It took two days for Mike “NYC P.I.M.P” Shklover to navigate the massive 3,467-player field in Event #20 of the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker, but when the dust settled, the 28-year-old New Yorker took down the bracelet and $257,953 for first place. We caught up with the young pro after he had a little time to process his victory.
Shklover entered Event #20 ($1,050 No Limit Hold'em) on a whim after his good friend, who plays on PokerStars under the screen name Harrington10 alerted him to the good structure, and transferred him a little cash for the entry fee. “I really like the bigger tournaments better on [PokerStars] especially when the blind structure is set up for allowing more play in the later rounds.”
The former Wall Street broker has played on PokerStars seriously for about 3 ½ years, focusing on tournament play in the beginning of his career and moving towards cash games as he gained experience. “I am mostly a cash player, and I like heads up NL the most but I do like to play Omaha as well, I am learning from in my opinion the best online short handed Omaha player - Harrington10. I play a lot of live poker as well, and was out at the World Series for the month this year, I did not have any cashes this year, but I only played 5 events, I bubbled a few of them and decided to stick to playing cash. I would say the WSOP is my favorite events just because of the atmosphere and all the players across the world come to prove their skills.”
The field in Event #20 was stacked, especially on Day 2 with Team PokerStars Pro players Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Humberto Brenes still in the 43-person field. Shklover recalled one particular hand against Grospellier that propelled him to the final table. “[W]hen I won the hand with AJ against ElkY, I knew I was going to the final table. ElkY raised from the button he had been very aggressive the whole time at the table, raising probably 60% of hands, the orbit before he raised on the button, and I re-raised him with 2-6, and he folded. And next orbit he raised on the button again, and I had A-J suited. I re-raised again and this time he went all in. I did not have a lot of time left in my bank but I knew his range of shoving hands is pretty big here against the small blind re-raise so I decided to gamble. I knew I would have about [1 million chips] left if I lost, so I would not be out. I was in bad shape when I saw his hand A-Q, but I got lucky and hit a Jack, that’s when I knew I could win this tournament.”
Shklover credits his experience playing Heads-Up No Limit cash games with his eventual victory, even though he was a chip underdog going into heads-up play. “I knew I had a good chance to actually win the bracelet when it got HU, I play a lot of heads up cash, and even though Quasi had 2-1 in chips I felt very confident that I could win the tourney. Winning the whole tournament was very gratifying, everyone close to me like my girlfriend Olya and my parents Gene and Alla and my Uncle Max who is my biggest supporter were happier to see me win than I was.”
Not coming from a card-playing family, Shklover cites his Uncle Max as a big influence in his success, discussing strategy with him and supporting him. Living in New York City, Shklover gets plenty of opportunity to play, joining in some of the private games around the city. His next goal is to win a major live tournament, improving on his biggest win prior to the WCOOP, a final table at the Borgata in 2006. We have no doubt that great things are in store for Mike “NYC P.I.M.P.” Shklover as he continues on his career!
The penultimate Sunday of the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker saw one of the biggest events of the tournament series. The two-day $1,050 No-Limit Hold'em contest brought out more than 3,400 players. The $3.4 million prize pool was an tantalizing as anything anybody could imagine on any given Sunday.
PokerStars.tv has put together another fantastic highlight reel from the final table. You can click through to see all the great PokerStars.tv shows or watch the Event #20 highlight reel below.
The 20th event of the 2008 WCOOP, a $1,000 No Limit Hold'em tournament, kicked off on Sunday with a truly impressive field of 3,467 players putting up a grand apiece for their shot at big money and online poker glory. As has been the pattern so far this September, the $3,467,000 prize pool topped the guarantee by a solid margin. Scheduled as a two-day event, Event 20 ended the first day of play in the wee hours of Monday morning with just 43 players remaining in the field.
Among that number were two Team PokerStars Pros. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, coming off a second-place finish in Event 19 ($25,000 High-Roller Heads-Up No Limit Hold'em), was joined in the Event 20 restart by teammate Humberto Brenes, who sat in the top 10 chip counts as the day began.
Both men would fare well in the early going when play resumed on Level 23 with blinds at 12,500/25,000 and antes of 2,500. Brenes hovered around where he started for much of the first few hours of play, while ElkY got a quick double-up to nearly 2 million when his A-A was good against Belabasci's Q-Q.
The two were still in the hunt when 21 players remained, but Brenes had to catch a big break to keep himself going. After getting his near-average stack of 2.1 million in the middle before the flop, his As-Kh was able to snap off the Kd-Ks of VuaXi`Tô' with an ace on the flop. There were four outs in the deck for VuaXi`Tô', but none of them came and suddenly the Shark was up to almost 4.5 million.
Brenes would finally bow out in 16th place when he found himself unable to triumph in another Big Slick-versus-Cowboys confrontation. With blinds at 40,000/80,000 and antes of 8000, Brenes opened under the gun for 160,000. When Mary 717 made it 560,000 to go on the button, Brenes moved all-in for 2,085,549 with Ah-Kh; Mary 717 called with Kc-Ks, taking down the pot when the Jd-9s-8c-5d-9h board brought no help for Brenes.
Only two spots later, the only remaining representative of Team PokerStars Pro would also find his way to the rail, despite starting the hand in a great spot. ElkY's stack went in the middle with Ah-Qs against NYC P.I.M.P's As-Js, but it all slid to NYC P.I.M.P after the board came down Jh-6c-3d-Kd-9h to send ElkY home in 14th place.
When play went hand-for-hand it looked like we would see one of the four very short stacks go out to give us our final table lineup. Instead, Numbass would be the final table bubble boy, thanks to this hand:
At 9:00 pm, after more than 15 hours of play, the final table began with the players stacking up like this:
It didn't take long to get the action started. Just five minute into the final table, Sumar07 moved all-in before the flop for 1,559,614 with Ah-Qc and found himself racing with JSchnett's 9c-9s. The nines held up on a board of 2c-6h-Tc-4s-Kc, sending Sumar07 home in ninth place with $31,203.
Less than ten minutes later we would have our second casualty of the final table. VuaXi`Tô' moved all-in under the gun for a total of 1,729,088 holding Jd-Td and got a call from CamoJr in the big blind with Ah-Qh. VuaXi`Tô' caught some outs on the Qd-8s-6s flop and picked up even more when the Kd on the turn gave him an open-ended straight flush draw, but the 2c sealed his fate in 8th place. He took home $45,071.
The game turned tentative for the next twenty minutes, and there was little action with the lone exception of NYC P.I.M.P doubling up to 6,692,350 when he got his stack in the middle preflop with 8-8 against Mary 717's 3-3. Finally, henri72 - who had been clinging to a short stack almost the entire day - made his stand. Facing a preflop all-in from Mary 717, he called with Ac-Qd and found himself in fantastic shape against Mary's Qh-7h - until the board came 6c-5d-3d-4h-8h, giving her the straight and sending henri72 home in 7th place with $72,807.
Only five minutes would pass before JSchnett shoved in his remaining 2,485,340 from middle position before the flop with J-J. His timing couldn't have been worse, as C.K. made the call with Ac-As. When the board came down Kc-6h-2c-3h-7c, JSchnett was out in 6th place, earning $107,477.
As the break began after Level 32, the players agreed on a five-way chop based on chip count, leaving $60,000 and the bracelet on the table.
Heads-up play began at precisely 11:00 pm EDT, with QuasiFiction enjoying a chip lead of better than 2-to-1 over NYC P.I.M.P. After 10 minutes of back-and-forth play, the tables would be turned.
QuasiFiction opened preflop for his standard 900,000 on the button and NYC P.I.M.P re-raised to 2,850,000; QuasiFiction called and the flop came down 9h-3h-2d. NYC P.I.M.P led weak for 375,000, and QuasiFiction called. When the turn came the Qc, NYC P.I.M.P instantly shoved all-in for almost 12.5 million. After thinking it out, QuasiFiction called with Qs-Js, only to find himself up against Ac-Ah; an unnecessary Ad on the river gave him a set and the 3-to-2 chip lead.
NYC P.I.M.P would extend his lead a bit further with a pot worth 10 million when he flopped two pair with 6s-4d and got QuasiFiction to call down his bets on the flop (600,000), turn (1,200,000), and river (3,000,000) with the board reading 6d-4s-Js-Ks-Ac. QuasiFiction would get all those chips back on the next hand when his Kh-Td hit a Broadway straight on the river, but NYC P.I.M.P reclaimed them when he claimed the next pot with a bet on the turn.
At 11:19 ET, the match would end with a bang. NYC P.I.M.P limped in on the button for 300,000 and QuasiFiction checked to see a flop of Qd-9c-6h. QuasiFiction check-called a 550,000 bet and the turn came the 4c. This time QuasiFiction led out for 1,200,000, but NYC P.I.M.P quickly shoved all-in. With only four seconds in his time bank, QuasiFiction was forced to make a fast decision and he elected to call with Ks-9h. He was behind his opponent's Qh-2h, and he would finish in second place once the 4d hit the river.
After taking the smallest share of the chip count chop with five players remaining, NYC P.I.M.P emerged victorious. He might not have claimed the lion's share of the final table money, but he got the WCOOP bracelet - and the money he won is nothing to sneeze at.
