In 2015, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier shipped three SCOOP titles. On Friday night, he had something to celebrate as he went from the final table's short stack to win SCOOP-42-M: $215 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max], $50K GTD for $22,572. 

It also marked Mercier's fifth SCOOP title and seventh overall "COOP" title.

The Road to the Final Table

After Mexico's "grampabumkin" bubbled the tournament in 79th place, the in-the-money finishes came fast and furious. Among those to walk way with a payday were "BillLewinsky" (78th - $344.52), "donut604" (60th - $403.92), and "NanoDawn" (44th - $475.20), just to name a few.

Day 1 came to a close with 41 players remaining, and at that time Russia's "lavakrasava1" led the pack with 336,146, though not far behind was Mercier, who sat sixth in chips. 

Day 2 started with 35 players needing to hit the rail before the final table was established, and among those to fall short were "pmahoney22" (36th - $617.76), "DallasCorben" (18th - $1,104.84), "ouchbadbeat" (12th - $1,603.90), and "lavakrasava1" (10th - $1,603.80), whose big stack didn't quite get him to the final table.

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

_Azur3_7 - 2,458,038
f1nsf4n7 - 866,222
Valya98 - 829,614
ZeelandBoy - 805,826
Brandon-Tino - 580,398
Jason Mercier - 399,902
 

_Azur3_7  Sends ZeelandBoy Out the Door in Sixth

While he began the final table on the short stack, Mercier managed some doubles to get himself out of the basement. Then, in the 20,000/40,000 level, the first final table elimination took place. It happened when "_Azur3_7" (2,619,638) opened for 80,000 under the gun and "ZeelandBoy" (119,730) moved all in from the cutoff. Action folded back to _Azur3_7, and he made the call.

_Azur3_7: [ah][jh][ts][9s]
ZeelandBoy: [jd][9d][qs][td]

ZeelandBoy gad a 30.8% of winning the hand, but that didn't happen as the board ran out [kh][2h][kc][as][7d] to give _Azur3_7 aces and kings, which was good enough for the win. ZeelandBoy, a former Sunday Rebuy winner with more than $2.6 million in earnings on PokerStars, took home $3,694.68 for his sixth-place finish.

Valya98 Runs Smack Dab Into Pocket Rockets

In the same level, Mercier (1,037,040) opened for 80,000 under the gun and "Valya98" (720,614) called from the cutoff. _Azur3_7 (2,694,368) then three-bet to 320,000 from the small blind, Mercier folded, and Valya98 called to see the [9h][jh][2c] flop. 

_Azur3_7 led out for 760,000 and Valya98 called off his remaining 400,614.

Valya98: [7h][5h][kc][4c]
_Azur3_7: [ah][as][2d][8c]

Valya98 flopped a flush draw, but he failed to hit it as the [2s] blanked on the turn followed by the [jd] on the river. Valya98, who won the MicroMillions 6 Event #87 $3.30 FL Hold'em 6-Max, Turbo, was eliminated in fifth place for $5,940.

Mercier Doubles Into the Chip Lead

With the blinds at 25,000/50,000, "Brandon-Tino" (1,457,272) raised to 100,000 from the cutoff and _Azur3_7 (2,545,546) and Mercier (1,386,595) called from the button and big blind respectively. When the flop came down [8d][3d][9h], _Azur3_7 bet 200,000 after both his opponents checked.

Mercier called, Brandon-Tino folded, and the [Jc] appeared on the turn. Mercier led out for 725,000, _Azur3_7 raised to 1.45 million, and the Team PokerStars Pro called off his remaining 361,595.

_Azur3_7: [ac][3s][3h][5h]
Mercier: [qh][Th][9c][jd]

Mercier held the nuts, but _Azur3_7 was drawing to both a full house and a low. Fortunately for Mercier, the [qd] river completed the board and he doubled into the chip lead with 2,898,190 while _Azur3_7 dropped to 1,158,951.

Brazil's f1nsf4n7 Bows Out in Fourth Place

With the blinds at 30,000/60,000, Mercier (1,167,454) opened for 120,000 under the gun and "f1nsf4n7" (540,898) defended his big blind to see a [2d][8d][jd] flop. f1nsf4n7 led out for 270,000 and then called off his remaining 150,898 after Mercier raised.

f1nsf4n7: [2c][5c][3d][4s]
Mercier: [4d][Td][3h][2h]

Mercier flopped a flush, which left f1nsf4n7 looking for the right low card to chop. Unfortunately for him, it never came as the [8s] paired the board on the turn and the [9s] river was a big card. f1nsf4n7 was awarded $8,316 for his fourth-place finish.

Mercier & Brandon-Tino Check It Down to Send _Azur3_7 Home in Third

With the blinds at 40,000/80,000, Brandon-Tino (2,767,447) raised to 170,400 from the button and _Azur3_7 (419,760) moved all in from the small blind. Mercier (2,752,793) called from the big, Brandon-Tino made the additional investment, and then both active players checked it down as the board ran out [qc][9d][2c][9h][3h].

Mercier: [Ts][kd][ah][8h]
Brandon-Tino: [ad][3s][Th][8c]
_Azur3_7: [as][7s][jh][8h]

Brandon-Tino's mere three in his hand was enough to scoop the pot, and the start-of-the-final-table chip leader was out in third place for $12,177.

Mercier Steamrolls Heads-Up Play

Brandon-Tino began heads-up play with 3,606,967 in chips to Mercier's 2,333,033, but it did him little good as the Team PokerStars Pro caught fire and soon pulled out to a big lead.

In what would be the final hand of the tournament, which took place with the blinds at 50,000/100,000, Mercier (5,108,680) limped the button and Brandon-Tino checked his option to see a [Qc][Td][5s] flop. Brandon-Tino checked, Mercier bet 113,838, and Brandon-Tino check-raised to 541,514. Mercier three-bet to 969,190 and Brandon-Tino called off his remaining 189,806.

Brandon-Tino: [3s][qh][2c][9d]
Mercier: [9s][js][kh][Th]

The [Tc] turn gave Mercier trips, while the [8d] river actually improved him to a straight. Brandon-Tino, who previously finished fourth in the 2014 SCOOP 10-H: $2,100 PL 5-Card Omaha [6-Max, 1R1A], had to settle for runner-up and a $16,632 consolation prize.

SCOOP-42-M: $215 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max], $50K GTD
Entrants: 594
Prize Pool: $118,800
Place Paid: 78

1st - Jason Mercier (Canada) $22,572
2nd - Brandon-Tino (UK) $16,632
3rd - _Azur3_7 (Bulgaria) $12,177
4th - f1nsf4n7 (Brazil) $8,316
5th - Valya98 (Russia) $5,940
6th - ZeelandBoy (Malta) $3,694.68

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

Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo is not exactly a spectator sport. A game where chopped pots are the norm makes it difficult viewing and when a heads-up battle lasts over two-and-a-half hours, it's not the sort of thing that will be bringing droves of new fans to the sport.

But that didn't worry bernard-bb.

The player from Finland was able to ensure a gruelling tournament and a spirited heads-up battle with Canadian Antonio7. When it looked like the duel would never end, bernard-bb flopped the nuts against the second nuts, and improved to a better low, and that was enough to scoop the SCOOP title and over $70,000 in prize money.

It was Event #42-H of the 2016 Spring Championship of Online Poker -- a $2,100 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max Event which attracted a field of 136 players. That created a prize pool of $272,000 which more than doubled the promised guarantee.

Adrienne Rowsome, Jason Somerville, Jason Mercier, George Danzer and Eugene Katchalov were amongst the starters representing Team PokerStars but sadly they were out well before the money stage.

The top 18 players would finish in the money, but at the end of the first day of play, the tournament was delicately poised with just 21 players remaining and Canada's Antonio7 leading the way:

When play resumed it would be DonkPredator, Yakiddinme and Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez who missed out on the money as the remaining 18 players assured themselves at least $3,536 in prize money.

James "Andy McLEOD" Obst made another deep SCOOP run before falling in 17th place, while Team PokerStars Online's Naoya Kihara made it to 15th place.

When PlayWMyNuts lost out with two pair against the Broadway straight of bernard-bb, PlayWMyNuts was out in seventh place and our final table formed as follows:

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Final Table Line Up
Seat 1: WATnlos (74,261 in chips)
Seat 2: bratpack1979 (186,136 in chips)
Seat 3: onmybicycle (113,054 in chips)
Seat 4: bernard-bb (350,266 in chips)
Seat 5: raiden_kan (136,400 in chips)
Seat 6: Antonio7 (499,883 in chips)

The short-stacked WATnlos would be first to go. After a raise preflop and a bet on the flop, things got a little wild on the turn in a battle of the blinds between Antonio7 and WATnlos. The board read [4s][8s][8c][2s] when a raising war erupted that saw WATnlos all in with [ad][3s][jh][6h] for a low against Antonio7's [8h][5d][Ac][Js] for trip eights. There was a good chance of a split pot, until the [3h] appeared on the river to improve Antonio7 to a wheel to scoop both the high and the low. That meant former WCOOP winner WATnlos would have to depart in sixth place for $12,240.

Next to fall would be onmybicycle. After getting quartered in a hand against bernard-bb, onmybicycle got short before committing all in on a flop of [2c][5h][3s].  onmybicycle held [6d][Ad][Th][Qc] but was in a world of hurt when Antonio7 made the call with [4d][4s][As][6s] for the old nut-nut. The turn was the [ah] and river the [9d] which changed nothing, leaving onmybicycle to get on his bike and depart in fifth place for $17,680.

Four-handed play was relatively tight until the peace was broken by an enormous pot between bratpack1979 and Antonio7. After three-betting preflop, bratpack1979 raised all in on a flop of [5h][ac][th] holding [Ad][8s][2d][7s]. Antonio7 made the call with [Ah][6d][9s][3h]. The turn was the [qh] to give Antonio7 a flush and the river [7c] gave him a seven-low to scoop both sides of the pot. That left bratpack1979 to exit in fourth place for $23,120 in prize money.

Antonio7 was into the chip lead with Macau grinder raiden_kan on the short stack with three players remaining.

Antonio7 clipped bernard-bb with a full house, and then extended the lead even further with the elimination of raiden_kan.

After raising on the flop, raiden_kan was all in on the turn on a board of [8d][As][7d][8h]. Antonio7 made the call and showed [2d][8s][5d][Tc] for trips and a flush draw with a low, while raiden_kan tabled [7s][2c][Js][4s] for a better low. A brick would give raiden_kan half the pot, but the [4d] appeared which improved Antonio7 to a flush and a seven-low to scoop the pot. raiden_kan was out in third place for a $35,360 score.

Heads-up Chip Counts
Seat 4: bernard-bb (439,297 in chips)
Seat 6: Antonio7 (920,703 in chips)

Antonio7 would start with more than a two-to-one chip advantage, but while this tournament had flowed at a steady pace until this point, the heads-up battle would be a gruelling affair.

There was a trend of Antonio7 chipping ahead before bernard-bb would strike back with a big double up.

Antonio7 extended the advantage in the early stages before bernard-bb struck a nice double up with a wheel straight against two pair.  Again Antonio7 would climb back into a healthy lead but couldn't land the knockout blow with an open-ended straight draw as a flopped set for bernard-bb turned into quads for another double.

A key hand saw bernard-bb flop a set of jacks and extract full value from the two pair of Antonio7 before the final hand of the two-and-a-half hour heads-up battle was finally dealt.

Antonio7 raised from the button and bernard-bb called to see a monotone flop of [7d][td][ad]. bernard-bb check-called a bet and the turn brought the [8s]. Again the action was check, bet, call as the river [kc] completed the board. bernard-bb checked for a third time and Antonio7 didn't slow down, firing out another bet. This time bernard-bb responded with a check-raise all in and Antonio7 would make the call with [Js][6d][Qd][2c] for the second-nut flush and an 8-7-6 low. However bernard-bb tabled [3d][5s][Kd][4s] for the nut flush and a 8-7-4 low to win both sides of the pot and scoop the title!

It was a mighty heads-up battle but Antonio7 was a little unlucky in a cooler of a final hand to be eliminated in second place for $47,600. In the end it would be Finland's bernard-bb who captures the SCOOP title and $70,720 in prize money! Congratulations!

2016 SCOOP-42-H: 2,100 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max] - $100K Guaranteed
Entrants: 136
Prize Pool: $272,000
Places Paid: 18

1.  bernard-bb (Finland) $70,720.00
2.  Antonio7 (Canada) $47,600.00
3.  raiden_kan (Macao) $35,360.00
4.  bratpack1979 (Australia) $23,120.00
5.  onmybicycle (Netherlands) $17,680.00
6.  WATnlos (Germany) $12,240.00

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

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

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

It looked like a Brazilian was going to win the PSKO. xXOLIVATOXx was on pace to go wire-to-wire in Event #41-M, but ran out of gas three-handed. It came down to Canada's cmu92 vs. Peru's Diego 'Die Ventura' Ventura, otherwise known as the guy who is #1 all-time on Peru's money list and most known for his runner-up finish at the 2015 PCA Main Event. Back then, Ventura won his PCA seat through an online satellite in which he parlayed a few bucks into $907K. In SCOOP Event #41-M, Ventura parlayed $109 into his first SCOOP bracelet win, plus nearly $53K in prize money and bounties.

Although cmu92 held the heads-up edge, Ventura bogged down for a nearly hour-long bout. Ventura trailed for the majority of it, until he waited for the perfect time to launch a successful coup. Ventura seized the lead in a 52M pot and never looked back. Ventura sealed the deal and marched swiftly into the winner's circle, as Canada's cmu92 bid adieu in second place. Brazil would have to settle on bronze today, because the gold medal was awarded to Peru.

The medium version of SCOOP Event #41-M $109 NL Progressive Super-Knockout attracted 5,824 runners. They created a total prize pool worth $582,400. Half of it, $291,200, went toward the regular pool and the other half went toward the knockout-bounty pool. Only the top 765 places paid out with $45,554.81 set aside to the champion.

Only 152 players survived advanced to Day 2 of this two-day Super-KO bonanza. Tyler 'frosty012' Frost (291st) and Jason Mercier (302nd) both cashed, yet both busted late on Day 1 and failed to make the cut. The UK's manuverd0n ended Day 1 as the chip leader and bagged up 1.6M.

Early on Day 2 a small mob of Brazilians were making an obvious run at the final table and another SCOOP bracelet. With 56 to go, a gaggle of Brazilians were bearing down on the final table and Brazilians were 1-2-3 in chips with xXOLIVATOXx topping 2.4M, plus Pablos701 and robin01poker sitting on stacks worth 2.2M each. Random side samba note: at the time, Brazil's NesKau09 was 10th with 1.5M and Brian Rast, American exile playing under the Brazilian flag, was 20/56 with 1.1M.

With 41 to go, xXOLIVATOXx slipped to second with 3M, but four Brazilians occupied the top 7 (and Rast lurked in 19th). Brian Rast actually fizzled out in 35th place. He cashed for $626 and earned an additional $1,060 in bounties for a total score of $1,686. With 27 remaining on the final three tables, Brazil had 4 still in the hunt an 3 players in the top 5 with xXOLIVATOXx back in first with 5M and robin01poker closing in on 4M. But that's their high-water mark; a tsunami of disaster ensued. Huge tidal waves occurred with 23 to go...xXOLIVATOXx still held a firm lead but the other three the Brazilians were washed out to the back of the pack. And then the Braziliam massacre occurred. Pablos701 became the first to get liquidated in 23rd place, then robin01poker followed in 20th, before NesKau09 capped it off in 19th place. The whole time, the lone Brazilian remaining xXOLIVATOXx continued to outpace everyone and was even closing in on 9M.

With action hand-for-hand with 10 to go... short-stacked serggorelyi7 attempted to double up with [Ad][4c] but ran into PokerProffs9's [Ac][Jc]. Neither player improved on a board of [Kh][3h][2s][8d][Kc], and PokerProffs9 won the pot with a better Ace-Jack kicker. PokerProffs9 also banked a PSKO bounty worth $1,603.11. Russia's serggorelyi7 bubbled off the final table in tenth place. The final nine was set and a Brazilian was in the chip lead.

SCOOP-41-M - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: xXOLIVATOXx (20,520,376)
Seat 2: cmu92 (6,660,620)
Seat 3: Die Ventura (6,232,644)
Seat 4: PokerProffs9 (3,542,290)
Seat 5: OrFrAiRe (3,184,998)
Seat 6: bica999 (1,895,731)
Seat 7: manuverd0n (8,585,410)
Seat 8: IsoHoo123 (3,218,819)
Seat 9: 1337wannabe (4,399,112)

The final table commenced during the last minutes of Level 49 with blinds at 60K/120K and a 15K ante. xXOLIVATOXx was the biggie with 20.5M and bica999 was the short stack with 1.9M. xXOLIVATOXx was trying to win another one for the rabid Brazilians on the rail.

Diego "Die Ventura' Ventura from Peru was the runner up at the 2015 PCA Main Event and won $907K. Ventura final tabled the Sunday Million a couple of times. He's won over $2 million online and $1 million in live events.

This is the second SCOOP final for bica999, who final tabled Event #22-L.

I WANNA BE ADORNED: IsoHoo123 eliminated in 9th place

Nearly a half hour played out before we saw the first bustout. IsoHoo123 wanted to rumble and shoved with [Ac][4c] for 1,906,424, however, the big-stack xXOLIVATOXx woke up with pocket nines in the big blind. The board ran out [Qs][9c][2c][3s][Jd]. xXOLIVATOXx flopped a set of nines, which held up because IsoHoo123 never improved. Finland's IsoHoo123 became the first player to exit the final table. Ninth place paid out $2,329.60.

Big-stacked xXOLIVATOXx added another bounty to the collection and banked xXOLIVATOXx for busting IsoHoo123. Meanwhile, xXOLIVATOXx bounty increased to $4,912.14...which was the richest in the tournament.

SHE BANGS THE DRUMS: bica999 eliminated in 8th place

Super-shorty made a stand and bica999 open-shoved for 1,166,729. Two players accepted the challenge: 1337wannabe and xXOLIVATOXx. The flop was [Th][8c][6s]. 1337wannabe bet 960,000 and xXOLIVATOXx called. The [7d] fell on the turn. 1337wannabe checked-called a xXOLIVATOXx bet of 2,080,000. Both players checked the river when the [2h] fell. At showdown, 1337wannabe tabled [Js][Jc] to win the pot with pocket Jacks. Both opponents mucked their losing hands. Romania's bica999 was knocked out in eighth place, which paid out $3,640.00.

1337wannabe earned a bounty worth $957.45, meanwhile 1337wannabe's own bounty was raised to $2,636.33.

With seven to go, xXOLIVATOXx led with 23M and PokerProffs9 was the shorty with 2.5M.

MADE OF STONE: PokerProffs9 eliminated in 7th place

A couple of the shorties decided to throw down. cmu92 open-shoved for 2,261,008 and PokerProffs9 called all-in for 2,167,521, who was barely covered by cmu92. Coin flip. cmu92 raced with [2c][2s] against PokerProffs9's [Ah][Js]. The board ran out [Kd][8c][5c][6h][3h] and decues held up for cmu92. Sweden's PokerProffs9 was dunzo in seventh place, which paid out $6,552.00.

cmu92 banked a bounty worth $839.05, meanwhile, cmu92's own bounty ballooned to $3,669.60

With six to go, xXOLIVATOXx was still way ahead with 24M and manuverd0n was the new shortstack with 2.4M.

