If Deeb made history two days ago then what was left to say today when he did it all over again? Today, Deeb won his third SCOOP title of the series without raising a sweat. It was the fourth of his career, and in doing so, made a mockery of the SCOOP Player of the Series race. Deeb could probably take a day off, but somehow, I don't think that's going to happen.

Today's event was SCOOP Event #26-H $2,100 Stud Hi-Lo which attracted a field of 74 runners to create a prize pool of $148,000 -- almost double the original guarantee.

Among them were previous SCOOP champions, Sunday Millions winners and a host of professionals including Team PokerStars Pros Alex Kravchenko, Bertrand Grospellier, Ville Wahlbeck, George Danzer, George Lind III and Anders Berg.

With the top 12 players getting paid, Team PokerStars Pros Theo Jorgensen and Kristian Martin snuck into the money, but missed the final table which was formed after about 9.5 hours of play:

Final Table Line up
Seat 1: DazzleO (29772 in chips)
Seat 2: slammedfire (41988 in chips)
Seat 3: shaundeeb (82890 in chips)
Seat 4: Fred_Brink (31916 in chips)
Seat 5: caprioli (52541 in chips)
Seat 6: kasparov007 (28460 in chips)
Seat 7: E. Katchalov (64571 in chips)
Seat 8: PerpCzech (37862 in chips)

It was arguably the toughest SCOOP final table line up ever assembled with each player holding exceptional poker credentials.

Daniel "DazzleO" Ospina was a previous SCOOP champion, Fred_Brink held a Razz WCOOP title while slammedfire was had a previous SCOOP runner-up result to his credit. Kasparov007 won a SCOOP title back in 2009 in this very same discipline, while PerpCzech had multiple SCOOP final tables this series including a win in Event#19-M Triple Stud.

Then we move onto Rodridgo Caprioli -- one of the finest SCOOP players in history -- with two previous SCOOP wins including a win in Event #4-H Badugi earlier in this series. Throw in Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov with a previous WCOOP title in 2009 to go with WPT and WSOP titles as part of $7 million in live tournament earnings.

And then there was Shaun Deeb. The runaway SCOOP Player of the Series leader had already caused a stir on Mother's Day when he won his second title of the series. That stir would near seven on the Richter scale if he could do it all over again today.

First to go was Daniel "DazzleO" Ospina. He three-bet on third, bet and called a raise on fourth, before his last chips were all in by fifth street. Ospina started with a pair of tens and could only improve to two pair on a board of [Td][Th][9c][2h][Qs][2d][6s] as kasparov007 started with a low draw but spiked trips to scoop the lot with a board of [3h][7d][6d][5c][Ah][5s][5d]. Ospina took home $4,810 for 8th place.

Despite claiming the first victim of the final table, kasparov007 was still one of the short stacks. kasparov007 dropped further after losing a solid pot to PerpCzech, before the antes got hold. With kasparov007 all in on third street, Shaun Deeb and Fred_Brink continued betting throughout and ultimately chopped up the pot. Deeb made a flush for the high, Fred_Brink caught an eight-six low, as kasparov007 couldn't only muster a pair of eights with an eight-seven low. kasparov007 collected $6,290 for 7th place.

Fred_Brink was on the short stack but it was slammedfire who was next to go. Slammedfire led the betting on every street before Shaun Deeb raised it up on the river to put his opponent all in. Slammedfire made the call with [3c][5s][5c][5d][7s][Kd][4c] for trip fives as Deeb caught a full house with a board of [9d][Qh][Qs][3d][3s][4s][Qd]. Slammedfire missed out on that elusive SCOOP title but $7,770 for 6th place should be some consolation.

