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WCOOP 2015: Hurry up and wait as Championship gets underway



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And so this weekend the waiting came to an end with the start of the World Championship of Online Poker - wall-to-wall action with some enormous fields and big paydays to go with them. No seriously it did. It's just that we don't have any winners yet.

Just as we told you last week, WCOOP 2015 kicked off on Sunday with the first four events of the 70 event schedule, all of which press on into a second day. In effect, WCOOP has, so far at least, been one big tease. Sorry about that.

But that all changes later today, and while there may not be winners to report on there was progress, which we've summarized below.


WCOOP Event #01 $109 NL Hold'em
There were 2,502 players at the start, reduced to 151 at the pause. Leading at the break is pokermeplezz of New Zealand, who has more than 1.9 million (the big blind is currently 16K). It restarts at 4pm UK (11am ET) with more than $200K waiting for the winner.


WCOOP Event #02 $215 NL Hold'em 6-max, Sunday Warm Up, SE
Just 57 of the 5,135 players who started now remain. They're led by NickSen88 who has 3.75 million chips (big blind 20K). Also still in contention is Marcin "Goral" Horecki, in 38th place with 563K. Things resume later today at 4pm UK time (11am ET), with $156,000 for the winner.


WCOOP Event #03 $10,300NLHE High Roller Heads-Up
There were 56 high rollers at the start, a number now reduced to eight, all of who have reached the money. Those eight are:
ChaoRen160 (Sweden)
Forhayley (Russia)
I am Bobbie (Belarus)
MissOracle (New Zealand)
S0nny_bLacCk (Germany)
Tochminator (Denmark)
VbV1990 (Russia)
Vovtroy (Russia)

Play starts again at 5.30pm UK time (12.30pm ET), with $196,000 for the winner.


WCOOP Event #04 $215 NL Hold'em Sunday Million, SE
There was an enormous field for this one, with 8,673 players registered. Of those 119 play on into Day 2, with $260,000 for first place. MarcosBubu from the United Kingdom leads with 2.2 million chips (big blind 20K). Meanwhile Team Pro Jason Mercier is in 98th place with 340K. The top 1170 players finish in the money, with Christophe de Meulder and Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hruby among them. Event #04 restarts at 7.30pm UK time (2.30pm ET).


So in the absence of any headline winners, the victors of other weekend majors take the limelight, starting with MrMaximize, who took down the Sunday500 for $74,700. There were also wins for Moorman1, and two for Pinguinho. There were also sizeable wins for players winning the WCOOP second chance events, WCOOP do-overs if you will, including TEENageTuRtL from Argentina, and jasven06, from India.


Here are the top ten winners from the weekend:

$530 Sunday 500: MrMaximize (Mexico) $74,700.00
$109+R Sunday Rebuy: ImaLucSac (Canada) $55,980.17
$11 Sunday Storm WCOOP Special: madroo75 (Hungary ) $25,905.91
$320 Saturday Super-Knockout: Gronî (Austria) $25,744.41
The Weekender: $530 NLHE [8-Max, 2-Day]: blakjak19 (Cyprus) $23,591.25
WCOOP 2nd Chance 03: $1,050 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up]: TEENageTuRtL (Argentina) $22,400.00
WCOOP 2nd Chance 02: $109 NL Hold'em [6-Max]: jasven06 (India) $19,844.48
$215 Weekly Turbo NLHE: Durrden (Germany) $18,295.20
$215 Weekly 6-Max NLHE: pinguinho (Australia) $14,514.00
WCOOP 2nd Chance 01: $55 NL Hold'em: flopped6810 (Canada) $10,696.62

Click here for the full list of winners on PokerStars for the weekend September 5-6, 2015.

You're not limited to being a spectator during WCOOP 2015, even if some of the buy-ins do make your bankroll creak. Throughout the championship you can win your seat via many of the satellites currently running, including for the main event later this month (which are already running). And if you don't already have a PokerStars account, you can get one very easily by clicking here.

The WCOOP schedule is yours to jump into, and you can find all the details, including satellite information, as well as Player of the Series standings, on the WCOOP homepage. It's a great player for fans and players alike.

A lot to look forward to, even if we are still waiting for the first result. That changes later today, and we'll have all the details right here on the blog.

As always you can send us your thoughts and comments to us on twitter: @PokerStarsBlog. In the meantime good luck to everyone at the tables this week, whether you're still in a WCOOP event, about to play one, or trying to qualify. Let us know how you get on.


Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.



MPC23: Day 1c live updates

MPC23 Red Dragon Day 1c set to begin!

