The Super Tuesday is already the richest weekly online poker tournament in the world, so it's certainly something special when it's combined with the biggest online poker festival in the world -- the Spring Championship of Online Poker. With a two-day structure and a $1,000,000 prize pool guarantee, this tournament has established itself as one of the most respected and lucrative online poker tournaments, so it was no surprise to see a huge field stacked with some of the best players in the world.

It was a long road to victory, with the final day of play stretching over 14 hours alone, but in the end, Brazil's felipe52 would prove too strong for seasoned pro Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet to claim the coveted title and a whopping $258,060 in prize money.

The Special Edition of the Super Tuesday would attract an enormous field of 1,518 entrants to create a prize pool of $1,518,000 which smashed the advertised guarantee.

Mickey Petersen, Naoya Kihara, Jason Somerville, Johnny Lodden, Andre Akkari, Jaime Staples, Eugene Katchalov, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Bertrand Grospellier and George Danzer were out representing Team PokerStars but they fell short of the cash.

After Day 1 of play the tournament would be delicately poised approaching the money with just 180 players and only 171 players finishing in the cash.

Sadly nine players would return for Day 2 and leave empty-handed. In the end it would be well-known pro Mike "SirWatts" Watson copping the sour taste of the bubble in 172nd place as the remaining players were assured of at least $2,049.30.

As the players climbed pay jumps there were still three red spades alive and making a deep run at this event. English rose Liv Boeree ran her ace-king into pocket aces to fall in 24th place for $6,072, while Jason Mercier was second in chips overnight and still among the chip leaders entering the final two tables. Mercier lost a huge coin flip with ace-king against pocket jacks and was eliminated a short time later in 14th place for $10,170.60.

However the red spade last longer would go to Randy Lew.

The man known as "nanonoko" looked set to for a final berth and a run at the SCOOP title, but a brutal two-hour final table bubble would ultimately take grip on the Team PokerStars Pro.

Joshua "slayerv1fan" Hoesel survived some scary moments after looking a likely final table bubble boy, but a couple of double ups, a lucky split and a huge double up with pocket aces jumped the Supernova Elite player back into contention.

On the other table, nanonoko was hanging tough, maintaining his stack, before he tried a steal from the small blind with [kd][6s]. Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet was in the big blind with pocket sixes and when the board bricked out, nanonoko was out in tenth place to leave our final nine as follows:

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Final Table Line Up
Seat 1: Joshua "slayerv1fan" Hoesel (1,120,498 in chips)
Seat 2: Iamapoopie (449,756 in chips)
Seat 3: simon1471 (1,179,388 in chips)
Seat 4: felipe52 (4,277,600 in chips)
Seat 5: Luiz "justholdplz" Duarte (1,511,648 in chips)
Seat 6: Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet (1,224,448 in chips)
Seat 7: PureRunnings (1,408,499 in chips)
Seat 8: Evan "SenorPokes" Jarvis (117,726 in chips)
Seat 9: smokrokflock (3,890,437 in chips)

After being decimated by slayerv1fan's pocket aces just moments earlier, Evan "SenorPokes" Jarvis limped into the final table as the short stack and could only last three hands. With just two big blinds, SenorPokes found [ac][jh] and moved all in with Iamapoopie priced in to call with any two cards -- this time finding [tc][2c]. It took until the river, but the board of [4d][Kh][9c][Kc][2s] gave Iamapoopie a pair to eliminate SenorPokes in ninth place for $16,394.40 in prize money.

Next to go would be PureRunnings in a huge preflop clash with chip leader felipe52. Holding [th][tc], PureRunnings would five-bet jam all in but felipe52 had a monster and made the call with [ks][kh]. The board arrived [2s][Qs][9h][Ah][7d] which left the kings in front for felipe52 to extend his lead and leave PureRunnings to pick up $29,601 for eighth place.

It would be another cooler that would see Iamapoopie sent to the rail. Iamapoopie opened with a raise and simon1471 put in a three-bet. Iamapoopie moved all in but simon1471 snapped it off with [kc][ks] to have Iamapoopie in trouble with [jc][jd]. The board of [Qc][Qh][8c][4d][Td] missed both players which meant Iamapoopie picked up $44,781 for seventh place.

The carnage continued the very next hand with Luiz "justholdplz" Duarte joining the rail. justholdplz raised it up from the cutoff before Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet three-bet on the button. Action folded back to justholdplz who moved all in with [9h][9d] and Adonis112 made the call with [ad][ks]. The board ran out [8s][6h][Ac][2h][Jd] to hit Adonis112 with a pair of aces and eliminate justholdplz from the tournament in sixth place which was worth $59,961.

Adonis112 continued the surge with the elimination of Joshua "slayerv1fan" Hoesel. Adonis112 raised preflop from the button and the short-stacked slayerv1fan defended his big blind with a call to see a flop of [8h][Qd][4h]. slayerv1fan checked and Adonis112 made a standard continuation bet. However slayerv1fan reacted with a check-raise all in. Adonis112 made a gambling call with [kh][7h] for a flush draw but it turned out that Adonis112 didn't need to hit as slayerv1fan showed [6h][3h] for an inferior flush draw. The [7c] paired up Adonis112 and the [qs] river missed both players to leave slayerv1fan to depart in fifth place for $75,141 in prize money.

felipe52 maintained the chip lead, however smokrokflock started to edge closer with a series of pots during four-handed play. One of those would result in the elimination of former TCOOP winner simon1471. With action folding around to the blinds, smokrokflock moved all in with [5h][5s] and, with a stack of 18.5 blinds, simon1471 made the call in the big blind with [ad][6h]. We had ourselves another race but this time it would be the pair which held as the board was spread [3h][Ks][8h][Qs][Tc]. simon1471 would take a six-figure return of $103,224 back to the UK for his fourth place.

