Three-handed, the result of the EPT London looked a hard one to predict. The remaining players were each sizably stacked, each had fire in their eyes, and with a dinner break on the horizon no one felt any need to be hasty.
Then the earth suddenly moved, two hands collided, sending one man to the rail and another into a massive lead. But just as it looked like John Juanda’s four-to-one chip advantage over David Vamplew would have the final wrapped up within minutes, Vamplew began to battle. And what a fight he put up.
The 23-year-old’s previous best result was a cash in a World Series hold’em event earlier this year, but today he showed all the experience of a wise old pro, fighting back to level the chip counts, then digging deeper and deeper when Juanda won it back, finally turning over the winning hand to be crowned newest champion on the European Poker Tour.
David Vamplew, winner of EPT London
If Vamplew is a shock winner of EPT London then it’s because of the man he had to defeat on his way to the title.
Juanda is a pro of the very highest order, a four-time bracelet winner with more than $10.5 million in the tournament bank, a resume comparable with only a handful of players. Two years ago he finished second in the EPT London High Roller £1 million Showdown. Today he settled for second place once more, denied by a Scottish terrier who doesn’t know how to quit. When you think about it, as it fun as it can be to play casino online games, it can never quite replicate the drama of watching grandmasters like these two clash for hours around a small table.
“He got really unlucky,” said Vamplew of Juanda after the final. “It will be really interesting to see what he had when it was broadcast, [to see] what he had when he was getting me off some of my hands.”
John Juanda
Vamplew took to the task of overhauling Juanda’s 19.6 million to 5.6 million chip lead, but it was no straightforward task. At times Vamplew looked physically worn and mentally exhausted, while Juanda remained fresh, occasionally stretching the muscles in his neck, that being his only public show of fatigue. That Vamplew was able to overcome this lent further weight to his achievement tonight.
Back at the start today Juanda had led. Well almost. Actually Bowker arrived at the London Hilton Metropole with a 90,000 advantage over Juanda, but that was quickly overcome, Juanda stretching out toward the 10 million mark as Bowker remained static.
The feature table
The table featured an unusual dynamic, the big stacks of Bowker and Juanda casting shadows over the other six.
Per Ummer was first to depart, eliminated by another short-stack Artur Wasek, before Tom Marchese departed in seventh place, seen off by Vamplew.
Portuguese player Fernando Brito went next, another member of the short-stack club, followed by Kayvan Payman in fifth.
Kayvan Payman
Artur Wasek was no better equipped chip wise but matched his fourth place at EPT Berlin with a similar game plan, one of caution and intense chip management. All-in several times the Polish giant was finally felled by John Juanda, his two final tables in just a few months a remarkable achievement nonetheless.
Artur Wasek
It left Vamplew, Bowker and Juanda, the three players deemed “most likely” all day; Bowker departing in that hand to set up a gruelling heads-up finale, one made memorable for the tireless efforts of the newcomer Vamplew taking on Juanda, one of the game’s genuine legends.
In the last hand, with Juanda reduced to little more than 3 million chips, both players turned over their cards, [ad][3c] for Vamplew against Juanda’s [kd][2d]. When the flop landed [3s][ad][ts] Juanda allowed himself a smile, beaten, unable to crack his young foe.
As far as EPT final tables go this one was a good one and you can read back through all of the action at the links below, and find out who won what here.
As always our thanks and utmost respect to our foreign friends blogging in Abfall, Huisvuil, Assurdità and Struntprat. Thanks also to our photographers Neil Stoddart and Mickey May.
Aside from a £10,000 6-Max Turbo event and the UKIPT Tournament of Champions tomorrow, Vamplew brings to an end the Festival of EPT London. Alongside the main event ran the High Roller tournament, results for which can be found here, as well as an 8-Game European Championship won by Chris Bjorin, a Ladies event won by Anais Lerouge and a Charity Event won by Dutch player Arnoud van der Werf. There really was something for everyone.
That then wraps up our EPT London coverage. Thanks for joining us in London. Next stop for the tour is Vienna in Austria, where the EPT bandwagon will waltz into the home of Strauss, Freud, Kafka and the Von Trapps. It should be quite a combination. It all starts on 26 October. See you there.
