Wire-to-wire is not an easy task, especially with five-minute levels in this turbo-centric series with hyper-escalating blinds and antes. South Korea's rkdehddls made it look easy in Event #7 $27 NL with rebuys. When the final table began, rkdehddls held roughly one-third of chips in play. It was only a matter of time before rkdehddls gobbled up the rest of the field to emerge as the newest TCOOP champion.
TCOOP Event #7 $27+R NL attracted 7,650 runners. They boosted the prize pool to over $560,599.25 with 11,201 re-buys and 3,984 add-ons. First place paid out $85,272.58 to the eventual champion.
PokerStars Team Pros taking a shot at TCOOP title included Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada, George Danzer, Christophe de Meulder, and Henrique Pinho. Team Online grinding out Event #7 included Mickey 'mement_mori' Petersen, Andre 'acoimbra' Coimbra and Felix 'xflixx' Schneiders. No one from Team Online or any of the Team Pros advanced to the money.
David 'Gunslinger3' Bach needed a TCOOP title to fill in a Triple COOP and an elusive Stars Slam (titles in WCOOP, SCOOP and TCOOP plus a Sunday Million victory). With 200 players to go, he was 69th overall. However, that was as high as he'd get. Gunslinger3 eventually bowed out in 11th place. Gunslinger3 was all-in preflop with [Ah][Ts] against 1inamilli92's [Qh][Jc]. Gunslinger3 turned a Broadway straight and rivered a four-flush. However, 1inamilli92 caught a runner-runner boat after turning two pair and rivering a full house. Gunslinger3 busted in 111th place which paid out $465.29. David 'Gunslinger3' Bach will have to wait another day to become the first-ever player to achieve the Stars Slam.
With ten to go, action went hand-for-hand. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. A pair of players busted out simultaneously on the final table bubble. Short-stacked tarnai78 took [Qs][9h] into battle against big-stacked rkdehddls' [Js][8s]. rkdehddls flopped trip eights and turned a full house. That was all she wrote for tarnai78, who hit the road in tenth place. Over on the other table, HunSDP made a final stand with [Ad][7h] against Sghango's [As][Qd]. Neither player improved and Sghango won the hand with Ace-high and a Queen-kicker. HunSDP was knocked out in ninth place. The final table was set, but with only eight players.
TCOOP Event #7 - Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: walkz666 (8,807,869)
Seat 2: rkdehddls (25,390,497)
Seat 4: Sghango (13,978,114)
Seat 5: Lavrik942 (1,998,536)
Seat 6: sicklife03 (3,849,352)
Seat 7: gamblr84 (5,824,526)
Seat 8: tapata16 (12,521,138)
Seat 9: Great Ararat (4,102,968)
The final table commenced during Level 50 with blinds at 500K/1 million and 125K ante. South Korea's rkdehddls held a significant edge with approximately 25.4 million. Russia's Lavrik942 clung onto the short stack with a shade under 2 million.
Great Ararat eliminated in 8th place
With this turbo format, you expected a quick elimination. Great Ararat moved all-in for 4,452,968 with [Qh][9c] and walkz666 called from the small blind with [8d][8h]. The board ran out [Kd][Jd][5d][3c][2c]. Great Ararat's hand failed to improve and walkz666 won the pot with a pair of eights. Great Ararattook home $6,727.19 for eighth place.
sicklife03 eliminated in 7th place
On the very next hand we saw another player bid adieu when sicklife03 opened to 2,820,000, tapata16 shoved all-in for 8,597,602 and sicklife03 called. tapata16 led with [Ac][Qs] versus sicklife03's [Ah][4h]. The board ran out [Qd][9s][8s][Ad][Jh]. tapata16 turned two pair and won the pot. For a seventh-place finish, sicklife03 collected $12,333.18.
gamblr84 eliminated in 6th place
Another quick-fire elimination. Before the hand was dealt, short-stacked gamblr84 requested a deal. Before anyone could answer, it was lights out. walkz666 min-raised to 2.4 million, gamblr84 bombed it all-in for 5,674,526 andwalkz666 called. gamblr84 made a final stand with [7s][7h] against walkz666's [As][2s]. However, the board finished up [Ks][5d][4d][2c][Ah] and walkz666 rivered two-pair -- Aces and deuces. Alas, gamblr84 was knocked out in sixth place, which paid out $17,939.17.
With five players remaining, Lavrik942 was the shortest stack with 3.9 million. rkdehddls held onto first with 25.1 million, but walkz666 was right behind after chipping up to 23.3 million.
