Calmness in a clutch moments in poker is a trait to which not all of us can lay claim. While some, steadfast and almost without emotion, operate at optimal efficiency regardless of circumstance, others must rely on more traditional coping mechanisms, tested over centuries, and proven by the Dutch to enhance courage and confidence.

There may be players who occupy a middle ground - I hear deep breaths sometimes work - but others, like Josefine "Trymean77" Forssberg, 33, winner of WCOOP Event #23, choose tradition when facing the prospect of a first WCOOP final table.

"I was all over the place actually," she said. "I normally never drink alcohol while I play online, but I had to pour myself a glass of wine to calm my nerves. It went down rather quickly and I think I had finished almost three by the time the game was over. >_

Josefine Forssberg

There are two things you notice when talking to Forssberg. The first is that she speaks from the heart. The second is that she uses this symbol >_

It also downplays her obvious talent, now officially tested in the toughest of online theatres. Previous wins have included the Women's Sunday, which prompted her once to say how she felt she could only win the little events. It would seem the reality is otherwise.

"It was really exciting and rather nerve wrecking to be honest," she said. "I'm not used to going deep in big events, the money jumps are crazy and it's a bit difficult to come up with the best strategy when you haven't really been in that spot before. I'm pretty sure my tactic wasn't optimal for ICM, I kinda just went for it."

Forssberg hadn't actually planned on playing that day. A cash finish in the Sunday Million the previous weekend earned her around $2,000, ("I withdrew most and lost the rest"). But she deposited again to play the hyper satellite for Event #23, and "binked it first try".

And so she found herself going deep in her first big buy-in Omaha event.

"There weren't many key moments as such as I chipped up pretty early and didn't have to jeopardize my stack until just before the final table. One funny spot that was also rather important for my momentum was when a guy decided to stack off about 40 bb with top pair and a gut shot which made me a massive chip leader.

Another key pot fell for Forssberg before the final table, which led to a brave call from her opponent before she hit a straight.

"I had to jump up and down for like a minute before I could proceed playing."

Jumping up a down aside (there may or may not be a correlation with glasses of wine consumed) Forssberg's confidence held in tact through to the end.

"I'm really happy with how I played and I can't complain about the way I was running. Even though I lost chunks a few times I never lost my confidence and I kept coming back and chipping up without having to risk too much and picking really good spots for it as well."

A self-confessed procrastinator, who recently moved back to her native Sweden from London, she learned to play poker after watching TV, soon realising that to be good at it meant years of hard work.

But poker hasn't really been a priority for Forssberg this year. You might say it was sadness rather than celebration that preoccupied the past year, following the death of her mother nine months ago. It's something that has brought her a renewed closeness to her family, which can often be the perfect base on which to build an achievement like that of last week. No one would ever say poker was all that important in the general scheme of things, but few would challenge the importance of having a family to which you can turn, and with whom you can share moments like this.

Not that she was thinking clearly when the last card was dealt.

"I tried to focus, but had to scream like WHOOOAAAAAHHHHH to friends when I doubled up or got away with a massive bluff. >_

Unconventional (she then went for a swim in the sea), amiable, and a little inspiring, it's a win that would make anyone feel a little better. And if not a glass of wine might help. >_

It's rather exciting when a Team PokerStars Pro makes a deep run at a major title such as those on offer at the World Championship of Online Poker. There are many reasons why a player is chosen to adorn the red spade of PokerStars, but above all, it's about a player's skill, and success, on the poker felt.

We've seen some great runs by Team PokerStars Pros already this series and we came awfully close to adding another WCOOP title for the team today as Ukrainian Eugene Katchalov navigated his way through the field in WCOOP Event #37 to reach heads-up play. Katchalov found himself matched against a player called TheFish77, but this Norwegian was no fish as he was able to overcome the pro to claim an impressive victory.

It was Event #37 of the World Championship of Online Poker -- a $320 8-Game event which attracted a strong field of 533 entrants. They created a prize pool of $159,900 to easily surpass the advertised guarantee.

George Danzer, Adrienne Rowsome, Bertrand Grospellier, Jason Somerville, Jason Mercier and 2003 World Champion Chris Moneymaker were all in the field representing Team PokerStars but they would fall short of the money for the top 72 players.

When Russia's Iwantbearich was bounced out on the bubble, the remaining players had secured a minimum $511.68.

There were a couple of red spades making a deep run in this one. Japanese star Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara reached 15th place for a $1,487.07 however it was Eugene Katchalov who was making big waves as the chip leader entering the final two tables.

Katchalov was able to maintain his stack on one table while TheFish77 was running rampant on the other. TheFish77 was catching cards and betting with aggression as his table quickly became short-handed.

birddy420, who claimed to be playing his first ever 8-game tournament, was the one to bubble the final table. The luck didn't go his way late and when birddy420 committed in a hand of Omaha Hi-Lo, he was narrowly pipped for the high and low by TheFish77 as our final table was set:

Final Table Line up
Seat 1: isDatLekker? (110,560 in chips)
Seat 2: Eugene Katchalov (288,659 in chips)
Seat 3: Raabinator93 (227,834 in chips)
Seat 4: Leon_Javur (715,862 in chips)
Seat 5: TheFish77 (1,101,214 in chips)
Seat 6: Jonas Palsgård "Palsgaard1" Christensen (220,871 in chips)

Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov was in the middle of the pack, but caught an early double up with a pretty 7-4-3-2-A in Razz against TheFish77.

However Raabinator93 wasn't quite so fortunate to become the first eliminated from our final table. The game had switched to Seven-Card Stud, and after a series of raises, all the chips were in on third street. Raabinator93 started with a pair but could improve no further on a board of [7s][Qc][7h][6c][4s][As][3h] as TheFish77 had that well covered with [Td][Qs][Qd][Tc][Jd][7c][Ac] for queens and tens. That left Raabinator93 to pick up $5,116.80 for sixth place.

