It takes a special kind of player to enjoy and split pot game, especially Stud Hi/Lo. There are plenty of grinders who excel in these events but it does tend to frustrate a lot. That didn't stop a large group of them from signing up to play in the WCOOP $320 Stud Hi/Lo tournament.
The field topped out at 529 players to well surpass the $125,000 guarantee. 72 places were paid a portion of the $158,700 prizepool and the winner was set to earn just short of $30,000. Play drastically slowed on the money bubble even with several very short stacks.
Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome and Eugene Katchalov of Team PokerStars spent a lot of time at the same table late in the tournament but both were eliminated shortly after making the money.
Marcel Luske had the best chance to represent the Team at the final table but dropped from the top of the chip counts to out over a series of unfortunate hands. The popular Dutch pro watched his stack bounce around and was knocked out in 9th just one spot from a final table appearance.
Ulett_23 was an interesting story among on the final table as the Canadian was going for a second WCOOP after capturing the 8-Game Mixed in 2008.
Final Table chip counts:
Seat 1: Scombat (614,208 in chips)
Seat 2: WTFOMFGOAO (57,723 in chips)
Seat 3: __akun333___ (553,118 in chips)
Seat 4: OhRaisyDaisy (247,321 in chips)
Seat 5: Zapahzamazki (46,933 in chips)
Seat 6: showtime (258,423 in chips)
Seat 7: Leon_Javur (479,152 in chips)
Seat 8: Ulett_23 (388,122 in chips)
WTFOMFGOAO starts short, eliminated in 8th
It was a close call between Luske and WTFOMFGOAO on the final table bubble as both were severely short stacked. WTFOMFGOAO survived the payout jump and promptly put those few remaining chips in the middle.
__akun333___ was the bring-in with the [4h], Ulett_23 completed to 10,000 with [8d] before both WTFOMFGOAO and __akun333___ called. WTFOMFGOAO checked showing [Ad][Kc] and __akun333___ bet out with [4h][5s]. Ulett_23 called behind with [8d][3c] as well as WTFOMGOAO.
The short stack WTFOMFGOAO liked 5th street and bet with [Ad][Kc][Kd] and __akun333___ called with [4h][5s][9d] before Ulett_23 raised it up showing [8d][3c][8s]. WTFOMFGOAO was sticking with the hand putting in a three-bet for the last 1,723 and both opponents stuck around.
__akun333___ and Ulett_23 bet-called the last two streets before __akun333___ tabled ([5c])([4s])[4h][5s][9d][5d]([Ks]) for a full house and both players mucked their hand. Ulett_23 stayed alive but WTFOMFGOAO was eliminated in 8th place instead of tripling up.
Zapahzamazki gets rolled up by showtime, eliminated in 7th
Zapahzamazki was the shortest stack at the start of the final table and did nothing to improve the situation before getting in a big three-way hand. Zapahzamazki completed instead of posting the bring-in with [5d] and showtime raised with [8s]. __akun333 called with [Tc] and Zapahzamazki called all-in with just 199.
showtime bet each street and __akun333___ called each bet until showtime was also all-in on 6th street.
__akun333___ ([Ts])([6c])[Tc][Js][4s]([5s])
showtime ([8d])([8c])[8s][Td][Jd]([6s])
Zapahzamazki ([8h])([Jc])[5h][5d][3c]([4c])
Zapahzamazki was alive with the only low draw but missed with the [3d] for a useless two pair while showtime was holding rolled up 8's was looking at a draw for the double knockout. __akun333___ did not hit with the [6h] giving showtime the big triple while Zapahzamazki was eliminated in 7th place for $3,967.
showtime runs out of time, eliminated in 6th
showtime did well with the triple up but those chips didn't stick around very long. It took almost an hour of 6-handed play when showtime was down to 111,290 and took a shot.
showtime was the bring-in but instead completed with [3s] before Scombat raised it up. showtime three-bet and Scombat than capped the betting which showtime called all-in.
Scombat ([7s])([8s])[7d]
showtime: shows ([Ac])([2h])[3s]
showtime was holding a nut low draw and an over card for the high hand but hit blanks on every street until Scombat had two pair versus a small pair. showtime survived the all-in earlier but finished short in the final table marathon in 6th place.
Scombat: shows ([7s])([8s])[7d][8d][Qd][4s]([3d])
showtime: shows ([Ac])([2h])[3s][Jh][3c][Qc]([9s])
OhRaisyDaisy raises late, eliminated in 5th
OhRaisyDaisy was chipped down to less than three big bets when the Russian found what looked like a sure double or triple. __akun333___ was the bring-in with the [5c] and OhRaisyDaisy completed with [Kh]. Ulett_23 and __akun333___ both called the bet before 4th street when __akun333___ led out with [5c][Ad].
