Pot-Limit Omaha is like No-Limit Hold'em is a lot of ways but many choose the former poker variant as it's generally offers a lot more action. Makes sense, right? With four cards in your hand rather than two, there's a lot more reason to see a flop, and with more players seeing flops, there's a greater chance of chips going in from there. 

For some though, four cards weren't enough. The action level didn't get the blood flowing like it used to when two cards first became four in your hand. The solution? Up the dosage to five cards! 

The SCOOP-21-L had a buy-in of $7.50 and a guarantee of $25k. Low stakes players wouldn't get the opportunity to play 5-Card Omaha that often so they turned out in droves.  A total of 2,309 to be exact, and they had 1,491 re-buys and added on 997 times. All that helped the prize pool grow to $32,715.54. 

The top 300 made it into the money and secured a $24.86 payday after billygstar was eliminated in 301st place. The action was fast and furious on Day 1; so much so that the final table of six was reached and the play halted for the night. Five Team Pros entered and two made the money. Stavros "IDOLLS" Kalfas just over min-cashed with a 279th place finished and Jason "JasonMercier" Mercier made the top 100 and earned $62.81 for his 75th place finish.  

The final six

Seat 1: Premove (5,482,411 in chips) 
Seat 2: eight4ever (6,537,483 in chips) 
Seat 3: big_pockett (13,626,441 in chips) 
Seat 4: geovou7 (6,779,826 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 5: M-U-C-K-Y-O- (10,114,955 in chips) 
Seat 6: HYTTI (5,428,884 in chips) 

Day 2

The blinds were 100,000/200,000 when they came back for Day 2, with an average stack of a whisker under 40 big blinds. Surprisingly it took a long while for the action to get going. big_pockett entered Day 2 with a clear chip advantage and increased that stack to the cost of HYTTI, Premove and eight4ever, who were being cut adrift at the bottom of the counts. A confrontation between two of these short stacks finally broke the tension and (semi-indirectly) resulted in the first bust out of the final table. 

Premove and eight4ever were in the blinds, both taking to a [qh][9d][as] flop after the latter called a preflop raise from the former. eight4ever had less than a pot-size bet left and called all-in after Premove bet pot. eight4ever opened [3d][6c][ah][8d][9h] for two pair, ahead of Premove's [js][7c][4c][4d][kh]. The board ran out [ad][kc] to fill up eight4ever. 

Premove was left with fewer than two big blinds and made his final move when under the gun; moving all-in with [jh][5c][9d][qd][3h]. big_pockett successfully raised to isolate with [2c][ah][kc][as][3d] and made a straight on [ts][5s][9c][4c][6d] board. 

Short stacks to no stacks  

Once Level 41 kicked in and the blinds increased to 250,000/500,000, the pressure was really on the short-stacked HYTTI and eight4ever. Both had little fold equity and knew any preflop shove would be called. Both managed double ups through M-U-C-K-Y-O-U but eight4ever was out in fifth soon after, and got unlucky too. The Lithuanian got his stack in with [7s][7d][ac][ad][4d], ahead of big_pockett's [jh][kh][kd][6s][4c] but the [kc][qh][ts][tc][jc] board went the chip leader's way. 

big_pockett's stack was soon past the 30-million mark after he took care of HYTTI four hands later, making another full house involving kings.  HYTTI moved all-in on a [jh][7s][kd] flop holding [qc][9d][8s][6d][tc], drawing against big_pockett's [jc][qd][3s][8c][ks]. The board just got better and better for the Australian though as it completed with the [jd][kh] turn and river.

Three-handed to a winner

big_pockett had a big lead entering three-handed play but the stacks were spread more even after the Aussie doubled up M-U-C-K-Y-O-, shortly after the Brit had doubled up geovou7. That prompted M-U-C-K-Y-O- to initiate deal talks and the tournament was going to be paused for discussion at the end of the hand in progress, but geovou7 didn't make it that far and discussions head-up never amounted to anything. 

big_pockett raised from the button and both opponents called to lay eyes upon a [7c][4s][td] flop. M-U-C-K-Y-O-U watched (and folded) as the other two players committed their chips. big_pockett's set with [ac][9c][6d][7s][7d] was ahead of geovou7's drawing [8h][8d][9h][jc][th] and improved to another full house with a [qs][4h] run out. 

Seven hands later it was all over. big_pockett saw M-U-C-K-Y-O- raise from the button and three-bet saying, "lets rumble." His opponent was up for it and moved all-in. Call.

M-U-C-K-Y-O-: [kd][ts][7h][jh][9s]
big_pockett: [2s][qc][js][qs][tc]

The final board of the tournament rolled out [4c][3s][3d][as][[6c] missing both players amazingly. That meant big-pockett took the pot with two-pair and claimed the title and first-place prize of $5,154.31. 

Congratulations to M-U-C-K-Y-O- and all the other finalists today. 