With smokrokflock into the chip lead, the three-handed battle was an interesting one. It would be felipe52's aggression which gained the advantage before the two chip leaders collided in the biggest pot of the tournament.

After a three-bet preflop, felipe52 continued on the [9d][5c][7c] flop and smokrokflock made the call. The turn was the [2c] and felipe52 checked it over to smokrokflock who took the lead with a hefty bet. felipe52 stuck around to see the [5h] complete the board. felipe52 checked and smokrokflock moved all in. It was a tough spot for felipe52 but he made the call with [9h][8h] for top pair and that was enough as smokrokflock was firing blanks with just [ac][th] for ace-high. With that, former Sunday Warm-Up winner smokrokflock was out in third place for $144,058.20.

Heads-up Chip Counts
Seat 4: felipe52 (12,801,117 in chips)
Seat 6: Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet (2,378,883 in chips)

The first pot of heads-up play would go to Adonis112 but the next eight would go to felipe52 to extend the sizable chip advantage.

Adonis112 would be ground down to around fourteen big blinds before the final hand would unfold. felipe52 limped the button and Adonis112 raised the big blind. felipe52 called and the flop landed [kc][8c][2d]. Adonis112 bet out small before felipe52 moved all in. Adonis112 was committed with his [9h][9d] and was probably pretty happy to see he was in front against the [tc][7c] flush draw of felipe52. The turn was the [4s] which was a blank but the [9c] river smacked both players -- Adonis112 rivered a set but that was no good as felipe52 completed his flush to take the pot and claim the SCOOP title!

Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet is a well-credentialed pro, and a former WCOOP champ but he would have to be content with second place and $189,750 in this one. Today's Super Tuesday Special Edition and SCOOP champion is Brazil's felipe52 who takes home a massive $258,060 in prize money. Congratulations!

2016 SCOOP-35-H: $1,050 NL Holdem [Super Tuesday SE] - $1M Guaranteed
Entrants: 1,518
Prize Pool: $1,518,000
Places Paid: 171

1.  felipe52 (Brazil) $258,060.00
2.  Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet (Canada) $189,750.00
3.  smokrokflock (Canada) $144,058.20
4.  simon1471 (United Kingdom) $103,224.00
5.  Joshua "slayerv1fan" Hoesel (Mexico) $75,141.00
6.  Luiz 'justholdplz' Duarte (Brazil) $59,961.00
7. Iamapoopie (United Kingdom) $44,781.00
8. PureRunnings (Mexico) $29,601.00
9. Evan "SenorPokes" Jarvis (Canada) $16,394.40

The Spring Championship of Online Poker is the biggest and richest tournament festival of the year, with millions in prize money to be won, a packed schedule, and separate buy-in levels designed to suit all bankrolls.

A total prize pool of $40 million is guaranteed with the series running right through until May 22nd. Head to the SCOOP home page for more details.

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

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Day 1B consists of 10 45-minute levels, playing nine-handed
A turbo Day 1C begins at 9pm for any players who have busted Day 1A or 1B

11:10am: Day 1B kicks off in an hour!

Morning all, and welcome back to the InterContinental Hotel for Day 1B of the €1,100 main event of Eureka6 Bucharest. We had a great day of poker yesterday with 253 entries for the first of the Day 1 flights, and 98 of them bagged chips when play was over. Today, it's going to be even bigger.

The player we know you'll all be following is none other than Mr Daniel Negreanu. The Team PokerStars Pro has made the journey to his homeland specifically for this event, and he'll be taking his seat in the field when play begins at midday. It's English only at the tables during hands, but Negreanu speaks fluent Romanian, so he's sure to be chatting away to the locals when he's not in a pot.

Everyone who sits down today will be hoping to end the day like Bucharest-local Emanuel Victor Beteringhe did last night. He had a surge in the last level and ended the day as chip leader with a massive stack of 202,425. Considering everyone starts with 25,000 in chips, that's pretty impressive. You can check out all of yesterday's action here, and view the End of Day 1A chip counts here.

You'll find all the key tournament info below. Play starts at 12pm, and the plan is to play 10 45-minute levels. Then there's the little matter of Day 1C - a turbo flight with 20-minute levels which begins at 9pm tonight. It's only available to those players who have busted from 1A or 1B.

So bookmark this page. Make it your homepage. Don't take your eyes off it. Do whatever it takes to ensure you don't miss any of the action. We'll see you shortly!

Key Eureka6 Bucharest Facts:

- 25,000 starting stack
- Blinds starting at 25/50 for 500 big blinds
- Levels are 45 minutes on Day 1 and they'll be 10 of them. On Day 2 from level 15 onwards levels increase to 60 minutes.
- Late registration is open until the start of level seven.
- Day 1B is today, and a special Turbo Day 1C takes place this evening at 9pm local time. That's only open to players who have busted either Day 1A or 1B. The field will then combine for the first time on Friday. Players will reach the money on Day 2 and then play down to a final table on Day 3. The final table will play out on Sunday.
- Full Eureka6 Bucharest schedule here.

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at Eureka6 Bucharest: Jack Stanton. Photos by Tomas Stacha. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog

Limit Hold'em tournaments are a special breed of poker these days. They were the norm back in the olden golden days but were quickly overshadowed by its No Limit brother. Event #36 on the 2016 SCOOP schedule was a "min-betting championship" with a 6-max format and the $2,000 buy-in version of the tournament drew an impressive lineup of top players. It was a long, tough battle and bartek901 was the last player standing to take home top honor.

The tournament saw 104 players put up a piece of their bankroll and they had three additional re-entry options should they limit bet their stack all the way down. With 69 re-entries into the game, the prize pool grew to $346,000 with $83,000 reserved for the eventual winner.