SUGAR SPUN SISTER: manuverd0n eliminated in 6th place

manuverd0n got crushed in a 13.4M pot after losing with [6d][6s] against Die Ventura's [Jd][Jh] on a crazy board of [Tc][9c][8d][9h][7s]. manuverd0 was left with 349,564 in chips and was all-in on the next hand, losing with [Ah][8d] against Die Ventura's [Kc][Qd]. Die Ventura finished off the Brit after flopping a pair of Kings on a board of [Kh][Jh][8s][2c][6c]. manuverd0n's pair of eights were no good and busted in sixth place, which paid out $9,464.00.

Die Ventura banked a bounty worth $2002.48 but his own bounty jumped to $4,102.24

With five to go, xXOLIVATOXx slipped to 21M, but was still in first. Die Ventura surged to second with 16.6M, followed by 1337wannabe (9M), cmu92 (6.1M), and OrFrAiRe (5.2M). For the first time in hours, xXOLIVATOXx had legit competition for the chip lead.

WATERFALL: 1337wannabe eliminated in 5th place

Shorty 1337wannabe clashed with xXOLIVATOXx a couple of times and even doubled up but this time, the big stack would prevail. 1337wannabe bombed it all-in for 3,446,838 with [As][2d], but xXOLIVATOXx snap-called with [Ah][Jd]. The board ran out [9h][5s][4c][Kd][4h]. 1337wannabe whiffed on a Wheel draw. Neither player improved. xXOLIVATOXx won the pot with a better kicker Ace-Jack. For a fifth-place finish, 1337wannabe earned $12,376.00.

xXOLIVATOXx won yet another bounty and banked $1,318.17, whereas the price on xXOLIVATOXx's head just went up to $6,230.30.

With four left in the hunt for the bracelet, xXOLIVATOXx led with 30M, Die Ventura was second with 17.3M, OrFrAiRe was third with 4.9M, and xXOLIVATOXx was last with 3M.

BYE BYE BADMAN: OrFrAiRe eliminated in 4th place

This bustout waited until the flop before everything went crazy. xXOLIVATOXx opened to 480,000 and OrFrAiRe called from the big blind. The flop was [Kd][7s][5d]... OrFrAiRe checked, xXOLIVATOXx fired out 480,000, OrFrAiRe check-raised all-in for 4,061,000 and isxXOLIVATOXx called.

OrFrAiRe: [Qs][7d]
xXOLIVATOXx: [9c][7h]

The turn was the [9d] and xXOLIVATOXx turned two pair. The river was the [Js], which did not help OrFrAiRe stave off an elimination. OrFrAiRe went busto in fourth place, which paid out $16,452.80.

Guess who won another bounty? xXOLIVATOXx added $918.44 to his already growing list of knockout trophies. Also, xXOLIVATOXx's own bounty jumped to $7,148.74.

With three to go, xXOLIVATOXx sat atop a stack worth 34.5M and Die Ventura was second with 16.1M. cmu92 was the shorty by default with 7.6M.

SHOOT YOU DOWN: xXOLIVATOXx eliminated in 3rd place

xXOLIVATOXx seemed destined to win this event. Alas, xXOLIVATOXx ran out of gas when it got three-handed. xXOLIVATOXx lost a 10M pot in a coinflip with [Ah][Qc] against Die Ventura's [Jh][Jc]. Atthat point, xXOLIVATOXx coughed up the lead and would never hold it again. The other two stacks chipped away at the rest of what was left of xXOLIVATOXx, but cmu92 slowly gained power. xXOLIVATOXx and cmu92 threw down in a 31M pot and cmu92 prevailed with [Qh][Qc] against xXOLIVATOXx's [7h][7d]. xXOLIVATOXx was cripped, and busted not much longer.

On the final hand... xXOLIVATOXx got it all-in for 2,289,900 with [As][6d] and cmu92 called from the big blind with [3c][2h]. Alas, a trey on the turn sealed the deal for xXOLIVATOXx when the board ran out [Qs][9s][8h][3h][9d]. cmu92 won the pot with two pair and xXOLIVATOXx busted out in third place, which paid out $24,024.00.

cmu92 banked a juicy bounty worth $3,574.37 for picking off xXOLIVATOXx. cmuu92's own bounty was bumped up to $7,243.97.

HEADS-UP: cmu92 (Canada) vs. Die Ventura (Peru)
Seat 2: cmu92 (36,955,398)
Seat 3: Die Ventura (21,284,602)

With two to go, cmu92 had seized the lead. Could Diego Ventura pull off the win? Or would Canada bring home the bacon...and the bracelet?

Die Ventura trailed for the majority of heads up until he waited for the proper spot to strike. Die Ventura trailed 32M to 26M when he won a 52M pot with a flush over flush scenario to seize the lead in tremendous fashion. There was 17.5M in the pot. The board read [Ac][Kc][Jh][Qc][5d]. Die Ventura led out for 7,020,000 cmu92 bombed it all-in for 23,363,596 and Die Ventura called all-in for 10,306,404. cmu92 lost with [9c][4c] against Die Ventura's [Jc][6c]. Die Ventura led 52.2M to 6M. It would be all over in 25 hands.

THIS IS THE ONE: cmu92 eliminated in 2nd place; Die Ventura wins the SCOOP bracelet!

Going into the final hand, cmu92 held almost exactly 8M versus 50.2M. They didn't bother waiting and just rumbled preflop. Die Ventura limped for 300,000, cmu92 shoved for 7,932,884 with [Ah][2c] and Die Ventura called with [Ac][9d]. The board ran out [Kh][8c][4s][Kd][Kc]. Neither player improved but Die Ventura won the pot with a better kicker. Die Ventura also earned a bounty worth $3,621.99 for picking off cmu92.

For a runner-up finish, cmu92 pulled off a payday worth $33,924.80.

Congrats to Peru's Diego 'Die Ventura' Ventura for winning Event #44-M. First place paid out $45,554.81 plus an additional $7,724.22 in bounties. Ventura also won a cool Movado champion's watch to commemorate his victory.

SCOOP-41-M ($109 NL Hold'em, Progressive Super-Knockout) results
Entrants: 5,824
Total prize pool: $582,400 (Regular pool: $291,200; Bounty pool: $291,200)
Places paid: 765

1. Diego 'Die Ventura' Ventura (Peru) $45,554.81 + $7,724.22 bounties
2. cmu92 (Canada) $33,924.80 + $7,243.97 bounties
3. xXOLIVATOXx (Brazil) $24,024.00 + $7,148,74 bounties
4. OrFrAiRe (Poland) $16,452.80+ $1,836,88 bounties
5. 1337wannabe (Russia) $12,376.00 + $2,636.33 bounties
6. manuverd0n (U.K.) $9,464.00 + $4,004.95 bounties
7. PokerProffs9 (Sweden) $6,552.00 + $1,678.10 bounties
8. bica999 (Romania) $3,640.00 + $1,914.90 bounties
9. IsoHoo123 (Finland) $2,329.60 + $1,308.47 bounties

Visit the SCOOP homepage for a complete schedule of remaining events. Plus. find out who is in contention for Player of the Series.

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

It took just five hours of play for us to take our 28 Day 3 players and turn them into a final table of eight. It's almost as if those players who busted wanted to go outside and enjoy the beautiful city of Bucharest or something weird like that.

This was Day 3 - the business end of the main event. The money was getting bigger, and players were dropping like flies. The thing is, play went so fast that instead of stopping play when we reached eight, the decision was made to play to six players instead.

That only took another hour.

It's Bulgaria's Yasen Dichev who started and ended Day 3 as chip leader, finishing with 3.9 million. He grinded solidly and was never lower than third in chips. The only player who really competed with him chip-wise was the same guy who finished second in chips to him last night: Israel's Moshe Eliyahu. He'd finish third tonight though with 2.69 million.

It was Jozsef Liszkovics who did the dirty work - eliminating two players on the final table to come back tomorrow second in chips with 2.75 million. The two players who reached the final table and yet won't be returning tomorrow are PokerStars qualifier Razvan Bordei (seventh for € 16,910) and Florin Ionut Pandilica (eighth for €11,630).

Joining Dichev, Eliyahu, and Liszkovics tomorrow will be Razvan Belea - who surged in chips when he eliminated two players in one hand (scroll down to 2:50pm to read that one); Israel's Avishai Shitrit; and one of only four females who entered this event - popular local player Carmen Zainescu.

Find out more about our final table players here.

Of course, before those guys there were 20 other eliminations. Toni Judet, who is sixth on Romania's all-time money list, would eventually bust in 12th adding €6,290 to his career earnings. Before him though, we lost the Netherlands' Tobias Peters (17th - €4,940), Romania's Alexandru Boicea (16th - €4,940), and Ireland's Gary Clarke (25th - €3,310) to name just a few.

Simply scroll down to read all of today's action as it happened. Once you feel you've caught up, you can take a look at all the prize pool and payouts here, and if you need a reminder of what I've literally just told you, you can view the final table chip counts here.

The magnificent six come back at 2pm tomorrow to play down to a champion. Find out will be crowned king (or queen) of Eureka6 Bucharest.

7:15pm: We're done
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (5,000 ante)

Play is over and players have bagged their chips. We'll be right back with a quick recap, plus the chip counts for tomorrow.

7:05pm: Razvan Bordei is our 7th place finisher (€16,910)
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (5,000 ante)

That's it! Play is over for the day as we're now down to six players.

When Jozsef Liszkovics min-opened from under the gun, Razvan Bordei moved all-in from his immediate left for 600,000. It folded back to Liszkovics, and he called to try and eliminate his second player from this final table.

He had the [as][qs], ahead of Bordei's [qc][kc]. Both paired their Queen on the [qd][7h][3d] flop, but the [2c] turn and [9c] river couldn't save Bordei.

6:47pm: Pandilica gone in 8th for €11,630
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (5,000 ante)

Chip leader Yasen Dichev made it 85,000 to go and Jozsef Liszkovics called from the hijack. It folded around to Florin Ionut Pandilica on the button and he jammed for his last 400,000 which only Liszkovics would call.

Liszkovics: [8h][8s]
Pandilica: [ah][kd]

They were racing, but Liszkovics ran faster and straight into a set on the [9c][6c][8d] flop. The [5s] turn brought some chopportunities, but the [6h] filled up the set and Pandilica was gone.

6:36pm: Back in business
Level 25 - Blinds 20,000/40,000 (5,000 ante)

We've had what will likely be the last level of the day. Two more eliminations before we stop for the day.

6:15pm: Break time

Players are taking a 20-minute break.

6:14pm: And Pandilica doubles too!
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

Our two short stacks have both now doubled up, so a quick end to the day now seems unlikely! He moved all-in over Jozsef Liszkovics' open for 211,000 with the [ks][9d] and was called by the [ah][4c]. The board came [5d][kd][6h][js][qd] and he's up to 445,000 now.

5:53pm: Zainescu doubles through Liszkovics
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

Well, that's one of our short stacks doubled up already. Yasen Dichev made it 60,000 only for Jozsef Liszkovics to three-bet to 14,000. It folded to Carmen Zainescu on the big blind and she moved all-in for 212,000. Dichev folded, but Liszkovics called.

Zainescu had the [js][jh] against the [as][9c], and the board ran out [9d][qh][4d][5h][jd]. She's up to around 500,000 now.

5:45pm: Off we go!
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

After a 15 minute break play has restarted.

5:30pm: Final table chip counts/seat draw
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

And here's how the final eight are seated:

1. Moshe Eliyahu
2. Avishai Shitrit
3. Razvan Costinel Belea
4. Yasen Dichev
5. Jozsef Liszkovics
6. Razvan Bordei
7. Florin Ionut Pandilica
8. Carmen Zainescu

5:17pm: Official final table redraw
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

We're down to eight and that means the official final table!

We'll be playing down to six today.

5:12pm: Florian Rosa departs in 9th for €9,150
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

On a [kh][qs][4c] flop, Florian Rosa checked it to his good buddy Jozsef Liszkovics (the two have been joking and buying each other drinks) who bet 130,000. Rosa then check-raised all-in for around 400,000 and was snap-called.

Rosa: [ks][qd]
Liszkovics: [qh][qc]

It was dire straits for Rosa and terrible luck; the cooler didn't heat up for him on the [8h] turn or [4h] river and he was out. Rosa and Liszkovics gave each other a friendly hug before Rosa went to collect his winnings.

4:59pm: Unofficial final table seat draw
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

1. Moshe Eliyahu - 3,100,000
2. Avishai Shitrit - 1,850,000
3. Razvan Costinel Belea - 2,400,000
4. Yasen Dichev - 3,240,000
5. Florian Rosa - 800,000
6. Jozsef Liszkovics - 1,400,000
7. Razvan Bordei - 700,000
8. Florin Ionut Pandilica - 250,000
9. Carmen Zainescu - 210,000

4:55pm: Bostan busted in 10th (€7,530)
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

Just as my colleague Jan Kores informed me that the plan was now to play down to six players, we had another elimination.

Traian Bostan was short and moved all-in for 260,000. It folded to trouble - sorry, I mean Razvan Belea in the big blind and he called with the [ad][td], ahead of Bostan's [ah][2d]. The [4c][3c][4h][7c][4s] board brought no help and Belea's kicker played. He's up to 2.3 million, while Bostan collects €7,530.

We're now paused while they draw for one table seats.

4:42pm: Valentin Cristea says goodbye in 11th (€7,530)
Level 24 - Blinds 15,000/30,000 (4,000 ante)

When you're short stacked, it's folded to you, and you look down at the [qs][js] on the button, that's a very pretty hand. You feel good about moving all-in with it, until you get snap called by the big blind of course.

Valentin Cristea was the player doing the shoving for 291,000, and Yasen Dichev called with the [ad][kh]. The board ran out [jh][2h][8d][5c][as] and Cristea was felted in 11th for €7,530. Meanwhile Dichev is up to 2.95 million.

4:28pm: Toni Judet out in 12th (€6,290)
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante)

He was easily the most accomplished player left in the field in terms of live poker winnings, but Toni Judet won't be able to add a Eureka6 Bucharest title to his resume.

He opened to 51,000 from the cut-off and was three-bet to 155,000 by Avishai Shitrit from the big blind. Judet counted out his chips, and when he saw he had around 350,000 he moved all-in and was called.

Judet: [ah][qs]
Shitrit: [qd][qh]

The Romanian no.6 money winner needed an Ace or running cards to survive, but it ran out [9c][kd][3s][8s][4c] and he hit the rail. GG Judet!

4:15pm: Cosmin Petcu eliminated in 13th (€6,290)
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante)

We're four eliminations from ending play today, as Cosmin Petcu has just been felted. He moved all-in for 220,000 with the [as][9d] and was called by Jozsef Liszkovics in the big blind with the [ks][8s]. The board ran out [9s][4c][jc][kh][4s], and the King on the turn was the nail in Petcu's coffin. He picked up €6,290 for 13th.

Liszkovics has 1.5 million now.

4:05pm: Nice call from Dichev
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante)

Avishai Shitrit opened from utg+1 and it folded around to start of day 3 chip leader Yasen Dichev. He came along to see the [2h][4c][2d] flop fall. After he checked, Shitrit continued for 80,000 and Dichev called again.

The turn was the [7c] and the action was the same. Check, bet (this time 130,000), call.

The [ks] arrived on the river and after checking a final time Dichev called a 200,000 bet, turning over just the [ac][3s] for Ace-high.

It was good. Shitrit had only the [jh][9s] and dropped to 700,000, while Dichev moves up to 2.74 million.

3:50pm: Don't bluff him guys
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante)

The board showed the [2c][kh][7d][8h] when chip leader Moshe Eliyahu checked to Razvan Bordei. There was a decent-sized pot in the middle already, and Bordei took a stab at it worth 120,000.

Eliyahu counted out the chips but took a moment of thought before calling. Bordei turned over the [as][4s] for Ace-high, and Eliyahu showed his [7c][th] for a pair of sevens. 

"Don't bluff me guys!," he said. "I never fold!"

3:40pm: Eliyahu's lucky birthday
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante)

Israel's Moshe Eliyahu is our chip leader right now, set to make the final table of eight tomorrow barring some unforeseen incident.

PokerStars Blog photographer Tomas Stacha found out something interesting about the leading man. Last year, Eliyahu took down a tournament in Prague on May 22nd. That was also his birthday.

Well, what do you know? Tomorrow is also May 22nd, and if Eliyahu wins Eureka6 Bucharest it'll be his second tournament win on consecutive birthdays, and by far his biggest score to date.

3:35pm: Final 14 chip counts
Level 23 - Blinds 12,000/24,000 (3,000 ante)

3:24pm: Break time

Players have gone on a 15 minute break.

3:20pm: Down to two tables
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000 ante)

The bust-outs are coming thick and fast! The latest players to fall are:

15. Yordan Yordanov Mitrentsov - €5,500
16. Alexandru Boicea - €4,940
17. Peters Tobias - €4,940

Here's how the last 14 players are seated:

Table 1:

1. Toni Judet
2. Yasen Dichev
3. Razvan Belea
4. Avishai Shitrit
5. Ionut Stoichita
6. Traian Bostan
7. empty
8. Valentin Cristea

Table 2:

1. Carmen Zainescu
2. Empty
3. Moshe Eliyahu
4. Florin Ionut Pandilica
5. Razvan Bordei
6. Cosmin Ionut Petcu.
7. Florian Rosa
8. Jozsef Liszkovics

3:05pm: More for Moshe!
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000 ante)

Moshe Eliyahu was second in chips coming in to today, but he might very well have just taken the chip lead.

On a board of [4c][7c][9s][2h][8c], Alexandru Boicea moved all-in and Eliyahu made the call with his [7h][7s]. "Vamos!" he shouted when he saw his set was ahead of Boicea's [kd][kh].

2:50pm: Here comes trouble! Belea enjoys double knockout
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000 ante)

I've just been informed that the name Belea in Romanian means 'trouble'. Well, here comes trouble as Razvan Belea has just eliminated two players in one hand and more than doubled his stack.

He opened to 44,000 from under the gun and got a call from Mihai Ciorteanu on the button. Adrian Popa then moved all-in for his last five big blinds - 111,000 in total - and Belea then re-raised to 200,000. 

The action was back on Ciorteanu and he took his time. After a couple of minutes he announced he was all-in, and that got a snap-call from Belea.

Belea: [kd][ks]
Ciorteanu: [as][qc]
Popa: [8c][8h]

The flop was absolute gin for Belea. It came the [9d][kc][9h]. "Nice...NICE!" he said, when full realisation kicked in. The turn and river came the [2s] and [6d] and he took Popa's chips and Ciorteanu's 796,000 stack too.

Belea's up to around 1.75 million now.

2:35pm: Staring contest
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000 ante)

Peters Tobias and Avishai Shitrit are sat right next to each other and are developing a bit of a rivalry. I've caught them playing quite a few pots heads-up, staring at one another non-stop from close range. Here's the latest.

It folded to Tobias in the small blind and he made it 55,000 to play, which Shitrit called. They saw a [kh][td][3h] flop and Peters, after some staring of course, continued for 57,000. Shitrit stared right back, and with their eyes locked and he re-raised to 150,000. That was too much for Peters and he gave it up.

Peters has 500,000, while Shitrit is up to 910,000.

