Turbo and Zoom are two tournament descriptors which really get the blood flowing for players who like plenty of action. The games draw huge numbers and MicroMillions Event #29 was no different. Players are constantly shifting among tables during the tournament, they jump from table to table with the click of a button and the turbo structure kept them racing against the blinds.
The latest saw 21,720 entrants put up $3.30 for the small buy-in, big prizepool tournament which easily surpassed its $40,000 guarantee. Of those who began the event, the final 3,150 players were quickly in the money after just a few hours. It took only four hours for the field to drop all the way down to 27 players which meant the tournament dropped out of hyperdrive.
Reporting on a Zoom tournament is much like trying to observe a Zoom tournament, impossible to see what is going from the outside but that all changed when it hit the final three tables. The event played down like a normal tournament from 27 players to a winner and there was plenty of drama to witness.
romebebebe was one of the more interesting stories near the end after the Russian lost a huge pot to be left with just 100k under the gun with a 500k big blind coming up next. romebebebe survived that hand and several after as players continued to drop from the field until GOIANOVERDE was gone in 10th to create the final table. By that time, romebebebe was at the final table looking down at two shorter stacks.
Final Table chip counts:
Seat 1: Andywitte2 (8,114,222 in chips)
Seat 2: opalimsya (13,358,779 in chips)
Seat 3: WWROCK (21,653,575 in chips)
Seat 4: mikadostar (4,070,340 in chips)
Seat 5: romebebebe (7,020,424 in chips)
Seat 6: AbrekADG (19,049,652 in chips)
Seat 7: Skeptikus (14,243,232 in chips)
Seat 8: Evgen_591 (16,191,712 in chips)
Seat 9: flopnice (4,898,064 in chips)
Blinds: 400k/800k with 100k ante
mikadostar falls, eliminated in 9th
mikadostar began the final table with the shortest stack and the early hands did nothing to improve the situation. After losing a big hand to AbrekADG to drop under two big blinds, mikadostar moved all-in after action folded to him on the button. AbrekABG called from the big blind with a chance to take the last of those chips.
AbrekADG: [Ac][9d]
mikadostar: [Js][Th]
mikadostar was holding two live cards but that ended quickly after the [Ad][6h][5d] flop leaving the German looking for a miracle. The [4c] turn ended those thoughts quickly and mikadostar was drawing dead to be the first eliminated at the final table for $390.
Andywitte2 gets turned, eliminated in 8th
Andywitte2 began the final table firmly in the middle of the pack but quickly gave up half of those chips. Action folded to Andywitte2 on the button and he moved all-in for less than four bigs with [Kh][Td] and was ahead after WWROCK called in the big blind with [Qh][2s].
Andywitte2 had five streets to dodge a mini bad beat and was most of the way there on the [Ad][6d][5c] flop. WWROCK was left with six outs twice and hit one on the [Qs] turn and Andywitte2 was unable to turn the tables on the [9s] river to be sent out in 8th place for $586.
romebebebe runs out of time, eliminated in 7th
romebebebe was down and nearly out with two tables remaining but steadily moved north from that point. Every elimination was a move further up the payout ladder and it took a relative bad beat to finish off the Russian. The table folded around to romebebebe in the small blind who open-shoved for 9,470,424 with [Kd][Qs] and was called by AbrekADG in big blind with [Ah][3s].
romebebebe was looking for help to stay alive and missed the [6s][6c][5c] flop but did find a temporary miracle on the [Qd] turn. romebebebe was just one card away from the chiplead with seven players remaining but it was all undone with the [As] river. romebebebe was a great story in the later parts of the tournament but was dropped out in 7th place for $915.
Evgen_591 unlucky, eliminated in 6th
Evgen_591's stack was creeping down towards the danger zone when he ran into back-to-back tough beats to go out. The drop began when Skeptikus open-shoved from the small blind with [Ad][8d] and was called by Evgen_591 in the big blind with [Ac][Qc].
