Another day, another final table for Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara. Persistence pays off, but would he finally break through to the other side?? Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara went on a Badugi heater two weekends ago when he final tabled two different buy-in Badugi events in the same day. He finished in third in both, sorta disappointing yet remarkable in the same breath. This past weekend, Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara made two more final tables and came narrowly close once again in Event #44-H HORSE. But that time, he was the bridesmaid and took second when he got edged out by Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton.

Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara advanced to another final table in Event #53-L Single Draw 2-7, and he leveraged what might have been his last final shot at a SCOOP bracelet. When heads-up began, nkeyno trailed nearly 3 to 1 in chips against the U.K.'s vixen1968. Unfortunately, nkeyno would not survive this collision. He had to settle on second place. Instead, vixen1968 stepped into the winner's circle and was showered by praise, cash, and some new bling -- a SCOOP bracelet and a champion's watch by Movado.

The low-end of SCOOP Event #53-L $27 Single Draw 2-7 attracted 1,058 original runners and an additional 356 re-entries for a total of 1,414 entries. They boosted the prize pool to $34,713.70. The top 189 places paid out with $5,058.67 set aside to the champ.

Day 1 of this two-day Deuce to Seven affair ended with exactly seven players (they played down to the final table) and Germany's bamboocha88 held a commanding lead. Notables who cashed late on Day 1 included theNERDguy (9th), cal42866 (15th), raidalot (22nd), and Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier (40th).

SCOOP-53-L - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: AtomTom87 (1,499,720)
Seat 2: UziStuNNa (1,048,897)
Seat 3: bamboocha88 (5,266,664)
Seat 4: vixen1968 (823,320)
Seat 5: SamyangRamen (438,168)
Seat 6: nkeyno (1,651,936)
Seat 7: Vichyn88 (3,411,295)

The final table commenced during Level 23 with blinds at 16K/32K. Germany's bamboocha88 sat atop the big stack, while Sweden's SamyangRamen was clinging to life with a 438K shorty.

Looks like we were going to give away a bracelet to a first-time winner. Several players had went deep in previous COOPs, including a few final table appearances at the 2016 SCOOP... Vichyn88 final tabled Event 38-L... atomtom87 final tabled 48-L.... bamboocha88 final tabled a 2012 SCOOP.... UziStuNNa final tabled a two 2015 SCOOPs including a second-place chop in one, not to mention a final table at the 2013 WCOOP.

Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara advanced to a handful of final tables. He was also in contention for Player of the Series coming into today. On the overall leader board, nkeyno came into today 8th overall trailing Shaun Deeb who had notched 810 points through Sunday night. In the HIGH end of the leader board, nkeyno was third overall trailing leader Vladimir "vovtroy" Troyanovski by 10 points (and trailing Jason Mercier in second by a mere five). However, this was a LOW event, so the points wouldn't apply.

FIGHT TEST: UziStuNNa eliminated in 7th place

15 hands. That's how long it took before someone busted. It happened only 12 minutes into the final table too. nkeyno opened to 100,000, AtomTom87 raised to 215,000, UziStuNNa four-bet shoved for 1,211,267, nkeyno bailed, AtomTom87 called. Both players stood pat! At showdown 10-8 was no match against 8-7.

UziStuNNa: [Th][9h][6d][5c][2c]
AtomTom87: [8s][7c][6h][3s][2d]

AtomTom87 won the pot with 8-7-6-3-2 low against UziStuNNa's 10-9-6-5-2. Hungary's UziStuNNa became the first player to bust at the final table. Seventh place paid out $604.71.

With six remaining, bamboocha88 led with 5.4M and nkeyno was 5/6 with 1.5M.

ARE YOU A HYPNOTIST: SamyangRamen eliminated in 6th place

Shortfall of the shorty. Vichyn88 raised to 88,000, AtomTom87 called, SamyangRamen moved all-in for 91,240, and both Vichyn88 and AtomTom87 called. SamyangRamen drew two, Vichyn88 drew a single card, whereas AtomTom87 stood pat. Both Vichyn88 and AtomTom87 checked the river. At showdown...

SamyangRamen: [Ks][Kh][9s][5s][2c]
AtomTom87: [Jc][8h][4h][3d][2s]
Vichyn88: MUCKED HAND

Vichyn88 mucked a losing hand, but AtomTom87 dragged the pot with a J-8-4-3-2 low versus SamyangRamen's pair of Kings. Sweden's SamyangRamen was dunzo in sixth place, which paid out $805.01.

With five to go, bamboocha88 held 5.8M and vixen1968 was the new shorty with 1M. nkeyno was 3/5 with 2.5M.

EGO TRIPPING AT THE GATES OF HELL: Vichyn88 eliminated in 5th place

Battle of the Vs... Vichyn88 vs. vixen1968. Vichyn88 opened shoved for 717,488, vixen1968 re-shoved for 1,384,976 an everyone bailed. vixen1968 stood pat, while Vichyn88 only discarded a single card. At showdown...

vixen1968: [9s][7s][5s][3s][2d]
Vichyn88: [Ah][8h][6d][5d][3d]

vixen1968 won the hand with a 9-7-5-3-2 low versus Vichyn88's A-8-6-5-3 low. Vichyn88 was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $1,073.69.

With four left in the hunt for the bracelet, bamboocha88 continued to lead with 5.2M, followed by a surging nkeyno (4.3M), vixen1968 (2.7M), and AtomTom87 (1.8M).

IT'S SUMMER TIME: AtomTom87 eliminated in 4th place

Four-handed did not last very long before we saw another dust up. nkeyno initiated the fracas with a raise to 150,000, AtomTom87 bombed it all-in for 608,742, bamboocha88 insta-called, but nkeyno folded. Although bamboocha88 stood pat, AtomTom87 drew a single card.

bamboocha88: [8d][5s][7c][3c][2h]
AtomTom87: [Js][9d][8s][6c][2c]

bamboocha88 won the pot with a 8-7-5-3-2 low against AtomTom87's J-9-8-6-2 low. For a fourth-place finish, AtomTom87 earned $1,541.28.

With three remaining... bamboocha88 still held onto the top spot with 6.8M, followed by nkeyno's 5M and vixen1968's 2.2M.

YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS: bamboocha88 eliminated in 3rd place

vixen1968 opened to 240,000, bamboocha88 bombed it all-in for 1,575,672, and vixen1968 called. Both players discraded one. At showdown...

bamboocha88: [Td][7c][6c][2s][2c]
vixen1968: [Jd][7s][5c][3h][2d]

bamboocha88 lost with a pair of deuces versus vixen1968's J-7-5-3-2 low. Germany's bamboocha88 was knocked out in third place, which paid out $2,446.96.

HEADS-UP: vixen1968 (U.K.) vs. nkeyno (Japan)
Seat 4: vixen1968 (10,614,680)
Seat 6: nkeyno (3,525,320)

Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara (Japan) was heads-up for another bracelet. But would he finally break through this time? nkeyno trailed 3-1 when heads-up began.