WCOOP Event 20 Final Table Results (payouts reflect five-way chop based on chip count)
With nearly a 4-to-1 chip advantage heading into the final hand, NYC P.I.M.P. completed for 150,000 more from the small blind/button, and QuasiFiction checked his option from the big blind.
The flop came Qd-9c-6h. QuasiFiction checked, NYC P.I.M.P bet 550,000, and QuasiFiction called. The turn was the 4c. This time QuasiFiction bet out 1.2 million, and NYC P.I.M.P raised all in. QuasiFiction called with his remaining 10,177,862.
QuasiFiction: Ks-9h
NYC P.I.M.P: Qh-2h
NYC P.I.M.P had the edge with top pair, while QuasiFiction was looking for a king or nine to save him. The river brought the 4d, eliminating QuasiFiction in second. He takes home the biggest cash prize though of $340,000, thanks to having had the chip advantage when the five-way deal was struck.
And NYC P.I.M.P. -- who had been the short-stack when that deal was made -- makes off with the bracelet and $257,953! Congratulations to NYC P.I.M.P. and all of those who cashed in Event No. 20 of the World Championship of Online Poker!
11:17pm--P.I.M.P. pulling away
No matter what happens here in heads-up, QuasiFiction will be the big cash winner in Event No. 20 thanks to the five-way deal made earlier when he was chip leader.
However, NYC P.I.M.P. has certainly gotten the better of it for the first 30 hands of heads-up play. NYC P.I.M.P. just took another nice 10 million-plus chip flop when he managed to flop two pair with 6s-4d, then get QuasiFiction to call a 3 million-chip bet on the river with the board showing 6d-4s-Js-Ks-Ac. NYC P.I.M.P.'s hand was good, and he took the pot.
Another nice pot for NYC P.I.M.P. a few hands later now finds him with a commanding lead with 40.1 million to QuasiFiction's 11.9 million.
11:08pm--Tide turns, NYC P.I.M.P. takes lead
We've seen pocket rockets coming up quite a bit here since the five-way deal was struck back in the middle of Level 33. They came up again in this big hand between QuasiFiction and NYC P.I.M.P., the result being NYC P.I.M.P. now has the advantage as these two battle for the remaining $60,000 and the bracelet:
CamoJr raised to 800,000 from the button/under the gun, and NYC P.I.M.P. reraised all in to 10.5 million from the big blind. CamoJr called with his remaining 5.5 million. NYC P.I.M.P. showed Th-Td, and he had a huge edge over CamoJr who held 7s-7h.
The board came Js-6d-Qh-9c-4s, giving NYC P.I.M.P. the hand.
CamoJr said, "nh, gg, ttyl barry ;)"
CamoJr has reason to smile, taking home $230,388 for the past two days' work.
10:59pm--Very next hand, C.K. out in 4th
On the very next hand after Mary 717's elimination, a severely short-stacked C.K. shoved all in for 1,424,330, NYC P.I.M.P raised to isolate, and the two turned over their hands:
C.K.: 6h-Kc
NYC P.I.M.P: 6d-6s
The board came out Ad-Qh-8c-8d-Td, and C.K. goes out in fourth place, earning $226,965 after the chop.
10:57pm--Mary 717 eliminated in 5th place
Sitting on a stack of 9.8 million-plus, Mary 717 ended up getting it all in versus QuasiFiction with Qc-As. Too bad for Mary, her opponent had the aces this time, as QuasiFiction turned over Ah-Ad. Mary 717 has been eliminated in 5th place, earning $288,155 after the earlier deal.
10:49pm--Waking the Bear?
Not too long ago, CamoJr jokingly typed in chat "hey barry greenstein, if you wanna play hu for rolls, let me know." That was actually just before he lost the chunk back to Mary 717.
Might have seemed to have come out of nowhere, that challenge, if you didn't know that CamoJr is listening to the commentary of Team PokerStars pro Barry Greenstein ongoing over on PokerStars.tv. Greenstein suggested the second hand with Mary was a bit of karma biting CamoJr after that bit of boastful chat.
Those chips Mary 717 handed over to CamoJr just found their way right back into Mary 717's stack after another all in confrontation. Once again Mary 717 had picked up pocket rockets, and this time CamoJr had 9h-9c. Mary's aces held up this time, and she's back up to 11.5 million. Meanwhile, CamoJr slips back to 7.88 million.
10:43pm--Battling for the bracelet
After that big exchange of chips between CamoJr and Mary 717 right after the break, play has quited down considerably, with all five players showing some perhaps surprising post-deal caution. There was one bit of excitement when Mary 717 got it all in preflop with Big Slick and was called by QuasiFiction who also held A-K (they split the pot). Otherwise, most pots have been kept relatively small here for the last 15 minutes or so.
10:28pm--Fireworks
On just the third hand back after the deal-making, Mary 717 raised to 650,000 and CamoJr reraised all in behind her for 7,500,809 total. Mary 717 quickly called, turning over Ad-Ah. CamoJr showed 8c-8h. Not looking good for CamoJr.
But the flop -- 7s-8d-9c -- changed everything. No ace on the turn or river, and now CamoJr suddenly has over 15 million, while Mary 717 slips to 5.55 million.
10:20pm--Deal and shuffle up!
A chip-chop was proposed (with the prize money -- minus $60,000 -- being apportioned according to the current stack sizes), and four of the five players said they agreed to those terms.
However, CamoJr asked for an extra $20,000. None of the others, save QuasiFiction, offered to give up any prize money to accommodate CamoJr. QuasiFiction said he'd give up a grand total of $680 for the cause -- that would leave him an even $340,000. "want a chance at 400k," QuasiFiction explained.
It looked like no deal would be struck, then CamoJr finally gave in -- with, however, the $680 from QuasiFiction!
QuasiFiction: i offered it
QuasiFiction: not gonna go back on it
CamoJr: okay, i accept with the 680
So a deal has been struck. Here is what each player is now guaranteed:
The players are taking a short break. Play will resume at 10:25pm ET, at which time they will play on for the remaining $60,000, and the all-important WCOOP bracelet!
10:07pm--Let's make a deal
CamoJr and QuasiFiction have now agreed to discuss a deal, and so the tournament has been paused here in the middle of Level 33 while they players discuss terms.
As is being explained to the players right now, any deal to divide the remaining prize money must leave $60,000 aside to be awarded to the eventual champion.
9:59pm--Chip counts at 16-hour mark
Level 33
Blinds 125,000/250,000, antes 25,000
Average chip count: 10,401,000
Players remaining: 5
First prize: $468,045
Of the five remaining players, it appears that NYC P.I.M.P, Mary 717, and C.K. are willing to discuss a chop, but the other two -- CamoJr and QuasiFiction -- have not responded to the invitation to do so.
So we play on.
9:38pm--JSchnett runs into rockets, out in 6th
And then there were five. Shortly after henri72 hit the rail, JSchnett decided it was time to make a move and pushed his stack of 2,485,340 from middle position with Kc-Jc. Bad timing, as C.K. woke up in the big blind with As-Ac.
The board ran out Kc-6h-2c-3h-7c, and JSchnett goes out in sixth place, netting a nice payday of $107,477.
9:33pm--henri72 eliminated in 7th place
After hanging on with the short-stack for much of Day 2, henri72 has finally been knocked out in 7th. Down to a little more than 1.68 million, henri72 witnessed another all in bet from Mary 717 and decided to take his chances with Ac-Qd. He must've been delighted at first to see Mary 717 turn over Qh-7h, but the board would wrap a straight around that seven in Mary 717's hand, and henri72 is out, earning $72,807 for the past two days' work.
9:29pm--NYC P.I.M.P. doubles through Mary 717
NYC P.I.M.P just went from 3.19 million to 6.69 million in a single hand. Holding 8d-8h, NYC P.I.M.P decided to call Mary 717's preflop all in and was glad he did when Mary turned over 3s-3d. The eights held up, and NYC P.I.M.P moves up to 4th place. Mary 717 is in 3rd now wiht 9.4 million.
9:24pm--Final seven exercising caution
Following the bustout of VuaXi`Tô' in 8th place, we have only seen one pot exceed 2 million, and most remaining under 1 million over the last 16 hands. QuasiFiction maintains the lead with 14.9 million, with Mary 717 (12 million) and CamoJr (10.5 million) in second and third respectively.
Given the upcoming pay jumps -- about $35K-$40K for each of the next four spots -- it is not surprising to see our players being careful.
9:12 pm--VuaXi`Tô' out in 8th
After hours of torture, our keyboards are breathing a sigh of relief.
The oddly-named VuaXi`Tô' had been short for a while, so when he moved all-in under the gun for just over 1.7 million it was no big surprise. CamoJr's call from the big blind with Ah-Qh was also no surprise, and he was ahead of his opponent's Jd-Td.
The Qd-8s-6s flop gave CamoJr top pair and VuaXi`Tô' a gutshot draw, but VuaXi`Tô' would pick up even more outs on the turn when the Kd fell, giving him the open-ended straight flush draw. Unfortunately, he would fall short when the river brought the 2c, sending him home in 8th place for a payout of $45,071.
9:03pm--Sumar07 first out at final table in 9th
A short-stacked Sumar07 shoved all in for 1,559,614 total and after some thought JSchnett made the call behind him. Sumar07 showed Qc-Ah and JSchnett 9s-9c. The board came 2c-6h-Tc-4s-Kc, and JSchnett's nines knocked Sumar07 out in ninth place, for which he earns $31,203.