SCOOP-21-L ($750 PL 5-Card Omaha) results
Entrants: 2,309 (1,491 rebuys, 997 add-ons)
Total prize pool: $32,715.54
Places paid: 300

1. big_pockett (Australia) $5,154.31
2. M-U-C-K-Y-O- (UK) $3,762.328
3. geovou7 (Greece) $2,780.82
4. HYTTI (Sweden) $1,881.14
5. eight4ever (Lithuania) $1,226.83
6. Premove (Russia) $653.65

Brazil might be stealing all the headlines in this year's SCOOP, but guess who's right behind them? The Germans. In one of the most stacked finales thus far, Germany's SsicK_OnE won his second career SCOOP title (and the seventh for Germany this year) after topping a final table that included Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier and Mike "Timex" McDonald. 

Every single player in this final eight had experience at the final table of an online major. Three of them held six SCOOP titles between them-- one belonging to 4rebmun, one for SsicK_OnE, and four for Jason Mercier. In last year's SCOOP, Mercier was a force in the high buy-in events, winning three titles inside a week and in three different disciplines to boot-- Badugi, NL Draw and 4-Max NLHE. Going into this tournament, Mercier already had 11 cashes in the 2016 SCOOP, and according to his Twitter, was already in for two $21k bullets in the Super High Roller (Event #24-H) as this event played down. All told, Event #18-H drew 1,202 entries (824 players and 378 re-entries), resulting in a $799,300.00 prize pool. 135 players earned a share of it with $143,879.94 set aside for first place. 

The blinds were 12,000/24,000 on the final table bubble when SsicK_OnE opened for 52,560. Short stack chess87 moved all-in for 475,660 and SsicK_OnE called, his [Ad][Td] up against [Kh][Qc]. The [6d][4d][2c] flop gave SsicK_OnE an ace-high flush draw and the [2d] turn filled it. Chess87 was drawing dead and exited in tenth place. 

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: Tîmex (1,167,412 in chips) 
Seat 2: Pokerger1337 (1,726,519 in chips) 
Seat 3: Pantkvittot (1,191,735 in chips) 
Seat 4: 4rebmun (998,817 in chips) 
Seat 5: ShipitFTW911 (1,371,250 in chips) 
Seat 6: SsicK_OnE (2,486,456 in chips) 
Seat 7: pm_marke (1,311,750 in chips) 
Seat 8: Breakchips (788,321 in chips) 
Seat 9: JasonMercier (977,740 in chips) 

Nine-handed play slogged on for 70 minutes before a cooler struck. A pre-flop raising war broke out between Pantkvittot and ShipitFTW911 that ended with ShipitFTW911 five-bet shoving for 1,042,003 with [Qs][Qh] and Pantkvittot calling with [Ah][Ad]. Pantkvittot's aces held up and ShipitFTW911 departed in ninth place. 

The action lulled again until Mercier and Timex clashed pre-flop. Mercier made it 80,433 on the button, Timex three-bet to 200,000 and Mercier shoved for 560,281. Perhaps feeling priced in, Timex called, his [Jh][Th] up against Mercier's [Ac][Ad]. Once again, the bullets held up and Mercier doubled to 1.2 million while Timex fell to 918,000. 

Another half-hour passed before Pantkvittot four-bet shoved preflop with [Ad][Kh]. This time, pm_marke woke up with [As][Ah] and the aces went three-for-three as the board ran out [Qs][5s][4d][9c][3h], ending Pantkvittot's run in eighth place. 

Pantkvittot's elimination left Timex as the short stack and three hands later, with the blinds up to 25,000/50,000 he three-bet shoved for 560,316 with [As][Jd]. Initial raiser Breakchips called with [Kh][Kc]. Timex couldn't catch a break on the [Tc][5c][4h][2d][6s] board and went out in seventh place. Two and a half hours after this final table began, it was down to six players. Big confrontations were largely still happening only with big hands, as proven when SsicK_OnE doubled through 4rebmun with [As][Ad] vs. [Kc][Kh]. However, by the time the third hour finished, Mercier was in a bit of danger with 676,611 in chips with the blinds up to 35,000/70,000. Holding [8c][9c], Mercier went for the steal and moved all-in from the hijack, only to have pm_marke look him up with [Ah][Qd] in the big blind. Fortune shined on pm_marke as the [Kd][Jd][Th] flop made him Broadway, and Mercier ended his run at a fifth SCOOP title in sixth place.

When five-handed play commenced, Pokerger1337 was the chip leader with 3.3 million, but lost nearly everything when he doubled up 4rebmun. 4rebmun's pocket kings held up against pocket queens and he moved up to 5.11 million in chips while Pokerger1337 fell all the way to 813,000. Pokerger1337 got a few chips back by doubling through Breakchips with [Ad][Qd] vs. [Qs][Tc], then doubled back through 4rebmun when his [Ah][7s] flopped aces and sevens vs. [As][9c]. Breakchips fell to 1.63 million and with the blinds up to 40,000/80,000, he open-shoved on the button with [As][8d]. Unfortunately for him, 4rebmun woke up with [9c][9h] in the big blind. 4rebmun flopped nines full on the [9s][4s][4h][3h][7h] board and Breakchips hit the rail in fifth place. 