Both players were holding very similar stacks with Skeptikus having just 74k more than Evgen_591. Nothing changed on the [Td][5s][2d] flop and the painful shot came on the [8h] turn to put a big crimp in Evgen_591's chances. The [Ks] river left him all-in with less than the ante.
opalimsya opened for a min-raise under the gun and everyone moved out of the way to let him do the dirty work. Evgen_591 was stuck with [Th][2d] and was up against [As][3s] and he went ahead on the [Kd][Kh][2s] flop. It would still be a long uphill battle with a win but those thoughts were gone when opalimsya hit the [3h] on the river. The two hands were a tough way for the tournament to end for Evgen_591 and he was eliminated in 6th place for $1,303.
flopnice flops nice, eliminated in 5th
flopnice was the next player in danger but had a chance to move up the leaderboard but ran into the monster under the bed. The big hand began with WWROCK opening to 4,200,000 from early position before AbrekABG three-bet shoved for just under 26,000,000.
Skeptikus dropped his hand before flopnice called the bet. WWROCK gave up the hand and flopnice was at risk with a lot less chips and in big danger holding [Ac][Kh] against [Ah][As]. The flop created a small window of hope when it came [Kd][Th][6h] but it shut quickly thanks to the [8h] turn and [7d] river. Running Big Slick into Aces is a good recipe for a tournament exit and flopnice was shipped out in 5th place for $1,954.
WWROCK rocked, eliminated in 4th
WWROCK was sitting with second place chips and became the next player looking at a tough run of hands. It began when WWROCK picked up [Ac][Qc] and ran the big hand into the even bigger [Kd][Kh] of Skeptikus. It left WWROCK with less than an ante and was all-in on the next hand.
Things were real interesting, real quick when WWROCK immediately picked up Queens to triple up followed by Aces on the next hand to grab even more chips. It would only take one more double to get back in the game and WWROCK found another pocket pair [3h][3c]. opalimsya was trying to finally get the tournament three-handed and was ahead with [8h][8d].
The virtual dealer ran out a completely drama free [Ah][Td][7h][4s][Qc] board to send WWROCK out in 4th place for $2,606.
opalimsya finds no deal, eliminated in 3rd
opalimsya tried to get the other two players to make a deal but neither was interested in talking with the short stack. With no movement, opalimsya made a move from the small blind with [Kc][2s] and was looked up by AbrekADG in the big blind with [Kc][Qd].
opalimsya was outkicked and in trouble, the [Jh][5h][3c] flop did nothing to change the situation. The [Ts] turn made no difference and the [6s] river was all it took to get the tournament heads-up and send opalimsya out of the tournament in 3rd place for $3,258.
Skeptikus quickly finishes off victory in Event #29
Seat 6: AbrekADG (47,627,072 in chips)
Seat 7: Skeptikus (60,972,928 in chips)
The two remaining players quickly paused the tournament to hammer out a deal and they were back underway with little delay. Once they were playing, the two were involved in a huge pot just five hands into heads-up action.
AbrekADG limped from the button and Skeptikus checked his option before the [Td][Tc][4h] flop. Skeptikus check-called a 2,000,000 bet from AbrekADG and they went to the [2d] turn. This time they both checked to the [Jh] river before Skeptikus bet out 6,000,000.
AbrekADQ responded by moving all-in for 45,777,072 and Skeptikus snapped called after flopping a full house with [Ts][4c]. It was a good flop for the hand especially when it was up against the [Kc][Ks] of AbrekADQ. Skeptikus ran good when it was necessary and became the latest MicroMillions champion for $6,148.
MicroMillions-029: $3.30 PL Hold'em Turbo Zoom
Entrants: 21,720
Prize pool: $65,160
Places paid: 3,150
1. Skeptikus (Netherlands) $6,148.55*
2. AbrekADG (Russia) $5,223.12*
3. opalimsya (Uzbekistan) $3,258.00
4. WWROCK (Sweden) $2,606.40
5. flopnice (Argentina) $1,954.80
6. Evgen_591 (Russia) $1,303.20
7. romebebebe (Russia) $915.49
8. Andywitte2 (Netherlands) $586.44
9. mikadostar (Germany) $390.96
* - denotes heads-up deal