9:00pm--Final table set
After over 15 hours of play (not counting the breaks) and the elimination of 3,458 players, we have arrived at our final nine.
Here was the scene at Table 329 as the first hand of the final table was being dealt:
8:58 pm--Numbass finishes in 10th place
We had our eyes on the short stacks, never suspecting that one of the bigger stacks might go out first. But that's just what happened to get us to our final table.
QuasiFiction opened the betting on the button with a bet of 400,000. Numbass, in the small blind, played back at QuasiFiction as he had been doing for the last hour or so with a raise to 1,000,000. QuasiFiction's response was an almost immediate shove, and Numbass called almost as quickly for the rest of his 5.9M stack.
QuasiFiction showed Tc-Ts against Numbass' Ah-Kh and it was good on the Qc-7s-6d flop. Numbass picked up outs on the turn with the Td, even though that card gave QuasiFiction a set. The river gave QuasiFiction quads with the Th, sending a disappointed Numbass home in 10th place. He earns $20,802 for his finish.
8:52pm--Chip counts at 15-hour mark
Level 31
Blinds 80,000/160,000, antes 16,000
Average chip count: 5,200,500
Players remaining: 10
First prize: $468,045
We are looking at four short stacks at the moment -- Sumar07 (2.7 million), JSchnett (2.06 million), henri72 (1.6 million), and VuaXi`Tô' (1.18 million) -- as we watch the five-handed action on the last two tables.
Meanwhile Mary 717 is enjoying the chip lead with 11.2 million, with QuasiFiction close behind with 10.6 million.
8:29pm--tpreston out in 11th; hand for hand play commences
tpreston raised to 390,000 from middle position, then Mary 717 promptly shoved all in for over 7.4 million. It folded back around, and tpreston called, thereby committing his stack of 2.1 million.
Mary 717 showed Ad-9c, while tpreston had Ac-Qs. It looked to be a good spot for tpreston, but the board came 7h-6d-9d-7d-Kd, giving Mary 717 the flush and knocking tpreston out in 11th place.
We are playing the tournament hand for hand now until we reach the final nine.
8:17pm--JT3013 out in 12th place
JT3013 had 1,661,127 when the hand began, well below the average stack of 4.5 million. JT3013 raised to 259,696 from UTG and it folded to VuaXi`Tô' who called from the big blind. The flop came 5h-Js-4h. VuaXi`Tô' checked, and JT3013 thought for a bit before betting 869,696, well over half his remaining stack. VuaXi`Tô' auto-raised and got the call he wanted.
JT3013 showed Ah-Kc for overcards, while VuaXi`Tô' had Jh-9c for the pair of jacks. The turn and river brought a couple of deuces, and JT3013 was eliminated in 12th place, earning $20,802.
8:08pm--LAPINKY knocked out in 13th place
Having slipped just below a million chips, LAPINKY committed just over half his stack with a preflop raise to 500,000 from middle position, and VuaXi`Tô' reraised to 1 million, enough to put LAPINKY all in. It folded back around and LAPINKY called, showing Jd-Ts. He'd need help against VuaXi`Tô''s Kc-Qh.
The board brought all babies, though -- 3h-5d-3s-8d-2c -- and LAPINKY is out in 13th place. VuaXi`Tô' is currently in 4th with a little more than 5.9 million.
With that elimination, we have another pay jump. While LAPINKY earns $14,561.40, the next three to go will all get $20,802.
8:05pm--Au revoir, mes amis: ElkY out in 14th place
ElkY has had a pretty incredible couple of days in the WCOOP, but his run in this event is over.
The preflop action started when ElkY raised to 245,455 on the button. NYC P.I.M.P was in the small blind and decided to make it 600,000 to go. Mary 717 cleared out from the small blind, leaving ElkY with the decision. He raised all-in for 2,178,735, enough to cripple his opponent should he call.
After considering his move, NYC P.I.M.P called wth As-Js, only to find himself in bad shape against ElkY's Ah-Qs. That all changed when the flop came Jh-6c-3d, leaving ElkY in need of a queen. The board didn't cooperate, though, sending the last remaining Team PokerStars Pro to the rail in 14th place. He earns $14,561 for his efforts.
8:01pm--Oh oh oh oh, stayin' alive
Action started with tpreston raising to 280,000 in early position, leaving himself 1,356,645 behind. Mary 717 called on the button before Sumar07 made the bet 1,000,000 from the small blind. tpreston insta-shoved and Mary 717 folded, getting the call from Sumar07.
It was Ad-Qd for tpreston and Ks-Kd for Sumar07. The Th-9h-8c flop left tpreston in need of either an ace or a jack; he caught the latter on the river with the Jc, shipping the 3.7M pot his way.
7:57pm--Huge pot for Sumar07
We just daw the biggest pot of the night, and it came in a blind-vs.-blind situation. Sumar07 opened for 290,000 in the small blind and JSchnett re-raised to 860,000 from the big blind. Sumar07 called and the two players both checked when the flop came Ah-Qc-2c.
When the 8s came on the turn, Sumar07 bet a cool million and JSchnett flat-called. He wasn't willing to put the rest of his 2.7 million-strong stack in the middle when his opponent shoved on the Jd river, though, sending a pot worth 3.79M over to Sumar07.
7:54pm--Pocket jacks fail kidzero, who goes out in 15th
A huge hand just resulted in the elimination of kidzero in 15th place. Numbass had raised preflop to 250,000 from under the gun, and it folded back to kidzero who repopped it to 744,444 from the small blind. QuasiFiction folded his big blind, then Numbass very quickly reraised all in for 4.36 million. kidzero thought just a short beat, then made the call, committing his entire stack of 3.34 million.
kidzero: Jh-Js
Numbass: Ah-Ks
The flop came 6c-Kh-6s, and suddenly kidzero was way behind. The turn was the 2c and the river the Ac, and kidzero is out in 15th, $14,561.40 richer. Meanwhile Numbass sits atop the leaderboard with more than 8.5 million chips.
7:47pm--Chip counts at 14-hour mark
Level 29
Blinds 50,000/100,000, antes 10,000
Average chip count: 3,467,000
Players remaining: 15
First prize: $468,045
Top ten chip counts:
1. QuasiFiction 7,333,221
2. Mary 717 6,860,763
3. Sumar07 5,422,259
4. VuaXi`Tô' 5,023,500
5. JSchnett 4,603,586
6. Numbass 4,379,193
7. kidzero 4,096,653
8. Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier 2,896,583
9. NYC P.I.M.P. 2,691,560
10. C.K. 1,779,000
7:40 pm--Bye-bye Shark
One A-K versus K-K situation is all Humberto Brenes could survive today.
Brenes raised under the gun for the minimum, making the bet 160,000. When the action reached Mary 717 on the button, she made it 560,000 to go. That cleared out both blinds and Brenes then shoved for a total of 2,085,549. Mary 717 called with 2,537,665 left behind.
Her Kc-Ks had Brenes and his Ah-Kh drawing to just three outs. None of those came on the Jd-9s-8c-5d-9h board, though, and one of our last two remaining Team PokerStars Pros has gone to the rail. He finishes in 16th place, just missing the money jump and earning $8,667.50.
7:34pm--Stacks growing
As players are eliminated (we're down to 16 at present), the average chip stack is starting to get downright gaudy -- more than 3.2 million right now. QuasiFiction maintains the lead with nearly 7.2 million, with Sumar07 in second with a little more than 5.6 million.
7:29pm--We thought this game was played without the joker
Team PokerStars pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has had a couple of profitable days here in this year's World Championship of Online Poker. Yesterday ElkY finished second in Event No. 19, the $25,500 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up event, scoring a nifty $320,000 prize for doing so. And he's looking to make a nice cash today as well, currently sitting in 8th place with 16 players remaining.
Here's a recent interview with ElkY from APPT Macau 2008 where he dressed as the Joker on Day 1b:
...when both players in the hand ask for time before the flop.
The hand started innocently enough when the action folded to JSchnett in the small blind. He raised to 240,000, putting the decision to Humberto Brenes. The Shark asked for time before eventually raising to 880,000.
The action came back to JSchnett, and he asked for time. After some thought, he moved all-in for 2,211,586. Brenes didn't dip into his time bank again, but he did let his entire allotted time elapse before folding. That dropped him to 2,181,549, while JSchnett jumped to 4,155,586.
7:19pm--tmmy2win out in 17th place
Numbass opened for 225,000 in the cutoff, which cleared out everyone except tmmy2win, who shoved from the big blind for a total of 1,454,517. Numbass tanked for a bit before making the call with 7c-7h, putting him slightly ahead of tmmy2win's Ac-Ks.
tmmy2win improved his hand on the flop, but unfortunately the As-Qh-7s board was even more help to Numbass. The board ran out 2d-3h to send tmmy2win out in 17th place.
7:17pm--ElMastermind falls in 18th place
The action kicked off with tmmy2win opening for 150,000 in middle position, a bet which kidzero called on the button. ElMastermind then shoved for a total of 1,154,914 from the small blind; tmmy2win got out of the way, but kidzero went into the tank.