The tournament was paused at the end of Level 16 to take an overnight break with 26 players still holding stacks for the return. bartek901 finished Day 1 with the chip lead but a tough group of players trying to run him down including Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah, Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen, Brian "tsarrast" Rast, Shaun Deeb, Bryn Kenney, Connor "blanconegro" Drinan, and Team PokerStars member Jason Mercier.

bartek901 was looking for his first COOP title though he does have some nice results of his own. He earned $150,000 for a third place finish in the 2015 Super Tuesday Special Edition event and another $65,000 for a regular Super Tuesday runner-up finish to run up his career online tournament total over $1.5 million.

With 26 players returning and only 24 getting paid, they had a little work to do at the restart. The first step was to get into the money, then advance further up the payout ladder to the final table and a COOP title. It didn't take long for them to get there thanks to Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah.

Connor "blanconegro" Drinan was the second smallest stack at the restart and was dealt [kd][ks] on the first hand back. It didn't end well for him as Leah tracked down the kings and cracked them with a rivered flush holding [js][3s]. That put the field on the money bubble and it burst three hands later when Leah knocked out MyJewishWife in 25th with [qc][5d] beating [9h][8h].

Three and a half hours after they came back for Day 2, the 26-player field was reduced to seven remaining with two-time UKIPT champion Nick Abou Risk sitting with less than three big bets. He managed one chopped pot against when Azrarn before he capped it pre-flop with Mercier to a [ah][qc][jc] flop. They quickly got the rest of his chips in the middle and Mercier's [5s][5h] held against [3c][3s] to form the final table.

Besides superstar Jason Mercier making yet another final table, there were two other past SCOOP champions sitting around him. jama-dharma picked up a SCOOP title back in the fun times of 2010 while Bluf_To_Much won his SCOOP title last year in the medium HORSE event. One missing player was early leader Mike Leah, he went out in a blaze of glory in 11th place but don't shed a tear for him. Leah went on to capture the title in the low version of this event.

Seat 1: Azrarn - 254,570
Seat 2: jama-dharma - 158,160
Seat 3: chess87 - 316,185
Seat 4: Bluf_To_Much - 371,185
Seat 5: bartek901 - 379,430 
Seat 6: Jason Mercier - 250,470

Limits: 5,000/10,000

Mercier and Azrarn pull big pots

Limit action is obviously limited to bet/raise/call/fold etc etc etc so it lacks the spectator excitement of No Limit. The knockout hands usually aren't the biggest, more likely only finishing off a player after losing along the way. Jason Mercier and Azrarn began the final table by winning two 150,000 chip pots to set themselves nicely for a possible title.

Mercier earned his with a hand that was three-bet against bartek901 to the [5c][4h][3d] flop. They put two small bets in before the [qd] turn and four big bets before the [qc] river. bartek901 check/called one last bet to see Mercier table [4c][4s] for the full house winner.

Azrarn's pot was built with other players, there were three bets in the middle before he saw the [kc][5d][3h] flop against jama-dharma and bartek901. One bet each went in on the flop and another after the [4h] turn. Azrarn pulled the ol' river check/raise after the [2c] hit to get a "ffs" from jama-dharma, but he also got the call. He was good with [ad][6d] for the six-high straight and his 150,000 pot.

Seat 1: Azrarn - 354,570
Seat 2: jama-dharma - 118,160
Seat 3: chess87 - 296,185
Seat 4: Bluf_To_Much - 371,185
Seat 5: bartek901 - 226,930
Seat 6: Jason Mercier - 362,970

Limits: 5,000/10,000

jama-dharma ground down, eliminated in 6th

The first knockout on the final table came after jama-dharma saw his stack slowly drop into the danger zone, then he let himself get under one small bet. After action folded to him, he called all-in from the small blind to give Bluf_To_Much a small rebate on his big.

jama-dharma tried to start his comeback with [ac][2d] but he was unlucky to run into [as][8d]. He never caught up on the [qd][7s][5s][ah][3d] board to exit in 6th place with a long long ways to go.

Mercier shown no mercy, eliminated in 5th

Jason Mercier had little luck in the latter parts of the tournament and found himself hovering around the ten big bet line while others were running up their stacks. He was under 40,000 with the limits at 12,000/24,000 and tossed in a third bet from the big blind against Bluf_To_Much before the [8d][5s][2s] flop.

Mercier put in his last 3,915 with [js][6d] and Bluf_To_Much called with [qs][7d]. The [7s] turn paired for Bluf_To_Much and the three-time WSOP champion Mercier was gone in 5th place after the [th] river did nothing to improve his hand.

chess87 fires away, eliminated in 4th

The steadily-rising limits finally started putting a little pressure on the stack sizes and we saw some big movement between the stacks. chess87 was on the wrong side of the biggest pot so far at the final table when he went heads-up against bartek901. The German called a raise in the big blind to see the [jc][8s][6s] flop.

chess87 check/raised the flop, he was called before the [qs] turn hit the board and he led out with another bet. bartek901 raised, chess87 put in a third big bet, and was called to the [8c] river. It went bet/call and chess87 showed an unimproved open-ended straight draw [9s][7h], nowhere near good enough to beat bartek901' straight with [th][9d].

The hand knocked his stack down near the felt and he was gone soon after in 4th place.

Bluf_To_Much set up, eliminated in 3rd

Bluf_To_Much was the next to take a turn at the bottom of the counts as Azrarn became the first player with more than 1 million out front. He picked up [9s][9d], a fine hand in a three-handed game, and capped the betting with bartek901 before the [qs][7s][3d] flop.

Three more bets and Bluf_To_Much was all-in to see he was badly out-flopped by [3s][3h]. Bluf_To_Much couldn't find a saving card on the [ac] turn or [td] river to go out in 3rd place for $43,250.

Seat 1: Azrarn - 1,047,680
Seat 5: bartek901 - 682,320

Limits: 16,000/32,000

bartek901 battles back to win Event #36-M title

Azrarn took a nice lead into heads-up play but bartek901 quickly fought back to take the advantage. He added 384,000 to his stack with a rivered flush holding [th][9h] then picked up another 256,000 with a single pair of queens.