Heads-up last around 15 minutes or so. Small ball to start. nkeyno actually trimmed the deficit under 2-1 after winning a 1.2M pot with K-8-6-5-3 against vixen1968's pair of sevens. Alas, that's as close as nkeyno would get to threatening vixen1968's lead. vixen regained any lost ground with a 1.4M pot with a J-7-5-4-2. Then dragged another 1.4M pot with 10-8-7-3-2 against nkeyno's pair of tens. nkeyno was down to 2.3M before a much-needed timely double up. nkeyno was all-in for his tournament life after standing pat with 10-9-8-5-3 against vixen1968's pat J-7-5-4-2. nkeyno chipped up to 4.7M and looked like he was ready to launch a full-blown counterattack. However, in nine hands it would be all over.

IN THE MORNING OF MAGICIANS: Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara eliminated in 2nd place; vixen1968 wins Single Draw bracelet

Tough break for Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara. Going into the final hand, he had 4.5M to vixen1968's 9.6M. Pre-draw... nkeyno four-bet shoved for 4,517,240 and vixen1968 called. vixen1968 stood pat. When it came time to draw cards nkeyno went into the tank and typed, "hmmmm.... JT pat?" With time ticking down like, nkeyno decided to discard one. At showdown...

vixen1968: [Jc][9d][8c][6s][4s]
nkeyno: [Jd][Ts][5h][4h][2c]

nkeyno lost the pot with J-10-5-4-2 low against vixen1968's J-9-8-6-4. nkeyno's instincts were right, he just didn't get the luck of the draw. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara had to settle for another runner-up finish, which is still impressive nonetheless. Second place paid out $3,574.81.

Congrats to the U.K.'s vixen1968 for winning Event #53-L. First place paid out $5,058.67 plus a cool champion's watch courtesy of Movado.

SCOOP-53-L ($27 Single Draw 2-7) results
Entrants: 1,414 (1,058 entries, 356 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $34,713.70
Places paid: 189

1. vixen1968 (U.K.) $5,058.67
2. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara (Japan) $3,574.81
3. bamboocha88 (Germany) $2,446.96
4. AtomTom87 (Poland) $1,541.28
5. Vichyn88 (Sweden) $1,073.69
6. SamyangRamen (Sweden) $805.01
7. UziStuNNa (Hungary) $604.71

Visit the SCOOP homepage to find out who is in contention for Player of the Series and sitting at the top of the SCOOP Leader Board.

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

Arguably the only question unanswered about Jason Mercier's SCOOP win over the weekend was why it didn't send him straight to the top of the Player of the year leader board? Well, in any other competition maybe it would. But SCOOP is any competition, and the players ahead of him - Shaun Deeb and SixthSenSe19 specifically - just happened to be playing out of their skins. 

Come to think of it, the same applies to every player in the top ten, where all eyes now turn in these last hours of SCOOP 2016. 
There are four leader boards in all, one each for the low, medium and high competitions, and an overall leader. Needless to say the same names are cropping up in each. 

* Deeb leads the Low category, ahead of SixthSenSe19 and Vichyn88. 
* In the Medium category Dzmitry "Colisea" Urbanovich tops the table, ahead of Päffchen and Deeb. 
* In the High category it is Vladimir "vovtroy" Troyanovskiy who has the slenderest of leads, five points ahead of Jason Mercier, and ten points ahead of Team Online's Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara. 

What does that mean for the overall contest? Take a look below.

SCOOP overall leader board as of 23 May 2016

Almost all of these players had good final weekends. 

Calvin Anderson deserves the first hat tip, having won his seventh SCOOP title in SCOOP 40-L, good to move him into sixth place on the leader board. It was worth $7,511 to Anderson, but is the win rather than the prize money that makes him a legitimate SCOOP giant.

Mercier's win in SCOOP 42-M shores up his third place spot and puts him within 40 points of Deeb. Deeb missed out on final tables this week but consistently ran deep to keep his points tally ticking over. That same story applied equally to second placed SixthSenSe19. 

Going to the wire between Jason Mercier and Shaun Deeb

Then there's Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah in fourth place. As we reported last week he narrowly missed a title in opening days of SCOOP 2016, finally won one last week, and then added a second of the year over the weekend in SCOOP 48-H. 

There the Canadian took on some of the best stud players in the game, beating Luke "lb6121" Schwartz heads-up but only after getting past the likes of Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara, Stephen "Stevie444" Chidwick and Jens "Fresh_oO_D" Lakemeier. 

Some of those names would reappear at the final table of SCOOP 44-H, won by Matthew "MUSTAFABET" Ashton. This one was a HORSE event, and appealed to the best in the game as the last eight demonstrated. 

Adam "Adamyid" Owen would finish seventh here, before winning SCOOP 46-M. Luke Schwartz would bust in sixth while Team Pro Eugene Katchalov would narrowly miss out in fifth place. Ashton then got the better of Kihara in second place to win the title. 

Finally, while he might not be in contention for Player of the Year, it has been a great 12 months for Niall "firaldo87" Farrell who added the SCOOP 47-H title to his list of achievements. That win was worth a first prize of $159,000 to the recent EPT Malta winner, the result of a two way deal with runner up Felix "ZhipOHoy" Stephensen. 

Other winners from the  weekend

Those were the "big" winners, but what about the big winners? The table below lists the top 15 winning paydays from the weekend.

Highlights

* OtB_RedBaron was the biggest winner of the weekend winning $229K in SCOOP 49-H
* Niall "firaldo87" Farrell's win of $159K was the second highest of the weekend
* Beyond SCOOP Fedor "CrownUpGuy" Holz won the Super Sized Sunday for $55K

That's the bulk of the weekend covered, but it's not quite the end of SCOOP 2016, which plays on today, with the final results known at some point tomorrow. 

You can find details of all the leader board standings on the SCOOP 2016 homepage, which also features start times and information about the last SCOOP events taking place today. You can look back on all the results from this year's championship on our SCOOP results page, which also has links to each and every final table report on the PokerStars Blog. 

Deja vu was in the air during today's $21,000 Heads-Up High Roller event. Twenty months ago, OtB_RedBaron and Ben "Ben86" Tollerene were in the final eight of this event at the 2014 WCOOP, and Tollerene won this very tournament at the 2013 SCOOP. OtB_RedBaron came away with the W that September evening and was back tonight to chase another major online high roller title. Standing in his way once again was Ben86. This time, Ben86 couldn't get out of the quarterfinals, but after a two and a half hour battle against kalashn1kovv, OtB_RedBaron moved on to the semis. It took another lengthy, methodical match for OtB_RedBaron to move past KRab42 and advance to the finals, where he faced off with fellow high-stakes cash gamer Jake "JLlama" Abdalla. This time, it only took 35 minutes for OtB_RedBaron to put away "JLlama" and bag his second COOP Heads-Up High Roller title, along with $229,600.00.

The richest heads-up event of this year's SCOOP drew 32 high rollers who created a $656,000.00 prize pool. 8 players earned a share of it with $229,600.00 set aside for the champion.

Players hit the money at the end of Day 1 and the final eight returned the next day to play down to a winner. Naturally, they were quite a decorated, wildly successful bunch.

Ben "Ben86" Tollerene: The American ex-pat won the 2015 WCOOP $51k buy-in High Roller event for $616,000 and won this very event at the 2013 SCOOP for over $200,000.

