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TCOOP 2016: wemax maxes out Event #27 ($27+R NL Hold'em, 2x-Turbo)

wemax averaged about $8,444 per hour this event.

In just four-and-a-half hours, a field of 3,086 entries and 7,345 rebuys was down to just one, wemax

It wasn't as much as the advertised $48k for first, but the final three players struck a deal. 810ofclubs had a massive lead when players made the deal, but wemax doubled up and rode the lead to victory.

While wemax didn't take the largest chunk of the $307,218 prize pool, the Hungarian player took the coveted TCOOP title.


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2016TCOOP_27.png

Seat 1: GiBobH/L - 920,046
Seat 2: XHorizon101X - 1,609,302
Seat 3: wemax - 6,555,433
Seat 4: Deividas K - 1,134,703
Seat 5: Leviathan74 - 9,928,647
Seat 6: apoelhinio - 1,166,154
Seat 7: M Cunha G - 1,140,335
Seat 8: 810ofclubs - 5,752,004
Seat 9: Blunty2004 - 3,070,376

apoelhinio moved all-in for 1.1 million on the third hand of play and Blunty2005 re-shoved for 3 million. The rest of the table folded and apoelhinio showed [qd][qs] to Blunty2004's [kh][kd]. apoelhinio found a third queen on the [js][qh][5c][4s][5s] board. apoelhinio doubled to 2.6 million while Blunty2004 dipped to 1.9 million.

Then we had an elimination.

GiBobH/L moved all-in for 720,046 from middle position and Leviathan74 shoved in the chip lead, 10.4 million, from the button. The blinds folded and Leviathan74 showed a dominating [as][qc] to GiBobH/L's [ah][Th]. The [2c][3h][8h][kd][jc] board missed both players and Leviathan74 took the pot.
GiBobH/L won $2,611.35 for finishing 9th while Leviathan74's lead grew to 11.5 million.

The next elimination came the very next hand.

Deividas K moved all-in for 749,704 from the hijack and Leviathan74 called from the cutoff. 810ofclubs called from the big blind and players checked the [9s][3h][7h] flop. The turn brought a [qd] and a 650,000 bet from 810ofclubs. Leviathan74 called and a [kd] completed the board.

810ofclubs bet 1.2 million and Leviathan74 folded. Deividas K showed [4h][4s], but 810ofclubs had [ks][qh] for two pair.

Then 810ofclubs took out another player.

810ofclubs raised to 400,000 from the cutoff and XHorizon101X moved all-in for 1.4 million from the small blind. 810ofclubs called with [qh][jc] and XHorizon101X showed a dominating [as][jd]. But 810ofclubs hit a [qs] on the flop and a [qd] on the river. 810ofclubs took the lead with 10.1 million while XHorizon101X won $7,219.63 for finishing 8th.

The tournament shrunk again the following hand.

In that hand, M Cunha G moved all-in for 1.1 million from under-the-gun and apoelhinio called from the big blind. M Cunha G showed [ad][3d] and was up against apoelhinio's [5d][5h]. apoelhinio hit a set on the [qd][5s][9c][js][7d] board and chipped up to 3.4 million while M Cunha G won $10,291.82 for finishing 6th.

But apoelhinio's final table run was the next to come to an end.

Leviathan74 moved all-in for 7.2 million a few hands later and apoelhinio called all-in.

Leviathan74: [ad][2c]
apoelhinio: [7s][7h]

The [jd][ac][td][th][6s] board paired Leviathan74's ace and the Greek player chipped up to 9.4 million. apoelhinio on the other hand won $13,364.01 for finishing 5th.

After that, 810ofclubs dealt an elimination with [th][2h].

810ofclubs moved all-in for 11.9 million from the small blind and Blunty2004 called all-in for 2.1 million from the big blind.

Blunty2004 had a 65.9 percent chance of doubling up with [kh][qs], but 810ofclubs hit trip tens on the [8c][ad][td][tc][6s] board. 810ofclubs's lead grew to 14.2 million while Blunty2004 won $17,665.07 for finishing 4th.

Deal

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The final three

Our final three players decided to redistribute the remaining prize pool. At the time of the deal, counts were:

810ofclubs - 15,019,158
wemax - 8,995,613
Leviathan74 - 7,262,229

After lots of negotiating, math, and financial calculations, players agreed on the following numbers:

810ofclubs: $39,745.58
wemax: $34,000.63
Leviathan74: $32,547.49
Left to play for place 1st: $4,000.00

810ofclubs had a large lead, but it quickly evaporated. wemax won a few pots and the doubled up through 810ofclubs to take the lead. 810ofclubs raised to 600,000 from the button and wemax re-raised to 1.7 million from the small blind.

Leviathan74 folded and 810ofclubs moved all-in for 13.7 million. wemax called all-in and showed [7c][7s] to 810ofclubs's [ah][5s].