We remember the keg parties, rushing fraternities, and living off ramen noodles and Spam with a tight budget. Besides waking up at 11am having a dozen week old donuts for breakfast, college was all about taking courses outside of your comfort zone in order to grab that degree after four or five years (lawyers and doctors not included). Intro to Anthropology for an Accounting student, Advanced Statistics for an Art major, just like a NLHE specialist weaving their way through the streets of a Razz hand, being a “specialist” will not get you on the podium this evening. Tonight’s WCOOP 2011 Event #39 $320 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament with a $125,000 guarantee lays out five poker classes the players must master (Hold Em’, Omaha Hi-Low, Razz, Stud-Hi, and Stud Hi-Low) in order to become the valedictorian. Instead of a pretty tassel, cardboard square hat, and a piece of paper, the top of the class will earn a WCOOP bracelet along with $33,332.52 for their studious efforts.
591 students paid their tuition to PokerStars U for this special elective course and only 80 of them would walk away with a passing grade, earning some cash back from the prize pool fund. Team PokerStars pros and Team Online lined up like honor roll students, with well-prepped notes, but the competition for scholarships was fierce. Daniel “Kid Poker Negreanu, Anders “Donald” Berg, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Nuno Coelho, Noah “Exclusive” Boeken, George Danzer, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, and Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome would all bow out before the field was trimmed to double digits.
Henrique Pinho got all his chips in before 4th street in Stud, and nailed a set of eights on fourth street against kleopl for a 9,186 chip pot with the stakes at 1,200/2,400. But kleopl went runner-runner-runner diamonds to river a flush knocking out the Portuguese Team PokerStars pro in 97th place.
This left Team PokerStars pro Chad Brown who was oh so close to a final table in Event # 33′s PLO and Team Online’s Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen to carry on for the Red Spades as both of them crossed the 80 player mark, earning a minimum of $505.30 after AceNorway busted in 81st place.
Petersen would finish in 69th place ($531.90) as Chad Brown pushed forward and was determined to do a little extra credit tonight and grabbing that bracelet that eluded him a couple of days ago. Also earning some extra credit and cash tonight was e1mdopp who took down the aforementioned Event #33 and Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, who heading into tonight, was sitting in second place for the WCOOP Player of the Series award trailing 2FLY2TILT by 55 points (a third place finish or better would close the gap).
e1mdopp would drop out in 40th place ($886.50), followed closely behind by Chad Brown. Playing Razz (otherwise known as the elective almost no one wants to take, but had to) and 3K/6K stakes with 600 antes, Brown would complete with [7h] showing on the door as Papartis88 made it two-bets with a [6s] as Chad called. Brown led out with the [4h] as Papartis88 called [9h] on fourth. Fifth street brought an [Ac] for Brown and [4s] for Papartis88 as the rest of the Team PokerStars pro’s chips went into the middle for a 43,610 chip pot. 8-7 low for Chad exposing the [8h][2c] in the hole as Papartis88 held a 9-6 with [3s][5h] down below. [8c] on sixth vaulted Parartis88 into the lead with an 8-6 low and it would hold as Brown bricked, catching a [4d] and [Jc] to finish in 32nd place ($1,063.80). And just after Chad’s smiling photo left the table, MacPhee would sit down for just five more hands at the same table, losing to feliX Groni’s straight in Stud-Hi to finish in 30th place which should give him 10 more Player of the Series points.
Chad Brown – 30th place
Down to two tables a familiar name floated to the top of the leaderboard. Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn would go into the final 16 with the chip lead, but as those who play limit tourneys know that the swings are sometimes even bigger than the big bet games. Niendorfer, highland, JRIXYZLE, and ChinaBoy420 would finish 13th – 16th place all earning $1,773.00 as joiso’s stack took a dive and was in danger of not making the final table.
juliapups’ short stack was gobbled up by ViTamin_F22′s flush in Omaha Hi-Low to finish in 12th place ($2,216.25). Papartis88, who knocked out Team PokerStars pro Chad Brown, would hit the rail right before the ninth hour break after watching Kaas81 river an eight low in Razz to beat his 9-7, collecting $2,216.25. If the name sounds familiar Papartis88 managed to final table two out of the three SCOOP 2011 Event #21 tables (taking 4th place for $12K in the medium buy-in and 5th for $19K in the high buy-in).
