This past Monday saw the start of the first Omaha tournament at this years Poker Stars World Championship of Online Poker. The buy-in stood at an affordable $200 + $15, and with a guaranteed prize pool of at least $300,000 it was no surprise to see that a whole host of top Omaha players registered. A total of 2,457 pot limit players signed up for the tournament, swelling the prize pool to over $491,000. The tournament’s format may have also tempted in a number of players. Each table was capped at 6 players, in what is more commonly known as 6-max.
As expected a large contingent of Poker Stars pros turned out to try their hand at a spot of PLO, including the likes of: ElkY, Chad Brown, Dario Minieri, John Duthie, Isabelle Mercier, Tuan Lam, Vanessa Rousso, and Victor Ramdin. However, despite their numbers, none of them were able to make it further than the 219th place occupied by Alexandre “Allingomes” Gomes.
Some of those pros were, no doubt, among the raft of early knockouts. The tournament set a frenetic opening pace, with 600 players eliminated in just 40 minutes. The stage seemed set for a whirlwind event and the high velocity did continue for a time. However as the field began to shrink things began to slow and it would be 16 hours before the start of heads up play.
One major sticking point was the final table bubble, no player wanting to be the one denied the chance to play at a WCOOP final table. Not only the prestige of making the final table was at stake, a sizable jump in prize money was also up for grabs. The prize structure of this years WCOOP has been criticized by some for its top heavy nature, and the final table bubble will certainly have added more fuel to the fire. The difference between 6th and 7th places was a massive $8,000, with the prizes almost tripling from $4,500 to $12,500.
In the end markkx was the unlucky one, leaving the chipstacks going into the final table as:
mddgfc: $1,348,188
HOREogHALM: $447,113
kev19: $1,900,088
bearbeer123: $571,028
Mary 717: 2,204,333
rkruok: $900,250
Those of you who have been keeping up to date with the results of this years WCOOP thus far may well recognize the name ‘rkruock’. Despite the series being only 4 days old, he had already recorded 3 cashes and was now in with a shot at becoming an event champion. If the other players hadn’t heard of him it wouldn’t be long before his name was on the tip of their tongues, as he became embroiled in some early controversy. The clock was paused and the players discussed whether it was time to make a deal for the money. Many professed to be tired and hungry and would sooner divvy up the proceeds and play out the final few hands than slug it out for the agreed prizes. It came to a vote and all were in favor withstanding HOREogHALM and rkurock. So play continued as normal.
Their decision appeared to immediately bear fruit, when the short stack, bearbeer123, became embroiled in a hand with rkurock. With his few chips over the line, his fate was sealed when a King came down to connect with rkrock’s AK, ahead of bearbeer123’s pocket 10’s. Rkrock’s elation at his wise decision would prove to be short-lived, as he became the next player to leave the table. The pain of missing out on the $13,000 extra he could have earned had he taken the deal would not have been dulled to any degree after his elimination by Mary 717 – her paired 10 finding a companion as an 8 hit on the river to give her two pair, far ahead of rkruock’s AA.
With one of the main opponents of the deal out of the picture the players again tried to reach an agreement, but just as before, HOREogHALM was opposed to the idea and play resumed as normal. He may well have come to immediately regret that decision, but by then it would have been too late. Mary 717 appeared to be punishing those who would block the other players ambitions as she slow-played her set of aces and drew the all-in from HOREogHALM and his two pair.
Now that both of the deal-breakers had been eliminated an accord was struck, with the prize money split according to chipstacks. Mary 717 took the biggest share, $65,730, mddgfc the next largest, $50,301, and kev19 a marginally smaller portion, $49,861. All that was left to play for was the remaining $6,000 and the highly regarded WCOOP bracelet. The players seemed keen to end it all and get to bed at this point. After an agreement was reached the tournament lasted all of 5 minutes.
Lady luck seemed to be siding with the fairer sex yet again, as Mary 717’s K-K-9-5 found three more nine’s on the board to crush kev19’s A-A-3-2. This elimination put Mary 717 in a commanding position for heads up play, with a chip advantage of around 5/1. It took no time at all for mddgfc to get his chips all-in and this time Mary 717 found herself ahead. Her Ad-Ah-Qs-10c the favorite over kev19’s Jd-10d-10s-9h before the flop, and once the Kd-Qc-Jh came down her victory was assured with a flopped nut straight. So Mary 717 was crowned the first Omaha champion of the 2008 World Championships of Online Poker and will take with her 14 karat gold WCOOP bracelet, and $71,730, as a reward for her fantastic victory.