KRab42: This high-stakes cash game player final tabled the Sunday Million earlier this year.

Jake "JLlama" Abdalla: Also a high-stakes regular, many moons ago, Abdalla sought out a NLHE flip for his 1 millionth VPP to make Supernova Elite.

kalashn1kovv: The Slovenian is looking for a win after two major runner-up finishes this year in the Super Tuesday and the 2015 WCOOP. Two weeks ago he finished third in Event #8-H, ($1,050 NL Hold'em Heads-Up) for over $25k.

OtB_RedBaron: At the 2014 WCOOP, OtB_RedBaron won the $10k NL Hold'em Heads-Up High Roller event for $224k. He also won the Sunday Warm-Up last spring.

Timofey "Trueteller" Kuznetsov: The Russian cash game sensation finished runner up in Event #50-H ($2,100 NL Hold'em 6-Max Progressive Super-Knockout) only last night, banking $95k.

heckled: Won the Sunday Warm-Up last August for $64k and is a regular in high-stakes 8-Game cash.

Doug "WCG|Rider" Polk: Polk won the $700 "Mount Kilimanjaro" event in the PokerStars Mountain Series for over $162k and only yesterday, he took down Event #43-H ($2,100 NLHE 1R1A) for $115k.

Trueteller def. WCG|Rider

The shortest of the four quarterfinal matches took 45 minutes to complete and lasted less than three levels. Trueteller chipped up slowly for the first 20 minutes, then pulled further ahead when he turned two pair with [Qh][8s] on a [8d][4h][3c][4d][Ah] board and had WCG|Rider do his bidding for him on the turn and river. Trueteller moved up to over 30,000 in chips and with the blinds up to 80/160, WCG|Rider opened for 400 on the button. Trueteller three-bet to 1,360, WCG|Rider four-bet to 2,875 and Trueteller called. Trueteller check-called 2,075 on the [8h][6s][4s] flop and checked again when the [Kc] turned. WCG|Rider moved all-in for 6,309 and Trueteller called with [4c][5c] for only a pair of fours. It was good, however, against WCG|Rider's unimproved [Ac][Qc]. The river was the [9h] and WCG|Rider exited in eighth place, as Trueteller punched his ticket to the round of four.

JLlama def. hhecklen

JLlama and hhecklen kept it very close throughout the first level. Any big pots were immediately answered back and neither player's count moved too dramatically. Then, with the blinds up to 60/120, JLlama four-bet to 2,880 preflop and checked the [Qh][9h][4s] flop. Both players also checked the [8s] turn, but when the [2h] landed on the river, hhecklen led out for 2,880. JLlama shoved and hhecklen gave up his hand, relinquishing the 11,520 pot to JLlama.

Hhecklen went back to the grind and evened the counts, but JLLama raked in another huge pot when he turned a queen-high flush against hhecklen's top pair, top kicker to move up to 27,408. The blinds were 100/200 when JLlama picked up pocket deuces and opened for 502. Hhecklen raised to 1,746 and JLlama called. The [Ah][7c][2h] flop made JLlama bottom set and he happily called hhecklen's 1,431 c-bet. The turn came the [Qh] and hhecklen checked over to JLlama, who bet 3,400. Hhecklen called and they went to the river, which fell the [5c]. Hhecklen checked, JLlama shoved and hhecklen called off his remaining 8,212. Hhecklen turned over [Ad][Jh] and went out in seventh place, earning $41,000.00 for his efforts.

KRab42 def. Ben86

KRab42 put a little bit of distance between himself and Ben86 early in Level 2. After raising preflop on the button, KRab42 checked back a [Kc][Th][7c] flop. When the [4c] turned, Ben86 led out for 612 and KRab42 called to see the river, the [2h]. Ben86 bet 1,651, KRab42 raised to 5,280 and Ben86 called. KRab42 turned over [Tc][2c] for a flush and raked in the 12,504 pot, taking his stack up to 28,426.

Early in Level 3, Ben86 doubled up when he flopped tens full of sevens and took the chip lead for the first time with 26,412. However, his reign was short-lived as KRab42 won three hands in a row to even up the counts.

KRab42 held tight to his momentum and chipped up to 37,000 by Level 5. With only 2,283 remaining, Ben86 called KRab42's button shove, his [As][2s] leading KRab42's [Jd][9c]. However, a nine hit the flop and Ben86 could not catch up. He hit the rail in sixth place and KRab42 advanced to the semifinals.

OtB_RedBaron def. kalashn1kovv

OtB_RedBaron and kalashn1kovv traded the chip lead for two hours before kalashn1kovv pulled out to a 3 to 1 chip lead. OtB_RedBaron struck back quickly, though, making an ace-high flush and getting two streets of value to pull himself out of the hole. These two battled for another half hour before kalashn1kovv open-shoved for 10,924 with [Ah][Qs] and OtB_RedBaron called with [8c][8d]. The pocket eights flopped a set on the [Kh][8s][7c][Qh][Ad] board and kalashn1kovv hit the rail in fifth place.

JLlama def. Trueteller

JLlama and Trueteller drew little blood during the first half of their hour-long match. Then, JLlama three-bet preflop and fired 1,457 on the [Ac][Td][5h] flop. Trueteller called, and the [Js] turned. JLlama made it another 3,380 to go and Trueteller gave up his hand. Two hands later, JLlama three-bet pre to 1,104 and checked the [7d][5s][2c] flop. Trueteller bet 11,04 and JLlama was there with a raise to 3,000. Trueteller called and they went to the turn, which came the [4s]. JLlama immediately moved all-in and Trueteller folded, conceding the 8,208 pot. JLlama moved up to 28,088 in chips while Trueteller fell to 11,912.

JLlama continued to steadily chip up and with the blinds up to 80/160, he opened for 344 with [Ks][Js]. Trueteller called with [7s][9d]. The [Jc][9h][3c] flop hit both players-- making JLlama top pair and Trueteller middle pair. Trueteller checked, JLlama bet 350 and Trueteller called. The turn was the [5s] and Trueteller checked again. JLlama shoved and Trueteller decided to call off his remaining 2,053. The [Kc] river improved JLlama to kings and jacks and he advanced to the final round while Trueteller had to settle for a fourth-place finish.

OtB_RedBaron def. KRab42

After an hour and a half of punching back and forth, neither player had put the other on the ropes... just plus or minus five to seven thousand in chips. The stacks were even again at the 90-minute mark when OtB_RedBaron began another steady ascent. He was out to a 28,000 to 12,000 lead when he three-bet to 1,657 pre-flop and KRab42 called on the button. OtB_RedBaron c-bet 894 on the [Qh][Td][6s] flop and KRab42 called. The turn came the [5s] and OtB_RedBaron checked to KRab42, who bet 2,400. But before you could exclaim "It's a trap!" OtB_RedBaron shoved for 25,393 and KRab42 gave up his hand.

KRab42 was down to 6,985 in chips when he flopped a set of eights and turned eights full of deuces. All the money went in on the river and KRab42 doubled to 13,970. OtB_RedBaron came back and chipped away at KRab42 until he was back down to 4,664, but again pocket eights saved the day and flopped a set against OtB_RedBaron's [Ah][3d].