Azrarn didn't give up without a fight and was able to pull back even before he lost traction. bartek901 won a 480,000 pot with a turned straight holding [ts][9c] and another 320,000 with a showdown on a [qs][5s][2d][qd][td] board. One hand later and bartek901 put Azrarn all-in after the [qd][9s][5h] flop.

bartek901 was holding ace-high [ac][2c] but was ahead of Azrarn's [kd][td]. The [qc] turn and [7d] river changed nothing and the comeback was complete for bartek901. Azrarn fell short of earning his first major title but the $57,263 for second place will be a nice consolation prize.

bartek901 played a great final table and eliminated some tough opponents along the way to capture the $2,100 FL Hold'em 6-Max title and $83,040.

SCOOP-36-H ($2,100 FL Hold'em 6-Max) results
Entrants: 173 (104 entries, 69 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $346,000
Places paid: 24

1. bartek901 (Mexico) $83,040.00
2. Azrarn (Belarus) $57,263.00
3. Bluf_To_Much (Moldova) $43,250.00
4. chess87 (Germany) $29,410.00
5. Jason Mercier (Canada) $22,490.00
6. jama-dharma (United Kingdom) $15,570.00

The majority of events on this year's SCOOP docket are two-day events. Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah ended Day 1 Event #36-L Limit Hold'em as the chip leader with 30 remaining. On Day 2, he didn't quite pull off an unstoppable wire-to-wire victory because one of those pesky Brazilians threw a roadblock and challenged him for the lead when action dwindled down to the final two tables. However, Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah regained his footing and recaptured the lead heading into the final table.

Sitting atop a mountain of chips at the final table, Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah didn't look back. He picked off manokippa2 in third place to prevent another Brazilian advance into the winner's circle. goleafsgoeh also kept the stupendous Ari 'BodogAri' Engel in check at the final table. Granted, goleafsgoeh held a massive edge when heads-up against BodogAri began, but he did not give BodogAri any wiggle room. Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah put away BodogAri in under 50 hands, and he officially won his first-career SCOOP title. Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah won two previous WCOOP bracelets, so now he has 3 COOP crowns.

The low version of SCOOP Event #36-L $27 6-Max Limit Hold'em attracted 1,202 original runners, who fired an additional 356 bullets for a total of 1,558 entrants. They boosted the prize pool to $38,248.90. The top 204 places paid out with $6,312.00 set aside to the champion.

Day 1 for this two-day limit tournament ended with 30 players remaining. Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah bagged up the most chips at the end of the day with 1.5M and only one other person (hanafi9) had at least 1M. Early on Day 2, it took less than 20 minute to trim the field from five tables to four. The pace held up and another tables was liquidated inside another 20 minutes. During that span, the legendary Donald busted in 17th place, and goleafsgoeh tumbled out of the top spot and was replaced by robinu666 and BodogAri, who were both closing in on 2M stacks.

By the first break of Day 2, EPT London champ Sebastian 'Pauli elTopo' Pauli busted in 14th place, and they were down to 12 on the final two tables. BodogAri way ahead an closing in on 3M with a 2.9M stack. With nine to go, BodogAri slipped and the lone Brazilian manokipp2 seized the chip lead.

On the final table bubble, goleafsgoeh surged to the top with 6M. With action hand-for-hand, robinu666 attempted to make a comeback with [Ad][Jh] but ran into manokippa2's [Ts][Td]. manokippa2 flopped a set and rivered a full house to win the pot. Canada's robinu666 bubbled off the final table in seventh place and 6-max final table was set.

SCOOP-36-L - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: manokippa2 (4,149,228)
Seat 2: JoeHeaton (541,909)
Seat 3: goleafsgoeh (5,632,033)
Seat 4: BodogAri (3,723,998)
Seat 5: flyy1220 (1,473,676)
Seat 6: hanafi9 (59,156)

The final table commenced during Level 36 with stakes at 80K/160K. Mike Leah a.k.a. goleafsgoeh held onto the lead with 5.6M and Brazilian manokippa2 was second with 4.2M. Norway's hanafi9 was the shorty with 59K.

Ari Engel is better known as BodogAri. Most recently, he shipped the Aussie Millions Main Event. He's one of those hybrid players who crushing online and live poker with equal dominance. Engel won his first SCOOP in 2014.

Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah shipped a pair of WCOOPs including a Badugi win in 2011 and a PLO WCOOP in 2015. He also took third in the 2011 WCOOP Main Event. Leah missed his first SCOOP title with a runner-up finish in 2012 SCOOP Triple Stud. He also final tabled two previous SCOOP events this year.

LOW-SPARK OF HIGH-HEELED BOYS: hanafi9 eliminated in 6th place

Five hands. That's how long it took before someone busted. The final table did not play out a full orbit before short-stacked hanafi9 hit the bricks. On the second hand, hanafi9 woke up with [Ac][Qc] and doubled through manokippa2's [Kc][Qd] to stave off an elimination. A couple of hands hanafi9 tried to double up again, but this time monokipp2 wasn't going to lose that battle. hanafi9 opened to 160,000, manokippa2 raised to 240,000, and hanafi9 called all-in for 17,468. hanafi9 trailed with [6s][5s] against [Qs][Js]. The board ran out [Qd][Jh][7h][7s][3h]. hanafi9 became the first player to bust at this final table. Sixth place paid out $956.22.

