Thanks to the poker boom, live tournament players have a huge host of series in beautiful locations around the world to choose from. While the scenery may not be as good for online players, the action and fun surely is, and it doesn’t get much better than the World Championship of Online Poker, which is currently running. Event 28 took place over the last two days, and was eventually won by none other than famous poker pro Shaun Deeb.
The World Championship of Online Poker is an annual series of tournaments hosted on PokerStars, featuring a variety of events and massive guaranteed prize pools. It’s been taking place for several years now, and it seems to grow larger and larger each year, and this year was no exception. With 62 events and a mind-blowing combined guaranteed prize pool of over $50,000,000, it’s no wonder that online pros and novices alike are flocking to this year’s series.
Unsurprisingly, the series takes quite a while to get through with so many events. We are, however, now nearing the halfway mark with the conclusion of event 28 yesterday. The format was No Limit Hold’Em, with a fairly standard structure, but the tournament took place over two days. This two-day event draws sizable crowds, but if you want to have a chance at the title then you have to have a lot of patience and stamina as you are, after all, playing two days of your best poker.
Of course, there’s certainly an incentive there to keep you concentrating, in the form of the prize pool. One million dollars was guaranteed before the start of the event, and with 1433 entrants flocking to the virtual felt, this guarantee was far exceeded, the final prize pool coming out at an impressive $1,433,000. 162 places were paid, and after two days of grueling poker the winner walked away with the first place prize of $243,610.00.
There to represent the site and take their own private shot at the fortune up for grabs were members of the elite Team PokerStars. These Team PokerStars Pros scattered themselves throughout the final rankings, but the best among them was one Pat Pezzin. A Canadian pro of Italian origins, Pezzin used to work in the restaurant business but now focuses on poker, among other things. That focus pays off for him, too, as he’s won over half a million dollars from poker tournaments in his career thus far. He made an impressive run in Event 28, eventually being eliminated in 76th place, for which he received the very reasonable sum of $3,295.90.
The ultimate winner at the end of the second day, however, was Shaun Deeb. The young pro has a certain following in the poker world, and he’s known for his extremely high volume play not to mention his proficiency in online poker. Just under a year ago Deeb surprised the poker world when he announced his retirement, citing that he was just too burned out to continue playing. Just like you and I, however, it seems that he is not immune to the itch of poker, and he’s returned back to the felt in full force. With this WCOOP win he receives not only a golden PokerStars bracelet but also $243,610 and quick entry back into the limelight of the poker world.
Tournaments are a great way to earn some cash whether you’re a hardcore grinder or an amateur who just likes to have a bit of fun. The World Championship of Online Poker has some of the best tournaments around, both in terms of fun and prize pools, so it’s a bit of a no brainer that it’s the perfect activity for you if you’re feeling a little bored and want to pick up a little extra cash. There is, of course, also always the chance that you could pick up a lot more than a little cash, so hit the tables today and perhaps you’ll follow in Shaun Deeb’s footsteps and walk away with nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
The official final table results are as follows:
1. Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb ($243,610)
2. Tjollerboy ($179,125)
3. Ruxandescu ($135,991.70)
4. Shawn “buck21” Buchanan ($97,444)
5. HotKarlMC ($70,933.50)
6. VLs85s ($56,603.50)
7. Greg “DuckU” Hobson ($42,273.50)
8. insanocut ($27,943.50)
9. jhwang21 ($15,476.40)