2:25pm: Big double up for Ciorteanu
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000 ante)

Razvan Belea kicked this one off with an under-the-gun-plus-one open to 44,000. Moshe Eliyahu came along to his left, and it folded around to Mihai Ciorteanu in the small blind. He then jammed for 391,000, and Belea had a decision on his hands. He tanked for about two minutes before eventually decided to re-shove himself.

His isolation play worked as Eliyahu gave his hand up, and the cards were flipped. 

Ciorteanu: [AS][TD]
Belea: [9d][9s]

Ciorteanu would need to hit to survive, and it looked bleak on the [6h][3s][8d] flop. Things soon brightened up for him though when the [ad] hit the turn. The [qc] completed the board and sent around 800,000 in chips Ciorteanu's way.

2:25pm: Can someone call 999 for Catalin Moraru?
Level 22 - Blinds 10,000/20,000 (3,000 ante)

Romania's Catalin Moraru is our latest player to make his exit. He got his chips all-in pre-flop with the [ah][jh] against Yordan Mitrentsov's pocket nines, but a nine on the flop and no help on the turn or river sent the local home in 20th.

2:14pm: A big blind special busts Ionescu's Aces
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

In a blind v blind pot, Adrian Nicolae Ionescu and Alexandru Boicea saw a [qh][4h][4s] flop fall. One thing led to another (OK - I arrived a little late to the party) and all of Ionescu's chips were in the middle.

He turned over the [ad][as] for pocket rockets, but they were no good against Boicea's big blind special - the [8c][4c]. The turn was the [8s] and the river the [qs], and Boicea's full house busted our 21st place finisher. 

Ionescu takes home €3,820. All 20 remaining players are now guaranteed a min-payout of €4,380.

2:09pm: Bostan doubles through Judet
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Traian Bostan just moved all-in for 128,000 over Toni Judet's open, and the former professional billiards play made the call. He had Queen-Jack which trailed Bostan's Ace-Jack, and the board ran out pure for the at-risk player. With Ace-high he took down the pot and doubled up.

2:04pm: Two more gone
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Despite having just survived that sweat below, Mihai Manole didn't manage to survive much longer. He's been eliminated in 24th, while Ionut Dragos Munteanu is out in 23rd.

1:58pm: A hearty chop
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

There was a pretty sick sweat for Mihai Manole just now. It folded to him in the small blind and he moved all-in with [ad][2c], only to be called by Adrian Nicolae Ionescu in the big blind with the [ah][2h].

It looked destined to be a chop, until we saw the flop: [kh][qd][5h]. Any heart would eliminate Manole, but it came the [kd] and [qs] and they did indeed split it. 

1:48pm: Turning straight down fourth street pays off for Rosa
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Florin Ionut Pandilica min-opened to 32,000 and got two callers: Florian Rosa in the cut-off, and Moshe Eliyahu from the big blind. The trio saw a [kd][ts][6c] flop land, which they'd all check.

That took us to the [ah] turn, and Eliyahu led for 44,000. Both players called and we went to the river.

It came the [8d] and it checked to Rosa. He put out a bet of 60,000, and got called by both Eliyahu and Pandilica. We'd never see their cards though; Rosa turned over the [qd][jc] for the nuts and raked in the chips.

1:38pm: Meet Romania's 6th all-time money winner
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Antoanell 'Toni' Judet is well known around these parts; he sits at number six on Romania's all-time money list with $879,000 in live earnings. His biggest cashes came back in 2008 when he won a €2,000 side event at the EPT4 Grand Final for €156,500, followed by a very deep run in the WSOP main event, finishing 22nd for $257,334.

Judet is still in the running for his first Eureka Poker Tour title here today.

1:33pm: What else is going down?
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

While we're waiting for the main event to kick back off, here's what else is going on today.

The Day 1B flight of the €330 Bucharest Cup begins at 2pm, and the €2,000 high roller plays down to a winner today. At 8pm tonight there's a Eureka NL Holdem Knockout (€100 per knockout) tournament which costs €330 to enter, too.

1:26pm: Redraw time
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

The clock is paused while we redraw for three tables.

1:24pm: Four down already!
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Players haven't been shy about getting their chips in the middle so far today. We've already had four eliminations!

The first to go was Vali Anghel in 28th. He came into the day with just six big blinds, and he got it in good with his [ac][tc] against his opponent's [as][7s]. But there were three spades on the board by the river, and that sent him to collect his €2,860.

Then Alin Petrisor Pandilica was busted. He got his chips in with the [jh][kh] against Mihai Ciorteanu's [ah][5h], and the board ran out [2c][2h][8h][4h][9c] to give Ciorteanu a flush. Pandilica collected €3,310 for 27th.

Out of nowhere Adam Milewski was also eliminated in 26th for €3,310, followed by Ireland's Gary Clarke in 25th for the same amount.

1:10pm: Yahoo for Eliyahu
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Nice to get off to a good start, eh? Moshe Eliyahu came into the day as the second biggest stack, and he's already managed to add a little more to his arsenal.

Yordan Yordanov Mitrentsov opened to 37,000 on the button and Eliyahu came along from the small blind. The two saw a [4d][kd][2h] flop land, which they'd both check, just as they would on the [jd] turn. When the [8d] river came, though, Elyahu checked and Mitrentsov took a stab worth 46,000. Eliyahu picked it off with his [kh][9h], while Mitrentsov could just show a Jack as he mucked.

1pm: Cards in the air
Level 21 - Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

The 28 players are now seated, spread seven-handed over four tables. Shuffle up and deal.

11:45am: Welcome to Day 3 - the business end of Eureka6 Bucharest

When the money gets big, the bust-outs get brutal. It's Day 3 here in beautiful Bucharest, and just 28 of the 579 players who entered this event remain.

Today we'll be playing down to final table of eight, and everyone has their heart set on the €107,350 first-place prize. Right now they're all guaranteed a €2,860 payday, but after just one elimination that'll increase to €3,310.

The player out in front at the beginning of play today is Bulgaria's Yasen Dichev, who stormed ahead of the pack yesterday afternoon and held the chip lead for the last few levels. He comes into today with 2.047 million.

Close behind him are Israel's Moshe Eliyahu with 1.636 million, and Romania's Razvan Costinel Belea (915,000), Jozsef Liszkovics (912,00), and Antoanell 'Toni' Judet (906,000).

Play starts at 1pm with the blinds at 8,000/16,000 and a 2,000 ante. See you shortly as we tackle the business end.

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

Some players seem to do better in certain kinds of tournament structures than others, but if SCOOP final table appearances are anything to go by, SP3WMONKEY isn't one of them. The player from the Netherlands last appeared at a SCOOP final table playing Zoom Poker back in 2013. Returning today for a Special Edition of the Thursday Thrill, SP3WMONKEY played a dozen 30-minute levels of poker before emerging with a first career COOP title.

1,559 players turned out for this Progressive Super-Knockout no-limit hold'em tournament, building a $1,559,000 prize pool split down the middle between cash for the top 180 finishers and bounties for everyone who knocked someone else out. After 19 levels of play they called it quits for the night.

The Day 2 restart came around at 1:00pm ET and the 181 players who survived Day 1 all waited to see who would be the unlucky player who waited overnight to bust on the bubble. Ansimans from the Netherlands took that dubious honor, and everybody else left in the tournament collected a minimum of $1,013.35, plus any bounties they'd claimed along the way.

The long march to the final table was on, and it was a long one indeed. It took just over 10 hours to take the field down to nine players:

Seat 1: OMGACEACEACE (1,142,379 in chips)
Seat 2: gusmaa (2,201,953 in chips)
Seat 3: Divved (2,351,695 in chips)
Seat 4: Olorionek (307,064 in chips)
Seat 5: MkMyWishFish (2,508,772 in chips)
Seat 6: mican_ludi (2,779,567 in chips)
Seat 7: Vladimir "vovtroy" Troyanovskiy (817,283 in chips)
Seat 8: SP3WMONKEY (2,957,838 in chips)
Seat 9: benatias (523,449 in chips)

The first player to go was Israel's benatias. After losing a pot with [Qd] [Qc] to Olorionek's [Ks] [Kh] to keep the WCOOP 2011 Triple Shootout winner in the game, benatias was left with about 11 big blinds. After paying another round of blinds and seeing them coming back around, benatias opened all-in under the gun with [As] [Jh]. gusmaa called with [Kh] [Qd], caught top pair on the flop, and dodged a gutshot draw on the [Ks] [6d] [Td] [9d] [Jc] board to win the 465K-chip pot. After finishing 9th in last week's SCOOP 2016 Super Tuesday Special Edition, benatias also exited this event in 9th place ($8,106.80 + $6,035.15 in bounties).

Nearly an hour and a half would pass before the next knockout, no big surprise given that four stacks were working with 100 big blinds and not even the shorties had less than 20. MkMyWishFish survived in that stretch with [Ts] [Tc] against SP3WMONKEY's [7c] [7h] after both players hit sets, doubling to 3.48M, and Olorionek did the same with [Ac] [Kd] against Divved's [Ah] [Jh] for 994K.

Aside from those situations, nobody had to put their stack on the line again until 12:52am ET, when Olorionek made the fourth bet before the flop all-in for 383K, holding [9h] [9s]. That was a big favorite against the [7d] [7s] of three-better-turned-caller Divved, but then Divved made quads on the [7c] [7h] [8d] flop. The [8h] turn and [Qd] river didn't make runner-runner quads for Olorionek, and the Polish player was gone in 8th place ($14,810.50 + $6,921.86 in bounties).

After all that waiting for a knockout, the next one took just one more hand to arrive. Vladimir "vovtroy" Troyanovskiy, making his fifth SCOOP 2016 final table after a win back in SCOOP 2014, was in the big blind for 36K and called MkMyWishFish's button min-raise with [Jd] [9h] to see a [Qs] [8d] [3h] flop. He check-called a bet there, both players checked turn [Kd] turn, and then vovtroy made a straight with the [Td] river. He bet and called all-in when MkMyWishFish raised, but the Israeli player had made a flush on the same card with [Qd] [2d]. WIth that, vovtroy left in 7th place ($22,605.50 + $8,097,65 in bounties).

Following the five-minute break, only two more minutes would pass before gusmaa hit the rail. The Brazilian player, a finalist during SCOOP 2015, WCOOP 2013, and WCOOP 2015, had [9c] [9s] in the big blind and moved all-in for 1.18M over the top of mican_ludi's 78K-chip opening raise. The Serbian player called with [Ah] [Qc] and turned a Broadway straight on the [Kh] [8h] [Jd] [Ts] [Qh] board, and gusmaa was out in 6th place ($30,400.50 + $16,738.25 in bounties).

Five ways to Saturday

Those three quick knockouts left just five players in the hunt:

Seat 1: OMGACEACEACE (2,176,704 in chips)
Seat 3: Divved (2,505,827 in chips)
Seat 5: MkMyWishFish (4,917,938 in chips)
Seat 6: mican_ludi (4,921,323 in chips)
Seat 8: SP3WMONKEY (1,068,208 in chips)

The 18K/36K/4.5K blinds and antes meant nobody was under real pressure, and everybody got their chance to shine. Accordingly, it would be almost another hour and a half before another player hit the rail.

mican_ludi set the tone early and jumped into a big lead after playing a 148-big-blind pot against MkMyWishFish. The Israeli player, a Super Tuesday finalist in 2013, originally flat-called on the button after Divved raised to 77K in the cutoff, but MkMyWishFish ended up being the only caller of a small blind re-raise to 318K from mican_ludi. The action went bet-raise-call for 539K on the [Ad] [4d] [8h] flop before both players checked the [5s] turn. mican_ludi check-called a nearly pot-sized bet of 1.75M from MkMyWishFish on the [3d] river and showed down [9d] [6d] for the diamond flush - plenty good enough to beat MkMyWishFish's bluff with [Ts] [9s].

MkMyWishFish got it back half an hour later, surviving all-in with [Qc] [Tc] agaisnt mican_ludi's [Ah] [7h] to get back to 4.54M. But over the hour that followed, seemingly every big pot the Israeli played took part in ended up in the opponent's stack. MkMyWishFish would finally reach the end of the line at 2:27am ET after opening under the gun with [Ks] [Jc] and catching middle pair. Playing it safe out of position to mican_ludi, MkMyWishFish eneded up falling behind when the [5c] turn made a set for mican_ludi. The rest of the chips went in, the [8h] river changed nothing, and MkMyWishFish departed in 5th place ($38,195.50 + $17,810.52 in bounties).

At only 47 minutes, the wait for the next knockout was relatively short by this table's standard. The pots were distributed around the table, but mican_ludi continued to find a way to win the big ones. Taking the initiative and rivering two pair with [8s] [4h] for a 3.2M-chip win against Divved helped the Serbian player get out in front of the field again. Losses to Divved and previous SCOOP Zoom PLO finalist SP3WMONKEY kept both of those players alive, though still short-stacked compared to the leader, but SP3WMONKEY found a way back into contention soon afterward.

Under the gun with [Ad] [5d], SP3WMONKEY opened for 132K. past Super Tuesday runner-up and WCOOP finalist OMGACEACEACE re-raised to 330K on the button, then called after SP3WMONKEY made it four bets and 720K to go. Both players had ample reason to get their chips in on the [5s] [2c] [5c] flop, putting SP3WMONKEY at risk with three of a kind. The flush draw didn't come home for OMGACEACEACE after the [3h] turn and [7d] river, giving SP3WMONKEY the 5.3M-chip pot.

Left with seven big blinds, OMGACEACEACE defended the big blind an orbit later with [Jd] [7c] against a mican_ludi button raise and caught top pair on the [4c] [5s] [Jc] flop. The chips went in there, but mican_ludi walked away the winner with top pair after the [Ad] turn and [Qh] river, and OMGACEACEACE left in 4th place ($53,006 + $6,234.37 in bounties).

More than four hours of final table play were already in the books and with blinds and antes at 30K/60K/7.5K, three players still remained. mican_ludi led the way with 8.06M, with SP3WMONKEY (5.41M) and Divved (2.11M) trailing. With so much room to play, it took two players holding pocket pairs to force the action on the final hand before the break leading up to 4am ET. Divved had [4h] [4s] on the button, mican_ludi [Tc] [Th] in the small blind, and all Divved's chips went in as the fourth bet before the flop. mican_ludi called, the tens held up on the [Kd] [9c] [As] [Js] [Jc] board, and Divved exited in 3rd place ($71,714 + $6,554.68 in bounties).

Two more players, one more hour

Heads-up play began with mican_ludi holding 112 big blinds and SP3WMONKEY 82, portending a long match - even more so when they didn't want to talk about making a deal. SP3WMONKEY said the bounty on mican_ludi was enough extra to play for - and at more than $48,000 total, the half the SP3WMONKEY would claim for a knockout would be worth more than a 7th-place finish had been.

SP3WMONKEY turned up the heat early, winning the first nine pots, including one worth 2.94M after flopping bottom two pair on the button with [Th] [7s]. mican_ludi struck back six hands later with a pot that brought the two players' stacks within two big blinds of each other, and that settled them into a rhythm where there was action on most hands but the pots didn't get out of control.

A stretch where mican_ludi only took down four out of 27 pots, including four losses between 1.94 and 2.49M, turned things in SP3WMONKEY's favor, and the Dutch player used the advantage to apply maximum pressure. Down to 17 big blinds, mican_ludi was able to double up with [Kd] [4d] against SP3WMONKEY's [Ah] [Th] and eventually climb back as high as 5.4M, but the deficit would prove too much to overcome. The Serbian player finally moved all-in with [Kc] [8c] at 5:09am ET, and SP3WMONKEY called with [Ac] [8d]. The [9s] 5c] [5d] [6d] [Jh] changed nothing, and a marathon final table finally came to its conclusion.

mican_ludi's knockout-strewn path to the runner-up position left the Serbian player with a $95,099 cash from the regular prize pool and another $48,602.46 in bounties. SP3WMONKEY, meanwhile, earned $130,215.58 for first place plus another $31,228.96 in bounties - about three-quarters of which came just for besting mican_ludi heads-up. At six hours and one minute, the final table accounted for three out of every eight minutes played on Day 2 of this tournament. It was a true endurance test and both players earned every dollar of their prizes.

SCOOP-41-H ($1,050 NL Hold'em, Progressive Super KO, Thursday Thrill SE) results
Entrants: 1,559
Total prize pool: $1,559,000 ($779,500 regular prize pool, $779,500 bounty prize pool)
Places paid: 180

1. SP3WMONKEY (Netherlands) $130,215.58 + $31,228.96 in bounties
2. mican_ludi (Serbia) $95,099 + $48,602.46 in bounties
3. Divved (Poland) $71,714 + $6,554.68 in bounties
4. OMGACEACEACE (Poland) $53,006 + $6,234.37 in bounties
5. MkMyWishFish (Israel) $38,195.50 + $17,810.52 in bounties
6. gusmaa (Brazil) $30,400.50 + $16,738.25 in bounties
7. Vladimir "vovtroy" Troyanovskiy (Russia) $22,605.50 + $8,097,65 in bounties
8. Olorionek (Poland) $14,810.50 + $6,921.86 in bounties
9. benatias (Israel) $8,106.80 + $6,035.15 in bounties

Meet your final eight in the Eureka6 Bucharest main event:

Seat 1: Moshe Eliyahu, 27, Nahariya, Israel

Moshe Eliyahu had only $13k in reported live cashes prior to entering Eureka6 Bucharest. He's now guaranteed to double that; making the final table here already secures him a €11,630 payday. This is not Eliyahu's first visit to the Romanian capital; last August, he arrived to Bucharest for the Israeli Poker Tour and picked up three cashes during the festival, including his best result until today: €8,910 for a sixth place finish in the €550 Main Event. Eliyahu has been wearing a green shirt of his favourite football club Maccabi Haifa during the Eureka Bucharest Main Event. He can become the third Eureka champion from Israel should he follow in the footsteps of his compatriots Idan Greenberg (Eureka1 Bulgaria winner) and Liran Machluf (Eureka3 Bulgaria champ).

Seat 2: Avishai Shitrit, 30, Beersheva, Israel

Another Israeli player on the final table is Avishai Shitrit from Beersheva, who's sitting right next to his fellow countryman Moshe Eliyahu. Shitrit is a poker pro who started playing six years ago. He's focusing on both tournaments and cash games. The 30-year-old splits his time at the tables between live and online, and making the final table here is the biggest achievement of his career.

Seat 3: Razvan "razvyqq" Belea, 27, Targu Jiu, Romania, PokerStars player

Razvan Belea comes from Targu Jiu, Romania. His live results don't reveal much about him as he has recorded only two small cashes on the home soil. However, he's a poker pro, grinding online as "razvyqq". In the online realm, his biggest accolades came in the PokerStars Big $11. Belea has made five final tables of that same tournament including two second and two third place finishes. He banked over $11k several times in these events but making the final table here at Eureka6 Bucharest is certainly his biggest achievement to date. Belea's moniker indicates that his favourite hand is pocket Queens but on Day 3, he didn't mind holding a pair of Kings when he knocked out Mihai Ciorteanu (18th) & Adrian Ion Popa (19th) in a single hand. Apart from poker, Belea's hobbies are playing football and watching movies. The linguists amongst you might enjoy the fact that Belea means "trouble" in Romanian.