When he emerged it was with a call, tabling Ad-Qd against ElMastermind's Ks-Qs. Things got even better for kidzero when the flop came down Ah-As-5d, leaving only a handful of combinations that could give ElMastermind the win. Those all went out the window when the Ac fell on the turn, giving kidzero quads and sending his opponent home in 18th place.
7:14pm--Three more gone; 18 remain
I'am_Sound was just knocked out he ran Ah-Kc up against Sumar07's Kd-Kh. He hits the rail in 21st place. Sumar07 also busted BJKing shortly thereafter when his Ac-Kh outlasted BJKing's Th-Qc. BJKing ends up going home in 20th.
Then we saw pingit's demise in 19th. pingit, who had more than 2 million to start the hand, raised to 180,000 from middle position, and VuaXi`Tô' reraised to 420,000 from the small blind. It folded back around and pingit three-bet to 900,000, prompting VuaXi`Tô' to shove all in with his entire stack (more than 2.6 million). pingit called. VuaXi`Tô' had As-Td, and pingit Qs-Qh. The flop brought an ace -- 4s-Ac-8s -- and the 9h on the turn and the 8c on the river meant pingit was gone in 19th.
7:07pm--Humberto jumps up the leaderboard
Humberto Brenes just vaulted himself up to 3rd place on the leaderboard thanks to a fortunate hand.
The action opened with a raise to 165,000 from CamoJr in the cutoff. Brenes, on the button, then made the bet 480,000 to go. Then VuaXi`Tô' re-raised to a total of 1,458,444. It looked like a squeeze play when CamoJr moved out of the way, but VuaXi`Tô' snap-called when Brenes decided to shove for just over 2.1 million.
Brenes held As-Kh and had only three outs against VuaXi`Tô's Kd-Ks, but one of them came on the Ah-Js-Th flop. That left VuaXi`Tô' with four queens to catch for a straight and a chopped pot, but the board ran out Jd-Jh and Brenes jumped to a stack of 4,448,366.
7:00pm--Evilduke11 out in 22nd place
C.K. moved all-in under the gun for a total of 841,944, and when the action reached Evilduke11 on the button he shoved all-in for just over 1M to isolate. The isolation play worked, but Evilduke11's Ah-Qs couldn't cracked C.K.'s Th-Ts, dropping evilduke11 to just under 200K.
When he found himself under the gun in the next orbit, Evilduke11 shoved for 171,687 with Kd-9d and QuasiFiction isolated with a raise in the small blind. Numbass cleared out in the big blind and QuasiFiction showed Ac-4c to put him ahead. The Qs-Qd-5c flop left Evilduke11 with some outs, but the Ah erased all hope on the turn and sent him home in 22nd place.
6:58pm--diatty outflopped; out in 23rd
Tough one for diatty who shoved all in with pocket queens and was in a good spot against Sumar07's pocket tens. But a ten flopped, and diatty couldn't catch up. He's out in 23rd place.
6:53pm--Things are getting serious
With our new blind level, there's a minimum of 132,000 in the middle on each table before a hand is even dealt. That's encouraging some very aggressive play at the moment, with plenty of preflop re-raises coming in from all corners as all our remaining players jockey for position.
6:50pm--PokerStars pros meeting up at the end
As we return from the break, fellow Team PokerStars pros Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes have been moved to the same table. Both are currently in the top ten with 23 players remaining.
6:44pm--Chip counts at 13-hour mark
Level 27
Blinds 30,000/60,000, antes 6,000
Average chip count: 2,261,086
Players remaining: 23
First prize: $468,045
Top ten chip counts:
1. QuasiFiction 5,241,647
2. VuaXi`Tô' 4,351,157
3. Mary 717 4,048,229
4. Numbass 3,382,676
5. kidzero 3,274,737
6. Sumar07 3,095,948
7. Team PokerStars pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier 3,091,129
8. JSchnett 2,432,086
9. tpreston 2,269,913
10. Team PokerStars pro Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes 2,216,683
6:37pm--Three more out; 23 survive to break
Just before the break, we had three eliminations in rapid succession.
The first occurred over on Table 206. kidzero opened the betting in the hijack for 132,999 and made the call when javel shoved all-in for 665,544 behind him. It was Jh-Js for kidzero against Ah-Kh for javel, but javel was drawing to six outs on the Jc-8c-4s flop. His draw dissipated on the turn when the 8s gave kidzero a full house, and the meaningless 9s on the river sent javel home in 26th place.
Then over on Table 338, action had folded around to a short-stacked Ryan45 who pushed all-in for 547,807 from the small blind and Mary 717 called from the big blind. Ryan45 would need some help, with his Kc-7d being dominated by Mary 717's Kh-Ts. The help didn't come, as the board ran out 6c-9d-6d-4d-Qs, knocking Ryan45 out in 25th.
Finally, back on Table 206, golfsoc also open-shoved from the small blind for 795,613 and got called by the big blind, tmmy2win. golfsoc showed Ah-5c, and timmy2win Ad-9d. The board came 6h-Kc-Kd-4s-Qs, and golfsoc was gone in 24th.
6:24pm--Zugwat zeroed out, eliminated in 27th
Mary 717 raised to 133,332, then Zugwat shoved all in for 1,124,609. Mary 717 made the call, showing Qs-Ac, while Zugwat held Kc-Qd. The flop was Td-7d-2d, giving Zugwat hope for a flush in addition to hitting that king. But the 3c on the turn and the 6c on the river meant Zugwat was out in 27th place.
6:17pm--kidzero goes for broke
QuasiFiction held 9c-9h against kidzero's Ah-Kc, putting him on the right side of the coinflip, but a king on the flop was all it took to double kidzero up to nearly 1.4 million.
Just three hands later, kidzero got himself all-in before the flop again, but was in much worse shape than before, with his Th-Ts running smack up against tmmy2win's Ad-As. But the board came down 2s-7h-8d-Jd... Td, and that two-outer sent kidzero up to 2,782,192 and into 7th place.
6:09pm--Believe it... QuasiFiction flops set, takes chip lead
Just had a huge 2.8 million-plus chip pot go down between QuasiFiction and Numbass, with the result being QuasiFiction has taken over the chip lead with a stack of 5,474,695. Here's how that one played out:
6:06pm--27 remain
We are down to three tables as we begin Level 26 (blinds 25,000/50,000, antes 5,000). Our current chip leader is Numbass with more than 4.38 million chips. The average stack is getting close to 2 million.
The next nine players to be eliminated will each earn $7,280.70.
6:04pm--3scape_plan out in 28th
LAPINKY opened in the cutoff for a pretty standard 120,000, but when the action got to the big blind 3scape_plan moved all-in for a total of 472,912. LAPINKY tanked, running down most of his clock before calling more than half his stack off with Ks-Jd. That turned out to be the right move, as 3scape_plan held Qc-5c. No help from the Ad-8s-Tc-Ts-Jc board and he was out in 28th place.
6:03pm--By the book
Doyle Brunson set the pattern for the modern no-limit games when he wrote Super System and told us all to BE AGGRESSIVE. There's plenty of that aggression in play right now, with short stacks coming over the top of opening raises before the flop like it's going out of style.
We're still not seeing many bustouts, though -- just one in the last 20 minutes -- as those re-raises have often been good enough to claim the pot up to this point.
5:57pm--igdp takes stand, loses seat; is out in 29th place
With 1,102,832 to start the hand, igdp raised to 120,000 and QuasiFiction -- currently third in chips with more than 2.65 million -- reraised behind him to 360,000. This wasn't the first time QuasiFiction had done that. Indeed, just an orbit ago he'd reraised igdp's preflop raise, and when igdp folded, QuasiFiction typed "good fold" & "u were in bad shape."
Well, this time igdp wasn't going anywhere, and when it folded back around repopped all in. QuasiFiction quickly called.
igdp: 9d-9c
QuasiFiction: Jh-Ad
The board came Ah-Js-Td-7d-Tc, and igdp hit the rail in 29th place.
5:43pm--fifa7ever out in 30th
His passing of the 2M mark might not have lasted long for ElkY, but we'll see how passing the 3M mark goes for him.
fifa7ever opened in the cutoff for 120,000 and ElkY called in the small blind to see a flop of 7s-4s-2h. ElkY checked to fifa7ever, who bet 240,000, and then he raised all-in. fifa7ever was covered but made the quick call with Kh-Kd; unfortunately he was in horrible shape against ElkY's 7h-7d.
The turn and river came Th-Qh and fifa7ever found his way to the rail a little earlier than he'd hoped. Players finishing 28th-36th today are receiving $6,587.30.
5:41pm--LAPINKY survives
When do you not want to catch a set? When it fills in your opponent's straight. LAPINKY got his chips in the middle in pretty bad shape with Ah-9s against 3scape_plan's Qh-Qc. The board came Kc-Jd-8h-Ts-Qd, with the ironically-named 3scape_plan's set on the river shipping the 817,274 pot to LAPINKY. Check it out:
5:33pm--Chip counts at 12-hour mark
Level 25
Blinds 20,000/40,000, antes 4,000
Average chip count: 1,733,500
Players remaining: 30
First prize: $468,045
Top ten chip counts:
1. Numbass 4,786,592
2. VuaXi`Tô' 4,051,181
3. QuasiFiction 3,595,863
4. I'am_Sound 3,219,852
5. tpreston 2,555,949
6. JT3013 2,461,607
7. BJKing 2,437,022
8. tmmy2win 2,267,054
9. Team PokerStars pro Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes 2,150,683
10. JSchnett 2,000,727
Team PokerStars pros:
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier 1,648,497 (12th place)
5:29pm--Brenes over 2M
ElkY broke the 2M mark earlier and fell back below; Humberto Brenes is holding steady after crossing the same marker. He opened the betting on the button for 90,000 and saw a re-raise to 210,000 come in from pingit in the small blind. With the big blind out of the way, Brenes contemplated his move before making the bet 720,000. That was good enough to claim the pot and boost him to 2,159,683.