The [jc][ts][9h][6s][2c] board doubled wemax up to 21.9 million while 810ofclubs dropped to just 2.9 million. Then Leviathan74 finished 810ofclubs off and brought the tournament heads-up.

Leviathan74 raised to 800,000 from the button and 810ofclubs moved all-in for 2.5 million from the small blind. Leviathan74 called and showed [2s][2c] for a flip against 810ofclubs's [as][8d].

810ofclubs couldn't find a pair on the [js][6h][jd][7h][qs] board and won the agreed upon $39,745.58 for finishing 3rd.

Leviathan74 started the heads-up match with 9.2 million while wemax had the lead with 22.1 million. Leviathan74 doubled up once but lost a few pots and couldn't survive another.

wemax raised to 1.2 million in the final hand of the tournament and Leviathan74 called.

The flop came [4c][8s][3s] and wemax bet 990,000. Leviathan74 raised to 2.58 million and wemax called. The turn brought a [js] and wemax bet 1.8 million. Leviathan called and a [3d] came on the river.

Leviathan74 checked, wemax shoved and Leviathan74 called all-in for 6.6 million. Leviathan74 showed [qc][jh] for a pair of jacks, but wemax had a higher pair with [qs][qd].

Leviathan74 won $32,547.49 for finishing 2nd while wemax took home $38,000.63 and the TCOOP title.


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TCOOP-27 ($27+R NL Hold'em, 2x-Turbo) results
Entrants: 3,086
Rebuys: 7,345
Add-ons: 2,083
Total prize pool: $307,218.70
Places paid: 397

1. wemax (Hungary) *$38,000.00
2. Leviathan74 (Greece) *$32,547.49
3. 810ofclubs (United Kingdom) *$39,745.48
4. Blunty2004 (Germany) $17,665.07
5. apoelhinio (United Kingdom) $13,364.01
6. M Cunha G (Brazil) $10,291.82
7. XHorizon101X (Canada) $7,219.63
8. Deividas K (Lithuania) $4,153.59
9. GiBobH/L (Poland) $2,611.35

*Reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $4,000 in play for the winner


Alexander Villegas is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.



TCOOP 2016: Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos notches second TCOOP title with win in Ultra-Deep Turbo Event #26 ($700 NL 8-Max)

Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos is no stranger to the winner's circle. The former eye doctor turned pro shipped the Sunday Warm Up in 2014 and won a TCOOP back in 2012. He's even a savvy live player with one final table appearance at the 2010 EPT Vienna.

Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos added a second TCOOP title to his resume after taking down 2016 TCOOP Event #26 $700 NL 8-Max, Ultra-Deep. This special deep-stacked event (featuring a 50,000 starting stack) attracted 1,377 players. Those deep-stacked explorers created a total prize pool worth $915,705. Only the top 176 places paid out with $161,164.89 set aside for the champion.

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Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos playing at the 2010 EPT Vienna

As the money bubble approached, Team Online mement_mori was one of the short stacks. He doubled up to avoid an elimination with 199 to go. mement_mori secured himself a min-cash.

"We did it! Let's chop it up now!" joked mement_mori.

Team Online's mement_mori was crippled by pocket jacks and eventually busted in 133rd place, which paid out $1,555.69.

With 19 to go, Germany's Kiiiiiiik was the big stack and closing in on 10M. When the final two tables were set, Kiiiiiiik chipped up closer to 13M while second place only held 8M. Enter the Swede... anteen rocketed into the top spot after winning a flip in a 13M pot with [9s][9c] against Kiiiiiiik's [As][Kh]. With 10 to go, Domce seized the lead.

When action hit the final table bubble in this 8-max event, it went hand-for-hand. Israel's orange6 bubbled off the final table in ninth place when [Kd][Ts] lost to GeoManousos' [Qs][2s] after GeoManousos flopped a pair of Queens to win the pot.
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TCOOP 2016 - Event #26 Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: cwirek1982 (3,257,612)
Seat 2: RPILON (3,315,237)
Seat 3: Domce (12,578,479)
Seat 4: anteen (11,107,290)
Seat 5: BARBARVSSA2 (7,740,932)
Seat 6: GeoManousos (12,560,070)
Seat 7: Kiiiiiiik (7,862,100)
Seat 8: arxigos (10,428,280)

The final table kicked off at the start of Level 51 with blinds at 300K/600M and a 75K ante. When the final table was set, Domce and GeoManousos were neck-and-neck for the lead with 12.5M, meanwhile RPILON and cwirek1982 battled for the basement with 3.3M.

Event#26's final table featured a trio of players with major wins... Georgios "GeoManousos" Sotiropoulos had previously won the Sunday Million (last February) and also won a SCOOP bracelet. This was his second final table at the 2016 TCOOP. Domce had also won a SCOOP, and Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos won a TCOOP back in 2012.