With the blinds up to 200/400 KRab42 opened [Kd][9c] for 400 and OtB_RedBaron called from the big blind with [Jh][4h]. The [Jd][6d][4s] flop couldn't have been more perfect for OtB_RedBaron and he quietly check-called KRab42's 600-chip bet. The turn brought the [Kc] and OtB_RedBaron checked again. KRab42 bet 1,400 and OtB_RedBaron moved all-in for 32,868. KRab42 called to discover his top pair needed a lot of help. The river, however, was the [5h], no help to KRab42 and he departed in third place.

The final round turned out to be the shortest of all seven matches played today, clocking in at 35 minutes. The needle didn't move much at all until Level 2, when OtB_RedBaron limped in with pocket sixes and JLlama raised to 450. OtB_RedBaron called and promptly hit a set on the [Ts][6h][4h] flop. JLlama checked, OtB_RedBaron bet 351 and JLlama called. JLlama check-called another 1,297 when the [4c] turned, then led out for 2,280 when the [As] came on the river. Otb_RedBaron raised to 11,648 and JLlama called, only to be shown sixes full of fours. OtB_RedBaron moved up to 35,299 in chips while JLlama slipped to 4,701.

Nine hands later, JLlama opened for 270 with [Qc][Ts] and OtB_RedBaron called with [Jd][6c]. OtB_RedBaron's rungood continued as the flop came down [Qs][Js][6h], making him bottom two pair. OtB_RedBaron check-raised to 960 and JLlama called. The turn brought the [Kh] and OtB_RedBaron moved all-in for 34,237. JLlama called off his remaining 3,303. JLlama needed a nine, ten, queen, king or an ace to survive, but al 16 outs missed when the river blanked with the [2h], locking up OtB_RedBaron's SCOOP title.

Congratulations to OtB_RedBaron on his second COOP title! He banked $229,600.00 for the win, while runner-up Jake "JLlama" Abdalla earned $131,200.00.

SCOOP-49-H ($21,000 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up High-Roller]) results
Entrants: 32
Prize pool: $656,000.00
Places paid: 8

1. OtB_RedBaron (United Kingdom) $229,600.00
2. Jake "JLlama" Abdalla (Australia) $131,200.00
3. KRab42 (Canada) $65,600.00
4. Trueteller (Russia) $65,600.00
5. kalashn1kovv (Slovenia) $41,000.00
6. Ben "Ben86" Tollerene (Canada) $41,000.00
7. hhecklen (Denmark) $41,000.00
8. Doug "WCG|Rider" Polk (Australia) $41,000.00

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The final weekend of the 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker presented players with one of the most popular games on the schedule. High-rolling heads-up tournaments with three juiced up buy-in amounts, the medium version running with a $2,100 price tag and $200,000 guaranteed prize pool. After eight rounds of heads-up matches, it was a battle between two UK grinders in the end with jamjam818 defeating dougiedan678 for the SCOOP title.

The tournament drew 180 players to push the prize pool up to $360,000 with everyone in the Round of 16 earning a piece plus more than $100,000 up top for the winner. The tournament paused for the evening when it was in the money with 16 players remaining and plenty of big names falling short including Bryn Kenney, former WCOOP champion vicenfish, and habitual COOP final table member ( and Super Tuesday champ) AceSpades11.

Team PokerStars member Jason Mercier had the best chance to cash among his patched-up peers but he was run out by Igor "lechuckpoker" Kurganov short of the money round. With Alex "bigfox86" Rosen falling in the Round of 16, 3P3NIPA was the only player remaining with a past COOP title going into the quarterfinals. He earned up a SCOOP title earlier this series to go along with his $500K score for winning the WCOOP Sunday Million Special Edition in 2015.

Quarterfinal Matches

3P3NIPA versus ORLOVSKIY
teunuss versus jamjam818
beginner27 versus moglimiranda
bar-bar9999 versus dougiedan678

The first Quarterfinal match to wrap up was the battle of the broken capslocks between 3P3NIPA and ORLOVSKIY. It was the fastest of the four tables and had two big hands along the way. 3P3NIPA was behind by a nice chunk when he pulled a near double up without actually get all of his chips in the middle. He showed down with [jd][jc] and the board showing [5s][4d][4c][9h][6s] to drag a 16,800 chip pot.

ORLOVSKIY dropped down to 4,022 a little later then put them in the middle with [8c][7c] after the [kh][6c][2c] flop and 3P3NIPA called with [jc][js] once again. ORLOVSKIY couldn't catch his flush as the board finished [9s][6h] to send him out.

jamjam818 was the next to advance after he earned a 14,000 chip pot without a showdown to take a lead, then put teunuss all-in on the river with flopped top set [tc][ts] and was called by jamjam818 with two pair [6h][5h] on the [td][6d][5d][7s][8h] board.

Former Super Tuesday winner bar-bar9999 was the next in line to hit the virtual payout desk after bleeding chips for much of his match. He was down to 4,433 and moved all-in with [ah][4d] to get a call from dougiedan678 with [as][9h]. He needed a lot of help but his chance went south right on the [9d][8s][8c] flop to leave one match still running.

The final match went on for a while as beginner27 ground down moglimiranda's stack with a series of smaller pots until moglimiranda had to make a move with [qd][6d]. beginner27 called to flip with [4h][4d] then nailed the [8s][5d][4s] flop, his set turning into a boat on the [8h] turn and the semifinals were ready to go.

Semi-final Matches

3P3NIPA versus jamjam818
beginner27 versus dougiedan678

The heads-up high-roller turned into a UK affair with three of the four remaining players hailing from the empire and 3P3NIPA trying to stand in their way.

It looked like both matches were going to drag on for quite some time until jamjam818 and 3P3NIPA ran up a big pot with both holding similar stacks. jamjam818 called a three-bet from 3P3NIPA to see the [9h][8h][2s] flop then called another 1,356 before the [7s] turn.

3P3NIPA bet out 3,532 more to get another call from jamjam818 and they watched the [7s] hit the river. After firing on all streets up until this point, 3P3NIPA opted to check after the river and jamjam818 jammed him all-in. After using up almost all of his time bank, 3P3NIPA called at risk with bottom pair/busted flush draw [th][2h] which was far behind jamjam818's flopped top two with [9s][8s]. It was a shocking end to the first semi-final match, 3P3NIPA hit the rail in 4th place while jamjam818's win guarantees a UK champion in this event.

Unlike the other match, beginner27 and dougiedan678 waited an hour to play a significant, five-digit pot. dougiedan678 called a three-bet before the [qc][jc][8c] flop followed by bets after the flop and [qd] turn. beginner27 slowed down after the [8d] river and they both checked. Each hit a big flop but dougiedan678's flush [7c][6c] trumped beginner27's straight [td][9d].

beginner27 was able to hang on for a while longer but ran out of luck when his [ac][qc] was no good against [kh][3s] after the [kd][qd][8s] flop. The board finished [5h] and [2s] for beginner27's exit in 3rd place to set up the final match.

jamjam818 wins long battle against dougiedan678 to win title

Despite starting the final match with the exact same chip count, dougiedan678 managed to talk nearly $5,000 in extra money out of jamjam818 when they paused to clock to discuss chopping up the remaining prize pool. dougiedan678 locked up $89,000 in the deal with $79,800 going to jamjam818 and $4,000 left behind for the eventual winner.

dougiedan678 held the advantage for the first hour of the match but jamjam818 pulled back a bit before catching a huge double to put him into the lead. jamjam818 called a three-bet to the [7h][6h][5s] flop and dougiedan678 check/called 2,851 to see the [8h] turn. This time, jamjam818 moved all-in after dougiedan678 checked the [2d] river and it was decision time for dougiedan678.