We're back again at PokerStars LIVE Macau as we approach the start of Day 1c.

Day 1b saw 135 players pull up seats and you can find all the information from yesterday right here.

Today's flight is expected to be the biggest yet and rumour has it some Team PokerStars Pros will be playing today. For more on that and all the live updates stay with us here at the PokerStars Blog!

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MPC23: Liu tops Day 1b

Bigger, busier and more exciting - Day 1b of the MPC23 Red Dragon delivered!

A new batch of players headed into PokerStars LIVE Macau today for the second of four Day 1 flights in this feature event. The 135-player field eclipsed yesterday's 108 runners and numbers are expected to climb further with each passing flight.

Players battled it out across 12 40-minute levels and only 28 made the cut. They'll join the 21 qualifiers from yesterday, as well as those who survive Day 1c and Day 1d, on the official Day 2 on Wednesday.

When all was said and done it was China' Zoe Liu who emerged as chip boss. Liu had a stack of 131,700 at the conclusion of play, just behind Day 1a's leader Saehoon Lee who bagged up 158,900.

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Zoe Liu leads Day 1b

Right behind Liu are second and third place holders, India's Chandra Mohan and Taiwan's Fubo Fu Bang Huang. Mohan finished the day with 129,900 while Huang is hot on his heels with a stack of 120,000.

MPC23 Red Dragon Day 1b Top Ten

Zoe Hui Liu (China) - 131,700
Chandra Mohan (India) - 129,900
Fubo Fu Bang Huang (Chinese Taipei) - 120,000
Chen Zhang (China) - 103,700
Victor Chih Yen Chen (Chinese Taipei) - 102,300
Jung-wei Huang (Chinese Taipei) - 92,200
Sam Chuan Aik Nee (Malaysia) - 88,700
Ting Hang Baton Fung (Hong Kong) - 87,000
Jean Auberval (France) - 86,200
Sam Keng Lon Cheong (Macau) - 84,600

Click here for end of Day 1b chip counts

The 28 lucky ones will be back for Day 2 but others couldn't outlast the night. The 2014 WSOP APAC Main Event champion Scott Davies left us early this afternoon when a cooler saw an opponent river a superior full house.

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Scott Davies on Day MPC23 Red Dragon 1b

Reigning Asia Player of the Year Pete Chen had a good start to Day 1b but after a big hit when an opponent flopped a straight versus his set he couldn't regain momentum. He joins the other 106 players on the rail tonight.

For the 28 who bagged up chips it's a couple days of well-deserved rest before returning to fight it out once again on the official Day 2. Fields in the next two flights are only expected to grow so we'll see if tomorrow's player count surpasses today's 135.

Day 1c kicks off at 2:00pm local time Monday so be sure to stay with us from all the action from right here in Macau!



MPC23: Day 1b live updates

2:00pm: Shuffle up and deal

The cards are officially in the air!

PokerStars LIVE Macau's Fred Leung has just announced shuffle up and deal so we're now underway.

There will be 12 40-minute levels in this flight with action expected to finish up at around 10:30pm tonight. Late registration will be open for the first four hours of play and we already have 100 entrants at the tables.

Blinds begin at 25/50 and players have starting banks of 15,000 in chips.

This blogger will now be heading to the tournament floor to scout for notable players and any substantial action. Stay tuned!

MPC23 Red Dragon Day 1b starting soon!

Welcome back to PokerStars LIVE Macau!

Players are now wandering in to the poker room for the second of four Red Dragon Day 1 flights.

Yesterday saw 108 players in the mix and today is expected to be even bigger. You can read a full recap of yesterday including player numbers and chip stack here.

Cards will be in the air from 2:00pm local time so be sure to stick with us for all the action from this MPC23 Red Dragon!

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Final table set for PokerStars.net King's Cup Main Event

Eight players bagged their chips after Day 2 of the PokerStars.net King's Cup Main Event to set the Final Table. Seven countries will be represented tomorrow with a Dutch flag waving on top of the chip counts as Danny van der Meer emerged as a leader with 2,770,000 chips. Belgium's Pascal Masset follows in second place, bagging 2,435,000. Jindrich Springl is the only player representing the home country, the Czech is currently sitting in third place with 2,020,000.

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Danny van der Meer

There were two attempts to make a deal tonight. First came when the tournament was down to 16 players. After a redraw, players discussed a huge 16-way chop but three of them were against the proposed numbers. Another discussions were just after the last redraw, when the final nine sat down to the unofficial final table. However, one player turned the offer down.

After Tim Jurgawka's departure, the final eight bagged the chips and called it a day. They will come back tomorrow at 2pm to play for the title and a €38,600 first prize. All finalists are guaranteed €4,420 payday.

