It was one of the toughest final tables of the WCOOP. Big names with big chip leads made it seem as though it would be a 1,2,3 knockout. But players like moukari6 never gave up. The great structure gave moukari6 plenty of time to move when it was right, and big stacks like Big Huni were casualties. Moukari6 went on to win the tournament and grab one of the few WCOOP bracelets still up for grabs.
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Out of all of the World Championship of Online Poker tournaments in 2012, the two-day events were some of the most popular. In addition to solid structures in these events, players who went deep appreciated the chance to rest and regroup before the final playdown. Event 50 offered players that structure and two-day schedule for a $1,050 buy-in, and the guarantee was set at $750,000. And that led to another guarantee that was left in the dust as the prize pool soared.
Day 1
The lengthy registration period resulted in very positive numbers for this event:
Players: 1,308
Prize pool: $1,308,000.00
Paid players: 153
The tournament wasn't so good to the members of PokerStars teams, though. The last Team PokerStars Pro standing was Vivian Im, and she exited in 368th place, quite a distance from the money bubble.
Speaking of money, the bubble burst at the expense of shurgar, a WCOOP regular and recent final tablist who took 154th in this event. ICANTSNG then grabbed $1,962.00 for the 153rd place finish, and payouts continued from there.
The night ended with only 70 players remaining at the end of Level 24. The top 10 players and their chip counts were as follows:
1. jampiriki (Hungary) - 328,005
2. isla_86 (Norway) - 304,660
3. Big Huni (Costa Rica) - 297,600
4. JAAKARHU99 (Finland) - 289,577 (WCOOP 2012 Event 3 second place finisher)
5. Paolo69 (UK) - 280,671 (SCOOP 2011 champion) (WCOOP 2012 Event 22 fourth place finisher)
6. dyng247 (Sweden) - 278,786 (WCOOP 2012 Event 27 fifth place finisher)
7. tomthebomb2 (Ireland) - 270,422
8. nutzho (Canada) - 262,213
9. AlexKP (Denmark) - 232,489 (WCOOP 2010 champion) (TCOOP champion) (WCOOP 2012 Event 45 final table bubble)
10. Vojta_R (Czech Republic) - 213,688
Day 2
The second day of action began with Level 25, which offered blinds of 1,400/2,800 and a 350 ante. The two-hour mark showed the field cut in half, as only 35 players remained on four tables. Some of the previous night's chip leaders didn't make it through the day, as tomthebomb2 exited 33rd, dyng247 in 29th, and isla_86 followed in 27th. Paolo69 departed in 20th.
With only two tables remaining, a majority of the original top 10 were still in action. Nutzho then finished in 18th place, and JAAKARHU99 was right behind in 17th. The chip leader at the start of Day 2, jampiriki, was eliminated in 13th. The 11th place elimination of lynskey99 put hand-for-hand play into motion, and it took more than a half hour to find the elimination hand. It happened in a battle of the blinds. Andrzejeczek raise from the small blind, and reelhugefish reraised all-in from the big blind with [3h][3s]. Andrzejeczek called with [Ac][Tc] and immediately caught trips on the [As][2d][Ah] flop. The [7c] and [Jc] eliminated reelhugefish in tenth place with $11,641.20.
Big lead for Big Huni
The final table began in Level 39, with blinds of 9,000/18,000 and a 2,500 ante, along with these player chip counts:
Seat 1: Vojta_R (1,037,938 in chips)
Seat 2: Big Huni (3,130,453 in chips)
Seat 3: moukari6 (1,627,072 in chips)
Seat 4: AlexKP (543,072 in chips)
Seat 5: Andrzejeczek (817,537 in chips)
Seat 6: m3Dyyy (767,096 in chips)
Seat 7: elmerixx (375,967 in chips)
Seat 8: goleafsgoeh (818,716 in chips)
Seat 9: ziduart (692,149 in chips)
AlexKP was one of the shorter starting stacks but soon tangled with Big Huni and won a pot worth more than 816K chips. A while later, Vojta_R took a 404K pot from m3Dyyy, but most pots stayed relatively small.
M3Dyyy had a tough time from the start of the final table and finally made a move with [Ah][Qs] preflop. Original raiser Andrzejeczek called with [Ts][Tc], and that pair held up to the [2c][8d][5h][Js][Kh] empty board. That left m3Dyyy out in ninth place with $14,388.00.
New battles for the chip lead
Just after the six-hour break of Day 2, ziduart doubled through Big Huni, and the latter's chip lead began to be challenged by moukari6 and Vojta_R. Andrzejeczek took a 1.1 million chip pot from moukari6 to climb into second place, and elmerixx doubled through Big Huni to stay alive. Elmerix doubled through Big Huni a second time, though, and Andrzejeczek took over the lead. AlexKP doubled through ziduart
Goleafsgoeh had become one of the shortest stacks, and the UTG all-in raise committed 312,508 chips with [Kh][9h]. Big Huni reraised from middle position to isolate, which worked, and then showed [Qd][Qc]. The boad of [3h][Ac][Jc][7h][Js] gave no help to goleafsgoeh, and Big Huni scooped that pot. Goleafsgoeh (winner of a 2011 WCOOP title) was eliminated in eighth place with $25,506.00.