The full list of cashes for WCOOP Event #7 is:
1 Mary 717 United States $77,395.50
2 mddgfc United Kingdom $55,282.50
3 kev19 Canada $40,294.80
4 HORERogHALM Norway $30,221.10
5 rkruok Australia $21,130.20
6 bearbeer123 Sweden $12,481.56
7 markkx Canada $4,619.16
8 EggBall Australia $4,619.16
9 greenrizla Ireland $4,619.16
10 RaSZi Netherlands $1,818.18
11 Kid Atavism United States $1,818.18
12 Analyser2 Hungary $1,818.18
13 Maverick1 Denmark $1,572.48
14 AGame18 United States $1,572.48
15 onehandturks United Kingdom $1,572.48
16 schuster90 United States $1,572.48
17 payupnowx Canada $1,572.48
18 silo9206 United States $1,572.48
19 NA$DAq Russian Federation $1,523.34
20 Narec Canada $1,523.34
21 Pass_72 Canada $1,523.34
22 Belabacsi Hungary $1,523.34
23 losyara007 Russian Federation $1,523.34
24 lowballeric United Kingdom $1,523.34
25 timmy720 United States $1,474.20
26 Trona ziptet Brazil $1,474.20
27 Us_Alex Russian Federation $1,474.20
28 Duchow United States $1,474.20
29 THE__D__RY United States $1,474.20
30 wombat007 Germany $1,474.20
31 L.O.G.I.C.O Netherlands $1,425.06
32 t soprano United States $1,425.06
33 Chancew United States $1,425.06
34 JPRGriff United Kingdom $1,425.06
35 PearlJammer United States $1,425.06
36 croissants United States $1,425.06
37 michsandjr United States $1,375.92
38 crackhAAd United States $1,375.92
39 aNatty Finland $1,375.92
40 JaySick88 United States $1,375.92
41 actionjack United Kingdom $1,375.92
42 Madcandle Finland $1,375.92
43 pogi74 Canada $1,326.78
44 Believer82 United States $1,326.78
45 Kayjen625 New Zealand $1,326.78
46 vilaincanard France $1,326.78
47 Mizuno MX20 Denmark $1,326.78
48 SpaceyFCB Belgium $1,326.78
49 csmooth02 United States $1,277.64
50 charli70 Ireland $1,277.64
51 Moberg72 United Kingdom $1,277.64
52 maxit11 Denmark $1,277.64
53 krex United States $1,277.64
54 tipp2000 Germany $1,277.64
55 risti7 Estonia $1,228.50
56 Maanu3L Germany $1,228.50
57 AttyBubba Philippines $1,228.50
58 Mr. C. Brown United States $1,228.50
59 marzello Uruguay $1,228.50
60 surfstar33 United States $1,228.50
61 varela42 United States $1,179.36
62 Reesy Ireland $1,179.36
63 Tünchen Germany $1,179.36
64 PeachyMer United States $1,179.36
65 farva00 United States $1,179.36
66 Player007 United States $1,179.36
67 StorPike Sweden $1,130.22
68 gutshtallin United States $1,130.22
69 NAVARONE United States $1,130.22
70 interceptor Sweden $1,130.22
71 jay3400 Denmark $1,130.22
72 THAIBOXX Denmark $1,130.22
73 TheWhtWhale United States $1,081.08
74 BBB-111 Finland $1,081.08
75 Greatone572 United States $1,081.08
76 dapotpot United States $1,081.08
77 Hone2709 Austria $1,081.08
78 stuestudent United States $1,081.08
79 Atila5 Spain $1,031.94
80 weaktight United States $1,031.94
81 lokern Norway $1,031.94
82 Specialk66 United States $1,031.94
83 mikeymcdx United States $1,031.94
84 doublmeup1 United States $1,031.94
85 julefou8484 France $982.80
86 thelick Norway $982.80
87 BGnight United States $982.80
88 grabskia France $982.80
89 J_soldier South Africa $982.80
90 TwistedEcho United Kingdom $982.80
91 Assassin8tor United States $933.66
92 duzeplecy Poland $933.66
93 Sage Phantom United States $933.66
94 VERY_HIGH United States $933.66
95 LaJune United States $933.66
96 gaffel Norway $933.66
97 skinut United Kingdom $884.52
98 IAmSnow United States $884.52
99 retaaded United States $884.52
100 DedoDeGorila Brazil $884.52
101 Exit4afilm2 United Kingdom $884.52
102 Dee_Zaster11 Finland $884.52
103 Jamalshabazz United States $835.38
104 __2cb__ Netherlands $835.38
105 cop17 Denmark $835.38
106 TOOL ON TOUR United Kingdom $835.38
107 ThomasToget Norway $835.38
108 PushThButton Finland $835.38
109 CanonExpress United States $835.38
110 DNA2RNA United States $835.38
111 Tmay420 United States $835.38
112 mattydthe3rd United Kingdom $835.38
113 danish69 Denmark $835.38
114 sunnyknight Germany $835.38
115 Rivvie Netherlands $786.24
116 mahtipeluri Finland $786.24