Seat 4: Yasen Dichev, 27, Varna, Bulgaria

Bulgaria's Yasen Dichev hails from Varna's suburb Aksakovo. The 27-year-old emerged as the chip leader at the end of Day 2, bagging up about 14% of all chips in play. That already made Dichev a huge favourite on making the final table. Should he finish sixth or better, he'll celebrate the best result of his career. So far, he's amassed $54k in live tournament cashes with the biggest prize of €21,000 earned in the €1k Event at EPT12 Prague. Dichev is currently ranked #57 on the Bulgarian all-time money list but can possibly move thirty places up the ladder if he wins this tournament. He's been playing poker for ten years and considers himself an amateur. However, he's also doing well in online tournaments; his biggest payday was around $119k.

Seat 5: Jozsef Liszkovics, 28, Odorheia Secuiesc, Romania, PokerStars player

Jozsef Liszkovics is a poker pro from Odorheia Secuiesc, Romania. He's been playing poker for four years, almost exclusively online. The 28-year-old specializes in tournaments and his biggest accolade was a first place in the PokerStars Bigger $109 worth about $37k. He's also a huge Real Madrid fan, filling a sentence "Hasta el final, vamos Real" in his profile. While his favourite football club is preparing for next week's Champions League final, Liszkovics will experience his biggest final tomorrow.

Seat 6: Razvan "b91pit" Bordei, 34, Bucharest/Romania, PokerStars qualifier

Amateur poker player Razvan Bordei has made his biggest live tournament final table right here in his home city. The 34-year-old from Bucharest has been enjoying poker since 2009, playing both live and online. Prior to entering Eureka6 Bucharest, Bordei amassed $24k in live cashes including a €2,080 payday for a 134th place at Eureka4 Vienna. He'll collect his second Eureka Main Event cash here in the Romanian capital and it will also be the biggest of his live career. In the online realm, Bordei's biggest win was about $25k.

Seat 7: Florin Ionut Pandilica, 36, Bucharest, Romania

Florin Ionut Pandilica is also a local player. He's been playing poker for the past decade and has racked up over $75k in live tournament winnings. Pandilica collected his biggest cash at EPT8 Barcelona, finishing 50th for €14,000 in the Main Event. He prefers tournaments over cash games.

Seat 8: Carmen Zainescu, 45, Plaiesti, Romania

There were only four female players in the Eureka6 Bucharest Main Event but one of them made it to the final table. Carmen Zainescu celebrated it loudly as she'd had the shortest stack in the tournament since there were two tables left but still found her way amongst the final eight. Zainescu, 45, hails from Plaiesti and has been playing live tournaments for five years. Her resumé includes cashes worth nearly $26k and she's about to boost it with her result in this tournament, which has already beaten her previous best (€3,700 for 15th at PokerFest Bucharest back in 2013). Zainescu claims family to be her other hobby.

With so many skilled poker players around these days and chip stacks so deep, it's not at all uncommon to see a SCOOP final table stretch on for three, four, or sometimes even upward of five hours. Sometimes, though, a player comes in with a big stack, picks up a few big hands, and blitzes to a win before anybody knows what happened. dirty.brasil's run through the final of Event #43-L started off with more chips than the other players at the table and ended less than two hours later with a second career COOP title.

The options for picking up more chips in Event #43-L, a $27 no-limit hold'em tournament, were the one re-buy available in the first two hours, the one add-on after that period, and the stacks in every other player's hands. The 2,877 starting players combined for 1,700 re-buys and 1,793 add-ons, building a $156,383.50 total prize pool shared between the top 360 players. The majority of those who cashed collected their payouts before play paused at the end of level 36 with dirty.brasil already holding a significant lead. At 9.13M chips, the player from Canada had 152 big blinds and 3.6M chips more than second-place pitaoufmg, a WCOOP 2012 and TCOOP 2013 finalist.

Just 26 players remained after that first day of play, and they returned at 10am ET to wind their way down to a final table. dirty.brasil maintained that chip advantage through the 100K/200K/25K level, when the final lineup was determined:

Seat 1: kopakabritu (10,078,297 in chips)
Seat 2: swifterjet (1,919,924 in chips)
Seat 3: GloRyKeepah (7,526,120 in chips)
Seat 4: pitaoufmg (5,287,949 in chips)
Seat 5: BioNicle9 (8,446,816 in chips)
Seat 6: rodloiola (7,080,854 in chips)
Seat 7: LameR25 (3,881,460 in chips)
Seat 8: Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins (5,554,828 in chips)
Seat 9: dirty.brasil (13,923,752 in chips)

Already a 2012 WCOOP champion, dirty.brasil's strategy for chasing down a second career COOP title involved adopting an aggressive posture from the start, seeking to jump further ahead and build a stack to bludgeon the table. It would take a while, but that strategy would pay off handsomely. But first past MicroMillions finalist swifterjet doubled through dirty.brasil, moving in early on with [Ks] [Jc] after the leader had opened for 512K on the button. dirty.brasil called but couldn't catch with [Qd] [Td], giving swifterjet the double to 4.5M, and an orbit later the two split a pot when both held A-K before the flop.

In the end swifterjet would be the first to go, but not by dirty.brasil's hand. The Canadian player called all-in for 4.8M in the big blind with [9c] [9s] after kopakabritu had open-shoved in the big blind. The Brazilian looked to be in a pretty bad spot with [Th] [7s], but the [5c] [Ad] [Tc] [Td] [7c] board delivered a tens full of sevens by the river, giving swifterjet a rough ride into 9th place ($1,329.25).

That win had kopakabritu within three big blinds of the lead, and the Brazilian seized it on the next hand when GloRyKeepah's [Ah] [8h] held up to double through dirty.brasil's [Ks] [Jh]. dirty.brasil moved right back in front on the next hand, though, after calling LameR25's 2.6M-chip open shove with [As] [Kd]. LameR25, a WCOOP 2014 finalist who won the Sunday Warm-Up this January, was dominated with [Kh] [9h]. After the [Qh] [5d] [Ts] [5h] [5c] failed to bring help, LameR departed in 8th place ($2,267.56).

That gave dirty.brasil 14.3M chips and the lead once again. Within an orbit the leader had already moved up to 18.8M, but the next knockout didn't come in that stretch. Instead it came after a pre-flop raising war ended up with Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins all-in, holding [Kh] [Th] to pitaoufmg's [9c] [9h] and catching a ten on the turn to double to 11.7M. That left pitaoufmg with 391K, which all went in from the small blind on the next hand with [Jd] [5d] after kopakabritu raised in the cutoff with [Ad] [7h]. Nothing resembling help came on the [4c] [3s] [Qd] [As] [6h] board and pitaoufmg was gone in 7th place ($3,831.39).

Holding 12.4M chips and position on dirty.brasil, kopakabritu looked to press the advantage two hands later when both players were in the blinds, moving all-in with [3c] [3d] after dirty.brasil limped from the small blind. dirty.brasil called with [Ac] [Qs] and 6.7M behind, but the buffer proved unnecessary. The river card of the [9s] [4d] [4h] [6h] [9h] board negated kopakabritu's treys and made nines and fours for both players. kopakabritu played the board for the [6h] kicker, though, and dirty.brasil's [Ac] kicker ended up being the difference in the 25M-chip pot. With that, kopakabritu exited in 6th place ($5,395.23).

dirty.brasil took a stab at another knockout on the next hand, raising on the button with [Kh] [Qs] and calling when GloRyKeepah moved in for 5.5M in the big blind, but GloRyKeepah's [Ah] [7s] caught aces on the flop and river for three of a kind to stay alive. Seven hands after that dirty.brasil opened all-in with [5d] [5h] and the only caller was past Sunday Million finalist rodloiola, who had [Tc] [Ts] in the small blind. rodloiola was drawing to two outs after the [Ac] [9c] [5s] flop but the [As] turn and [4h] river didn't deliver, sending the last of the final table's three Brazilian players to the rail in 5th place ($6,959.06).

theNERDguy was the only player remotely close to dirty.brasil now at 15.9M chips. But then the WCOOP 2015 PLO/8 champion and WCOOP 2014 Main Event runner-up dropped 7M to the leader a few hands later. After checking the [Kh] [7d] [9h] flop and then semi-bluffing the turn and river with [8d] [6d], theNERDguy watched dirty.brasil show down [Jc] [Js] and drag the 14.3M-chip pot.

With 36.5M chips in hand, dirty.brasil now had 19 big blinds more than the rest of the table combined and used that advantage to apply consistent pressure to the others, who were looking at a difference of more than $4,000 between being the next player steamrolled by the leader and hanging on one more spot. With 10 minutes that stack was up over 50M, thanks to another knockout. Already in for 600K in the big blind, GloRyKeepah called with [As] [3s] after dirty.brasil shoved in the small blind. That was a 2-to-1 favorite over [9c] [2d], but the turn of the [Ks] [7c] [5h] [9d] [4d] board made a pair of nines for dirty.brasil, sending GloRyKeepah to the rail in 4th place ($9,148.43).

Another 10 minutes later the leader picked up [Tc] [Ts] in the big blind and called when BioNicle9 moved in for 6.8M. The German player had [Ks] [Qs] and missed the [3d] [Ad] [Jc] [6s] [7h] board completely, bowing out in 3rd place ($13,292.59).

theNERDguy was facing a massive uphill battle and did so with a sense of humor.

Even after doubling up twice, theNERDguy was still facing a 3-to-1 chip deficit and had to stay extremely aggressive. That led to three-betting all-in with [Qs] [8s] on the final hand after dirty.brasil opened on the button, and dirty.brasil made the call with [Ac] [9d]. The turn looked like it would extend the match, but the river of the [Ks] [6h] [5d] [Qh] [Ah] board made dirty.brasil a pair of aces and closed the tournament out.

Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins fared well, weathering the storm to second place for $18,558.02. As for dirty.brasil, the win marked a second career COOP title after a four-year gap, and it came with $24,710.41 and a fancy SCOOP champion's watch. Congratulations to both players for making so much out of a $27 tournament!

SCOOP-43-L ($27 NL Hold'em, 1R1A) results
Entrants: 2,877 (1,700 re-buys, 1,793 add-ons)
Total prize pool: $156,383.50
Places paid: 360

1. dirty.brasil (Canada) $24,710.41
2. Yuri "theNERDguy" Martins (Australia) $18,558.02
3. BioNicle9 (Germany) $13,292.59
4. GloRyKeepah (Sweden) $9,148.43
5. rodloiola (Brazil) $6,959.06
6. kopakabritu (Brazil) $5,395.23
7. pitaoufmg (Brazil) $3,831.39
8. LameR25 (Germany) $2,267.56
9. swifterjet (Canada) $1,329.25

It was a rollercoaster ride through a minefield for EzPaTuLa.

Aside from navigating through a final table with former TCOOP, WCOOP and SCOOP champions, EzPaTuLa dealt with an unstable stack that rose and dipped throughout the tournament. EzPaTuLa got to the heads-up match with a strong lead but lost two all-ins. EzPaTuLa was resilient though and our champion clawed back to the lead. EzPaTuLa eventually finished up top and took the SCOOP title along with $57,366.13.

It was the largest and most-coveted portion of the $312,620.00 prize pool. It took 771 entries, 323 rebuys and 446 add-ons to fill that pool and only 99 players got to dip their feet in it. This included a Team PokerStars Pro and a Team PokerStars Online player. George Danzer squeezed into the money and won $719.02 for finishing 99th while Grzegorz Mikielewicz finished 82nd and won $781.55.

The red spades fell on Day 1 of the event and only 20 players made it to Day 2. Just nine made it to the final table.

The final table

Seat 1: Negriin -- 4,517,220
Seat 2: Fukuruku -- 2,758,955
Seat 3: Francisco "Tomatee" Benitez -- 844,937
Seat 4: i need sheet -- 936,473
Seat 5: Shyam "G's zee" Srinivasan -- 2,109,415
Seat 6: EzPaTuLa -- 1,156,546
Seat 7: kawachi1984 -- 624,325
Seat 8: tobi123456 -- 1,668,436
Seat 9: groww -- 783,693

groww's stack grew a little bit in the first few hands, but then it vanished. 

kawachi1984 moved all-in for 491,825 from middle position and tobi123456 reshoved for 1.4 million from the hijack. groww called all-in for 941,193 and the rest of the table folded.

groww: [ac][kd]
tobi123456: [th][tc]
kawachi1984: [kh][qs]

The [9c][8s][qc][4d][7h] board brought kawachi1984 a queen and the former short stack tripled up to fourth in chips with 1.6 million. tobi123456 took the sidepot and remained about even with 1.36 million while groww was left with nothing. 

Well, no tournament chips. groww won $4,064.06 for finishing 9th.

Then Tomatee got squashed. 

Tomatee raised to 225,000 from early position and Negriin called from the big blind. The flop came [4c][qh][qd] and Tomatee moved all-in for a mere 105,494. Negriin called with [as][5s] while Tomatee turned over [kd][jd].

An [ah] came on the turn to pair Negriin and an [8s] completed the board. Tomatee won $6,877.64 for finishing 8th while Negriin chipped up to 2.6 million.

Culling shorties

The culling of the short stacks continued when i need sheet raised to 100,000 from the hijack and tobi123456 called from the big blind. tobi123456 checked the [7c][th][6c] flop and i need sheet bet 137,125. tobi123456 moved all-in for 1.3 million and i need sheet called. 

i need sheet showed top pair with [ts][ks] while tobi123456 tabled a flush draw with [jc][8c]. The [ac] came on the turn to give tobi123456 the flush and i need sheet hit the rail.

i need sheet cashed for $10,003.84 for the 7th place finish while tobi123456's stack rose to 2.3 million.

It was dangerous to be a six-digit player at this final table. While kawachi1984 tripled up to more than 1 million early on, the Russian player slowly dipped back to a six-digit chip count. 

Taking down pocket pairs

kawachi1984 needed another double up and tried to get it with a pair of nines.

G's zee had raised from the hijack and kawachi1984 moved all-in for 881,725 from the button. G's zee called with [ah][kh] and kawachi1984 was flipping with [9h][9d].

G's zee won the flip on the turn of a [tc][6s][7h][kc][5c] board and kawachi1984 was eliminated in 6th place. kawachi1984 won $13,130.04 after the hand and G's zee got 3.1 million tournament chips.

After taking down kawachi1984's nines, G's zee took down Fukuruku's pocket eights. 

Fukuruku moved all-in for 1.4 million from the button and G's zee called from the small blind. The big blind folded and Fukuruku showed a black pair of eights to G's zee's black pair of tens. There was a pair of nines on the [7d][9c][2h][9h][5s] board, but they weren't the cards Fukuruku needed. Fukuruku won $15,256.24 for finishing 5th while G's zee chipped up to 4.0 million. 

Tumbling tobi

tobi123456 doubled up a few times throughout the final table to stay in the game and then scored another one against Negriin. 

tobi123456 moved all-in for 1.3 million from the small blind and Negriin called from the big blind. Negriin was in the lead with [as][5s] to tobi123456's [qh][8s], but an [8d] came in the middle of a [kh][9d][8d][7s][kc] board to double tobi123456 up to 2.7 million.

Then tobi123456 gave all those chips back to Negriin. 

When players were back on the blinds, tobi123456 raised to 100,000 and Negriin moved all-in for 4.9 million. tobi123456 called with [ad][9d] and Negriin showed [2s][2d].

The river of a [jh][qd][6c][5c][td] board gave tobi123456 flush and straight draws, but it was also the last card on the board. tobi123456 was out. 

tobi123456 won a WCOOP and a SCOOP last year, but wasn't able to add another today. tobi123456 finished 4th and won $23,290.19 while Negriin's lead grew to 7.5 million. 

G's zee zapped

G's zee was the last player in the field to know what COOP glory tastes like. Back in 2014, G's zee won the WCOOP counterpart of this event, a $215 NLHE 1R1A event. But today he'd finish 3rd.

G's zee and EzPaTuLa were fairly close in chips until their pocket pairs clashed. G's zee opened to 240,000 and EzPaTuLa re-raised to 720,000. Negriin folded and G's zee moved all-in for 4.8 million. EzPaTuLa called with [as][ad] while G's zee tabled [9h][9d].

The board ran [8d][7s][4s][5s][2s] and EzPaTuLa improved to an Ace-high flush. EzPaTuLa doubled and took the lead with 8.7 million while G's zee was left with just 492,801.

G's zee doubled to 1 million the following hand, but 70,000/140,000 blinds quickly put him back down to 645,602.

In G's zee's final hand, EzPaTuLa raised 350,000 and G's zee called from the big blind. G's zee check-raised all-in for 278,102 on the [4c][7d][9d] flop and EzPaTuLa called. G's zee showed [7s][td] for top pair while EzPaTuLa showed [8s][6s] for a straight draw.

A [tc] came on the turn to give EzPaTuLa a ten-high straight and a [4h] completed the board. G's zee won $30,949.38 for finishing 3rd and the tournament went heads-up.

Heads up

EzPaTuLa -- 8,784,616
Negriin -- 5,236,680

EzPaTuLa's lead extended early on, but then Negriin fought back with a pair of double ups. 

The first put Negriin up to 6.6 million and the second put the Argentinian player in the lead. EzPaTuLa raised to 400,000 and Negriin called. The flop came [7s][3d][6c] and EzPaTuLa bet 378,000. Negriin raised, EzPaTuLa three-bet and Negriin re-raised all-in. EzPaTuLa called with [6h][3h], but Negriin had a better two-pair with [7h][6d]. 

The turn brought a [kc] and a [ts] completed the board. Negriin doubled to 11.9 million while EzPaTuLa was left with 3.5 million.

Then EzPaTuLa doubled up. 

Negriin raised to 320,000 and EzPaTuLa moved all-in for 2.8 million. Negriin called with [8c][8h] and EzPaTuLa showed [kd][5d]. EzPaTuLa hit a king on a [ts][4h][td][kc][9s] board and doubled up to 5.7 million. 

EzPaTuLa won a few more pots and then retook the lead with a big river bet.

In that hand, Negriin raised to 400,000 and EzPaTuLa called. The flop came [kd][jc][3c] and Negriin bet 425,000. EzPaTuLa called and the turn brought a [6c]. EzPaTuLa bet 1.4 million and Negriin called. An [8h] landed on the river and EzPaTuLa bet 3.2 million. 

Negriin folded and was left with 5.8 million while the pot put EzPaTuLa up to 9.6 million. EzPaTuLa won another big pot the next hand and hammered away at Negriin.

Negriin was down to just 952,706 and moved all-in. EzPaTuLa called and we had the final showdown of the tournament.

Negriin: [ah][3c]
EzPaTuLa: [8c][8h]

The board came [7h][td][5c][kh][4s] and the tournament came to an end. Negriin won $40,953.22 for finishing 2nd and EzPaTuLa took the crown (SCOOP watch).

For the victory, EzPaTuLa also won $57,366.13.

SCOOP-43-M ($215 NLHE 1R1A) results
Entrants: 771 (323 rebuys, 446 add-ons)
Total prize pool: $312.620.00
Places paid: 99

1. EzPaTuLa (Mexico) $57,366.13
2. Negrrin (Argentina) $40,953.22
3. Shyam "G's zee" Srinivasan (Canada) $30,949.38
4. tobi123456 (Germany) $23,290.19
5, Fukuruku (Ukraine) $16,256.24
6. kawachi1984 (Russia) $13,130.04
7. i need sheet (Korea) $10,003.84
8. Francisco "Tomatee" Benitez (Uruguay) $6,866.64
9. groww (Brazil) $4,064.06

Check out the SCOOP homepage for more details about this year's championship.