Subject to a cards-up live stream on the King's Casino website, all live updates will be delayed by an hour. You can follow all the action on the German PokerStars blog from 3pm.

PokerStars.net King's Cup Main Event Final Table:

Seat 1: Boris Tapelzon, Russia, 495,000
Seat 2: Danny van der Meer, Netherlands, 2,770,000
Seat 3: Karol Radomski, Poland, 1,085,000
Seat 4: Christian Handschuh, Germany, PokerStars qualifier, 815,000
Seat 5: Jindrich Springl, Czech Republic, 2,020,000
Seat 6: Tomas Steponkus, Lithuania, 1,955,000
Seat 7: Ahmad Achegsei, Germany, 560,000
Seat 8: Pascal Masset, Belgium, 2,435,000

Prior to start of Day 2, the remaining flight 1d got under way at 11am. Slovakia's Milan Lakatos emerging as a chip leader with 230,700 chips. Day 1d generated 194 entries to bring the total PokerStars.net King's Cup Main Event field to 493 entries (including eight no-shows). The €200,000 guaranteed prize pool was divided between 71 players. Tomorrow's champion will take home €38,600 along with the title and a silver trophy.

LAPT Panama runner-up Olga Iermolcheva (48th) and EPT6 Deauville High Roller champ Martin Kabrhel (50th) were among those who cashed tonight, both taking €860.

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Olga Iermolcheva

Overall, 327 unique players from 28 countries attended the PokerStars.net King's Cup Main Event. As expected, Germans covered the better part of the field with 166 participants (51%) while the Czech Republic was second with 42 players (13%). The home country was followed by Poland (28, 8%).



MPC23: Korea's Lee leads Day 1a

It was the start of something beautiful as Saturday saw another edition of the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon in full effect.

The feature tournament of the MPC's 17-day festival, the HK$12,000 Red Dragon, attracted a field of 108 for the first of four Day 1 flights. That's only two less than the last edition and with three more opening flights this week, PokerStars LIVE Macau are confident that the total entrants tally will no doubt increase substantially.

Day 1a had 12 blind levels of 40 minutes each and when all said and done only 21 remained. Leading the pack is Korea's Saehoon Lee who bagged up 158,900 at the conclusion of play. Lee already has over 20 live cashes in Macau and will be looking to add to that here this week.

The biggest of those cashes was for second place in an APPT Macau event last year for HK$340,000. Lee will have three days to rest up before returning for the official Day 2 on Wednesday.

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Day 1a chip leader Saehoon Lee

Joining Lee on the Day 1a podium are Hong Kong's Jason Pereira (2nd place) with 133,600 in chips and Japan's Tokuho Yoshinaga (3rd place) who finished up with 122,600. If either of these two make a deep run they could potentially eclipse their previous biggest live cashes to date.

MPC23 Red Dragon Day 1a Top Ten
Saehoon Lee (Korea) - 158,900
Jason Pereira (Hong Kong) - 1336,00
Tokuho Yoshinaga (Japan) - 122,600
Wei Huang (China) - 107,600
Mattias Douhan (Sweden) - 104,600
Juerg Niederberger (Hong Kong) - 98,100
Zhong Zheng (China) - 94,800
Ziyang Zhao (China) - 92,500
Feng Zhou (China) - 91,400
Chong Wei Lew (Singapore) - 89,500

Click here for end of Day 1a chip counts

While they've all secured a spot for Day 2, there were 87 who weren't so lucky. Notables KC Wong and Wing Cheong Chong were among those who fell by the wayside. Chong emerged as champion in this very event back in 2008 but couldn't keep the dream alive tonight.

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KC Wong among the action today

For those who survived, however, it's time for three days off while the others try their luck in the remaining Day 1 flights. By all educated guesses we're in for some big fields and an exciting week here at PokerStars LIVE Macau.

Day 1b begins at 2:00pm local time on Sunday and we'll be here to cover all the action from the felt. Be sure to stay with us!



MPC23: Day 1a live updates

Day 1a of the MPC22 Red Dragon is almost underway

Welcome to PokerStars LIVE Macau!

It's not long now until players take their seats for Day 1a off the prestigious Red Dragon event.

This will be the first of four Day 1 flights and we're expecting another big field here - something the Red Dragon has become renowned for. You can read all about the event in the blog title MPC23: The Red Dragon awaits before the action kicks off.

Play is set to commence at 6:00pm local time so be sure to join us here for all the live action from this HK$12,000 Red Dragon!