During four-handed play, 4rebmun maintained the chip lead with 4.21 million until he clashed in a pot with SsicK_OnE. The blinds were up to 60,000/120,000 when 4rebmun opened for 270,000. SsicK_OnE called from the small blind and pm_marke came along from the big. The flop came down [Qs][Qc][5h] and the action checked to 4rebmun, who bet 247,100. Only SsicK_OnE called. The turn brought the [2c] and both players checked to the river, which fell the [4s]. SsicK_OnE bet 846,384 and 4rebmun looked him up. SsicK_OnE turned over [Ks][Qh] for trip queens and 4rebmun mucked. SsicK_OnE raked in the 3.05 million-chip pot and moved into the chip lead with 5.22 million while 4rebmun fell to 2.8 million. Later in the same level, SsicK_OnE opened for 262,800 from UTG and 4rebmun called from the big blind. 4rebmun check-called SsicK_OnE's 246,592 bet on the [9d][7d][7c] flop, but led out for 375,798  when the [Jh] turned. SsicK_OnE called and they went to the river, which fell the [5c]. 4rebmun moved all-in for 1.82 million and SsicK_OnE called, revealing [Js][Jd] for jacks full of sevens. 4rebmun was bluffing with [Qd][8d] for a busted flush draw, and went out in fourth place. 

When three-handed play got underway, SsicK_OnE was the chip leader with 8.52 million, pm_marke held 2.45 million, and Pokerger1337 was the short stack with 1.05 million. However, Pokerger1337 doubled up in short order, his [Ah][6d] holding up against pm_marke's [Qc][7c]. A few hands later, SsicK_OnE open-shoved on the button and pm_marke called from the small blind. 

SsicK_OnE [Qs][Jc]
pm_marke [8h][8d]

By the turn it looked like pm_marke would live to play another hand, but a queen spiked on the river of the [7h][7d][4d][Ah][Qc] board, making SsicK_OnE a winning pair of queens and sending pm_marke to the rail in third place. Heads-up chip counts

Seat 2: Pokerger1337 (1,431,300 in chips) 
Seat 6: SsicK_OnE (10,588,700 in chips) 

This heads-up match was all over on the ninth hand. Pokerger1337 limped in on the button, SsicK_OnE shoved from the big blind and Pokerger1337 called. 

SsicK_OnE [Ks][5s]
Pokerger1337  [Kd][Jc]

Pokerger1337's dominating hand stayed that way on the [As][8d][7h] flop, but SsicK_OnE got gin on the turn when the [5c] fell, making him a pair of fives. The river was the [8c] and SsicK_OnE locked up his second SCOOP title. 

Congratulations to SsicK_OnE on his second career SCOOP title! He banked $143,879.94 for the win, while runner-up Pokerger1337 earned $102,554.03. 

SCOOP-18-H ($700 NL Hold'em) results
Entrants:1,202
Prize pool: $799,330.00
Places paid:135

1. SsicK_OnE (Germany) $143,879.94
2. Andries "Pokerger1337" Swart (Netherlands) $102,554.03
3. pm_marke (Czech Republic) $76,735.68
4. 4rebmun (Canada) $57,551.76
5. Breakchips (Netherlands) $39,966.50
6. Jason Mercier (Canada) $31,973,20
7. Mike "Timex" McDonald (Canada) $23,979.90
8. Pantvittot (Sweden) $15,986.60
9. ShipitFTW911 (Sweden) $9,591.96

There are still over 100 SCOOP events to go! Check out the SCOOP homepage for a full schedule and satellite information. 

And if you don't have a PokerStars account yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up today.

Brazil's stranglehold on the 2016 SCOOP continued today when Omaha Hi/Lo specialist theispoker took down Event #20-L. Out of the 57 events that have played to a winner as of press time, Brazilians have won twelve of them. 

Our colleague Stephen Bartley dubbed it "The Brazilian Storm" and the three new SCOOP champions he spoke with share a common denominator--dedication to the game tempered with pure joy. Their attitude reflects the spirit of the Brazilian poker community itself and more than ever before, those players are taking their rightful spot as contenders in the most competitive tournaments in the world. 

Event #20-L may not have had the highest buy-in or the richest prize pool, but its final table had two players with seven COOP titles among them. Canada's buzzard1881 was going for a Triple COOP today. He won a WCOOP title in 2013 and two TCOOP titles this January. Russia's aDrENalin710 has four COOP titles to his name-- two WCOOPs and two SCOOPs. 

1,848 players bought in to Event #20-L, creating a $45,268.40 prize pool that easily surpassed the $25K guarantee. 240 places were paid with $7,940.75 up top. 

The blinds were up to 100,000/200,000 with nine players remaining and nemisoi was the short stack with 325,958 in chips. Buzzard1881 led off the action with a 200,000 raise from UTG and nemisoi three-bet to 300,000, buzzard1881 four-bet and nemisoi called off his reamining 25,958. 

nemisoi  [Ah][3s][Th][Qc]
buzzard1881  [As][5s][7c][Ks]

Nemisoi improved only to a pair of threes on the [9s][3h][Kc][2c][7h] board, while buzzard1881 made kings up and a 7-5-3-2-A low to scoop the pot and send us to the eight-handed final table. 