If you grew up in the Nintendo generation, you probably battled Bowser at one time or another. The primary antagonist in the Super Mario universe, Bowser conquered the Mushroom Kingdom and much to Mario and Luigi's ire, had somewhat of a kidnapping fetish when it came to Princess Peach. The only way for the brothers to save Princess Peach was to wind through Bowser's castle and get past the evil reptilian boss himself. Tonight, the Finnish player who appropriated Bowser's villainous name played the role to perfection, casting out short stacks and pilfering his opponents' chips at every turn en route to his first SCOOP title.

Event #44-L drew 4,039 total entries (3,217 individual players and 822 re-entries), resulting in a $40,390 prize pool. 520 players earned a share of it with $6,565.84 up top. Day 1 concluded after 61 levels, and 81 players advanced to Day 2. Among them was TLB contender Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb, who made his 33rd cash of the series with a 19th-place finish.

On the final table bubble, the betting limits were up to 160,000/320,000 and the game was limit hold'em. Tigrenok.mn opened for a raise from UTG, short-stack xaffer three-bet, tigrenok.mn capped and xaffer called all-in for less. Xaffer's [Ac][Kd] was in great shape against tigrenok.mn's [4h][6h] preflop, but tigrenok.mn hit running hearts on the [Th][9d][7d][Jh][Qh] board to make a flush and send us to the final table.

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: tigrenok.mn (8,475,849 in chips)
Seat 2: ALD74 (1,633,392 in chips)
Seat 3: homasapiens (2,861,657 in chips)
Seat 4: Bowsercastle (7,688,838 in chips)
Seat 5: chaka-G (5,509,001 in chips)
Seat 6: Mikki31 (3,973,517 in chips)
Seat 7: JobberJay (8,346,730 in chips)
Seat 8: Sharkomaha (1,901,016 in chips)

As the rotation turned to Omaha Hi/Lo, short stack ALD74 doubled through Bowsercastle. All the money went in on a [Ts][3h][3c] flop, ALD74's [2h][3d][5d][8d] up against [Ah][2d][6c][Qh]. The turn came the [Kd], but the river [2c] made ALD74 threes full, good for the 3.08 million pot.

Moments later, the action folded to chaka-G in the cutoff and he raised to 400,000. Sharkomaha called and they went to an [Ac][5d][3c] flop. Sharkomaha check-called, and checked again when the [6s] turned. Chaka-G bet, Sharkomaha raised all-in for 521,016 and chaka-G called.

Sharkomaha [Ah][6c][Td][Kd] (aces and sixes, low draw)
chaka-G [3s][4d][5c][5h] (set of fives, low draw)

The [Jc] river meant no low qualified and chaka-G scooped the pot with trip fives, ending Sharkomaha's run in eighth place.

The game had just switched to Razz when chaka-G, tigrenok.mn and Mikki31 went three ways to fourth street for 200,000 apiece. Chaka-G made the low board with A-T and led out, with both opponents calling. Chaka-G picked up a 6 on fifth and led again. Mikki31 caught a queen and folded, but tigrenok.mn called with 3-3-A. Chaka-G fired again on fifth street, tigrenok-mn raised, and chaka-G called. Chaka-G bet the river, tigrenok.mn raised again, and chaka-G called.

tigrenok.mn ([2d][4d]) [3h][3c][As][4c] ([7h])
chaka-G (X-X) [Ad][Tc][6d][8c] (X)
Mikki31 (X-X) [4h][Th][Qc]

Togrenok.mn's river 7 made him 7-4-3-2-A low and chaka-G mucked, losing most of his stack.

Two hands later, chaka-G got the rest of his chips in on third street vs. Bowsercastle and Mikki31. Both active players checked all the way to sixth street, when Bowsercastle bet 400,000. Mikki31 came along and called an additional bet when Bowsercastle bet again on the river. Bowsercastle revealed a 7-6-3-2-A low, chaka-G could only manage a queen-low, and he went out in seventh place.

One orbit later, the game was seven-card stud and JobberJay raised to 480,000 with the [Qd] up. Tigrenok.mn called with the [6c] and ALD74 reraised with the [As]. Both JobberJay and tigrenok.mn called to see fourth street. JobberJay paired his queen and led out, with both opponents calling. JobberJay checked fifth street, tigrenok.mn bet, ALD74 called and JobberJay folded. ALD74 led out for the rest of his chips on sixth street and tigrenok.mn called.

JobberJay (X-X) [Qd][Qh][3s]
tigrenok.mn ([Kc][3c]) [6c][8c][9c][Th] ([Js)]
ALD74 ([7s][Ac]) [As][8h][8s][5s] ([5d])

ALD74's aces and eights were no good against tigrenok.mn's king-high flush and he exited in sixth place.

Before the stud level could end, Bowsercastle brought it in with the [2d] and short stack homasapiens raised to 240,000 with the [Qh]. Bowsercastle called. On fourth street, homasapiens kept the lead and bet another 240,000, earning a call from Bowsercastle. Both players checked fifth street and on sixth, Bowsercastle checked with a pair of fives showing. Homasapiens bet 480,000 and Bowsercastle called. Bowsercastle bet the river and homasapiens called off his remaining 301,657.

Bowsercastle ([Td][3d]) [2d][5s][5d][Ks] ([6d])
homasapiens ([3s][Ah]) [Qh][2c][Th][As] ([5c])

Bowsercastle snapped off homasapiens' pair of aces with a ten-high flush on the river, ending his run in fifth place.

Shortly after four-handed play began, the players agreed to pause the action and discuss a potential deal. Here's how they stacked up at the time:

tigrenok.mn 11,716,633
JobberJay 11,162,730
Bowsercastle 8,763,137
Mikki31 8,747,500

The chip count chop and ICM figures came out very close together. JobberJay, Mikki31 and Bowsercastle were willing to accept either, but despite the fact that only $71.98 separated the two figures, tigrenok.mn declared, "only chip chop or play." Bowsercastle agreed to kick in $40 from his share in order to settle things, but tigrenok.mn was dead serious about that last $30.

tigrenok.mn: miki give me 30
Mikki31: no
Mikki31: u got 45
tigrenok.mn: lets play

An exasperated Bowsercastle, Mikki31, and JobberJay all donated another $10 each to tigrenok.mn's share and at last, the deal closed. With $500 left to play for along with the SCOOP watch and title, cards went back in the air.

The games ran through nearly another full rotation and we were back to Razz when JobberJay made his last stand. After three-betting on third street and calling bets from Mikki31 on fourth, fifth, and sixth, JobberJay bet his last 632,096 on the river and Mikki31 called.

Mikki31 ([Td][9d]) [8s][5s][6s][9c] ([Jc])
JobberJay ([As][Ah]) [8h][Jd][2s][4h] ([4c])

JobberJay ended up with a J-8-4-2-A low fell to Mikki31's T-9-8-6-5, and he exited in fourth place.

However, once the game circled back to limit hold'em, Mikki31 was down to 4.5 million while Bowsercastle and tigrenok.mn sat on 18 million apiece. With the betting limits up to 360,000/720,000, Mikki31 opened for a raise with [Qc][Jh] and Bowsercastle three-bet with [Ah][Qs]. Both players made top pair on the [Qh][8c][7h] flop. Bowsercastle led out and Mikki31 called. The turn came the [6h] and Bowsercastle fired again. Mikki31 raised, Bowsercastle three-bet and Mikki31 capped. When the [4h] rivered, Bowsercastle bet and Mikki31 called off his last 174,922. Although both players rivered flushes, Bowsercastle's was ace-high and Mikki31 hit the rail in third place.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 1: tigrenok.mn (17,910,902 in chips)
Seat 4: Bowsercastle (22,479,098 in chips)

Two of the top three stacks to start the final table, Bowsercastle and tigrenok.mn played heads-up for nearly thirty minutes. Tigrenok.mn kept the score close and nearly tied Bowsercastle in chips at one point, but Bowsercastle had a very successful Omaha Hi/Lo level, scooping four substantial pots to push tigrenok.mn down to 8 million in chips. Tigrenok.mn never recovered entirely and was down to 4 million when the game changed to stud high. In a pot that Bowsercastle raised on third street and tigrenok.mn capped on fourth, the rest of tigrenok.mn's chips went in on fifth.

tigrenok.mn ([2c][Ah]) [4h][3s][2s][6d] ([5h])
Bowsercastle ([5d][2d]) [Ad][2h][8d][9d] ([8c])

Bowsercastle made an ace-high flush on sixth street and locked up his first SCOOP title.

Congratulations to Finland's Bowsercastle on joining the ranks of SCOOP champions! Thanks to the four-handed deal, he banked $4,602.63 for the win while runner-up tigrenok.mn earned $4,544.56

SCOOP-44-L ($11 H.O.R.S.E) results
Entrants: 3,217 (822 re-entries)
Prize pool: $40,390.00
Places paid: 520

1. Bowsercastle (Finland) $4,602.63*
2. tigrenok.mn (Mongolia) $4,544.56*
3. Mikki31 (Finland) $4,150.81*
4. JobberJay (Denmark) $4,403.36*
5. homasapiens (Poland) $2,019.50
6. ALD74 (United Kingdom) $1,211.70
7. chaka-G (United Kingdom) $605.85
8. Sharkomaha (Russia) $363.51

*denotes a four-way deal

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Mixed games are more popular today than ever before, especially when they involve some of the more obscure poker variants available here at PokerStars. But there's a lot to be said for kicking it old school when you're mixing your poker games and playing some good old-fashioned HORSE. GrimIsCool kicked it all the way to a four-way deal in Event #44-M, then went on a late run to walk away with a SCOOP title.

The field of 990 in this tournament - 745 entries with 245 re-entries - came up 10 shy of doubling the guarantee with its $99,000 prize pool. The top 128 players cashed out at least $178.20, and a scheduled first-place prize of $18,245.70 awaited the winner.

Ari "BodogAri" Engel was chasing his third final table of SCOOP 2016 but busted on the 40K/80K Omaha Hi/Lo level in 9th place ($990), leaving these eight players to battle for the title:

Seat 1: cbolt21 (2,625,951 in chips)
Seat 2: GrimIsCool (185,189 in chips)
Seat 3: alxbanana (891,293 in chips)
Seat 4: BOT OHO (507,094 in chips)
Seat 5: hipoppotamus (1,147,142 in chips)
Seat 6: thefish01x (446,798 in chips)
Seat 7: grampabumkin (1,606,004 in chips)
Seat 8: YaaGy (2,490,529 in chips)

The 50K/100K/10K Stud level brought the first knockout of the final table. cbolt21 opened with the [As] showing and both alxbanana (with the [Jh]) and BOT OHO (with the [Qc]) called to see fourth street. alxbanana picked up the [Js] on fourth for a pair on the board and led for 50K, and BOT OHO raised to 150K with [Qc] [8c] showing. cbolt21 folded (x-x) [As] [9s] and alxbanana raised enough to put BOT OHO all-in. The player from Belarus called and showed [2c] [Kc] in the hole for a club flush draw, while alxbanana had [Td] [Jc] beneath for three jacks. alxbanana caught the [Ts] on fifth street to make tens full of jacks, which held up through sixth and seventh streets to eliminate BOT OHO in 8th place ($1,485).

Eight hands the stakes were the same but the game had switched to Stud Hi/Lo and hipoppotamus had the bring-in with the [3c] showing. SCOOP 2013 Medium FL Omaha Hi/Lo champion thefish01x completed to 60K with the [6h] showing and drove everyone else out of the pot, and hipoppotamus called to bring fourth street. hipoppotamus checked with [3c] [5d] showing, then check-raised, then called thefish01x's fourth bet to put the player from Cyprus all-in for 200K.

thefish01x called with ([Js] [Jh]) [6h] [Ks] for a pair of jacks and was in trouble against hipoppotamus's up-and-down straight draw with ([4c] [2c]) [3c] [5d]. The [6d] on fifth street made both a straight and a 6-5 low for hipoppotamus, while thefish01x's hopes were resting on a runner-runner flush after being dealt a third heart with the [4h]. The [8s] on sixth and [Jd] on seventh didn't do the trick, though, and thefish01x left the tournament in 7th place ($2,227.50).

60K/120K Limit Hold'em was next in the rotation and it would prove to be alxbanana's undoing. The player from Norway opened under the gun toward the end of the level and then called hipoppotamus' three-bet, bringing the [6c] [2c] [2s] flop. alxbanana check-called 60K there and then 120K on both the [Ks] turn and [Kc] river but mucked when hipoppotamus showed down [Td] [Tc] to win the 1.1M-chip pot.

That left alxbanana with 33K that all went in from the big blind on the next hand, which was the first of 70K/140K Omaha Hi/Lo. Dealt [Qc] [8d] [4c] [4s], alxbanana couldn't improve on that pair of fours on a [Kc] [9s] [3s] [Ac] [Ts] board. cbolt21's [Ad] [Qd] [9d] [2c] made aces and nines to take the pot, and alxbanana bowed out in 6th place ($3,465).

grampabumkin, who made both the Razz and 8-Game Mix final tables back in 2009 (Dan Kelly's first WCOOP victory and David Williams' first, respectively), would finish the tournament before the end of the Omaha Hi/Lo level. The player from Mexico got three bets in from the big blind with [Ah] [As] [Kd] [Ts] after GrimIsCool raised on the button, but GrimIsCool's [Kc] [6h] [3s] [2s] picked up two pair on the [3c] [2h] [9s] flop and, after calling bets on the flop and [Td] turn, checked the [Qc] river to show down a winner.

The loss left grampabumkin with 666K, which was cut to 566 by the next big blind. Then grampbumkin raised in the small blind with [Jc] [Jd] [7s] [6d] and got YaaGy to call in the big blind, bringing a [Qd] [2h] [7d] flop. YaaGy, a past TCOOP 2012, Sunday Warm-Up, and Sunday Million finalist, called grampabumkin's lead bet there and then raised after another bet on the [Ts] turn. grampabumkin called and then check-called all-in after the [Ts] river, showing down the jacks, but YaaGy's [5h] [4s] [2s] [2c] scooped the pot with a set of deuces and a 7-5 low. With that, grampbumkin left in 5th place ($4,950).

With another break approaching and the game about to switch to 70K/140K/14K Razz, the remaining four players agreed to look at the numbers for a deal. After 15 minutes they reached a deal that gave everybody better than third-place money, with cbolt21 and YaaGy taking the largest shares, and the game was back on again.

GrimIsCool had the bring-in with the [8h] showing on a hand just after the players returned from the deal break and called with ([Ac] [6s]) in the hole when cbolt21 raised with the [4s] showing. Neither player's hand improved much on fourth street, with GrimIsCool pairing the eight and cbolt21 catching a king, but after the action went bet-call, GrimIsCool caught the [5s] on fifth for 8-6-5-A. cbolt21 led with (x-x) [4s] [Kd] [Qs] showing and called GrimIsCool's raise, then check-called on sixth and seventh, but the [7h] on sixth had made 8-7-6-5-A low for GrimIsCool.

That 1.45M-chip win moved GrimIsCool to within one small bet of cbolt21 for the chip lead, and another 917K-chip win heads-up with the player from Mexico on the Razz level would give GrimIsCool the lead at 3.6M. cbolt21 moved back into a slim lead when the game changed to 80K/160K Stud, taking a 1.1M-chip pot heads-up with GrimIsCool to re-establish control of the action, but GrimIsCool struck back for 1.2M on the last hand of the level after starting with a split pair of eights and catching aces on both sixth and seventh streets to make two pair.

Stud Hi/Lo came and went, leaving it to the 100K/200K Limit Hold'em level to provide the first post-deal knockout. It would end up being YaaGy, who re-raised on the button to 300K after hipoppotamus opened under the gun. Both hipoppotamus and GrimIsCool, in the big blind, called the 300K and then check-called 100K more from YaaGy on the [7c] [7s] [Td] flop. Both check-called 200K more on the [Jc] turn, but hipoppotamus broke the pattern with by betting on the [Ts] river. GrimIsCool folded but YaaGy called, mucking after hipoppotamus showed down [Kd] [Tc] for tens full of sevens.

Left with just 89K, YaaGy called all-in under the gun on the next hand. GrimIsCool called as well in the small blind, holding [Js] [2h], and checked down the [8h] [Qc] [Kh] [Jd] [7h] board with hipoppotamus in the big blind. GrimIsCool's pair of jacks won the pot, and YaaGy left in 4th place ($12,255.70).

The rest of the hold'em round treated GrimIsCool very well. First a button raise with [Qc] [5s] turned into an open-ended straight draw on the flop and eventually ended up as trip fives against hipoppotamus on a [Th] [9c] [Js] [5h] [5c] board. GrimIsCool got raises in on the turn and river and dragged a 2.5M-chip pot. On the button again six hands later, GrimIsCool raised with [Jh] [Tc], stayed aggressive with a gutshot draw, and ended up with queens and jacks on a [Qc] [8h] [6s] [Jc] [Qh] board. cbolt21, who had played back out of the big blind and led on every street, lost at showdown with [Ad] [9h].

cbolt21's last 724K chips went in the middle behind [Ac] [Ks] a few hands later, though they didn't all get there until the turn of the [3h] [7s] [Tc] [5d] [Qc] board. GrimIsCool's [Kd] [Th] had already become a pair of tens by that point, tipping cbolt21 over the edge into 3rd place ($13,458).

The heads-up duel between GrimIsCool and hipoppotamus proved to be very evenly matched. They played out the Razz and Stud levels without a decisive hand, and with most of the 160K/320K/32K Stud Hi/Lo level gone they were separated by just one small bet. Then GrimIsCool scooped the last two pots of Stud Hi/Lo, winning 1.9M with sixes and fives against hipoppotamus's pair of tens and then 3.2M after starting with ([Ad] [Ks]) [7c] and running out four cards in a row to make a wheel.

That left hipoppotamus with 2.4M to GrimIsCool's 7.4M as the 160K/320K Limit Hold'em began, and that dropped to 984K after the first confrontation, which saw GrimIsCool flop top pair out of position with with [Jc] [Td]. hipoppotamus finally picked up [Qc] [Qh] and got all-in before the flop against GrimIsCool's [As] [7s], but a note-perfect [Ah] [Ac] [3c] [5d] [7c] board gave GrimIsCool a full house and the win.

Even as the third-largest share of a four-way deal, the $11,107.93 hipoppotamus took away in second place still stands as the biggest PokerStars tournament score of the Russian player's career. And in addition to the first career SCOOP title, GrimIsCool won the extra cash on the table for a $11,619.07 prize - a new personal PokerStars best by $33. Congratulations to both players!