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PokerStars.net King's Cup: Kabrhel and Karatas shine on Days 1b & 1c

Martin Kabrhel was the latest player to appear on Day 1b of the €330 PokerStars.net King's Cup Main Event (there were 59 entries: 56 unique players plus 3 re-entries), but at the end, he bagged 206,900 chips to seize the chip lead. Kabrhel is #2 in the Czech all-time money list with over $1.7m in live tournament winnings. He's been regularly playing EPT High Rollers and Super High Rollers for many years. Back in Season 6, Kabrhel took down the €20k High Roller at EPT Deauville for €250,000, securing his career's biggest payday.

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Martin Kabrhel

Eureka 5 Rozvadov fourth place finisher Marek Blasko also survived Day 1b, bagging 104,400. Blasko is a King's Casino regular whose main achievements came here in Rozvadov - his local resumé includes three €60k cashes. Eureka 5 Rozvadov runner-up Josef Pavelka also arrived for Day 1b, but was the very first eliminated player. Pavelka fired a re-entry bullet and eventually made through Day 2 with 64,000 chips.

With David Wiese (90,000 chips) and Michael Kammer (34,800) only two of twelve PokerStars qualifiers are among the 16 players from Day 1b who survived for Day 2.

WCOOP, SCOOP and Micro Millions title holder Stefan Becker and WPT Marrakech champ Sebastian Homann were also in the field, they both busted.

While Day 1b survivors were already resting for tomorrow's Day 2, there was another starting flight on schedule as Day 1c kicked off at 8pm. There were another 149 entries made tonight (141 unique players plus 8 re-entries).

While Day 1b survivors were already resting for tomorrow's Day 2, there was another starting flight on tonight's schedule as Day 1c kicked off at 8pm. There were another 149 entries made on Day 1c (141 unique players plus 8 re-entries).

Germany's Sarharib Karatas collected 221,200 chips to take the overall lead from Martin Kabrhel. Frederic Grosjean from France also crossed the 200k mark, bagging 205,000. 51 players from Day 1c secured their seats for Day 2, which will start tomorrow right after the end of the last starting day (1d) at 4pm. The plan is to play down to six players.

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Overall chip leader

Day 1b chip counts:

NameCountryStatusChips
Martin KabrhelCzech Republic 209600
Ahmad AchegseiGermany 166400
Roman KadzielaPoland 109500
Karol RadomskiPoland 105800
Marek BlaskoSlovakia 104400
Hendrik VeenstraNetherlands 101600
David WieseGermanyPokerStars qualifier90000
Tim JurgawkaGermany 87600
Karel KovarikCzech Republic 87300
Christoph MullerGermany 67400
Stefan RauscherGermanyPokerStars player65600
Juraj SosovickaSlovakia 65100
Alexandru NeagoeRomania 64700
Josef PavelkaCzech Republic 64000
Agron HajrusiGermany 51800
Michael KammerGermanyPokerStars qualifier34800

Day 1c chip counts:

NameCountryStatusChips
Sarharib KaratasGermany 221200
Frederic GrosjeanFrance 205000
Michal BinczarskiPolandPokerStars qualifier175300
Stanislav PetrovicSwitzerland 152000
Hristo AnastassovAustriaPokerStars qualifier150900
Ercan DoganGermany 137000
Tomas SteponkusLithuania 136300
Giordano Tovar MatosGermany 111000
Sandorrom IlniczkyRomania 110700
Christian HandschuhGermanyPokerStars qualifier108200
Tobias GottwaldGermany 104600
Simon HemsworthUK 104300
Pascal MassetBelgium 101500
Reiner GlogglerGermany 99100
Johannes van de WielNetherlands 98600
Maciej KondraszukPoland 97300
Josef MairAustria 96700
Martin MuhlbergerGermany 79300
Thomas AnsemsNetherlands 78000
Andreas HeiderGermany 76300
Felisa WestermannGermanyPokerStars qualifier74300
Claudius IstrateGermany 70100
Volker StichGermany 69700
Stefan PasholliGermany 69000
Miroslav SeidlSlovakia 68900
Ronald van de LindeNetherlands 66400
Jonas JeschkeGermany 62400
Peter MullerAustria 61600
Josef LakatosCzech Republic 57900
Eusebiu-Niclae JalbaGermany 56000
Matthias BausenweinGermany 54300
Timo ScarcellaGermany 51100
Maximilian GrothGermany 50100
Aidar KulumbetovGermany 47000
Florin AndrenoiuRomania 42000
Franz GeorgeGermany 41900
Branko SlunjskiGermany 41600
Danny van der MeerNetherlands 41300
Rytas StaniukynasLithuania 39200
Dariusz BeresPoland 38400
Michail ManolakisGreece 32700
Ladislav VitoslavskyCzech Republic 31800
Ralf BarthGermany 29400
Olaf LehmannGermany 29200
Hannes FischerGermany 29000
Mathias NehringGermany 28700
Kerstin CollinsGermany 27600
Patrick PiatekGermany 26200
Angela JaussGermany 22500
Yury FilippovRussiaPokerStars qualifier21200
Heinz NeumannGermany 6800


