PokerStars-WCOOP-2008-Event-12-Results

Apologies for the delay as Hurricane Ike has made life difficult for most of us on the Texas Coast-line.

Event 12 of PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, or WCOOP, took place this past Wednesday, September 10th. The tournament uses a mixed structure, switching from Limit Hold’em to No Limit Hold’em every level and a 6max format for extra action. 1,496 players bought in for $320 creating a total prizepool of nearly $450,000 and nearly $75,000 to the winner. Although the field was small compared to many other WCOOP events it did have a large amount of PokerStars and online MTT pros. Barry Greenstein, Chris Moneymaker, Hevad Khan, Joe Hachem, and Gavin Griffin were just a few of the bigger names to play.

The biggest name making the final table would be Aaron “011180” Kanter. Aaron is well-known for a deep run in the 2005 WSOP Main Event. Kanter would go on to finish 4th and collect $2,000,000 in prize money. Other well-known poker pro, “Randers” would enter the final table 5th in chips but would be a force to be reckoned with. The MTT-pro has had multiple large cashes in his career, including two wins in the PokerStars $109r for $59,000 and $41,000 respectively.

Here are how the stacks looked entering the final table:

Seat 1: 011180 1,668,745 in chips
Seat 2: Punty 633,017 in chips)
Seat 3: Randers 516,729 in chips
Seat 4: MUHoosh33 1,453,441 in chips
Seat 5: Gorrioncillo 1,251,913 in chips
Seat 6: Snout19 460,155 in chips

Short-stacked “Snout19” would make a valiant effort, both doubling up and tripling up at the final table. However, it was not to be, as he would eventually have too much ground to make up. Snout was blinded down and eliminated in a 4-way pot, collecting over $14,000 for his efforts.

Next to go would be “Punty” who was unfortunate in running pocket 8’s into the pocket Ten’s of “MUHoosh33”. Punty takes home over $22,000 for a hard days work.

Soon after his last elimination MUHoosh33 was at it again, eliminating “Gorrincillo” in fourth place. After a flop of Tc 2c 6d both players would put in four bets each, and after a bet and a raise on the turn Gorrincillo found himself in rough shape holding KTo against MUHoosh33’s pocket Queens. The river offered no help, and Gorrincillo was out in fourth, earning nearly $31,000 for his efforts.

Unfortunately for MUHoosh33, he would soon find himself on the wrong-end of an elimination, this time falling prey to Randers as his K4s failed to improve against A9o. MUHoosh33 would collect $39,700, which is by far his largest cash in an MTT on PokerStars ever.

Quickly after Heads-Up play began a deal was struck! The two players left $6,000 and the WCOOP bracelet on the table and chopped the rest. Both players seem to know each other well, as Randers, was able to talk Kanter into giving him an even $60,000 if he bought drinks the next time the two hung out. Kanter agreed and took just over $61,000.

With a bit of the drama taken out of the air from the deal all the players had to play for was $6,000 and the WCOOP bracelet. The mood of the tournament certainly lightened with the players chatting about past hands and other key moments.

In the end Randers made a small comeback and took the crown and the additional $6,000 in play. Rander’s A6s beat Kanter’s A5o on a board of 8h 7s 4h Ah 2c, the river bring one of only two cards (3 also) that would avoid a chop. Congratulations to all of those cashing and to Randers for taking home the title.