Win one heads-up match, get half your buy-in back. Win two, and you're freerolling. Win three, you're in the black, and win ten, you're a TCOOP champion! One of the longer events on the schedule, TCOOP Event #41 took almost eight hours to find a winner, the Philippines' ongggg going a perfect 10-0 to bank over $17,000.
1,052 players joined the fray, $103 of their $215 buy-in going to the main prizepool and another $103 going to the bounty pool for a combined prizepool of $216,712. 128 places were paid with first place set to earn $21,671.56 along with at least eleven bounties. Representing the Red Spades in this event were Lex Vedlhuis, Stavros "IDOLLS" Kalfas, Toni Judet, Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen, Marcin Horecki, Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara, and Nacho Barbero, who just missed out of the money, busting in 157th place.
Another familiar face narrowly missing a payday was Jon "PearlJammer" Turner, who four-bet all-in preflop with [As][Ks][9h][8c]. CC2332 called with [Kh][Kc][Js][7d] and flopped a set of kings to send Turner to the rail on the money bubble.
Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek made back-to-back six-figure cashes a couple weeks back in the Super Tuesday and the Sunday Million and hoped to keep his remarkable run going with a TCOOP title today. Though he won seven straight matches to advance to the round of 16, Jarzabek fell to ongggg when his [Kd][Js][8h][3s] couldn't fade [Kc][Ks][Qs][8s].
THE QUARTERFINALS
huevo2000 def. FistPumpYeah
Huevo2000 popped out to an early lead when he picked up [Kd][Qd][Tc][9c] and three-bet to 250 preflop. FistPumpYeah called and they saw a [Qh][9d][5c] flop. Huevo2000 led out for 350 with top two pair and FistPumpYeah smooth-called. The turn came the [Qs], improving huevo2000 to the nut boat. He bet another 700, FistPumpYeah raised to 1,750 and huevo2000 called. Huevo2000 checked the river [8h], hoping FistPumpYeah would take another shot at the pot, but instead he checked behind and mucked, leaving huevo2000 to rake in 4,700 pot.
Huevo2000 fnished off FistPumpYeah during the second level. With the board reading [Jd][6d][4h][9s] on the turn, FistPumpYeah check-raised to 960, only to face a three-bet to 3,120. FistPumpYeah called off his last 845, turning up [9d][9c][6c][3d] for a set of nines, but was outdone by huevo2000's [As][Jh][Jc][4c] for a set of jacks. The [4d] on the river filled up both players, but huevo2000 took it down with the bigger boat and advanced to the semi-finals.
eliko67 def. uremyatm
Eliko took control of them match in Level 2 when he turned a full house and extracted two streets of value from uremyatm to win a 6,700 pot. Uremyatm never recovered, his last 924 in chips going in preflop with [Ks][Qd][Qc][8d] against eliko67's [As][Jd][Ts][2d]. The flop brought only one spade for eliko67, but the turn and river produced two more, the board running out [9c][6h][5s][9s][Js] to give eliko67 the win with the nut flush.
aniceboy def. thepianist21
Aniceboy and thepianist21 played an evenly matched game of small-pot poker until one hand decided it all. Aniceboy had thepianist21 covered by about 1,300 when they saw a [Kd][8c][2c] flop. Aniceboy check-called 600, then check-called another 1,800 when the [7h] hit the turn. However, once the [6d] appeared on the river, he turned around and shoved for his remaining 3,455. Thepianist21 called all-in for less, turning over [Ac][Ts][9c][7d] for a rivered ten-high straight. Thepianist21's kings and deuces were no good and he departed in sixth place while aniceboy advanced to the semis.
ongggg def. Illini213
Ongggg and Illini213's match was the last to finish, lasting almost a full eight levels. Ongggg took a small lead in Level 3 when Illini213 bluffed two streets with only a pair of tens. Ongggg turned a set of queens and moved up to 6,300 in chips. By Level 6, he'd chipped up to almost 8,000, but Illini213 rebounded when he turned a jack-high straight to double to 4,000.
Illini213 nearly evened the chip counts over the next few minutes, starting what would be the final hand with 4,915 in chips to ongggg's 5,085. The money went in on a [Ah][Qd][6d] flop, ongggg three-bet shoving with [Ad][Qs][8d][5c] (top two pair and the nut flush draw). Illini213 called with [Kc][Jh][6s][6c] (bottom set and a gutshot straight draw). Illini213 had the best hand going in, but ongggg hit his flush on the river with the [Td] to send him home in fifth place.
