$100,000.00 guaranteed prize pool was an afterthought once again as the successful string of guarantee bashing entries continued with 3,289 players forking over $55 for a shot at a $25,902.68 first prize plus the lovely SCOOP Champion’s watch pictured below:

$164,450.00 divided up 420 ways (but not equally of course) as high stakes players such as Player of the Series leader Shaun Deeb, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler, and Sorel “zangbezan24″ Mizzi were among the early exits.

Team Online and Team PokerStars Pros also attempted to crack the money today as Lex Veldhuis (2,067th place), Raymond Wu (1,796th place), Shane “shaniac” Schleger (1,335th place). George “Jorj95″ Lind (773rd place), Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen (657th place), Jose “nachobarbero” Barbero (609th place), and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (487th place) all attempted unsuccessfully to crack the money bubble.

Only one Team PokerStars Pro managed to slide into the cash, as Marcin “Goral” Horecki added some more points to his tied for 11th place on the SCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard with a small cash in 397th place ($88.80). In the “low” division leaderboard “evanski” managed a cash in 271st place ($101.95) and now trailed division leader Drew M Scott (1,092nd place) by five points for that SCOOP trophy and PCA 2013 prize package.

Last year’s champ in this event, npomocc, did not show up to defend the title, fellow final tablist “iwonthurtyou” almost snuck into the cash this year but busted near the bubble in 432nd place.

It would only take nine hours to reach the final two tables as players like Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver, a final tablist in Event #21-H would barely miss another final table finishing in 18th place ($1,085.37). Markush13 who was last seen at the biggest of big online poker final tables, the WCOOP Main Event would fall to LuckyBoxxi’s flopped top two and rivered queens full, missing out on another shot at an another -COOP final table in ninth place ($1,438.93).

With the blinds at 30K/60K Ghoyteep’s kings K♦ K♥ A♦ 6♦ would safely put BizzZNessS’ A♠3♣7♦J♠ to sleep despite a jack on the door J♣ 2♦ 9♥ 9♣ 5♥ in ninth place ($1,973.40). Another near miss for the Russian in the SCOOP 2012 series as BizzZNessS made it to the quarterfinals of Event #7-L.

Kings however were not kind to Mik3ll who tried to push a short stack in after a 3♠ T♥ 5♥ flop with K♦K♠8♣5♠ and getting called by fgromwell’s pair, gutshot straight and flush draws 8♥4♥3♦7♦. The flush did not wait till the river to hit as the Q♥ on the turn gave Mik3ll an unbeatable flush for the 1.8 million chip pot and setting up the final table bubble.

No one would have blamed lhbcney for cheering before the chips slid into that shortstack. After getting it all in preflop holding 6♦ J♦ Q♣ Q♠ against Ghoyteep’s kings J♥ K♠ K♣ A♦ there would be a reason to cheer after notching a turned flush to overcome the higher pair A♣ 5♦ 4♦ K♦. The flush turned out to be a mixed blessing as the newly minted set of kings for Ghoyteep would turn into a boat 4♣ on the river shipping the remainder of lhbcney’s chips to Ghoyteep and starting up the final table below:

Seat 1: Ghoyteep (3260100 in chips)
Seat 2: LuckyBoxxi (3830182 in chips)
Seat 3: Trona ziptet (1099460 in chips)
Seat 4: fgromwell (2874543 in chips)
Seat 5: wpteddy (1336252 in chips)
Seat 6: bloodslut (4044463 in chips)

Just as the tournament clock struck ten hours our final six would take a short five minute nap before returning to 40K/80K blinds and a sizable 2.7 million chip average for plenty of play. Ghoyteep would be shooting to improve on a fifth place finish in Event #31-L 8-game final table as the others are looking to make the most of their first SCOOP final table.

Not a teddy bear

As the blinds moved up to 50K/100K Trona ziptet would start a quick series of eliminations that cut our final table in half. Holding 927,840 chips on the button Trona ziptet would raise to 300,000 as wpteddy called from the big blind to see a 3♣T♣8♦ flop. No passive play here as wpteddy led out for enough to put Trona ziptet all-in. Holding aces A♣ A♠ 9♦ Q♠ Trona ziptet made the call as wpteddy flipped up a wrap draw 6♥ 9♠ 5♣ 7♦. 8♥ turn missed the plethora of outs, but 7♥ did not as wpteddy’s straight hauled in 1.9 million chips and knocked out Trona ziptet in sixth place ($2,918.98).

Lucky Lucky

The next two hands LuckyBoxxi would take out a finalist back-to-back. First, LuckyBoxxi would tangle with fgromwell in the largest pot of the tournament below:

6.2 million sitting in the middle after a coordinated Q♣3♥J♥ flop. LuckyBoxxi would be clutching a pair of kings with a flush draw K♥ K♦ 6♥ 5♠ against fgromwell’s wrap straight draw T♦ 9♣ 8♥ J♦. No connection on the Q♠ turn nor the 4♦ river and LuckyBoxxi slid safely into home with the chip lead as fgromwell stepped off the stage in fifth place ($5,726.14).

The very next hand LuckyBoxxi barely got a “nh” “gg” into the chat box before tangling with wpteddy post-flop. After LuckyBoxxi’s 220,000 chip raise was called by wpteddy on the button both liked the 3♠T♣J♣ flop enough to trade raises until 3.9 million chips sat in the middle. K♠ T♥ J♥ Q♥ top two plus an open-ended straight draw for LuckyBoxxi versus wpteddy’s set of tens T♦A♦T♠9♠. Club on the turn Q♣ helped no one, but the ace on the river A♠ would start up some lengthy chop talks as LuckyBoxxi’s straight knocked out wpteddy in fourth place ($8,962.52).

Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

One person holding the majority of the chips during a chop discussion usually ends with the Team Online or Team PokerStars Pro firing up the dealer once again. However, after 20 minutes our final three were able to settle things like civilized folks that left the SCOOP championship watch and $2,000.00 to play for:

LuckyBoxxi: $24,000.00
bloodslut: $16,628.23
Ghoyteep: $16,000.00

Boxxi conundrum

With holding over half the chips in play Ghoyteep and bloodslut would need find chips quickly or face a chip bludgeoning from LuckyBoxxi. They would do so after the blinds moved up to 60K/120K as the hand started innocently enough with a min-raise by Ghoyteep and call from bloodslut in the big blind. The all-low 4♦5♣7♣ got both players to quickly swap bets until 7.4 million chips sat in the middle and bloodslut covering by just 429,695 chips. Both players hit the flop hard as bloodslut rolled over top set 8♦K♠7♠7♦ as Ghoyteep started a fading dance with the nut straight 8♠6♥T♦A♦. The two-step jig worked as the board failed to pair on the 9♣ turn and T♣ river to give Ghoyteep ammo to take on LuckyBoxxi. bloodslut would toss in the remainder of the chips again LuckyBoxxi two hands later and was retired in third place ($16,628.23).

One boxxed SCOOP postmarked for Germany

The 10.7 million to 5.6 million chip lead for LuckyBoxxi would be lost twice, but in the end found for good. Four hands into heads-up play Ghoyteep would nearly tie the match after hauling in a 4.5 million chip pot after LuckyBoxxi could not respond to a 2.7 million chip river shove.

As the blinds moved up to 80K/160K Ghoyteep would take over the lead after another four million chip pot. With the board showing Q♥9♣9♠2♥ Ghoyteep would push out a 2.21 million chip bet that the German declined to match.

However, three minutes later with Ghoyteep holding a 10.3 million to 6.1 million advantage both players got all the chips in preflop. Double-suited aces 7♣ A♣ 8♥ A♥ for LuckyBoxxi and also double suited 6♦Q♦J♠A♠ but no pair of aces for Ghoyteep. Ghoyteep was shutout after the A♦ 6♣ T♣ 5♥ turn giving the lead back to LuckyBoxxi.

Ghoyteep would double to seven million two hands later and take the lead yet again a mere four minutes later. As quickly as Ghoyteep came back, the chip lead went back to LuckyBoxxi again after the German scooped a 13.9 million chip pot with kings K♣J♣T♦K♦ holding against Ghoyteeps jacks J♦9♣J♠A♣ on the 8♥ 3♣ T♣ 5♦ T♥ board.

This would be the death knell for Ghoyteep’s tournament as eight hands later LuckyBoxxi would find the hand below:

Just two million left Ghoyteep would be all-in post-flop A♦6♥7♣ holding top two pair A♠2♦7♦3♦ as LuckyBoxxi called with 9♦5♠6♦3♠ a double-belly buster and a pair. The straight draw was never needed as a 6♠ turn served up trips and the river 5♦ a boat for the SCOOP 2012 Event #36-L champion LuckyBoxxi!

Players Entered: 3,289
Places Paid: 420
Prize Pool: $164,450.00

$100,000 guarantee SCOOP 2012 Event #36-L (Pot Limit Omaha, 6-Max) results (05-19-12):
( * denotes part of three way deal )
1. LuckyBoxxi (Germany) *$26,000.00
2. Ghoyteep (Russia) *$16,000.00
3. bloodslut (Canada) *$16,628.23
4. wpteddy (Spain) $8,962.52
5. fgromwell (Brazil) $5,726.14
6. Trona ziptet (Brazil) $2,918.98

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2012/scoop-2012-one-scoop-watch-postmarked-fo-094618.html

Saturday saw more exciting preliminary event action, including Event #36, the short-handed pot-limit Omaha event. A total of 681 pot-limit Omahalics gathered Saturday afternoon for the “medium” version of Event #36 which sported a $530 buy-in. That group built a total prize pool of $340,500, more than doubling the $150K guarantee. The top 90 finishers divided the loot, with $61,290 due the winner barring any final table deals.

It took about five hours and 40 minutes for the money bubble to burst, and with 90 players left TiltMeHarder had the lead with almost 160,000, followed by Pointer (146,044), Ben SexSeen (103,1397), Furunduk (101,810), and Jamil “Jamil11″ Wakil (101,651).

The lone representative of Team PokerStars among those making the money was Raymond Wu of Team PokerStars Asia, sitting right in the middle of the pack with a below-average stack of just under 30,000. Wu would continue to battle as the field shrunk further before finally being felted in hand versus BrigaDatada to finish 48th ($1,293.90).

Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu

Meanwhile, Jarfish of Canada was the first player to eclipse the 200,000-chip mark and at the seven-hour break was sitting in the top spot with 35 players remaining. Then over the next half-hour Big_nat123 pulled ahead to be the first to 300,000 to lead with 25 remaining.

An hour later the field had been trimmed to a dozen, with Big_nat123 having extended the lead, pushing up toward the 800,000-chip mark while nearest competitors TheHood and qucumba had around half that amount. It would take another half-hour for the next six to fall, during which stretch Big_nat123′s stack would slide while TheHood and Jarfish both saw their stacks grow.

Next out were SexSeen (12th), Elia001 (11th), and benkot (10th), each of whom earned $4,426.50 for their performances. They were followed by BrigaDatada (9th), Big_nat123 (8th), and qucumba (7th), with those three each seeing $6,946.20 added to their PokerStars’ accounts.

Just six remained.

Seat 1: Sowerss (Costa Rica) — 497,500
Seat 2: TheHood (Australia) — 1,016,370
Seat 3: gillete (Canada) — 193,655
Seat 4: Jarfish (Canada) — 882,669
Seat 5: BackDoorovic (Sweden) — 504,360
Seat 6: xxMatSon (Finland) — 310,446

It would take about one orbit for the first final table elimination to occur. After gillete opened for 35,000 from UTG+1, it folded back to Mike “Sowerss” Sowers who called from the big blind, and the pair saw the flop come 3♥7♦T♣. Sowers checked, and gillete bet 75,000, leaving but 68,655 behind. Sowers then check-raised the pot, and gillete called all in, showing K♠K♣T♥4♦ for the overpair. Sowers tabled T♦7♠6♥2♠ for top two, and after the 8♦ turn and 2♣ river, they were down to five.