HIDDEN TREASURE: flyy1220 eliminated in 5th place

Only 18 hands later, we got treated with another shootout and more fireworks. Betting got capped preflop between shorty flyy1220 and biggie goleafsgoeh. The flop was [Qd][Qs][7s]. flyy1220 bet 100,000, goleafsgoeh raised to 200,000, flyy1220 raised all-in for 273,676, and goleafsgoeh called.

flyy1220: [Ac][Tc]
goleafsgoeh: [Ad][Qc]

flyy1220 missed the flop and ran into trip Queens. The [Ks] on the turn and [Kd] on the river did not help flyy1220. goleafsgoeh dragged the pot. flyy1220 was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $1,529.95.

With four to go, goleafsgoeh passe 10M in chips and JoeHeaton was the shorty with 396K.

MANY A MILE TO FREEDOM: JoeHeaton eliminated in 4th place

On the very next hand....JoeHeaton got liquidated. JoeHeaton raised preflop and BodogAri defended his big blind. JoeHeaton bombed it all-in on the flop of [7d][6h][4d] after BodogAri fired out 100,000, JoeHeaton raised all-in for 145,727 with [Ad][9h] and BodogAri called with [Qh][6s]. The turn was the [4c] and the river was the [Ts]. JoeHeaton never improved and lost to BodogAri's two pair. For a fourth-place finish, JoeHeaton earned $2,294.93.

With three to go... goleafsgoeh led with 10.4M, followed by manokippa2's 3M, and BodogAri's 2.1M.

RAINMAKER: manokippa2 eliminated in 3rd place

Brazil will have to wait another day to win their 16th bracelet because manokippa2 bowed out in third place. manokippa2 raised to 240,000 from the button, goleafsgoeh and BodogAri both called from the blinds. The flop was [Qd][9c][5c]. Action checked to manokippa2 who fired out 120,000, goleafsgoeh check-raised to 240,000, BodogAri bailed, and manokippa2 called all-in for 77,962. Heads-up. goleafsgoeh flopped a pair of nines with [9s][7s] to take the lead against manokippa2's [Kc][7d]. The turn was the [2d] and the river was the [5d]. Neither cards helped manokippa2, who hit the virtual rail in third place. Brazil's manokippa2 took home a payday worth $3,442.40.

HEADS-UP: BodogAri (Canada) vs. goleafsgoeh (Canada)
Seat 3: goleafsgoeh (13,673,671)
Seat 4: BodogAri (1,906,329)

With two to go, goleafsgoeh held a ginormous lead. Only one person stood in his way of his third COOP and first SCOOP. Meanwhile, BodogAri knew he'd have to ascend a beast of a mountain if he wanted to come back and win his second SCOOP title.

LIGHT UP OR LEAVE ME ALONE: BodogAri eliminated in 2nd place; goleafsgoeh wins first SCOOP and third COOP!

BodogAri could not orchestrate a coup. He simply didn't have enough bullets to compete. He lost a 3.2M pot late that nearly decimated his entire stack. goleafsgoeh dragged the pot with [7h][3c] for two pair. He had flopped a pair of sevens and just called after BodogAri check-raised him. goleafsgoeh rivered the trey and won the pot. BodogAri mucked his hand. He was left with only 346,329. BodogAri doubled up on the next hand with [Js][8c] against goleafsgoeh's [6c][4h]. But that pot was a mere band-aid on a gaping wound. He'd bust two hands later.
On the fateful hand... BodogAri opened to 320,000, goleafsgoeh raised to 480,000, and BodogAri called all-in for 52,658. BodogAri took a stronger weapon into battle with [Kh][9h] against goleafsgoeh's [Js][2s]. However, goleafsgoeh turned a pair of Jacks to clinch the win when the board ran out [Ah][Tc][5c][Jc][7c]. BodogAri never improved and was dunzo.

BodogAri earned a runner-up payday worth $4,723.73. He'll have to wait another day to win his second SCOOP.

Congrats to Mike 'goleafsgoeh' for winning Event #36-L. First place paid out $6,312.00 in addition to a Movado's commemorative champion's watch. This marked his first-ever SCOOP win, but his third overall COOP.

SCOOP-36-L ($27 FL Hold'em [6-Max]) results
Entrants: 1,558 (1202 entries, 356 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $38,248.90
Places paid: 204

1. Mike 'goleafsgoeh' Leah (Canada) $6,312.00
2. Ari 'BodogAri' Engel (Canada) $4,723.73
3. manokippa2 (Brazil) $3,442.40
4. JoeHeaton (United Kingdom) $2,294.93
5. flyy1220 (Canada) $1,529.95
6. hanafi9 (Norway) $956.22

Visit the SCOOP homepage for a schedule of remaining events. While you are there, find out who is leading for Player of the Series.

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

Though an Englishman, Tom "tjbentham" Bentham currently flies the Brazilian flag when playing on PokerStars where he's been a longtime winner, including in pot-limit Omaha games. 

In other words, there were two reasons why it wasn't unforeseen to find Bentham leading at the end of Event #34-H today, a $2,100 buy-in, six-handed pot-limit Omaha event attracting many of poker's brightest stars. Nor was it surprising to see Bentham dominate the second and final day, either, leading wire-to-wire at the final table to take the title and a cool $189,200 first prize.

It was some final table, too, with Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche, Alex "alexo18" Manzano, and Julian "jutrack" Track among those Bentham had to overcome to earn the win. But Bentham has been finishing strong in tournaments for years, including way back when he qualified for an EPT event in Dublin where the photo below was snapped: 

This event drew 473 entries which created a $946,000 prize pool -- way, way over the $200K guarantee -- with the top 54 finishers earning a share of those riches.

By the time Day 1 concluded Tuesday night the money bubble had burst with Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (54th, $4,257), Dan "djk123" Kelly (50th, $4,257), Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois (49th, $4,257), Team PokerStars Pro Andre "aakkari" Akkari (46th, $4,730) among the many familiar names cashing.