UltraNine’s pair of tens failed to hold against Kaas81 who caught queens on fourth and a flush overkill by the river to sunk the Norwegian’s chances in 10th place ($2,216.25) setting up the final table bubble. DENISZHARKOV would cling desperately to less than one big bet for several hands but with the stakes at 12K/24K ante 2,400 not even two pair after fourth street in Stud Hi-Low would save the Russian. All in against bisbiki78 holding kings over tens [Kh] [Kd] / [Td] [Tc] [9d] [7s] / [Js], bisbiki78 found diamonds on sixth and seventh street to nail a flush and an unneeded low [6d] [2d] / [Jd] [6s] [5c] / [Ad] [3d] to eliminate DENISZHARKOV on the bubble ($2,216.25) and start up the eight player final table below:
Seat 1: bisbiki78 (531552 in chips)
Seat 2: playitsafe (539768 in chips)
Seat 3: joiso (395756 in chips)
Seat 4: KJulius10 (215512 in chips)
Seat 5: CACAFOGO (212844 in chips)
Seat 6: ViTaMin_F22 (153135 in chips)
Seat 7: gboro780 (647094 in chips)
Seat 8: Kaas81 (259339 in chips)
Bang Bang!
Class was dismissed for two players on the same hands, after the final table played a full round of Omaha Hi-Low, the Razz round found Kaas81, CACAFOGO, and playitsafe in a three-way all-in. Who took the other player’s chips? Watch below:
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Stakes at 20K/40K ante 4K and despite eliminating two players near the final table bubble, Kaas81 was all-in on fourth street as CACAFOGO would wait until sixth street to get the rest of his chips in against playitsafe for a massive 599,027 chip pot.
A rivered 7-6 for playitsafe beat out Kaas81′s 8-5 and CACAFOGO’s J-5-4-3-2 for the entire pot eliminating Kaas81 in eighth place ($2,659.50) and CACAFOGO ($3,989.25) in seventh.
Reversal of fortune
ViTaMin_F22 started out the final table on a very short stack, stalling, looking for the right spots and doubling in Razz, then again in Stud-Hi, and another 310,000 chip pot in Stud-Hi going from trying to move up the pay scale to trying to win a bracelet. On the other end KJulius10 could not find a pot to win and in Stud Hi-Low against ViTaMin_F22 it would be his last hand. With stakes at 25K/50K ante 5K all of KJulius10′s chips would be in the middle showing [7d] [Jd] / [As] [7s] [Td] for no possible low and a pair of sevens as ViTaMin_F22 flipped up [6d] [Ad] / [5s] [5d] [8h] for a pair of fives and just more low card to lock up half the pot. [7c] for ViTaMin_F22 on sixth locked up the low and the [4c] on the river gave ViTaMin_F22 the high as well with a straight as KJulius10 could not improve those sevens [9h] [3d] finishing in sixth place ($6,205.50).
ViTaMin_F22′s stalling tactics during certain games began to wear down on the table as gboro780 and joiso expressed a want to play more hands as ViTaMin_F22 would let his time bank roll down several times during LHE and O8 before folding preflop.
Going for broke and getting there
Fresh off losing a 555,000 chip pot to gboro780, bisbiki78 would be left with 171,476 chips playing Omaha Hi-Low with stakes at 30K/60K. Three-betting gboro780 preflop than four-betting all-in post [6c] [2d] [8h] flop, it was a surprise that neither player flipped up even a possible low. [4s] [Qh] [Ks] [Kc] kings for bisbiki78 and jacks [Jc] [Qd] [Ts] [Jd] for gboro780 as bisbiki78 was well ahead. Was being the definitive word as the [9d] turn opened up a wrap straight draw and flush draw. The third diamond (a lot of diamond flushes today?) on the river [Kd] would end bisbiki78′s night in fifth place($8,865.00).
Bricks for joiso
Deep in the Stud round with stakes at 40K/80K ante 8K, gboro780, ViTaMin_F22, and playitsafe all enjoyed more than 10 big bets in their stacks while joiso was left with just 158,156 chips after paying the ante. With a [Ks] door card Kostritsyn decided to make a run for it against gboro780 showing the [9s] getting all of those chips in on fourth street. joiso’s starting three broadway cards would hit exactly nothing [Ad] [Jh] / [Ks] [7d] [5h] [6s] / [Qh] as gboro780′s split nines improved to trips [9d] [Kc] / [9s] [7c] [9c] [Td] / [4h] as josio narrowly missed another chance for some wrist jewelry at PokerStars after his amazing run in the SCOOP 2011 series where he had three runner-up finishes and a third place but no watch. The Russian pro does add $13,297.50 to his bankroll for fourth place tonight.
