Erik van den Berg, who is known as Popiedejopie online, is no stranger to the big tournaments on PokerStars. With a Sunday Million win to his name, among many other accomplishments, a COOP title had thus far been elusive ... until today.
Popiedejopie fought through a tough final table in Event 29 and made it to heads-up play against LaurisL91 with a chip deficit. But some well-timed aggression put Popiedejopie in the lead and directly into the winner's circle. The Netherlands native now adds a TCOOP title to his list.
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There was nothing simple about Event 29 of the 2014 Turbo Championship of Online Poker. It required a buy-in of $103 + $103 + $9, which made it a $215 NLHE Turbo. And it was a 10-Max, which wasn't too difficult to comprehend. But the Shootout function plus the Super-Knockout status made it a bit more complicated. There were separate prize pools, a tally of knockouts, along with four rounds of play. Finish the third round to make the final table, and then win the SNG for the title. Whew!
With no late registration, the tournament began with these numbers:
Players: 1,042
Guarantee: $125,000.00
Total prize pool: $214,652.00
Regular prize pool: $107,326.00
Bounty prize pool: $107,326.00
Paid players: 100
Initial rounds
Round 1 was a quick one. It took only 45 minutes to cut the field and finish those 10-Max tables.
Round 2 took quite a bit longer, as the winners of those tables made the money and still had a shot at the final table. It took approximately 1.5 hours to complete the round, and the final 100 players were then guaranteed $413.21 for getting there.
Round 3
This was the time to make it count. The winners of the 10 remaining tables earned a seat to the final table, more chances to pick up bounties, and nearly $20K and a TCOOP title awaiting the winner.
The first player to win a seat was cuco49, followed by ibinnixn. Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer then won his seat at the final table.
Ultimately, Table 10 was the last one running. Blumenkind53 and andyafc#1 were battling, and blumenkind53 doubled through andyafc#1 to cripple the latter. Andyafc#1 did double on the next hand to 12,616 chips, but the next attempt wasn't so lucky. Andyafc#1 risked it all with [Td][3d], and blumenkind53 called with a dominating [Js][Tc]. The board came [9c][7s][3s][Jh][As], and andyafc#1 was gone in 11th place.
Final round begins
All players began the final round of play with even chip stacks and blinds at 25/50 in Level 1:
Seat 1: GeorgeDanzer (5,000 in chips)
Seat 2: cuco49 (5,000 in chips)
Seat 3: ibinnixn (5,000 in chips)
Seat 4: Popiedejopie (5,000 in chips)
Seat 5: RipleyCraig (5,000 in chips)
Seat 6: Chester20o (5,000 in chips)
Seat 7: PKaiser (5,000 in chips)
Seat 8: LaurisL91 (5,000 in chips)
Seat 9: Goudvis_90 (5,000 in chips)
Seat 10: blumenkind53 (5,000 in chips)
Play was understandably slow to start, though Chester20o took a sizeable pot from cuco49 to jump into an early lead. Blumenkind53 was on the rise through the first 45 minutes of play as well.
Cuco49 got tired of working a short stack and climbed a bit, and when Ripley Craig wanted to risk 3,544 chips preflop, original raiser cuco49 made the call with [Ad][As]. RipleyCraig was in trouble with [Qs][Qh] and didn't find any help on the [8c][6h][7s][5h][Js] board. RipleyCraig was the first to leave Round 4, taking home $1,502.56 for tenth place.
Chester20o and PKaiser took control of the table for a time, but Chester20o lost a lot of chips when Popiedejopie doubled through to jump into the chip lead.
No Triple COOP for Danzer
Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer is a COOP beast. He has two WCOOP titles and 3 SCOOP titles under his belt. Winning a TCOOP would have given him the Triple COOP honor, but he was unable to garner much momentum at the final table today. When Popiedejopie raised from early position, GeorgeDanzer looked down at [Ad][Kh] from the big blind and reraised all-in. Popiedejopie called with [6c][6d], a pair that only developed into two pair on the [8s][4s][9h][8h][Th] board. That sent George Danzer out of the tournament in ninth place with $2,039.19.