SEE NO EVIL: cwirek1982 eliminated in 8th place

Fireworks on the first hand. One player went to the rail, the other jumped into the lead... arxigos min-raised to 1.2M, cwirek1982 moved all-in for 3,182,612, and arxigos called. cwirek1982 was in trouble with [Ac][Qs] versus arxigos's [Kh][Kc]. The board ran out [9s][8h][5h][9c][Ks]. cwirek1982 never improved and arxigos won the pot with a full house. The U.K.'s cwirek1982 was knocked out in eighth place, which paid out $9,157.05.


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GUIDING LIGHT: RPILON eliminated in 7th place

RPILON bombed it all-in for 2,627,737 with [Kh][Ts] and GeoManousos accepted the challenge with [4s][4h]. RPILON flopped a flush draw and a straight draw...but whiffed on both. The board ran out [Qh][9h][7h][5d][Qc]. GeoManousos dodged a spray of bullets and won the pot. Canada's RPILON busted in seventh place, which paid out $18,314.10.

With six to go, arxigos led with 17M and GeoManousos was in second with 15.2M.

VENUS: Kiiiiiiik eliminated in 6th place

Battle of the blinds. Action folded to Kiiiiiiik in the small blind, who shoved for 6,649,600 with [Ah][6s] and arxigos called with [9h][9c]. The board finished up [Tc][5s][2c][4h][8s]. Kiiiiiiik never improved and was dunzo in sixth place. Germany's Kiiiiiiik went busto in sixth place, but earned a payday worth $27,471.15. 

TORN CURTAIN: GeoManousos eliminated in 5th place

BARBARVSSA2 open-shoved for 8,778,432 with [As][Th] and GeoManousos called all-in for 4,905,517 and made a final stand with [Ac][9s]. Both players flopped a pair of Aces, but BARBARVSSA2 won the pot with a stronger kicker when the board ran out [Ah][Kd][2c][5d][7h]. GeoManousos was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $45,785.25.

ELEVATION: Domce eliminated in 4th place

Two hands later...another bustout. Domce bombed it all-in for 6,090,979 with [As][2h] and BARBARVSSA2 called with [Ac][Td]. The board ran out [8d][4h][4s][5s][7d]. Neither player improved but BARBARVSSA2 won yet another pot with a better kicker. Domce was busto in fourth place, which paid out $64,099.35.

DEAL? NO

Action was paused to discuss a three-handed deal. BARBARVSSA2 held the top spot with 30M, followed by arxigos (23M) and anteen (15M). Any deal had to leave $14,000 on the table for first place. The numbers were floated, but everything fell apart. BARBARVSSA2 liked the deal, but both anteen and arxigos wanted more money. Without a deal in place, action resumed.

FRICTION: anteen eliminated in 3rd place

On the first hand back after the deal negotiations fell apart, there was a quickie bustout... anteen moved all-in for 13,864,580 with [Jc][5d] and BARBARVSSA2 called with [Td][9d]. The board finished up [Jd][8h][3h][7c][Ks]. Although anteen flopped a paid of Jacks, BARBARVSSA2 turned a straight to win the pot. Sweden's anteen busted in third place, which paid out $86,991.97.

HEADS-UP: BARBARVSSA2 (Russia) vs. arxigos (Austria)
Seat 5: BARBARVSSA2 (44,689,508)
Seat 8: arxigos (24,160,492)

With two remaining, arxigos was down nearly 2-1. Heads-up would only last seven hands.

MARQUEE MOON: BARBARVSSA2 eliminated in second place; arxigos wins Event #26 for second-career TCOOP crown

Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos won seven hands in a row, took the lead on the sixth hand when pocket fours held up against a pair of treys, and delivered a knockout blow on the seventh hand.

Going into the final hand, BARBARVSSA2 held 24.8M to arxigos's 44M.

BARBARVSSA2 had [Jc][Jh] snapped off by arxigos's [Kd][2h]. All the money went in on the turn. The broad finished up [Ks][9h][3c][6h][5d] and arxigos won the pot with a pair of Kings.

For a runner-up finish, BARBARVSSA2 earned $114,463.12.

Congrats to Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos for winning a second TCOOP title. First place paid out $161,164.89.

TCOOP-26 ($700 NL Hold'em, 8-Max, Turbo, Ultra-Deep) results
Entrants: 1,377
Total prize pool: $915,705
Places paid: 176

1. Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos (Austria) $161,164.89
2. BARBARVSSA2 (Russia) $114,463.12
3. anteen (Sweden) $86,991.97
4. Domce (Lithuania) $64,099.35
5. Georgios "GeoManousos" Sotiropoulos (Austria) $45,785.25
6. Kiiiiiiik (Germany) $27,471.15.
7. RPILON (Canada) $18,314.10
8. cwirek1982 (United Kingdom) $9,157.05


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Pauly McGuire is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.



Aussie Millions 2016: Day 2 Live Updates

Click to refresh for latest updates | Day 2 Seating Draw | Day 2 Chip Counts

12:35pm: Late registrations
Level 8: Blinds 400/800 (100)

Registration for the Main Event is open until the end of Level 8, which means that latecomers have the rest of this level to plonk down $10,600 and jump into the action.

