The online tournament world is on fire this weekend with the return of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP). The second running of the series began on Thursday and runs through January 27, which leaves plenty of time for players to get into those tournaments. Satellites are always available. And a few of the PokerStars women offered some advice for those looking to play the TCOOP for the first time.
More women are certainly trying out the new PokerStars Women's Club this month, winning cash and prizes in the daily and weekly events there. If you're looking for a fun way to enhance your skills and use them to win on a regular basis, check out the Club!
One of today's tournament highlights was the $55 Women's Sunday with its $10K guarantee. As usual, the number of players put that guarantee aside for a bigger prize pool:
Total players: 233
Prize pool: $11,650.00
Paid finishers: 36
Two members of the PokerStars Pro family jumped into action today with $50 bounties on their virtual heads. Team Pro Liv Boeree was the first to exit in the first hour of action, while Friend of PokerStars Charlotte "Sjlot" Van Brabander ended up finishing in 136th place.
The money bubble burst about 15 minutes before the three-hour mark, and that left the top 36 players guaranteed a minimum cash of $87.37 today. The field was reduced to only two tables about 30 minutes later,
Just before the four-hour point, play sped up quite a bit. With only 10 players remaining, trader2poker raised all-in, and moé_c_toé called all-in with [As][Ts]. Trader2poker showed [6c][6s] and improved to two pair on the [9s][Qc][9h][4c][5h] board. Moé_c_toé was eliminated in tenth place with $186.40.
Kry19kry starts with massive lead
The last minutes of Level 18 offered players blinds of 1,250/2,500 and a 250 ante. Players' chip stacks were listed as follows:
Seat 1: veruda02 (72,411 in chips)
Seat 2: trader2poker (93,616 in chips)
Seat 3: hobi dyalii (87,500 in chips)
Seat 4: rxchic (89,113 in chips)
Seat 5: hotjenny314 (34,846 in chips)
Seat 6: apronk1 (19,123 in chips)
Seat 7: kry19kry (216,935 in chips)
Seat 8: lulu.pk70 (49,138 in chips)
Seat 9: legomaan (36,318 in chips)
One of the shorter stacks was anxious to move, and it paid off as apronk1 doubled through veruda02.
Hotjenny214 had a tough time and lost momentum as the final table moved forward, and she finally pushed her 33K all-in from early position with [As][9d]. Veruda02 reraised all-in from the small blind, and the big blind did fold as veruda02 showed [Qd][Qh]. The board came [5c][Jh][8h][Tc][3h], and writer/instructor/poker player Katie "hotjenny214" Dozier exited in ninth place with $221.35.
More double-ups were in order, as lulu.pk70 doubled through legomaan, and apronk1 doubled through rxchic.
Rxchic was reduced to a stack of less than 30K and pushed all-in on the next hand with [2c][2s] from the button, but kry19kry was able to call from the big blind with [Ac][As]. Rxchic couldn't catch the right cards on the [3s][Kh][Tc][7d][4s] board and left in eighth place with $291.25.
Trader2poker then doubled through veruda02, leaving the latter with little more than 10K. Those chips went all-in two hands later with [Ad][2s], and kry19kry was along for the ride from the small blind with [Jd][8d]. The board brought [7h][4d][6s][8h][Tc], and that turn card gave kry19kry the lead over veruda02's ace-high hand. Veruda02 departed in seventh place with $407.75.
The next big hand started with a middle position raise from kry19kry and big blind call from trader2poker. The flop came [4s][8h][3d], and kry19kry led out with a bet. Trader2poker check-raised all-in, and kry19kry called with [As][Ah]. Trader2poker showed [8c][7c], but the [Ad] came on the turn to give kry19kry the set of aces. The [7d] on the river was too little, too late, and trader2poker had to accept $524.25 for the sixth place finish.
Apronk1 was running short again, and when lulu.pk70 made the all-in move, apronk1 looked down at [Ah][7c] and called from the big blind. Lulu.pk70 showed [Qs][Qh] and only improved to a full house as the dealer provided [9s][5d][9h][2h][Qd]. Apronk1 was eliminated in fifth place with $675.70.
But it was lulu.pk70 as the next woman at risk. She started the hand with kry19kry, both in the blinds, and a raised flop of [2c][As][8c]. Kry19kry bet, and lulu.pk70 pushed all-in with [Ad][6h] for top pair. Kry19kry called with [Tc][6c] and the flush draw. The [7h] on the turn didn't make it, but the [4c] on the river did bring that club to eliminate lulu.pk70 in fourth place with $990.25.
Kry19kry unstoppable?
The final three players took their seats with these counts:
Seat 3: hobi dyalii (68,850 in chips)
Seat 7: kry19kry (580,720 in chips)
Seat 9: legomaan (49,430 in chips)
With kry19kry on a roll, it was going to take a lot for either of her opponents to take kry19kry's chips. Legomaan did make an attempt and successfully doubled here:
Legomaan made another attempt a few rounds later, all-in with [Kc][8d] against the [Kd][Qs] of kry19kry. The board of [Qc][6c][7c][2h][Js] only improved kry19kry to a pair of queens, and legomaan had to leave in third place with $1,316.45.
Heads-up only lasted three hands. Hobi dyalii made her push with [Kh][Jc], but kry19kry had [Ah][9d]. The flop of [5c][2d][3h] gave kry19kry a straight draw to improve on the ace-high best hand, and the [4h] made the straight. The [5h] on the river ended the tournament, as hobi dyalii took home $1,747.50 for second place.
Kry19kry won the tournament for $2,382.53. Congrats!
Women's Sunday Results for 01/20/13:
1st place: kry19kry (Russia) - $2,382.53
2nd place: hobi dyalii (Morocco) - $1,747.50
3rd place: legomaan (Portugal) - $1,316.45
4th place: lulu.pk70 (Serbia) - $990.25
5th place: apronk1 (Netherlands) - $675.70
6th place: trader2poker (UK) - $524.25
7th place: veruda02 (Croatia) - $407.75
8th place: rxchic (Canada) - $291.25
9th place: hotjenny314 (Mexico) - $221.35
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.