After a long think, dougiedan678 called incorrectly with two pair [8d][6d] against jamjam818's straight with [kh][9s]. The hand put jamjam818 in control of the match and he finished it off 15 minutes later.

dougiedan678 was down to 5,675 and open-shoved his button with [q][9c]. After thinking it over for a minute, jamjam818 called with the dominating [qh][ts] and had dougiedan678 drawing dead on the turn with the board reading [6h][3d][3c][tc]. It was a tough, long battle of UK grinders but dougiedan678 can be happy that his chop deal $89,000 earned him more than first.

jamjam818 played a great set of heads-up tournaments and won eight straight matches to earn his first major online title, the custom Movado watch as SCOOP champion and the $83,800 bankroll boost.

SCOOP-49-M ($2,100 NL Hold'em Heads-Up, High-Roller) results
Entrants: 180
Total prize pool: $360,000
Places paid: 16

1. jamjam818 (United Kingdom) $83,800*
2. dougiedan678 (United Kingdom) $89,000*
3. beginner27 (United Kingdom) $36,000
4. 3P3NIPA (Czech Republic) $36,000
5. moglimiranda (Germany) $14,400
6. bar-bar9999 (Israel) $14,400
7. teunuss (Netherlands) $14,400
8. ORLOVSKIY (Russia) $14,400
*Reflects the results of a heads-up deal that left $4,000 in play for the winner

The 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker is coming to a close, but there's still a lot of excitement happening over these last few days. Event #47-M -- a two-day "mix-max" no-limit hold'em event with a $215 buy-in -- provided plenty of it this weekend. The final table featured both Diego "Die Ventura" Ventura and Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker (stars online and live), then came down to a heads-up duel between a player from Greece seeking that country's second SCOOP title this spring and another from Brazil looking for that country's 20th (no shinola).

In the end Greece won out, with prsalute outlasting digopapel following a heads-up deal to take the victory and a handsome $49,170.61 first prize.

There were 1,590 entries all told, adding up to a $318,000 prize pool that easily bested the $200K guarantee. The first part of the tournament -- when the game was nine-handed -- played out on Saturday, taking less than seven hours to play down from those 1,590 entries to 185 players, with jaggalo1231 the chip leader at the completion of that stage. 

They moved to the event's second part -- six-max no-limit hold'em -- and before play concluded Saturday night just 49 players remained. jaggalo1231 was still in the mix with an above average stack (in 16th position), while prsalute enjoyed the overnight chip lead.

Play resumed Sunday morning, and after just over three hours they were down to the final two six-handed tables, with jaggalo1231 having slipped to fall in 13th ($2,591.70).

prsalute was still high in the counts then in third with about 1.8 million, Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker was in second position with just over 2.7 million, and 2015 PCA runner-up Diego "Die Ventura" Ventura was leading the way with almost 3.2 million.

SBGstyle (12th), OneMor3try (11th), and wantme1234 (10th) were the next players eliminated, each earning $3,339. Then Kloobes (ninth), fviana (eighth), and tvtotaliwin (seventh) were successively knocked out, with each of them taking $5,088 from the prize pool.

With Muehloecker now leading and Ventura in second position, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: Diego "Die Ventura" Ventura (Peru) -- 3,542,910 
Seat 2: Nick "PureCash25" Rampone (Canada) -- 1,570,707
Seat 3: TiltMeBig (Sweden) -- 2,353,366  
Seat 4: prsalute (Greece) -- 2,348,973  
Seat 5: Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker (Austria) -- 4,079,787  
Seat 6: digopapel (Brazil) -- 2,004,257 

They were a half-hour into the final table before the first elimination occurred. With the blinds 35,000/70,000 (with an 8,750 ante), TiltMeBig raised to 154,000 from the button, then prsalute three-bet to 378,550 from the small blind. It folded back to TiltMeBig who pushed all-in for 1,734,641 total, and prsalute called.

TiltMeBig had [Jh][Js], but prsalute had one of the bigger pocket pairs with [Qh][Qd]. The board came [As][9s][Th][Kd][5h], and TiltMeBig was the sixth-place finisher -- an 11th (and best) cash this SCOOP for the player from Sweden.

About 20 minutes later they had moved into the day's sixth hour of play when Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker opened from UTG for 150,500 (a little over 2x), then Nick "PureCash25" Rampone reraised all-in for 1,034,407 from the small blind. 

It folded back to Muehloecker who called, turning over [Ah][Jd] to Rampone's [As][8c]. The board came [7h][Jh][4s], then [Js], giving Muehloecker trip jacks and making the river no matter, ending Rampone's run in fifth. That makes 13 cashes and three final tables this SCOOP series for Rampone.

They marched on into the seventh hour of Day 2, with the blinds increasing once more to 60,000/120,000. By then Ventura's stack had slipped down to just over 1.37 million, and the Peruvian put it all in as an open-raise from under the gun. prsalute responded with a reraise all-in for more from the button, and the blinds got out.

Ventura showed [Qs][Jd] and needed to impove to beat prsalute's [Jh][Jc]. But the board ran out [2c][As][Td][5h][4d], and Ventura finished fourth -- just a few spots shy of his second SCOOP title of the series after having won Event #41-M ($109 NLHE). 

Not quite 20 minutes later, a big hand developed between prsalute -- who had newly taken the chip lead -- and Muehloecker.

The blinds were 70,000/140,000, and the hand began with prsalute just limping in from the small blind. Muehloecker then raised to 387,500 from the big blind, prsalute called, and the pair watched a flop fall [4h][4s][Jh].

prsalute checked, Muehloecker continued for 301,000, and prsalute called. Then on the [2h] turn prsalute led for 685,855, and Muehloecker called.

The river brought the [9d], and prsalute led again, this time for 1,240,665. Muehloecker responded with an all-in raise with the entire 3,216,150 he had left, and prsalute tanked for a while before finally calling and showing [Ac][As].

It had been the right choice as Muehloecker had [Ah][Qd], and the Austrian fell in third. That's a 13th cash and third final table for Muehloecker this series, who nearly was able to earn a second career SCOOP title after winning a $1,050 NLHE event in 2015. 

One hand later the remaining two players paused the tournament to discuss a deal, with prsalute sitting on 10,095,582 and digopapel 5,804,418. "ICM"-based numbers were produced -- leaving $4,000 to the side for which to play -- and after the pair readily agreed to the proposed figures play resumed.

From there digopapel began earning a series of small-to-medium pots to close the gap, seize the lead, then built up a big advantage, pushing up close to 11.73 million versus prsalute's 4.17 million by the time they reached the day's seven-hour break. 

prsalute was able to battle back, however, and retook the lead over the next 15 minutes of play, pushing up to about 10.1 million versus digopapel's almost 5.8 million when the following hand took place.