Already today there have been five players who have taken advantage of that. With the blinds at just 400/800/100, they'll start with almost 40 big blinds which is plenty to get busy with.

12:30pm: Play under way on Day 2
Level 8: Blinds 400/800 (100)

The players have unbagged their chips and taken their seats for Day 2 of the Aussie Millions Main Event. Over the first two days we've seen over 720 players come through the doors of the Crown Poker Room and after the first day of carnage, just 376 players remain with dreams of fame and fortune.

We'll be playing a shorter day today with just five levels and no dinner break. That means we'll finish some time around 9:00pm which is just in time for tonight's Player's Party at Club 23 here at Crown.

Crown Poker Tournament Director Joel Williams has given the final instructions and the cards are in the air!

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Take a look at the Aussie Millions official website for tournament schedules, structures, news and information from the Crown Poker Room in Melbourne.

Live updates brought to you courtesy of Brad Kain and Heath Chick. Photos by Jonno Pittock and Christian Zetzsche.



TCOOP 2016: André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos wins with ease, takes Event #25; Danzer goes deep ($82 Stud)

There was just a single straightforward stud event on this year's Turbo Championship of Online Poker schedule, although if you blinked you might have missed it. That's because it took less than three-and-a-half hours for the $82 buy-in Event #25 to play out this afternoon, at the end of which André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos of the Czech Republic had collected all the chips and a nice $7,654.70 first prize. Santos had to best a 540-entry field to take away the largest share of the $40,500 prize pool that comfortably exceeded the event's $25K guarantee.

The top 72 finishers made the money in this one, and just two hours in they were already down to 83 players, with FNickel leading the counts and Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer sitting just inside the top 10.

The third hour had just begun when the money bubble burst, then about a half-hour after that they were down to three tables with André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos having jumped out in front of FNickel, pushing way up over 500,000 when no one else had even half that amount. Just a few hands later Danzer found himself short-stacked and then finally knocked out in 18th for a $334.12 cash.


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Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer

Danzer was knocked out by TCOOP star TedyKGB88 who before this event already had six cashes and two final tables to sit in second position in the TCOOP Player of the Series standings.




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Soon they were down to two tables. Freddy(DM(3) (16th) and FENOMENICO (15th) then were eliminated, and after getting short FNickel (14th) followed them to the rail. A few minutes later nemisoi hit the rail (13th), with those four players each earning $405 for their finishes.

ouchbadbeat (12th), iamfunnyb0t (11th), and Iraqing (10th) were the next out, followed by TedyKGB88 (ninth) who just missed another final table, but with this finish moves into first in the TCOOP Player of the Series standings at the halfway mark of the series. Those four each earned $564.75.

With the three-hour break coming up, the final table was underway with André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos the chip leader by a wide margin as the only player over 1 million in chips.


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Seat 1: mddgfc (United Kingdom) -- 169,196
Seat 2: fel_iv (Brazil) -- 53,198
Seat 3: André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos (Czech Republic) -- 1,051,983
Seat 4: manunanu (Australia) -- 470,011
Seat 5: pxc666 (China) -- 256,142
Seat 6: droseff (Bulgaria) -- 309,834
Seat 7: krec23 (Russia) -- 76,244
Seat 8: 10Badboy10 (Russia) -- 313,392

The first final table elimination came quickly in a hand that saw the table's short stack, fel_iv, get felted by droseff.

All in by third street for less than half a big bet, fel_iv ultimately drew ([5h])([3s]) / [As][Kh][9h][5d] / ([Qh]) for a pair of fives, which wasn't enough against droseff's ([Ah])([3h]) / [Qc][8h][Qs][4c] / ([2c]) for queens, and fel_iv was done in eighth.

Just a few hands later, krec23 was the short stack all in by third street with only leader André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos sticking around. krec23 had ([Qs])([9c]) / [8s], then drew [4s][2h][5h] / ([7s]) to make only queen-high. Meanwhile Santos started out ([3d])([Tc]) / [4d] and picked up [9s][5c][8c] / ([Qd]) -- also queen-high but with a better kicker, and krec23 was eliminated in seventh.

The fourth hour began, and the limits were up to 50K/100K when manunanu called a third-street raise from Santos, then called again to go all in on fourth. By then manunanu had ([4d])([Jc]) / [Kc][Qd], and three more cards -- [3s][2d] / ([6s]) -- didn't improve manunanu to better than king-high. Santos had ([7d])([Ts]) / [Ad][6c] when the last chips went in, and after drawing [6h][Kh] / ([Ks]) to finish with kings and sixes and knock out manunanu in sixth.

A minute later 10Badboy10 was raising with the [7s] showing, pxc666 reraised with the [8d] up, 10Badboy10 reraised again to put all 169,392 in the middle, and pxc666 called. Their hole cards turned up, 10Badboy10 had three cards with a lot of potential with ([8s])([6s]) / [7s], then drew [6c][Ad][2c] / ([3c]) to finish with a pair of sixes. pxc666 had that beat already by third street with ([9d])([8h]) / [8d], picking up [Th][3d][Jd] / ([9h]) thereafter to end with two pair and stop 10Badboy10 in fifth for a seventh cash already this TCOOP series.

