PokerStars implemented a double-chance tournament for their 30th event of the WCOOP; a $320 No Limit Hold ‘Em event..  What exactly is a double-chance?  As the name suggests, players were given two chances in the tournament.  If a player was stacked during the first hour of the tournament, they had a chance to buy back into the tournament.  Of the 2,488 players in the tournament, 293 took advantage of this second chance.  This created a prize pool of $834,300 with 360 players being guaranteed money.

Many PokerStars pros bought into this event including Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Andre Akkari, and Humberto Brenes, who placed 322nd.

The final table broke down as follows:

Seat 1 – spencerman3 – 1,716,986 chips

Seat 2 – buckguy2200 – 2,696,185 chips

Seat 3 – Akaperion – 772,247 chips

Seat 4 – DiverKRD – 854,916 chips

Seat 5 – grpoker2 – 2,054,689 chips

Seat 6 – BobbyDick66 – 739,663 chips

Seat 7 – Evilduke11 – 1,290,717 chips

Seat 8 – acehole60 – 1,262,135 chips

Seat 9 – Ginobili1988 – 2,517,462 chips

DiverKRD would be the first to go after raising 200,000 from UTG+1 and being called by spencerman3 in the big blind.  The flop came QhTc5c and spencerman3 checked to DiverKRD.  DiverKRD moved in and spencerman3 called immediately showing AdQs for top pair-top kicker.  DiverKRD’s AsKh was in big trouble.  The 5d and 8s on the turn and river gave him no help and he was sent packing.  For his ninth-place finish, DiverKRD earned $7,091.56.

The next knockout hand was a real interesting one.  Two players would seal their fate as Evilduke11 shoved his 859,467 chips from UTG+1 and acehole60 put all his 960,885 chips in behind him.  Spencerman3 called both their bets while the rest of the table folded.  He was in the lead with his pocket queens going against Evilduke11’s AdQd and acehole60’s AcKc.  His queens would hold up on the Jh8s6h4h8c board scoring him a double-knockout.  Evilduke11 and acehole60 left in eighth ($12,097.36) and seventh-place ($20,446.36), respectively.

Akaperion looked to double-up shorty after; shoving his chips from the cutoff.  Ginobili1988 made the call with AhQc; Akaperion’s Ad7s was dominated.  The AcQd2h8dTc board gave Ginobili1988 two-pair and the pot.  Akaperion was eliminated in sixth-place and took home $28,783.36 for his performance.

Spencerman3 would continue to control the table and knockout his opponents.  In a hand with BobbyDick66, spencerman3 opened for 160,000 chips.  BobbyDick66 moved in and spencerman3 called.  Spencerman3’s Ac4s was dominated by BobbyDick66’s Ad5s and it looked as if spencerman3 may finally lose a hand.  However, the poker gods had other ideas.  The flop was Tc7d4c and paired spencerman3’s kicker.  BobbyDick66 would not catch up on the 9s turn or the 6h river and was eliminated.  BobbyDick66 was the fourth player to be knocked out by spencerman3 at this final table and left in fifth place $37,126.36 richer.

Buckguy2200 was the next to go.  An open by buckguy2200 followed by grpoker2’s three-bet shove and buckguy2200’s call set-up our next race: buckguy2200’s sevens against grpoker2’s AdKs.  The 4h4d3s flop was safe for buckguy2200, but the Kd on the turn gave grpoker2 top-pair.  The river Qc did not improve buckguy2200 and he joined the spectators.  $48,806.56 was added to his bankroll for his fourth-place finish.

Two hands later, grpoker2 continued to make moves; four-betting all-in with Ginobili1988 making the call.  Another hand, another race: grpoker2’s pocket fives were looking to hold up against Ginobili1988’s AsKh.  A king on the turn and an ace on the river gave Ginobili1988 two-pair and gave grpoker2 a seat next to the spectators.  With his third-place finish came $70,915.91.

Ironically, the final hand of the tournament was NOT a race.  After both player limped to see the 9s4d2s flop, Ginobili1988 bet 200,000 and spencerman3 called.  The turn came Qc and Ginobili1988 check-called spencerman3’s 500,000 chip bet.  The river fell Ah and proved to be a devastating card for Ginobili1988.  Spencerman3 bet 800,000 chips and Ginobili1988 shoved all-in.  Spencerman3 made the call and showed the two-pair that he had made with the river ace (Ac2c).  Ginobili1988 lost with his pair of nines (9d5c) and was runner-up in the tournament.  He won $99,006.39 for his deep run.  As for spencerman3, he won $131,819.41 along with his bracelet.  Congratulations spencerman3!