Lavrik942 eliminated in 5th place
Classic race. walkz666 min-raised to 2.8 million, Lavrik942 shoved for 4,419,144 and walkz666 called. Lavrik942 was slightly ahead with [7c][7s] against walkz666's [Ac][Ks]. The flop was [Kh][8d][4d] and walkz666 hit the flop with Big Slick to take the lead. The turn was the [Qs] and the river was the [Js]. walkz666 dragged the pot with a pair of Kings. Lavrik942 failed to improve and busted out in fifth place, which paid out $23,545.16.
Sghango eliminated in 4th place
Big-stacked rkdehddls min-raised to 2.8 million, Sghango re-raised all-in for 3,856,042, tapata16 called, and rkdehddls called. Three-way pot. tapata16 and rkdehddls checked it down to the river. The board ran out [9c][8c][6h][5d][5h].
Sghango: [Ks][Ts]
tapata16: [As][Jh]
At showdown, rkdehddls mucked his hand. Sghango flopped a gutshot, but whiffed. tapata16 won the pot with an Ace-kicker. Sghango earned $30,832.95 for fourth place.
DEAL
With three to go, action was paused to discuss a deal. Although walkz666 held the lead with 26 million, only 1 million separated first from third. They quickly agreed on a money chop with these terms: walkz666 ($62,069.38), rkdehddls ($61,774.64), and tapata16 ($61,343.91). They also had to leave $8,000 on the table to the eventual winner. With a deal in place, action resumed.
walkz666 eliminated in 3rd place
Another quickie elimination. walkz666 bumped it up to 4.8 million and rkdehddls called from the big blind. The flop was [Kd][6c][5h] and fireworks ensued. walkz666 fired out 4.8 million, rkdehddls raised to 16 million, walkz666 shoved for 23,604,507 and rkdehddls called.
walkz666: [3h][3s]
rkdehddls: [Ks][9s]
rkdehddls flopped a pair of Kings. The turn was the [4d] and walkz666 picked up an open-ended straight draw. The turn was the [5d]. walkz666 missed a straight. Although walkz666 had two pair -- fives and treys -- it was not good enough to beat rkdehddls's better two pair -- Kings and fives. For a third-place finish, walkz666 took home $62,069.38.
HEADS-UP: rkdehddls (South Korea) vs. tapata16 (Bulgaria)
Seat 2: rkdehddls (60,363,962)
Seat 8: tapata16 (16,109,038)
With two remaining, rkdehddls held almost a 4-1 advantage.
Bulgaria's tapata16 did not lie down so easily. rkdehddls had him on the ropes early on, but failed to deliver a knockout blow. Instead, tapata16 doubled up with [Ac][Ks] against rkdehddls's [As][2h]. tapata16 avoided an elimination and trimmed the lead to 44.5 million to 32.2 million. Alas, that was as close as tapata16 would get before rkdehddls pulled away.
tapata16 eliminated in 2nd place; rkdehddls wins TCOOP Event #7!
Heads-up only lasted 13 hands. rkdehddls quickly rebounded from losing a 32.2 million pot and put away tapata16.
On the final hand, rkdehddls min-raised to 4 million and tapata16 called. The flop was [Jc][8c][5h]. tapata16 checked, rkdehddls fired out 4.2 million, and tapata16 called. The turn was the [3s]. Both players checked. The river was the [2h]. tapata16 moved all-in for his remaining 26,018,076 and rkdehddls called.
tapata16: [9s][7d]
rkdehddls: [Kc][3h]
At showdown, tapata16 missed a gutshot and had nothing except Jack-high. rkdehddls turned a pair of treys, which ended up winning the pot. tapata16was knocked out in second place. Game over. Bulgaria's tapata16 collected $61,343.91 for a runner-up performance.
Congrats to South Korea's rkdehddls for winning TCOOP Event #7. First place paid out $69,774.64.
View the final hand in the re-player:
TCOOP-07 $27+R NL Holdem (Turbo)
Entrants: 7,650 (11,201 re-buys, 3,984 add-ons)
Prize pool: $560,599.25
Places paid: 990
1. rkdehddls (South Korea) - $69,774.64 **
2. tapata16 (Bulgaria) - $61,343.91 **
3. walkz666 (United Kingdom) - $62,069.38 **
4. Sghango (Germany) - $30,832.95
5. Lavrik942 (Russia) - $23,545.16
6. gamblr84 (Norway) - $17,939.17
7. sicklife03 (Brazil) - $12,333.18
8. Great Ararat (Armenia) - $6,727.19
9. HunSDP (Russia) - $4,344.64
** Denotes a deal among the final three players
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Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.