Just 33 players remained to begin Day 2, with many more familar names in the counts including at the top where Bentham returned to the chip lead. Here's how the top 10 looked to start the final day:

1. Tom "tjbentham" Bentham (Brazil) -- 351,829
2. Benny "toweliestar" Spindler -- 334,511
3. Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen -- 298,373
4. Jason "jdtjpoker" Wheeler -- 252,768
5. "T-Macha" -- 248,689
6. MrBlond -- 224,772
7. anteen -- 220,269
8. Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney -- 177,104
9. Janne "Durian" Juutilainen -- 171,038
10. Alexandre "BiatchPeople" Luneau -- 168,334

Within an hour they were already down to 21 players, with Marko "BriDge2PaiN" Neumann (32nd, $5,676), Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick (31st, $5,676), Ludovic "ludovi333" Geilich (228th, $6,149), Nicolas "niccc" Chouity (23rd, $7,095), and Mayu "marroca5" Roca (22nd, $7,095) among the fallen.
 
An hour after that 14 were left, with Daniel "w00ki3z." Cates (20th, $7,095) and Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen (17th, $8,987) on the rail. They were nearing the three-hour mark of Day 2 when anteen (14th, $8,987) and Alexandre "BiatchPeople" Luneau (13th, $8,987) had fallen to leave two six-handed tables, by which point Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche had ascended in the counts to take the chip lead.

no122 (12th), Benny "toweliestar" Spindler (11th), and ShipitFTW911 (10th) were the next players eliminated, picking up $13,244 apiece. Then GlassOfBeer (ninth), Jason "jdtjpoker" Wheeler (eighth), and Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney (seventh) successively went out, earning $20,812 each.

With Tom "tjbentham" Bentham back in the chip lead and sitting with more than twice the nearest challenger, the final table was underway.

Seat 1: Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche (United Kingdom) -- 552,325  
Seat 2: T-Macha (Netherlands) -- 989,132 
Seat 3: Alex "alexo18" Manzano (Chile) -- 397,110  
Seat 4: Julian "jutrack" Track (Germany) -- 494,919
Seat 5: deuces85 (Canada) -- 423,992  
Seat 6: Tom "tjbentham" Bentham (Brazil) -- 1,872,522

The blinds were 8,000/16,000 to start the final table, and they were still in that level when leader Tom "tjbentham" Bentham opened for 48,000 from the small blind and Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche called from the big to leave himself just over 400,000 behind.

Nitsche, of course, sports an extensive poker résumé despite his young age, with three WSOP bracelets, a Latin American Poker Tour Main Event title (earned in Argentina back in Season 2), a World Poker Tour win, and numerous other accomplishments both live and online, including seven previous cashes this SCOOP alone.

The flop came [5d][Js][6s] and when Benthan checked, Nitsche fired 64,000. At that Bentham check-raised all-in, and Nitsche called with what he had left. Bentham had [Qs][Ts][4h][2h] for a flush draw plush a gutshot, while Nitsche showed [Ah][Jd][6d][6h] for a set of sixes. The turn was the [4c], keeping Nitsche in front, but the [3h] river filled that six-high straight for Bentham, and Nitsche was done in sixth.

They pushed through the day's five-hour mark. About 20 minutes after that the limits had increased when deuces85 opened with a pot-sized raise to 70,000 from the button, Tom "tjbentham" Bentham reraised from the small blind, and deuces85 called all-in with the 63,682 left behind. 

deuces85 had [Ah][Js][5s][4h] while Bentham showed [As][Qh][Js][7d], and after the [2c][7c][7s][2h][5h] runout Bentham's trip sevens beat deuces85's two pair, and the latter was out in fifth. That's a seventh cash this SCOOP for deuces85, including four final tables.

About five minutes later it was another big winner on a PokerStars-sponsored tour, European Poker Tour  Season 10 Prague Main Event winner Julian "jutrack" Track who opened to 70,000 from UTG and it folded aroudn to Alex "alexo18" Manzano, another LAPT Main Event champion who won his title in São Paulo during Season 4. Manzano jammed for 190,191 from the small blind, earning a call from jutrack.

Manzano had the edge with [Kc][Ks][6h][5s] though jutrack had potential with [Kh][Tc][9s][8s]. The community cards didn't realize that potential, though, coming [2d][6d][6c][9h][8h] to give alexo18 trip sixes and knock jutrack out in fourth -- a whopping 14th cash already for Track this series.

Bentham continued to cruise along with a huge chip lead as the final three made it nearly to the end of the day's sixth hour. Then with the blinds up to 12,000/24,000, Bentham opened for 48,362 from UTG, Manzano three-bet to 157,086 from the small blind, and Bentham called. 

The flop then came [2h][7c][7h], Manzano went all-in for 175,994, and Bentham called. Manzano had aces and sevens with [Ac][Ah][8c][3c], but Bentham had a lucky seven in his hand to make trips with [Jh][Ts][9d][7s]. The turn was the [3d] and river the [5c], and suddenly they were down to two. Manzano departed with his sixth and best cash so far during this year's SCOOP.

That pot meant Bentham had 4,362,696 to start heads-up play, more than 10 times the 367,304 T-Macha had. They played a few hands with T-Macha slipping below 300,000, then came one that saw T-Macha limp in from the button, Bentham check, and a flop fall [5c][2s][Tc].

Bentham checked and T-Macha fired 24,000, prompting a check-raise to 120,000 from the chip leader. At that T-Macha pushed all-in for 266,504 total, and Bentham called.

tjbentham: [9s][6h][5s][4h]
T-Macha: [8d][7s][5h][2c]

Both players held a hands full of middle-to-low cards, with T-Macha the one who'd flopped two pair to take the lead. T-Macha was making his eighth cash in this year's SCOOP and first final table, and was hoping to get one step further to earn the win.

The turn brought the [Kh] and no change, but the river was the [6d], giving Bentham a better two pair with sixes and fives to earn him the title. 