The final four battled onward for another seven minutes, enough time for the betting limits to increase to 80K/160K. By then pxc666 had slipped to 141,676, and after André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos raised on third street pxc666 called all in. pxc666 would finish that hand with ([2h])([4d]) / [2s][5c][8s][Jc] / ([6c]), having been unable to improve on a pair of deuces made by third street. Santos beat that with ([Ac])([7d]) / [Ts][Js][2c][3d] / ([Jd]), rivering a pair of jacks to oust pxc666 in fourth.

Santos was well in command then with three left, and before long droseff -- who won a SCOOP title last year in a 2-7 triple draw event -- would be down to less than a small bet with just 55,138. All of that went in by third street versus the chip leader, and droseff's ([5c])([Jc]) / [2c][Jd][As][9c] / ([Ts]) (a pair of jacks) proved not enough against Santos's ([8d])([7s]) / [6h][6s][4s][7h] / ([Kh]) (two pair, sevens and sixes), and they were down to two.

Santos had a better than 5-to-1 chip lead to start heads-up play with more than 2.25 million to mddgfc's just over 445,000, but mddgfc managed to get all those chips in on the first hand between them to earn a double-up and narrow the gap. A few hands after that mddgfc was all in again on fourth street, then after hitting two pair on fifth saw the hand hold up, and suddenly the two players were nearly even in chips.

But Santos would win a similarly-large pot just a few hands later, and was again up around 2.37 million while mddgfc slipped under 325,000 when the final hand took place.

It began with Santos bringing it in for 30,000 with the [2c] showing, mddgfc raising to 100,000 with the [9c] up, then the pair continuing to reraise back and forth until Santos capped it and mddgfc called all in. Here's what it looked like on third:

mddgfc: ([4h])([7s]) / [9c]
Sira Al Aziz: ([4s])([Ts]) / [2c]

And after each player was dealt four more cards, here's how they ended up:

mddgfc: ([4h])([7s]) / [9c][Ac][5d][Tc] / ([7d])
Sira Al Aziz: ([4s])([Ts]) / [2c][3h][2d][9d] / ([4d])

mddgfc had at last made a pair of sevens on seventh, but Santos picked up a second pair on the last round to make the best hand and win.

Congratulations to André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos for outlasting 539 opponents in just three hours and 19 minutes to win Event #25 and turn $82 into a cool $7,654.70.

TCOOP-25 ($82 Stud, Turbo) results
Entrants: 540
Total prize pool: $40,500
Places paid: 72

1. André "Sira Al Aziz" Santos (Czech Republic) $7,654.70
2. mddgfc (United Kingdom) $5,609.25
3. droseff (Bulgaria) $4,131.00
4. pxc666 (China) $3,037.50
5. 10Badboy10 (Russia) $2,025.00
6. manunanu (Australia) $1,417.50
7. krec23 (Russia) $1,012.50
8. fel_iv (Brazil) $708.75

Event #25 marks the halfway point of the 50-event Turbo Championship of Online Poker series. Check the TCOOP page for a full rundown of the remaining 25 events along with results and lots of other TCOOP-related information.


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Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.



TCOOP 2016: Aggro Santos nears TCOOP title but it's victory for Raabinator93

Poker can be a game of amazing highs and crushing lows. But also amazing lows. And highs that are only half-good.

Well, that's true in this game at least. A total of 1,206 players hit the register button for this TCOOP $82 PL Omaha Hi/Lo 6-max event, resulting in a crescendoed prize pool of $90,450 - way more than the $50,000 that was guaranteed.

PokerStars Team Pro George Danzer was in this one chasing his first TCOOP title (and the triple COOP), but would eventually bust just seven players before the money. He was the last red spade standing, while other notable names to go deep included Chris 'Moorman1' Moorman, Scott 'Aggro Santos' Margereson, and Chris 'NigDawg' Brammer.

In fact, Brammer was the chipleader with around 50 players remaining. He'd eventually fall in 26th place, but Margereson would reach the final 6. With a Sunday Million win and two WCOOP titles to his name, a TCOOP title would fit very nicely on his online poker mantelpiece.

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Scott "Aggro Santos" Margereson

The final table outlined in this blog is a twisting and turning tale of unwavering all-ins and a dismissed deal that eventually led to our latest TCOOP champion, Germany's Raabinator93, banking a good few thousand more than he would have if he'd shook hands when he was outchipped 3 to 1 (he took home a not-too-shabby first place pay out of $15,150.81).

But before we get to that, let's rewind a little.