Just four hands later, the blinds had moved up to 6,000/12,000 when TheHood raised to 30,000 from the cutoff, xxMatSon reraised the pot from the big blind, TheHood responded with another pot-sized reraise, and xxMatSon called all in for 271,446 total.

xxMatSon: K♥K♣9♠7♣
TheHood: A♦A♣J♥2♥

The combatants’ hands showed aces and kings, and soon the board would, too, as the flop came K♠A♠9♥. The turn was the 8♣ and river the J♣, and TheHood’s set was best as xxMatSon went out in fifth.

They were approaching the 11-hour break with the blinds up to 10,000/20,000 when the next knockout came. After a Jarfish raise to 40,000 from the button, BackDoorovic made it 140,000 from the small blind, and it folded back to Jarfish who called. The flop came K♥8♣4♦, BackDoorovic bet 300,000, and Jarfish called all in for 107,258.

BackDoorovic had A♥A♣J♠5♥, better than Jarfish’s 8♠6♣5♣3♥, and after the 9♦ turn and K♣ river, BackDoorovic’s hand was still best and Jarfish was out in fourth.

The remaining three made it to the break, at which point Sowers led with just over 1.43 million, BackDoorovic was next with about 1.16 million, and TheHood third with a little more than 810,000.

Mike “Sowerss” Sowers

Sowers increased his lead over the next 20 minutes, then came a hand in which TheHood made a pot-sized open from the button to 62,500, Sowers reraised to 200,000 from the big blind, TheHood made it 337,500 to go, Sowers 475,000, and TheHood called with the 9,504 left behind.

Sowers had A♣A♥K♣9♠ and TheHood A♠Q♠J♦6♥. The board came T♣5♥Q♣5♣3♥ to give Sowers a flush and send TheHood out in third.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Heads-up play began with Sowers enjoying a big chip lead with 2,590,192 to BackDoorovic’s 814,808. It would take just 11 hands more for the tourney to be decided.

In the final hand, BackDoorovic made a minimum-raise to 50,000 from the button and Sowers called, and the flop came 3♣Q♦3♦. Sowers checked, BackDoorovic bet 50,000, and Sowers check-raised to 150,000. BackDoorovic made it 250,000, Sowers reraised again to 850,000, and BackDoorovic called all in for 331,697.

Sowers: A♣5♣5♠3♠
BackDoorovic: K♥Q♣T♥8♦

Trip treys for Sowers, with top pair of queens and the faintest of backdoor hopes for Backdoorovic. The turn was the J♥ and river the A♦, meaning Backdoorovic had backdoored a straight, but Sowers had improved to a full house to win the hand.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congratulations to Mike “Sowerss” Sowers for topping a field of 681 to take down the Event #36-M title and the cool SCOOP watch!

2012 SCOOP Event 36-Medium, $530 Pot-Limit Omaha, 6-max.:
1st: Mike “Sowerss” Sowers (Costa Rica) — $61,290
2nd: BackDoorovic (Sweden) — $45,967.50
3rd: TheHood (Australia) — $34,050
4th: Jarfish (Canada) — $23,835
5th: xxMatSon (Finland) — $17,025
6th: gillete (Canada) — $10,025

Entrants: 681
Places paid: 90

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2012/scoop-2012-mike-sowerss-sowers-soars-to-094619.html

Enter Drew M Scott.

Drew M Scott was seeking a second SCOOP title (he won Event #19-L six days earlier) and was going to do everything in his power to stop Nacho and add another Movado champion’s watch to his collection.

Nacho and Drew M Scott embarked in bare knuckle brawl that spilled over from Razz into Stud. The two slugged it out in a heads-up match for the ages. When their fracas was settled, Drew M Scott emerged as the victor and won a second SCOOP event. With his second win, Drew M Scott joined an elite club of multiple 2012 SCOOP champions that included Shaun Deeb (4 titles), PokerStars Team Pro Viktor “Isuldur1″ Blom, bleu329, and joacowalter.

* * * *

PokerStars couldn’t think of a better day to host a H.O.R.S.E. tournament. Today marked the 137th running of The Preakness — the second leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown — and one of the most prestigious events in the sporting world. Contests involving horses dates back to ancient civilizations and horse racing was dubbed the “Sport of Kings” sometime in the 17th Century. For a thousand years, horse breeders mastered the art of manipulating genetics to create the ultimate specimen with superlative speed, strength, resilience, speed, agility, speed, heart, and speed. Did I mention the speed element? Race horses weren’t bred to lazily trot around the track; they run on one speed — maximum overdrive.

Poker’s version of H.O.R.S.E. employs an opposing philosophy from their Equus counterparts. Slow and steady wins the poker race. The limit format of H.O.R.S.E. eliminates the push-monkey hyper-agggro factor that runs rampant in PLO and NL MTT’s. H.O.R.S.E.

The premier H.O.R.S.E. players — the true thoroughbreds of online poker — are versatile combatants who show no weaknesses and excel at all five games. Poker thoroughbreds are merciless and ruthlessly exploit their opponents’ liabilities as soon as the game switches. Poker thoroughbreds maintain their cool when confronted with treacherous situations, but most importantly, poker thoroughbreds minimize tilt during frustrating, eye-gouging rounds of Razz.

Event $38-M $215 H.O.R.S.E. attracted 547 horses. Only the top 72 places paid out, which meant that 475 eliminated horses were shipped off to the glue factory. The prize pool for Event #38-M was $109,400 with $20,676 set aside for the champion.

Team PokerStars Pros who participated in this event included familiar thoroughbreds like ElkY, Eugene Katchalov, Nacho Barbero, Chad Brown and Henrique Pinho. Team PokerStars Online thoroughbreds in the mix included George ‘Jorj95′ Lind, Roy ‘GodlikeRoy’ Bhasin, Shane ‘shaniac’ Schleger and Mickey ‘mement_mori’ Petersen.

Nacho Barbero (2nd place) and Eugene Katchalov (8th place) were the only Team PokerStars Pros who cashed. Both subsequently advanced to the final table, but neither could muster up a win.

Jose “Nacho” Barbero

The action stalled toward the money bubble but perked up again when the bubble finally popped at 72. Katchalov caught a heater and passed 100K. He entrenched himself in the top 3 while Nacho hung out in the middle of the herd.

With 54 remaining, Katchalov and Nacho were 1-2 in chips. Nacho rocketed to the lead pack during a round of Omaha Hi/Lo. Nacho turned the Wheel holding A♦7♥4♦2♦ and scooped a a pot against xxNoellexx. With 40 to go, the chase pack swallowed up Nacho and Katchalov, yet they managed to stay in the top 10.

With 27 remaining on the last three tables, Katchalov and Nacho chipped back up to third and fourth respectively and passed the 200K mark, while doohmisclick took a turn in the top slot with 250K.

Several notable players were squeezed out during the consolation from three tables to two tables including Scott “BigRiskky” Clements (27th), Xuan “xx23xx” Liu, Karl Marx (23rd), Mike “SirWatts” Watts (18th), and David “betudontbet” Emmon (17th). During that stretch, Nacho started to percolate during LHE and won six out of eight pots. He seized the top spot and raced past 400K, while Katchalov was shadowing him in second with 280K.

When the final two tables were set, Katchalov and Nacho were seated next to each other. Nacho retained the overall lead with 450K, while ozenc, Drew M Scott, and Katchalov jockeyed for position in the immediate chase pack.

STRUTTIN’ BLUES

With nine players remaining on the cusp of the final table, Nacho kept his spot up top, but Katchalov started bleeding chips and he sunk to next to last in chips.

H.O.R.S.E. final tables are eight-handed. Unfortunately, Wanzenkoenig unceremoniously bubbled off the final table in ninth place. During a round of LHE, betting was capped pre-flop between Wanzenkoenig and Looptroop. On a flop of T♠T♣8♥, Looptroop bet 16,000, and Wanzenkoenig shoved all-in for 19,072, and Looptroop called. Looptroop was ahead with J♥J♣ against Wanzenkoenig’s A♦Q♣. The turn was the 8♠ and the 8♣ fell on the river. Looptroop won the pot with a bigger boat and Wanzenkoenig hit the road.

Event #38-M $215 H.O.R.S.E. – Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: nilsef (291,107)
Seat 2: ozenc (40,575)
Seat 3: Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov (156,156)
Seat 4: Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero (655,781)
Seat 5: Drew M Scott (327,151)
Seat 6: Mikleler (359,130)
Seat 7: osten (562,444)
Seat 8: Looptroop (342,656)

Event #38-M featured ten minute levels, so each game was played at least once per every hour. Nacho began the final table as the leader and ozenc brought up the rear as the short stack.

TWICE IS HARD: Eugene Katchalov eliminated in 8th place

During a round of Omaha Hi/Lo, the first player bit the dust.

Looptroop kicked off the hand with a raise to 32,000, nilsef called, but Katchalov raised to 48,000. Both Looptroop and nilsef called. The flop was J♥9♥5♣. Katchalov bet 16,000. Both Looptroop and nilsef called. The 6♣ on the turn enticed fireworks. Katchalov moved all-in for 28,156, and both Looptroop and nilsef called. The T♠ fell on the river and both Looptroop and nilsef checked. At showdown, nilsef mucked.

Katchalov: A♣K♠K♦4♥
Looptroop: A♦J♦T♥2♦

Without a qualifying low, Katchalov’s Kings were no good and Looptroop won the pot with two pair — Jacks and tens. Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov was knocked out in eighth place and earned $1,914.50.

JEALOUS AGAIN: ozenc eliminated in 7th place

During Razz, ozenc lost a decisive pot when his 9-7-6-5-A faltered against Nacho’s 9-5-4-3-2. Virtually crippled, ozenc busted out shortly after. when Looptroop’s 6-5-3-2-A took out ozenc’s Q-10-7-6-5. For a seventh place finish, ozenc collected $2,735.

SISTER LUCK: Looptroop eliminated in 6th place

During a round of Razz… Nacho and Looptroop rumbled. The results were fatal.

On third street, Looptroop raised 20,000 with (X-X)8♦, Nacho bumped it up to 40,000 with (X-X)4♣, and Looptroop called.

On fourth street, Looptroop bet 20,000 with (X-X)8♦3♣, and despite a pair of fours showing, Nacho called with (X-X)4♣4♦.

On fifth street, Nacho fired out 40,000 with (X-X)4♣4♦6♣, and despite pairing an eight, Looptroop called with (X-X)8♦3♣8♣.

On sixth street, Nacho bet 40,000 with (X-X)4♣4♦6♣3♠ and Looptroop called with (X-X)8♦3♣8♣A♥.

On the river, Nacho fired out 40,000 and Looptroop called all-in for 34,236.

Nacho showed 2♦A♠4♣4♦6♣3♠7♠ for a 6-4-3-2-A low. Looptroop flipped over 4♠A♣8♦3♣8♣A♥2♠ for an 8-4-3-2-A low. Nacho won the 378K pot and Looptroop was dunzo. For a sixth-place finish, Looptroop took home $3,829.

With five players remaining, Nacho passed the 1 million mark and was sitting pretty with 1.1 million.

NOT YA LEAD, NACHO

Nacho coughed up the lead for the first time since the final table commenced. Nacho’s big stack came under assault during a round of Stud Hi/Lo. Without a qualifying low, nilsef won a 632K pot with trip Aces, holding 6♥A♥A♠A♦Q♣7♦3♦. Nacho slipped to 666K, while nilsef leap-frogged into first with 874K.

When the game switched to LHE, Nacho didn’t waste any time and quickly launched a counterattack to regain the lead. Nacho won a pair of 300K pots and elbowed nilsef out of the top spot.

COULD I’VE BEEN SO BLIND: Mikleler eliminated in 5th place

During a round of LHE… Drew M Scott opened to 50,000, Mikleler bumped it up to 75,000, and Drew M Scott called. The flop was A♥8♠8♥. Mikleler bet 25,000 and Drew M Scott called. The turn was the Q♥. Mikleler bet 50,000, Drew M Scott raised to 100,000 and Mikleler called all-in. Mikleler’s 9♣9♥ were in trouble against Drew M Scott’s A♣5♣. The turn was 2♣. Drew M Scott won the pot with Aces up. Mikleler was knocked out in fifth place, but earned $5,470.