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: theispoker (2,759,880 in chips) 
Seat 2: buzzard1881 (1,869,800 in chips) 
Seat 3: jayme1987 (1,038,392 in chips) 
Seat 4: aDrENalin710 (1,971,963 in chips) 
Seat 5: Kusu_a (4,308,463 in chips) 
Seat 6: Lechi1984 (1,282,969 in chips) 
Seat 7: $$paniko9$$ (1,695,140 in chips) 
Seat 8: juninprp (3,553,393 in chips) 

Eight-handed play continued for about thirty minutes before aDrENalin710 was crippled in a pot vs. Lechi1984. Holding [Ad][5d][Qh][Kh], aDrENalin710 fired the flop and turn on the [Qs][9h][2s][4h] board with a pair of queens and a wheel draw, but was raised on the turn. ADrENalin710 called, but the [Td] river failed to improve his hand. ADrENalin710 check-called Lechi1984's river bet only to be shown [As][4c][5s][Qd] for queens and fours. Lechi1984 scooped the 2.28 million pot, leaving aDrENalin710 with only 25,000 in chips. Although aDrENalin710 climbed back up to 225,000, it wasn't enough to save him. All-in preflop with [3c][4s][Tc][Ks] vs. theispoker and jayme1987, aDrENalin710 turned tens and fours on the [Qs][7c][4h][Th][5d] board, but theispoker scooped the whole thing with trip queens, ending aDrENalin710's run in eighth place. 

Ten minutes later, buzzard1881 was down to only 219,700 and raised all-in preflop. Kusu_a three-bet and juninprp called from the big blind to make it three-way action. Juninprp check-called Kusu_a's bet on the [Kd][6h][3h] flop and checked again when the [2h] turn. Kusu_a fired another 400,000, folding out juninprp. The [4c] completed the board and Kusu_a revealed [Ac][5h][Jd][Ks] for a wheel. Buzzard1881 mucked his [Qc][Qh][Jc][Td] and hit the rail in seventh place, his quest for a Triple COOP at an end for today. 

Two hands later, $$paniko9$$ bet his last 95,340 preflop. Juninprp, theispoker, and jayme1987 all joined him for a bet apiece. The action checked around on the [As][6s][4s] flop and all three active players checked again when the [7s] turned. The river was the [8c] and theispoker checked to jayme1987, who bet 400,000. Juninprp called and theispoker got out of the way. Jayme1987 took the low pot with 6-5-4-2-A and juninprp won the high with a six-to-ten straight, eliminating $$paniko9$$ in sixth place. 

After that hand, juninprp took the chip lead with 5.2 million, but lost more than half his stack to Lechi1984 when he scooped a 3.7 million pot with an ace-high flush and an 8-6 low. Less than two orbits later, juninprp opened for a 480,000 raise and got two callers-- Kusu_a and Lehi1984. The action checked to juninprp on the [Td][8d][5c] flop and he bet 240,000. Both opponents called. The turn came the [7c] and it was the same story-- check, check, bet, call, call. The [2c] rivered and Kusu_a checked to Lechi1984, who made it 480,000 to go. Juninprp called all-in for 336,170 and Kusu_a called as well. Kusu_a took the high with [Qs][Tc][7h][2s] for tens and sevens, Lechi1984 took the low with [As][2h][4h][5s] for a 7-5-4-2-A low and juninprp mucked, his final table run ending with a fifth-place finish. 

Jayme1987 was next to fall on the short stack and bet the rest of his chips on a [Jc][8s][8d] flop vs. Kusu_a and Lechi1984, who checked down the [Ah] turn and the [8h] river. Lechi1984 turned over [As][Qh][Ts][6c], an ace kicker to go with the trip eights on the board, and scooped the 1.78 million pot, sending Jayme1987 home in fourth place. 

When three-handed play commenced, theispoker held the chip lead with 8.4 million, Lechi1984 held 5.9 million, and Kusu_a was the short stack with 4.2 million. Although Kusu_a won a slew of small pots to start, theispoker won the ones that counted and rocketed up to 14.6 million in chips, leaving both his opponents below 2.5 million. With the blinds up to 160,000/320,000, Lechi1984 folded his button and theispoker made it 640,000 to go from the small blind. Kusu_a three-bet, theispoker capped and Kusu_a called. The rest of Kusu_a's chips went in on the [Kd][7h][5h] flop. 

theispoker [Jh][3h][3s][2h]  (flush draw, low draw)
Kusu_a  [Ac][5d][Ts][Ks]  (kings and fives) 

However, as fate would have it, the turn and river came running non-heart deuces, the [2c] and the [2d], making theispoker trips. No low hand qualified, and Kusu_a was out in third place. 

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 1: theispoker (16,003,619 in chips) 
Seat 6: Lechi1984 (2,476,381 in chips) 

Lechi1984 doubled through theispoker on the first hand of heads-up play when he made a jack-high straight to beat kings and sevens. After the hand, they agreed to pause the action and discuss a potential deal. Here's how they stacked up at the time: 

theispoker  13,527,238
Lechi1984  4,952,762

Theispoker was surprised that his 2.7 to 1 chip lead didn't balance the chip count chop more heavily in his favor. Taking out $500 to play for, theispoker's share came in at $6,966.46 and Lechi1984's at $6,145.34. Theispoker declared he would close the deal with a $7,200 guaranteed share, but Lechi1984 wouldn't bite. Negotiations reached an impasse and cards went back in the air. 

