Event #42 presented TCOOP players with another fast-paced, action-filled challenge with a small buy-in and large field. A $27 no-limit hold'em event with an extended ("2x") re-buy period, the tourney drew a whopping field of 8,587 whose re-buys and add-ons built a prize pool of more than $645,000. And after less than five-and-a-half hours it was Belabacsi of Hungary outlasting everyone -- including third-place finishing Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske -- to grab the title and a $89,466,87 cash prize.
Belabacsi won the event following a three-way chop, adding a TCOOP crown to a SCOOP title won by Belabacsi back in 2010, also in a turbo tournament. Meanwhile the red-hot Luske added a cool $58K-plus score to his already impressive January, a month that has seen him win two side events at the 2013 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the $1,000 8-game event and $1,000 H.O.R.S.E. events. And with a half-dozen TCOOP cashes already this series, it wasn't surprising to see the Flying Dutchman there at the end of this one, too.
From 8,587 to 9
That field of 8,587 meant the top 1,080 finishers would get paid, and when the re-buy/add-on period concluded, 13,346 re-buys had been purchased plus 4,366 add-ons. The prize pool ultimately totaled exactly $645,640.45 -- more than twice the event's $300K guarantee.
When the cash bubble burst and 1,080 players remained, it was lll_HWDP_lll atop the counts with ely_cash41, Abzyi I, and PolecatRider close behind. At that point -- a little less than two-and-a-half hours into the event -- several representatives of Team PokerStars were still alive and with chips.
Just a few more minutes would pass before Team PokerStars Pro Maxim Lykov was eliminated by OutofBounds4 to finish in 807th place ($161.41). A little while after that Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen of Team Online finally ran out of chips in a hand versus $cheburaat0r to go out in 613th ($187.23).
Marcin "Goral" Horecki was the next Team PokerStars Pro to fall after running pocket nines into the [Ks][Kh] of JaggerJaq to be eliminated in 430th. And just a moment later Horecki's teammate Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes followed him to the rail in 423rd after his [Ah][8d] failed to improve versus SupaJah's [8c][8s]. Both Horecki and Brenes earned $219.51 for their finishes.
That left just Luske to sport the red spade with hopes of improving upon his 11th-place finish in TCOOP Event #22 ($82 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo).
Luske continued to maintain an above average stack through the three-hour mark as the field shrunk to 200 players. A while later he catapulted into the top 10 in the counts after winning a three-way preflop all-in with [Kh][Jh] to knock out Igotgas ([Qc][Td]) and EFIME ([8h][8d]). That hand saw the flop come all hearts to give Luske a flush and ultimately the pot.
A half-hour later the field was shrinking down toward 50 players when Luske won another all-in with [8s][8d] versus the [As][6s] of ollipants, and soon he was positioned inside the top 20 with an above-average stack.
They reached the four-hour break, at which point 37 players remained with TheGambleGod leading all as the only player with more than 5 million chips. Meanwhile Luske had just under 1.8 million, and before long was all in once more with [As][9s] versus payupnowx's [Qd][Qc]. It looked bleak for Luske after the [5c][Kc][Kh] flop and [Jd] turn, but the [Ah] fell on the river and before long just 20 remained with Luske still in the mix.
triplyx (20th) and payupnowx (19th) were subsequently knocked out (each cashing for $1,504.34) and they were down to two tables. TheGambleGod (18th), SjooZz (17th), and Bostero10 (16th) were next to go, earning $1,807.79 each. Toreadorgr (15th), Gibbus (14th), and (13th) then fell to take $2,679.40 apiece. babebabe1313 went out next in 12th ($3,551.02), then Luske survived yet another all-in, this time versus bluet0m89.
Luske and blet0m89 soon clashed again, only this time the latter was all in. blet0m89 held [Ac][9h], but Luske had [Ah][Ad] (!), and five cards later blet0m9 was out in 11th, also cashing for $3,551.02. The same prize went to cokielimokie for going out in 10th, and the final table was swiftly underway.
Seat 1: renkem (Germany) -- 7,185,957
Seat 2: Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske (Malta) -- 18,359,454
Seat 3: D.J.777 (Greece) -- 10,876,762
Seat 4: komisch99 (Germany) -- 981,691
Seat 5: Kuffertfisk (Denmark) -- 7,400,031
Seat 6: lkkqoo (Taiwan) -- 4,534,608
Seat 7: CHIQUIDEALER (Argentina) -- 4,994,140
Seat 8: rotofel (Romania) -- 12,928,880
Seat 9: Belabacsi (Hungary) -- 20,264,477
Not only had Luske bettered his 11th-place finish from Event #22, but he was close to the chip lead with nine players left as only Belabacsi had a bigger stack to start the final table.
From 9 to 3
On the sixth hand of the final table, the blinds were 500k/1m when CHIQUIDEALER shoved from under the gun for 4,269,140, then Luske reraised all in from late position to isolate. CHIQUIDEALER had [Kd][Qd] and Luske [As][Th]. The flop then came [Qc][Ac][3c] to pair both players, with the [Td] turn providing Luske a second pair and CHIQUIDEALER a gutshot to Broadway. The river then brought the [3d], and CHIQUIDEALER was out in ninth.
About five minutes later it was Kuffertfisk open-pushing from middle position with [Qc][Qd] for more than 9.8 million and renkem calling all in from the small blind for 5,785,957 with [Ah][Jd]. The community cards came [Kd][9s][Qd][Jh][3h], and Kuffertfisk's set of queens beat renkem's pair of jacks to oust the latter in eighth.
