The month of September was a busy one, mainly due to three weeks of the most exciting online tournament series of the year. The 2012 WCOOP wrapped up last week, and the winners' stories emerging from the series were inspiring. The Main Event winner - maratik - qualified for FPPs and walked away with more than $1 million. Wow!
October is sure to be a fun month. With EPT San Remo on the horizon, players are gearing up for the live action, and the ever-present online offerings keep players busy. Want to play for cash prizes in any of three divisions of the Women's Poker League? Find out how here. Enjoy some six-max NLHE? Join our $11 Women's Tuesday tournament, which is detailed here. And there is always the chance to qualify for the Women's Sunday, as satellites run throughout the week. We hope to see you around.
As for this week's Women's Sunday, we had a stellar turnout, one of the largest fields in many months. The final registration numbers were:
Total players: 259
Prize pool: $12,950.00
Paid finishers: 45
The first two hours brought quite a few eliminations, one of whom was Team SportStars Fatima Moreira De Melo. A bit later, Team Pro Vanessa Selbst hit the rail in 132nd place. Still pushing forward into the third hour was Team Online's Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome.
When players returned from the 2.5-hour break, they quickly moved to the money bubble and burst it, allowing Destinaation to be the first player to cash for $77.70. A flurry of players followed to the virtual cashier cage, and the field was reduced to only two tables nearly an hour later.
Talonchick was one of the shorter stacks and pushed all-in preflop. U_taranova and Phoebesmum called, and the latter moved all-in after the [4d][5h][Tc] flop. U_taranova folded, and talonchick showed her [AC][Ks]. But Phoebesmum had [5s][5d] for the set, and the [9d][6c] finished the board to eliminate talonchick in 18th place. She received $129.50, and Phoebesmum was awarded the $50 bounty.
Just past the four-hour mark, the 11th place elimination of Phoebesmum led to hand-for-hand play. The September 16th Women's Sunday winner, sladost, had a solid chip stack but lost the majority of it when B.B.C.news doubled through her. She then moved her short stack all-in with [Ad][5h], and Goldygger called 2,493 more from the big blind with [Ks][3d]. But the board came [Ac][7h][3s][3c][Jc], and sladost left in tenth place with $194.25.
B.B.C.news the leader in chips (and news?)
The final table began in Level 20, with blinds of 2,000/4,000 and a 500 ante, along with these player starting stacks:
Seat 1: B.B.C.news (223,413 in chips)
Seat 2: jennybear104 (47,618 in chips)
Seat 3: coloccini20 (35,970 in chips)
Seat 4: OVK165 (32,729 in chips)
Seat 5: Izzuska88 (109,779 in chips)
Seat 6: ganatodoAA (103,605 in chips)
Seat 7: Goldygger (29,061 in chips)
Seat 8: RitA Yo! (81,981 in chips)
Seat 9: u_taranova (112,844 in chips)
The loss of sladost was interesting because she, along with final tablists Goldygger and u_taranova, were all at the final table of the September 16 Women's Sunday, the one that sladost went on to win. This one, then, was to belong to a new champion.
The fourth hand of the table saw action, as Izzuska88 raised from the small blind and ganatodoAA called from the big blind. The flop came [6h][5c][5d], and Izzuska88 led out with a raise. Two more raises led to ganatodoAA pushing all-in, and Izzuska88 called all-in with [Th][Ts]. But ganatodoAA showed [Ac][5h] for trip fives, and neither the [Js] nor the [Kd] changed that. Izzuska88 had to leave in ninth place with $226.62.
Four hands later, jennybear104 moved all-in from the big blind. Original raiser RitA Yo! called with [Jd][Jc]. Jennybear104's tournament was on the line with [As][Ks], but that hand failed to improve on the [5d][5h][3h][7h][Qc] board. Jennybear104 was out in eighth place with $310.80..
Soon after, Goldygger made her move all-in UTG. U_taranova called with [Ad][8s], but that was dominated by the [Ah][Qd] of Goldygger. The flop, however, brought [4h][5s][8d] for the pair of eights, and the [Ac] on the turn kept u_taranova ahead. The [7h] on the river ended the tournament for Goldygger, who took seventh place for $440.30.
Coloccini20 becomes unstoppable
OVK165 doubled through ganatodoAA, and coloccini20 did the same through B.B.C.news. Play slowed quite a bit with the money jumps increasing, and ganatodoAA lost momentum but doubled through B.B.C.news to climb again. But this big hand for coloccini20 put her in the chip lead:
That eliminated RitA Yo! in sixth place with $569.80.
OVK165 was the next player at risk, and she did it with [Ac][Jh]. Coloccini20 called with [Ks][Kd] and improved that even more on the [Kc][9s][2s] flop. The [Jc] on the turn and [Qd] on the river ended the event for OVK165, though, and she took home $738.15 for her efforts.
B.B.C.news then got involved with coloccini20 to see a raised flop of [Ks][8s][Qs]. They both checked to see the [9c] turn, at which time B.B.C.news bet. Coloccini20 raised, and B.B.C.news came over the top all-in with [Kd][2d] for top pair. But coloccini20 called with [Jc][Td] for the turned straight. The [Tc] on the river sent B.B.C.news out in fourth place with $1,068.37.
U_taranova doubled through coloccini20 to stay in action, and then did it with pocket aces to double through ganatodoAA to climb into a strong second place. GanatodoAA doubled back through u_taranova and then through coloccini20, though ganatodoAA stayed in third place out of the three players.
GanatodoAA made another move, this time with [9d][9c]. U_taranova called with [Ah][3c], and though the [5s][Kh][6c] was innocent, the [As] hit on the turn to give u_taranova top pair. The [Qd] on the river sent ganatodoAA out in third place with $1,424.50.
Heads-up to decide it
The final two players took their seats with these counts:
Seat 3: coloccini20 (298,322 in chips)
Seat 9: u_taranova (478,678 in chips)
It took coloccini20 a few rounds to find the right hand but then got involved with [5c][4c] against the [Ac][3s] of u_taranova. But the board of [8c][6c][Tc][3d][5d] gave her the flopped flush and the much-needed double-up.
U_taranova had little more than 100K left and moved it all-in on the next hand with [As][Qd]. Coloccini20 called and was a bit behind with [Kd]]Jd] but caught a pair on the [7h][8s][Jh] flop. The [5s] turn and [9h] river ended the tournament with u_taranova finishing her fourth Women's Sunday final table in second place for $1,877.75.
Coloccini20 won her first Women's Sunday and took hom4 $2,505.94 for doing so. Congrats!
Women's Sunday Results for 09/30/12:
1st place: coloccini20 (Finland) - $2,505.94
2nd place: u_taranova (Russia) - $1,877.75
3rd place: ganatodoAA (Venezuela) - $1,424.50
4th place: B.B.C.news (Uzbekistan) - $1,068.37
5th place: OVK165 (Russia) - $738.15
6th place: RitA Yo! (Canada) - $569.80
7th place: Goldygger (Netherlands) - $440.30
8th place: jennybear104 (Canada) - $310.80
9th place: Izzuska88 (Poland) - $226.62
There are many ways to get in on the Women's Sunday action. Take a look at the home page for information on daily satellites. And join us on Facebook for news and monthly freerolls, and Twitter for the latest information. See you next week!
Jennifer Newell is a PokerStars freelance contributor.