WCOOP 2015 begins this weekend

It's here, it's here, the most wonderful time of the year, the time when legends prove their name, no-names become big names, and phrases like "I wont million" become part of the poker lexicon.

It's time for the World Championship of Online Poker.

Over the next few weeks, you have the opportunity to win one of online poker's most coveted titles. There is a minimum of $45 million in the prize pool, and you can feel confident it will get bigger than that before it's all over.

Need any account to play WCOOP? Click here to get one.

What do you need to know to play? Well, there's a lot to talk about here. Below, you'll find everything you need to get started on your road to a WCOOP bracelet.

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Get an account

While PokerStars is the biggest online poker room in the world, WCOOP is such a rich event that it draws in people who have never played here before. If you're among those people, be aware: all players making their first deposit qualify for the PokerStars 100% deposit bonus of up to $600.

You will need to use the bonus code STARS600 when you sign up here.

Qualify for events

While WCOOP has a wide range of buy-in amounts, anyone with a few bucks or some Frequent Player Points can make it into an event.

You can find satellites in the PokerStars WCOOP lobby or go to this page and click on any of the QUALIFY NOW buttons.

If you're ready to get into Sunday's events, here are links to satellites for the first four events.

WCOOP-01: $109 NL Hold'em (WCOOP Kickoff, Phase 2), $1.5M Guaranteed
WCOOP-02: $215 NL Hold'em (6-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE), $1M Guaranteed
WCOOP-03: $10,300 NLHE (High-Roller, Heads-Up), $300K Guaranteed, No Late Registration
WCOOP-04: $215 NL Hold'em (Sunday Million SE), $1.5M Guaranteed

$10 million Main Event

This year's WCOOP Main Event has a $10 million guaranteed prize pool. First place in the tourney will be at least $1.5 million. While the buy-in is a stiff $5,200, the potential for life-changing money is too great not to give a few satellites a shot.

No matter whether you have one FPP in your account or as little as 11 cents, you have a chance to play for online poker's most prestigious bracelet. Remember, it's only been a couple of years since one man turned 40 FPPs into a Main Event title.

Ready to start? This link will take you directly to Main Event satellites.

Player of the Series

As it does in all in its major series, PokerStars will be keeping track of the top players from beginning to end. Each time you place in an event, it earns you points. Earn enough of them and you could end up winning winning thousands of dollars worth of prizes.

Here's how the Player of the Series prizes shake out:

1st: Champion's Trophy, $20,000 cash, 2016 TCOOP Main Event Ticket
2nd: $10,000 cash, 2016 TCOOP Main Event Ticket
3rd: $7,500 cash, 2016 TCOOP Main Event Ticket
4th: $5,000 cash, 2016 TCOOP Main Event Ticket
5th: $2,500 cash, 2016 TCOOP Main Event Ticket
6th-10th: 2016 TCOOP Main Event Ticket

For full details and information, see the 2015 WCOOP Leader Board page.

Coverage

Since 2005, we have been providing coverage of every WCOOP final table, and that won't change this year. Our team of writers are grinding their coffee beans right now in advance of three full weeks of coverage.

You can find all of our reporting right here in our 2015 WCOOP coverage section. We'll also be on our @PokerStarsBlog Twitter account with in-tourney updates along the way. If you're deep in a tourney, hit us up so we can follow your coverage and report on your progress.

How to prepare for WCOOP

Over the past week, we have asked our top online players to give us some advice on how to prepare. We have more of that to come as WCOOP begins, but for now, here is some top advice on how to get your WCOOP game going.

Adrienne Rowsome on scheduling WCOOP along with real life
Lex Veldhuis on the difference between PLO cash games and PLO tourneys
Celeste Orona on how to play WCOOP for the first time
How Jaime Staples will try to get into the $51,000 event
Mickey Petersen's favorite satellites
Andre Coimbra with six ways to qualify for WCOOP


So, that should be enough to get you started for the weekend. Any questions? You can find most of what you need right here on the WCOOP Frequently Asked Questions page.

Good luck!




is the PokerStars Head of Blogging.