The chips were heavily on one side of the table with TheFish77 and Leon_Javur well out in front while the other three tried to survive.

isDatLekker? found quads at the right time but had to split the pot in Stud Hi-Lo, however the double up came in No Limit Holdem when isDatLekker?'s ace-queen held against Leon_Javur's dominated ace-five.

It was the No Limit Holdem round where Eugene Katchalov also made a move with pocket aces landing a big double up through the open-ended straight draw of TheFish77.

It would take until the Pot Limit Omaha round for the next casualty with isDatLekker? the one to go. With the chips all-in preflop, isDatLekker? went with [6s][Qd][As][Qc] but ran into Palsgaard1's [7h][Kd][Kh][8d]. The board ran out [2c][Js][Th][5d][9s] to give Palsgaard1 the bottom end of a straight to take it down and eliminate isDatLekker? in fifth place for $7,995 in prize money.

TheFish77 continued to surge at the top of the counts, winning more than a fair share of pots to accumulate more than two-thirds of the chips in play with four players remaining.

Leon_Javur took a couple of hits during Triple Draw before Katchalov started to make a few moves with well-timed aggression in the Limit Holdem round. When Katchalov got three streets of value with ace-ten on a ten-high board against TheFish77, it was Katchalov who was into the chip lead.

The blinds got hold of Jonas Palsgård "Palsgaard1" Christensen who was all in preflop during Limit Holdem. Both TheFish77 and Katchalov made the call and fired a bet into the side pot on the flop before Katchalov gave it up on the turn. The board read [Ah][6d][Ac][7s] and Palsgaard1 was hopeful that [9c][7c] was good, but TheFish77 was all over that board with [ad][7d] for a full house! The river was the [th] leaving Palsgaard1 to pick up $11,193 for fourth place.

Two hands later and three became two as Leon_Javur was sent to the rail. Again it was Limit Holdem that did the damage, with Leon_Javur four-betting all in preflop against TheFish77. It was [8d][9h] for Leon_Javur against the [ad][td] of TheFish77. The flop landed [3s][3c][8h] and Leon_Javur had snuck ahead but that all changed again on the [Th] turn as TheFish77 paired the ten. The river bricked the [5c] to send Leon_Javur home in third place for $16,389.75 in prize money.

Heads-up chip counts
Seat 2: E. Katchalov (1,247,248 in chips)
Seat 5: TheFish77 (1,417,752 in chips)

Things were pretty even when heads-up play commenced with TheFish77 holding a narrow lead over the Team PokerStars Pro.

With the blinds so large in the limit games, it didn't take long for the chips to pass back and forth. Katchalov grabbed the early advantage but TheFish77 fought back with six pots in a row to take a two-to-one lead.

Big pots were exchanged during Omaha Hi-Lo before a crucial hand went the way of TheFish77 during Razz. There were bets on every street with TheFish77 showing up with a pretty 6-5-4-3-2 to scoop a pot worth 800k.

TheFish77 continued to grind down Katchalov who just couldn't get anything going before the final hand unfolded during Seven-Card Stud.

The chips were all in on third street with the boards running out as follows:

TheFish77: [Ks][8s][3c][7c][Qd][6c][3d]
Katchalov: [2h][7d][2s][5c][Qc][Jd][8c]

Katchalov started with a lowly pair of ducks which had the lead all the way until the river where TheFish77 paired the three to nudge ahead and claim the title!

Congratulations to Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov on a tremendous run. He fell just short of the WCOOP title but did pick up $22,386 in prize money for his runner-up result.

However on this occasion it would be Norwegian TheFish77 who topped the pro to collect the title and $30,381 in prize money. Congratulations!

WCOOP-37: $320 8-Game - $100K Guaranteed
Entrants: 533
Prize Pool: $159,900
Places Paid: 72

1. TheFish77 (Norway) $30,381.00
2. Eugene Katchalov (Ukraine) $22,386.00
3. Leon_Javur (Estonia) $16,389.75
4. Jonas Palsgård "Palsgaard1" Christensen (Denmark) $11,193.00
5. isDatLekker? (Netherlands) $7,995.00
6. Raabinator93 (Germany) $5,116.80

The 2015 World Championship of Online Poker is only just past the half-way mark with over 70 events throughout the series. Check out the WCOOP home page for the full schedule of events.

Haven't gotten a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now!

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

There were four differents attempts at making a deal in this event. Four. I'll tell ya, they're a stubborn bunch, these PLO geniuses. But we'll get into the deal-making squabbles a bit later.

Tonight was the second and final day of event 35 of the 2015 WCOOP, a $320+R PL Omaha [6-Max] tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of a quarter of a million. When there's rebuys involved, that amount was always likely to grow, and grow it did to $490,500 after 553 entries, 649 rebuys and 433 add-ons.

The most familiar face was that of Russian high roller Vladimir 'vovtroy' Troyanovskiy, a man who - if his performance at EPT Deauville in February was anything to go by - needs little sleep to crush at the poker tables. Any guesses at what he got up to last night would be pure speculation.

But the player who came out on top tonight was Israel's viebu, who took home a monster pay day of $83,040.17. Back in 2009 he won $38,991.05 plus an Audi TT RS in a $1 Million Turbo Takedown tournament, but we're sure his first ever WCOOP title is even sweeter than that sweet ride.

Day two kicked off with just seven players remaining, each guaranteed a $10,300.50 pay day. It meant we needed just one bust out to get our final table of six, and within 15 minutes of play resuming the spotlights were on. The first player leaving the tournament was the shortest stack coming into the day, Supernova player ComptonMasta from Canada, who exited in 7th.