5:26pm--Nice score for Humberto
Humberto Brenes just dragged a healthy little pot to creep close to 1.9M.
He opened in the cutoff for 90,000 and his only caller was Ryan45 in the big blind. Both players checked the Ac-Qs-Js flop, and Ryan45 check-called a 150,000 bet from Brenes on the Kc turn.
The river was the 8h and Ryan45 once again checked. This time Brenes bet 180,000. That had Ryan45 calling for time and eventually folding his handm shipping the 516,000 pot to the Shark.
5:22pm--Two more gone; 30 left
The difficult-to-type VuaXi`Tô' opened the betting in the cutoff for 66,611 and made the call when big blind diegomilek shoved for a total of 376,226. It was Ah-7s for diegomilek and Ad-8c for VuaXi`Tô'; the board ran out As-Jc-3c-6c-5s to send diegomilek to the rail in 32nd place.
Soon afterwards, HappyMeals open-shoved from the button for 304,300 and got called by QuasiFiction in the big blind. QuasiFiction turned over 3c-3s, while HappyMeals had As-4s. Another race situation, Vince!
The flop was Ad-8c-4c, which made HappyMeals happy. Then the turn brought the 3c, giving QuasiFiction a set and making HappyMeals question the truth of it all. The Ts on the river meant HappyMeals was out in 31st.
5:16pm--Can't beat that
Action folded around to Humberto Brenes in the small blind and he raised to 90,000, getting a call from pingit in the big blind. Both players checked the Ks-Jc-2c flop, and Brenes check-called 60,000 from pingit on the turn.
The Shark check-called another 90,000 on the river, only to see his opponent flip up Ac-Qc for the nuts.
Brenes now has 1,691,683.
5:12pm--solvalla08 out in 33rd
Mary 717 opened for 78,885 in second position and solvalla08 called from the big blind with just 187,711 left behind. All those chips went in the middle on the Qs-Jh-Tc flop and Mary 717 made the call. She showed K-K against solvalla08's Kc-Jc, and no straight cards came, giving her the pot.
After challenging for the chip lead for much of Day 1, solvalla08 hits the rail in 33rd place.
5:10pm--BigDunph out in 34th; Numbass crosses 5 million
Just had a huge pot over on Table 206, where there has been some action here in the first hour. BigDunph, with 1.61 million to start the hand, raised to 780,000 from middle position and Numbass -- having him well-covered with 3.42 million -- called from the button.
The flop came 2h-9s-Kd and BigDunph shoved all in with his remaining 829,740. Numbass called. BigDunph showed Ac-Qh for high card ace, while Numbass turned over Ah-9h for a pair of nines. The turn was the 3c and the river the Td, and BigDunph is out in 34th. Meanwhile, Numbass extends his chip lead, currently having a stack of 5,105,149.
5:08pm--Mostly tentative play
On Tables 160 and 338, the mode of play at the moment is mostly tenetative. Most of the pots are being taken down with a preflop raise or, in some cases, a preflop re-raise. We did get one exception on 160 a moment ago, though, when JSchnett opened for 75,000 and got two callers. He bet 180,000 on the 9c-3c-3d flop but let it go when fifa7ever check-raised all-in for just over 950k.
5:06pm--Bulsson68 eighty-sixed in 35th
Bullson68 had slipped under half a million chips and decided it was time to gamble with Ad-Qs. Unfortunately for Bullson68, tpreston woke up behind him with pocket queens. Here's how Bullson68 hit the rail in 35th place:
5:04pm--TrickY ElkY?
The blinds might have gone up -- we just began Level 24 (blinds 20,000/40,000, antes 4,000) -- but ElkY's opening raise hasn't.
Under the gun on the first hand of this new blind level, He bumped the bet to his standard 65,656 from the last round. Despite it only being another 35,000 or so to make the call preflop, kidzero declined to put any more money in from the big blind and folded.
5:02pm--Line forming at cashier's window
Our first seven players eliminated today -- killerkp, sm1le, f!v3_4c3s, Urlings, Riverloser, Rcka, and Scary_Tiger -- each earned $6,240.60 for their efforts. Belabasci picked up $6,587.30 for 36th place, as will the next eight players eliminated.
4:59pm--Two more fall by wayside; 35 remain
A couple more preflop all ins from short stacks, and a couple more eliminations.
First Scary_Tiger pushed all in for 258,266 with Ah-Kd and was called by Numbass who held 8c-8s. No ace or king came to save him, and Scary_Tiger was knocked out in 37th place.
Then, Belabasci, down to 202,403, shoved with Ts-Th and was called by henri72's Ah-Qh. In this case, an ace did come, as the board ran out As-2c-8h-6h-3h, knocking Belabasci out in 36th.
4:54pm--ElkY crosses 2M, falls back below
With two of the last three pots going to Team PokerStars pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier via a preflop raise to claim the blinds and antes, ElkY crossed the 2,000,000 mark - but only just barely. He tried to repeat his feat a third time, but he let his hand go once his continuation bet on the flop was check-raised by big-blind caller fifa7ever.
ElkY now has 1,852,687.
4:51pm--Rcka gone in 38th place
Rcka had just 452,655 entering play today. After 20 hands or so Rcka was sitting on about that same-sized stack when he decided to shove preflop with Qc-9s from middle position. Sumar07 called with Ad-Qd. The board came 6s-Kc-As-5s-Kh, and Rcka was eliminated in 38th place.
4:46 pm--Tough work ahead?
Team PokerStars pro Humberto "Humberto B." Brenes might have some tough work ahead of him. BJKing just played back at him again after Brenes had raised to 75,000 on the button. BJKing re-raised to 300,000 from the big blind, getting the Shark to relent for the time being. Just a few minutes later, Brenes opened for 75,000 under the gun and let his hand go when Numbass re-raised to 200,000 from the button.
4:45pm--Riverloser out in 39th; Urlings out in 40th
Player Urlings just got ousted in 40th. Two minutes later, Riverloser followed him to rail. That hand began with Riverloser sitting on a stack of 787,092 chips. The table had folded around to Numbass who raised to 75,000 from the small blind. Riverloser then pushed all in from the big blind, and Numbass called.
Numbass: 7s-7d
Riverloser: As-Kc
The flop came 7h-9s-6c, giving Numbass a set and just about sealing Riverloser's fate. The turn was the 3c and the river the 4d, and Riverloser was eliminated in 39th place.
Numbass is now up to more than 2.62 million.
4:43pm--Testing the waters
Humberto Brenes is certainly not afraid to get into the action today. He took down one pot from before the flop with a re-raise that shut original raiser Ryan45 out. Then he opened on the button and led out on an ace-high flop after BJKing called from the big blind, only to let it go when BJKing came out with the check-raise.
It's back and forth for the time being, but the Shark's style could very easily lead to a big pot for him in the near future.
4:41pm--Two more eliminations; 40 remain
Player sm1le started the day with just 477,377, well below average, and so after picking up Qs-4h sm1le decided to gamble. Mary 717 came along with Ac-8d. The board came Jh-9s-As-Js-Qh, and sm1le is out in 42nd place.
Shortly after that, a short-stacked f!v3_4c3s got it all in with Ac-5h and was called by tpreston who had him dominated with Ad-6d. A five flopped, but so did a six. And an ace on the river was just salt in the wound, as f!v3_4c3s finishes in 41st.
4:35 pm--ElkY doubles up
ElkY just got a big boost in the early going, at the expense of Belabasci. Action folded preflop to ElkY on the button and he opened for 65,656. Belabasci asked for time and then made it 195,000 straight. Asking for time of his own, ElkY then moved all-in for 951,305. Belabasci called with Q-Q, but ElkY's A-A would hold up against the ladies to boost his stack to 1,950,110.
Belabasci is now in serious trouble with just 199,903 remaining in his stack.
4:32pm--killerkp out in 43rd
Chip leader for much Day 1, killerkp entered today with just over 1.3 million chips -- about an average stack with 43 players remaining. On the second hand of play today, QuasiFiction (2.83 million to start today) open-raised to 65,000, and killerkp reraised to 185,000 behind him. It folded back around and QuasiFiction pushed all in, and killerkp made the call.
QuasiFiction showed 8c-8h, and killerkp Ad-Kh. The flop came Ah-7c-9s, and killerkp took the lead. The turn was the 5h. Then the 8d popped out on the river, ending killerkp's Day 2 early. He finishes in 43rd. Meanwhile, QuasiFiction takes the chip lead with over 4 million.
WCOOP Event #20 Day 2 at 4:30pm ET
Action is about to get underway for Day 2 of WCOOP Event #20 with 43 players remaining.