With the blinds up to 100K/200K, prsalute raised to 450,000 from the button, then digopapel shoved all-in and prsalute made the call.

digopapel: [Ah][9d]
prsalute: [7c][7s]

digopapel had a couple of live overcards to prsalute's pocket pair, but a board of [Qc][Ts][3c][Jc][6c] managed to miss them both while giving prsalute a flush, the pot, and the SCOOP title.

Congratulations to prsalute for topping a big, challenging field and tough final table to win Event #47-M, and kudos as well to digopapel for making it to the heads-up deal and securing a big score as well.

SCOOP-47-M ($215 NL Hold'em, Mix-Max) results
Entrants: 1,590
Prize pool: $318,000.00
Places paid: 180

1. prsalute (Greece) $49,170.61*
2. digopapel (Brazil) $42,731.39*
3. Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker (Austria) $29,415.00
4. Diego "Die Ventura" Ventura (Peru) $20,352.00
5. PureCash25 (Canada) $13,038.00
6. TiltMeBig (Sweden) $8,745.00
*denotes two-way deal.

The first, and likely only, overlay of the 2016 SCOOP series took place on Saturday as 3,932 entrants hopped into action in the SCOOP-47-L: $27 NL Hold'em [Mix-Max]. That created a $96,530.60 prize pool, but of course that was bumped up to the $100K guarantee.

The tournament was broken down into two parts. The first phase called for players to survive 25 levels of play. Those who remained after that time - of which there were 190 players lead by China's "tianyuliao" and his stack of 729,255 - would advance to Part 2, which was a normal tournament played in a six-max format.

Ten more players left the tournament empty handed before the money way made, and among those to earn a payday were Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen (175th - $130), Wesley "ZeelandBoy" Wiemes (81st - $205), tianyuliao (72nd - $225), and Andrey "ThePateychuk" Pateychuk (29th - $490).

By the time Day 1 came to an end, just 19 players remained in contention with "Nelson28" and his stack of 4,656,531 leading the way. That meant 13 players needed to fall before the final table, and among those to fall short were "serhiy1989" (19th - $610), "Matu_zaramay" (11th - $1,050), and "ENorton79" (7th - $1,600), just to name a few.

Here's a look at how things stacked up at the start of the final table:

wuqi3159 - 14,273,461
Nelson28 - 8,803,533
eugenevv - 6,011,290
zvejyss10 - 5,213,004
ratez0r - 4,016,540
013ATM - 1,00,172

013ATM Falls in Sixth Place

With the blinds at 120,000/240,000/30,000, "wuqi3159" opened for 480,000 from the hijack and "eugenevv" (5,259,918) three-bet to 1.2 million from the cutoff. "013ATM" (1,223,944) then called off from the small blind, wuqi3159 got out of the way, and the cards were turned up.

013ATM: [9s][9d]
eugenevv: [ad][9c]

eugenevv only had a 29.5% chance overcoming his opponent's nine, and this hand would be one of those time as the flop came down [8c][ah][6c]. Neither the [2d] turn nor [Jd] river helped 013ATM, and he was eliminated in sixth place for $2,750.

zvejyss10 Runs Into Two Pair to Fall in Fifth

With the blinds at 140,000/280,000/35,000, "zvejyss10" (4,223,404) opened for 560,000 under the gun and Nelson28 (7,056,933) defended the big blind to see an [8s][3h][ah] flop. Nelson28 check-called a bet of 280,000 and then checked the [Js] turn.

zvejyss10 bet 1,077,300, Nelson28 check-raised all in, and zvejyss10 called off his remaining 2,271,104.

zvejyss10: [jh][Tc]
Nelson28: [jd][3d]

zvejyss10 needed some help on the river, but it wasn't in the cards as the useless [Ks] peeled off. zvejyss10 took home $4,100 for his fifth-place finish.

Pocket Sevens Not So Luck for Nelson28

With the blinds at 160,000/320,000/40,000, eugenevv raised to 640,000 under the gun and "ratez0r" (6,646,080) called from the button. Nelson28 (5,160,775) then moved all in from the small blind, eugenevv folded, and ratez0r called.

ratez0r: [9d][9c]
Nelson28: [7h][7c]

Nelson28 was in dire straits and in need of a seven, but he was left wanting as the board ran out [6c][3h][Kh][4h][Qs]. Nelson28 was awarded $6,400 for finishing fourth.

Three-Handed Deal Struck; ratez0r Falls in third

At that point, with the stacks fairly even, the final three players struck a deal that saw them lock up the below numbers while leaving $2,000 and the title on the table to play for.

wuqi3159 - $12,199.46
Eugenevv - $12,106.91
ratez0r: $11,843.63

Not long after the deal was done, with the blinds at 250,000/500,000/62,500, wuqi3159 (9,503,884) raised to 1 million from the button and eugenevv (22,116,148) called from the small blind. ratez0r (7,699,968) then moved all in from the big blind, wuqi3159 moved all in over the top, and eugenevv got out of the way.

ratez0r: [3s][3h]
wuqi3159: [8c][8s]

The board ran out [Th][jc][qs][6c][as] and that was all she wrote for ratez0r.

wuqi3159 Has to Finish for Runner-Up

In the same level, wuqi3159 (6,641,352) limped the button with the [ks][9c] and then called off after eugenevv (32,678,648) moved all in holding the [qs][jd]. wuqi3159 got it in good, but he failed to hold as the board ran out [Js][8d][4h][Ts][6s] to give eugenevv a winning pair of jacks.

SCOOP-47-L: $27 NL Hold'em [Mix-Max], $100K Guaranteed
Entrants: 3,932
Prize Pool: $100,000
Place Paid: 180

1st - eugenevv (Ukraine) $14,106.91*
2nd - wuqi3159 (China) $12,199.46*
3rd - ratez0r (Russia) $11,843.63*
4th - Nelson28 (Canada) $6,400
5th - zvejyss10 (UK) $4,100
6th - 013ATM (Netherlands) $2,750

*Denotes three-handed deal

This year's SCOOP is winding down, but until it does can find recaps for each event right here on the PokerStars Blog.

Sometimes a tournament is just too volatile to predict, like the huge 5-card PLO 6-max tournament on the final weekend of the 2016 SCOOP schedule. The tournament structure had the them playing down to the end of Level 29 before pausing for a Day 2 return with the remaining players. We expected to see two tables of players still alive, but it turned out there were exactly two players taking the overnight break. After a quick heads-up match, UK pro Adam "Adamyid" Owen collected his first COOP win after several near misses.

The $82 buy-in version of Event #46 drew 347 players and they had unlimited rebuys available any time they dipped beneath a starting stack during the late registration period. They mashed the rebuy button 397 times and 257 of them took the optional add-on to close registration. That all added up to a $76,326 prize pool with 48 players earning a piece.

The additional fifth card boosted the normally fast PLO action into the stratosphere with additional draws and the tournament was in the money in no time flat. George Danzer was the only member of Team PokerStars getting some money but he dropped out after the bubble for a min-cash.