Under the spotlights

Here's a look at the chip counts at the beginning of this final table:

1. rmdr (Germany) 1,706,855
2. viebu (Israel) 1,212,106
3. Vladimir 'vovtroy' Troyanovskiy (Russia) 1,082,641
4. Shhh00kem (Canada) 1,038,180
5. Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos (Austria) 441,843
6. Joel "Odonkor1" Nordkvist (Sweden) 289,375

Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos has a TCOOP PLO victory for $55K, Sunday Warm-Up win for $112K, and several SCOOP and WCOOP final tables, so a win here would have given him his second COOP title. Meanwhile, Shhh00kem is a very accomplished player, having taken down the Super Tuesday and scoring a massive $430,650 with a runner-up finish in the 2012 $10,300 NLHE High Roller.

We also had chipleader rdmr from Germany, a former SCOOP final tablist, as well as Joel "Odonkor1" Nordkvist, an extremely talented high stakes cash game player.

rdmr wasted no time in proposing a deal, something he would continue to deal throughout, despite being the chip leader for much of it. "You guys want to take an early look on numbers? Fine playing it all the way out but just throwing it out there," he said, but got no response.

Entering the final table with just under ten big blinds was always going to making things challenging for Sweden's Odonkor1, but unfortunately anything resembling a comeback wasn't to be in this event. With the blinds at 12,500/25,000, viebu min-opened to 50,000 and arxigos called from the small blind. Having seen his stack drop to just 138,175, Odonkor1 raised all-in and viebu called the 88,175 more. Now arxigos decided to put all his remaining chips at risk too, and also moved all-in for 532,686 total. Veibu called the 384,511 more and the cards were flipped.

arxigos: [Ac][Ad][7h][Kc]
viebu: [4h][7d][Qd][Kh]
Odonkor1: [Qs][9s][2d][Qh]

The flop fell [ks][2h][5c], meaning the aces of arxigos were in front. The [4s] on the turn gave Odonkor1 a flush draw and saw viebu take the lead with two pair, kinds and fours, but the [5d] on the river paired the board, meaning the aces were back in use. With a higher two pair, aces and fives, arxigos scooped both pots and Joel "Odonkor1" Nordkvist was sent to the rail with 6th place money worth $15,696.

More talk of deals, more players bust

At this point the five remaining players were considering a deal and opted to see the chop numbers. Rdmr, who posed the question of seeing the numbers at the very beginning of this final table, was chipleader at the time and again suggested that the table take a peek. After tournament host and Team PokerStars Online's Randy 'nanonoko' Lew presented the numbers, rdmr then requested more than the ICM figures presented - something which other members of the table didn't take too kindly to, notably Vladimir 'vovtroy' Troyanovskiy. The players didn't reach an agreement, and Vlad and rdmr would develop something of a trolling rivalry moving forward.

Shortly after the first of three potential deals fell through, we lost another player. It was a roller coaster orbit or two for arxigos, who had gone from having roughly a million in chips after the big hand which eliminated Odonkor1, to a stack of just 135,605. With 45,000 in the middle as the cards were dealt, arxigos put out a committing bet of 105,000 which chipleader rdmr called. Now viebu bumped the price of poker up to 450,000, leading to arxigos calling off his remaining 30,605 and rmdr getting out of the way.

viebu: [6h][Td][Ad][Ah]
arxigos: [Jh][Qh][9d][Th]

The flop was the [3c][8h][6d], giving arxigos a gutshot, but veibu's aces were still in the lead. The turn was the [6s], which discounted the aces giving viebu a set of sixes, and the [4c] on the river changed nothing. Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos collected $24,525 for 5th.

Now down to four, the players decided to consider a chop once again. Vovtroy had won a few pots off of rdmr by this point, giving him the chiplead.

"Oh you're that rich Russian whale. don't worry, we'll deal when he busts," said rdmr of vovtroy, perhaps with a tongue firmly in his cheek, as one quick Google of Vlad shows he could very well be rich, but he's far from a cash machine.

The next player to exit was Shhh00kem of Canada. With just under 18 big blinds he held the shallowest stack of the final four, so would need to make something happen to get back in this thing. After rdmr made it 75,000 to go, Shhh00kem raised to 240,000 - a large percentage of his chips. Rdmr wasted no time in setting his opponent all-in, which was called.

Shhh00kem: [As][Jd][Ks][3d]
rdmr: [Qs][Ah][Ad][6d]

To the flop we went, and it arrived with the [7c][6c][4h] - nothing for Shhh00kem. The [7s] on the turn changed nothing, and although the [js] on the river gave him two pair, it wasn't enough to beat rdmr's aces and sevens. For 4th place Shhh00kem won $34,335.

Once again the tournament was paused to discuss a deal, and once again there was no agreement.

As rdmr's stack grew, vovtroy's shrank. With the stacks at 3M for rdmr, 1.7M for viebu and 947,466 for vovtroy, the Russian found a much needed double up through the chip leader. The blinds had gone up to 20,000/40,000 and vovtroy opened for 84,000 only to see rdmr raise to 292,000, which was called.

We went to a flop of [7s][Ts][Jd] and after rdmr bet 624,000 - just about all of his opponents stack - vovtroy put his remaining chips in and was called.

rdmr: [8s][Qs][2h][Ah]
vovtroy: [Qh][3h][7d][Ks]

Both players had draws a plenty, and the turn was always going to be an action card. It was the [8c], giving rdmr a pair, but the [9h] gave both players a straight. As vovtroy's was higher, he took down the pot and shot up to 1,934,932.

Not long after vovtroy became chipleader again, taking the role of consistent aggresor, but soon lost a big to his rival rdmr. Vlad dropped to around 1,000,000 while the other had about 2,300,000 each. Just a few hands later with the blinds at 25,000/50,000 it was viebu's turn to take a commanding lead, with roughly 2,800,000 to vovtroy's 1,400,000 and rdmr's 1,500,000.