Congratulations to Tom "tjbentham" Bentham who after finishing ninth in Event #9-H ($700 NLHE/PLO) made it all of the way to the winner's circle in this one to earn his first career SCOOP win. And kudos again to Brazil who extends its lead with a 15th SCOOP title so far.

SCOOP-34-H ($2,100 Pot-Limit Omaha, 6-max.) results
Entrants: 473
Prize pool: $946,000
Places paid: 54

1. Tom "tjbentham" Bentham (Brazil) $189,200.00
2. T-Macha (Netherlands) $140,008.00
3. Alex "alexo18" Manzano (Chile) $104,060.00
4. Julian "jutrack" Track (Germany) $71,896.00
5. deuces85 (Canada) $52,503.00
6. Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche (United Kingdom) $33.583.00
*denotes three-way deal. 

Pot Limit Omaha is so popular that it shows up several times on the 2016 SCOOP schedule in various formats. Event #34 put the PLO grinders on short-handed tables and gave them three re-entry options if their stack managed to hit the virtual felt. It drew a fine group of grinders trying to make headlines and it was the UK's talonaquiles denying them all to win his first COOP title.

The medium buy-in tournament had a $215 buy-in with a $150,000 guaranteed prize pool attached. It drew 1,055 entrants, well more than enough to surpass the guarantee number, and the 881 re-entries pushed the prize pool to $387,200. The last 252 players banked a piece of the money with more than $60,000 up top for the winner.

The first day came to an end after Level 28 with 26 players booking their spot in the Day 2 field with F1nntroll leading the way as the only one with a stack over 2 million. He was being chased by some big names including Amit "AMAK316" Makhija, Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen, Alex "dynoalot" Defelice, and Joe "floes" Serock.

They gathered as one at the final table after a good, long time on the bubble when Adam "Adamyid" Owen went out in 7th place. He limped a big hand in the small blind and his [ad][as][qs][6d] was turned away by F1nntroll's big blind special [qc][7h][4c][4s].

The last six players took their seats at the final table and the big news at the start was maggess88 back at a COOP final table. The Dutch grinder was only five eliminations away from earning the coveted Triple COOP honors for holding SCOOP, WCOOP, and TCOOP titles. His first came during the 2015 WCOOP series and that was followed up with a TCOOP Event #40 win this past January.

Seat 1: krapcity112 (2,691,086 in chips)
Seat 2: slickrick110 (3,272,396 in chips)
Seat 3: F1nntroll (5,160,123 in chips)
Seat 4: maggess88 (1,300,127 in chips)
Seat 5: talonaquiles (5,756,677 in chips)
Seat 6: Kashmir_uzi (1,179,591 in chips)

Limits: 40K/80K

Kashmir_uzi gunned down, eliminated in 6th

Besides maggess88, Kashmir_uzi was the only other at the final table with a previous COOP win, holding both a 2015 SCOOP and WCOOP title, but he joined the potential Triple COOPr at the bottom of the counts when they kicked off final table action.

He was the first to take a shot at doubling up early when he was dealt a premium hand. Kashmir_uzi raised from the button with [ac][ad][9s][3d] and slickrick110 defended his big blind to see the [jd][7h][2c] flop. It took three bets to get all of his chips in the middle and Kashmir_uzi saw the bad news in the form of slickrick110's [9d][7s][6h][2s].

Kashmir_uzi had outs to stay in the game but the [ts] was no help and slickrick110 improved to the unnecessary full house on the [2h] river. It was a quick exit for the double COOP champion, out in 6th place for $8,673.

maggess88 denied Triple COOP, eliminated in 5th

maggess88's Triple COOP attempt was looking good in the latter parts of the tournament, he was hovering among the top counts as they moved down to two tables. But things went sideways at that point and he came into the final table with the second shortest stack.

Eight hands after fellow COOP winner Kashmir_uzi was dismissed, maggess88 found a good flop to get all of his chips involved. From the big blind, he called a button min-raise from slickrick110 ahead of the [th][6d][3s] flop.

maggess88 bet out, slickrick110 raised enough to put him all-in, and he called with top two [jh][td][8c][6h]. This time, it looked like slickrick110 would be the victim of getting a big hand cracked when he needed help with [kc][kd][9d][7d]. slickrick110 picked up flush draw on the [4d] turn to give him 16 KO outs to the river. The [3c] paired the board to counterfeit maggess88's two pair and end his Triple COOP push for now.

F1nntroll trolled by river, eliminated in 4th

F1nntroll had a nice run over the last two tables, mostly to the detriment of maggess88, but lost half of his stack after hitting the final table. He had to make something happen and three-bet from the big blind after krapcity112 raised his button.

F1nntroll put out a pot-sized bet after the [ad][qs][9s] flop and krapcity112 raised enough to put him all-in. F1nntroll called with top pair [ac][jh][4h][2c] and had to dodge the second pair/flush/gutshot draw [ks][qd][td][8s] of krapcity112. The [5c] turn changed little and it was a virtual coin flip on the river, 19 to 21 in favor of F1nntroll. krapcity112 binked his flush when it finished [js] to send F1nntroll out in 4th.

Deal, no deal

The three remaining players decided to pause the clock and attempt to work out a deal to chop up the remaining prize money with talonaquiles holding the biggest stack.

talonaquiles - 8,655,222
krapcity112 - 5,897,808
slickrick112 - 4,806,970

talonaquiles was unhappy with the amount he would get from an ICM or chip chop and asked to receive more from the other two. That was quickly shot down and they returned to action.

Whoops, let's make a deal now

The swingy nature of three-handed PLO showed itself to talonaquiles and he promptly lost his chip lead a few hands after asking for more money. He sent a 3 million chip pot when slickrick110 flopped a set and turned a full house with [kc][kh][th][2c].