From there, it took only ten hands for theispoker to finish off Lechi1984. After a button raise from theispoker, all the money went in on a [Th][7s][4s] flop. 

theispoker  [Ad][3c][4d][4h]
Lechi1984  [Kc][Qh][5d][3h]

The turn and river came the [Kd] and the [Jd], theispoker's trip fours holding up to secure him his first SCOOP title. 

Congratulations to theispoker on becoming the twelfth Brazilian champion of the 2016 SCOOP! He earned $7,940.75 for the win, while runner-up Lechi1984 banked $5,671.05. 

SCOOP-20-L ($27 FL Omaha Hi/Lo [8-Max]) results
Entrants:1,848
Prize pool: $45,368.40
Places paid:240

1. theispoker (Brazil) $7,940.75
2. Lechi1984 (Austria) $5,671.05
3. Kusu_a (Finland) $4,309.99
4. jayme1987 (United Kingdom) $3,175.78
5. juninprp (Brazil) $2,268.42
6. $$paniko9$$ (Costa Rica) $1,361.05
7. buzzard1881 (Canada) $907.36
8. aDrENalin710 (Russia) $453.08

There are still over 100 SCOOP events to go! Check out the SCOOP homepage for a full schedule and satellite information. 

And if you don't have a PokerStars account yet, what are you waiting for? Sign up today. 

The second weekend of the 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker rolled around and the 18th event on the schedule was one of your standard No Limit Hold'em tournaments. No fancy frills or tweaked up structures or more than two hole cards. It was a big field, big payout tournament that saw Festivuss as the last player standing over nearly 5,000 entrants.

The $82 medium buy-in version of Event #18 drew 3,273 players and they had three re-entry options available during the late registration period should they bust their stack. Another 1,457 came via that route to push the total entries up to 4,730. They created a prize pool worth $354,750 to more than double the $150,000 Guarantee. The last 630 players earned a piece of that money with the eventual winner set to take home more than $55,000.

The tournament took a pause at the end of Level 28 and only 96 players were still sporting a stack for Day 2. Andrew "zzzzzzzzzz" Korby finished up Day 1 with the lead with NutsedAllTim not far behind. Even with 1.5 million in his Day 2 stack, former TCOOP final table member NutsedAllTim (and his four entries) were unable to get very far. He dropped out in 67th for a bit of a profit.

The average stack was over 40 big blinds for the restart to move things along at a slow, steady pace. Five hours after the return, the field was on the final table bubble with ten players remaining. It didn't take long and they joined together as one table when yagrebulave couldn't find an ace with [as][5d] against cauee_am's [8h][8d].

Tonaldinho11 was the headline player to make the last final table with a Sunday Million title to his credit but hdjgkfkgsdl picked up a nice piece of change of his own with a runner-up finish in the massive PokerStars 8th Anniversary special tournament.

Seat 1: cauee_am (7,360,347 in chips)
Seat 2: Happykril (7,372,301 in chips)
Seat 3: lucullus1111 (4,250,698 in chips)
Seat 4: sello~toto (8,620,064 in chips)
Seat 5: vazion (2,856,366 in chips)
Seat 6: Domientje (2,558,356 in chips)
Seat 7: hdjgkfkgsdl (2,042,571 in chips)
Seat 8: Tonaldinho11 (6,882,382 in chips)
Seat 9: Festivuss (5,356,915 in chips)

Blinds: 80K/160K with 20K Ante

Domientje jacked up, eliminated in 9th

Domientje open-shoved from the button for 1.65 million and hdjgkfkgsdl moved all-in over the top from the small blind. Tonaldinho11 let his big blind go setting up the first at-risk hand.

hdjgkfkgsdl: [ah][jd]
Domientje: [qc][9c]

They both hit the [js][9s][5d] flop but hdjgkfkgsdl's was a little bit bigger. Domientje added a gutshot draw on the [8h] turn but missed the [4c] river to be the first eliminated from the final table.

vazion repeats after Domientje, eliminated in 8th

One orbit later and it was vazion trying pretty much the same thing as Domientje with the same results. He moved all-in for 1.47 million from the button and hdjgkfkgsdl reshipped over the top from the small blind. Tonaldinho11 once again let his big blind go to roll out another big hand.

hdjgkfkgsdl: [ac][qh]
vazion: [kd][6c]

Neither player caught a piece of the [th][4h][3s][jd][2s] board and vazion's live cards went down in the flames for an 8th place finish.

lucullus1111 runs out queen-high, eliminated in 7th

Action continued to run at a fast pace and lucullus1111 was the next to make a fancy move, starting with a raise from the cutoff to 1.2 million. hdjgkfkgsdl decided his small blind hand wasn't worth it this time so Tonaldinho11 popped it to 2.16 million from the big blind, enough to put lucullus1111 all-in.

He called the bet with [qs][th] which was live against Tonaldinho11's [kh][8h] but he blanked the mostly low [7c][3c][2d][4d][jh] board to go out in 7th place.