The magnificent six

Here's how the final six players stacked up coming into this final table:

sandman201 (Canada) 2,322,520
Scott 'Aggro Santos' Margereson (Mexico) 1,064,953
Raabinator93 (Germany) 508,472
Grebinat (Ukraine) 422,646
imcastleman (Canada) 1,294,948
Olsen33 (Denmark) 356,461

Aside from Margereson's accomplishments, there was another notable winner at the table. Canada's sandman201 already has a SCOOP title under his belt, and was coming in to this final table as the chipleader.

TCOOP-24_1.jpg

The shortest stack at the table belonged to Grebinat, but he'd soon fix that with a double up early through sandman201. With the blinds at 40K/80K, sandman201 opened to 160,000 and Grebinat defended his big blind leaving just 262,646 behind. It would all go in the middle on the [4s][2d][jd] flop and Grebinat's [tc][js][jh][kc] for a set of jacks was ahead but at risk against his opponent's [td][kd][ad][5h] flush and straight draws. The [2h] on the turn improved his hand to a full house and Grebinat shot up to 885,292.

sandman201 remained active though, and clashed with the second biggest stack, imcastleman, not long after. The blinds were 50K/100K at this point and imcastleman opened to 200K on the button. Sandman201 made the call from the big blind and the two saw a [ks][kc][9s] flop, which both checked. That brought the [9d] on the turn and now sandman201 bet 200K, which was called. The [jc] on the river was again checked by both, and sadman201's [3d][jd][2c][4s] couldn't compete with the [qh][8c][5d][qd] for a two pair, kings and queens. Ship the pot and chiplead to imcastleman.

He'd put it to good use, knocking out Olsen83 in 6th for $2,713.50. The player from Denmark had little over 2 big blinds when he found himself having to put 120K in the middle without yet seeing his cards. Unsurprisingly he called off imcastleman's shove and it was [8c][qc][kh][jc] for the shorty against [9c][5h][js][8s]. The board ran out [as][4c][3s] [td] [6s] and that was all she wrote for Olsen83.

Exit sandman201

Things weren't looking good for the Canada-based player and after doubling up Grebinat once more he was gone. Sandman201 opened to 420,000 under the gun and imcastleman called out of the big blind. The [kc][4s][9h] flop fell and both players checked, but when the [2h] arrived on the turn imcastleman put sandman201 all-in and found a caller.

Sandman201 [3d][as][2c][6c]
imcastkeman [jh][kh][kd][9d]

imcastleman was ahead with top set but sandman201 had a chance to win the whole pot with a straight or chop it on the low end. The river, however, was the [9s] and the full house sent sandman201 to sleep in fifth for $3,853.17.

TCOOP-24_3.jpg

Grebinat refused to be eliminated from this tournament, doubling up and chopping the pot at every all-in opportunity, but imcastleman was running away with it in between, continuously picking up the blinds hand after hand, chipping up to 4 million.

It would be Scott 'Aggro Santos' Margereson who would finish in 4th. Raabinator93 opened to 490,000 under the gun leaving little behind. Aggro Santos shoved for 618,897 and Raabinator93 made the call.

Aggro Santos [6d][ts][kd][as]
Raabinator93 [2h][qs][qh][4s]

The cards fell as follows: [tc][7d][4h] [7h] [qc] and with a full house (queens full of sevens) Raabinator93 scooped the 1.3 million pot and Margereson had $5,879.25 adding to his PokerStars account.


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Then came another elimination, this time the plucky Grebinat (only after he'd doubled up once or twice more, of course). A blind vs blind pre-flop raising war saw him all-in at the hands of imcastleman, with a hand that played well for the low pots - [2c][3s][js][4d]. Imcastleman had the [td][4c][th][2h] and we saw a board of the [tc][as][9s] [9d] [8h]. In the end yet another boat for imcastleman would secure him another knockout, while Grebinat secured a 3rd place finish for $8,592.75.

"Deal" and "No deal"

As soon as heads up play started, the two remaining players decided to discuss their deal options. However, it would be a short conversation, as you can see below.

TCOOP24_deal.jpg

There were 2 surprises here. One was that imcastleman was so willing to make the deal despite having a 3 to 1 chip lead. And the second was that Raabinator93 was so quick to turn it down.

But we digress. After a short break we were under way and the all-in confrontations came thick and fast.

TCOOP-24_headsup.jpg

After a few chops, Raabinator93 found a double up. It would all go in before the flop: [6d][ac][9s][8s] for Raabinator93 and [qs][ad][jh][ts] for imcastleman. After five community cards were dealt, [6c][kc][7c] [8d] [2d], Raabinator93 won both the Hi (with two pair) and the Lo (with 8,7,6,2,A) for the whole shebang and 2.8 million in chips to imcastleman's 3.2 million.

Not long later Raabinator93 had totally reversed the chip counts. The final hand of the tournament played out like this.

Raabinator93 made a 3x open on the button to 750,000 and imcastleman shoved for 1,831,790, which got a quick call.