Blumenkind53 lost ground from the start of the action, and when LaurisL91 doubled through him, it left blumenkind53 with less than 1,250 chips. Two hands later, blumenkind53 pushed 946 chips all-in from the button with [2d][2c], and cuco49 called, as did original raiser PKaiser. The [6c][9c][Qs] flop prompted PKaiser to bet and cuco49 to fold, at which point PKaiser showed [Js][Jc]. The [6h] and [7h] finished the board with blumenkind53 out in eighth place for $2,683.15.
This big hand developed that saw PKaiser lose quite a few chips:
On the very next hand, PKaiser started it with a raise, LaurisL91 reraised all-in, and Goudvis_90 called all-in. PKaiser called both players with [Ac][Js], Lauris showed [7c][7h], and Goudvis_90 had [Ad][Th]. The board produced [Jh][8c][5h][Tc][7d], and LaurisL91 collected the side and main pot. Goudvis_90 was gone in seventh place with $3,380.77.
On the next hand, PKaiser had less than 2K chips left and pushed all-in with [Ks][8s]. Popiedejopie called from the big blind with [Ad][9d], which only improved on the [Js][9c][4d] flop. The [Th] changed nothing, and the [8d] on the river wasn't enough to save PKaiser, who exited in sixth place with $4,293.04.
Ibinnixn doubled through Popiedejopie, and cuco49 took a big pot from LaurisL91.
Chester20o needed chips as well and decided to push all-in from the small blind with [Ad][2d], but LaurisL91 called from the big blind with [Ac][Tc]. No help came from the [Jh][Qc][As][3d][9h] for Chester20o, who left in fifth place with $5,312.64.
Ibinnixn then doubled through LaurisL91, but the latter soon took some of those chips back.
Cuco49 doubled through Popiedejopie but lost ground from there. A few hands later, when LaurisL91 pushed all-in from the small blind, cuco49 called from the big blind with [Ac][Jh] and was ahead of LaurisL91's [8h][7h]. But the flop came [8d][4h][Tc] to give LaurisL91 the pair, and the [7d] on the turn made it two pair. The [5d] on the river ended cuco49's run in fourth place with $8,566.58.
Popiedejopie then doubled through LaurisL91 to stay in the game:
On the next hand, LaurisL91 raised all-in, and ibinnixn called all-in with [Qc][Td]. LaurisL91 showed [Qc][Td], and that remained the best hand as the board brought [7d][5d][Kh][3c][4d]. Ibinnixn finished in third place with $10,142.31
Heads-up, a deal, and more heads-up
The two finalists began their match with these chip stacks:
Seat 4: Popiedejopie (16,898 in chips)
Seat 8: LaurisL91 (33,102 in chips)
They almost immediately paused the game to look at deal numbers, and they quickly agreed to the amounts given. With $2,500 set aside for the winner, LaurisL91 agreed to $15,884.24, and Popiedejopie was fine with $14,833.16.
It only took a few hands after their return for Popiedejopie to take over the chip lead with this hand:
LaurisL91 not only lost the lead but more chips over the next several hands. With little more than 17K chips remaining, LaurisL91 pushed all-in with [Qh][9d], but Popiedejopie called quickly with [Ad][Ah]. The board came [2d][3h][Ts][Kh][8h], and LaurisL91 accepted second place and the $15,884.24 that went with it.
Popiedejopie took home the top money prize of $17,333.16, along with $1,236 for the 12 bounties collected. Congrats!
TCOOP-29: $215 NL Hold'em (Shootout Turbo Super-Knockout)
Entrants: 1,042
Prize pool: $214,652.00
Regular prize pool: $107,326.00
Bounty prize pool: $107,326.00
Places paid: 100
1. Erik "Popiedejopie" van den Berg (Netherlands) $17,333.16* + $1,236 bounties
2. LaurisL91 (Lithuania) $15,884.24* + $927 bounties
3. ibinnixn (Germany) $10,142.31 + $309 bounties
4. cuco49 (Germany) $8,566.48 + $824 bounties
5. Chester20o (Poland) $5,312.64 + $515 bounties
6. PKaiser (Chile) $4,293.04 + $1,030 bounties
7. Goudvis_90 (Netherlands) $3,380.77 + $1,133
8. blumenkind53 (Germany) $2,683.15 + $927 bounties
9. Team PokerStars Pro George "GeorgeDanzer" Danzer $2,039.19 + $721 bounties
10. RipleyCraig (Canada) $1,502.56 + $515 bounties
*Figures reflect two-way deal
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.