Happykril chases lucullus1111 out the door, eliminated in 6th

Happykril wasted no time getting his chips mixed up at the final table after lucullus1111 left and open-shoved for 1.75 million. Tonaldinho11 called from the small blind this time with a chance for the back-to-back knockouts.

Happykril: [qh][tc]
Tonaldinho11: [ah][qs]

Already dominated, Happykril fell further behind on the [as][kc][3s] flop though he added a gutshot draw. The [kh] turn was no help and Happykril was gone in 6th place after the [6d] river.

Happykril chases lucullus1111 out the door, eliminated in 6th

Happykril wasted no time getting his chips mixed up at the final table after lucullus1111 left and open-shoved for 1.75 million. Tonaldinho11 called from the small blind this time with a chance for the back-to-back knockouts.

Happykril: [qh][tc]
Tonaldinho11: [ah][qs]

Already dominated, Happykril fell further behind on the [as][kc][3s] flop though he added a gutshot draw. The [kh] turn was no help and Happykril was gone in 6th place after the [6d] river.

cauee_am makes a bold move, eliminated in 5th

One of the biggest pots up to this point of the tournament was created pre-flop between two big stacks. It began with Tonaldinho11 opening to 697,600 from the button.

cauee_am saw an ace in his hand and moved all-in for 4.7 million from the big blind and Tonaldinho11 called with the superior ace. cauee_am needed to catch something with [ac][6h] against Tonaldinho11's [ah][th] but found nothing except an outkicked pair on the [as][7c][3h][2d][9h] board to go out in 5th place.

sello~toto busto, eliminated in 4th

Five hands after cauee_am hit the rail, sello~toto found a big pair that would be Chinese grinder's undoing. [qd][qh] had to look mighty good, so sello~toto moved all-in for 3.34 million from the button and Tonaldinho11 took a KO shot with [kd][jh].

sello~toto had to feel pretty solid about a likely double but had a small sweat after the [js][5c][3c] flop. The [4s] turn was harmless but the bad beat came in the form of the [ks] river to send him out in 4th place.

hdjgkfkgsdl coolered, eliminated in 3rd

hdjgkfkgsdl ran well to get to be among the last three players in the big field tournament but ran into some bad luck at the hands of heater-loving Tonaldinho11.

hdjgkfkgsdl moved all-in for 6.2 million after Tonaldinho11 min-raised from the button and it was a quick call. hdjgkfkgsdl was in trouble with [5d][5c] against Tonaldinho11's three-handed monster [kd][kh].

The [9h][7d][4c] flop was no help but hdjgkfkgsdl picked up a gutshot draw from the [8c] turn that never got there on the [7s] river. It was a great run but hdjgkfkgsdl had to settle for 3rd place money.

Seat 8: Tonaldinho11 (14,983,303 in chips)
Seat 9: Festivuss (32,316,697 in chips)

Blinds: 200K/400K with 50K Ante

Festivuss earns first COOP honors in Event #18-M

The two accomplished players battled each other heads-up for more than an hour before it was settled. Festivuss began with a nice lead but Tonaldinho11 never gave up and fought the entire time.

The end came after Festivuss won the last ten hands of the match, the final coming when Tonaldinho11 shoved his last 6.33 million from the button with [kd][5c] and Festivuss called with the much better [kh][qc].

They both paired their king on the [ac][ks][8c] flop to leave Tonaldinho11 drawing thin to stay in the game. No river was needed when Tonaldinho11 found himself drawing dead thanks to the [ah] turn. A valiant effort from Tonaldinho11, who can add this runner-up finish to his previous Sunday Million success, and get ready to earn his first SCOOP later in the series.

Festivuss was quiet through most of the final table action, letting others do the heavy lifting while he sat back with his big stack and pots along the way. The Uruguayan earned his first title with a Sunday Warmup win but he can now call himself a SCOOP champion.

SCOOP-18-M ($82 NL Hold'em) results
Entrants: 4,730 (3,273 Entries, 1,457 Re-Entries)
Total prize pool: $354,750
Places paid: 630

1. Festivuss (Uruguay) $55,655.84
2. Tonaldinho11 (Netherlands) $41,328.37
3. hdjgkfkgsdl (United Kingdom) $29,266.87
4. sello~toto (China) $20,043.37
5. cauee_am (Brazil) $15,076.87
6. Happykril (Belarus) $11,529.37
7. lucullus1111 (Germany) $7,981.87
8. vazion (Denmark) $4,434.37
9. Domientje (Belgium) $2,838.00

When I think about Brazil, four things come to mind: soccer, beaches, Carnival, and SCOOP bracelets. This is getting a little silly. Brazil won another bracelet. This is not a rerun or a replay. It's real life. That makes it eleven. Onze. With a victory in Event #18-L by ericluccas88, Brazil clinched their 11th bracelet and we've barely completed 50 overall tournaments. The raging Brazil Storm continues and it's definitely not losing any momentum. If anything, this unrelenting maelstrom of Brazilians seems to be getting even stronger. The bracelet in Event #18-L was locked up for Brazil once it got heads-up between -- ericluccas88 and winning elev. Yeah, to rub it in, Brazil finished first and second in this event. The Brazilian domination continued and the second weekend of SCOOP had only just begun.