The cards were revealed and here's what we saw:

Raabinator93: [5s][7c][7h][ah]
imcastleman: [qh][9s][ac][7s]

Although behind to begin with, imcastleman would take the lead the on the [qd][6s][jd] flop. The turn was the [8d], giving Raabinator93 an up and down draw and imcastleman more cards to dodge. He couldn't do it though; the [4s] on the river gave Raabinator93 the straight and the win.

For his 2nd place finish, imcastleman banks $11,306.25.

Winning in this game is never easy - you've got to take the highs with the lows.By refusing the deal and saying those two simple words ("let's play"), Raabinator93 secured himself the TCOOP title, and $15,150.81.

TCOOP-24 ($82 PL Omaha H/L, 6-Max, Turbo) results

Entrants: 1,206
Total prize pool: $90,450
Places paid: 156

1. Raabinator93 (Germany) $15,150.81
2. imcastleman (Canada) $11,306.25
3. Grebinat (Ukraine) $8,592.75
4. Aggro Santos (Mexico) $5,879.25
5. sandman201 (Canada) $3,853.17
6. Olsen83 (Denmark) $2,713.50


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Jack Stanton is freelance journalist for the PokerStars Blog.



2016 Aussie Millions: Lakemeier leaps ahead on Day 1c

While most people in Melbourne were enjoying a drink and a barbecue for Australia Day, players in the Crown Poker Room were partaking in festivities of their own as they chased poker glory in this year's Aussie Millions.

All in all 337 players took their seats on Day 1c in a bid to win the Southern Hemisphere's most prestigious poker tournament and with the 180 entrants from Day 1a and 207 from Day 1b, we climb to a total of over 722. That makes this the fourth highest field in Aussie Millions Main Event history.

Leading those players into Day 2 will be Germany's Jens Lakemeier. He bagged up 175,000 at the conclusion of play. While today's flight did attract the largest field, it was our opening flight's James Obst who leads the charge into Day 2 tomorrow.

Jens Lakemeier Aussie Millions 2016.jpg

Day 1c chip leader - Jens Lakemeier

Lakemeier already has some impressive results to his name. The biggest of which saw him score $80,629 for runner up in the Poker EM High Roller Tournament. He also has an EPT Barcelona Pot Limit Omaha 5 card hi/lo title on his resume.

Before finishing on top Lakemeier navigated his way through a star-studded field this afternoon. Some of the others among the frontrunners include Dietrich Fast, Martin Jacobson, Fabian Quoss, Tony Dunst, and Chance Kornuth.

And while the internationals were out in force, so too was a strong Australian contingent. That group is currently led by Michael Wang with 165,200 chips, but also comprises Stevan Chew, Anthony Legg, Didier Guerin, Matthew Wakeman, Gary Benson, Rory Young, Alex Lynskey, and Daniel Neilson.

daniel neilson 2016 aussie millions .jpg

Daniel Neilson

2016 Aussie Millions Day 1c Top Ten Chip Counts
Jens Lakemeier (Germany) - 175,000
Michael Wang (Australia) - 165,200
James Broom (Australia) - 150,500
Dietrich Fast (Germany) - 142,600
Michael Levy (Australia) - 137,000
James Mordue (Australia) - 132,000
Daniel Braun (Australia) - 124,300
Samantha Abernathy (USA) - 122,700
Christian Weichhart (Germany) - 121,900
Richard Bruning (USA) - 118,300

For the 190 survivors they'll join those who made it through Day 1a and 1b right back here tomorrow from 12:30pm local time for another day of action. Rumour has it that play will cease earlier than the Day 1 flights so players can take a break and enjoy the Aussie Millions Players Party.

As always we'll have all your reporting needs from right here on the floor. We hope you can join us then!



VIP Freerolls: Your chance to play the TCOOP Main Event

It's time to start looking behind the cushions of the couch for any loose StarsCoin you might laying around, because this weekend they might just win you a seat into the TCOOP Main Event.


yellow_chips_26jan2016.jpg

This Saturday the VIP Bash and VIP Freerolls take place on PokerStars, with a seat in the TCOOP finale available for every 70,000 StarsCoin. That makes this a great way to take part in the TCOOP main event, which has a regular buy-in of $700. We're also adding 20 seats to the tournament, effectively meaning $14,000 added to the prize pool.

There's more.

This weekend is the last weekend of the month which means both the BronzeStar and Chrome Star freerolls will have their prize pools doubled. Their regular prize pools are $2,500 and $10,000 respectively, so we'll leave you do the calculation.

Then there are the SilverStar and GoldStar freerolls to suit up for. Here's when things get started (all times are UK times):

14:00 Monthly BronzeStar $5,000 Freeroll - Buy-in 25 StarsCoin.
16:00 Monthly ChromeStar $20,000 Freeroll
17:30 Monthly SilverStar $30,000 Freeroll
19:00 Monthly GoldStar $100,000 Freeroll

Find out more on the PokerStars VIP Club homepage. In the meantime best of luck this weekend. Now get back to that couch.


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.