Alexander “joiso” Kostritsyn – 4th place
Played it right
Oof? That’s all this scribe utter after this hand:
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For the next half hour our final three would shove the chip lead amongst each other but with the stakes up to 50K/100K in the Omaha Hi-Low round any stack at this point was vulnerable. gboro780 was on a roll taking or splitting the past six hands increasing his stack to 1.6 million but folded to ViTaMin_F22′s raise from the button. playitsafe with 489,614 chips to start the hand called from the big blind to see a mid-range [7s] [8c] [8s] flop. playitsafe would check-raise after ViTaMin_F22′s followed through. [As] on the turn got the rest of the chips into the middle for a one million chip pot as playitsafe turned over the flopped boat [Jh] [7c] [8h] [9c] but ViTaMin_F22 did one better, turning aces full [3s] [Ac] [Tc] [Ad] then for giggles rivering quads [Ah] to eliminate playitsafe who seems to thrive in the Sunday Majors but could not pull off the victory tonight finishing in dramatic fashion for third place ($17,907.30).
Hard pill to swallow
gboro780 had no intentions of chopping up the final two spots perhaps for the stalling tactic that ViTaMin_F22 employed or knowing he had a skill advantage. Regardless of reason, heads-up play would only last four hands of Omaha Hi-Low, three wins and one split for gboro780, and three hands of Razz all won by gboro780. The finale showed both players with strong boards on sixth street as the two traded bets until ViTaMin_F22′s stack was all-in and a pot of 1.26 million showing in the middle. gboro780 rolled over [5c] [Qc] / [3d] [Jc] [Ah] [4c] a jack-five low as ViTaMin_F22 showed a nine low [As] [2s] / [9s] [9d] [3h] [5d]. gboro780 would spike a [6c] to improve to a six-five-four low leaving ViTaMin_F22 in need of a wheel or another six for a six-five-perfect low. ViTaMin_F22 would improve but only to an [8s] eight as gboro780 stepped up to the head of the class and received his prize as the WCOOP 2011 Event #39 H.O.R.S.E. champion earning $33,352.52!
While the Sunday tourneys went on hiatus over the last two weeks during the Spring Championship of Online Poker, the Super Tuesday charged right through, comfortably beating its $150K guarantee each of the last two Tuesdays. And now that SCOOP is done, expect the fields to grow once more as players return again to the weekly $1,050 buy-in tournament that routinely attracts the toughest online MTTers around.
On this day after the conclusion of SCOOP, a total of 183 players lined up for Tuesday’s tourney, creating a prize pool of $183,000 (again besting the $150K guarantee). The top 27 finishers would divide those riches, with $39,345 due the winner.
Just three Team PokerStars Pros joined the fray tonight. Pat Pezzin (Canada) went out relatively early in 141st, followed soon thereafter by Jose “Nacho” Barbero (Argentina) in 114th. That left just J.P. Kelly (United Kingdom), who after two-and-a-half hours of play was sitting on a short stack of less than 4,000, not even half the average.
At that point 100 players remained, with moyerboide out in front with a little over 30,000, followed by fkasbergen, muttern3k, machelas, and caipsa. A few minutes later Kelly would hit the rail, out in 94th.
After three hours and 45 minutes of play, they were down to 50, with fkasbergen having surged out to a big lead with over 75,000, about 35,000 ahead of nearest foe Zypherin. Meanwhile, Binkelpoot, moyerboide, and Caloggero23 were the only other players with more than 30,000.
About an hour later they were down to 28 and playing hand-for-hand. By then Zypherin had slid back to short-stacked status, then found himself all in after a [9h][Ah][7h] flop versus a$$ou. Zypherin had [9d][6d] for nines, ahead of a$$ou’s [Qh][Tc]. But the [2h] fell on the turn, making the river inconsequential and sending Zypherin out just shy of the money.
