Event #26 of PokerStars’ WCOOP was a $215 No Limit Hold ‘Em event. With its low buy-in and $1 million guarantee, the event was immensely successful. A total of 9,795 players registered for the tournament making the prize pool $1,959,000; that is almost $1 million greater than the event’s guarantee!
The bubble burst at 1,440 players and these players were guaranteed a minimum of $313.44. A number of PokerStars pros cashed in this event including Humberto Brenes, JC Alvarado, and Alex Kravchenko.
About sixteen hours into the tournament, the second bubble was set to burst. RJules12 busted UhhMee in tenth place for a $9,795 prize. With 1.5 million chips, UhhMee three-bet shoved all-in from the small blind after RJules12 opened the hand from UTG+1. RJules called his all-in and turned over AdKh. UhhMee’s JhTs were way behind and lost on the 4d5c3d9d9c board.
With this knockout, the final table was set. At level 42 the blinds were 60K/120K with a 15K ante. The players and their chips were seated as follows:
Seat 1 – ole6 – 2,602,554 chips
Seat 2 – dunkmaster50 – 8,977,303 chips
Seat 3 – jimenezzzz – 3,390,253 chips
Seat 4 – Holmesy1978 – 5,099,088 chips
Seat 5 – candy1203 – 2,648,386 chips
Seat 6 – equinespy – 4,268,457 chips
Seat 7 – PepaG – 7,121,501 chips
Seat 8 – RJules12 – 7,159,911 chips
Seat 9 – leijk22 – 7,707,547 chips
Not so long into the final table, candy1203 raised all-in with AsKh. Holmesy1978 called from the big blind with his pocket tens. The board came Tc4hAd3sJh with Holmesy1978 winning with a set of tens. Candy1203 left the tournament in ninth place and $13,321.20 richer.
Soon after, ole6 chose to shove all-in with his pocket queens. This time, PepaG called with AcKc and both watched the board read Ad6h6c2c7h. Ole6’s tournament was over in eighth place; he walked away with $19,590.
Jimenezzzz was next to make his move to win chips through an all-in. He would shove with AcKh to only be dominated by leijk22’s pocket aces. The board of 2sKs8s7sJd held the aces up and jimenezzzz was knocked out of the tournament. He was awarded $39,180 for his effort.
PepaG, who became a relative shortstack after a troublesome few rounds, looked for any opening to double up. This opening came when he shoved with AcJd. The big blind, dunkmaster50, woke up with AhKs and called PepaG’s all-in bet. PepaG was sent to the rail in sixth place after the 5cQh4c2d8c board sent him packing. PepaG took home $58,770.
A hand between dunkmaster50 and Holmesy1978 would send another player to the rail. A flop of 5dKc2s spawned enough action to get both players all-in. Holmesy1978 showed his pocket tens only to see his opponent held Kd8d for a pair of kings. These kings held up as the turn and river came up 5c and Kh, respectively. Holmesy1978 was knocked out by a full house in fifth place worth $78,360.
RJules12 would soon combat with leijk22. RJules12 would call a three-bet shove by leijk22 with KcJc. Unfortunately, leijk22 had pocket tens that would hold up on the Qd6s7d6d4s board. RJules12’s fourth-place finish boosted his bankroll by $97,950.
Three-handed play began with equinespy being the shortest of the three stacks. He chose to go all-in from the big blind with AdJh. Leijk22 called with pocket tens. The Js4c8s flop paired equinespy’s jack and put him in the lead. Unfortunately, a Ts peeled on the turn and equinespy was drawing dead. The irrelevant river (2d) marked the end of equinespy’s tournament; a third-place finish worth $141,048.
Heads-up play began with leijk22 having an almost 2-1 advantage over dunkmaster50’s chip stack; 32,197,600 chips against 16,777,400 chips. The final hand began with leijk22 being out-of-position. Dunkmaster50 raised from the button and leijk22 would three-bet. Dunkmaster50 called his three-bet and the flop came 8h9cJs. Leijk22 bet the flop, dunkmaster50 reraised, and leijk22 put dunkmaster50’s tournament life at stake with a shove. Dunkmaster50 called with his JcTd to make top pair. However, leijk22 hit the flop harder, flopping a set of eights. The turn came Tc giving dunkmaster50 hope. The river 2h ended the tournament for both players, with leijk22 taking home the bracelet and the grand prize of $274,260. Dunkmaster50 was compensated $199,818 for his second-place finsh. Congratulations to both players!