The low version of SCOOP event #18-L $7.50 NL attracted 15,983 runners. They juiced up the prize pool to $109,004.06. The top 2,025 places paid out with $20,297 set aside to the champion.

This was another two-day affair. At the end of Day 1, only 81 players advanced to Day 2. Norway's BEAR-YNWA held a bear hug on the chip lead with 6.8M. Brazilian winning elev was in second with 6.5M.The action was briskly paced on Day 2. With 10 to go, we were treated to a rare-double elimination on the final table bubble. It was a heck of a cooler. One of those naughty three-way trysts with Aces, Queens, and Jacks all trying to cannibalize each other. In this instance, pocket Aces prevailed thanks to an Ace on the flop. Bloussen shoved for 9,756,944 with [Js][Jc], victorbco re-shoved for 15,825,816 with [Qs][Qc], winning elev snap-shoved with [Ac][As]. The board finished up [Ad][4s][3d][8d][6s] and it was lights out for victorbco and Bloussen. Argentina's Bloussen bubbled in tenth place, and Brazil's victorbco was knocked out in ninth place.

SCOOP-18-L - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: winning elev (56,312,634)
Seat 2: ericluccas88 (32,771,610)
Seat 3: Mcrichboss (8,990,466)
Seat 4: BEAR-YNWA (8,116,568)
Seat 6: Turcin89 (14,578,926)
Seat 7: TheNxt1 (7,876,699)
Seat 8: AwadeuS (5,351,030)
Seat 9: SixthSenSe19 (25,832,067)

The 8-handed final table commenced during Level 50 with blinds at 250K/500K and a 62.5K ante. Brazilians were 1-2 at the final table with 8 to go. Brazil's winning elev was the chip leader with 56.3M and ericluccas88 was second with 32.7M. AwadeuS was the shorty by default.

Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez is a former aspiring pro soccer player who now has over $3 million in online earnings. The Uruguayan poker pro need a win in SCOOP to complete a rare Triple COOP. SixthSenSe19 won a 2012 TCOOP and a 2010 WCOOP heads-up bracelet, but a SCOOP victory has eluded him. Gonzalez final tabled a SCOOP event the other day but only managed a third-place finish in Event #11-H PLO rebuys. Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez has already cashed in 13 SCOOP events this year. Could he be the one who sabotaged another Brazilian march toward first?

GOING TO GRACELAND: TheNxt1 eliminated in 8th place

Shortstacked looked to double up but got smoked. TheNxt1 open-shoved for 2,575,597 with [Js][9d] and one of the bigs, winning elev, called with [Ks][Jc]. The board ran out [7s][3d][2s][Kh][Qc]. TheNxt1 never improved and winning elev rivered a King to win the pot. Canada's TheNxt1 was dunzo in eighth place, which paid out $981.03.

THE PIT: Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez eliminated in 7th place

Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez was trying to prevent full Brazilian domination at the final table... but it was not meant to be. SixthSenSe19 lost with [Ah][Qc] against a river suckout. On the button, Turcin89 open-shoved for 12,687,426 with [9d][7d], but SixthSenSe19 woke up in the big blind with [Ah][Qc] and called all-in for 5,195,182. The board finished up [Jd][8s][5s][2s][9c] and Turcin89 won the pot with a pair of nines. SixthSenSe19 never improved and busted in seventh place, which paid out $1,907.57. With Gonzalez's out of the way, it seemed like a clear path to the winner's circle by the Brazilians.

SURFIN' COW: AwadeuS eliminated in 6th place

The carnage continued. AwadeuS made a final stand after shoving for 8,247,915 with [Ad][Qs], but lost to winning elev's [Jd][Js] when the board ran out [8h][5d][4c][7d][5h]. AwadeuS never improved and winning elev won the pot with Jacks up. For a sixth-place performance, AwadeuS took home $2,943.10.

With five to go, winning elev led with 66.1M and fellow Brazilian was in second with 49.6M. Norway's BEAR-YNWA brought up the rear with 8.5M.

TACOLAND: Mcrichboss eliminated in 5th place

Big-stack bully ericluccas88 bombed it all-in for 67,706,043 with [8s][8h] and Mcrichboss tried to double up with [Ks][Jh] after calling all-in for 7,555,499. The board ran out [Qh][8c][5c][9h][7c]. ericluccas88 flopped a set of eights, faded a gutshot re-draw by Mcrichboss, and won the pot. Oito's held up for ericluccas88. Finland's Mcrichboss never improved and hit the virtual rail in fifth place, which paid out $4,033.15.

With four left in the hunt for the bracelet, ericluccas88 seized the lead with 76.7M.

NITRO BURNING FUNNY CARS: Turcin89 eliminated in 4th place

Five hands later, we saw more fireworks. It was an ugly beat too. The shorty got it all-in with the best of it, only to get outflopped. The new monster-stacked ericluccas88 bombed it all-in for 82,021,042 and Turcin89 called all-in for 16,718,216. Turcin89 led with [Ah][Qc] against ericluccas88's [Kd][Q]. However, the board finished up [Kh][8d][7c][7s][8s] and ericluccas88 dragged the pot with Kings up. For a fourth-place finish, Croatia's Turcin89 collected $5,123.19.

Down to three and the Brazilians held the top 2 spots. ericluccas88 sat atop a 100M stack and held nearly half the chips in play.

CITY OF MUD: BEAR-YNWA eliminated in 3rd place

Three-handed didn't last long. It went faster than a Ramones song. BEAR-YNWA's stack was decimated. As a limping, nearly-shredded carcass, BEAR-YNWA was an easy target from the Brazilian predators. BEAR-YNWA attempted to make a valiant final stand by shoving for 6,299,408 with [Jc][9c], but winning elev held pocket Oitos! Yeah [8d][8s] held up for winning elev on a board of [7d][5h][5d][4s][As]. For a gritty third-place finish, Norway's BEAR-YNWA earned $7,303.27.

HEADS-UP: winning elev (Brazil) vs. ericluccas88 (Brazil)
Seat 1: winning elev (53,841,038)
Seat 2: ericluccas88 (105,988,962)

Brazil heads up for the bracelet. This is getting redonkulous. ericluccas88 held a 2-1 edge.

JELLYFISH HEAVEN: winning elev eliminated in 2nd place; ericluccas88 wins 11th bracelet for Brazil

The 22-hand, eight-minute heads-up battle was a quickie. The two feisty Brazilians didn't settle down and opt for a conservative, elongated, methodical heads-up match. Nope. They dropped the gloves and tussled. They wanted a wild rumpus and got one.

Going into the final hand, ericluccas88 led 97.8M to 62M. All the action occurred on the river. The board read [Jh][7s][4c][Ad][3c] and there was 32.2M in the pot. winning elev shoved for 45,881,038 and ericluccas88 called all-in for 45,881,038.

winning elev: [3d][3s]
ericluccas88: [6d][5d]

The river improved winning elev to a set of treys, but the river also filled in a straight for ericluccas88. Brazil's ericluccas88 won the pot and knocked fellow Brazilian winning elev out in second place. For a funkified runner-up finish, winning elev earned a payday worth $9,516.05.

Congrats to ericluccas88 for winning Event #18-L. First place was worth $13,627.82 in addition to the SCOOP bracelet and the champion's watch courtesy of Movado.

That now makes 11 bracelets for Brazil if you are counting at home. This is getting out of hand. I'm about to quit my job as a reporter and move to Brazil to play in the rest of the SCOOP events. Does anyone have any extra couch space for me in Sao Paulo? Vamoooooooooo!

SCOOP-18-L ($7.50 NL Hold'em) results
Entrants: 15,983
Total prize pool: $109,004.06
Places paid: 2,025

1. ericluccas88 (Brazil) $13,627.82
2. winning elev (Brazil) $9,516.05
3. BEAR-YNWA (Norway) $7,303.27
4. Turcin89 (Croatia) $5,123.19
5. Mcrichboss (Finland) $4,033.15
6. AwadeuS (Russia) $2,943.10
7. Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez (Uruguay) $1,907.57
8. TheNxt1 (Canada) $981.03
9. victorbco (Brazil) $654.02

Visit the SCOOP homepage for a complete schedule of remaining events. Plus, see who is at the top of the leader board and in contention for SCOOP Player of the Series.

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

* CLICK TO REFRESH FOR LATEST UPDATES
* SELECTED DAY 2 CHIP COUNTS | PRIZE POOL AND PAYOUTS

* Day 2 will play down to 32 players (or as announced)
* 172 players of 553 entries remain
* Top 79 finishers make the money

10:55am: Maxence Debar leads charge into Day 2

Buenos días again, everyone, from warm and sunny Panama City where just over an hour from now Day 2 of the Latin American Poker Tour Panama Main Event will be getting underway.

From a 553-entry field just 172 players remain, all vying to reach the top 79 spots and the cash, with the $138,225 first prize up top providing still further motivation to make a deep run to Monday's final table.

Best positioned to begin today will be Maxence Debar who built a huge stack of 289,900 by the end of his Day 1 flight.

Debar's nearest challengers to start Day 2 will be Rafael Escobedo (215,500), Nicolas Baliner (184,900), Jessica Perez (178,900, and Luis Cruz (177,700). 

Meanwhile Hunter Cichy (123,500), LAPT8 Peru champion Claudio Moya (122,200), Raul Pino (116,200), Gustavo Lopes (100,200), and Aaron Mermelstein (89,700) all return to above average stacks, while two-time LAPT champions Oscar Alache (88,200), Mario Lopez (81,400), and Nacho Barbero (52,600) remain in contention, as does the lone Team PokerStars Pro in the field, Leo Fernandez (24,900).

Click here for a look at a complete rundown of all 172 players' chip counts to start Day 2.

We'll be back at 12 noon Central time when the first hands of Day 2 are dealt, and carry you all of the way through the bubble bursting and down to 32 players (so goes the plan, anyway) with live updates, photos, chip counts, and more. Hasta entonces! --MH

PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at LAPT9 Chile: Will O'Connor and Martin Harris. Photos by Carlos Monti. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog