Event #23 in the Poker Stars World Championship of Online Poker was a $530 buyin NL Hold’em tournament offering the option of one rebuy during the first hour, and one add-on during the first break. The enthusiasm for this format was apparent, with 1,159 players as the event kicked off. After 807 rebuys, and 954 add-ons, the prize pool of $1.46 million far exceeded the guarantee of $500K.
After nearly 18 hours of play, ddrufnek ended up as the winner, taking home $192,902 and a WCOOP bracelet. With the additional chips in play from the rebuys and add-ons, it took over 15 hours to whittle down the field to the final nine. The wait for the final table was impacted by the disconnection of one player, ILAN17, as play was proceeding hand-for-hand on the final table bubble. After running through his time bank, he still had 15 seconds to act on each hand before timing out, a situation that caused frustration among the other players.
ILAN17 eventually reconnected and final table play began with eventual winner ddrufnek holding the chip lead.
Starting final table chip counts:
1. ddrufnek 3,121,506
2. luckyuli 2,415,421
3. dinkel 2,374,395
4. MPetes 2,209,210
5. ILAN17 1,753,137
6. imeasy2read 1,052,446
7. 1bigbluffer1 1,041,489
8. MT456 755,921
9. MaxHam 772,475
By the time play reached 4-handed, the remaining players were talking about a deal. After some discussion, they agreed to a chop with the winner taking $210,000 and the remaining three players getting $169,804 each. The deal surprised some onlookers, given the differences in chip counts at the time of the agreement.
chip counts at time deal:
1. ddrufnek 5,938,970
2. luckyuli 4,545,526
3. ILAN17 2,655,138
4. imeasy2read 2,356,366
After ILAN17 was knocked out in 4th, and imeasy2read went out in 3rd place, heads up play began with relatively even chip counts. The two remaining players battled back and forth, and after some time, agreed to a second final table deal. This deal left $10K on the table to the eventual winner, and split the remaining prize pool evenly, giving $182,902 to both players. Not too long afterwards, luckyuli got all in with KJo and ddrufnek’s A7o held up to give him the title.
Congratulations to all 171 players who made the money in this exciting event:
1 ddrufnek $192,902.00
2 luckyuli $182,902.00
3 imeasy2read $166,805.00
4 ILAN17 $166,805.00
5 MPetes $76,650.00
6 dinkel $62,050.00
7 MaxHam $47,450.00
8 1bigbluffer1 $32,850.00
9 MT456 $20,440.00
10 smellmuth $13,870.00
11 mindgamer $13,870.00
12 thechemist83 $13,870.00
13 Break-Necks $10,950.00
14 marzello $10,950.00
15 ElkY $10,950.00
16 koolkeith13 $8,030.00
17 GPSMAN $8,030.00
18 eBo226 $8,030.00
19 PlzBelieveMe $5,402.00
20 iplaypokeher $5,402.00
21 biurtyj $5,402.00
22 Yo Burger $5,402.00
23 Asprin1 $5,402.00
24 Martin1213 $5,402.00
25 lucky1770 $5,402.00
26 FlushPiano $5,402.00
27 MAVKIS $5,402.00
28 TicociT $3,796.00
29 octane190 $3,796.00
30 Dolcetrix $3,796.00
31 PieniFisu $3,796.00
32 caprioli $3,796.00
33 HittinChills $3,796.00
34 Adgee $3,796.00
35 Himclip85 $3,796.00
36 D1rtyR1v3r $3,796.00
37 mjh0318 $3,212.00
38 tibaloo $3,212.00
39 Claw1980 $3,212.00
40 schmejkal $3,212.00
41 Assassin8tor $3,212.00
42 YanniYankiev $3,212.00
43 BirdBoy100 $3,212.00
44 FasterMB $3,212.00
45 Demolution $3,212.00
46 Nastley $2,920.00
47 ztesch $2,920.00
48 Hoppeko $2,920.00
49 kingduey $2,920.00
50 capinhabr $2,920.00
51 ryanbluf $2,920.00
52 allinstevie $2,920.00
53 8BallDeluxe $2,920.00
54 Skämmes $2,920.00
55 zangbezan24 $2,628.00
56 Mr. Tim Caum $2,628.00
57 Binkament $2,628.00
58 raidalot $2,628.00
59 FrinkX $2,628.00
60 GASSITT $2,628.00
61 Phwap $2,628.00
62 TwistedEcho $2,628.00
63 Highpothead $2,628.00
64 Beatiful Man $2,628.00
65 Wolfhound99 $2,628.00
66 nachos24 $2,628.00
67 ozenc $2,628.00
68 Tîmex $2,628.00
69 scarface_79 $2,628.00
70 wasaberga $2,628.00
71 kwil20 $2,628.00
72 chekdstak $2,628.00
73 KidPokerJD $2,482.00
74 j_t_s80 $2,482.00
75 AaronBeen $2,482.00
76 Goral $2,482.00
77 kenydalglish $2,482.00
78 mrAndreeew $2,482.00
79 pokerjamers $2,482.00
80 jle90 $2,482.00
81 mrvogt $2,482.00
82 tpir90036 $2,482.00
83 sh00ter $2,482.00
84 j.thaddeus $2,482.00
85 jinglenutz $2,482.00
86 J-C AA $2,482.00
87 JP 5-time $2,482.00
88 albari $2,482.00
89 FossilMan $2,482.00
90 JP OSU $2,482.00
91 C13Greentumb $2,336.00
92 Claret1 $2,336.00
93 Mescalin8 $2,336.00
94 bfineman $2,336.00
95 grindnitout $2,336.00
96 solvalla08 $2,336.00
97 Kenjh $2,336.00
98 clarkatroid $2,336.00
99 John Starks $2,336.00
100 maxmoney $2,336.00
101 yfsas $2,336.00
102 bbbbb33 $2,336.00
103 MARVS $2,336.00
104 michi’s_star $2,336.00
105 rikimarux $2,336.00
106 GARYDO $2,336.00
107 kabutze $2,336.00
108 espartaco60 $2,336.00
109 Drant $2,336.00
110 "Dumping"KGB $2,336.00
111 backrhodes $2,336.00
112 BackDoorovic $2,336.00
113 niccc $2,336.00
114 Balla-B13 $2,336.00
115 hoodini10 $2,336.00
116 TwinMSU $2,336.00
117 Arzzt $2,336.00
118 NemoStars22 $2,336.00
119 liggy $2,336.00
120 ROONEY_DIVES $2,336.00
121 jrot1 $2,336.00
122 Andy McLEOD $2,336.00
123 treysfull21 $2,336.00
124 ThePokerBody $2,336.00
125 partyboiii $2,336.00
126 junior4718 $2,336.00
127 Johnster $2,190.00
128 Sulzi $2,190.00
129 bcforrest $2,190.00
130 odiprofanum $2,190.00
131 shaniac $2,190.00
132 The Chalk $2,190.00
133 fumbo420 $2,190.00
134 charder30 $2,190.00
135 theNorfman $2,190.00
136 brainwash $2,190.00
137 boskoabaz $2,190.00
138 CASINOICE $2,190.00
139 Scorebachov $2,190.00
140 Humberto B. $2,190.00
141 mr.thome $2,190.00
142 SLOPPYKLOD $2,190.00
143 Alan Parson $2,190.00
144 iDax $2,190.00
145 JoseGuti $2,190.00
146 Metsfan512 $2,190.00
147 8buldozer8 $2,190.00
148 lofts $2,190.00
149 elvisis#1 $2,190.00
150 m3lancholy $2,190.00
151 shiptosails $2,190.00
152 exposabre $2,190.00
153 FU_15 $2,190.00
154 kalamitsis $2,190.00
155 SobraoBoY $2,190.00
156 Spinvis $2,190.00
157 OPETTAJA $2,190.00
158 ilushan $2,190.00
159 Martine23 $2,190.00
160 stkbrkr1 $2,190.00
161 GAHh $2,190.00
162 By-TorNV $2,190.00
163 bluffdeez503 $2,190.00
164 travi425 $2,190.00
165 Mrazeg $2,190.00
166 playboy99999 $2,190.00
167 acehighdro $2,190.00
168 anguila $2,190.00
169 Telefonkiosk $2,190.00
170 PitBrett $2,190.00
171 onesixty8 $2,190.00