No-limit hold'em is like the first girl you ever loved, the one you still think fondly of several years after you broke up with her. Poker players may drift from no-limit hold'em to pot-limit omaha or to badugi or to mixed games -- the other women that follow the original sweetheart -- but there will always be a place for no-limit hold'em in the minds of tournament poker players around the world. That's why thirteen of the thirty-three WCOOP events are some form of no-limit hold'em.
Event #20, as it turns out, was one of those thirteen events. Nothing fancy, nothing unusual, just straight, full-ring no-limit hold'em without any re-buys or add-ons. PokerStars was so confident of the game's appeal that the guarantee for Event #20 - $1,050 No-Limit Hold'em was an incredible $3,000,000.
There's only one problem when you solicit that many players to play in a single online tournament -- it tends to last for far longer than any human being should stare at a computer in a single sitting. PokerStars solved that issue this year by denoting several of the WCOOP events as two-day events. Event #20 fell into that category.
So today, once the players all settled into their seats, everyone knew that we would not be playing any later than about 5am EST. Given the finish times of some of the single-day WCOOP events, that guarantee only served as a bonus to encourage people to register. It worked; 3,467 players signed up to play, creating a prize pool of $3,467,000 that easily exceeded the $3,000,000 guarantee. Once all of the calculations were made, 540 players were guaranteed at least $1,733,59 each, with whoever finishes first place prize taking down $468,045.
The Team PokerStars Pros were out in force again. Twenty-eight of them were scattered among the 386 tables that started this tournament. Perhaps the most notable of those that started was Barry "barryg1" Greenstein. Greenstein was up until 7:15am EST playing in Event #18 - $215 H.O.R.S.E., just missing out on the final table when he finished in ninth place. Greenstein also played in Event #19 - $25,500 High-Roller Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em, making for a very, very busy and tiring day for "the Bear".
The starting stacks were extremely deep -- 15,000 chips with initial blinds of 25 and 50 -- but that didn't stop players from mixing it up early, with thirty players eliminated in the first half of Level 1. Joe Hachem and Barry Greenstein were two early beneficiaries of this style of play, with each one chipping up to around 20,000 before the first hour of play was completed. Those amounts were nowhere near the top 100 in the chip counts, but a two-day tournament isn't a sprint. On the other end of the spectrum, Chad Brown and John Duthie were early victims, with each going out before 100 players had been eliminated.
Greenstein looked poised for another good day when he moved into the top ten of the chip counts by hitting a flush against Panny3:
But of course, as physics teachers across the world will patiently explain (if you left them), for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Lee Nelson, Orel Hershiser, Bill Chen and
Isabelle Mercier all busted while Greenstein and Hachem were climbing through the counts.
Noah "Exclusive" Boeken also started out hot, almost matching Greenstein chip for chip as the two sought to claim the title to highest chip count of the Team PokerStars Pros. Both went over 60,000 in chips right around the same time, about three hours into the tournament. Hachem was struggling to keep pace when Katja Thater made her first move of the day. Thater finished in 48th place in Event #18, the same $215 H.O.R.S.E. tournament in which Greenstein took ninth. The two were competing again.
That wasn't the only competition. By the time we were four hours into the tournament, four Team PokerStars Pros were still alive in Event #19. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Gavin Griffin, Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso, and Victor Ramdin all advanced to the round of 16. Grospellier and Griffin would eventually face off in the semifinals, with Grospellier advancing to the title match and falling to the champion, stevesbets. He also advanced to Day 2 of this event -- an excellent day at the office for Grospellier.
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes had a charmed day. At least twice, he found himself all in and needing help on the river to stave off elimination. He got that help both times and otherwise seemed to run much better than average in the races he took. That's not to say that Brenes didn't also display a fantastic mix of patience and aggression -- he certainly did. But everyone knows that, in order to go deep in a huge field, you have to get a little lucky. Brenes certainly was luck's beneficiary a few times.
The money bubble approached as play moved into Level 13. By that time, only seven of the twenty-eight Team PokerStars Pros who started the day were still alive: Brenes, Hachem, Grospellier, Noah “Exclusive” Boeken, Andre “Aakkari” Akkari, Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck and Marcin “Goral” Horecki. Greenstein had gone out in 803rd place after running into aces; Thater's demise came when she put Big Slick to work against an opponent and also ran into aces.
Once the money bubble burst, the eliminations came lightning-quick. 100 players were eliminated in just half an hour as the short stacks looked to double or go to bed. Horecki was one of those players, going out in 513th place. Hachem and Boeken seemed poised for deep runs as each flirted with the top 100 in chip counts, but both would fall. Boeken exited in 350th place when he, too, ran into aces after flopping top pair in a limped pot. Hachem at least mixed it up a little bit when he was eliminated in 240th place by running his pocket jacks into diatty's pocket kings.
Mayrinck, Brenes and Grospellier all cracked the final 100. Grospellier was all in at one point with Qc-Tc against pocket sixes, but spiked a ten on the river to stay alive. He then hit two more double-ups in quick succession to build a playable stack, which he quickly put to work. Mayrinck wasn't as fortunate, going from 900,000 chips to out in 72nd place in the span of two hands after her flopped set lost to a flopped straight and she ran ace-jack into ace-queen.
When the forty-three survivors of Day 1 re-take their seats at 16:30pm EST later today, the action will re-start at Level 23, with blinds of 12,500 / 25,000 and an ante of 2,500. Brenes and Grospellier will be among the survivors, with Brenes looking to bludgeon his opponents with his top-five chip stack. The average chip count is 1,209,418. These players top out the counts:
Live blog coverage of WCOOP Event #20 $1,050 NLHE brought to you by bloggers David Aydt, Martin Harris, Jennifer Newell, and Dave Behr. Have a story for us? E-mail to blog@pokerstars.com. Click refresh to see the latest information. Want to see the live blog for the $25,000 heads up event? Check out the WCOOP Event #19 live blog.
5:07am--Day 1 play has stopped, resumes tomorrow at 4:30pm ET
Considering this is a two-day event, play for Day 1 must be stopped at some point to enable a Day 2 to take place. That is what has happened.
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes had a stellar first day of this tournament and ends it in fifth place on the leaderboard. After having cashed in the Event #18 HORSE tournament yesterday, Brenes has done one better tonight and guarantees himself a minimum cash of $6.240.60, though there are hundreds of thousands at stake for those making the final table. He is aiming to be one of them.
Play will resume later today at Level 23, and all of the pertinent information is as follows:
Level 23
Blinds: 12,500/25,000, ante 2,500
Average chip count: 1,209,418
Players remaining: 43
First prize: $468,045
4:52am--Say it with us now; online poker is so rigged
At the start of a recent hand on Table 338, I'am_Sound had 1.2 million in chips, fabryyy had about 600,000 in chips, and pingit had almost 1.9 million in chips. By the end of the hand, I'am_Sound had over 3 million in chips, pingit was sitting on about 676,000 and fabryyy was out. It seems hard to believe, but that's what happens pocket queens, pocket kings and pocket aces are all out preflop. fabryyy had the aces and was the hard-luck loser when I'am_Sound flopped a king to match the two in his hand. That left pingit with queens and a loser for both the side pot and the main pot.
4:44am--Numbass in fifth on leaderboard
Sure, climbing up into the top ten of this tournament and approaching the 2 million chip mark is worthy of mention here, but more importantly, we had to take this opportunity to put the screen name "Numbass" in an entry title. Some things just have to be done.
4:35am--Humberto can do no wrong
Humberto Brenes is running hot. He seems to be incapable of losing a flip. HappyMeals started things off with a preflop raise from the cutoff to 48,000. Brenes reraised to 160,000, folding both of the blinds. With action back on HappyMeals, he shoved all in for over 1.6 million in chips. Brenes deliberated briefly before calling all in for just less than 1 million in chips. He was the player at risk of elimination.
HappyMeals: Ad-Kd
Brenes: Jc-Jh
The board came down 9d-8s-4c-4h-Qs, allowing Brenes' jacks to hold and vaulting him up the chip counts with 2.3 million total chips.
4:32am--Maridu eliminated in 72nd place
In two huge hands, Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck went from over 900,000 in chips to out in 72nd place.
In the first, BigDunph limped in to the pot, as did Maridu in the small blind, and droniko checked the option. The flop came down Tc-6h-7s, and droniko bet, BigDunph called, and Maridu check-raised to 105,000. droniko got out of the way, and BigDunph reraised to 210,000. Maridu pushed all-in with pocket sixes for three of a kind, and BigDunph called all-in with 9d-8d for the flopped straight. Maridu typed, “sigh.” The turn and river were meaningless, and the 1.3 million pot went to BigDunph.
The second started with MarySmythe raising to 45,000 and Maridu pushing all-in for her last 287,682. MarySmythe called with Ad-Qc, and Maridu showed As-Jd. The board came down 2d-3d-Js-4h-Qs, and the river sent Maridu to the rail. She claimed $5,547.20 for her success tonight.
4:25am--The Shark crosses the one-million chip mark
The shark is still thrasing in the ocean of this tournament. He moved over one million in chips by call the all-in reraise of tweeprise for 291,021 chips in total. Brenes had the best hand with Td-Th against tweeprise's As-Js. His hand held up when the board ran out 8d-Qc-5c-2c-2s. tweeprise was sent to the virtual rail in 71st place, where he colleted $5,547.20.