The fall of vovtroy

We would lose Vladimir 'vovtroy' Troyanovskiy in third. The blinds were now 30,000/60,000 and vovtroy opened to 120,000, finding a caller in his nemesis rdmr. The flop of [8s][4c][3s] saw rdmr fire out 144,000, which was called, resulting in the [kc] on the turn. Leading out again was rdmr with a bet of 588,000, and now vovtroy moved all-in for 767,652 which was called.

rdmr: [6s][7h][5s][7c]
vovtroy: [Jd][9c][Jc][3h]

Troyanovskiy was ahead but rdmr had a huge drawing hand. The [kc] on the turn only improved vovtroy's hand, adding a club flush draw, but the [4s] on the river completed rdmr's spade flush draw and sent the Russian to the rail with third place money of $50,276.25.

It would take just one hand of heads-up play before another deal was discussed. "Fine to just play for bracelet and 5k, so up to u," said rdmr, to which viebu responded "50 50 buddy, that's my minimum".

But after the numbers were presented - $78,824.83 for rdmr, $78,040.17 for viebu with $5,000 left to play for - both players agreed and after four attempts, a deal was made. With a ton of money each locked up, the players wished each other luck and we got right back to the action.

The final stretch

It was a topsy turvy head-up war which at times saw both players have a demanding lead over the other. Ultimately though it was Israel's viebu who would come out victorious.

At the beginning of the final hand, rdmr had just 671,228 to viebu's 5,099,772. It was a timid start to the hand, with viebu simply completing the 80,000 big blind and rdmr checking his option. The flop came the [2s][Th][6h] and rdmr bet 99,200, only to see viebu raise 358,400 to 457,600. Now rdmr moved all-in for 591,228 and viebu called the remaining 133,628.

rdmr: [Td][Jc][5s][3s]
viebu: [7s][6s][8s][2c]

viebu's twos and sixes were ahead of rdmr's tens, but there was still hope. The [ad] on the turn didn't provide much help though, and the [8d] on the river only improved viebu's hand to eights and sixes.

A big congratulations to our winner, viebu, who took down $83,040.17 for his first WCOOP championship, and also to rdmr, who wins a mighty fine $78,824.83 for finishing second.

WCOOP-35: $320+R PL Omaha [6-Max]

Entries: 553 (649 rebuys and 433 add-ons)
Prize pool: $490,500
Places paid: 72

1. viebu (Israel) $83,040.17*
2. rmdr (Germany) $78,824.83*
3. Vladimir 'vovtroy' Troyanovskiy (Russia) $50,276.25
4. Shhh00kem (Canada) $34,335.00
5. Konstantinos "arxigos" Nanos (Austria) $24,525.00
6. Joel "Odonkor1" Nordkvist (Sweden) $15,696.00

*indicates prize money after a heads-up deal was made

There are plenty of WCOOP events left for you to play leading up to the Main Event on September 27th - check out the schedule here.

Don't have a PokerStars account? Then what are you waiting for - sign up today.

Jack Stanton is a professional journalist and a freelance writer for PokerStars.

It looked for a while like a WCOOP bracelet would be going to a red-spade sporter this afternoon, as Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden had the chip lead late in Event #34, a $320 buy-in no-limit hold'em affair with optional re-entry.

Then it appeared Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah might be earning his second WCOOP bracelet this week -- and third overall -- as he led to start the final table and was ahead during heads-up play.

But in the end it was Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard playing from Malta outlasting Lodden in fifth and Leah in second to earn the bracelet and a handsome $95,256 first prize.

There were 1,481 players taking part in this one, and with 535 re-entries taken the total prize pool added up to $604,800, over three times the $200K guarantee. When play concluded on Day 1 just 30 players remained, with Canada's Christopher "UncleAnte9" Lockhart the frontrunner among them and Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden in second position.

Also standing out near the top of the leaderboard at night's end were Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah in fourth position, fresh off winning Event #27 ($215 PLO 6-Max Progressive Super-KO) on Monday, and European Poker Tour founder John "Blessed" Duthie who took runner-up in this year's kickoff Event #1 ($109 NLHE).

Here's how the top of the leaderboard looked to begin Day 2:

1. Christopher "UncleAnte9" Lockhart (Canada) -- 738,949
2. Team PokerStars Pro Johnny "johnnylodden" Lodden (Norway) -- 651,906
3. LearnToFlyy (United Kingdom) -- 610,071
4. Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) -- 584,505
5. gregor7878 (Poland) -- 565,654
6. Marko "Kuconi" Bošković (Serbia) -- 555,380
7. 10Badboy10 (Russia) -- 551,826
8. Be@trixKiddo (Canada) -- 513,176
9. Nelisschuif7 (Malta) -- 467,564
10. John "Blessed" Duthie (United Kingdom) -- 423,313

It would take almost two hours for the 30 returners to play down to 12, with John "Blessed" Duthie one of those hitting the rail (in 16th, for $4,415.04). By then Lodden had moved into the top spot, with Leah still among the top five.

Over the next 15 minutes hdjgkfkgsdl (12th), Nelisschuif7 (11th), and João "Naza114" Vieira (10th) were all eliminated, picking up $6,048 apiece.

toril274 (ninth) and Noah "dirty.brasil" Vaillancourt (eighth) followed, then Mike Leah won a big hand to knockout Be@trixKiddo (seventh), with those three each taking away $9,072.

On the strength of that big pot, it was "goleafsgoeh" out in front as the final table began.