SCOOP-44-M ($109 HORSE) results
Entrants: 990 (745 entries, 245 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $99,000
Places paid: 128

1. GrimIsCool (United Kingdom) $11,619.07*
2. hipoppotamus (Russia) $11,107.93*
3. cbolt21 (Mexico) $13,458*
4. YaaGy (United Kingdom) $12,255.70*
5. grampabumkin (Mexico) $4,950
6. alxbanana (Norway) $3,465
7. thefish01x (Cyprus) $2,227.50
8. BOT OHO (Belarus) $1,485
*Reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $1,000 in play for the winner

Last weekend, Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara advanced to two SCOOP final tables in Badugi events. He finished in third place in both and narrowly missed his first SCOOP win. Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara made poker history in 2012 by becoming the first-ever Japanese player to win a WSOP bracelet, but if he wanted to win his first SCOOP, then he'd have to survive a head-on collision with MUSTAFABET. Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton is a British pro who literally moved his way up the ranks through PokerStars. As a university student, Ashton frequently played freerolls under the screen name MUSTAFABET to boost his bankroll. He parlayed one freeroll score into a ticket into a 2009 WCOOP event...and proceeded to win it for his first-ever WCOOP win. Flash forward a few years later and Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton is slapping a WSOP bracelet on his wrist after he won the 2013 WSOP $50,000 Players Championship for $1.7 million (and the coveted Chip Reese Trophy). Ashton fancied himself as a mixed-game specialist and in a short span, he more than proved his worthiness.

Alas, it was a tough heads-up fight, but the nimble Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara busted in second place and his hopes of winning a SCOOP were stifled. Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton picked up his second over COOP and his first SCOOP bracelet. Despite the disappointing runner-up finish, nkeyno survived a difficult field and an even harder final table that also included Team Pro Eugene Katchalov, and Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz who was seeking his sixth SCOOP bracelet.

The high-end of the HORSE event included the planet's premier mixed-game players. Sure, on any given day, anyone can win a no-limit hold'em tournament, but you're gonna need a heck of a lot more than luck if you want to win an all out sprint against seasoned thoroughbreds. One stumble, one falter, one mistake could threaten the life of both the jockey and the horse. Same goes for tournament poker. One bad move could result in a disaster of epic proportions. One moment you're in the lead bearing down in the home stretch at the final table, and then WHAM! You're a casualty and have become an minor statistic in the final boxscore.

The high-version of SCOOP Event #44-H $1,050 HORSE attracted 169 original players who reloaded and fired an additional 95 bullets in this event for a total of 264 entries. The prize pool topped $264,000, which easily exceed the initial $100K Guarantee. The top 32 places paid out in this HORSE event, with $53,460.00 set aside for the champion.

Day 1 of this two-day event ended with 39 players making the cut for Day 2...but not everyone had made the money yet. Russia's chopi7 was the chip leader with 180K. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara was 7/39 and Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov was right behind with 8/39.

Day 2 the money broke roughly an hour into the restart. Several notables were among majority of players who cashed early on Day 2 including niccc (31st place), Bryn Kenney (30th), gipsy74 (29th), luldocuments (27th), vovtroy (25th), SixthSenSe19 (23rd), NoraFlum (22nd), raidalot (21st), and jutrack (20th).

Around four tables to go, Team Online nkeyno surged to the lead with over 300K. Meanwhile, Team Pro Eugene Katchalov was hovering in the top 10. With 18 to go on the final three tables, Katchalov moved into the Top 7. With 13 to go, Katchalov chipped up into the Top 5 and flirted with third place for a while, shadowing nkeyno in first.

Couple more notables busted on the penultimate final table... plattsburgh (18th), Colisea (16th), The Cooker (13th), caprioli (12th), and bernard-bb (10th). Another deep run for plattsburgh, but the 2016 SCOOP winner Matt 'plattsburgh' Vengrin hit the road in 18th place. During a round of Stud, Dzmitry 'Colisea' Urbanovich busted in 16th place at the hands of bernard-bb. Colisea struggled with a short stack for all of Day 2 and never had enough ammo to make a legit run at the final table. 2012 SCOOP 8-Game champ The Cooker bowed out in 13th. Rodrigo 'caprioli' Caprioli was the last Brazilian standing, but busetd in 12th. He was short with two tables to go, but was unable to mount a comeback to win another bracelet for Brazil. Finland's bernard-bb won a SCOOP yesterday, but missed another chance at another bracelet after busting in 10th.

With action hand-for-hand with nine remaining, Eugene Katchalov picked off Luis_Parreir during a round of Stud. Luis_Parreir lost with a pair of Jacks against Katchlov's two pair. Belgium's Luis_Parreir bubbled off the final table in ninth place, and the final table was set.

SCOOP-44-H - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: gloria1986 (242,303)
Seat 2: Trueteller (139,264)
Seat 3: Adamyid (196,286)
Seat 4: MUSTAFABET (221,907)
Seat 5: nkeyno (686,907)
Seat 6: E. Katchalov (446,654)
Seat 7: HlPPOCAMP (298,497)
Seat 8: lb6121 (408,182)

The final table commenced during Level 54 and the S portion of HORSE with a round of Stud and betting limits at 8K/16K. Russia's Trueteller was the shortest stack remaining. nkeyno and Katchalov were first/second in chips. Talk about a dynamic duo! I'd love to see a Hollywood movie about those two... a comedy-thriller in which they solve crimes and international conspiracies using their wits and intricate costumes and disguises.

Team Online's nkeyno had a fantastic run last weekend with a pair of Badugi final tables and a pair of third-place finishes. He made another final table, but began this one as the big stack. Safe to say that this was a much harder table than what he faced last weekend. nkeyno came very close to winning a SCOOP last year, but he was edged out by SirWatts and busted in second.

Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz won 5 SCOOPs. He got another shot at #6. He was probably your High Street bookie's odds-on-favorite to win this bracelet, even though nkeyno was the leader.

Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov needs no introduction. The stoic Katchalov won a WCOOP back in 2012, but a SCOOP total has evaded the Russian.

Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton won a WCOOP in 2009 when he was just a mild-mannered student and he parlayed a freeroll win into a seat into a WCOOP event, where in inevitably shipped the bracelet. At the 2013 WSOP, Ashton won the $50,000 Players Championship for his first piece of WSOP bling.

Adam 'Adamyid' Owen went deep in a couple SCOOP events this spring including a runner-up finish in Event 3-H.

DEVIL'S HAIRCUT: HlPPOCAMP eliminated in 8th place

Nearly two full levels played out before the first player busted. During a round of Stud Hi/Lo, HlPPOCAMP was in serious trouble with fewer than 80K. HlPPOCAMP was all-in by the river against nkeyno.

nkeyno: [2c][5d]//[7d][2s][Ks][7s]//[9c]
HlPPOCAMP: [As][4s]//[8c][5h][Tc][Kd]//[Ac]

Without a qualifying low, nkeyno won the hand with two pair -- sevens and deuces. HIPPOCAMP's pair of Aces was no good. For an eighth-place finish, HlPPOCAMP earned $7,260.00.

With seven remaining, nkeyno chipped up to 862K. Adamyid was the new shorty with 182K.

WHERE'S IT AT?: Adam 'Adamyid' Owen eliminated in 7th place

During a round of Hold'em, we lost adamyid. The Brit was reduced to less than 83K when he made a final stand with Aces, but the results were nasty. Trueteller opened to 20,000, Adamyid raised to 30,000, and Trueteller called. The flop was [8c][7c][6s] and betting got capped. The turn was the [9c]. Adamyid checked, Trueteller fired out 20,000, and Adamyid called all-in for 12,186.

Adamyid: [Ah][Ad]
Trueteller: [9s][8s]

Trueteller flopped top pair and an opened ended straight draw, but turned two pair to take the lead. The river was the [4h]. Trueteller won the pot and snapped off Aces. Adam 'Adamyid' Owen was dunzo in seventh place, which paid out $9,240.00.

With six remaining... nkeyno still led with 835K, followed by Trueteller (631K), Katchalov (470K), lb6121 (376K), gloria1986 (205K), and MUSTAFABET was the shorty with 121K.

NOVACANE: Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz eliminated in 6th place

Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz got crippled in a 168K pot during one of the last hands of the round of Stud Hi/Lo. He got flushed out by gloria1986 and went from over 100K to 10K. When the round switched to Razz, Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz busted on one of the first hands of the level. lb6121 held 13,482 and was all-in on third street. nkeyno and gloria1986 tried to bust lb6121 and checked it all the way down to seventh street. At showdown...

nkeyno: [6h][Ac]//[7s][Qd][3s][6s]//[9d]
gloria1986: [5h][9c]//[4c][Jc][3c][2s]//[5d]
lb6121: (X-X)//[Qs][4h][Kd][Tc]//(X)

gloria1986 won the hand with a 9-5-4-3-2 low against nkeyno's 9-7-5-3-A. lb6121 mucked his hand on the river but did not have a qualifying low. Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz was denied a sixth SCOOP. For a sixth-place finish, he earned $11,880.00.

With five remaining, Trueteller was the new leader with 766K, followed by nkeyno's 583K and Katchalov's 463K. MUSTAFABET was the shorty with 365K.

HIGH 5 (ROCK THE CATSKILLS): Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov eliminated in 5th place

An hour after Schwartz's bustout and complete revolution of games, no one had busted as a laborious five-handed battle fell into a quagmire. During the slowdown, gloria1986 had worked the way up the ladder into first place and was closing in on 1M. nkeyno collapsed to the back of the pack and was treading water with under 220K. Meanwhile, Katcholov was cruising in third with 420K.

During a barrage of Razz and Level 63, it was MUSTAFABET's turn to seize the lead and build a castle of chips worth 1M. Both nkeyno and Katcholov were short with under 200K each. Katchalov never made it out of Razz alive. He attempted to double up with his final stack of 157,554. He raised all-in on sixth street against big-stacked bully MUSTAFABET. At showdown...

E. Katchalov: [7s][As]//[8h][9h][4h][9d][Ad]
MUSTAFABET: [5c][3h]//[7d][6h][4d][Qc][9c]

MUSTAFABET won the pot with a 7-6-5-4-3 low, which he had locked up by fifth street. Katchalov made a final stand with a 9-8-7-4-A low, but it was not good enough to stave off elimination. Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov busted in fifth place, which paid out $14,520.00.

With four left in the hunt for the bracelet, MUSTAFABET topped everyone with 1.1M, followed by gloria1986's 1M, nkeyno's 352K, and Trueteller's 125K.

RAMSHACKLE: Trueteller eliminated in 4th place

Three hands later.... the ruthlessness of Razz claimed another victim. Short-stacked Trueteller was down to 93,767 and could not double up. The Russian also hit the bricks. By fifth street, Trueteller was all in and awaiting the moment of truth. At showdown...

nkeyno: [9c][5d]//[2h][7h][8h][Ad][5s]
Trueteller: [2d][4h]//[3d][9s][2c][8s][Jh]

nkeyno won the pot with an 8-7-5-2-A low against Trueteller's 9-8-4-3-2. Russia's Trueteller was knocked out in fourth place, which paid out $2,2440.00.

With three remaining, MUSTAFABET led with 1.1M and gloria1986 was right behind with 970K. nkeyno trailed in last with 527K.

NEW POLLUTION: gloria1986 eliminated in 3rd place

Once Razz ended, nkeyno breathed a sigh of relief by surviving the purge that claimed two players. During the ensuing round of Stud Hi/Lo, nkeyno surged immensely and rallied from the short stack to the big stack. His mini-rush was capped off by a 585K pot to take lead with 1.5M. He had scooped with two pair and a 7-6-3-2-A against MUSTAFABET.

A stunned gloria1986 was all of a sudden the short stack. Down to 68,485, gloria1986 was all-in on third-street in a multi-way pot. By seventh street, at showdown...

MUSTAFABET: [7h][8s]//[6s][2h][9s][5s]//[Js]
gloria1986: (X-X)//[4s][4h][Qs][4c]//(X)
nkeyno: (X-X)//[Jh][Kc][Qd][Ah]//(X)

MUSTAFABET won the main pot and side pot with a Jack-high flush and a 8-7-6-5-2 low.. Both nkeyno and gloria1986 mucked their losing hands. For a third-place finish, Thailand's gloria1986 busted in third place, which paid out $30,360.00.

HEADS-UP: Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton (U.K.) vs. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara (Japan)
Seat 4: MUSTAFABET (1,578,566)
Seat 5: nkeyno (1,061,434)

Down to two. Could Team Online nkeyno finally bust through and win a SCOOP? Or would Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton finally win a first SCOOP?

The two sparred for nearly an hour before we saw any significant action. Neither could really get into much of a rhythm before the level changed and they moved onto a new game. However, during a round of Stud, nkeyno went off the rails and lost a decisive pot worth 806K. MUSTAFABET caught running Kings to win the hand with two pair -- Kings and fives. That pot pushed MUSTAFABET over 2M and nkeyno slipped to 583K. nkeyno tried to rally by winning the next two small pots, but that's as far as he'd get before his quest for a SCOOP abruptly ended.

HOT WAX: Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara eliminated in 2nd place; MUSTAFABET wins SCOOP bracelet

Two hands later, it was all over. The round was still Stud and nkeyno's stack had been trimmed to 420K. The betting got capped on fifth street and nkeyno was all-in an praying for a double up. At showdown...

nkeyno: [As][Kd]//[3c][2s][9c][Qh][3d]
MUSTAFABET: [Js][Jh]//[2d][4h][Ts][6h][9s]

nkeyno could only muster up a pair of treys, which lost to MUSTAFABET's pair of Jacks. Alas, nkeyno headed to the virtual rail in second place.

For a runner-up finish, Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara won $40,920.00.

Congrats to Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton. First place paid out $53,460.00 in addition to a sleek champion's watch courtesy of Movado. This marks a second overall COOP for Ashton, who won a WCOOP in 2009.

SCOOP-44-H ($1,050 HORSE) results
Entrants: 264 (169 entries, 95 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $264,000.00
Places paid: 32

1. Matthew 'MUSTAFABET' Ashton (U.K.) $53,460.00
2. Team Online Naoya 'nkeyno' Kihara (Japan) $40,920.00
3. gloria1986 (Thailand) $30,360.00
4. Trueteller (Russia) $22,440.00
5. Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov (Russia) $14,520.00
6. Luke 'lb6121' Schwartz (U.K.) $11,880.00
7. Adam 'Adamyid' Owen (U.K.) $9,240.00
8. HlPPOCAMP (Mexico) $7,260.00

Visit the SCOOP homepage for up-to-date stats and find out who has an inside track on winning Player of the Series.

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

Most of the tournaments on the SCOOP schedule in 2016 are two-day events that pause to give everyone time to rest before coming back for another poker marathon. At just six hours and 45 minutes, Event #50-H was a deviation from the norm, one that led to a very quick first career SCOOP title against some highly accomplished competition for Austria's SuchADegen.

A 6-Max Progressive Super-Knockout tournament that started with three-minute levels and slowly worked up to 15 minutes apiece, Event #50-H drew a 567-player field with a $1,134,000 prize pool split evenly between cash for the top 66 finishers and bounties on everyone's heads. Thanks to the aggressive tournament structure and the extra incentive to go for the knockout, it took less than five hours to progress to the final table. By then the blinds and antes were at 10K/20K/2.5K and these six players were the last with a shot at the title:

Seat 1: Trueteller (1,108,810 in chips)
Seat 2: Jason "jakoon1985" Koon (633,979 in chips)
Seat 3: SuchADegen (944,030 in chips)
Seat 4: Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney (1,426,878 in chips)
Seat 5: xPastorcitox (627,667 in chips)
Seat 6: FaceStealer (928,636 in chips)

Despite the quick pace to reach the final table, nobody was working with less than 30 big blinds and the blind levels, which had begun the tournament at three minute apiece, had long since leveled out at 15 minutes each. There was plenty of room to play poker, and they did just that for the next two hours and two minutes.

The bulk of that final table time would be spent four-handed, and xPastorcitox wouldn't last long enough to be part of it. Having dropped about 10 big blinds in the first half hour of play, the SCOOP 2015-Medium finalist came in for a raise in the cutoff with [Js] [9s] and fired three barrels on the [5c] [5d] [Tc] flop, [Qs] turn, and [6c] river after Jason "jakoon1985" Koon called from the big blind. Koon called down the whole way with [Qc] [Jd], taking the 888K-chip pot with a turned pair of queens and knocking out xPastorcitox in 6th place ($18,144) with $7,867.15 in bounties.

Koon, a SCOOP 2009 champ and Sunday Warm-Up winner with two wins in the Super Tuesday who finished 7th in the $21,000 High Roller event last week, was now in third place with 1.26M chips, just one big blind behind Bryn Kenney. But eight minutes later he himself would be gone after back-to-back losses to FaceStealer.

The seeds of Jason Koon's departure were sown when SuchADegen doubled through FaceStealer with [Tc] [Ts] against [Ks] [Jd]. Then Koon took that first loss on the very next hand after opening with [Ah] [Kc], calling FaceStealer's all-in bet, and losing the coin flip to [6c] [6d] on a [Js] [2h] [9d] [8s] [3d].

That put FaceStealer, a three-time finalist in the Super Tuesday with past WCOOP and SCOOP final table appearances, a little under four big blinds ahead of Koon's 790K. FaceStealer had the button on the next hand and opened for the minimum with [Ad] [Qh], then called when Koon jammed with [Ah] [4h] in the big blind. Koon missed his flush draw on the river of the [Jh] [6c] [6d] [5h] [Kc] board, exiting in 5th place ($28,350) with $18,371.09 in bounties.

The next 45 minutes would be spent four-handed. After that wild three-hand sequence, FaceStealer had the chip lead at 1.69M chips, but Trueteller and Bryn Kenney were about eight big blinds back and SuchADegen was in last but still in the seven-figure range. Trueteller won the first monster pot after calling all-in from the big blind with [Ad] [Qd] and flopping a flush, topping small-blind raiser FaceStealer's [Ah] [7s] for the 1.8M-chip pot. Four more small wins shortly after that, plus an 892K-chip pot taken from Kenney without contest on the turn, made Trueteller the leader with 2.6M.

FaceStealer survived another all-in with [Ad] [6s] to button-raising SuchADegen's [8h] [5h], climbing back to 1.17M. That put Bryn Kenney, FaceStealer, and SuchADegen all within three big blinds of one another, but Kenney would be the one to fall behind. After raising on the button with [Jd] [Td] and calling Trueteller's big-blind re-raise to 190K, Kenney and Trueteller would both check the [7d] [8c] [Kd] [5c] [4h] board all the way to the river. Kenney fired 266K with the busted combo draw but lost when Trueteller called with an unimproved [Ah] [Qc].

That loss left PCA 2016 Super High Roller, SCOOP 2010, SCOOP 2014, and Super Tuesday champ with 776K in chips, which he called off three hands later in the big blind with [Ks] [Ts] after SuchADegen open-shoved on the button. Both had a flush after the board came [3d] [2s] [5s] [6s] [2h], but the Austrian player had the nuts, bringing BrynKenney's third SCOOP 2016 final table appearance to its end in 4th place ($39,690) with $28,281.24 in bounties.

Three-handed play kicked off with Trueteller in the lead, SuchADegen about 10 big blinds back, and FaceStealer holding about half the chips that SuchADegen had. The balance of the pots played was tilting toward Trueteller and away from SuchADegen. Then Trueteller raised to 125K from the small blind and called [Ah] [Js] after the Austrian player moved all-in from the big blind with [5c] [5d]. Trueteller paired on the turn with the board reading [7c] [8d] [7s] [Jc], but SuchADegen hit a full house with the [5s] on the river.

That win both kept SuchADegen alive and gave the Austrian player the chip lead, a perfect illustration of just how wide-open the tournament still was. Then Trueteller retook the lead with a stretch of six consecutive wins that reduced the field to two players.