TCOOP 2016: Four winners yesterday, four more today

One of the great things about a 'COOP series is the sheer volume of events. No need to wait for the weekend for something big to happen, because in TCOOP there are at least four events to look out for on any given day, such as yesterday... and today for that matter.

We'll get to today in just a moment. First yesterday with TCOOP events 20 through 23 playing to a finish. That meant four titles and a combined prize pool of more than $660,000.


stuffed_toy_poker_chips_26jan2016.jpg

They came in 5-card Omaha, Omaha hi-lo, regular hold'em, and one of those turbo zoom tournaments with a name so long there's a danger of it taking more time to say than to play (in this case a no-limit-hold'em-four-max-zoom-zoom-progressive-progressive-super-knockout).

Here are the results in full. Click on the link in each to read the full final table report.


TCOOP-20 ($82+R PL 5-Card Omaha, 6-Max, Turbo)
Entrants: 372
Rebuys: 695
Add-ons: 230
Total prize pool: $97,275
Places paid: 48

1. flexmasterNL (Netherlands) $18,518.12*
2. CavaloOoOo (Brazil) $16,004.61*
3. GiBobH/L (Poland) $10,943.43
4. Team PokerStars Pro Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara (Japan) $7,538.81
5. pappadogg (Czech Republic) $5,593.31
6. raconteur (United Kingdom) $3,647.81
* Reflects the results of a two-way deal that left $1,000 in play for the winner


TCOOP-21 ($27 NL Hold'em, 4-Max, Zoom, Progressive Super-Knockout)
Entrants: 6,873
Regular prize pool: $84,537.90
Bounty prize pool: $84,194.25
Places paid: 900
1. TeaDrinker77 (Malta) $6,248.95 + $1,884.34 in bounties*
2. nickus_poker (Netherlands) $6,805.85 + $1,673.75 in bounties*
3. PaiKekai (United Kingdom) $5,307.22 + $676.53 in bounties*
4. M Cunha G (Brazil) $2,019.61 + $525.57 in bounties
5. Theo55CY (Cyprus) $1,278.21 + $605.74 in bounties
* Reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $2,000 in play for the winner


TCOOP-22 ($82 FL Omaha Hi-Lo, 8-Max, Turbo)
Entrants: 728
Total prize pool: $54,600.00
Places paid: 96

1. 7HE__D__ASH (Switzerland) $9,078.53*
2. juicy joy (Netherlands) $8,529.97*
3. Thomas "sandman201" Tyler (Canada) $5,460.00
4. Ulett_23 (Canada) $4,095.00
5. sleepy_seven (Germany) $2,730.00
6. glennerz (Canada) $1,911.00
7. LillyPutina (Russia) $1,228.50
8. BraunerBär (Germany) $819.00
* Reflects the results of a two-way deal that left $500 in play for the winner


TCOOP-23 ($215 NL Hold'em, 6-Max, Hyper-Turbo, 10-Stack)
Entrants: 2,031
Total prize pool: $428,134.80
Places paid: 264

1. Thi_cortes (Brazil) $64,604.86 *
2. DJeka[MD] (Moldova) $55,133.45 *
3. steve3331 (Hungary) $37,461.79
4. FragdenInder (Austria) $24,617.75
5. Ce$ar$pa (United Kingdom) $16,055.05
6. guix2x (Brazil) $9,033.64
* Reflects the results of a 2-way deal that left $4,000 for the winner


Coming up today

That brings us to today with four more events and nearly $1 million in prize money to be won. They come in different shapes and sizes, with the pick of the day being TCOOP-26, a NL Hold'em ultra-deep tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $700,000.

Here's the full schedule of what to expect today:

TCOOP-24: $82 PL Omaha H/L (6-Max Turbo) $50K GTD - 12:00 ET
TCOOP-25: $82 Stud (Turbo) $25K GTD - 14:00 ET
TCOOP-26: $700 NL Hold'em (Turbo, Ultra-Deep) $700K GTD - 16:00 ET
TCOOP-27: $27+R NL Hold'em (2x Turbo) $200K GTD - 18:00


Ready to sign up for PokerStars and begin your own TCOOP campaign? Click here to get an account.

Leader Board after 23 events

Finally a look at the current leader board standings after 23 events, nearly half way in the 50 tournament series.

PLACENAMECOUNTRYPOINTS
1KornmeisterXGermany210
2TedyKGB88United Kingdom205
3CMoosepowerDenmark190
4DJeka[MD]Moldova175
5ouchbadbeatUnited Kingdom170
6G's zeeCanada160
6ugritalyAustralia160
8GiBobH/LPoland155
9Zagalo87Czech Republic145
10Geraldo CesarBrazil140
10homasapiensPoland140

Check back on the PokerStars Blog as the day goes on for each result, and find everything there is to know about the Championship on the TCOOP homepage. Then check back here tomorrow for the round-up of the day, as well as what's up next in TCOOP 2016. As always send your thoughts and comments to us on Twitter @PokerStarsBlog.com.


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.