At that point with 27 left, fkasbergen still enjoyed the chip lead with more than 120,000, well ahead of second-place ze_caiçara hovering around the 75,000-chip mark. PhilRoyal888, joaoMathias, and paddies all had more than 60,000 as well.
Over the next 30 minutes nine more players fell, each earning $1,830: muttern3k (27th), G’s zee (26th), Veronica “Princesa” Dabul (25th), acescraps (24th), jacarema (23rd), PKaiser (22nd), DJSETY (21st), SCOOP #23-High winner alexandrapau (20th), and machelas (19th). With 18 left, fkasbergen still was well ahead with more than 150,000, with PhilRoyal888 second with about 103,000 and no other player with more than 65,000.
By the time they crossed the six-hour mark, eight more players had hit the rail: SCOOP #20-Low winner dejwiz (18th), huge.fishh (17th), and Flush_Entity (16th) each earned $2,287.50; maximilian74 (15th), mace_piri (14th), and visjeatwater (13th) took away $2,745; and a$$ou (12th) and Morten “pdrsn8″ Pedersen (11th) both claimed $3,202.50.
They were playing hand-for-hand when Binkelpoot made a minimum-raise from middle position to 4,000. It folded around to harbour in the big blind who reraised to 12,000, and Binkelpoot called.
The flop came [Tc][3d][4s]. harbour checked, and Binkelpoot bet 26,250 — more than half his remaining chips. harbour, who had Binkelpoot covered, check-raised all in, and Binkelpoot called. Binkelpoot had [Ah][Ad], but harbour had flopped a set with [3s][3s]. The turn and river blanked for Binkelpoot, who went out in 10th ($3,202.50).
Long-time leader fkasbergen was still in front as the final table began, although PhilRoyal888, padjes, and harbour were all well within shouting distance. And with the blinds 1,000/2,000, there was still plenty of room for play.
On the very first hand of the final table, PhilRoyal888 took a large, 125,000-plus chip pot off of fkasbergen, suddenly seizing the lead the latter had held for hours.
A couple of orbits later, the blinds were 1,200/2,400 when padjes opened for 5,625 from middle position, then joaoMathias reraised all in to 47,266 from the button. The blinds folded, and padjes called, turning over [Jc][Jh]. joaoMathias showed [Ac][Kd], but his hopes faded fast after the flop came [6d][Js][4s], giving padjes a set of jacks. The [Qs] on the turn meant the [Kc] on the river didn’t matter, and joaoMathias was out in ninth.
Just a couple of hands after that, ze_caiçara open-raised all in for 35,429 from under the gun, then fkasbergen, sitting to ze_caiçara’s left, reraised all in over the top. Everyone else got out, and ze_caiçara showed [As][Qh] to fkasbergen’s [Ac][Kd]. The board came [3h][2c][Ah][2h][Ks], and ze_caiçara was out in ninth.
Following those two knockouts, PhilRoyal888, padjes, and fkasbergen were all close to even, each with between 190,000 and 200,000 chips, while the remaining four all sat well behind.
Not longer afterwards padjes opened for 5,623 from UTG, and fkasbergen called from UTG+1. It folded to harbour in the small blind who made it 14,400 to go, forcing out moyerboide in the BB. padjes also folded, but fkasbergen made the call.
The flop came [6s][9s][Tc]. harbour bet 21,600, and fkasbergen made the call. The turn then brought the [9c], pairing the board. This time harbour checked, and fkasbergen bet 19,800. harbour then check-raised all in for 75,811, and fkasbergen quickly called.
harbour had [Jc][Jd] for an overpair, but fkasbergen had [9h][9d] for quads! harbour was drawing dead, out in seventh.
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They reached the seven-hour break, with fkasbergen back up close to 290,000, PhilRoyal888 with a little over 256,000, Caloggero23 with almost 160,000, and padjes, Balog23, and moyerboide all below 100,000.
About 15 minutes later the blinds were 1,800/3,600 when PhilRoyal888 opened with a UTG raise to 7,500, moyerboide pushed all in from the next seat over for 46,165, the others folded, and PhilRoyal888 called. moyerboide had [8d][8h], but PhilRoyal888 had him in trouble with [9h][9c]. The five community cards came [Qs][4c][7h][Qc][Qh], giving both full houses, but PhilRoyal888′s was best and moyerboide was out in sixth.
The last five pushed chips back and forth over the next 45 minutes, reaching the eight-hour break. By then PhilRoyal888 had the big lead with 391,816, followed by Caloggero23 (218,155), padjes (124,090), Balog23 (114,592), and fkasbergen (66,347).
On the second hand after the break, fkasbergen was able to double through Balog23 after taking [Ah][9c] up against Balog23′s [Qs][Qh]. An ace flopped, and fkasbergen’s hand held, pushing him up over 140,000 and sending Balog23 down below 60,000. Then fkasbergen doubled up again, this time through PhilRoyal888, using [As][Kc] to beat PhilRoyal888′s [Ac][Qd].
That hand gave fkasbergen the chip lead momentarily, although he’d soon give a few back to Balog23 when the latter doubled through fkasbergen. “revenge balrog,” quipped fkasbergen good-naturedly in chat.
Then, with the blinds at 2,800/5,600, padjes open-raised all in for 112,990 from the button and Caloggero23 called from the big blind.
Caloggero23 [Ah][7c]
padjes [Kh][Qc]
The flop came [3d][Qs][Kd], giving padjes two pair and a commanding lead in the hand. But the turn and river brought running sevens, giving Caloggero23 trips and sending padjes out in fifth.
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Eight hands later, Balog23 pushed all in for 90,890 from UTG with [Qd][Jd] and got called by Caloggero23 in the big blind with [9s][9d]. The board came [5h][7h][Tc][2h][6c], and Caloggero23 had won the battle of the 23′s, sending Balog23 out in fourth.
As three-handed play began, Caloggero23 had the lead with more than 448,000, PhilRoyal888 was next with about 266,000, and fkasbergen was just a touch over 200,000.
Some time later the stacks hadn’t changed too much from that when the trio agreed to have the tournament paused so they could discuss a possible deal. They finally came to terms with Caloggero23 being guaranteed $35,000, PhilRoyal888 $28,000, and fkasbergen $25,000, leaving $1,212.50 on the table for which to play.
It would all end very quickly shortly thereafter. First, with the blinds 3,600/7,200, Caloggero23 limped in from the small blind and PhilRoyal888 checked from the big blind. The flop came [Js][3c][3s]. Caloggero23 bet 7,200, PhilRoyal888 min-raised to 14,400, and Caloggero23 called. The turn brought the [4c]. Caloggero23 checked this time, and when PhilRoyal888 bet 18,400, Caloggero23 check-raised to 50,400. PhilRoyal888 made the call.
The river was the [Ac]. Caloggero23 bet 338,4000, and PhilRoyal888 called with the 175,418 chips he had left. PhilRoyal888 showed [3d][2d] for trip treys, but Caloggero23 turned over [Kd][3h] for the same trips with a better kicker. PhilRoyal888 was out in third.
Heads-up play began with Caloggero23 way out in front with 779,823 to fkasbergen’s 135,177. And just four hands later — all won by Caloggero23 — the tourney would be over.
In the final hand, fkasbergen open-pushed for 113,577 from the button with [Ad][5s] and Caloggero23 quickly called with [Tc][Th]. The flop came [3d][4h][7c], giving fkasbergen a gutshot to a wheel. But the turn was the [4d] and river the [3h], and Caloggero23′s tens had held.
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Congrats to Caloggero23, winner of this week’s Super Tuesday!
Super Tuesday results for 5/24/11 (*reflects three-way deal):
With SCOOP completed, the big Sunday tourneys return this weekend. See the tournaments page for information on all the different tournaments ongoing at PokerStars.
This wasn’t just any no-limit hold’em tournament. It was the last SCOOP NLHE tournament with the exception of the Main Event in the 2010 series. It gave players the chance at a $750K guarantee. And it brought some of the biggest names in the game of poker to the online tables.
Event 37-High offered players the high-buy-in version of this tournament with a $2,100 buy-in, though many players won their seats in satellites or qualifiers for a fraction of that cost. But others bought in directly as well, making the field one mixed with amateurs and pros alike. The event filled up with 914 players, and the prize pool more than doubled its guarantee as it landed at $1,828,000. Substantial, if we do say!