HARD TO HANDLE: osten eliminated in 4th place

The high-paced action continued during LHE when yet another player was liquidated. Short-stacked osten opened to 50,000, Drew M Scott three-bet, osten shoved all-in for 84,452, and Drew M Scott called. Drew M Scott was ahead with J♣6♣ versus osten’s 8♥6♥. The board ran out K♠5♦2♦A♣2♥. Drew M Scott won the pot and osten’s run was over. For fourth place, osten collected $8,205.

With three to go, Drew M Scott took command of the lead with 1.1 million. Nacho was not far behind with 928K, and nilsef was the shortest stack with 532K.

THICK N’ THIN: nilsef eliminated in 3rd place

The game switched to Omaha Hi/Lo and tragedy struck in a multi-way pot. The hand began innocent enough when nilsef opened to 60,000, Nacho called from the small blind and Drew M Scott called from the big blind. The flop was 9♣5♣3♦. Nacho checked, Drew M Scott bet 30,000, nilsef called all-in for 22,725, and Nacho called 30,000. The turn was the 5♦, and both Nacho and Drew M Scott checked. The J♥ on the river induced another check-check. Without a qualifying low, nilsef mucked his hand. Drew M Scott won both the main pot and side pot with J♣T♠9♥4♠ for two pair — Jacks and nines. Nacho’s lost the pot with T♥8♥3♠2♠ for an inferior two pair. Germany’s nilsef busted out in third place and earned $11,158.80.

HEADS-UP: Drew M Scott (Canada) vs. Nacho Barbero (Argentina)
Seat 4: nachobarbero (1,406,017)
Seat 5: Drew M Scott (1,328,983)

Nacho held the lead, but it was very slim.

The game switched to Razz and on the first hand, Drew M Scott landed the first punishing blow. Nacho lost a gut-wrenching pot when his 7-6-4-3-2 couldn’t match up against Drew M Scott’s 7-5-4-2-A. Drew M Scott won 732K for that pot, then proceeded to win the next two hands. He improved to 2.1 million as Nacho slipped to 690K.

Nacho responded by winning a 552K pot with 7-6-5-4-3 against Drew M Scott’s 8-7-5-4-3. Nacho stopped the bleeding for the moment and was prepared to make a comeback. Nacho unleashed his counter-offensive and won ten out of the next 13 hands. Nacho was buoyed by another 552K pot which he won with 7-6-5-4-3. Nacho and Drew M Scott were almost dead even.

SHE TALKS TO ANGELS: Nacho Barbero eliminated in 2nd place; Drew M Scott wins SCOOP title

Alas, Nacho’s comeback was thwarted when Drew M Scott won ten out of the next 14 hands. Nacho met his fate during Stud.

On third street, Nacho was dealt (X-X)J♠. Drew M Scott had the bring in with (X-X)2♦ for 12,000. Nacho bumped it up to 40,000. Drew M Scott re-raised to 80,000. Nacho moved all-in for 117,017. Drew M Scott insta-called.

Drew M Scott: K♣K♦2♦J♥7♥3♣6♣
Nacho: 4♠6♠J♠A♦Q♥5♠8♦

Nacho whiffed on a flush draw and ended up with only Ace high. Drew M Scott won the hand with a pair of Kings.

Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero busted out in second place. He earned $15,151.90 for a sensational runner-up performance, but Nacho was heavily disappointed. Moments after his elimination, Nacho popped into the chat box at Shaun Deeb’s final table in Event #38-High and said, “I don’t know how you do it. I keep coming in second.”

Drew M Scott shipped the H.O.R.S.E. tournament and won $20,676.60. This is Drew M Scott’s second SCOOP title inside a week, which means he can now wear a watch on each wrist. Congrats!

Event #38-M $215 H.O.R.S.E. – Final Table Payouts and Results:
Entrants: 547
Places Paid: 72

1. Drew M Scott (Canada) – $20,676.60
2. Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero (Argentina) – $15,151.90
3. nilsef (Germany) – $11,158.80
4. osten (Norway) – $8,205
5. Mikleler (Russia) – $5,470
6. Looptroop (Sweden) – $3,829
7. oznec (Austria) – $2,735
8. Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov – $1,914.50

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2012/scoop-2012-drew-m-scott-eats-nachos-stac-094620.html

*****

For those who remember poker about a decade ago, HORSE was the original set of mixed games. Sure, there were versions of it, but the measure of a great all-around poker player was their ability to master the games of HORSE – Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud Hi/Lo. Today, there are many more variations, and a standard mixed game includes eight or ten options. HORSE is reminiscent of simpler days.

Event 38 offered players the option to play some good ol’ fashioned HORSE, and the low buy-in required only $27 to take a shot at the serious $50K guarantee. That brought a few thousand players to the tables and these final numbers:

Players: 2,656
Guarantee: $50,000.00
Prize pool: $66,400.00
Paid players: 336

The field in any HORSE tournament is tough, and this was no different as evidenced by the fact that only one Team PokerStars Pro made it into the money at all. That was Team Pro Marcin “Goral” Horecki, who ended his game in 295th place.

The nine-hour mark showed only 15 players remaining, but there were deep stacks and limit games involved, so there was no rush on the action. Even so, it only took 20 minutes to eliminate several players and get to hand-for-hand play.

It took a few minutes, but finally, don’t razz me, babouxi, and DaniRiquelme got involved in a big stud hand. It was on fourth street that babouxi pushed all-in, and don’t razz me folded. Upon showdown, babouxi had J♥9♥T♥K♠K♦A♦5♦ for the pair of kings, but DaniRiquelme showed K♣6♣7♣7♣6♠7♦4♣ for the full house. Babousi left in ninth place with $474.76.

DaniRiquelme dominates at the start

The final table was set in Level 64, a Stud round with 60,000/120,000 blinds and a 12,000 ante. The players’ starting stacks were as follows:

Seat 1: dont razz me (1,980,049 in chips)
Seat 2: muktuk2 (1,239,229 in chips)
Seat 3: AceSK77 (102,797 in chips)
Seat 4: arbianight (1,982,223 in chips)
Seat 5: DaniRiquelme (3,518,203 in chips)
Seat 6: TripleMerge (583,072 in chips)
Seat 7: tmvnstn (3,155,699 in chips)
Seat 8: Waldo119 (718,728 in chips)

On the third hand, short-stacked AceSK77 completed the bring in and made the all-in move, and DaniRiquelme and don’t razz me called. The two checked fourth street, but a bet from don’t razz me on fifth prompted a fold from DaniRiquelme. The final showdown involved AceSK77 on the line with Q♣J♣2♣6♦5♦7♣7♠, but the pair of sevens couldn’t beat the 9♣A♥A♣4♥Q♦K♦6♠ and aces of don’t razz me. AceSK77 left in eighth place with $664.00.

A few hands later, TripleMerge got involved in a Stud Hi/Lo hand with muktuk2. TripleMerge pushed all-in on fifth street for 171,072 chips, and muktuk2 called, ending up with 2♦Q♥2♠J♦T♣7♣Q♣. TripleMerge couldn’t beat the two pair with 3♦4♥6♦J♠9♥T♥6♥ and left in seventh place with $1,328.00.

Where’s Waldo119?

For awhile, Waldo119 was busy working a short stack but doubled through muktuk2 to stay in action with a little more than 500K chips. But chipped down again, Walso119 was in a tough spot. The all-in move came in a Stud hand, and arbianight was along for the ride. The final deal gave Walso119 J♥A♣A♦9♣4♦T♣Q♠ for the aces, but arbianight had Q♦8♦8♣K♠Q♥6♥6♦ and two pair. Waldo119 was relegated to the rail in sixth place with $1,992.00.

Into the arbianight

In the Stud Hi/Lo level, arbianight got involved with tmvnstn. A raise and reraise led them to fourth street, where arbianight showed 5♦8♥ and tmvnstn revealed A♦T♦. A bet and call took them to fifth street for a J♣ to arbianight and 5♥ for tmvnstn. Tmvnstn bet, and arbianight raised all-in for 272,679 chips. Tmvnstn called and ended up with 5♣5♠A♦T♦5♥6♠6♣ for the full house. That easily beat the 8♠4♣5♦8♥J♣2♣9♠ of arbianight, who departed in fifth place with $3,320.00.

Four to a deal

The final four players paused the tournament to discuss a deal, and they agreed to the following numbers, with an additional $1,000 set aside for the ultimate winner:

Seat 1: dont razz me (1,249,643 in chips) = $5,816.20
Seat 2: muktuk2 (2,750,573 in chips) = $6,842.84
Seat 5: DaniRiquelme (6,195,906 in chips) = $9,250.00
Seat 7: tmvnstn (3,083,878 in chips) = $7,279.84

Dont razz me mounted a comeback by doubling through tmvnstn and taking a bit pot from DaniRiquelme in Limit Hold’em.

Tmvnstn then started a hand with a raise, which was called by dont razz me in the small blind and muktuk2 in the big blind. The flop came 7♥4♠4♦, and tmvnstn bet. Dont razz me folded, and muktuk2 called. The 9♥ on the turn prompted two checks, but the 4♣ river saw a bet from muktuk2 and raise from tmvnstn. Muktuk2 raised again, and tmvnstn moved all-in with T♠9♣ for the full house. But muktuk2 called quickly and showed 5♣4♥ for quad fours. That was enough to eliminate tmvnstn in fourth place with $7,279.84.

Muktuk2 takes over

Muktuk2 slowly but surely climbed into the chip lead, leaving DaniRiquelme in a distant second by the Omaha Hi/Lo round. Dont razz me was on a short stack of little more than 300K, though one double through muktuk2 saved dont razz me for a bit longer.

Eventually, though, dont razz me pushed again, this time in none other than Razz. It seemed fitting that dont razz me risked it all in that game, and DaniRiquelme and muktuk2 played along. It was on the river that a bet from DaniRiquelme prompted muktuk2 to fold, and DaniRiquelme showed 7♥3♣8♦5♠5♣4♠J♦. Dont razz me showed 4♦2♣A♠K♠K♦A♣8♣, but that couldn’t beat the 8-7-5-4-3 low, so dont razz me became the third place finisher with $5,816.20 to show for it.

Heads-up in a hurry

The starting counts for the heads-up match were:

Seat 2: muktuk2 (6,666,950 in chips)
Seat 5: DaniRiquelme (6,613,050 in chips)

DaniRiquelme lost ground as muktuk2 climbed above 9 million chips. DaniRiquelme also mentioned in the chat box that there was a necessity to hurry things along. There was even a question put to the tournament host as to whether or not they could rotate the games more quickly, but the answer was no.

In the stud round, it was clear that DaniRiquelme was anxious to move. But that only meant that DaniRiquelme doubled up with A♦9♣2♠8♥9♥8♠4♥ in Stud. Big betting continued, but DaniRiquelme won key pots to stay alive.

They mentioned playing for the extra $1,000 and the Movado watch, which kept them going and spurred muktuk2 to fight on.

And then things changed. DaniRiquelme found some momentum and won a big Stud pot in the amount of 5.28 million chips. That put DaniRiquelme in the lead and on a roll. A few hands later, in Stud Hi/Lo, the two players tangled again. A 3♠ for muktuk prompted a bet, and a 4♠ for DaniRiquelme was good for a raise. A reraise and call led to a 4♥ for muktuk2 and 9♠ for DaniRiquelme, the latter of whom bet. Muktuk2 raised, and DaniRiquelme called. Muktuk2 took a K♣ on fifth street and bet, and DaniRiquelme took a K♦ and check-called. The 9♥ for muktuk2 and 2♦ for DaniRiquelme on sixth street prompted a bet and call. Finally, on the river, muktuk2 was all-in with 3♥5♦3♠4♥K♣9♥5♥ for two pair. DaniRiquelme showed 5♠7♠4♠9♠K♦2♦J♠ for the flush, and with no low, muktuk2 left in second place with $6,842.84.