Seat 1: Team PokerStars Pro Johnny "johnnylodden" Lodden (Norway) -- 1,727,421
Seat 2: Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov (Ukraine) -- 1,190,668
Seat 3: Keep2p34Ch" (Morocco) -- 869,576
Seat 4: Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) -- 3,636,563
Seat 5: pellompogos (Cyprus) -- 1,484,883
Seat 6: Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard (Malta) -- 1,170,889

The final six wished each other good luck, with Lodden chiming in "hopefully the most lucky wins!"

A little less than a half-hour into the final table, the blinds were 17,500/35,000 when it folded around to pellompogos in the small blind who shoved all in for just under 400,000, and Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard called from the big.

pellompogos had [Qs][8d] and was in need of help versus Kerignard's [Ks][Qc]. The board didn't provide any, however, coming [2s][3s][5h][Jh][Jd], and pellompogos was done in sixth.

About 20 minutes after that, Lodden had slipped down to about 620,000 (about 15-and-a-half big blinds) to become fifth of five, and after watching leader Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah open from the minimum from the cutoff, Lodden shoved from the small blind and Leah called.

Lodden ahd [6s][6d] while Leah held [As][Tc], and the [Ac][2h][9d] flop swiftly had Lodden searching for one of the two remaining sixes to survive. Alas for the Norwegian, the turn was the [Jh] and river the [Qs], giving Leah the pot and Lodden a fifth-place finish.

Less than five minutes later Keep2p34Ch" was the one shoving all in from under the gun for just under 680,000 (about 17 BBs) and getting called by Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov from the big blind. Keep2p34Ch" had [9h][9c] but Kovtunov had woken up with [Qs][Qc], and five cards later -- [Ts][6c][Ah][3d][4s] -- they were down to three.

The fourth-place finish marked another nice score for Keep2p34Ch" who just won the Super Tuesday a couple of months ago and chatted with PokerStars Blog about it afterwards.

The final three battled onward, then just after the day's four-hour mark came another knockout.

Lean was leading with just over 5.36 million, Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard was next with about 3.71 million, and Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov had become the short stack with just a touch under 1 million even.

Kerignard opened with a just-over-2x rise to 105,000 from the small blind, Kovtunov shoved from the big blind, and Kerignard called in a flash. Kovtunov had [Kc][9s] but Kerignard had him crushed with [Ah][Ac], and after the board rolled out [2c][5c][9d][8s][Js] Kovtunov was out in third.

That's a seventh cash during this year's WCOOP for Kovtunov. He's following up a strong WCOOP last year on PokerStars, too, when he earned a bracelet (and a big $242K payday) in $1,050 NLHE event.

Here we were again, watching Leah for the second time this week battling heads-up for a WCOOP bracelet. Earlier this week Leah had been behind to start heads-up play, but today he enjoyed a slight lead with a little less than 5.36 million to Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard's 4.72 million.

On just the fourth hand between the pair -- while Kerignard was asking about a possible deal and Leah was declining -- the Canadian won a 4.3 million-plus chip pot to move up over 7.8 million versus his opponent's less than 2.3 million.

Kerignard gradually fought back, however, and about 20 minutes later had edged in front of Leah to claim the advantage. Fifteen minutes after that Kerignard was up over 8.95 million to Leah's 1.12 million when the following hand took place.

The blinds were 40,000/80,000, and Leah opened by raising to 160,000 from the button. Kerignard responded with an all-in push, and Leah called with what he had left, turning over [Ac][Kd] and seeing he was ahead of Kerignard's [Ah][7s].

But the flop came [5d][7h][4c], hitting Kerignard's kicker to put the player from Malta in the lead. The turn was the [9c] and river the [6c], and Leah had come one spot shy of a second bracelet of the series and third overall as Kerignard had won.

Congratulations to Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard for topping a big field and tough final table to earn the hardware in Event #34.

WCOOP-34: $320 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Optional Re-Entry)

Entries: 2,016 (1,481 entries, 535 re-entries)

Prize pool: $604,800

Places paid: 252

1. Yorane "viirusss" Kerignard (Malta) $95,256.00
2. Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) $71,064.00
3. Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov (Ukraine)
4. Keep2p34Ch" (Morocco) $34,776.00
5. Team PokerStars Pro Johnny "johnnylodden" Lodden (Norway) $23,708.16
6. pellompogos (Cyprus) $13,547.52


We're only today crossing the midway point of the 70-event World Championship of Online Poker. Visit the WCOOP page for a complete (and instantly updated) list of results so far, the Player of the Series Leader Board, and a full schedule of what's still to come.

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Imagine waking up every day worried about something. Anything. Nothing. The worries roll in and over like waves, crashing white-capped stressors that beat you into the coral until you're a bloody psychic mess. It can be as exhausting as it is tedious and terrible.

"You can't stop the waves," John Kabat-Zinn once said, "but you can learn to surf."

Kabat-Zinn, an MIT-trained PhD expert on stress reduction was speaking in metaphors, but if you talk to almost any surfer, you'll know what happens just offshore is more than a matter of metaphor. Or, as the kid in Point Break (don't judge me!) said, "Surfing's the source. Can change your life. Swear to God."

But, for second, let's put aside platitudes and consider plattsburgh, better known to his friends as Matt Vengrin, better known around these parts as WCOOP's newest repeat champion. While he may not have been beaten and bloodied by worry, those niggling little life problems weren't helping.

Vengrin splits his time between Mexico and Las Vegas, the latter of which saw him nearly win a WSOP bracelet in the $3,000 HORSE event and post a cash in the Main Event. Still, even in a place surrounded by desert, it's easy to feel like the walls are closing in.

"I was going kind of stir crazy in Vegas," he said.

If he had the stir crazy fever, he knew the only cure: WCOOP by the ocean.

"It was nice to have a change of scenery," Vengrin said this week. "Going to bed by the ocean is something I could get used to."

While the change of scenery may have played a role in Vengrin's most recent success, there's a lot more to it than that, and not all of it is happy.

