The online tournament scene was abuzz this weekend with the completion of the 2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker. While millions of dollars were up for grabs on PokerStars, there were still plenty of other big events on other rooms including the Merge Network, Party Poker, FullTilt, and Bodog. Those looking for SCOOP results need to look no further than the FlopTurnRiver News Section. Our news team has been providing in-depth analysis of all the big SCOOP events including the Main Event which concluded Monday night.
One tournament picking up steam as of late is the $109 $100k Guaranteed on the Merge Network . With rooms such as Carbon, Lock, and RPM Poker, the Merge Network has many skins to suit your needs. They are also one of a few networks to remain open to American players since April 15th, providing a safe gaming environment for United States online poker. The final table had some recognizable names including runner-up “SlappyJay” who took down a $14,000 score after falling to “kmbond3”. The five-figure cash was the second of his career and bested a $12,506 prize back in 2010 during a MiniFTOPS overflow event. Female poker professional “garnet78” finished in 6th place for $3,500. She is beginning to build quite a nice resume including multiple final tables in the $200,000 guaranteed on Ultimate Bet.
The Merge $100k should soon be surpassing its guarantee as more Americans look to get back into online poker.
Merge Poker Sunday $100k Guaranteed
902 Entrants; $100,000 prize pool
1. kmbond3 $25,000
2. SlappyJay $14,000
3. UknowUgetto $7,500
4. outfloppin $5,000
5. grindersosick $4,250
6. garnet78 $3,500
7. Nalasumak $2,750
8. SHR3DDER $2,250
9. gcone409 $1,750
10. ontiltMoeRawn $1,500
The Party Poker Quarter Million guaranteed again fell just short of the $250,000 mark. It seems even with the Americans leaving the market that both Europeans and Canadians have not yet flocked to what was once the world leader in online poker. In fact, as PokerStars was able to release players funds so quickly, it seems to actually have strengthened their position in the online poker market. Still, Party Poker remains as the 3rd biggest room and as such should be able to provide a better Sunday tournament showing. It will be interesting to see how the $250k fares over the next few months. With a more aggressive satellite program there is no reason why it should not be able to garnet 1,250 or more entries.
The tournament itself was won by “noctuVigilus” who earned $52,500 in the process. This was his/her first big payday on Party Poker and it came at the expense of runner-up “psykotow” who had to settle for 2nd place. Sixth-place finisher “ididntsodont” was one of the more experienced players at the final table having nearly won the FullTilt $1,000,000 last year for $142,826. The near five-figure score failed to crack his top-5 career cashes which also includes a SCOOP final table appearance earlier this month in Event #19.
Party Poker Sunday $250k Guaranteed
1,130 Entrants; $250,000 prize pool
1. n0ctuVigilus $52,500
2. psykotow $30,000
3. DutchRaise72 $18,125
4. mssong0329 $14,375
5. Loket_Olsson $11,875
6. ididntsodont $9,375
7. ZEDSIP $7,125
8. no_IQ $4,750
9. Bob_Ducca $3,625
10. KeenanCahill $2,500
FullTilt, even amidst legislation controversy, continues to stroll along as the world’s second largest online poker room. While their American professionals like Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Howard Lederer are not able to play there is still a large foreign contingent that remains loyal to the site. One interesting note, earlier today former American Cole “CTS” South was spotted playing $25/$50 on FullTilt. It seems he has already gone through the necessary steps to play from a foreign country whether it be Canada, parts of Europe, or even Australia.
The Sunday Brawl has seen its guarantee cut in half from $400,000 to $200,000 since April 15th. Still, the $240+$16 event has had little trouble ranking as one of the week’s biggest events. Yesterday the Knock-Out style tournament attracted more than 1,200 people creating a $247,800 prize pool with more than $50,000 in the bounty pool. For those unfamiliar with the Brawl, every time a player eliminated a fellow opponent he/she is awarded with a $40 bounty prize. These bounties add up quickly for those making deep runs. Two players making such runs were “mrvogt” and “NEONPILS99” who battled it out for the $54,516 first place check. The prize eventually went to NEONPILS99 who earned just the 6th biggest score of his career, behind major final table appearances and a win in the $1K Monday back in 2008.
FullTilt Sunday Brawl $200k Guaranteed
1,239 Entrants; $247,800 prize pool
1. NEONPILS99 $54,516
2. mrvogt $34,692
3. MetalMoshingMad $25,090
4. ddanchev $20,134
5. Holgeri $15,190
6. and2008 $11,151
7. Rangery $7,186
8. NUTS705 $5,204
9. floppin_ell $3,717
The Sunday $750,000 Guaranteed continues to use its multi-entry format, but was for once unable to reach its guarantee. While the tournament fell just a few entries shy of the 3,750 necessary it still had one of the better showings of the past weekend. With a three-quarter million dollar prize pool there was more than $134,000 on the line for the $750k champion. FullTilt professionals on hand vying for the crown included Andrew Black, Christian Kruel, and Scott Clements. Unfortunately no FTP pros could make the final table leaving it open for all the internet professionals in the event. Making the most of this opportunity were Jamil “I DrAsTiq” Wakil and “ikszoorn” who decided to chop the remaining prize pool. Due to chip counts it was Wakil who took home more than $123,000 and the win in the $750k. The six-figure score was easily the biggest of his career besting wins in the $35k, $60k, and $25k Super Stack over the past seven months.