The quick parade headed towards the final table came to an end when Event #40-M final table member sleepy_seven puts his chips on [ah][ks][9c] flop with his [as][kc][qs][6c][5h] ahead of Filipo83's [ac][jh][9s][3c][2h] until the [9d] turn filled up Filipo83's house. The tournament was scheduled to pause for the day after Level 30 and that was still a long way off as they joined up at the final table.

Adam "Adamyid" Owen and aDrENalin710 were the two biggest names at the final table with Owen having several close calls to win his first COOP, including a final table two days prior in SCOOP Event #39-H while aDrENalin710 owns two SCOOPs and two WCOOPs with the latest coming in September's WCOOP Event #59.

Seat 1: XRoXXoX - 218,365
Seat 2: Adam "Adamyid" Owen - 1,254,965
Seat 3: aDrENalin710 - 852,923
Seat 4: hotvesper - 810,384
Seat 5: Filipo83 - 1,537,933
Seat 6: delyoda - 972,930

Blinds: 7,000/14,000

XRoXXoX tripped and wheeled out, eliminated in 6th

The fast path to the final table occurred even with very deep stacks and the last six players settled in for a long, 50-minute battle before "short" stack XRoXXoX found a good spot to get his chips involved.

He was heads-up with Owen to the [4d][4s][2s] flop and pushed all-in after an Owen bet. XRoXXoX flopped trip fours with [ac][kc][qd][7s][4c] versus Owen's big wrap draw [ah][8d][7h][5s][3c] that got there on the wheel-catching [3s] turn. XRoXXoX still had high hand chop outs but missed the full boat when the [8h] river hit to scoop the pot for Owen. XRoXXoX hung around the bottom of the counts and was unable ladder up past 6th place money.

Owen gets two more; delyoda out in 5th and hotvesper in 4th

The blinds were not applying any pressure to the stacks but big draw were big draws despite what the math says. Nine hands after XRoXXoX was sent to the rail, a huge three-way pot developed that would have a huge impact on the game.

Owen, hotvesper, delyoda, and aDrENalin710 went to the [jh][6h][4c] flop before the action basically went check, check, small bet, pot-sized, all-ins across the board (except for the fold by aDrENalin710) with Owen in line for the double KO.

Owen: [ah][js][ts][8d][5h]
hotvesper: [as][kh][3d][2s][2h]
delyoda: [ad][kc][9h][8h][2d]

Owen was ahead with top pair, nut flush draw to leave the other two in trouble. hotvesper had a pair of ducks, bad flush draw, nut low, and gutshot wheel draw while delyoda had the same nut low draw with the third worst flush draw of the three. The [9s] turn and [td] only improved delyoda a little and not enough for either of Owen's opponents to earn any piece of the pot. It was a huge hand to put Owen in the lead at the suddenly three-handed table while hotvesper picked up 4th place and delyoda went out in 5th.

Seat 2: Adam "Adamyid" Owen - 2,733,703
Seat 3: aDrENalin710 - 971,244
Seat 5: Filipo83 - 1,942,553

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Deal falls through

With the quick drops at the final table, the three remaining players decided to pause the clock to divvy up the remaining prize pool. Owen asked for both the ICM and chip chop numbers, stating he would probably want somewhere in between.

Here are the ICM numbers:

Adam "Adamyid" Owen - $12,562.68
Filipo83 - $11,783.47
aDrENalin710 - $10,336.54
Left for the winner - $1,000

And the chip chop numbers:

Adam "Adamyid" Owen - $12,953.13
Filipo83 - $11,624.18
aDrENalin710 - $10,105.38
Left for the winner - $1,000

While Owen was busy asking for $12,800 in the deal, aDrENalin710 said neither number was good enough for him to shoot down the negotiations right there. They got back underway and aDrENalin710 last one more hand.

aDrENalin710 says no deal, eliminated in 3rd

aDrENalin710 turned down the deal and then hit a hand that probably had him thinking it was the correct decision, he would normally have a great chance to double up.

He was heads-up with to the [td][6d][5d] flop when Owen check/raised, aDrENalin710 called to the [2c] turn then moved all-in after Owen bet out. aDrENalin710 got a quick call and saw he was up against a flopped flush [ac][kc][qd][8s][4d] that had him drawing super thin with his flopped set, turned straight [ts][tc][5c][4h][3d] and a worse low.

aDrENalin710 couldn't catch a boat on the [ks] river to send him out in 3rd place and scoop Owen further into the lead.

Seat 2: Adam "Adamyid" Owen - 3,734,947
Seat 5: Filipo83 - 1,912,553

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Take a 14-hour break

The tournament was down to heads-up play as they neared the mandated Day 1 break, a lot further along than predicted. Owen and Filipo83 took another look at the numbers but decided to take the 14-hour break, returning for a heads-up match to settle the title.

7th in HORSE High & back tomorrow for the HU of 5PLO8 Medium. Record of 0-5 HU for COOPs suggests tilting start to the biggest of Sundays

— Adam Owen (@adamyid) May 22, 2016

Players return, Filopo83 quickly doubles up

Owen and Filipo83 returned to the tables after a good night away from the virtual table and were back underway. After a temporary delay at the beginning of the restart when Owen lost his connection, Filipo83 had himself all-in and in trouble.

It took four pre-flop bets for them to get all the chips settled in the middle and Filipo83 needed to hit something with his [ad][ks][6s][5h][4h] against [ac][as][qh][4s][2h]. He did just that on the trip-loving [kh][kd][2d] flop and the board finished [9c][9s] to send him the lead-changing double up.

Seat 1: Adam "Adamyid" Owen - 2,191,122
Seat 2: Filipo83 - 3,456,378

Blinds: 12,000/24,000

Owen turns it around to win his first COOP in Event #46-M

The two players muddled around in some smaller pots before both flopped two of those special five-card PLO draws. Owen was all-in and at risk after the [kc][qc][6c] flop with a flush draw/underpair [ah][8c][5s][5h][2c] against Filipo83's Broadway wrap draw [ad][jh][td][4h][3s].

The [tc] turn immediately hit both their draws and Owen locked up the big double with the flush to take back the lead. They continued to battle it out before they found one last draw to mix it up big.

Four bets put Filipo83 all-in after the [ad][8d][6h] flop and he was looking for a diamond with [qd][9c][5d][4d][4s] against Owen's flopped set/better low [kh][8h][8c][3h][2c]. The diamond draw went away when the board paired [ac] on the turn leaving Filipo83 praying for a saving low chop. The [qc] river was no help and Filipo83 had to settle for a runner-up finish.

After a handful of close calls, Adam "Adamyid" Owen can now call himself a COOP champion. He picked up $15,647 for the SCOOP title along with the custom Movado watch and has the COOP monkey off his back.