"I lost a father figure, a mentor, and a friend."

Vengrin tweeted that at the end of last year upon the death of Howard Shultz. Shultz was known in entertainment circles as a famed reality TV producer, but to Vengrin, Shultz was a lot more. He was the man who helped turn Vengrin into the man and poker player he has become.

"He was instrumental in my mental game and being able to close the deal in tournaments," Vengrin said, dedicating his WCOOP win to Howard Schultz and his family.

Vengrin has come to understand that there is a lot more to winning than playing his cards well. He's learned to listen to people who know a little bit about rising above basic accomplishment to something greater.

Vengrin found himself talking to Hollywood writer and director Scott Derrickson (who is currently in the middle of making Dr. Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch and Rachel McAdams).

"I have stopped taking things so seriously. I have found that if I just relax and go with the flow that good things will happen. I have Scott Derrickson to thank for that," Vengrin said. "He took some time to speak with me about success, and I think that really helped me."

Today, Vengrin is among the top ten players in the 2015 WCOOP series. He sits at #7 on the overall leader board at the halfway point in the series. While the leader board is nice, Vengrin's mind may be more focused on another sort of board altogether.

While Vengrin says it's still a work in progress, he's been working on his surfing since this time last year. While he doesn't necessarily come right out and credit his time in the water, he mentions surfing in the same breath as a new sort of peace he's harnessed.

"I am a little more calm. I don't let the little things bother me as much as before," he said. "I think I am maturing. I am realizing that the less you try to control things the more they fall into place. I may be growing up into an adult. It's certainly possible."

Of course, this is also the man who turned his PokerStars avatar into a Klingon (in honor of his best friend, The Omaholic) and still watches Star Trek: The Next Generation almost daily. Nevertheless, we assert this doesn't disqualify him from adulthood.

"I hear the Klingons are planning war on the federation," Vengrin revealed. "I do not suggest this course of action, but it seems as if it is coming. Klingons are excellent fighters with tremendous honor."

And just when we thought we'd put all our worries behind us...

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It was a small tournament but a talented tournament and an often-viewed tournament as it got deeper. Badugi tournaments don't generally draw the same crowd you might see in your standard, No Limit Hold'em, bet it and forget affair.

You have to intentionally register, knowing full well what you are getting yourself into. People occasionally register for the wrong NLH tournament but that doesn't happen with Badugi. This time PokerStars tweaked the WCOOP Badugi event, giving it a bigger buy-in, smaller field, same guarantee.

The $700 version this time around drew 113 players to easily top the $50,000 guarantee but people started paying attention as the tournament neared the end of the first day. There were more than a few top players in contention but most spectators were viewing for two legends.

Jason Mercier was running deep in yet another major online tournament, he has two WCOOP titles to his name and six SCOOP to go along with them. While Mercier is great, just as many were there cheering on Thor Hansen.

Hansen is a true poker legend and has been battling cancer for nearly four years. That hasn't stopped him, perhaps slowed him down at some times, but he's managed to stay a positive influence and play some damn good poker along the way. Hansen even earned himself a couple WCOOP titles after the doctors said he was "terminal".

Play was paused for the evening at the end of Level 18, shortly after the elimination of Team PokerStars' Bryan Huang, but they still weren't in the money. Despite playing for half a day, there were still 17 players remaining with only 16 getting a piece of the prize pool.

Sirocko was the shortest stack, coming back to just four big bets, and he quickly dropped out to put the last two tables in the money. There were plenty of successful players on those tables besides Mercier and Hansen.

Mark "The Omaholic" Roland was there looking for his first COOP victory to go with his Super Tuesday success. Gambler4444 also has a Super Tuesday victory along with a 2013 SCOOP title and Sunday Million win. secky0222 finished fourth in the 2014 SCOOP-M Main Event, skalexjung sports some 2011 SCOOP-H Stud/8 hardware, and Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko's SCOOP and WCOOP titles have him 2/3rds of the way toward the triple crown.

The UK's Adam "Adamyid" Owen was an interesting character in the mix. Easily the most vocal and he's had a lot of heart break in major events. He finished fourth only 10 days ago in the opening 2015 WCOOP event but the tough ones have to be his three runner-up results in SCOOP tournaments.

It didn't take long to get from two tables to the final table, and they reached that point when Fresh_oO_D hit the road in 9th place to set things up for the final run. Thor Hansen was one of the shorter stacks throughout Day 2 and was able to make the cash but fell short of the final table.

Event 33 Final Table

Seat 1: ViTaMin_F22 (182,265 in chips)
Seat 2: ekziter (128,940 in chips)
Seat 3: Jamie Keeler (58,615 in chips)
Seat 4: JasonMercier (113,775 in chips)
Seat 5: Gambler4444 (138,410 in chips)
Seat 6: Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (118,850 in chips)
Seat 7: secky0222 (240,440 in chips)
Seat 8: Adam "Adamyid" Owen (148,705 in chips)

Limits: 4,000/8,000

Gambler4444 hit twice by Owen; gone early

Gambler4444 (with a really bad Badugi hand in his name) began the final table in the top half of the chip counts but that was his peak chip count for the rest of the tournament.

Nothing went right, he soon found himself at the other end of the spectrum and found himself up against Adam "Adamyid" Owen in back-to-back hands. The first hand saw him discard one on each of the three draws and checking as first to act.

He called bets on the second and third draws before mucking after seeing Owen's sweet [6s][4d][3c][2h] Badugi. That left Gambler444 with only 2,410 in his stack and they went in the middle after a Jason Mercier raise.

Not a good sign for Gambler444, Mercier and Owen capped the betting before the first draw. Mercier stood pat, Gambler4444 drew one card, and Owen stood pat behind. Mercier checked/called a bet from Owen before thinking better of his hand to draw two this time around.