DaniRiquelme took home the above-mentioned watch, $10,250.00 in cash, and the SCOOP title. Congrats!

2012 SCOOP Event #38-L ($27 HORSE) Results (reflects deal):

Total players: 2,656
Paid players: 336

1st place: DaniRiquelme (Spain) – $10,250.00*
2nd place: muktuk2 (Belgium) – $6,842.84*
3rd place: dont razz me (Hungary) – $5,816.20*
4th place: tmvnstn (Netherlands) – $7,279.84*
5th place: arbianight (Mexico) – $3,320.00
6th place: Waldo119 (Canada) – $1,992.00
7th place: TripleMerge (UK) – $1,328.00
8th place: AceSK77 (Russia) – $664.00

*Based on a four-way chop with $1K added to winner’s money

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2012/scoop-2012-daniriquelme-does-damage-with-094621.html

134 high-stakes Omaholics came out for this event, creating a $670,000 prize pool 18 players earned a share of it, with first place set to collect $174,200. Flying the mighty Red Spade were Team Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind III and Team Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom, Ville Wahlbeck and Nacho Barbero.

Barbero made the deepest run of the Team Pros. Although he was short-stacked on the money bubble, he built up to almost an average stack with 12 players remaining. Holding T♥J♦Q♦K♥ on a Q♠T♦8♦ flop, Barbero led out for 12,000 with top two pair, a straight draw and a flush draw, ender555 moved all-in for 56,250 and Barbero snap-calle. Ender555 turned over A♦K♦Q♥4♦ for the nut flush draw and hit it on the turn when the 7♦ fell. The river was the 5♥ and Barbero was out in 12th place, earning $14,405.00.

Both Jarcon86 and Jorge “twin-caracas” Arias were short-stacked on the final table bubble. Although Arias fell as low as 16,000 in chips with the blinds at 1,000/2,000, he doubled up several times to stay alive. WIth 20,000 in chips remaining, Jarcon86 three-bet to 16,250 preflop and lb6121 called. The rest of Jarcon86′s chips went in on the Q♥7♥7♠ flop and lb6121 called. Neither player had much of anything, Jarcon86 with A♣K♦4♦2♠ and lb6121 with A♠5♣3♠2♣. The turn and river, however, came running threes to make trips for lb6121, Jarcon86 hitting the rail in seventh place.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: ender555 (156,379 in chips)
Seat 2: niccc (102,109 in chips)
Seat 3: MrDurden (111,016 in chips)
Seat 4: twin-caracas (35,262 in chips)
Seat 5: GlassOfBeer (86,164 in chips)
Seat 6: lb6121 (179,070 in chips)

This was a distinguished final table even by SCOOP standards. In addition to Schwartz and Arias it featured WSOP bracelet winner Joe “enders555″ Ebanks, Supernova Elite cash game player MrDurden, EPT, SCOOP and WCOOP champion Nicolas “niccc” Chouity, and Finland’s GlassOfBeer, who final tabled Event #15-L ($27 FL Omaha Hi/Lo) only a few days ago.

Joe “ender555″ Ebanks eliminated in 6th place

Ender555 lost most of his chips to niccc in the early going. All the money went in preflop, ender555′s K♠T♥8♣2♥ making a pair of tens while niccc’s A♣K♦T♦5♥ rivered tens and fives. Left with 11,000 in chips, ender555 three-bet shoved with A♣Q♥J♣T♣. Both MrDurden and original raiser lb6121 called. MrDurden led out for 12,000 on the Q♣J♦T♦ flop and lb6121 called, but lb6121 folded to his 38,977 turn bet when the 5♥ fell. MrDurden revealed A♦K♠4♦3♣ for the nut straight, trumping ender555′s queens and jacks. The 6♥ on the river was no help to him and ender555 exited in sixth place, earning $30,150.

Jorge “twin-caracas” Arias out in 5th

Twin-caracas demonstrated exceptional patience today, working his short stack all the ay to the final table. The man simply would not quit, quipping that he was like the Energizer Bunny today. Down to 14,000, he moved in with Q♠9♦8♦5♠ and GlassOfBeer called with A♠K♥Q♣6♣. GlassOfBeer hit top two pair when the flop fell K♠7♠7♥. Although twin-caracas picked up a pair on the turn with the 8♥, he didn’t improve any further and was out in fifth place, earning $43,550.

lb6121 plunders niccc’s stack

Niccc doubled to nearly 200,000 when he made trip tens against GlassOfBeer’s aces up, but lost almost three-fourths of his stack to lb6121 in back to back hands. In the first, lb6121 and niccc say a Q♠T♣2♠ flop. Lb6121 bet 17,000 and niccc called. The turn came the 2♥ and lb6121 fired a second bullet for 35,000. It was enough to fold out niccc, who was left with 163,000. On the next deal niccc picked up J♠8♠7♣6♦ and opened for a min-raise to 10,000 from UTG. Lb6121 defended the big blind with A♦K♠9♦2♠. The A♣J♣5♠ flop hit both players, lb6121 making top pair while niccc flopped middle pair. LB6121 check-called 14,250 from niccc. The turn came the 5♥ and lb6121 check-called another 23,880. The 7♦ landed on the river and lb6121 checked a third time. Niccc bet 51,880 and lb6121 looked him up with two pair, aces and fives. Niccc’s jacks and sevens were no good and he slipped to 63,000 in chips.

GlassOfBeer emptied in 4th place, niccc finishes 3rd

GlassOfBeer made his last stand on a 5♥4♦4♠ flop, check-raising all-in for 51,000. Niccc called, turning over A♣A♠8♦3♦ for an overpair and a wheel draw. GlassOfBeer shoved 9♥6♥5♣2♣ for two pair and a gutshot. The 4♥ on the turn made niccc fours full of aces and left GlassOfBeer drawing dead. He departed in fourth place, good for a $56,950 score.

With three players remaining, lb6121 was out front with 295,000, MrDurden was close behind with 244,000 and niccc was the short stack with 131,000. Lb6121 chipped up to the tune of another 85,000 over the course of the next level, leaving MrDurden on 200,000 and niccc on 90,000. Niccc decided to make a move on a J♠5♥4♣ flop, check-raising all-in for 77,000. MrDurden called, his K♦T♦5♣5♠ leading nicc’s J♦8♦7♣2♣. The K♥ on the turn was no help for niccc and the 4♦ on the river filled up MrDurden, who took down the 183k pot with fives full of fours. Niccc was eliminated in third place, earning $87,100 for his day on the felt.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 3: MrDurden (292,884 in chips)
Seat 6: lb6121 (377,116 in chips)

Lb6121 nabbed a 234,000 pot on the fifth hand of heads-up play, his K♦K♠Q♠6♣ turning queens and sixes against MrDurden’s A♣K♣8♣7♥. MrDurden’s stack fell to 166,000, but he doubled up a short time later, making a queen-high flush against lb6121′s kings up. That hand turned the stacks nearly even, but lb6121 wasn’t having any of that and reclaimed most of his lost chips on the next deal of the cards when his ace-high straight toppled MrDurden’s king-high straight. Lb6121 took the chip lead back with 456,000 while MrDurden held 214,000.

The pendulum swung back and forth at least twice before lb6121 closed out the match. Lb6121 won 11 of the final 15 hands to take his stack over the half-million mark before a 274,000 pot decided it all. Dealt Q♥T♥T♦9♦, MrDurden opened for 21,234. Lb6121 raised to 63,702 with A♦K♦Q♣5♠ and MrDurden reraised all-in for 137,802. Lb6121 called. Lb6121 made top pair on the flop, the board running out A♣7♥6♦2♣4♣ to give lb6121 the win and at long last, his first SCOOP title.

Congratulations to Luke “lb6121″ Schwartz on his $174,200 score. For his runner-up finish, MrDurden earned $117,250.

2012 SCOOP Event #36-H ($5,200 PLO 6-max) results

Entrants: 134
Places paid: 18

1. Luke “lb6121″ Schwartz (United Kingdom) $174,200
2. MrDurden (Canada) $117,250.00
3. Nicolas “niccc” Chouity (Lebanon) $87,100
4. GlassOfBeer (Finland) $56,950.00
5. Jorge “twin-caracas” Arias (Venezuela) $43,500.00
6. Joe “ender555″ Ebanks (United Kingdom) $30,150.00

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2012/scoop-2012-luke-lb6121-schwartz-ships-ev-094623.html

3.20pm: McFadden falls, down to four tables
We’re now down to four tables after Pat McFadden, scoring his third UKIPT cash, bust out with pocket eights to Paul Carr’s pocket queens. Both players flopped an open-ended straight draw but blanks sent McFadden to the rail.

33rd. Pat McFadden, Ireland, €1,800
34th. Aiden Cawley, Ireland, €1,800
35th. Derek Thorpe, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, €1,800
36th. Robert Molloy, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, €1,800
37th. Alejandro Dietta Martin, Spain, PokerStars qualifier, €1,600

We’re almost at the break. — RD

3.10pm: Aces versus kings, Healy cripples MacDonnell
Marc MacDonnell keeps getting knocked down and keeps getting back up again, this time it’s going to be tough. The Irishman is down to 90,000, just 11 big blinds, after five-bet jamming kings into Robert Healy’s pocket aces.

Helay opened from the hijack and MacDonnell three-bet to 28,500 from the big blind. Healy came back over the top for 72,500 and after a tense wait MacDonnell announced that he was all-in. Healy quickly called.

Healy: A♥A♣
MacDonnell: K♦K♣

The flop was a great one for Healy: A♦2♦Q♣, but the T♦ brought MacDonnell a lot of draws. None of them came in. Just another ace giving Healy quad aces. Healy is now up to 500,000 and back towards the top of the chip counts. — RD

Overnight chip leader Robert Healey

3pm: Dineen dents Ngo
The hand started quietly enough, Billy Ngo raised to 12,500, Trevor Dinneen made it 28,000 to play and Ngo, after some thought, made the call.

The flop fell Q♣4♦T♥, check from Ngo, bet of 32,000 from Dineeen and call from Ngo, although he did look as if he contemplated raising here.

The turn was the K♥ not exactly a blank, but both players opted to check and the 2♣ completed the board. After perhaps 10 seconds thought Ngo bet 41,000, Dineen took about nine seconds less to announce call, Ngo showed A♥Q♥ but Dineen had him pipped with A♠K♦.

After that hand Ngo slips to 250,000 whilst Dineen is up to 340,000. — NW

2.50pm: Two double ups and an exit
Table two contains a lot of shortstacks (as well as the odd big stack like Michael Schneider) so a lot of the all-in and calls are occurring there. Take these two for example…

Hand One: It folded to Terry Plummer in the small blind and he moved all-in for an effective 40,000 with J♠8♠, Christian Sosnik peeled his cards one by one in the big blind and quickly announced call as he had A♥3♥. A board of 6♥4♠7♣Q♦7♠ saw Sosnik double to 80,000 whilst Plummer er, plummeted to 55,000.

Hand Two: Adrian Cawley moved all-in for 59,000 with A♠T♥ from early position, it folded to Glenn ‘Spiral’ Coroner who called all-in (he had 55,500) with A♦K♥. The board of K♦J♥6♥A♣3♦ meant the ex-Big Brother contestant doubled up. “This is where I come back,” he told me. After that hand Cawley had just 3,500 left, there were 37 players left which meant we were on a money jump, he folded his next hand saying, “Maybe someone else will go out,” and over on Table five…

Alejandro Dietta Martin moved all-in for 93,000 with A♥8♥, only to find Trevor Dinneen had found A♠K♦. The board of T♣2♠6♣J♦T♥ bought him no help and Dineen is now up to 300,000.

