made it to 15th place.
When PlayWMyNuts lost out with two pair against the Broadway straight of bernard-bb, PlayWMyNuts was out in seventh place and our final table formed as follows:
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Final Table Line Up
Seat 1: WATnlos (74,261 in chips)
Seat 2: bratpack1979 (186,136 in chips)
Seat 3: onmybicycle (113,054 in chips)
Seat 4: bernard-bb (350,266 in chips)
Seat 5: raiden_kan (136,400 in chips)
Seat 6: Antonio7 (499,883 in chips)
The short-stacked WATnlos would be first to go. After a raise preflop and a bet on the flop, things got a little wild on the turn in a battle of the blinds between Antonio7 and WATnlos. The board read [4s][8s][8c][2s] when a raising war erupted that saw WATnlos all in with [ad][3s][jh][6h] for a low against Antonio7's [8h][5d][Ac][Js] for trip eights. There was a good chance of a split pot, until the [3h] appeared on the river to improve Antonio7 to a wheel to scoop both the high and the low. That meant former WCOOP winner WATnlos would have to depart in sixth place for $12,240.
Next to fall would be onmybicycle. After getting quartered in a hand against bernard-bb, onmybicycle got short before committing all in on a flop of [2c][5h][3s]. onmybicycle held [6d][Ad][Th][Qc] but was in a world of hurt when Antonio7 made the call with [4d][4s][As][6s] for the old nut-nut. The turn was the [ah] and river the [9d] which changed nothing, leaving onmybicycle to get on his bike and depart in fifth place for $17,680.
Four-handed play was relatively tight until the peace was broken by an enormous pot between bratpack1979 and Antonio7. After three-betting preflop, bratpack1979 raised all in on a flop of [5h][ac][th] holding [Ad][8s][2d][7s]. Antonio7 made the call with [Ah][6d][9s][3h]. The turn was the [qh] to give Antonio7 a flush and the river [7c] gave him a seven-low to scoop both sides of the pot. That left bratpack1979 to exit in fourth place for $23,120 in prize money.
Antonio7 was into the chip lead with Macau grinder raiden_kan on the short stack with three players remaining.
Antonio7 clipped bernard-bb with a full house, and then extended the lead even further with the elimination of raiden_kan.
After raising on the flop, raiden_kan was all in on the turn on a board of [8d][As][7d][8h]. Antonio7 made the call and showed [2d][8s][5d][Tc] for trips and a flush draw with a low, while raiden_kan tabled [7s][2c][Js][4s] for a better low. A brick would give raiden_kan half the pot, but the [4d] appeared which improved Antonio7 to a flush and a seven-low to scoop the pot. raiden_kan was out in third place for a $35,360 score.
Heads-up Chip Counts
Seat 4: bernard-bb (439,297 in chips)
Seat 6: Antonio7 (920,703 in chips)
Antonio7 would start with more than a two-to-one chip advantage, but while this tournament had flowed at a steady pace until this point, the heads-up battle would be a gruelling affair.
There was a trend of Antonio7 chipping ahead before bernard-bb would strike back with a big double up.
Antonio7 extended the advantage in the early stages before bernard-bb struck a nice double up with a wheel straight against two pair. Again Antonio7 would climb back into a healthy lead but couldn't land the knockout blow with an open-ended straight draw as a flopped set for bernard-bb turned into quads for another double.
A key hand saw bernard-bb flop a set of jacks and extract full value from the two pair of Antonio7 before the final hand of the two-and-a-half hour heads-up battle was finally dealt.
Antonio7 raised from the button and bernard-bb called to see a monotone flop of [7d][td][ad]. bernard-bb check-called a bet and the turn brought the [8s]. Again the action was check, bet, call as the river [kc] completed the board. bernard-bb checked for a third time and Antonio7 didn't slow down, firing out another bet. This time bernard-bb responded with a check-raise all in and Antonio7 would make the call with [Js][6d][Qd][2c] for the second-nut flush and an 8-7-6 low. However bernard-bb tabled [3d][5s][Kd][4s] for the nut flush and a 8-7-4 low to win both sides of the pot and scoop the title!
It was a mighty heads-up battle but Antonio7 was a little unlucky in a cooler of a final hand to be eliminated in second place for $47,600. In the end it would be Finland's bernard-bb who captures the SCOOP title and $70,720 in prize money! Congratulations!
2016 SCOOP-42-H: 2,100 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max] - $100K Guaranteed
Entrants: 136
Prize Pool: $272,000
Places Paid: 18
1. bernard-bb (Finland) $70,720.00
2. Antonio7 (Canada) $47,600.00
3. raiden_kan (Macao) $35,360.00
4. bratpack1979 (Australia) $23,120.00
5. onmybicycle (Netherlands) $17,680.00
6. WATnlos (Germany) $12,240.00
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.
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