Three hands later a double-elimination occurred resulting in the eliminations of komisch99 (7th) and lkkqoo (6th). With the blinds up to 600k/1.2m, komisch99 shoved for 3,240,146 from the button, Kuffertfisk called from the small blind, then lkkqoo reraised all in for 3,859,608 from the big blind, earning another call from Kuffertfisk. The players cards were flipped over...
Kuffertfisk: [As][7d]
lkkqoo: [Ad][Qh]
komisch99: [Ac][6c]
All three had drawn aces, but Kuffertfisk's kicker proved most valuable after the board rolled out [4s][7s][5s][Ah][7c] to give him a full house and send the other two railward.
The remaining five played into Level 52 (700k/1.4k/175k), where it was D.J.777 pushing all in from the cutoff for 2,411,264 and Belabacsi calling from the big blind. D.J.477 had the preflop edge with [Kc][9c] against Belabacsi's [6c][4d], but the board came [Jc][As][2s][6d][5c] to give Belabacsi sixes and end D.J.477's run in fifth.
The remaining four players reached the five-hour break, at which point Belabacsi was on top with nearly 43.9 million, rotofel next with about 23.3 million, Luske third with close to 10.5 million, and Kuffertfisk fourth with a little over 9.8 million.
A few more hands were played, then with the blinds 800k/1.6m, Kuffertfisk jammed for 8,460,742 from the cutoff and rotofel reraised all in from the button, forcing both of the blinds to fold. Kuffertfish had [Kd][Td] and rotofel [8d][8s], and while rotofel still led after the [3s][7d][Qd] flop, Kuffertfish had picked up a flush draw to go with two overs. But the turn was the [4s] and river the [7s], meaning rotofel's hand had held and Kuffertfish was out in fourth.
Luske, "bella and the beast" strike a deal
One hand later the final three players paused the tournament to discuss a possible deal, with Belabacsi on top with about 44.4 million, rotofel next with nearly 33 million, and Luske third with just over 10.2 million. "bella and the beast...lol" typed Luske, eyeing his two opponents while "chip chop" numbers were being calculated.
Soon the figures were produced for the players' consideration:
Belabacsi: $81,466.87
rotofel: $73,784.48
Marcel Luske: $58,510.24
Left to Play for: $6,000.00
rotofel and Luske were amenable to such a deal, but Belabacsi wanted to be guaranteed $85K. Luske responded by saying that since he was already guaranteed $51K for third, he was willing to take his chances with his small stack rather than give up any to Belabacsi.
"yea but u have 5BB," said Belabacsi, alluding to the blinds having by then risen to 1m/2m. "thats enough to win," replied Luske.
The discussion continued, with rotofel ultimately being willing to give $2K to Belabacsi, at which point all three were satisfied. Cards soon went back in the air, with the remaining $6K still up for grabs.
Luske's point was quickly confirmed when he doubled through Belabacsi, then promptly won a three-way all-in to grab the chip lead. He'd continue to lead for a few more hands, then lost nearly all of his chips after raising to 24,535,527 (about three-fourths of his stack), then watching Belabacsi reraise all in for 31,950,964 from the big blind. Luske called, showing [Qd][9s] to Belabacsi's [Ah][Kc], and when the board rolled out six-high Luske was suddenly down to less than 1.8 million.
All in automatically from the big blind on the following hand, Luske was forced to take his chances with [3c][2c] versus Belabacsi who called from the small blind with [Qh][8s]. The [9d][7s][5h] flop was no good for Luske, but the [2h] on the turn paired his deuce, making it look for a moment like he might earn at least one more escape to survive. But the river brought the [6s] to give Belabacsi a straight, and Luske ended another remarkable tourney showing in third.
Heads-up play began with Belabacsi way out in front with 67,677,216 versus rotofel's 19,848,784. They'd play three small hands with the stacks remaining about the same, then came a hand which saw rotofel shoving all in for 17,348,784 from the button and Belabacsi making the call.
rotofel had [Ac][2c] and was hoping to hold versus Belabacsi's [Ks][9h]. But the [Qd][9d][6c] flop put Belabacsi ahead with a pair of nines, and after the [Th] turn and [Qs] river it was all over.
Congratulations to Belabacsi for adding a TCOOP title to an earlier SCOOP victory, thereby now needing just a WCOOP win to earn a coveted "Triple COOP." And kudos as well to rotofel and Marcel Luske for making it to the three-way chop and adding some extra dollars to their final cash prizes.
TCOOP Event #42 $27+R NLHE (2x-Turbo) final table results (*reflects three-way deal):
1st: Belabacsi (Hungary) -- $89,466.87*
2nd: rotofel (Romania) -- $71,784.48*
3rd: Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske (Malta) -- $58,510.24*
4th: Kuffertfisk (Denmark) -- $34,218.94
5th: D.J.777 (Greece) -- $26,471.25
6th: lkkqoo (Taiwan) -- $20,014.85
7th: komisch99 (Germany) -- $13,881.26
8th: renkem (Germany) -- $7,747.68
9th: CHIQUIDEALER (Argentina) -- $5,003.71
Entrants: 8,587
Re-buys: 13,346
Add-ons: 4,366
Prize pool: $645,640.45
Places paid: 1,080
Just one more day of TCOOP remains, including the $700 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed Main Event! See the TCOOP page for all the details.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.