Down to 602K after the first five consecutive pots that Trueteller had won, FaceStealer open-shoved on the button with [Ad] [6s]. Trueteller called with [Ah] [7s], paired a seven on the [Td] [7h] [9h] flop, and dodged FaceStealer's gutshot draw through the [3d] turn and [Jc] river to take the 1.27M-chip pot. That sent FaceStealer to the rail in 3rd place ($58,117.50) with $25,271.47 in bounties.

Trueteller had the edge heads-up with 3.4M chips to SuchADegen's 2.2M and extended the lead further by winning pots worth 755K and 639K in their first three hands against each other. Then SuchADegen opened on the button with [Kc] [Tc] and called after Trueteller jammed in the big blind with [As] [6c]. A small underdog before the flop, SuchADegen made a pair of kings on the [3c] [4d] [Kd] [9h] [7d] board to double to 3.2M chips.

SuchADegen now had 53 big blinds to Trueteller's 41, but a 1.4M-chip win for the Russian player eight hands later. The lead would only change one more time, though, and when it did it would leave Trueteller extremely short-stacked. SuchADegen opened the hand in question for 154K on the button with [9s] [8h] and Trueteller called, bringing the [5s] [9h] [4c] flop. SuchADegen bet 200K when checked to, then called two bets from Trueteller, the first a check-raise to 422K on the flop and the last an all-in move. Trueteller was an 84.1-percent favorite to win the hand with [Qh] [9c], but SuchADegen pulled out the win with a straight after the [6h] hit the river.

That 5.2M-chip pot gave SuchADegen an advantage of more than 10-to-1, and the Austrian raised every hand until Trueteller ended up moving in on the button for 152K with [Kd] [4h]. SuchADegen called with [7c] [5h] and won the pots with aces and fives after the board came [3h] [5s] [Ah] [Td] [Ad], bringing the tournament to a close.

Trueteller earned $79,380 as the runner-up, plus another $15,510.73 in bounties, an excellent showing after taking 4th place in Event #44-H this afternoon. And SuchADegen made a splash, picking up the champion's watch, the $107,730 top prize, and another $41,645.97 in bounties. Congratulations to SuchADegen players for outlasting some highly accomplished players on route to a first career SCOOP win!

SCOOP-50-H ($2,100 NL Hold'em, 6-Max, Progressive Super KO) results
Entrants: 567
Total prize pool: $1,134,000 ($567,000 regular prize pool, $567,000 bounty prize pool)
Places paid: 66

1. SuchADegen (Austria) $107,730 + $41,645.97 in bounties
2. Trueteller (Russia) $79,380 + $15,510.73 in bounties
3. FaceStealer (Costa Rica) $58,117.50 + $25,271.47 in bounties
4. Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney (Mexico) $39,690 + $28,281.24 in bounties
5. Jason "jakoon1985" Koon (Canada) $28,350 + $18,371.09 in bounties
6. xPastorcitox (Argentina) $18,144 + $7,867.15 in bounties

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

Read on below for MuKoJla's road to victory.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prize pool: $38,505.72

Places paid: 228

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

* denotes part of three-way deal

There's a bonus day of SCOOP tomorrow, want to get in on the fun? Click here to get your account.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blinds: 7,000/14,000

XRoXXoX tripped and wheeled out, eliminated in 6th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Deal falls through

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

Here are the ICM numbers:

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

And the chip chop numbers:

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

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

aDrENalin710 says no deal, eliminated in 3rd

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

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

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

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

Blinds: 10,000/20,000

Take a 14-hour break

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

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

— Adam Owen (@adamyid) May 22, 2016

Players return, Filopo83 quickly doubles up

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

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

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

Blinds: 12,000/24,000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This final table of six started with three Romanians, two Israelis, and one Bulgarian. A local winner getting victory on their home soil seemed likely right from the start of the tournament, as Romanians truly love their poker and came out in force for this festival. 

But it wasn't to be. In the end, it was the two players from Israel - Avishai Shitrit and Moshe Eliyahu (who was celebrating his 28th birthday today) - who would find themselves heads-up. The two are friends, and have been chatting and routing for one another for the past two days.

In the duel it didn't take long for Shitrit to grind down Eliyahu as he came into the one-on-one match with more than a five-to-one chip lead. But it still took a super sick hand to end it - we'll get to that later. 

First, meet your winner of the first ever Eureka tournament in Bucharest, or Romania for that matter: 30-year-old poker pro Avishai Shitrit. Here's how the day played out.

Final table time

Six players returned today, and here's how they stacked up at the beginning:

Popular local pro Carmen Zainescu came in as the short stack, and she'd be the first player to leave us. She jammed over an open from Romania's Jozsef Liszkovics with Ace-eight and was called by his Ace-Queen. The kicker held up and she hit the rail in sixth for €22,860.

Shitrit started to gain momentum during five-handed play, climbing the chip counts after doubling through Liszkovics. However, the actual chip lead flipped a lot today - mainly between Dichev, Eliyahu, and Liszkovics.

Romania's Razvan Belea never really got a hold on this final. In fact, in one hand he even called the clock on himself! He was eliminated by Liszkovics after his Ace-nine was out-flopped by his countrymen's King-Queen. For fifth, he pocketed €29,200.

Yasen Dichev would be the next to fall, although you really couldn't see it coming. Dichev proved himself a quality player time and time again; from leading at the start and end of Day 3 to making some fantastic calls and plays here today. However, he got a little frisky when he four-bet jammed pocket nines for 2.95 million over an open from Eliyahu and raise from Liszkovics, the latter of which called with pocket Queens. The ladies held up and Dichev collected €37,070 for fourth.

Liszkovics led the way at this point, but Shitrit got stronger by taking chips from Eliyahu. He eventually took the chip lead, and right before Jozsef Liszkovics was eliminated in third here's how the chip counts looked:

Avishai Shitrit - 7.85 million
Jozsef Liszkovics - 4.5 million
Moshe Eliyahu - 1.8 million 

The biggest pot of the tournament took place three-handed, and it was also the one that would get us heads-up. Liszkovics started the hand with a button open to 200,000 and Avishai Shitrit called from the big blind. The flop came the [js][4s][Ah] and Shitrit check-called a c-bet of 150,000, before also check-calling a bet of 500,000 on the [3s] turn.

Finally the [2s] landed on the river, bringing four spades to the flush. Shitrit took his time and led out for 2 million, and after getting an exact count Liszkovics moved all-in. Shitrit snap-called with the [as][6d] for the nut flush, while Liszkovics had the [ks][7d] for second best. He won €47,910 for third, and we were then heads-up.

As you can see, Shitrit had a huge chip lead, and shortly after heads-up play began he'd whittled Eliyahu's stack down to less than a million.

In the final hand - that sick hand I told you about earlier - Shitrit made it 200,000 on the button and Eliyahu called. The flop came the [5c][3c][6d] and Eliyahu checked, allowing Shitrit to continue for 150,000, which was called. The turn was the [kd] and Eliyahu checked again only to see Shitrit bet 300,000.

At this point Eliyahu moved all-in for around 700,000 total and Shitrit snap-called, turning over the [4c][7h] for the nut straight. Eliyahu had also flopped a straight with his [2d][4d], but he had the low end and like that it was over.

The birthday boy Moshe Eliyahu might not have got the present he really wanted, however €66,950 is not bad by any means.

But how did our champion feel? "It's a wonderful achievement," Shitrit told the PokerStars Blog. "When I made the final table, I didn't expect to win it. It was very quick from yesterday. We went down to six players in the blink of an eye and it feels incredible that I won it now!" 

For winning the first Eureka6 Bucharest, Avishai Shitrit takes home €107,350. Congratulations to him, and thanks for reading over the past week. 

YEAR OF ROMANIA.

Eureka6 Bucharest results 
Entrants: 579
Total prize pool: €561,630
Places paid: 87 

1. Avishai Shitrit (Israel) €107,350
2. Moshe Eliyahu (Israel) €66,950
3. Jozsef Liszkovics (Romania) €47,910
4. Yasen Dichev (Bulgaria) €37,070
5. Razvan Belea (Romania) €29,200
6. Carmen Zainescu (Romania) €22,860

All photos by Tomáš Stacha. Many thanks to Jan Kores.

Jack Stanton is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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

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

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

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

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

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

013ATM Falls in Sixth Place

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

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

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

zvejyss10 Runs Into Two Pair to Fall in Fifth

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

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

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

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

Pocket Sevens Not So Luck for Nelson28

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

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

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

Three-Handed Deal Struck; ratez0r Falls in third

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

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

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

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

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

wuqi3159 Has to Finish for Runner-Up

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

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

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

*Denotes three-handed deal

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

Triple COOP. It's a rare occurrence. Coming into this year's SCOOP, only three players accomplished the stupendous feat -- buck21, Andy McLEOD, and RuiNF. You can now add Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez to that exclusive club after former Uruguayan football player won his first-ever SCOOP bracelet.

SixthSenSe19 had already locked up wins at the 2012 TCOOP and 2010 WCOOP, but a SCOOP bracelet eluded him. He advanced to two previous SCOOP final tables this year, yet fell short of the mark both times. However, in Event #48-M Stud, SixthSenSe19 broke through to the winner's circle and emerged as the fourth-ever Triple COOP winner.

It was no easy task either. This Stud final table also included Calvin 'cal42688' Anderson, end-game maestro and arguably the greatest SCOOP player of all-time. Once cal42688 busted in seventh, it seemed like a huge burden had been lifted and SixthSenSe19 could see a clear path to the bracelet. SixthSenSe19 found himself heads-up against the U.K.'s viking47, the only one person who stood in his path of ultimate glory. After a rigorous forty-minute heads-up battle, SixthSenSe19 pulled away with the victory and dispatched viking47 in second place. Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez won his first SCOOP, which completed the Triple COOP. His next task? Winning the Sunday Million and the elusive Stars Slam!

The medium version of SCOOP Event #48-M $215 Stud attracted 192 original runners, who fired 66 additional bullets for a total of 258 entrants. They generated a prize pool worth $51,600. The top 40 places paid out, with $10,062.00 set aside to the champ.

The money bubble burst late on Day 1. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier secured himself a min-cash for $296.70 with a 40th place finish. Several notables were among those who cashed: legendary Kroko-dill took 33rd place, Plattsburgh was 29th, ImaLuckSac took 25th, and PearlJammer finished in 24th.

Day 1 concluded when they got down to the final table of eight. Day 2 began with the final table set and already in place.

SCOOP-48-M - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: cal42688 (170,688)
Seat 2: EDUARD_II (96,912)
Seat 3: psyhoagromor (142,692)
Seat 4: alwaysnice (654,331)
Seat 5: viking47 (407,660)
Seat 6: sprocketsAA (436,171)
Seat 7: SixthSenSe19 (413,244)
Seat 8: Akkerx (258,302)

The final table commenced during Level 26 with blinds at 12K/24K and a 2.4K ante. alwaysnice held the lead with 654K and EDUARD_II was the shorty with 97K.

Couple notables at the final table... Ukraine's psyhoagromor won a 2014 WCOOP (Super Tuesday SE too) for a $242K score and he took third in a different WCOOP that year... Calvin Anderson needs no introduction. He's a mutant or an extraterrestrial, or maybe both. Anderson made another final table and he seeking another title to break his own record of seven.

Also, Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez made a pair of final tables already this SCOOP. The aspiring ex-football player from Montevideo, Uruguay passed $3.2 million in online earnings and banked $1 million in live cashes. SixthSenSe19 was on a mission to win his first SCOOP, which would also lock up a rare Triple COOP. He had WCOOP bracelet and a TCOOP win, but not a SCOOP. Would we see history?

59 TIMES THE PAIN: EDUARD_II eliminated in 8th place

We had barely cracked the seal on the final table before we saw fireworks on the fourth hand of Day 2 and the fourth hand at the final table. One of the shorties rumbled when EDUARD_II had slipped to under 90K. With a pair of sixes showing, EDUARD_II got it all-in on sixth street against Akkerx's pair of fives. At showdown...

EDUARD_II: [Qs][4s]//[5s][6d][8s][6h][4d]
Akkerx: [2d][Td]//[Jd][5h][3d][5d][Ts]

Akkerx won the hand with a Jack-high flush, which beat out EDUARD_II's two pair. Latvia's EDUARD_II became the first player to exit the final table. Eighth place paid out $1,290.00.

FOLK LORE: Calvin Anderson eliminated in 7th place

Some day, ESPN will make a 30 for 30 documentary about one of the greatest and most mysterious SCOOP champions of all time. Calvin Anderson's appearance at the final table was brief and barely lasted nine minutes before he bid adieu. In a hand against alwaysnice, cal42688 (who started with 120,088) had got it all-in on fifth street with (X-X)//[9h][6h][7c] showing. At showdown...

cal42688: [Ad][Ah]//[9h][6h][7c][5h][Kc]
alwaysnice: [Js][Jd]//[Ts][5c][Qc][8s][Qh]

alwaysnice dragged the pot with two pair -- Queens and Jacks. cal42688's pair of Aces were no good. For a seventh-place finish, Calvin 'cal42688' Anderson took home $1,548.00. Another final table for cal42688, but he was denied another bracelet.

With six to go, alwaysnice topped everyone with nearly 690K and psyhoagromor clung onto the short stack with 160K.

GIRL WHO LIVES ON HEAVEN HILL: psyhoagromor eliminated in 6th place

Shorty psyhoagromor made a stand and got it all-in preflop for his last 33,968. Big-stacked alwaysnice offered to joust with the Ukrainian. At showdown...

psyhoagromor: [5c][Ac]//[Qh][5h][2s][Jh][3d]
alwaysnice: [As][Ks]//[7d][8c][8d][8s][9h]

alwaysnice won with trip eights, which beat out psyhoagromor's pair of fives. Ukraine's psyhoagromor was dunzo in sixth place, which paid out $2,064.00.

With five to go, alwaysnice led with 793K, followed by viking47 (542K), SixthSenSe19 (496K), sprocketsAA (476K), and Akkerx (273K).

HOW TO SKIN A CAT: Akkerx eliminated in 5th place

The liquidation of the short stacks continued when Akkerx's number got rang up. Akkerx's stack dwindled to 116,828 and was all-in on fourth street against always nice. At showdown...

alwaysnice: [Kh][2d]//[2s][2c][Ah][Qh][9h]
Akkerx: [Qd][9d]//[Td][7s][6c][5s][5h]

Akkerx's pair of fives were no match against alwaysnice's trip deuces. Hungary's Akkerx busted in fifth place, which paid out $2,838.00.

With four remaining, alwaysnice chipped up to 1.4M and sprocketsAA was the shorty with 178K.

BOOKS ABOUT UFOs: sprocketsAA eliminated in 4th place

Reduced to 146K, sprocketsAA attempted to double up. On fifth street, sprocketsAA was dancing all in against SixthSenSe19. At showdown...

sprocketsAA: [6d][5d]//[2d][7d][3s][7s][Ks]
SixthSenSe19: [9h][5s]//[5h][Jd][9c][8c][6s]

SixthSenSe19 won the pot with two pair -- nines and fives. A meager pair of sevens were no good for sprocketsAA, who was dunzo in fourth place, which paid out $4,128.00.

With three left in the hunt for the bracelet, alwaysnice retained the top slot with 1.2M, followed by SixthSenSe19's 840K and viking47's 480K. With the puppy-sized stacks out of the way, it was for the final three big dogs to play in the tall weeds.

TERMS OF PSYCHIC WARFARE: alwaysnice eliminated in 3rd place

With three to go, alwaysnice's short stack was being hunted by the 1M-stacked monsters. Down to just 212,415, alwaysnice attempted to triple up. By sixth street, SixthSenSe19 bailed and it was heads-up between alwaysnice and viking47. On the river, viking47 had a pair of Kings show and bet out 48,000. alwaysnice called all-in for 15,615. At showdown...

viking47: [2h][Td]//[Ad][Kh][2c][Kd]//[Th]
alwaysnice: [Jd][6h]//[Jh][Qc][9h][3h]//[9d]

viking47 dragged the pot with a stronger two pair: Kings and tens vs. Jacks and nines. The U.K.'s alwaysnice was knocked out in third place, which paid out $5,676.00.

HEADS-UP: SixthSenSe19 (Uruguay) vs. viking47 (U.K.)
Seat 5: viking47 (1,366,291)
Seat 7: SixthSenSe19 (1,213,709)

Down to two. Could SixthSenSe19 pull off a Triple COOP?

On the sixth hand of heads-up, SixthSenSe19 snatched the lead after winning a 586K pot with a full house. SixthSenSe19 had made two pair on fifth street and boated up on sixth street. At that juncture, SixthSenSe19's stack improved to 1.5M and viking47 slipped to 1M. They would play on for almost forty more minutes, but viking47 seemed to be playing catch up from that point onward. SixthSenSe19 chiseled away at viking47's holdings. Small ball. Small pots. But all those monotonous small pots added up. SixthSenSe19 moved up to 2M and had viking47 struggling on the ropes, but seemed unable to find the proper combination to secure a knockout.

Approximately 35 minutes into their cage match, viking47 lost a decisive pot worth 524K. SixthSenSe19 made a straight on sixth street to drag that pot. After that brutal loss and absorbing the painful blow, viking47 incurred serious damage and had slipped to under 640K. SixthSenSe19 smelled blood in the water and went in for the kill. It only took 20 hands before SixthSenSe19 finished off viking47.

NEW DAY RISING: viking47 eliminated in 2nd place; Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez wins TRIPLE COOP!

The viking47's demise occurred within two hands. The first hand was a costly pot worth 656K. With nearly 500K in the pot, SixthSenSe19 check-raised with (X-X)//[Jd][Ts][7c][8d] against viking47's (X-X)//[6d][2d][5h][9d]. viking47 knew what was up and bailed. Left with a paltry stack less than 150K, viking47 was all-in on the next hand and SixthSenSe19 finally landed the coup de grace.

Betting got capped on third street by SixthSenSe19 who four-bet to 160,000 and viking47 had called all-in for 146,291. At showdown...

viking47: [Kd][2h]//[Qd][7c][Ad][4c][9h]
SixthSenSe19: [6h][6d]//[5d][7s][Ts][Ac][3h]

SixthSenSe19 won the anticlimactic pot with a pair of sixes when viking47 whiffed completely and never improved. viking47's Ace high could not stave off elimination and viking47 was knocked out in second place. For an impressive runner-up performance, the U.K.'s viking47 earned a payday worth $7,482.00.

Congrats to Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez for winning his first-ever SCOOP title. First place in Event #48-M paid out $10,062.00, in addition to a commemorative champion's watch courtesy of Movado.

The #1 all-time winner from Uruguay has also made history by becoming only the fourth player to become a Triple Coop winner. Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez joins the Triple COOP club with Shawn 'buck21' Buchanan, James 'Andy McLEOD' Obst, and Rui 'RuiNF' Ferreira.

SCOOP-48-M ($215 Stud) results
Entrants: 258 (192 entries, 66 re-entries)
Total prize pool: $51,600
Places paid: 40

1. Fabrizio 'SixthSenSe19' Gonzalez (Uruguay) $10,062.00
2. viking47 (U.K.) $7,482.00
3. alwaysnice (U.K.) $5,676.00
4. sprocketsAA (Mexico) $4,128.00
5. Akkerx (Hungary) $2,838.00
6. psyhoagromor (Ukraine) $2,064.00
7. Calvin 'cal42688' Anderson (Mexico) $1,548.00
8. EDUARD_II (Latvia) $1,290.00

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

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

Despite cashing for millions of dollars and winning numerous live and online tournaments, seven years of SCOOPs went by without Mike Leah winning a title. 