Gambler4444 stayed with his routine and drew one more while Owen continued to stand pat. Mercier check/folded to the second draw big bet from Owen and it was heads up. Gambler4444 drew one more card and hit his [9d][8s][7c][4h] Badugi.

That would have been a good hand most times but Owen was dealt [7d][5h][3s][2c] for a better Badugi to send Gambler4444 out of the Championship in 8th place for $2,254.

It's Zaichenko's time to deal with Adamyid

Before Owen knocked Gambler4444 nearly down to the felt, he put a big hurt on Zaichenko as well. That occurred when Owen hit his [td][3s][2c][ah] Badugi on the first draw while Zaichenko called bets all the way down.

Zaichenko hung around long enough to ladder up with Gambler4444's dismissal but he had to take a shot at some point. He put in a third bet against Mercier before the first draw then stood pat on the first two draws firing a bet each time to get all-in.

Mercier stood pat on the third draw and Zaichenko broke his hand to pull one last card for his tournament. Mercier showed a [9s][5h][3d][2c] Badugi while the best Zaichenko could pull was a three-card [ts][7d][4c][2d] Badugi to go out in 7th place.

secky0222 three-cards Keeler out of the Championship

Jamie Keeler, playing under the secret name Jamie Keeler, was sitting pretty and it took three hands to get the Brit out of the tournament. The first was a 92,000 chip pot going to Mercier, then it was another 75,000 pot going ViTaMin_F22.

Both those hands left Keeler feeling short and the final hand was against secky0222 after he called a raise from the small blind. secky0222 drew one card while Keeler drew two and called a bet from secky0222. It was the same thing on the next round, secky0222 drawing one and Keeler drawing two, but this time Keeler moved all-in after a bet from secky0222.

They each discarded one on the final draw and each tabled a three-card Badugi. secky0222's [5h][3c][2d] was just a little better than Keeler's [6s][3h][ac] to send the next player off the final table, a 6th place finish for $3,757.

No seventh COOP for Mercier this time around

Jason Mercier making a COOP final table is almost common place these days. If you see him late in a big online event, you just have to assume he'll find a way to get there.

The spectator count was climbing throughout the final table but dropped quickly at the mid-point. Mercier was hanging around the middle of the counts for most of the second day and finally ran out of space.

He lost a big pot to secky0222 that left him in the dangerzone, a spot for Owen to pick off the rock star player. It began when the two of them capped the betting with ViTaMin_F22 before the first draw to get a "gg in advance" from ekziter.

Owen and ViTaMin_F22 stood pat while Mercier drew one card. ViTaMin_F22 bet out, Mercier called for his last 1,250 and Owen came along. The two live players stood pat once again, they checked, and the same action came on the third draw.

Owen showed a [9d][8h][4c][as] Badugi to get mucks from the other two players. Neither could match the hand and one of the best players in the world hit the door in 5th place for $4,884.

ViTaMin_F22 loses the war of attrition

Half of the final table players were gone and the four remaining players settled in for a grind. There were some pretty big swings at these levels so they were pushing chips around for a while.

Someone had to run into a cold streak and it was ViTaMin_F22 succumbing first. He lost an 87,000 chip pot to ekziter and tried to get something back on the next hand when he called a bet in the big blind from secky0222.

The first two draws were the same pattern; each drew one card, ViTaMin_F22 fired a bet, and secky0222 called. ViTaMin_F22 stood pat on the final draw, secky0222 drew one final card, and called when ViTaMin_F22 put in his last 10,530.

It was a good draw and easy call for secky0222 with [6c][5h][4d][2s] and ViTaMin_F22's [9c][7s][3d][2h] Badugi was only good for 4th place and $6,763.

secky0222 slow burn comes to an end

If four-handed play seemed to go on forever, it really took a break on the action after ViTaMin_F22 hit the rail. The last three players pushed their chips around the table for nearly 40 minutes before anyone was in danger.

Turns out it was going to be secky0222, architect of a few eliminations already today, to be the next to fall. As with most limit games, the major hands just knock a player's stack way down. The knockouts come later.

secky0222's bad hand came against Owen in a six-digit pot when one Queen-high Badugi beat another. Owen's [qd][7c][5s][3h] was good enough against [qh][jd][9c][4s] to put secky0222 in trouble.

secky0222's final hand saw more action then most of them at the final table, there were three bets in the pot each for secky0222 and ekziter before the first draw.

ekziter drew one card while secky0222 drew two and the chips got in the middle with the third bet from ekziter. secky0222 stood pat after ekziter drew one card but decided against that strategy after ekziter stood pat on the third draw.

They each tabled a Badugi but ekziter drew better to a [8d][6c][5s][ah] while the best secky0222 could do was [th][6s][2c][ad] for a second best Badugi. It was a struggle but secky0222 was gone in 3rd place to set up a heads up match between Owen and ekziter.

ekziter denies Owens to win Event 33

Seat 2: ekziter (422,025 in chips)
Seat 8: Adamyid (707,975 in chips)

Limits: 8,000/16,000

Owen had a nice lead over ekziter at the start of heads up play and offered to look at the numbers, if he could get a 2% bump when they were run. ekziter politely declined and off they went.

Heads up in limit games can take a long while and this one was no different. There were swings both ways with each taking a turn at the top. The two raged on for more than an hour and hit their second break of the match.

At this point, ekziter had pulled up to a 10-to-1 chip lead on Owen and it only lasted three more hands once they returned. They each picked up the blinds in the first two hands before they each hit a decent heads up hand.

Owen called a raise and drew two cards followed by ekziter taking three new ones, then called a bet from Owen. ekziter must have liked his first draw because he only took one card the next time around with Owen doing the same.

Two big bets later and Owen was all-in with a big draw. They each took one more card for the final time but neither hit. It turns out ekziter had a bigger draw and his three-card Badugi [6h][4d][2c] was better than Owen's [7d][4h][2s].