Ziduart doubled through chip leader Andrzejeczek, and a few hands later, elmerixx attempted the same. Elmerixx raised UTG to start the hand, and Vojta_R reraised. Elmerixx responded by moving all-in for just under 625K, and Vojta_R called with [8h][8d]. The race was on when elmerixx showed [Ad][Kh]. The flop of [Qd][Jc][9d] gave elmerixx a straight opportunity, but it failed to materialize on the [4h] turn or [2c] river. Elmerixx had to leave in seventh place with $38,586.00.
Everything changes
Vojta_R was on the climb and took a pot worth more than one million chips from Andrzejeczek to race into first place. And then a big hand changed everything. The one shown here gives ziduart a lot of life, takes a chunk from Andrzejeczek, and leaves Big Huni on a very short stack:
Wow.
Three hands later, Big Huni doubled through Andrzejeczek, who moved all-in on the very next hand. Andrzejeczek started the hand with a mere UTG raise, but when AlexKP challenged all-in from the big blind, Andrzejeczek called 724,358 chips all-in with [Ah][As]. AlexKP was in trouble with [Ad][6h], but the [5c][3h][Ts] flop was interesting. The [4c] turn card provided the straight draw, and the [2c] on the river made it. Andrzejeczek's aces were cracked, and there was a $51,666.00 consolation prize for the sixth place finish.
Right after the seven-hour break, Big Huni pushed that short stack and doubled through ziduart, and two hands later, Big Huni doubled through ziduart again.
No deal, play it out
The final five paused the tournament to discuss a potential deal. And after looking at chip-chop and ICM numbers, it was clear that no deal would be reached. Play resumed. And soon after, AlexKP doubled through Vojta_R to grab the lead.
Big Huni stuck around for a while with a newfound chip stack but eventually desired some action. The hand began with an UTG raise from moukari6 and call from Big Huni in the big blind. The flop came [9c][Ts][4h], and moukari6 bet. Big Huni check-raised, and moukari6 called to see the [7c] turn. Moukari6 bet again, and Big Huni check-raised all-in with [Ad][Ah] and the overpair. Moukari6 showed [Qc][Jc] for the straight and club draws. The river brought the [Ks] for that club flush, and Big Huni was gone in fifth place with $64,746.00.
Ziduart doubled through AlexKP and then through moukari6, and Vojta_R doubled through ziduart. It had become anyone's game, as the double-ups continued to change the look of the leaderboard.
Then Vojta_R made the all-in move with [Ah][3d]. Original raiser AlexKP called with a dominating [Ac][Kd], and that hand only improve to trips on the [Kc][Kh][Qc] flop. The [Js] and [3s] finished off the board and eliminated Vojta_R in fourth place with $91,036.80.
Deal for three?
The final three players almost immediately paused the tournament to discuss a deal. They received the ICM numbers and began discussions. With $15,000 additional money set aside for the winner, the payouts were agreed on as follows:
Seat 3: moukari6 (4,547,216 in chips) = $178,000.00
Seat 4: AlexKP (2,274,964 in chips) = $160,260.40
Seat 9: ziduart (2,987,820 in chips) = $160,260.40
Moukari6 chipped up, and AlexKP lost ground. AlexKP finally pushed all-in with [9h][6h], and moukari6 called with [As][7h]. The board came [Jc][Ts][Kh][2s][7d], and the pair of sevens won it. AlexKP took third place and $160,260.40 in cash.
Moukari6 dominates heads-up
There were only two players left, and they started their final duel with these weapons:
Seat 3: moukari6 (7,147,291 in chips)
Seat 9: ziduart (2,662,709 in chips)
It didn't take long for the battle to heat up. The hand started with a raised flop of [Qs][4s][Qh], and ziduart bet. Moukari6 check-raised, and ziduart pumped it up again. Moukari6 responded by moving all-in, and ziduart called with Qd][5s] for trip queens. But moukari6 showed [4h][4c] for the flopped full house. The [8d] and [3h] changed nothing, and ziduart accepted second place and $160,260.40.
Moukari6 of Finland won Event 50 for $193,000.00 and a WCOOP bracelet. Congrats!
WCOOP 2012 Event 50 ($1,050 NLHE 2-Day) Results (reflects three-way deal):
1st place: moukari6 (Finland) - $193,000.00*
2nd place: ziduart (Portugal) - $160,260.40*
3rd place: AlexKP (Denmark) - $160,260.40*
4th place: Vojta_R (Czech Republic) - $91,036.80
5th place: Big Huni (Costa Rica) - $64,746.00
6th place: Andrzejeczek (Poland) - $51,666.00
7th place: elmerixx (Finland) - $38,586.00
8th place: goleafsgoeh (Canada) - $25,506.00
9th place: m3Dyyy (Romania) - $14,388.00
Three players agreed to payouts with $15,000 more set aside for the winner.
Entrants: 1,308
Paid players: 153
WCOOP runs through September 24 with a total of 65 tournaments, so there's plenty of time left to get in on the action. For all sorts of information, check out the WCOOP home page. And don't forget to tune in to WCOOP Radio for daily shows at 15:00 ET.
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.