THE SEMI-FINALS
ongggg def. aniceboy
In this battle of the Platinum Stars, aniceboy took the lead in Level 1 when his [Kd][Ks][6s][5s] held up against [9h][9d][7d][4c] on a board that didn't improve either player's hand. Ongggg sunk to about 2,800 in chips, but doubled up a short time later. His money went in on a [Tc][4h][3d] flop, holding [4s][5h][6d][7s] and aniceboy called with [Kd][Td][Jc][3c]. Aniceboy's two pair held when the turn came the [9s], but ongggg made a ten-high straight on the river with the [8d] to double to 5,600.
Ongggg picked up another sizable pot on the next deal. Both he and aniceboy checked a [Qs][Jh][9c] flop. The turn came the [7s] and aniceboy led at the pot for 380. Ongggg called. Aniceboy bet another 780 when the [4s] hit the river and ongggg looked him up again. Ongggg's flush with [4c][5s][6s][8h] was good against aniceboy's [Ah][Td][9h][5d] and he raked in another 3,000 in chips.
Ongggg closed out the match when he three-bet shoved on a [Js][3h][2c] flop and aniceboy called all-in. Ongggg already had a set of threes with [Ad][3d][3s][6h], while aniceboy was looking for straight cards with [2h][4h][5c][Jc]. Two tens fell on the turn and river, improving ongggg to a full house and he advanced to the finals while aniceboy exited in fourth place, earning $6,501.36.
huevo2000 def. eliko67
Huevo2000 took the lead, moving up to 7,200 after winning back-to-back hands without a showdown. Eliko67's 2,800 in chips dwindled to 2,200 before he doubled back up, his [Ks][Kh][3d][3s] making a set of kings against huevo2000's [Qs][Qc][Td][9c].
Huevo2000 won five of the next six hands, his chip count rising to 6,800 before he moved all-in on a [Js][4c][2c] flop. Eliko67 called all-in, his [Kd][Jc][Tc][9c] (pair of jacks and a flush draw) actually a slight favorite over huevo2000's [Ad][Qd][Jd][4s] (two pair, jacks and fours). However, eliko67 missed all his outs, the turn and river falling the [2s] and the [8d] to punch huevo2000's ticket to the finals. For third place, eliko67 picked up $6,501.36.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND: ongggg vs. huevo2000
Before they did anything more than trade the blinds, ongggg and huevo2000 agreed to pause the action and discuss a deal. They agreed to evenly split the remaining prize money, save the $1,500 they were required to keep in action. With each player guaranteed at least $15,500, cards went back in the air.
Ongggg and huevo2000 played a thirty-hand match, no pot exceeding 1,000 in chips until the final one. With 6,500 to huevo2000's 3,500, ongggg moved all-in on the flop with bottom two pair and a backdoor spade draw. Huevo2000 called with a pair and a flush draw in clubs, but couldn't fade ongggg's running spades:
Congratulations to ongggg on ten straight heads-up victories and a TCOOP title! He earned $17,003.58 for the win while runner-up huevo2000 earned $15,503.38.
PokerStars 2013 TCOOP Event #41 ($215 Heads-up PLO, Super Knockout) results:
Players: 1,052
Prizepool: $108,356
Bounty pool: $108,356
Places paid: 128
1. ongggg (Philippines) $17,003.58* (+11 bounties)
2. huevo2000 (Argentina) $15,503.58* (+9 bounties)
3. eliko67 (Israel) $6,501.36 (+8 bounties)
4. aniceboy (India) $6,501.36 (+8 bounties)
5. Illini213 (Costa Rica) $3,359.03 (+7 bounties)
6. thepianist21 (Hungary ) $3,359.03 (+7 bounties)
7. uremyatm (Denmark) $3,359.03 (+7 bounties)
8. FistPumpYeah (Mexico) $3,359.03 (+7 bounties)
*= reflects the result of a heads-up deal that left $1,500 in play for the winner
There's only one more day of TCOOP action left! Head over to the TCOOP page for details on Sunday's events.
Kristin Bihr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.