SCOOP-46-M ($82+R PL 5-Card Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max) results
Entrants: 347 (397 rebuys, 257 add-ons)
Total prize pool: $76,326.25
Places paid: 48

1. Adam "Adamyid" Owen (United Kingdom) $15,647.06
2. Filipo83 (Netherlands) $11,448.93
3. aDrENalin710 (Russia) $8,586.70
4. hotvesper (Russia) $5,915.28
5. delyoda (Malta) $4,388.75
6. XRoXXoX (Austria) $2,862.23

Over the past few years it seems like PokerStars comes out with new, exciting ways for players to get their gamble on at the tables. Being a mixed-game junkie myself, it is always fun to see newer version of games that push the exhilaration factor higher. Take the Spring Championship of Online Poker Event #46-L $7.50 (w/rebuys) Pot Limit Omaha Five-Card Hi-Lo 6-Max tournament. Pot Limit Omaha is already an action game, throw in the smaller tables, an extra card, with rebuys and you have 1,814 players jacked-up for a good time. After 2,786 rebuys, 1,046 add-ons, and two days of play, and a three-way chop, Steve "Rabscuttle" Cowley looked like he would finally take home a Major -COOP title. Instead, MuKoJla found a timely scoop, taking away the watch and $5,459.62.

Read on below for MuKoJla's road to victory.

Day One would end with hand-for-hand play and seven remaining thanks to MuKoJla's kings clipping 22_rebmuneht two hands before the overnight nap.

Coming into the day as the chip leader only six players from the title Al Magellan has plenty of -COOP experience nearly making the final table of Turbo Championship of Online Poker 2015 Event #2 (another Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo tourney) and seventh place in last year's SCOOP Event #26-M.

Old school followers of PokerStars will recognize the name Steve "Rabscuttle" Cowley who has had multiple cashes in World Championship of Online Poker events before SCOOP came to life in 2009!

Enay_fls got a taste of a Major final table taking third in a MicroMillions Omaha event back in 2014.

Eric "AceQuad" Brix grew up about 20 minutes away from where this final table report is being penned and has the distinction of leading the SCOOP and MicroMillions Player of the Series leaderboards in the same year (2013). He would take down the Overall honors in SCOOP, carting away a European Poker Tour Grand Final package in the process.

As mentioned, only one elimination was needed to shine the spotlights on the final table. Ten minutes into Day Two, our final six was named. With the blinds up to 70K/140K a short-stacked Cosare would shove 480,571 from the button as Rabscuttle made the call from the big blind. Rabscuttle's [2d] [3s] [4s] [8h] [3c] would find a set of threes and a nut-low to defeat Cosare's jacks [Jd] [As] [Jh] [2c] [6d] on the [8c] [Ad] [Qc] [3d] [6h] board to start up the final table below:

Seat 1: MuKoJla (8655356 in chips)
Seat 2: enay_fls (3355981 in chips)
Seat 3: Al Magellan (9105086 in chips)
Seat 4: Steve "Rabscuttle" Cowley (5907485 in chips)
Seat 5: Eric "AceQuad" Brix (2510944 in chips)
Seat 6: stardream (1310148 in chips)

Omaha Hi-Lo games tend to last longer due to the split nature. But, the blinds were creeping up on the final six and the short-stacks needed to make a move early and often. Ten minutes in, we would have back-to-back eliminations.

First, with the blinds up to 80K/160K enay_fls would min-raise getting calls from stardream and MuKoJla. With a low possible after the [7c][8s][2s] flop, everyone jumped into the middle with MuKoJla covering both players and looking for a double elimination. MuKoJla turned up top set [6s] [5d] [8c] [8d] [Ac], enay_fls showed the nut-low [4s] [7d] [3h] [Ah] [6h], and stardream needed some help on both ends with a lower set and higher low [9d] [Ad] [4h] [2d] [2h]. The help would not come on the [Td] turn nor [Ks] river as stardream's fantasy run was over in sixth place ($908.73).

On the next hand enay_fls would complete from the small blind as Day One chip leader Al Magellan checked. The [8c] [Kh] [5s] flop got both players excited as they traded raises until Al Magellan was all-in holding a wrap draw [Ah] [7d] [6d] [Tc] [4s] as enay_fls turned up top two and the nut-low draw [Ac] [8d] [9s] [Ks] [2c]. The straight got there on the turn [4d] but the boat hit the river [Kc] shipping the 6.1 million chip pot to enay_fls and ending Al Magellan's tournament in a disappointing fifth place ($1,540.22).

Three hands later with the blinds holding, Rabscuttle would raise to 410K as the whole table called. Two clubs and two low cards on the [Jc] [7c] [3s] woke up MuKoJla to bet 1.54 million. Eric "AceQuad" Brix went for broke raising all-in for 2.84 million holding a wrap plus two pair [6s] [3h] [5h] [4h] [7s]. Unfortunately, MuKoJla hit gin and insta-called with top set, nut-flush draw, and a better low draw [4c] [Jh] [3c] [Jd] [Ac]. The hands would hold through the [Qh] turn and [2d] river as Brix collected $2,310.34 in fourth place.

Noticing the high blinds, the final three would go into deal-making mode a few hands later. After the splits were named, Rabscuttle suggested a little extra for first place beside the $500 already set aside. MuKoJla and enay_fls agreed as each player threw in $150 for the champ from their amounts below:

Rabscuttle: $4,520.12
MuKoJla: $4,509.62
enay_fls: $4,268.46

Two minutes back from the first break of the day with the blinds up to 125K/250K enay_fls' short-stack would push again pre-flop. This time facing Rabscuttle's [Ac] [Jc] [3h] [8d] [7s], enay_fls' [4c] [Ad] [3d] [7h] [5s] was better suited for some wheel cards on the board. Only the deuce would appear as Rabscuttle's straight [2c] [Td] [Ts] [Js] [9c] ended enay_fls' run in third place ($4,268.46).

Old school vs. Supernova as Steve "Rabscuttle" Cowley entered heads-up play with a 19.6 million to 11.1 million chip lead. As mentioned, Cowley has several final table finishes in WCOOP play but no bracelets, something he would like reverse.

And the championship wait that has spanned almost a decade would have to wait at least another tournament. Fifteen minutes into the second hour with the blinds up to 150K/300K and Cowley's lead trimmed to 500K, MuKoJla would min-raise as Cowley three-bet to 1.8 million. MuKoJla called to see the [8d][9s][3c] flop. All the money would pile in post-flop with Cowley showing [Ad] [7c] [6h] [Ah] [6s] aces with a straight draw and MuKoJla [Th] [As] [8c] [Jc] [2h] with a higher straight draw and the nut-low draw. Cowley would hit the straight draw on the turn [Tc] but running clubs [4c] would give MuKoJla a flush plus the nut-low for a scoop.

With the damage already done, two hands later MuKoJla would take the rest of the Cowley chips, denying him that long-awaited title, and become the SCOOP 2016 Event #46-L champion earning $5,459.62!

SCOOP-46-L ($7.50+R PL 5-Card Omaha Hi-Lo, 6-Max) results

Entrants: 1,814 (2,786 Rebuys, 1,046 Add-ons)

Prize pool: $38,505.72

Places paid: 228

1. MuKoJla (Ukraine) $5,459.62*
2. Steve "Rabscuttle" Cowley (Philippines) $4,520.12*
3. enay_fls (Israel) $4,268.46*
4. Eric "AceQuad" Brix (Mexico) $2,310.34
5. Al Magellan (Ukraine) $1,540.22
6. stardream (Denmark) $908.73

* denotes part of three-way deal

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