4:23am--Reversal of fortune for ElkY
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier is on an extended downswing after riding high and hitting everything for close to two hours. He raised a recent pot preflop to 39,898 from late position and was called by Ryan45, the small blind. The flop was 9s-5h-2d, causing Ryan45 to lead into ElkY for 65,555. ElkY raised that bet to 169,696, bringing a reraise to 405,000 from Ryan45. ElkY finally got the message and folded his hand. That fold left him with 676,023 chips, about 300,000 less than he had just twenty minutes ago.
4:16am--VuaXiTo surpasses the 3 million chip mark
The chipleader in this tournament has just taken his position to a new level by surpassing the 3 million chip mark, leaving second place JSchnett nearly 700,000 behind and the rest of the field in the figurative dust.
Upon looking at some statistics for VuaXiTo, it became clear that this tournament player is no beginner. With nearly $150,000 in tournament winnings on PokerStars this year alone, the money assured VuaXiTo in this event clearly puts him over that level. The one thing missing from this player's list of accomplishments, however, is a WCOOP cash - better yet, a win. Clearly, VuaXiTo is looking for that in this tournament.
4:12am--Ending the night on a tricky table
Eight tables remain in the tournament, yet there's a confluence of big stacks on just one of those tables. JSchnett (2,431,515 - 2nd), pingit (1,961,274 - 3rd), diatty (1,651,590 -5h) and ElMasterMind (1,288,842 - 10th) are all seated at Table 17. We expect to see some fireworks before play concludes for the night in just under an hour.
4:05am--Brenes Over and Out
No, not Humberto Brenes. The other Brenes from San Jose, Costa Rica -- JHBrenes -- is out of the tournament. We were really hoping that both Brenes players would survive to Day 2, but JHBrenes came up just short. With a stack of 180,000, he reraised Bullson68, who had opened the pot to 45,000 from under the gun, to a total of 135,000. Bullson68 shipped all of his chips in, prompting JHBrenes to call for his last 41,624. JHBrenes showed Ah-Jh. He needed hearts or an ace when Bullson68 turned over Ks-Kd. JHBrenes got neither on a board of Ts-3s-3h-7c-Tc. He was eliminated in 78th place, an elimination worth $5,200.50 in prize money.
3:59am--Last break of the night
Level 21
Blinds: 7,500/15,000, ante 1,500
Average chip count: 666,730
Players remaining: 78
First prize: $468,045
WCOOP Events don't just attract Team PokerStars Pros and "the rest of us". They also attract stars -- players with stars, that is. Players with gold stars; players with Supernova stars. Table 17 is a great example. Seated at Table 17 are Pokerl)eviL (GoldStar status), ElMastermind (Supernova status) and Scary_Tiger (Supernova status). These are players who have turned their single-minded obsession with poker, and their dedicated play on PokerStars, into a VIP status with some pretty nice benefits.
Those benefits don't come cheaply. GoldStar status requires 4,000 VPPs a month; Supernova status requires 100,000 a year -- over 8,000 a month! Some might call those people "degenerates", but we think they're people that love the game.
3:44am--Two new names cross the 2 million mark
Seemingly out of nowhere, two players have come into view in the top ten - technically the top two - on the leaderboard. VuaXiTo and JSchnett have soared to the top in this tournament, leaving former leaders like killerkp, diatty, and kidzero to do the catching up.
3:40am--Public Service Announcement
Fifteen minutes remain in Level 20. At the conclusion of Level 22, play will be suspended for the night, resuming at 16:30pm ET tomorrow.
3:37am--That other Brenes
JHBrenes is holding steady at about 250,000 chips. He put in a raise to 36,000 that was called by Evilduke11 on the button. The big blind, JD9712, then made it 118,000 to go. JHBrenes went into the tank, taking up about forty seconds of time total before folding.
3:36am--WCOOP events galore
Sure, this is the only WCOOP event going on at this very moment, but we are far from over in this 2008 series!
Take tomorrow, for example. At 2:30pm ET, there is the $530 buy-in 7-Stud 8-or-better tournament. And at 4:30pm ET, PokerStars offers the Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo event. Or wait a day for a NLHE or NL 2-7 Draw tournament. The choices are there. And the entire WCOOP schedule is here, near the bottom of the page.
3:23am--Can anyone stop ElkY?
About ninety minutes ago, after Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier was eliminated in second place from Event #19, he had just fifteen big blinds remaining in his stack in Event #20. What a difference an hour and a half and undivided attention can make! ElkY crossed the 1-million chip mark, moving into the top ten in chip counts for the first time, by firing on every street against cristiaan26. ElkY made it 25,454 to go preflop, 36,363 to go on a flop of 6h-Kh-Ts, 98,989 when the turn came 8s, and 165,659 on a 2c river. christiaan26 called every bet except the river bet, finally giving up any claim to the pot there by folding.
3:17am--Hubertz is just chum in the water for the Shark
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes picked the wrong time to make a move but was bailed out by the board. He opened the betting preflop to 30,000 from middle position. Action folded to the player on the button, Hubertz, who put in a reraise to 90,000. Although Brenes has been reluctant to call preflop reraises so far today, he called this one.
The flop came down 8d-9c-7c. Brenes promptly shoved his remaining 197,905 chips int the middle, and Hubertz called in a shot.
Brenes: Ah-Kc
Hubertz: Qh-Qc
Brenes was in bad shape, needing either an ace, a king or running clubs to stay alive. The Jc that hit the turn was the first club Brenes needed. The Tc on the river was the second. Brenes runner-runner'ed a king-high flush, one rank better than Hubertz's queen-high flush, to take down the pot and double up to almost 600,000 in chips.
3:13am--Maridu nears million mark
Aggressive is the word. Not afraid to risk it all is the mantra.
Maridu is just took a 518,000 pot to get ever closer to the one million mark. She now sits firmly in the top ten on the leaderboard, and this is one example of how she has gotten there:
3:06am--Watch out, the man has chips now
Nobody ever accused Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier of not knowing how to wield a big stack. He won three pots in a row on Table 462, first with a preflop raise, next with a flop reraise all in on a flop of 9h-7s-7h (netting himself 124,000 chips in the process) and then with a preflop reraise over the top of another player's opening raise. And just like that, inside of three minutes ElkY increased his stack from about 607,000 to about 815,000 chips.
2:59am--kidzero looking for personal best
Over the course of the past two hours, kidzero has taken the chip lead and held on tight. Usually sitting between 300K and 500K above the rest of the pack, kidzero is looking serious about getting to the final table of this event.
However, looking at kidzero’s PokerStars record, there are not a lot of heavy tournament cashes on it. There was an $18,022.50 third place cash in a $200 tournament from 2006, but nothing else in that range. But it seems that the 2008 WCOOP may be where he adds a new accomplishment to that list. He finished 138th out of the 7,218-person field in WCOOP Event #1 this year, and currently, he is guaranteed a minimum $4,507.10 cash in this one. This tournament could be the big one; you could say the cards are in kidzero’s hands.
2:50am--We pause the tournament to bring you these stats
Level 19
Blinds 5,000/10,000 ante 1,000
Average Chip Stack: 393,977
Players Remaining 132
First Prize: $468,045.00
As ElkY maintains a decent stack in this tournament and a spot in the top 25% of the field, it might be time to get to know Bertrand Grospellier a little better. And thanks to this profile on PokerStars.tv, that opportunity to familiarize is right here for your convenience:
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes isn't the only Brenes doing well in tonight's tournament. On Table 17, railbirds will find JHBrenes, a player who also lists his location as San Jose, Costa Rica, just like Humberto! We're not sure what the odds are of two players named Brenes from San Jose, Costa Rica going deep in the same tournament and having nearly identical 230,000-chip stacks (probably not as astronomical as they might seem at first glance). We do think that it would be quite a story if both players managed to survive into Day 2...
2:26am--ElkY on a heater!
Missing out on his first WCOOP bracelet in Event #19 may have woken the slumbering beast inside of Bertrand "ElkY" Grosspelier. He has over 450,000 chips after reraising WiscoMurray preflop from 16,600 to 44,444. WiscoMurray came back oer the top of ElkY for almost 300,000 chips, an amount that had ElkY covered. He showed no hesitation in calling all in with Ks-Kd. As might be expected, he had to dodge an ace when WiscoMurray turned over Ah-Qd. The flop brought WiscoMurray's ace, but it also brough three spades -- As-9s-5s. That gave ElkY eleven outs to improve. He missed them all on the turn but hit one, the 4s, on the river to make a flush and double up again.
2:23am--Jumping through payout hoops
Currently, the players still in the tournament are in the eight payout level, which guarantees them $4,160.40 for their play in this event. Not too shabby...
But payouts increase substantially as we get deeper into Event #20. A 12th place finish will be worth $20,802. And just as a reminder, the first place prize in this tournament is a whopping $468,045. Now that's something worth sticking around for.