Owen was drawing live for the double up but missed out for yet another COOP second place finish. ekziter is your latest WCOOP winner after picking up the Badugi Championship and the $18,410 to go along with it.

WCOOP-33: $700 FL Badugi Championship
Entrants: 113
Prize pool: $75,145
Places paid: 16

1. ekziter (Belarus) $18,410.55
2. Adam "Adamyid" Owen (United Kingdom) $12,774.65
3. secky0222 (Japan) $9,768.85
4. ViTaMin_F22 (China) $6,763.05
5. Jason Mercier (Canada) $4,884.42
6. Jamie Keeler (United Kingdom) $3,757.25
7. Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (Russia) $3,005.80
8. Gambler4444 (Austria) $2,254.35

We're into Day 12 of WCOOP 2015. Here's the latest update with 32 of 70 events now completed.

Today's highlights:

--nafnaf_funny wins Event 30, leaving Conor "blanconegro" Drinan in second.
--RuiNF is denied a second bracelet in Event #31, by eventual winner aricontre.
--gettingpwned wins Event #32 ahead of Track, Kihara, and Kenney.

Round up of latest results

There were various stories tucked into the three most recent WCOOP events, and not just relating to the winners.

In Event #30, nanaf_funny from Russia took the first prize of more than $38,000, denying runner-up Conor "blanconegro" Drinan a first WCOOP bracelet. As Martin Harris wrote for the Blog, it was one of those events that almost took as long to say as to play, it being a five-card-Omaha-hi-lo-six-max-two-rebuys-one-add-on tournament. Read his report here.

Event #31 was a little shorter in name, it being the Super Tuesday Special Edition. Its 1,624 players combined for a prize pool exceeding $1.6 million, which was won by aricontre from the United Kingdom. But it had been a close thing for RuiNF, a WCOOP winner last week, who narrowly missed out on a second title. As Pauly McGuire reported, he finished fourth, which should be enough to send him back to the top of the WCOOP leader board.

Lastly there was Event #32, won by gettingpwned, recording his second COOP win in the FL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship. In doing so they saw off some tough opposition. Bryn Kenney would finish seventh, behind Team Online's Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara in sixth and former EPT Prague winner Julian Track in fifth. Read Jason Kirk's report here.

Here are the scores in full:

Event #30: $215 PL 5-Card Omaha H/L (6-Max, 2R1A)
Entries: 396 (340 rebuys, 215 add-ons)
Prize pool: $190,200
Places paid: 54

1. nafnaf_funny (Russia) $38,040.00
2. Connor "blanconegro" Drinan (Mexico) $28,149.60
3. lozzz (United Kingdom) $20,922.00
4. Gambler4444 (Austria) $14,455.20
5. snafer1 (Poland) $10,556.10
6. AngryJuice (Finland) $6,752.10


Event 31: $1,050 NL Hold'em (Super Tuesday SE)
Entrants: 1,624
Prize Pool: $1,624,00
Places Paid: 198

1. aricontre (United Kingdom) $272,020.00
2. luffyou15 (Canada) $198,940.00
3. bartek901 (Mexico) $150,220.00
4. Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira $110,432.00
5. WhaTisL0v3 (Malta) $79,576.00
6. TISSO1709 (Germany) $63,336.00
7. ¿¿toneecho?? (United Kingdom) $47,096.00
8. Hoegh93 (Denmark) $30,856.00
9. onel4play (Romania) $16,727.20

Event #32, $1,050 FL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship (8-max)
Entrants: 208
Prize pool: $208,000
Places paid: 32

1. gettingpwned (Germany) $36,700*
2. Maicoshaa (Russia) $37,660*
3. Ben "BensBenz" Yu (Mexico) $23,920
4. grindhardcor (United Kingdom) $17,680
5. Julian "jutrack" Track (Germany) $11,440
6. Team Online Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara (Japan) $9,360
7. Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney (Mexico) $7,280
8. bokkie87 (Netherlands) $5,720
* denotes results of a heads-up deal

For all the WCOOP 2015 results so far, check out our aptly named WCOOP results page, which also has links to all final table reports.

Coming up today

Three more events are scheduled today, with three more set to finish

Today
Event 36: $200 NL Hold'em (1R1A) 08.00 ET
Event 37: $300 8-Game 11.00 ET
Event 38: $500 NL Hold'em (Progressive Super KO) 14.00 ET

Still to conclude
Event 33: FL Badugi Championship (13 of 113 remaining)
Note: Jason Mercier in contention for a third WCOOP bracelet.
Event 34: NL Hold'em (6-max, Optional re-entry) (30 of 2,016 remaining)
Note: Johnny Lodden returns second in chips
Event 35: PL Omaha w/Rebuys (6-max) (7 of 553 remaining)

Leader board

As alluded to earlier RuiNF's fourth place finish in Event #32 puts him back at the top of the leader board after making way for Aftret yesterday. RuiNF now has 290 points, ahead of Aftret's 240. Shaun Deeb has moved up in to fourth place while Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville drops out of the top ten.

Find all the leader board details right here

Today's dubious fact

ReiNF is the first and only player to reach 10 cashes in WCOOP so far. Three other players, Jason Mercier, nizmo jiz and shaundeeb have nine cashes each, although Mercier looks certain to record his tenth cash later today.

Image of the day

The numbers behind Jason Somerville's record breaking Twitch appearance as he reached the final of Event #7 last week.

Click to enlarge

On to Day 13

WCOOP is now just about at the half way stage with Event #35 (of 70) starting later today. Find out everything there is to know about the Championship on the WCOOP homepage, and good luck to everyone playing this weekend, whether in WCOOP or other events. Send us your thoughts and comments to us on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog.