Although Kyle Julius won the Sunday Million, nearly won it again a year later, and scored $1.5 million as the runner-up in the 2012 PCA Main Event, until tonight,he was a man without a COOP title. He earned it in a game he readily admitted on Twitter was not his strong suit, and did it in wrecking ball fashion once play turned four-handed.
Those final table opponents were a decorated bunch. They included WCOOP and SCOOP champion Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaicheko, newly minted WCOOP bracelet winner David "Mrdawwe" Sonelin who banked $348k only three days ago in Event #53, and Russia's Dancer King, who finished second in the 2015 WCOOP's earlier limit hold'em tournament, Event #10.
153 players entered the 2015 WCOOP Fixed-Limit Hold'em championship, their $1,050 buyins combining to create a $153,000 prize pool. 24 players earned a share of it with first place set to earn $36,720.00. Day 1 lasted 18 levels and reduced the field to its final 16 players. Here's a look at the top five stacks overnight:
Naza114 (Czech Republic) 198,146
Mrdawwe (Sweden) 167,948
grapenuts (Canada) 137,125
KJulius10 (Canada) 129,680
Dancer King (Russia) 119,421
Day 2 began with 3,000/6,000 betting limits and went for another hour and a half before reaching the final table bubble. Both Beeeehto and TheMuppet were below 30,000 in chips with the limits up to 6,000/12,000. Holding [As][Qc], TheMuppet called Mrdawwe's small blind raise and they saw a [Jh][9d][4s] flop. Mrdawwe bet and TheMuppet called. The turn came the [3h] and Mrdawwe led for 12,000. TheMuppet called all-in for less, but was behind Mrdawwe's pair of nines with [8d][9s]. The river was the [Td] and TheMuppet went out in seventh place, sending us to the final table.
Final table chip counts
Seat 1: KJulius10 (377,930 in chips)
Seat 2: Mrdawwe (376,141 in chips)
Seat 3: Kroko-dill (174,508 in chips)
Seat 4: Beeeehto (19,326 in chips)
Seat 5: Naza114 (258,686 in chips)
Seat 6: Dancer King (323,409 in chips)
Short-stacked Beeeehto went out a short time later. All-in preflop vs. Kroko-dill and KJulius10, Beeeehto couldn't beat Kroko-dill's [Ac][Js] on a [As][8d][3h][Jc][3s] board and was eliminated in sixth place. Kroko-dill ended up on the short stack himself following a three-way pot he three-bet preflop. Kroko-dill fired the flop from position, then called Mrdawwe's turn and river bets on a [Ad][Jd][5c][Td][7h] board. Mrdawwe turned up [Ks][Qc] for Broadway and took the chip lead with 484k, while Kroko-dill was left with 93,000 in chips. A few hands later, Kroko-dill got his last 19,000 in preflop vs. Mrdawwe, but turned up [Ks][Ts] to his [Kc][Qs]. Mrdawwe turned a pair of queens and rivered trips, sending Kroko-dill to the rail in fifth place.
As the final four ground out pots, KJulius10 moved into the chip lead with 463,000. He created some separation from the rest of the field via three consecutive pots. He flopped kings up against Naza114 and got three streets of value, before picking up pocket jacks and capping the betting preflop vs. Mrdawwe. KJulius10 fired the flop, turn, and river on the [Kc][8h][7c][2h][9c] board and Mrdawwe paid him off. Then, KJulius10 made top pair with [Ah][3s] on a [As][9s][Jc] flop and called Mrdawwe's flop bet. Mrdawwe slowed down and check-called KJulius10's bets on the [5d] turn and the [7c] river only to lose another 170,000 pot. That hand took KJulius10 up to 726,000.
Only two hands later, Naza114 opened for a button raise and KJulius10 three-bet to 30,000 from the big blind with [Jc][Jh]. Naza114 called and they saw a [Td][6c][5s] flop. KJulius10 led out, Naza114 raised and KJulius10 called. The turn came the [2h] and KJulius10 checked to Naza114, who bet 20,000, KJulius10 raised, Naza114 three-bet and KJulius10 called. The [Jd] river made KJulius10 top set and he coyly checked it to Naza114, who bet. KJulius10 raised and Naza114 called. Naza114 couldn't beat the set and KJulius10 raked in the largest pot of the tournament at 305,000. He moved up to 881,000 in chips while Naza114 was left with only 12,686.
Two hands later, Naza114 bet the rest of his chips preflop and both Dancer King and KJulius10 called. The board ran out [Kc][4d][2c][Th][4c] and Dancer King turned up [Ks][8s] for the win. KJulius10 mucked and Naza114 hit the rail in fourth place.
As three-handed play commenced, KJulius10 retained the chip lead with 817,000, Dancer King was second with 484,000 and Mrdawwe was on the short stack with 229,000.
Mrdawwe's stack had bled down to 84,000 when KJulius10 raised on the button and Mrdawwe three-bet to 30,000. KJulius10 called and they saw a [Ad][4s][3h] flop. KJulius10 check-called Mrdawwe's 10,000 bet. The turn came the [Qc] and KJulius10 checked again. Mrdawwe fired 20,00, KJulius10 raised and Mrdawwe called all-in for 44,149.
Mrdawwe [Ac][6s]
KJulius10 [Qs][Ts]
Mrdawwe was way ahead with a pair of aces over KJulius10's pair of queens, but the [Tc] spiked on the river, making KJulius10 queens up. Mrdawwe was suddenly out in third place, earning $19,125.00.
Heads-up chip counts
Seat 1: KJulius10 (1,000,905 in chips)
Seat 6: Dancer King (529,095 in chips)
Shortly after heads-up play began, KJulius10 and Dancer King paused the action to discuss a potential deal. The chip counts hadn't moved much at all from where they started heads-up play when negotiations began. A chip chop at this stage would award KJulius10 $31,623.44 and Dancer King $28,418.06, leaving $2,000 in play for the winner. KJulius10 was willing to close the deal if Dancer King let him take an even $32,000, but his opponent was not willing to give up the extra cash. Instead, they decided to play on and cards went back in the air.
KJulius10 went on another rush, taking down three substantial pots in a row to chip up to 1.38 million. Then, holding [6h][9d], he flopped top pair on a [9h][8d][3h] flop and check-raised to 20,000. Dancer King called, then called another 20,000 when the [7h] turned. The river was the [Ts] and KJulius10 fired 20,000. Dancer King called him down, only to muck his [Qs][9s] in the face of KJulius10's nine-high straight. Dancer King was left with 69,000 after the hand.
The last of Dancer King's chips went in on a [Jd][7s][6c] flop after KJulius10 capped the betting preflop.
Dancer King [Kd][9d]
KJulius10 [Ah][As]
Dancer King needed running cards to catch KJulius10's pocket aces, but turned the [2h] and rivered the [Qc] instead. Once again, Dancer King was a WCOOP limit hold'em bridesmaid, while KJulius10 locked up his first WCOOP title.
Congratulations to Kyle "KJulius10" Julius on his first WCOOP bracelet! He banked $36,720.00 for the win, while runner-up Dancer King earned $25,321.50.
The WCOOP is in the home stretch. Don't miss out on your chance at tomorrow's $10 Million guaranteed Main Event! Check out the WCOOP homepage for a full schedule of events and satellite information. And if you don't have a PokerStars account yet... what are you waiting for? ">Click here to sign up.
Event #44: $1,050 FL Hold'em Championship [6-Max]
Entrants:153
Prize pool: $153,000
Places paid: 24
1. Kyle "KJulius10" Julius (Canada) $36,720.00
2. Dancer King (Russia) $25,321.50
3. Mrdawwe (Sweden) $19,125.00
4. Naza114 (Czech Republic) $13,005.00
5. Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (Russia) $9,945.00
6. Beeeehto (Brazil) $6,885.00
Share on:
Google+ LinkedIn