Edit: Cawley couldn’t compose a miraculous comeback and was out shortly afterward.– NW

2.40pm: Three way all-in sends Clery to the rail
Sean Clery was in great shape to treble through. He was all-in with T♥T♠ against the A♥K♥ of Stephen McGrath and the A♠K♠ of Padraig O’Neill but an ace on the flop of the J♠A♦2♥8♣7♥ board was not good for his tournament hopes. He’s out. O’Neill up to 550,000, McGrath inches up to 155,000.– RD

2.30pm: Waving goodbye to…
41st. Mark Muldoon, Ireland, €1,600
42nd. Mahmood Rasheed, Pakistan, €1,600
43rd. Sean Kilroy, Ireland, PokerStars player, €1,600
44th. Charles McIntyre, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, €1,600
45th. Lloyd Healey, Ireland, €1,600
46th. Sven Ellrich, Germany, PokerStars qualifier, €1,400

Plenty more players to fall before Day 3 comes to a close. We’re playing down to the final table today. — RD

Mahmood Rasheed: out in 42nd for €1,600

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 3,000-6,000, ANTE 500

2.15pm: Buis refuses to bust
The Citywest hotel is clearly a venue that Vincent Buis likes to play at. He won a 875+ runner tournament here in February and is still going in this 597 runner tournament.

Moments ago though he was just one card away from elimination; he was all-in for 51,500 with K♦Q♦ and got a call from Richard Evans who had pocket tens. The flop of J♥A♠4♦ gave him a few more outs which he missed on the 8♣ turn, but he spiked the K♥ on the river to double. After that hand Evans is down to 130,000. — NW

2.10pm: Taus and McDonnell chipping up
Shifaaz Taus is now up to 620,000 and Marc MacDonnell, a well rated young Irish player, has had a good couple of levels and is up to 360,000. — RD

2pm: Champion dethroned
Day 1A chip leader William Champion has just been dumped out this tournament in unlucky fashion.

He was all-in for around 110,000 holding A♣K♦ and up against Michael Schneider who held A♠Q♠. The flop of 2♥Q♣3♦ gave Schneider the lead which he held onto on the 6♠ turn and Q♦ river. After that hand Schneider is up to 430,000. — NW

1.50pm: Benzinou the Belgian building a stack
It’s been a good level and a bit for Belgian Joel Benzinou. He was comfortably stacked with 238,100 at the start of the day but he’s practically doubled that to 475,000 and now sits third in chips.

He got his latest boost by eliminating Charles McIntyre. The Irishman moved all-in for 60,500 with 8♥6♥, Benzinou called with A♦T♥ and stayed in front on the board of 5♣2♥A♣4♠9♠, 43 players remain. — NW

1.45pm: Chips from the break
The full chip count from the break has been imported in. Padraig O’Neill is currently sat on around 500,000 and is the chip leader.

Padraig O’Neill, chip leader

1.35pm: Then there were 46
Here are a few more fallers for you.

47th. James McLaughlin, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, €1,400
48th. Michael Farrelly, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, €1,400
49th. Matt Maule, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, €1,400
50th. Derrick Wall, Ireland, €1,400

Although he’s still in and well chipped with more than 300,000, Lee Atherton is looking a little worse for wear. He (somewhat) sensibly set himself a five pints of Guinness limit last night while watching the football last night but it didn’t work out as planned.

“I kept to my limit but after four hours of sleep I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep. I should have stayed out,” said Atherton.

1.25pm: The joint
When you’re all-in it’s nice to seal the deal on the flop, kinda takes the pressure off. Adrian Cawley was all-in for his last 34,500 with A♠9♠ and was up against William Champion’s 7♦5♦. A flop of T♠8♠Q♠ gave him a lock on the hand and a much needed double up. — NW

1.15pm: Players returning to their seats
Level 17 is about to start.

1.10pm: There’s no easy way to say it but…
…the following players are out. They’ve made the money but won’t be making the final

51st. Dicky Whiteside, United Kingdom, €1,400
52nd. Bruce Jones, United Kingdom, €1,400
53rd. Andrew Laurie, United Kingdom, €1,400
54th. Kim Andre Carlsen, Norway, PokerStars player, €1,400
55th. Joel Beverley, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, €1,200
56th. Gordon Happer, United Kingdom, PokerStars qualifier, €1,200
57th. Benjamin Reeves-Smyth, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier, €1,200
58th. Martin Balaz, Czech Republic, PokerStars player, €1,200

1pm: Colouring up
The players are going to get an early break thanks to tournament officials needing to colour up. There are too many of those pesky black 100 chips knocking around. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 2,500-5,000, ANTE 500

12.59pm: The towers of Taus
During the opening level of today Shifaz Taus has been a bit of a wrecking ball and on the last hand before the break he knocked out another player. Joel Benzinou opened to 8,400, Michael Farrelly then moved all-in for 51,800, Taus tank called and Benzinou got out the way.

Farrelly: Q♣Q♦
Taus: 8♣8♦

The flop of A♣2♣8♥ brought cheers from Taus’s friends on the rail and an expletive from Farrelly. The Irishman couldn’t re-suck on the 9♥ turn or K♠ river. — NW

Lucy eights for Shifaaz Taus

12.58pm: High Rolling
The UKIPT High Roller is set to resume in a few minutes. Thirteen players remain, six get paid and Max Silver is the current chip leader. Silver won the High Roller in Galway and bubbled in Nottingham (I think) marking a pretty polarized High Roller experience; win or bubble.

“As long as I get in the money I’ll be all right then,” said Silver. — RD

12.55pm: More exits
Three more exits to tell you about…

Bruce Jones deep run has come to an end. The student raised to 8,000, Matt Maule three-bet to 18,500, Jones moved all-in for 96,000 and Maule snap called.

Jones: J♥T♠
Maule: Q♠Q♥

Flop: 8♥T♦7♣ – “Always a sweat,” said Jones.
Turn: 4♦
River: 7♥ “Nice hand, good luck,” said Jones as he exited.

Shifaaz Taus has added more chips to his stack by eliminating Dicky Whiteside, the chips went in on a flop of Q♥J♣2♥, but Whiteside’s A♦J♠ was far behind Taus’s pocket aces and he didn’t improve on the turn or river.

And Paul Carr eliminated Derrick Wall, pocket jacks against A♣Q♠ with the pair holding on a board of T♥K♠8♥2♠3♣ in a pot worth 105,000. — NW

12.40pm: Four-way action
When you see a flop like 7♣9♣Q♠ four-ways it’s almost always going to give a little action. This was certainly no exception.

UKIPT regular Patrick McFadden, making his third main event cash, checked out of the blinds and Paul Carr, runner-up in the Irish Open, bet 17,200 into the flop. Next to act was Keith Swain who moved all-in for 35,800. Mark Muldoon was next in line. He made the call. McFadden quickly and wisely got out the way.

Patrick McFadden: third UKIPT main event cash

Carr was getting a great price. He made the call but tapped the table when the A♥ peeled out on the turn. Muldoon fired 54,000, leaving himself around 85,000 behind. Carr passed.

Muldoon: 7♥7♠ for bottom set
Swain: K♣Q♣ for a pair and flush draw

Swain was looking for a club alone and he got one, the 3♣. Muldoon understandably looked a bit gutted, Swain more than happy as he said to the rail: “Nice flop for me.” Indeed it was. Swain up to 130,000. — RD

12.30pm: Like London Dublin buses
And just like that three exits in a row follow a period of inactivity. These hands happened almost simultaneously.

First Benjamin Reeves-Smyth pushed all-in for around 25,000 with T♥4♥ and Adrian Cawley called with pocket nines. A flop of T♣Q♠9♠ meant it was basically all over, the A♦ and Q♣ completed the board.

Meanwhile Gordon Happer was all-in for 41,000 with pocket fours and up against Shifaaz Taus’s K♠Q♠. The latter rivered a flush on a board of 5♠9♠3♦T♣8♠.

And Joel Beverley completed a triumvirate of exits when his A♦9♠ couldn’t get there against Andrew Miles’s pocket kings, 54 players remain. — NW

12.15pm: Spiraling downwards
Glen ‘Spiral’ Coroner has taken an early hit, losing about a third of his stack to Dennis Reyes. He opened pre-flop to 8,500 and Reyes called. Both players checked the 8♥7♣T♦ flop. The 4♠ fell on the turn, it checked to Reyes who bet 12,500, Coroner check-raised to 25,000 total and Reyes made the call. The 2♣ completed the board, both players opted to take a free showdown, Reyes showed 4♥4♣ for a turned set. — NW

Glen Coroner

12.10pm: Balaz first to bust
The first exit of the day is Czech player Martin Balaz, he moved all-in with J♥T♥ for 85,000 and was called by Jose Aisa who held A♥K♥. The flop of 6♣A♣Q♥ gave Balaz some outs, the 6♥ turn card even more, but he missed them all on the 4♦ river. — NW

12.05pm: Off we go
Cards are in the air here and Day 3 is underway. — NW

11.55am: The big push
Robert Healey took the lead late in play yesterday when everyone had one eye on the big screen at the back of the room, which was showing a beleaguered Chelsea getting hammered by Bayern Munich. As we learnt yesterday, and as Bayern have learnt in a couple of Champions League finals, it ain’t over til it’s over. Many of today’s players, stack big and small, would do well to remember that. Healey broke from the middle of the pack into the lead thanks to a three-way pot against Derrick Wall and Thomas Hall, while Robert Molloy, down to dust after losing ace-king to aces on the bubble, dragged himself back into the reckoning and sits near the middle of the pack. Like the football match last night, anything can happen. Stay with us as the drama unfolds.

Today’s seat draw can be found by clicking here.

Marc McDonnell took a hit towards the end of play, but will still be a threat

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Dublin (in order of sanity): Rick Dacey (unhinged) and Nick Wright (cuckoo). Photos by Mickey May (off her rocker).

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ukipt/2012/ukipt3-dublin-day-3-level-16-updates-bli-094629.html

The three-year old colt that made a late surge to win this afternoon’s running of the Preakness has nothing on Shaun Deeb. Sure, I’ll Have Another can run 45 mph and has a shot at becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years. But Shaun Deeb isn’t one to stop at three titles. He didn’t even stop at four. Now, he’s officially run out of limbs on which to affix his SCOOP watches and we’ve run out of superlatives to bestow on the 26 year-old poker pro. Tonight, Deeb made history again, earning his fifth career SCOOP title and his fourth this year with a win in Event #38-H ($2,100 H.O.R.S.E.).

It’s the Shaundeeb Championship Of Online Poker now. Any questions?

Deeb claims not to be the strongest player in the stud events, but at this point we’re going to chalk that up to modesty. Three of Deeb’s 2012 SCOOP titles were earned in high buy-in stud tournaments and the fourth came in a rotation that’s 60% stud games. Even his heads-up opponent, Jon “LUFCBas” Spinks knew what was in store. As he wrote on his Twitter page “@JonSpinks: obv got HU with @shaundeeb and we all know what happens from there… #bendoverandacceptit.”

The $2,100 H.O.R.S.E. event drew 85 players, the prize pool topping out at $170,000. 12 players took home a piece of it, with the champion set to earn $46,325. Taking one of their final shots at a SCOOP title this year were Team Pros Eugene Katchalov, Chad Brown, Ivan Demidov, Nacho Barbero, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. Although none of them finished in the money, Team Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind III, already a 2012 SCOOP champion in stud hi/lo, advanced to the final table.

Final table bubble honors went to another familiar face in the PokerStars universe. With only 5,086 remaining, BrynKenney got it all in on third street in Razz with the 4♠ up against shaundeeb’s 2♣. Kenney could only manage a J-T low by seventh, Deeb taking down the pot with 8-6-3-2-A.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: BiatchPeople (60,504 in chips)
Seat 2: LUFCBas (73,430 in chips)
Seat 3: Sivokhan (119,426 in chips)
Seat 4: shaundeeb (29,214 in chips)
Seat 5: Kroko-dill (41,686 in chips)
Seat 6: ImaLucSac (51,687 in chips)
Seat 7: FatalError (20,742 in chips)
Seat 8: Jorj95 (28,311 in chips)

Shaun Deeb finishes off Jorj95

Jorj95 worked his 28,000 up to 42,000 in the early going, but lost about half his stack to LUFCBas in a hand of limit hold’em. Jorj95 capped the betting preflop with A♦K♥ and led both the flop and turn despite not connecting with the J♠9♦6♦3♣ board. LUFCBas raised all-in on the turn and Jorj95 called, LUFCBas tabling Q♥Q♦. The 2♦ on the river was no help for Jorj95 and he was left with 22,000. A few hands later, LUFCBas reduced Jorj95′s stack even further when he hit running flush cards. Left with only 4,051, Jorj95 raised all-in with Q♦T♦ and got two callers in shaundeeb and Kroko-dill. Deeb flopped a set of sixes and bet Kroko-dill off the hand on the turn, the board running out A♣7♠6♣4♦9♣ to end Jorj95′s run in eighth place.