Now he has two. 

The SCOOP watches will match nicely with Leah's pair of WCOOP bracelets. It's tempting to say that players didn't stand a chance against such a formidable opponent, but nearly every player in Event #48-H knew what they were doing. 

There was also enough poker-won jewelery at the final table to damage retinas a mile away. There were four SCOOP titles, five WCOOP titles and at least two WSOP bracelets scattered among the final eight.

Leah had to battle Team PokerStars Online Naoya Kihara, Stephen Chidwick, Gleb Kovtunov and Jens Lakemeier just to get heads-up with Luke Schwartz.

Schwartz and Leah played for nearly two hours. Both players were chasing their second SCOOP title of the year, but only one of them could take it.

This time it was Leah. 

The final table

Seat 1: TheMuppet -- 56,356
Seat 2: Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah -- 66,760
Seat 3: krakukra -- 38,112
Seat 4: Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov -- 74,072
Seat 5: Luke "lb6121" Schwartz -- 122,005
Seat 6: Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara -- 118,828
Seat 7: Jens "Fresh_oO_D" Lakemeier -- 36,525
Seat 8: Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick -- 137,342

TheMuppet lost the first hand at the final table and couldn't recover. 

That first hand gave Leah about half of TheMuppet's stack and then players took turns taking chunks out of TheMuppet. Then Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara finished TheMuppet off.

Jens "Fresh_oO_D" Lakemeier brought it with a [2c] and TheMuppet --who had about one big bet-- raised with a [2h]. Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov raised with a [kh] and Kihara called with a [4d]. Lakemeier folded, TheMuppet moved all-in and both remaining players called.

Kihara bet again on fourth street and Kovtunov folded.

TheMuppet: ([2s][9s]/[2h][5h][kc][9d]/([ac])
Kihara: ([tc][td])/[4d][2d][4c][4s]/([5d])

TheMuppet improved to two-pair, but Kihara hit a full house. 

The hand extended Kihara's lead to 178,420 while TheMuppet finished 8th. TheMuppet won $5,200 for the finish, which was also the first cash of the tournament. 

krakukra double, dips and busts to Leah

krakukra was down to around three big bets and got most of them in against Leah on third street. 

Leah bet on fourth street and krakukra raised all-in for a little bit more. Leah called.

Leah: ([Jd][Js])/[kd][6h][3d][qs]/([6c])
krakukra: ([tc][td])/[6d][3d][2c][4d]/([qd])

Leah's jacks got a pair of sixes to join them, but krakukra hit a queen-high flush on the river. krakukra doubled up but then gave nearly all those chips back to Leah a few minutes later.

Lakemeier brought it in with a [2h] and Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick raised with a [ks]. Leah called with a [7d] and krakukra did the same with a [qh]. Lakemeier folded and Chidwick checked his (X X)/[ks][as] on fourth street. Leah bet with (X X)/[7d][6d] and krakukra called with (X X)/[qh][6c]. Chidwick folded and players went heads up.

Leah: (X X)/[7d][6d][2s][4h]/(X)
krakukra: (X X)/[qh][6c][td][js]/(X)

Both players checked fifth street and krakukra bet on sixth. Leah raised and krakukra called. krakukra check-called a bet on the river but mucked when Leah showed [4c][4s][8s] for three of a kind. 

Leah chipped up to about ten big bets while krakukra was left half a small bet. Then Leah took that too.

krakukra brought it all-in with a [2h] and Kovtunov called with a [jc]. Leah raised with an [ad] and Kovtunov called. 

Leah: (X X)/[ad][5d][5c][qs]/(X)
krakukra: (X X)/[2h][5s][ac][5h]/(X)
Kovtunov: (X X)/[jc][6c][td][6s]/(X)

Leah bet every street and Kovtunov called all the way to the river. Then Leah showed [ah][3h][kh] for aces and fives and the other players mucked. krakukra won $5,850 for finishing 7th while Leah chipped up to 119,992.

Top to bottom for Kihara

Kihara had been near or at the lead throughout the final table, but his stack took a nosedive with six players left. 

First, Kihara lost the lead. 

Leah brought it in with a [2s] and Kovtunov raised with a [qc]. Kihara called with a [4d] and Lakemeier called with a [tc]. Leah folded and Kihara bet when he got a [4s] on fourth street. Lakemeier called with a [qh] and Kovtunov folded.

Kihara bet again on fifth street and then called bets on sixth and seventh street.

Lakemeier showed ([jh][ts]/[tc][qh][2h][th]/([9d]) for three tens and Kihara mucked his (X X)/[4d][4s][9d][jd]/(X).

The hand put Kihara at about 12 big bets and then he dipped a bit more before losing another big pot to Luke "lb6121" Schwartz. 

Schwartz brought it in with a [6h] and Kihara raised with a [qs]. Kovtunov called with a [qc] and Schwartz called as well. Kihara bet his [kc] on fourth street and Kovtunov --who got a [6d]-- folded. Schwartz called with a [5h] and both players checked fifth street.

Kihara: (X X)/[qs][kc][th][7c]/(X)
Schwartz: (X X)/[6h][5h][ah][4s]/(X)

Schwartz check-raised on sixth street and Kihara called. Schwartz bet on the river and Kihara called and mucked after Schwartz showed [8c][8h][jh] for a flush. 

Kihara was down to about two big bets and lost them to Lakemeier two hands later. Kihara and Lakemeier got it all-in on third street and tabled their hands.

Kihara: ([4h][9c])/[4d][3h][td][2c]/([ac])
Lakemeier: ([7c][7s])[jh][6d][js][kh]/([4s])

Kihara's pair of fours didn't improve while Lakemeier hit jacks and sevens. Lakemeier chipped up to 144,925 while Kihara won $7,150.00 for finishing 6th.

One-two KO

Then Schwartz took out Chidwick in two big hands. 

Chidwick brought it in with a [3d], Leah raised with a [7d] and Lakemeier re-raised with a [kc]. Chidwick threw in another raise, Leah folded and Lakemeier called.

Chidwick: (X X)/[3d][as][7c][qh]/(X)
Lakemeier: (X X)/[kc][jd][td][2h]/(X)

Chidwick bet on fourth street and called a bet on fifth. Chidwick called again on sixth and then raised on the river. Lakemeier called and showed [tc][ts][qc]  for three tens while Chidwick showed two-pair with [9s][9c][ad].

Schwartz brought it in with a [4d] two hands later and Lakemeier raised with a [5h]. Chidwick re-raised with a [jd] and only Lakemeier called. 

Chidwick got it all-in on the river with ([th][qd])/[jd][9h][ah][4h]/([6h]). Chidwick had an Ace-high flush, but Lakemeier had a better Ace-high flush with ([td][tc])/[5h][kd][8d][2d]/([ad]).

Lakemeier's lead grew to 270,807 and Chidwick won $9,750.00 for finishing 5th.

Kuvtonov can't stay afloat

Kuvtonov was the four-handed shortstack with just a handful of big bets. Kuvtonov doubled up a few times, but kept dipping in between each one. 

Kuvtonov then tried to get another double up from Leah, but wouldn't make it out intact. Kuvtonov got most of his stack in with (X X)/[qs] and Leah called with (X X)/[ac]. 

Leah: ([4c][kc])/[ac][2c][8d][8s]/([ah])
Kuvtonov: ([qh][3h])/[qs][7s][ad][ks]/([9d])

The rest of the chips went in on fourth street and while Leah didn't hit a flush, he got two-pair to best Kuvtonov's queens. 

Kuvtonov --who finished 6th in the medium version of this event-- won $13,000.00 for his 4th place finish.

Losing Lakemeier

Lakemeier and Leah were a few big bets apart until Leah took a big pot off of Lakemeier. 

Schwartz brought it in with a [2d], Lakemeier raised with an [8h] and Leah re-raised with a [jh]. Schwartz folded and Lakemeier called. 

Leah: ([ah][qh])/[jh][ac][3h][td]/([2c])
Lakemeier: ([ks][ah])/[8h][6c][5s][4c]/([4s])

Leah bet on fourth and fifth street and called a bet on sixth. Lakemeier bet again on the river but his rivered pair of fours wasn't enough to beat Leah's aces. Lakemeier dropped to about six big bets.

Lakemeier hung on for a few more hands but then Schwartz finished him off. Schwartz brought it in with an [8d] and Lakemeier raised with a [jc]. Both Leah and Schwartz called and Schwartz bet on fourth. Lakemeier raised and Leah folded.

Lakemeier got it in on fifth street with ([8c][jd])/[jc][3s][2d] and Schwartz called with ([8h][2h])/[8d][9d][2c].

Sixth and seventh street didn't improve either player's hand and Lakemeier hit the rail. Lakemeier won $19,500.00 for finishing 3rd and the tournament went heads up.

Heads up

Luke "lb6121" Schwartz -- 481,229
Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah -- 168,771

Both players were fighting for their second SCOOP of the year. 

Players battled for more than an hour and while Schwartz held on to the lead for most of that time, Leah took it over a few times. Very few hands made it to a showdown and play dragged on to the point where players started thinking about other tournaments.

"is there anything we are close to missing," Schwartz said. "tourneys i mean"

Leah said there was the $109 multiday but nothing else until the break.  Schwartz's internet even got tired after a while and play stalled for a bit while Schwartz restarted his router.

At one point Schwartz had a 7-to-1 lead, but Leah scored a pair of double ups. 

On the second, Schwartz brought it in with a [4s] and Leah raised with an [ah]. Players bet and called all the way to sixth street and then Leah moved all-in with ([3d][qs])/[ah][qh][3s][jd]. Schwartz called with ([6s][2s])/[4s][2d][6h][qc].

Schwartz hit a [ts] on the river while Leah got a [kc]. Leah doubled to 235,484 while Schwartz's lead shrunk to 414,516.

Leah then battled his way to the lead and took a large pot off Schwartz.

Schwartz brought it in with a [3h] and Leah raised while showing an [8s]. Schwartz re-raised and Leah called.

Leah: ([8d][3c])/[8s][2c][8c][td]/([4c])
Schwartz: ([jh][jd])/[3h][qc][8h][qh]/([as])

There was a bet and a call on every street and Leah took down the 220,800 chip pot with three 8s. 

The hand put Leah up to 589,084 while Schwartz was left with just 60,916.

Then Schwartz lost those chips five hands later.

Action was capped on third street and then Schwartz got his remaining 4,516 in on fourth. 

Leah: ([qd][5d])/[7d][7s][ad][9d]/([3h])
Schwartz: ([4h][7h])/[9h][td][9c][kh]/([2d])

Schwartz won $27,300.00 for the runner-up finish while Leah won $42,250.00 and his second SCOOP title of the year. 

SCOOP-48-H ($2,100 Stud) results
Entrants: 65
Total prize pool: $130,000.00
Places paid: 8

1. Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (Canada) $42,250.00
2. Luke "lb6121" Schwartz (United Kingdom) $27,300.00
3. Jens "Fresh_oO_D" Lakemeier (Germany) $19,500.00
4. Gleb "psyhoagromor" Kovtunov (Ukraine) $13,000.00
5. Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick (Mexico) $9,750.00
6. Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara (Japan) $7,150.00
7. krakukra (Russia) $5,850.00
8. TheMuppet (United Kingdom) $5,200.00

Often players will hone their skills online make a big splash at a live tour event like the European Poker Tour or Latin America Poker Tour. The Spring Championship of Online Poker Event #47-H $2,100 NLHE Min-Max, Two-Day tournament had a little twist to that as the winner has already made headlines throughout the EPT and was looking for his first -COOP win.

After over eight hours of play on Day Two, Niall "firaldo87" Farrell and Felix "ZhipOHoy" Stephensen made a deal heads-up and Farrell would pull away to nab the Modavo watch and $159,040.00 as the champ.

It is not what is seen, but unseen on the final Day One leaderboard. Hidden in 25th place was Run It Up nation's leader Jason "jcarverpoker" Somerville looking make a run at the final table despite starting the day last in chips with 50K and blinds starting at 1.2K/2.4K ante 300.

On top of the Day One leaderboard, Mikhail "Mikleler" Semin will be looking to avenge a close call in Event #6-H where he bubbled the final table later won by Luke "lb6121" Schwartz.

Russia held the first two spots on the leaderboard. The second, NL_Profit, already has a World Championship of Online Poker title from 2013 and will be looking to capture another.

A little further down the board finds yet another Russian, Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko, going after another Spring Championship of Online Poker title while still needing a Turbo Championship of Online Poker title to complete the PokerStars Grand Slam. Zaichenko however would leave early in 24th place ($6,784.00).

Mid-way through the second hour of play with the blinds at 1.6K/3.2K ante 400 Somerville raised to 7,776 as I'am_Sound countered with a three-bet to 21,112. Jason called to see the [3c][Ts][Qh] flop as both players checked. Somerville checked again on the turned [Jh] as I'am_Sound bet 11,111. After a short pause Somerville check-raised all-in for 64,139 as I'am_Sound called with the flopped top set [Qs][Qc]. Jason had outs for a straight [Ks][Qd] but the [3s] sent the Team PokerStars Pro home in 18th place ($8,480.00).

Near the end of the third hour of play, only two tables would remain after two-time -COOP champ ekiziter, including taking down Event #26-H of this series for $143K, busted in 13th place ($8,480.00).

For a good part of the third hour Sebastian "p0cket00" Sikorski would stand up top the chip counts. However, after a bad slide and slow-playing pocket kings into I'am_Sound's flopped two pair, the three-time Super Tuesday winner would be asked to leave in 11th place ($11,872.00). We would lose thx4urm0n3y in tenth as nine players would make it to the last hour before the final table.

First hand back NL_Profit would exit stage left in ninth place ($19,504.00) after doubling up both ZhipOHoy and Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe who both managed to find timely river cards to stay alive. A few minutes later Jaffe would outflip dartazzzz to set up hand-for-hand play. Seven players still remained through the fourth hour of play, which was not surprising considering the average chip count was still north of 50 BBs.

For most of the fifth hour it looked like all seven would get through. Aside from a nasty kings versus queens hand all-in pre-flop shifting the chip lead from WhatIfGod to ZhipOHoy, most of the hour showed bluffs and non-showdowns. Then, with the blinds up to 7K/14K ante 1,750 on the three-handed table, WhatIfGod would complete from the small blind as Jaffe raised to 40,500. WhatIfGod made the call to see the coordinated [7h][5s][6c] flop. WhatIfGod checked as Jaffe continued for 45,000. A check-raise to 103,500 was the response as Jaffe called. [2d] on the turn and WhatIfGod checked again, Jaffe would shove 295,297 chips as WhatIfGod insta-called with the nuts [9s][8s]. Jaffe's broken aces [As][Ah] could not recover, starting up the final table below:

Seat 1: I'am_Sound (408320 in chips)
Seat 2: Mikleler (233639 in chips)
Seat 3: SsicK_OnE (931064 in chips)
Seat 4: WhatIfGod (970171 in chips)
Seat 5: Niall "firaldo87" Farrell (655419 in chips)
Seat 6: Felix "ZhipOHoy" Stephensen (1041387 in chips)

I'am_Sound is looking for a second SCOOP title after scoring in 2013's Event #7-M heads-up tournament.

Winning Event #12-M and Event #18-H was not enough as SsicK_OnE is going after a fourth SCOOP title and a third win this year alone.

WhatIfGod hopes prayers will be answered at the final table to add a SCOOP title next to his two WCOOP titles from 2014 in Event #10 and Event #55.

Niall "firaldo87" Farrell has some deep runs on the European Poker Tour including the EPT 12 Malta Main Event title and a TCOOP 2015 final table in Event #23 taking away $42K.

Felix "ZhipOHoy" Stephensen will be looking for revenge after finishing runner-up to dragonwarrior in SCOOP 2015's Event #33-H.

Mid-way through the hour with the blinds moving up to 8K/16K ante 2K Farrell would raise to 36K as it folded to I'am_Sound on the button holding pocket sevens [7c][7s]. I'am_Sound lowered the boom and shipped 302,070 chips as Farrell called with nines [9c][9d]. The thunder was silenced after the blank [5c] [Ad] [8h] [Qc] [Td] board returned $31,800.00 to I'am_Sound in sixth place.

Four hands later Stephensen would squeeze the short-stacked Mikleler with a shove for 566,052. Mikleler holding 176,119 chips left and [Js][Kc] made the call all-in. Felix's [Td][Ac] would find top pair on the [Jh] [Ah] [6d] [Ts] [8c] board to eliminate Mikleler in fifth place ($48,760.00).

Eight hands after a huge double up at Ssick_OnE's expense, Farrell would use the new chip lead to take one step closer towards his first SCOOP title. With the blinds at 12K/24K ante 3K WhatIfGod looked to the heavens and shoved for 503,598 as Farrell answered with a re-shove from the small blind for 1.87 million holding pocket nines [9h][9d]. WhatIfGod's [Ac][Td] was live post-flop but by the turn [6d] [9s] [5c] [4s] [Kh] Farrell's set of nines ended the divine run in fourth place ($65,720.00).

Niall was chiding himself for a "nit fold" for couple of hands on a coordinated board when he got into a pre-flop raising war with Ssick_OnE. After a four-bet shove by Ssick_OnE for 410,970 Niall needed to make a decision holding 2.28 million chips before the start of the hand and [9c][Ac]. He called and was dominated by Ssick_OnE's pocket nines [9d][9s]. But, Ssick_OnE's string of victories at the 2016 series would not add a third here as an ace hit the flop [Ad] [2h] [Tc] [4s] [7d] adding $95,400.00 Ssick_OnE's sick series in third place.

Two hands later Farrell and Stephensen would quickly make a deal that involved six-figures sums and more importantly... beer (with $6,000 and the champ's watch still to play for)

Firaldo87: $153,040.00
ZhipOHoy: $142,000.00

Heads-up play started with Farrell holding a 2.73 million to 1.5 million chip lead as both stated they were anxious to register for more events. Niall was still in all three Event #54 (Main Event) as Felix opted to play the medium and high.

Mid-way through the ninth hour of play with the blinds up to 16K/32K ante 4K Farrell managed to push his lead further 3.58 million to 655K. Niall would lead off for a raise to 72K, as Stephensen shoved. Holding [Ad][6c] Niall made the call needing a clean board against Felix's [8c][Qc]. A spotless [4h] [Jc] [Kd] [7h] [Th] board shipped the SCOOP 2016 Event #47-H title and $159,040.00 to Niall "Firaldo87" Farrell!

SCOOP-47-H ($2,100 NL Hold'em Min-Max, Part Two) results

Entrants: 424 (Part One)

Prize pool: $848,000.00

Places paid: 48

1. Niall "firaldo87" Farrell (Canada) $159,040.00*
2. Felix "ZhipOHoy" Stephensen (United Kingdom) $142,000.00*
3. SsicK_OnE (Germany) $95,400.00
4. WhatIfGod (Sweden) $65,720.00
5. Mikleler (Russia) $48,760.00
6. I'am_Sound (Switzerland) $31,800.00

* denotes part of two-way deal

You want more SCOOP, we got more SCOOP. Come join in the fun yourself. Click here to get a PokerStars account.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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