OhRaisyDaisy raised it up before Ulett_23 with [7c][9d] called and __akun333___ three-bet showing [5c][Ad]. OhRaisyDaisy put in the 4th bet to cap the betting and all three were there for 5th street.
OhRaisyDaisy bet all-in for 18,121 after getting [Kh][Jd][Kc] and Ulett_23 raised with [7c][9d][Ts] and __akun333___ came along with [5c][Ad][Js]. Ulett_23 bet 6th and 7th street with __akun333___ calling both times.
OhRaisyDaisy hit two pair King and Jack on 5th but it fell when Ulett_23 showed down ([8c])([6c])[7c][9d][Ts][Td]([2h]) for the straight. Both opponents mucked their hand and OhRaisyDaisy was eliminated in 5th place for $7,935.
__akun333___ wheeled out the door, eliminated in 4th
Ulett_23 took control of the final table during four-handed play and was holding half the chips in play with the rest spread among the short stacks. Three of the remaining players were involved in a big hand which boosted Ulett_23's lead.
__akun333___ was the bring in with [2h] and Ulett_23 completed with [4h] before Scombat called. The action wasn't done as __akun333___ raised put in another raise, Ulett_23 three-bet, and Scombat once again just called. __akun333___ capped the betting and both players called.
Scombat was no longer passive and led out showing [Ac][7d] before __akun333___ raised. Ulett_23 was the one to slow things down by just calling but Scombat put in a third bet that __akun333___ four-bet for the final 81,842 behind. Both players called followed by Scombat and Ulett_23 checking down the rest of the hand.
Scombat rolled over ([4d])([2d])[Ac][7d][9d][5s]([3c]) for a wheel and the other two mucked. __akun333___ could not match the hand at showdown showing (X)(X)[2h][Td][Qh][Kd](X) and was eliminated in 4th for $11,902 while Scombat pulled closer to Ulett_23.
Leon_Javur plays quiet, eliminated in 3rd
After the long string of play without elimination, there was another knockout on the next hand. Leon_Javur began the final table in the middle of the pack and rarely mixed it up in big hands. The Estonian finally had to take a shot as both Scombat and Ulett_23 were well ahead.
Leon_Javur was the bring-in with [3d] and Ulett_23 completed with [Ks]. The two players then capped the betting before being dealt 4th street. Ulett_23 bet out sowing [Ks][5h] and Leon_Javur moved all-in for another 46,519 which was called.
Leon_Javur([7h])([6d][3d][Qd][Ac][Jc]([7c])
Ulett_23 ([9s])([9h])[Ks][5h][2c][Jh]([Js])
The best Leon_Javur was able to pull by the end was a pair of 7's which were no good against the buried 9's of Ulett_23 which improved on the river. Leon_Javur quietly moved through the final table and finished in 3rd place for $16,187.
Scombat comes from behind to win WCOOP 2013 Event #15
Scombat (985,686 in chips)
Ulett_23 (1,659,314 in chips)
Ulett_23 began the heads-up battle with the chiplead and a great chance to grab a second WCOOP title. The two played back and forth over 74 hands, nearly 30 minutes, before Scombat took control.
Ulett_23 lost control of the tournament when Scombat won two big pots over 600,000, both with buried Jacks, to leave the former champion with just 32,000 behind.
After such a long tough battle, the final hand was a little anticlimactic with Ulett_23 getting all-in with the [Kd] showing against Scombat's [As]. Ulett_23 picked up a pair of 6's on 5th street but Scombat paired bigger on 6th.
Scombat ([Jc])([7c])[As][5c][9h][7d]([2c])
Ulett_23 ([4d])([2h])[Kd][6c][6h][Tc]([9d])
Ulett_23 came very close but it was Russian Scombat who came on strong late to win the Stud Hi/Lo WCOOP event for $29,994.
WCOOP 2013 Event #15 ($320 Stud Hi/Lo) Results:
529 entrants
$158,700 prize pool
72 places paid
1. Scombat (Russia) - $29,994.50
2. Ulett_23 (Canada) - $21,979.95
3. Leon_Javur (Estonia) - $16,187.40
4. __akun333___ (Poland) - $11,902.50
5. OhRaisyDaisy (Russia) - $7,935.00
6. showtime (Canada) - $5,554.50
7. Zapahzamazki (Russia) - $3,967.50
8. WTFOMFGOAO (Russia) - $2,777.25