Team Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind III, 8th place

FatalError falters, Sivokhan succumbs

Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar grew short-stacked after folding the turn in a couple of limit hold’em pots, his stack falling to 6,725. The game changed to Omaha Hi/Lo and FatalError called a raise from the big blind, seeing a K♣6♦2♠ flop with Sivokhan and Kroko-dill. FatalError bet his last 725, Sivokhan called, and Kroko-dill raised. Sivokhan called the additional 2,275, but folded to Kroko-dill’s bet on the A♥ turn. Kroko-dill revealed A♦K♠9♦4♦ for top two pair while FatalError had middle pair with 3♣3♠6♠T♣. FatalError was looking for another six, but got the 9♥ instead, and exited in seventh place.

The Razz round was unkind to Sivokhan, who three-bet to 6,000 on third street with the 2♣ up. BiatchPeople folded the bring-in and LUFCBas called with the 4♣ up.

LUFCBas (X)(X) 4♣J♣A♣K♦
Sivokhan (X)(X) 2♣K♥7♣6♣

Sivokhan called LUFCBas’ lead bets on fourth and fifth streets and bet all-in on sixth street when he made the low board. LUFCBas called, revealing A♦5♠ in the hole. Sivokhan turned up 3♣7♣. Sivokhan paired sixes on the river and was left with a K-7-6-3-2 low while LUFCBas caught the Q♠, his Q-J-5-4-A enough to eliminate Sivokhan in sixth place.

Kroko-dill sinks

Moments later, BiatchPeople claimed the last of Kroko-dill’s chips. Still playing Razz, Kroko-dill raised third street, bet out on fourth, and called down the rest of the way.

BiatchPeople (5♥)(8♠) 3♥7♣6♦J♣ (J♦)
Kroko-dill (4♣)(9♥) A♦5♦J♥5♠ (3♦)

BiatchPeople made an 8-7 low on fifth street and Kroko-dill’s 9-5 did not improve. Kroko-dill’s third final table of the 2012 SCOOP ended with a fifth-place finish, earning him $11,900.00.

Shaun Deeb busts BiatchPeople

Despite that chip infusion, BiatchPeople was the next to bust out. Evidently he didn’t get the memo not to play stud with Shaun Deeb.

shaundeeb (X)(X) 6♥A♣7♣6♠ (X)
BiatchPeople (X)(X) Q♦2♠K♣8♦ (X)

LUFCBas brought it in on third street, Deeb raised to 4,000 with the 6♥ up, BiatchPeople three-bet to 8,000 with the Q♦ and Deeb called. Deeb led out on fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh, BiatchPeople putting in the rest of his chips on the river with 2♦4♦T♦ for a queen-high flush. Deeb called and revealed Q♥Q♣6♣ for sixes full of queens sending BiatchPeople to the rail in fourth place.

NotaLucSac

As play turned three-handed Deeb was well out in front with 203,000, LUFCBas was second with 126,000 and ImaLucSac held 95,000. With betting limits of 4,000/8,000, it was still anyone’s game.

A hand against shaundeeb and LUFCBas started a long slide for ImaLucSac. LUFCBas picked up a flush draw on fourth street in stud high and caught a running two pair on sixth and seventh street to pick up the 98k pot.

ImaLucSac slid to 19,000 through a series of small pots and got the rest of his chips in against shaundeeb in stud hi/lo. ImaLucSac three-bet on third street with the 6♠ up and Deeb called with the A♣ showing. Deeb led out on the next two streets, ImaLucSac calling all-in on fifth.

shaundeeb (2♠)(Q♠) A♣Q♥4♥6♦[ (K♥)
ImaLucSac (8♠)(A♦) 6♠J♣Q♦7♣[ (9♠)

Neither player made a low and Deeb’s pair of queens were good enough to scoop. ImaLucSac was eliminated in third place, earning $23,800 for his final table run.

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 2: LUFCBas (172,121 in chips)
Seat 4: shaundeeb (252,879 in chips)

Deeb ground LUFCBas down to 127,000 before a stud hi/lo pot padded his lead even further.

LUFCBas (X)(X) 6♠K♠Q♥8♦ (X)
shaundeeb (X)(X) K♦Q♦5♣7♠ (X)

LUFCBas brought it in on third, Deeb raised and LUFCBas called. Deeb led out on fourth street and LUFCBas called. LUFCBas check-raised on fifth, then led out on sixth. On the river, LUFCBas led again, Deeb raised, and LUFCBas called. Deeb turned over T♦9♦J♥ for a king-high straight and LUFCBas mucked.

The game switched to limit hold’em and Deeb whittled LUFCBas down to 38,000 when he made kings up and got a river raise paid off. It was about that time when a clearly frustrated Nacho Barbero appeared in the chat box, asking Deeb his secrets to victory.

nachobarbero (TeamPro): how do it
nachobarbero (TeamPro): i keep comming 2nd
nachobarbero (TeamPro): and u keep comming 1st
shaundeeb: not 1st yet
nachobarbero (TeamPro): yeah sorry

Barbero might have jumped the gun there, but only by a few seconds. He’d barely pressed return when LUFCBas and shaundeeb saw a T♦8♠5♥ flop. Deeb check-called LUFCBas’ bet, then check-raised the turn when the K♣ fell. LUFCBas three-bet to 30,000, Deeb capped, and LUFCBas called all-in, turning over A♦5♣ for bottom pair. Deeb showed Q♠T♣, his pair of tens in the lead. LUFCBas needed an ace or a five but the river fell a total blank with the 6♣. Deeb locked up his fourth 2012 SCOOP title and his fifth overall, earning $46,325.00 for the win. No one was more relieved than Barbero, who, as it turns out, did not jinx Deeb in the least.

nachobarbero (TeamPro): 1st
GodlikeRoy (TeamOnline): lol
nachobarbero (TeamPro): told u

Six SCOOP events remain. Shaun Deeb is still out there, he doesn’t require much sleep and he has $236,951.39 in SCOOP earnings to play with. As our colleague Jason Mercier would say, #whenwillitend.

2012 SCOOP Event #38-H ($2,100 H.O.R.S.E.) results

Entrants: 85
Places paid: 12

1. Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb (Mexico) $46,325.00
2. Jon “LUFCBas” Spinks (United Kingdom) $31,450.00
3. Dylan “ImaLucSac” Linde (Canada) $23,800.00
4. BiatchPeople (United Kingdom) $16,150.00
5. Andrey “Kroko-dill” Zaichenko (Russia) $11,900.00
6. Sivokhan (Ukraine) $8,925.00
7. Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar (Mexico) $7,225.00
8. George “Jorj95″ Lind III (Canada) $5,525.00

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2012/scoop-2012-shaun-deeb-stuns-wins-fifth-s-094622.html

The elimination of more than 16 players in less than three hours was one of the highlights of Day 3; the bust-outs included Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor and last year’s finalist in Ibiza, Javier Tazón.

Today’s eight finalists – all eying up a first prize of €65,800 – are as follows:

Pablo Rojas, Spain, 1,130.000 chips
Amaury Legait, France, 755,000 chips
Daniel Ericson, Sweden, 485,000 chips
Saulius Tuluosa, Lithuania, 453,000 chips
Daniel Coloma Serna, Spain, PokerStars Qualifier, 376,000 chips
Jaume Niell Alomar, Spain, 338,000 chips
Dragan Kostic Dunaic, Spain, 332,000 chips
Johan Ray, 31, Sweden, 130,000 chips

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/estrellas_poker_tour/2012/estrellas-poker-tour-rojas-takes-final-t-094633.html

4.20pm: It’s all White for Atherton
Lee Atherton made the final two tables at UKIPT Nottingham eventually finishing 15th for £8,000. He’s just won a huge pot against Leonard White to take his stack soaring to 140,000.

The action was started by Iwan Jones who raised to 3,700, flat call from White on the button before Atherton raised to 11,000 from the big blind. This forced out Jones, but White made the call.

The flop fell Q♥K♠8♦ it was checked by Atherton, White bet 19,000 and Atherton moved all-in for 55,700 total. After White had got a count he cut out the calling chips from his stack and it appeared he’d have about 30,000 left if he called and lost. After mulling it over for about two minutes, he made the call saying: “There’s too much in there to fold.”

Atherton: Q♣Q♠ – set of queens
White: A♣K♦ – top pair top kicker

The board ran T♣9♥ and Atherton looks set to make another deep run. — NW

4.15pm: No Silver lining
We’re a little bit in shock here on Team Blog but Max Silver is out having failed to recover from the big pot he lost earlier (see post at 4pm). The Englishman had previously finished first and fourth in the two previous UKIPT Dublin events so we were expecting more of the same.

He did though give it a good go at getting back in the game. He managed to double up with 9♦2♣ against Seun Oluwole ‘s Q♥J♠ as he rivered a two on a 6♠5♣5♦T♠2♦ board.

And he was looking good to double again the very next hand as he three-bet all-in with A♥K♠ and got a call from Terry Plummer who held Q♥J♥, but the board came 7♥5♦6♣3♣J♦ to eliminate him. — NW

4.12pm: Grafton’s parting shot
As mentioned below, Sam Grafton is out but his parting tweet was certainly spot on.

“Bust #UKIPT in joke tilting fashion, but overall didnt play my best. Main thing I learnt this trip is children dressed as adults are scary.” – @SquidPoker

Indeed they are. The PokerStars UKIPT has been sharing the huge Citywest Hotel complex with the The Irish National Dancing Championships which means crossing the hotel lobby has meant braving the practice kicks of dozens of pre-teen girls covered in terrifying fake tan and disturbing fake curls. Staring down Phil Ivey? Piece of the proverbial. Trying to navigate between these screeching midgets? Absolutely petrifying. — RD

4.05pm: Quads!
“Nice hand,” said the table almost in unison as Bruce Jones made quads to eliminate Joseph Devaney.

The chips had all gone in pre-flop with an at risk Devaney four-bet shoving A♥J♠ for 47,000 and Jones calling from his stack of 75,000 with pocket tens.

The board ran T♣4♦7♠K♠T♦ to send Jones up to 120,000, Jones is a very recent marketing graduate who lives in Wales. He is playing this tournament as a treat to himself, as he’s made a bit of money grinding live cash whilst getting his degree. — NW

4pm: Silver rivered by Rankin
Max Silver is down to his last 6,000 after losing a 120,000 pot to Dan Rankin on the river. An open limp had invited Silver to do the same on the button with J♠T♠. Rankin was in the small blind and punished the limps with a raise to 5,400. Only Silver made the call.

The 8 7 3  rainbow had one diamond. Rankin check-called 4,800 on the flop. The J♦ hit the turn and Rankin checked again. Silver bet 9,200 and Rankin moved all-in for close to 50,000. Silver made the call with his top pair. Rankin held A♦9♦.

The river brought the 7♦. The normally smiley Silver is looking more than a little miffed right now. — RD

3.50pm: Fifty fifty
The starting field of 244 has been slashed in half in the opening three levels. Among the fallers who’ll have to wait to Newcastle for a shot at a UKIPT title are: Ross Johnson, Tim Boyle, Niclas Martinsson, Nick Newport and Sam Grafton. — NW

Nicholas Newport

3.40pm: Sinclair playing ace(s)
Richard Sinclair is freerolling the entire Season 3 of the UKIPT after winning the Champion of Champions event in Season 2. He’s bricked the first two events of the season but is still going here. He’s got about 85,000 which is above the average of 67,000. “I got lucky,” he told me. “I had aces against ace-king blind on blind and then had aces against jacks. So basically I’ve only been playing aces!” — NW

3.30pm: Mullin getting mauled
It’s not very often you flop a straight and a straight flush draw, get it in and find you have less than 1% equity in the hand.

But, after losing 15,000 in the previous hand (see post below) Emmett Mullin just lost another 45,000 in a sickening cooler.

He raised from the button and Dennis Reyes called from the small blind. On the flop of 8♥9♣T♥ Mullin c-bet 5,000, Reyes made it 12,500, Mullin moved all-in and Reyes snap called.

Mullin: 7♥6♥
Reyes: Q♥J♥

The only way Mullin could win the hand was with runner-runner 4♥5♥ for a straight flush or he could chop it with a running jack-queen combo. But, the board ran A♦K♦ and Mullin is now down to just 13,000. — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600 ante 200

3.20pm: Mullin confused as Champion chips up
William Champion is up to 170,000 having knocked out Stanley Smith in a three-way pot with Emmett Mullin. Champion had opened to 3,500 on the button and Mullin three-bet to 8,800 from the small blind. The big blind, Smith, moved all-in for 13,800 and Champion made the call. Mullin called in behind.

The 4♦8♠J♣A♦4♠ board was checked down and Smith showed T♠T♣ which had been beaten by Champion’s J♥T♥. Mullin looked a little confused and mucked his hand. Mullin’s stack is definitely moving in the wrong direction. — RD

3.15pm: Chip leader Czeched a little
At the last break Martin Balaz was second in chips with 203,000 but he’s just lost a chunk of that. “I have just lost 60k. Btn raise 2.4k, I 3b him to 6.9k with TT and snapcalled his spewy shove. He had KQo, Q on the board,” he tweeted. — NW

Martin Balaz

3.12pm: White’s favourite hand
“It’s my favourite hand,” said Leonard White to Thomas Hall excitedly.

“King-ten, it’s my favourite hand,” said White to a friend on the rail.

White had just doubled to 45,000 through Szymon Gajda on a 2♦9♠T♣K♣ board. White had led 4,300 into the flop and Gajda had raised to 9,300. Call from White. He then quickly moved all-in on the turn for 14,000. Or rather he tried to but because he’d not put the chips across the line in one smooth movement his black chips had to stay. His bet stood at 12,000 but Gajda shrugged and moved in. The final 2,000 went in.

Gajda: J♣T♠
White: K♥T♥

White had been ahead but the turn had confirmed it. A second king filled him up on the river. — RD

3pm: It’s Christmas for Collins as he eliminated Noel
I arrived at the table to see Noel McMahon move all-in for his last 22,600, one seat along Finbar Loughnane, after getting a count, made the call. Quick folds where then the order of the day until it reached Con Collins in the small blind.

He then tanked for a couple of minutes during which time another player told me that: “This is a crazy table there’s loads of all-ins and shoves happening,” eventually Collins slid out a raise, making it 50,600 in total, Loughnane quickly folded what he said after the hand was ace-king.

Collins: T♣T♦
McMahon: A♣K♠

The flop of T♠2♥4♥ left McMahon drawing slim, the 9♦ turn meant that the K♦ river was inconsequential and Collins scooped a near 70,000 chip pot. — NW

2.50pm: Derek Thorpedo’s Catic
When you’re down to 15 big blinds you’re usually pretty happy to get it in with ace-king. What makes you even happier is when your opponent holds ace-queen.

That’s the situation a short stacked Damir Catic found himself in just now. Unfortunately for him his opponent – Derek Thorpe – spiked a queen to send him to the rail. — NW

2.38pm: Silver up to his old tricks
Max Silver is the de facto reigning champion here at UKIPT Dublin. While he didn’t win the last outing, he did win the Season 1 leg and in the absence of Joeri Zandvliet, who opted to play the PokerStars Spanish Estrellas Poker Tour instead, Silver can be considered the defending champ… at a stretch.

Silver won in Dublin, his adopted home, and €72,000 back in September 2010 and he came close to winning it again last year finishing fourth for €63,151.

Silver is up to 96,000, approaching twice the average, having check-raised all-in with ace-king on a Q T 7  flop and found a call from K Q . A jack binked on the river to give him Broadway. — RD

Max Silver on winning soil

2.30pm: More exits
A total of 84 players exited during the opening 120 minutes of play, some of the more recent bust outs include: Tim Bettingen, Dennis Henkes, John Daly and Dara O’Kearney. — NW

O’Kearney – one of many Day 2 exits

2.20pm: Chip leaders at the break
We have two big stacks over 200,000 here in Dublin and they are Martin Baláž (203,000) and Glen Coroner (220,000). You can find the chip count page by clicking through here. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 600-1,200, ante 100

2.05pm: Mullin’s brief chip lead, Break
Emmett Mullin was up to 165,000 for a short time but doubled through Miguel Silva up to 140,000. Mullin back down to 95,000. We’re now going into the first 20-minute break of the day. — RD

Emmett Mullin: slightly deflated

2pm: Keeping up with Jones
Iwan Jones and Tom Hall (11th UKIPT Galway S3) are sat side by side and they just played one of those interesting blind on blind battles that happen frequently during tournaments.

From the small Jones completed, but Hall raised to 2,800, call from Jones.

Flop: 3♣7♣7♥ – check, check
Turn: T♥ – Jones bet 4,700, swift call from Hall
River: Q♣ – Jones bet 8,900, tank call from Hall.

Jones immediately mucked his hand and Hall showed A♥J♠ for just ace high, he’s up to 85,000 now. — NW

1.55pm: Not all plain sailing for Captain Kollander
Garbriel Kollander is now sat at the same table as fellow Day 1 chip leader William Champion. From a small sample size of the last few hands, it appears that Kollander is established as the table captain. He’s the player asking the questions but at the moment he’s not getting the answers that he would like.

Kollander opened under-the-gun for 2,400 and the action folded to Robert Scott in the big blind who three-bet to 6,000. Kollander made the call but passed the Q♦A♦J♠ flop to a 5,700 c-bet.

The next hand Kollander three-bet Szymon Gajda’s cut-off open to from 1,800 to 6,600. Gajda made the call and quickly shoved for 70,500 over the top of Kollander’s 9,700 c-bet. Kollander didn’t look like he was calling but neither did he look thrilled to pass. His stack still weighs in at 135,000. — RD

1.45pm: Exits
We’ve lost nearly 75 players so far today including: Thomas Kitt, Shane Dempsey, Simon Deadman, David O’Connor and Scott Shelley. — NW

1.35pm: Levels to be played
We’ll be playing a maximum of eight levels today. UKIPT tournament director Toby Stone has told us that if we burst the bubble in level 7 we’ll play until the end of the level, if it pops in the final level of the day we’ll stop the clock then and there. Clean and simple. We’re an hour and half through the day so far and have 175 players remaining from a Day 2 start point of 244. — RD

1.25pm: Champ or chump?
It’s been a contrasting opening 90 minutes for the remaining UKIPT champions left in the field. Emmett Mullin is flying he’s up to 140,000 and likely one of the top 10 stacks. Max Silver has also had a decent start to to the day as he’s more than trebled the 21,100 he started with. “I’ve got about 70,000 I had queens against ace-king although I wasn’t at risk.” And Richard Sinclair has spun his 30,100 up to 58,000.

But, it’s not such good news for Sam Razavi fans as the UKIPT Cork S2 winner is out. — NW

Richard Sinclair: loves a drop of Ed Hardy

1.20pm: Back from the Van Den Brink
Bastiaan Van Den Brink has just trebled through to around 70,000 after getting it in with A♠K♣ against Sam Grafton and Friðjón Þórðarson, both of whom held ace-queen.

Grafton had opened from the cut-off, Van Den Brink had three-bet to 4,500 from the button and Þórðarson had cold four-bet to 8,500. Grafton shoved, Van Den Brink snap-called and Þórðarson tank-called.

“Any green cards,” said Grafton, who held the only club draw.

He got two on the 2♠5♣6♣ flop. The turn was the 7♠, killing the pot right there. Grafton is down to 38,000, Þórðarson on less, around 25,000. — RD

It’s back to the grind for Sam Grafton

1.15pm: Re-Joyce
Gavin Joyce is now one of the chipleaders he tweeted: “Double up, AA v KK. 145k.” Easy game. — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 500-1,000 ante 100

1.05pm: Lose some win some
I just saw Darren Lyttle play two three-bet pots in a row winning one and losing the other.

In the first Richard Evans made it 1,700 to go Lyttle three-bet to 4,200 but folded after Evans moved all-in for 30,000.

The very next hand Charlie McCallister made it 1,700 to play, next to act Ann Tran Dinh flat-called and Lyttle then squeezed to 5,100 and only McCallister called.

The flop was J♣A♣6♠ and bother players checked to see the J♥ fall on the turn. This card was deemed safe enough for McCallister to bet, he fired out 8,300 and Lyttle made the call. The 7♥ completed the board, both players checked and Lyttle’s pocket kings took the pot, McCallister inadvertently showed the T♠ as he mucked. “If he doesn’t call I do,” said Ann Tran Dinh, “I had the ace,” she added. — NW

1pm: Irish spew
Paul McCaffrey started the day third in chips on 112,000 but in just 40 minutes he’s gone from potential hero to absolutely zero as he’s out.

I joined the action live to see a full board of J♦5♣4♠8♣T♠ on the felt and there was about 15,000 in the pot. Another player at the table told me that the previous action on every street had been raise by Martin Balaz (cut-off) and call by McCaffrey (button).

The pattern looked like repeating itself on the river as Balaz fired out a bet of 6,200, but McCaffrey opted to raise, making it 14,800 total. Back on Balaz he wasted little time in moving all-in for around 100,000 total. This is where it got interesting (as if it wasn’t already right!?)

Now McCaffrey was like a jack-in-a-box, first kneeling on his chair and then leaning back as he contemplated his decision. He then got a count on Balaz’s stack to confirm he would be all-in if he called and it was established that the Irishman would be at risk. “It must be a bluff to bet that big,” said McCaffrey whilst looking at Balaz who remained impassive.

A few more minutes passed during which McCaffrey checked his stack to see what he had left (around 60,000 – still well above average) and then he stood up, sat down and stood up again, ants clearly in his pants. Although he had been thinking for at least five minutes no one had called the clock as everyone sensed and knew this was a huge pot and it should simply play out, however long it took.

But, McCaffrey perhaps had his own subconscious clock in his head as around 30 seconds later he announced call. Balaz turned over Q♣9♣ for the nuts and McCaffrey – disgusted with himself – flinged his cards into the muck and walked off. Another player at the table requested to see McCaffrey’s cards and the dealer showed A♦9♦ for an ace high hero call gone wrong. — NW

12.50pm: Haile storm
Richard Haile will not be adding to his long string of UKIPT cashes. “Bust ukipt kk aa bugger,” tweeted @HaileRichard. — RD

Richard Haile

12.38pm: Growing big stacks
Emmett Mullin is up over 100,000 and moving in the right direction. The UKIPT champ is three-betting virulently.

Brandon ‘Mazurite’ Rollinson, a friend of chip leader Gabriel Kollander, is up to 110,000 after stacking Jason Tompkins with A♥A♣ on a 4♠8♣5♣ flop. Tomplins had check-raised all-in from the cut-off with A♦K♣ for around 26,000 after Rollinson had stabbed 7,900 into the pot. The turn and river blanked out. — RD

12.24pm: There’s no easy way to say this but …
Joining Ross Jarvis and Rebecca McAdam are Melvin Buis, Samuel Welbourne, Philip Magenni and Norbetas Jasinskas. The ticker on the clock keeps counting down. It’s currently showing 232 for a loss of 12 players in the first orbits of play. — RD

12.20pm: Jarvis out, steaming
Ross Jarvis has just been eliminated by Day 1A chipleader William Champion and he’s not happy about how it happened at all. He told me: “I lost 10,000 on the first hand with Ace-King against tens so that put me down to 17,000. Then he (Champion) opened to 2,100, I moved in with Ace-eight and he flicked it in with queen-two and rivered a queen. What’s he doing there? That’s an appalling call.”