117 Tankmaestro United Kingdom $786.24
118 beardoh United States $786.24
119 babsgard France $786.24
120 ThroXerioN Germany $786.24
121 pr23 Germany $786.24
122 AWice Canada $786.24
123 zipperoo Sweden $786.24
124 tavira United Kingdom $786.24
125 carguy789 United States $786.24
126 emilas Norway $786.24
127 RobertKoren Norway $737.10
128 yoda777 United Kingdom $737.10
129 Ultra Donk United States $737.10
130 Canuck Canada $737.10
131 houdini_msu United States $737.10
132 SolaSystem United States $737.10
133 VinceVega12 France $737.10
134 ryanbluf United States $737.10
135 WiLDmAn75 United States $737.10
136 brutus07 Norway $737.10
137 solvalla08 Norway $737.10
138 SirEklund Sweden $737.10
139 YoungHero United Kingdom $687.96
140 AKQJ10uk United Kingdom $687.96
141 piccolino Italy $687.96
142 redddog413 United States $687.96
143 titko23 Poland $687.96
144 Antonio7 United States $687.96
145 merlinpinpin France $687.96
146 ACESEDAI United States $687.96
147 SARPAT France $687.96
148 pittrounder United States $687.96
149 Squirrelsky United States $687.96
150 riksanchez United Kingdom $687.96
151 VINDOG1 United States $638.82
152 flexmasterNL Netherlands $638.82
153 royeapoker Chile $638.82
154 Teddy FBI Netherlands $638.82
155 pairDboard21 United States $638.82
156 silverfox555 Australia $638.82
157 Darkpoker12 United States $638.82
158 Gelo19 Latvia $638.82
159 joshuah333 Canada $638.82
160 antroff Sweden $638.82
161 MikeMcDermot Sweden $638.82
162 DaNutzRGood United States $638.82
163 DNcrew Sweden $589.68
164 xxjondxx United States $589.68
165 suns100 Latvia $589.68
166 p10ker United Kingdom $589.68
167 Busted777 Germany $589.68
168 Paryjane Denmark $589.68
169 simont1 United Kingdom $589.68
170 BruschiChang United States $589.68
171 davidp55 United States $589.68
172 HERITAGEM United States $589.68
173 jvengrin Canada $589.68
174 tor66 Norway $589.68
175 imjuniar United States $540.54
176 barlogos Poland $540.54
177 vince vegas United States $540.54
178 kenydalglish United Kingdom $540.54
179 Cobra234 Denmark $540.54
180 MutaPierda Spain $540.54
181 adam_mc Canada $540.54
182 JayPez United Kingdom $540.54
183 TILTkason Sweden $540.54
184 mberg777 Finland $540.54
185 gsmalls30 United States $540.54
186 IveGotToejam United States $540.54
187 Twisted22 Netherlands $491.40
188 55lucky55 United States $491.40
189 Avi011 United States $491.40
190 Nibbling Finland $491.40
191 wasylekk Poland $491.40
192 smalljaws United States $491.40
193 humphreyIN United States $491.40
194 GetDowAndGo United States $491.40
195 CheapThieves United States $491.40
196 johnny1430 United States $491.40
197 mandrake5 France $491.40
198 ide1 Finland $491.40
199 Jonnybegoode United States $466.83
200 steflr France $466.83
201 grphn Finland $466.83
202 frenchsnake France $466.83
203 lord8080 Finland $466.83
204 Darinox Sweden $466.83
205 windy & me United States $466.83
206 doidovarrido Norway $466.83
207 vikings92 France $466.83
208 al_lamp23 United States $466.83
209 marle1 Canada $466.83
210 gfair United States $466.83
211 DocStrngeluv United States $442.26
212 Kepper111 Canada $442.26
213 Allingomes Brazil $442.26
214 Joakim6633 Sweden $442.26
215 acehole67 United States $442.26
216 Dr.Montelban United States $442.26
217 Hedgehog2 United States $442.26
218 Csernyin Hungary $442.26
219 brighteyes5 United States $442.26
220 txhammer United States $442.26
221 JasonGray United States $442.26
222 MrLynX United States $442.26
223 callmegeee United Kingdom $417.69
224 lucasino United Kingdom $417.69
225 gamb!or Australia $417.69
226 Anikke Norway $417.69
227 sick_rådi Sweden $417.69
228 whatabadplay Netherlands $417.69
229 Sötétlófia Hungary $417.69
230 fishlover Netherlands $417.69
231 chessyjames Germany $417.69
232 bbbbb33 United States $417.69
233 joachin68 Italy $417.69
234 CRossiter United Kingdom $417.69
235 chokdee11 Reunion $393.12
236 RIKE14 Finland $393.12
237 Grande Joe Italy $393.12