The stacks changed and the three paused the tournament again to attempt making a deal.

slickrick11 - 7,970,970
talonaquiles - 5,701,222
krapcity112 - 5,687,808

This negotiation went much smoother and they quickly agreed to the ICM numbers.

slickrick11 - $47,790.07
talonaquiles - $44,795.43
krapcity112 - $44,774.50

The deal left $3,000 for the eventual champion and the three were soon back underway.

krapcity112 coolered, eliminated in 3rd

krapcity112's chip count was neck-and-neck with talonaquiles and krapcity112 moved above him after the deal was complete. That didn't last very long and he took a big dip in a tough hand.

PLO pots can get huge in a hurry and krapcity112 built an eight-digit one with talonaquiles. It took five pre-flop bets to get all their chips in the middle and krapcity112 saw the problem, he was in trouble with [as][kh][kc][8d] against [ah][ad][js][7s]. Krapcity112 had a primo hand that was about as dominated as you'll see in PLO.

The board ran out [jh][5h][2c][6d][6s] to send the 11.5 million pot to talonaquiles and krapcity112 hit the rail in 3rd place a few hands later.

talonaquiles comes back to win Event #34-M title

Another reason for big PLO pots, flopping a bucket full of draws. The final hand saw both players do just that to finish things up.

talonaquiles called a button bet from slickrick110 to the [th][6d][3d] flop and they had everything shipped in with two pot-sized bets. slickrick110 was ahead with his over pair/flush draw [qc][qd][jd][3h] against talonaquiles' wrap draw [9d][8c][7c][4c].

slickrick110's lead was short-lived and talonaquiles made his straight on the [5s] turn to leave slickrick110 with eight flush stay-alive outs on the river. The [9s] missed him and slickrick110 was out with a runner-up finish but still managed to take out only $5 less than our champion.

talonaquiles earned $47,795 for the effort, his first major online title, and a slick new Movado watch.

SCOOP-34-M ($215 PL Omaha 6-Max) results
Entrants: 1,936 (1,055 entries, 881 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $387,200
Places paid: 252

1. talonaquiles (United Kingdom) $47,795.43*
2. slickrick110 (Mexico) $47,790.07*
3. krapcity112 (Canada) $44,774.50*
4. F1nntroll (Finland) $22,264.00
5. maggess88 (Netherlands) $15,178.24
6. Kashmir_uzi (United Kingsom) $8,673.28
*Reflects the results of a three-way deal that left $3,000 in play for the winner

Today, the worlds of poker and eSports just got more intertwined, and the family affair is about to get wild.

It's not been too long ago that Team PokerStars Pro, ElkY, joined up on one of the world's most famous gaming teams. Now, that extended family is getting even bigger.

PokerStars announced today that it has partnered with eSports legend Team Liquid and is bringing a number of Team Liquid's stars as part of the deal. Some of Team Liquid'stop players, already famous for their game play, will be streaming poker on Twitch and spreading the word of PokerStars around the globe.

Team Liquid is no stranger to poker. In fact, anyone who has been around the game long enough remembers Team Liquid Poker, a site dedicated specifically to poker. Now, PokerStars is an official Team Liquid sponsor.

Team Liquid has included some of its biggest stars in the deal, including Janne "Savjz" Mikkonen, a player who already knows a lot about poker but has focused more of his attention in recent years on Hearthstone.

"I'm actually no stranger to poker," Mikkonen said. I used to play a lot in the past. PokerStars is the most respected and reliable company in that business, so I'm super excited to be sponsored by them."

Mikkonen will be joined by Jeffrey "SjoW" Brusi, a living legend in the gaming community who spent his early years making a living playing poker. He plans to join Mikkonen at a few European Poker Tour events over the next year and remembers what it was like to grind the felt for a living.

"It's a very complex and interesting game," Brusi said. "Having played some during some of the eSports events I attended, I have developed a little bit of a drive to play more, and what better site to start playing on than PokerStars! If you wanna see an old poker player relearn the game tune in to my stream."

Rounding out the team will be Dario "TLO" Wünsch, an unconventional player with a high tolerance for risk who promises to make the poker tables an even more interesting place.

"Poker and StarCraft have always been two scenes that are very close to each other. Both are games of incomplete information that have an incredibly high skill ceilings," Wünsch said. "I'm looking forward to trying myself out in poker, and you'll be able to see me learn the game as a total amateur on my twitch channel!"

Stay tuned for details on when the streams will start and when you can meet these players at the next PokerStars event.

Zachery "Aaralynn" Schneider is a 31 year old poker player from Ottawa, and one of the new Class of SCOOP winners from 2016. 

To some players SCOOP is a chance to celebrate, to scream from the rooftops (or at least from the end of the local bar) that they have accomplished something in poker. Schneider is almost like that, but not quite. Take away everything but the professional recognition, and the personal satisfaction at having achieved it, and you'll get to what sort of SCOOP champion he is. 

Zach Schneider

Schneider, playing as "Aaralynn", won SCOOP 10-L. It was not the biggest SCOOP win; it was not the most talked about, and by no means the most glamourous. But in some ways that sums up Schneider and what makes him the proud poker player he is today - eight years a pro in a game that is constantly evolving, and challenging those who claim to be able to beat it.  To Schneider though it's still the game he loves. 

"It's kind of fitting that I won this event," he said. "I pride myself on grinding hours/games that other pros won't.  It's not the most glamorous win but the same can be said for my entire career.  I just show up every day and get the job done.  I owe most of my success to the guys I surround myself with at BBZ staking.  We have a great community of players and coaches that all lean on each other and it's an honor to be a part of it."

As Schneider put it, $20,000 is not his biggest score, but then it's not always the big wins that prove most memorable. 

"It is unlikely I will ever win a 15,000 player field again so to be able to say I did that is certainly unlike any other poker success I've had.

"I am very proud to stand where I am today as a successful poker player in an industry that gets more competitive every day. " 

Read the full report of Schneider's win on the PokerStars Blog.