As the tournament played down and the money bubble approached, two Team PokerStars Pros just missed the cash in this one: Gavin Griffin, who finished in 114th place, and Hevan “RaiNKhAN” Khan, who left in 112th place. On the other side of the bubble, there were a few members of the team who took home a bit of a profit for their efforts: Leo Fernandez in 105th place, Jorge Arias in 78th place, Johannes Strassmann in 70th place, and Randy “nanonoko” Lew in 52nd place. And as the final table inched closer, only one Team Pro remained in the running: Chris “Money800″ Moneymaker.
Ultimately, though, the short-stacked pro got his chips all-in with pocket jacks, but BrynKenney was right there with pocket aces, and the board couldn’t save Moneymaker’s tournament. He exited in 40th place with $6,763.60.
With two tables remaining into the 15th hour of play, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler exited in 18th place, Noah “fouruhaters” Schwartz in 17th, DaMadPotter in 16th, dibsy in 15th, jadedjason in 14th, toril274 in 13th, Mttjn in 12th, and Josh “nitbuster” Arieh in 11th place. That led to hand-for-hand play, which ended when mement_mori pushed all-in preflop from the big blind with [Jh][Js]. It just so happened that jcamby33 was able to call with [Qd][Qc]. The board blanked with [Kh][4c][8c][5d][6d], and that was all we wrote for Mickey “mement_mori” Peterson, who left in tenth place with $19,742.40.
Jcamby33 took significant lead to final table
Right in the middle of Level 28, with blinds at 6,000/12,000 and a 1,500 ante, the final table of nine players was set. Their starting chip counts and seating assignments were as follows:
Seat 1: e1mdopp (339,110 in chips)
Seat 2: Taknapotin (2,004,236 in chips)
Seat 3: chtirly (848,779 in chips)
Seat 4: slammedfire (235,294 in chips)
Seat 5: tommyboy83 (336,208 in chips)
Seat 6: APerfectGent (183,900 in chips)
Seat 7: jcamby33 (3,032,226 in chips)
Seat 8: BrynKenney (884,820 in chips)
Seat 9: niccc (1,275,427 in chips)
It took only three hands to see big action from these players, as APerfectGent doubled through BrynKenney to stay alive.
Though BrynKenney was not exactly short-stacked, the very next hand saw him push all-in from the small blind. His 717,420 chips were at risk with [Ah][Qh], and niccc called from the big blind with [Jh][Jc]. The coin flip looked like it was going BrynKenney’s way when the [As][3s][2s] flop came down, and the [7h] turn card changed nothing. But a [Jd] hit on the river, giving niccc the set of jacks and eliminating Bryn “BrynKenney” Kenney, winner of Event 8-H, in ninth place with $23,398.40.
A very short time later, one of the original short stacks at the table decided it was all or nothing. E1mdopp pushed all-in preflop with [As][Qd], and chtirly made the easy call with [Kd][Kc]. The board of [5h][Qc][8s][2c][5c] brought nothing of significance, and e1mdopp was let go in eighth place with $40,398.80.
Play slowed down a bit from that point, as Taknapotin tried to chip away at jcamby33, though the latter simply took it out on other players to remain solidly atop the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Taknapotin took some hits from other players. Slammedfire doubled through and chtirly took a 838K-pot from Taknapotin, relegating the latter to a third, then fourth place spot on the board.
But it was slammedfire who continued to have a tough time accumulating chips. Finally, after a raise from chtirly, slammedfire pushed his last 203,338 all-in with [Td][Th], and chtirly called with [Ah][2c]. The flop of [9h][5d][4s] gave chtirly the straight outs, and the [3d] on the turn made it. A [4d] on the river ended the hand, eliminating slammedfire in sixth place with $57,582.00 for the best finish of his 2010 SCOOP.
Gentlemen, please
APerfectGent had been whittled down to less than 100K in chips due to losing a few battles with players like niccc. Finally, the last 52,550 chips went all-in preflop, and niccc and chtirly called. They checked the [4s][4d][Jc] flop and the [Qc] turn, but when the [5c] fell on the river, niccc bet and chtirly folded. APerfectGent showed [Ad][4h] for trip fours, but niccc turned over [Ac][9c] for the rivered flush. justin “APerfectGent” Schwartz left in sixth place with $75,862.00.