238 CartmanLSK Norway $393.12
239 checker03 Austria $393.12
240 geirto Norway $393.12
241 Master Thief Sweden $393.12
242 mmkaywhat United States $393.12
243 Rutanen Finland $393.12
244 Ecky_Z United Kingdom $393.12
245 amdmyers Germany $393.12
246 Perun Ukraine $393.12
247 Frosty1Jack United Kingdom $393.12
248 MartinK1979 Germany $393.12
249 8TylerDurden United States $393.12
250 uloseAA United Kingdom $393.12
251 bolito Germany $393.12
252 Durindal United States $393.12
253 antline United States $368.55
254 sh060480 United Kingdom $368.55
255 tonyspain Spain $368.55
256 William Sweden $368.55
257 barnsey United Kingdom $368.55
258 playitsafe Norway $368.55
259 Spanish_Jack Germany $368.55
260 hartwith United Kingdom $368.55
261 Fortino France $368.55
262 EineGrosse Sweden $368.55
263 P0KERFACE88 Netherlands $368.55
264 Edakaeh United States $368.55
265 Anima Mundi United States $368.55
266 Hasse Finland $368.55
267 oiltrader United States $368.55
268 Little Kraut United States $368.55
269 Wear United States $368.55
270 carrigeen Ireland $368.55
271 Bertron Canada $368.55
272 kingsofcards United States $368.55
273 Minkolle Sweden $368.55
274 bindernutnut Canada $368.55
275 Don Funghi Netherlands $368.55
276 thematheus France $368.55
277 yara777 Ukraine $368.55
278 jeffdamack United States $368.55
279 Razzle11 United States $368.55
280 phallos74 Sweden $368.55
281 J9 of clubs United States $368.55
282 bodark stump United States $368.55
283 J-C AA Denmark $368.55
284 zakharp Hungary $368.55
285 kingetje Netherlands $368.55
286 Ryland Block Canada $368.55
287 Afval Netherlands $368.55
288 iecavniex Latvia $368.55
289 A_Ivanovich United States $343.98
290 balleklorin1 Norway $343.98
291 caprioli Brazil $343.98
292 GrovSnus Sweden $343.98
293 Deucesboy United States $343.98
294 Rizen United States $343.98
295 Raakile Finland $343.98
296 GoldChicken Finland $343.98
297 DJRiccoLaw Ireland $343.98
298 amatos Spain $343.98
299 JoeBundy United States $343.98
300 exposabre Canada $343.98
301 Mangeelf Sweden $343.98
302 flrico United States $343.98
303 SharpNut Canada $343.98
304 Mr.D83 Sweden $343.98
305 nut-nuthin United States $343.98
306 flugster United Kingdom $343.98
307 ZuperDP Sweden $343.98
308 TigerFM Germany $343.98
309 lifang United States $343.98
310 Tomte123 Sweden $343.98
311 micha88 Germany $343.98
312 bottsky United States $343.98
313 zoltan00 Netherlands $343.98
314 Hiatus32 United States $343.98
315 stortv Norway $343.98
316 Idolatrous Canada $343.98
317 yucca 48 Finland $343.98
318 thakilla United States $343.98
319 opec1 Norway $343.98
320 TimeToPress United Kingdom $343.98
321 jeanlouis1a France $343.98
322 MrSmokey1 United States $343.98
323 Rivalen Sweden $343.98
324 tinki Norway $343.98
325 TweetDreams United States $343.98
326 kito555 Italy $343.98
327 GoPhish United States $343.98
328 Stammdogg United States $343.98
329 olivebranch United States $343.98
330 SticKnee Canada $343.98
331 the_schmenx United States $343.98
332 Fedwin Israel $343.98
333 ladna Sweden $343.98
334 mrLando Germany $343.98
335 hotmark777 Lebanon $343.98
336 pes4fans Germany $343.98
337 Sulzi Germany $343.98
338 NDGrinder59 United States $343.98
339 Joern P Germany $343.98
340 Grey fox 33 Costa Rica $343.98
341 thebulk2 United States $343.98
342 Akademnuk Russian Federation $343.98
343 TT_KING Sweden $343.98
344 jokermsg Russian Federation $343.98
345 gconedog United States $343.98
346 gde246 United States $343.98
347 Axzile Sweden $343.98
348 BLACK REIGN6 United States $343.98
349 MasterChecho United States $343.98
350 hatchi Denmark $343.98
351 ChugsMcGee United States $343.98
352 AdenDean United Kingdom $343.98
353 vesty88 Ireland $343.98
354 farfromfear United States $343.98
355 KarinMR Norway $343.98
356 am2ashi Romania $343.98
357 nickd1983 United States $343.98
358 FossilMan United States $343.98
359 lnitmo United States $343.98
360 Power 1111 United States $343.98