FullTilt Sunday $750k Guaranteed
3,741 entrants; $750,000 prize pool
*2-way chop
1. I DrAsTiQ I $123,250
2. ikszoorn $104,000
3. BigBadP $66,600
4. larser52 $49,500
5. pez102 $36,750
6. andyh333 $25,500
7. raminator10 $17,250
8. coldgear $12,000
9. TheFatFISH $8,250
The $150+$12 Bodog $100,000 Guaranteed continues to offer a nice overlay for those involved. A quick note on Bodog, the site has recently gone to a .eu domain in light of the recent American shutdowns of PokerStars.com and FullTilt.com. This is nothing to be concerned with as Bodog and it’s CEO Calvin Ayre seem poised to stay open to any and all players. The change to a .eu domain is more to just guarantee day-to-day operations go uninterrupted even if the US government tries to levy charges against the online poker room, sportsbook, and casino. Even still the world’s largest online casino and sportsbook has struggled to grow their poker playing clientele base. Their biggest weekly events have consistently fell short of their guarantees and their restrictions on multi-tabling have kept their cash games from exploding.
Still, Bodog remains one of the few sites open to Americans and it should be applauded for doing so. The final table of the $100k was destroyed by “iLLNuGWichee” who also won the $15k on the Merge Poker Network earlier in the day. The high-stakes professional has seen success on many different poker sites including PokerStars and FullTilt where he has more than $700,000 in career cashes.
Bodog Sunday $100k Guaranteed
529 Entrants; $100,000 prize pool
1. iLLNuGWichee $25,000
2. The_Flons $15,000
3. DrSwisstard $9,500
4. slice36 $7,000
5. Longhorn_99 $5,500
6. KGBluvsOrEoS $4,500
7. urhandnogood $3,500
8. jrass21 $2,200
9. Cause4concern $1,700
Even with a few SCOOP events running on Sunday, PokerStars still had their Sunday majors in play including the $530 $250k Guaranteed and $215 $125k Second Chance. Both events start later in the day which isn’t the best for attracting European clientele. As is such they both failed to reach their guarantees forcing PokerStars to pay out more than $6,000 in total overlay. It will be interesting to see how the poker majors fair once the 2011 SCOOP is over. In the past the events tend to show a one week drop-off as players take some time to relax after grinding for two straight weeks. However, they soon then explode as players have a lot of money online and the itch to grind tournaments.
Taking home the $250k title was “cooltwister” who earned another high-stakes payday for his victory. The big stakes professional has more than a handful of $20,000+ wins to his name including multiple victories in the $109 re-buy.
PokerStars Sunday $250k Guaranteed
491 Entrants; $250,000 prize pool
1. cooltwister $47,250
2. Vitinho Leao $34,625
3. john_baird_1 $25,500
4. Solymar11 $19,250
5. Obafemi 9 $13,500
6. FisFarfar $10,625
7. -DrawingDad- $8,125
8. fly44 $5,625
9. diegoaiz $3,825
The day wrapped up with the Sunday Second Chance on PokerStars. The tournament had been hitting the $300,000 prize pool mark regularly before April 15th but since has had trouble reaching its new $125,000 guarantee. A lot of this stems from its later starting time; it is just not a great option for those playing overseas who want to get to bed before 6 in the morning. Ultimately PokerStars will have to look into their starting times for their major events and tweak them for a European player base. The final table had some very solid players on hand including 3rd place finisher “Gala_Terry” who nearly won a $1k event last year for $71,775 and earlier this month came very close to winning the $109 re-buy before falling in 2nd place for $18,438. Eventual winner “delaney_kid” took home $23,625 for the Second Chance title. The high-stakes professional nearly won the SCOOP Main Event last year before busting in 9th place for $94,095. He also final tabled the Warm-Up back in 2009 for $35,496 and the $215 re-buy later that year. He now has more than $1,250,000 in cashes on PokerStars and appears to be on his way to much more.
PokerStars Sunday Second Chance $125k Guaranteed
616 Entrants; $125,000 prize pool
1. delaney_kid $23,625
2. supereep $17,312
3. Gala_Terry $12,750
4. Clapi $9,625
5. allecorrea $6,750
6. lubos1980cz $5,312
7. wilbob2 $4,062
8. mikki696 $2,812
9. jorge37 $1,912