Table talk that had been building some not-so-cordial feelings finally ended with APerfectGent commenting on his way out:
“DIE”
And exit left.
Civility got the better of the last five players, as the continued in silence for awhile.
Tommyboy83 doubled through chtirly to stay alive, and niccc, still with an eye on first place but a distance from it, took a 1.1 million-chip pot from jcamby33 to edge a bit closer.
Then it was chtirly’s turn to move. After a raise from Taknapotin and reraise from jcamby33, Taknapotin got out of the way when chtirly reraised again. Jcamby33 pushed all-in, and chtirly called for the remainder of his chips holding [Jc][Js]. Jcamby33 showed [5c][5h], but the board came [7s][As][Ah][4s][5s], and a rivered full house beat chtirly’s flush. Chtirly finished the tournament in fifth place with $94,142.00.
Niccc made another run at jcamby33′s chip stack, but this was the result:
RSS readers click through to see replay
Tommyboy83 was far from giving up, doubling up again through jcamby33 and doing the same through the already-suffering niccc.
A few hands later, niccc pushed all-in for his last 455,239 chips from the small blind holding [Ac][5s], and Taknapotin called from the big blind with [Ts][Th]. The board was an unventful [Qc][6h][2d][6c][Kd], and Nicolas “niccc” Chouity was eliminated in fourth place with $133,444.00.
Let’s make a deal
Almost as soon as three-handed play began, the players decided to pause the tournament to discuss a possible deal. And discuss they did. It took more than 40 minutes to come to an agreement on the numbers, but eventually they figured something out that worked for all. With $15,000 extra set aside for the ultimate victor, the payouts would be set as follows:
Seat 2: Taknapotin (1,363,972 in chips) = $219,333.65
Seat 5: tommyboy83 (2,443,528 in chips) = $236,071.01
Seat 7: jcamby33 (5,332,500 in chips) = $276,333.33
Play resumed with somewhat cautious play, but it wasn’t long before tommyboy83 tangled with the chip leader.
Tommyboy83 started it off with a raise, and jcamby33 reraised. Tommyboy83 bumped it up again, and jcamby33 called to see a [8d][Tc][4c] flop. Tommyboy83 bet, but jcamby33 check-raised all-in. Tommyboy83 called for his tournament life with [9d][9h], but jcamby33 showed [Kh][Ks], which found a [Kd] on the turn to make the set. The [Ad] on the river ended the hand and sent Tom “tommyboy83″ Koral packing in third place with $236,071.01.
Campbell and Somerville battle it out
Midway through the 18th hour of the tournament, two players remained with chip counts as follows:
Seat 2: Taknapotin (1,373,972 in chips)
Seat 7: jcamby33 (7,766,028 in chips)
Taknapotin took his time, making no rush all-in moves to jeopardize his tournament. But when he did make a move, he doubled up in style, quad-like style to be exact.
RSS readers click through to see replay
A few more subsequent pots shipped to Taknapotin prompted jcamby33 to write:
“u got too many chips now”
The two continued their friendly banter as Taknapotin soon evened up the stacks and eventually took the lead. Though jcamby33 took it back, a big hand erupted, and on a [2h][4c][5h] flop, Taknapotin moved all-in with [Ah][7h] for the straight and flush draws, and jcamby33 called with [Jh][Js] and the operpair. The [3c] hit on the turn to make Taknapotin’s straight, and the [4s] on the river shipped the chips to Taknapotin.
Jcamby33 was left barely standing. He was able to double-up once, but he moved all-in again, this time with [7d][4d] against the [Js][7s] of Taknapotin. The board brought [Jd][6c][As][Th][Ah] to give Taknapotin two pair, and James “jcamby33″ Campbell, winner of a 2007 Sunday Million, came up just short of winning a 2010 SCOOP event. He walked away with $276,333.33 for second place.
After having finished in fifth place in Event 1-H and seventh place in 28-H, James “Taknapotin” Somerville finally took down his first SCOOP event, for which he was awarded a watch and $234,333.65.
SCOOP Event 37-High (NLHE) Results for 05/16/10:
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Three-handed, the result of the EPT London looked a hard one to predict. The remaining players were each sizably stacked, each had fire in their eyes, and with a dinner break on the horizon no one felt any need to be hasty. 