And with that Jarvis wandered off, Rebecca McAdam is another early bust out on day two here in Dublin. Not a good start for poker journalists/players. — NW

William Champion: not Jarvis’ favourite person right now

12.05pm: Play begins
It sounds like there’s plenty of early knock outs.

11.55am: Day 2 set to start
The sound of ripping bags and scattering chips is reverberating around the Citywest conference centre as the 244 players that made it through to Day 2 stack their chips for the day. We will make the money in the back half of the day, 72 places pay – that’s around a third of the field. American Gabriel Kollander leads with 151,900 a short way ahead of the Day 1A chip leader William Champion (129,700). Play should start just a couple of minutes after noon.

The Day 2 UKIPT Dublin seat draw can be found by clicking through this link.

Play starts shortly

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Galway (in order of chairs sat on): Rick Dacey (two) and Nick Wright (one). Photos by Mickey May (also one).

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ukipt/2012/ukipt-dublin-s3-day-2-level-9-updates-bl-094589.html

You can find the overnight seat draw here, play starts again at noon and tomorrow we’ll play down from 58 to the final table. — NW

8.30pm: In the money
Below is a list of the players who exited during the last level and finished in the money.

59th. Ben Jackson, United Kingdom, €1,200
60th. Darren Lyttle, United Kingdom, €1,200
61st. Barry Mullarkey, Ireland, €1,200
62nd. Christopher McNicholls, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,200
63rd. Paul Campbell, Ireland, €1,200

64th. Szymon Gajda, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,000
65th. Miguel Silva, Portugal, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,000
66th. Finbar Loughnane, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,000
67th. Thanh Pham, Ireland, €1,000
68th. Thomas Hall, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,000
69th. Dan Rankin, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,000
70th. Mitchell Johnson, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, €1,000
71st. Richard Sinclair, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player, €1,000
72nd. Shyam Markus, USA, €1,000

8.10pm: Play is over for the day
That’s it, play is done and the remaining 58 players have bagged and tagged their chips.

Overnight chip leader appears to be Robert Healey (454,800) who’s closely followed by Con Collins (348,500) and Lee Atherton. The latter won a huge pot just two hands from the end of the day against Marc McDonnell to boost his stack to 343,200, McDonnell is still in but his prospects of winning took a big hit. — NW

7.50pm: Clock stopped, three more hands
That about sums it up: the tournament clock has been stopped and three final hands are being played out.

7.45pm: Short stacks getting swatted
It’s grim at the moment if you’re a short stack, they don’t seem to be winning any all-ins. Only 59 players remain meaning 13 have perished in the past 40 minutes.

It doesn’t seem to matter if they get it in good or bad, this live RNG seems to be rigged against them. Paul Campbell must have been delighted to get it in with aces and find a willing caller in the shape of Shifaaz Taus who had tens. He was not so delighted with the ten on the river.

And Robert Healey claimed another scalp when his pocket kings held up against Darren Lyttle’s Q♣J♠. — NW

7.30pm: Healey trebles
Robert Healey is now right up with the chip leaders after near trebling up to 300,000.

Three players got it all-in pre-flop with the following hands:

Derrick Wall: A♠K♣
Tom Hall: A♥K♥
Healey: Q♣Q♠

The flop of 2♥4♥9♦ gave Hall a monster draw but neither he or Wall could improve on the turn or river. Hall was the shortest stack of the three, whilst Wall had the most, although he is now down to around 50,000. — NW

7.20pm: Two doubles up and an exit
Now that the pressure cooker of the bubble has been released there’s a lot of all-in and calls popping off everywhere.

Robert Molloy was all-in for 13,300 with K♠3♦ and he was up against Dan Rankin’s A♦9♣. It looked all over on the 2♦5♦A♥ flop but a beautiful 4♦ came on the turn to give him a straight. “Almost back to turn big blinds,” he grinned as he took the pot.

Christian Sosnik is another player whose scored a post-bubble double. He was all-in for around 60,000 with A♥Q♣ and behind to Mahmood Rasheed’s pocket tens. The board ran 7♥9♣9♠3♣Q♥ and Rasheed, perhaps thinking the river was a different face card mistakenly clapped but quickly realised his mistake.

And god knows whom Dan Rankin cursed during the break but he was sent tumbling when his pocket eights failed to hold up against Marc McDonnell’s A♣Q♣ on a board of 5♣Q♠6♠J♣8♣. — NW

7.15pm: The first few fallers
Shyam Markus (72nd), Richard Sinclair (71st) and Mitchell Johnson (70th) are the first few players to bust in the money. Johnson had jammed from the big blind with 2♣2♦ after Joel Benzinou opened from the small blind with K♣K♦. Despite picking up a gutshot Johnson failed to suckout. They all collect €1,000. We’ll be updating the payouts page whenever we get a chance. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,500-3,000, ANTE 300

6.50pm: Bubble bursts on the break
The field will have a nice surprise when they return from the break to play the last level of the day: they are all in the money.

Brandon ‘Mazurite’ Rollinson open shoved 33,000 from middle position and found a customer in Mark Baxter.

Baxter: A♦K♠
Rollinson: J♦J♥

The window card was an ace as the board ran out A♣6♦Q♦4♣3♦ to guarantee all remaining 72 players a minimum €1,000. Credit goes to Rollinson who took the loss of the flip well and shook every player’s hands before leaving. — RD

Brandon Rollinson busts (seated, blue t-shirt)

6.35pm: Still on the bubble
There’s been no more all-in and calls encounters in the last 15 minutes so 73 players remain, but Gary McCoy filled me in on how he came to be the 74th place finisher.

He raised with pocket aces a short stack moved all-in over the top with pocket tens, Stephen McGrath then flat-called with pocket kings. Back on McCoy he moved all-in and McGrath snap called. A king on the flop sent a 260,000 pot to McGrath and left McCoy chipless. Poker can be a cruel game at times. — NW

6.20pm: Finishing time
We’ve just consulted with tournament director Toby Stone who has told us that we’ll play to the end of level 7 come what may. That still means players will get to watch the second half of the Champions League final with its free bar. We’re certainly happy about that. — RD

6.15pm: Molloy hits the wall
Robert Molloy opened for 4,900 and was called in one spot before Derrick Wall three-bet to 15,000 from the big blind. Molloy four-bet jammed and Wall called all-in for from the big blind for his 90,000 stack. That was for most of Molloy’s stack, leaving him just 8,000 if he lost the hand. The cards remained facedown until the rest of the tables played out – it’s hand for hand – then, with a groan, they were turned over.

Molloy: A♦K♦
Wall: A♥A♠

Molloy looked unwell. The all red flop brought some hope, but only one diamond: Q♥7♦9♥. The turn brought backdoor possibilities: 6♦. The crowd round the table let out a collective ‘Ooooo’. Molloy still looked pale.

“A diamond, one time,” said Molloy.

The river was red. It was the 3♥. It would have been a brutal outdraw against Wall but as it was it was simply a gross set-up against Molloy. Wall well stacked with 185,000, Molloy in bubble trouble with 8,000. — RD

6.05pm: On the bubble
The tournament clock that was showing 79 players remaining must’ve been a little out of sync as it’s now been established that just 73 remain meaning that we’re bubblin in Dublin right now. Hand for hand play is in effect. — NW

5.55pm: Bubble getting closer
Just 79 players remain, 72 of whom will make the money. The latest player to be left with a feeling of close but no cigar was Leonard White, he was all-in with A♣4♥ against Billy Ngo who had pocket tens and didn’t hit.

Other recent exits include: Dave Masters, Patrick Carron, Packie Quinn and Iwan Jones.

5.45pm: Huge pot for Taus, Jones busts
Shifaaz Taus has just won a 210,000 pot in a strange pot against Iwan Jones. Taus had 10,200 in front of him, a three-bet out of the big blind. Jones had 22,700 over the line, which must have been a four-bet. Taus stared at Jones. In reply, Jones called the clock.

Taus was given one minute. He didn’t use much of it before pushing out a five-bet to 40,000 straight. Jones made the call. Taus had 90,000 back, Jones just 64,700.

The board was then checked down to the T♣A♥5♣2♣A♣ river. Taus checked again and Jones moved all-in. Taus didn’t muck. It wasn’t going to be an easy call but he obviously had something worth considering. He called.

Taus: Q♣Q♦ for the second nut flush, on a paired board
Jones: 8♥7♥ for complete air

Taus’ rail cheered. Jones quickly left the table. Taus up to 235,000. — RD

Shifaaz Taus

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,200-2,400, ANTE 300

5.40pm: Collins cracks cowboys
The new chip leader is Irishman Con Collins he’s up to 350,000 after flopping a set of sevens against Lee Taylor who had pocket kings.

Taylor opened, Collins three-bet to 11,600, Taylor made it 28,600 and Collins flat called. The flop fell 7♠2♥5♦ and Taylor simply open shoved for around 90,000 and Collins snap called. The board ran out 2♦4♠ to give Collins a monster pot and eliminate Taylor. — NW

5.30pm: Stacked
Table seven seems to be teeming over with chips, containing as it does a number of the biggest stacks in the room. There’s UKIPT Newcastle winner Richard Sinclar (135,500), Jose Aisa (170,000), chip leader Foyzul Hussein (220,000), Mark Muldoon (146,300) and John Cahill (146,500). They’re all well above the current average of 98,000. — NW

5.20pm: Emmett finally ejected
Emmett Mullin has had a rollercoaster Day 2 but his ride has finally come to an end. He’d been as low as 13,000 but managed to spin that back up to nearly 40,000 only to come unstuck in back to back hands.

After Paul Delaney had opened, Kim Andre Carlsen moved all-in from the cut-off for around 30,000 and Mullin re-raised all-in over the top, Delaney got out the way.

Carlsen: A♥K♠
Mullin: A♠J♣

The board of 9♦Q♦7♥Q♣2♥ left Mullin perilously short. The rest of his chips went in the next hand, but his pocket threes couldn’t hold up against Delaney’s K♣J♥ as the board ran 2♦K♦4♣6♣8♥. — NW

Emmett Mullin: out

5.10pm: Chips!
We’ve imported the chips from the break so there should be the full field (bar table 2 whose chips we’re inputting by hand now). Foyzul Hussein is the chip leader with 220,000. You can see them by clicking through this link. — RD

5pm: Bastiaan comes back from the brink
Dutchman Bastiaan Van Den Brink just scored a timely double up at the expense of Derek Thorpe, although he did it the hard way.

The action was started by Joel Benzinou who raised to 4,200 from the cut-off, Thorpe three-bet to 11,400 from the small blind and Van Den Brink then moved all-in for approximately 60,000 from the big blind. After getting a rough count Benzinou folded but Thorpe announced call.

Van Den Brink: Q♣Q♠
Thorpe: A♥K♥

The flop of A♠4♦T♥ was a nail in the coffin for Van Den Brink and he stood up to leave, but the Q♥ turn had him firmly back in his seat and the 6♦ kept him alive. He doubles to around 125,000, whilst Thorpe is down to 50,000. — NW

4.50pm: Exits
Recent exits include: David Brady, Barry Murray and Zeke Tuite. -NW

4.40pm: The second half of the day begins
The clock currently registers 104 players remaining in the UKIPT Dublin main event which means that there are just 32 players to bust before the money. More players will cash than not now, that’s some good prospects. One player that won’t be making the money is Barry Foley (pictured below), he’s out.

The behind-the-scenes staff are currently working on a full chip count from the break which we’ll be able too import into our counts shortly. We’ll flash it up when we have. — RD

Barry Foley

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Galway (and their Champions League predictions): Rick Dacey (Bayern Munich, 2-1) and Nick Wright (Bayern Munich, 3-1 – lots of centre-backs out). Photos by Mickey May (“Who’s playing?”). Guest appearance from the UKIPT event manager Jamie Moniz (Bayern Munich, 4-2)

Article source: http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/ukipt/2012/ukipt-dublin-s3-day-2-level-13-updates-b-094603.html