She's no stranger to the tables of PokerStars. Ana Marquez' No Limit Hold'em game has come a long way in the past few years, and that wasn't more obvious than when she took over Event 5H of SCOOP tonight. She eliminated all but one of her opponents at the final table with the confidence of the professional players that she is, and she soared directly into the winner's circle with her first SCOOP title.
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On the second day of the 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker, there was quite a bit of NLHE with some Badugi thrown in for good measure. Event 5 offered NLHE with rebuys for the first 60 minutes of play with one optional add-on at the end of that time. Why only 60 minutes of late registration and rebuys, you ask? It was also a turbo structure with five-minute levels.
Event 5H was the high buy-in option with a $1,000 + $50 price tag, and the guarantee was set at $750K. But the crowd of players interested in this action was so great that the prize pool soared well beyond expectations.
The final tournament numbers are as follows:
Players: 437
Rebuys: 555
Add-ons: 337
Guarantee: $750,000.00
Prize pool: $1,329,000.00
Paid players: 54
Action was fast and furious, as is the case with a turbo like this. There were a number of Team PokerStars Pros in the field, but the only one to come close to the money was Ville Wahlbeck, who exited short of that money in 65th place.
Past the money bubble, the field was still full of recognizable names - nutsinho, ImDaNuts, padjes, and Zugwat. But dominating the field was none other than ana marquez.
Amadi_017 starts with strong lead
The final table began in Level 37, with blinds of 25,000/50,000 and a 6,250 ante. The initial chip counts and seating arrangement were as follows:
Seat 1: ana marquez (543,475 in chips)
Seat 2: blakjak19 (463,568 in chips)
Seat 3: China_White1 (435,271 in chips)
Seat 4: shinbunshi (204,174 in chips)
Seat 5: treezer (268,157 in chips)
Seat 6: Amadi_017 (1,691,961 in chips)
Seat 7: aliasbissen (291,057 in chips)
Seat 8: brendon1717 (209,480 in chips)
Seat 9: TIPCHIK321 (553,857 in chips)
Ana marquez started strong, taking control on the first hand of the action by moving all-in from middle position. China_White1 called all-in with [As][Ks], and ana marquez showed [2s][2h]. She took the lead when the flop came [2d][9d][8d] with the set of deuces, and the [7s] on the turn changed nothing. The [8h] on the river only completed a full house and eliminated China_White1 in ninth place with $22,061.40.
It didn't take long for the original short stack to take a chance. The hand started with brendon1717 with an UTG raise, but aliasbissen challenged from the big blind with an all-in move. Brendon1717 called all-in with [Qs][9s], and aliasbissen showed [6d][6c]. The board came [Jd][2h][8d][8s][6s] to give aliasbissen the full house, and brendon1717 was out in eighth place, which was worth $29,902.50.
The ana marquez show is on
As the next level kicked in, ana marquez was back in control with an UTG raise. Treezer reraised all-in from middle position with [Jh][Jd], and ana marquez called with [Kc][Js]. The flop of [Ks][6h][8h] immediately gave ana marquez the lead with top pair, and nothing changed as the board completed with [Tc][2h]. Treezer departed in seventh place with $43,192.50.
Another hand began with an UTG raise from ana marquez, this time an all-in move for more than 1.1 million chips. Aliasbissen called all-in from the small blind for 80,012 chips with [8h][2c], and ana marquez showed [9h][9d]. The virtual dealer gave them [Js][As][Ah][Qs][8s], and that was enough to eliminate aliasbissen in sixth place with $56,482.50.
Minutes later, ana marquez raised UTG yet again. Blakjak19 called all-in for 146,068 chips, and TIPCHIK321 called from the big blind. The flop came [Jd][2s][3c], and ana marquez bet 120K, enough to prompt TIPCHIK321 to fold. Ana marquez then showed [Ad][5h], but blakjak19 was ahead with [5s][5d]. However, the [Ah] hit on the turn to give ana marquez top pair, which held up to the [9d] on the river to send blakjack19 out in fifth place with $74,424.00.
The action continued into Level 40, and ana marquez challenged from the small blind by moving all-in with [Jc][9c]. Shinbunshi called all-in from the big blind holding [9h][9d], which remained the best hand through the reveal of the [Kd][Td][Ah] flop and [7h] turn. But the [Jd] on the river gave ana marquez the best hand and left shinbunshi out in fourth place with $106,320.00.
Level 41 brought another all-in move from ana marquez from the small blind. Amadi_017 called all-in from the big blind with [Kc][9d], which bested the [Qs][Ts] of ana marquez. But the [Jh][9h][Qd] flop gave ana marquez the pair of queens, and the [Qh] on the turn made trips. The [5s] on the river sent Amadi_017 out in third place with $139,545.00.
No stopping ana marquez
Within minutes the tournament was over. Ana marquez neared the 4 million-chip mark, and TIPCHIK321 had less than 1 million. TIPCHIK321 moved all-in with [Qs][3d], but ana marquez quickly called with [6c][6s]. The flop of [7s][8d][Jh] changed nothing, and the [6d] only improved ana marquez to a set of sixes. The [Ks] on the river ended the tournament, leaving TIPCHIK321 out in second place with $189,382.50.
Ana marquez, also known as Ana Marquez, won her first SCOOP title and $255,035.10. Congrats!
PokerStars 2013 SCOOP Event #5-H ($1,050+R NLHE Turbo) results:
Players: 437
Rebuys: 555
Add-ons: 337
Prizepool: $1,329,000
Places paid: 54
1. ana marquez (UK) $255,035.10
2. TIPCHIK321 (Russia) $189,382.50
3. Amadi_017 (UK) $139,545.00
4. shinbunshi (Japan) $106,320.00
5. blakjak19 (Greece) $74,424.00
6. aliasbissen (Sweden) $56,482.50
7. treezer (Sweden) $43,192.50
8. brendon1717 (Australia) $29,902.50
9. China_White1 (Belgium) $22,061.40
Check out the SCOOP homepage for all of the upcoming tournaments and satellites, as well as the leaderboard and SCOOP statistics.
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.