2:16am--Andre Akkari eliminated
Another Team PokerStars Pro has been eliminated from the tournament. Andre "aakkari" Akkari put in a third preflop raise, from the big blind, to 151,591 after MohammadKam opened from the button for 17,000 and DiPollo reraised fro the small blind to 42,000. DiPollo, who started the hand with 434,384 chips, decided to look Akkari up once MohammadKam got out of the way and folded. The hands may have raised some eyebrows when they were tabled:
Akkari: Kc-3c
DiPollo: 8d-7d
It was all downhill for Akkari after the chips were in. The flop of Ts-5d-6h gave DiPollo an up-and-down straight draw, and he picked up a flush draw with the Qd turn. The river Kd made Akkari a pair of kings but also filled DiPollo's flush draw, knocking Akkari out in the process. His 191st place finish was worth $3,813.70.
2:07am--No-showdown pots are the sweetest pots
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has done it again. He called a 24,000-chip bet from tibaloo on a flop of 4c-7s-4h, then raised tibaloo all in on the Jh turn. tiballo, who had fired 48,000 on the turn, wasn't willing to call another 60,000 and let his hand go.
Grospellier's stack is now over 200,000.
2:06am--Brenes can't run down jacks
This is the time of the tournament when, if the cards break the right way, players with above average stacks can really put a hurting to the short stacks and open up big chip leads. The corollary is that if the cards break the wrong way, it's not such a far fall to an average or below-average stack.
Humberto Brenes is moving in the wrong direction. He took a few small hits with preflop raises that didn't work out before he called an all-in raise of 63,703 fro PlayaAAK8. Brenes had Big Slick and found himself trying to catch an ace or a king to beat PlayaAAK8's Jh-Js. It didn't happen, and so Brenes has come bak to the pack and is under 300,000 chips for the first time in over an hour.
1:58am--Maridu crosses 500K mark
There was one hand that set her on the path to climb up the leaderboard. PokerStars Pro Maridu was in the big blind and called her opponent, Otto Doctor, before and after the flop of 3s-Qd-7c. Both players checked the Kh on the turn, but after the 6d on the river, Maridu pushed all-in for 108,264, and Otto Doctor called with Ac-Qh. But Maridu showed pocket sevens for trips and the 337,528 pot.
Since that hand, Maridu has been on the rise and recently cracked the 500,000 chip mark to get ever closer to the top ten section of the leaderboard. With numerous railbirds in the chat box rooting her on, there seems to be no stopping her.
1:55am--River is sweet to ElkY
After a series of preflop raises went awry, Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier found himself with only 65,817 chips left. He pushed them all into the middle from late position and was called by the small blind, tibaloo. They were off to the races after the cards were opened, with Grospellier's Qc-Tc trying to outdraw tiballo's 6h-6c. Nothing changed on a flop of 2c-3d-2s or on a turn of As, but the river was very nice to Grospellier, falling the Th. It made him a pair of tens and gave him new life in Event #20.
1:47am--Break it up!
A 5-minute break for the players... When they return, they will be playing at Level 17.
Level 17
Blinds: 3,000/6,000, ante 600
Average chip count: 240,763
Players remaining: 216
First prize: $468,045
Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck 459,070 (22nd place)
Humberto “HumbertoB” Brenes 391,608 (32nd place)
Andre “aakari” Akkari 227,049 (100th place)
1:35am--Joe Hachem eliminated
After taking another fall to the low 100,000 range with his chip stack, Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem slowly fell to 94,603 and decided it was time to put that shrimp on the barbie. After a raise from diatty to 12,000, Hachem reraised all-in with Jc-Js, but diatty called with Kd-Ks. The virtual dealer gave them 4h-8c-2h-As-5d on the table, and that was the end of Hachem's WCOOP day.
Hachem finished the tournament in 240th place with a payout of $3,467.
1:28am--ElkY's Attention restored
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has one less thing on his plate. He was eliminated in second place in Event #19, missing out on a WCOOP bracelet but still walking away with $320,000. Not a bad night, and now that Event #19 is finished, his attention can be completely focused on winning a WCOOP bracelet in Event #20. He has raised three of the last six hands preflop, winning all without a contest. ElkY's stack is still on the short side, with about 16 big blinds total, but anything can happen.
To see the details of the final heads-up match between ElkY and stevesbets that people will be talking about tomorrow, check out the Event #19 Live Blog.
1:20am--Akkari keeps firing
Team PokerStars Pro Andre "aakkari" Akkari made a small raise to 13,500 from early position. He was called in two spots -- by numbass on the button and by MohammadKam in the big blind. The flop was potentially dangerous, as it came out a well-connected 5d-6c-9c. But there was no fear from aakkari. He fired out a continuation-bet of 19,000 that folded both of his opponents. He now sits behind more than 217,000 in chips.
1:14am--Maridu doubles to stay in it
Someone in Rio is happy, and it could be Maridu. She just pushed all-in preflop with A-7, and sms9231 called with K-Q. The first card up was a queen, but the rest of the cards fell right into place for Maridu as the board completed Q-5-4-3-2 to give her the straight. With more than 100,000 to work with, she then proceeded to chip up to 130,000.
1:03am--Brenes slowly building
Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes has been relatively quiet during the last hour. He has taken down a few small pots with timely preflop raises or bets after the flop to chip up to almost 352,000, but it's been slow-going for the Shark. With a top twenty-five chip stack, Brenes has the luxury of time right now.
12:57am--Hachem considers leaving top 100 but changes his mind
A solid chunk of chips left Hachem’s stack just before the last break. On a Qs-3c-6c flop, PocketPayett pushed all-in with pocket aces, and Hachem called with Kh-Jh. The turn and river were Qd and 5s, neither of which assisted Hachem, who lost a 146,900 pot to PocketPayett. That put Hachem down to 50th place.
Post-break, he lost a 50,000 pot against popeyeslr, who moved all-in preflop with Ah-Jh. Hachem called with As-7d, and he lost with it. At that point, he was in 91st place on the leaderboard and falling.
However, Hachem has consistently chipped back up over the past 20 minutes. And part of that process allowed him the opportunity for a little revenge on PocketPayett, who had been crippled by another player. With A-3, Hachem said goodbye to his opponent and his J-7. Hachem not sits with over 215,000 in chips.
12:46am--When you're good, you're good
Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has almost twice as many chips as stevesbets in the final of Event #19. In Event #20, he has almost twice as many chips as he previously had after calling an all-in raise from the button to 56,226 by tien0. ElkY's Ad-Js had tien's Jc-Th dominated, and was the winning hand on a seven-high board, 7d-2d-6h-4s-2h. ElkY's chip count increased to about 140,000 as a result of winning the pot.
12:42am--Players receive a complimentary 5-minute break
Level 15
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Average chip count: 149,011
Players remaining: 349
First prize: $468,045
Humberto Brenes 325,109 (25th place)
Joe Hachem 255,128 (51st place)
12:30am--Game over for Boeken
"The 5 minute break will start when hands on all tables are completed." is how the automated message reads that pops up on all tables just before a break. Team PokerStars Pro Noah "Exclusive" Boeken didn't see the other side of that message when he tangled with Game Over 61. Starting the hand with about 58,000 in chips and sitting in the big blind, Boeken took a four-way limped flop of 6d-5c-2d. He opened the betting with a bet of 9,000 that was called only by Game Over 61. The turn was another baby, the 8h. Boeken checked, then raised all in over the top of a bet of 18,777 from Game Over 61. It was the wrong move; Game Over 61 snap-called with pocket aces. Boeken was down to just five outs after showing Ts-6s and did not improve on the river.
He is eliminated in 350th place, earning $2,426.90 for his performance in this event.
12:28am--"sharkkkkkkkkkkkkk"
That was what Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes typed into the chatbox after being congratulated by a railbird for eliminating agriffrod. agriffrod opened the pot to 7,575. Brenes was sitting in the small blind and made it 21,000 to go. agriffrod started the hand with only 41,558 total and shipped it all in after the big blind folded. Brenes called, slightly ahead with pocket tens against agriffrod's ace-queen. The board ran out Kh-9d-Qc-7h-9s, which did not improve agriffrod's hand. His chips now belong to Brenes.
12:26am--Two tournaments are twice as nice
Just because Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier is playing in Event #19 final doesn't mean he can't find time for a double-up in this event. When tien0 opened from the button with a min-raise, ElkY shoved his whole stack of 40,644 into the middle out of the small blind. tien0 called with Kc-Jd and found himself on the short side of a race against ElkY's pocket nines. tien0 did not improve, allowing ElkY to double to 86,988.
Since that hand, ElkY has become a bit more active, raising an additional two hands and taking both down preflop.
12:22am--Restless in Brazil
PokerStars Pro Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck may have gotten used to waiting for action to write about when she was the PokerStars Brazilian blogger, but playing is a different story. Since transitioning to a pro player, she is in the midst of her third 2008 WCOOP cash. But patience doesn't come as easy when the chips are hers to play. Since being moved to Table 381, she has been unable to find much action. She moved all-in twice in three hands and got no callers.
It took two days for Mike “NYC P.I.M.P” Shklover to navigate the massive 3,467-player field in Event #20 of the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker, but when the dust settled, the 28-year-old New Yorker took down the bracelet and $257,953 for first place. We caught up with the young pro after he had a little time to process his victory. 
Action folded around to Humberto Brenes in the small blind and he raised to 90,000, getting a call from pingit in the big blind. Both players checked the Ks-Jc-2c flop, and Brenes check-called 60,000 from pingit on the turn. 