Fred_Brink landed a double up with a six-high straight to scoop against Eugene Katchalov's pair of aces as Katchalov was in the danger zone. But he held on long enough to outlast Fred_Brink who clashed with Rodridgo Caprioli with a raising war on fifth street seeing Fred_Brink's last chips committed. Fred_Brink could only manage [2d][Js][Ah][Jd][7d][8c][Kc] for a pair of jacks which wasn't enough to better Caprioli's [Qc][9c][Ac][5d][Qs][5s][8d] two pair with queens and fives. Fred_Brink added $10,360 to his bankroll for 5th place.

The pressure was now on Katchalov, but he couldn't hang on any further. Just moments later, the Team PokerStars Pro stuck his chips in on fourth street with his board running out [Kc][2c][5c][Ks][5d][Qs][7c] for kings up, but Caprioli bettered that with [4d][As][Ad][Tc][5h][Th][2h] for aces up. Another impressive SCOOP run for Katchalov ended in 4th place for $14,060 in prize money.

Caprioli held the chip lead in what was a tight contest, with three very experienced and talented Stud players. The lead swapped around on several occasions, with Deeb surging into the front, before PerpCzech won two back-to-back scoops to take control. The second of those saw PerpCzech sustain heavy warfare from Deeb, while holding just a pair of jacks:

That hand sparked some interesting banter between the two:

PerpCzech said, "i just read shaun deebs soul"
shaundeeb said, "play everyhand"
shaundeeb said, "and call down 100"
shaundeeb said, "youll be right sometimes"
shaundeeb said, "we can play after if you want"
PerpCzech said, "only gonna read your soul once"
PerpCzech said, "once is good"
shaundeeb said, "and the 7 times you called me dwn dead"
shaundeeb said, "i said nothing"
PerpCzech said, "never mind then"
shaundeeb said, "dunno why youre such a **** online"
shaundeeb said, "and so nice in person"

The banter seemed to focus Deeb as he commented that he was determined to win all of the Stud SCOOP titles. He mounted a small comeback before PerpCzech proved his soul-reading abilities were no fluke with another impressive call down to sixth street with just a pair of deuces for the high and no low hand:

PerpCzech said, "am i allowed to talk sith now?"
shaundeeb said, "i mean if i bet i win"

Again the banter seemed to spark Deeb as he kicked up the aggression before PerpCzech was able to scoop consecutive pots once again to take over the chip lead.

While PerpCzech and Deeb continued to duke it out, Caprioli was caught in the middle of the storm. Caprioli got short and pushed his last chips on fifth street against Deeb. He started with a low draw, picked up some high cards, but ended up with neither as his board ran out [8d][3s][Ad][Jh][Kc][9h][2c]. Deeb tabled [5d][4c][7s][7c][Jc][2s][Qc] for just a pair of sevens which was enough to take it down and eliminate Caprioli in 3rd place for $20,720.

Heads-up chip counts
PerpCzech (250217 in chips)
shaundeeb (119783 in chips)

The two continued to throw friendly barbs in the chat box as Deeb landed the first significant blow, scooping a pot with a single pair of kings.

That was soon followed by the biggest pot of the tournament:

The action got very heavy on fifth street before slowing down by the river with Deeb's two pair enough to take it down and assume the ascendency. But PerpCzech wasn't going to just lay down. He fought back to even things up before Deeb collected back-to-back 100k pots, one with a very nice wheel straight, to leave PerpCzech crippled.

Moments later PerpCzech was all in on third street with his board running out [Kd][6d][9h][Ah][5s][Ts][8c] for just ace-high as Deeb made a pair of threes on his board of [Tc][2s][Kh][4h][3h][3d][8h] to claim the win! PerpCzech continued his fine SCOOP series with another $27,380 score as Deeb made history (again) to win his third SCOOP title of this series, the fourth of his career and another $40,300 in prize money.

Number of entrants: 74
Places paid: 12

Final Table Results
1st shaundeeb (Mexico) - $40,330
2nd PerpCzech (New Zealand) - $27,380
3rd caprioli (Brazil) - $20,720
4th E.Katchalov (Ukraine) - $14,060
5th Fred_Brink (Denmark) - $10,360
6th slammedfire (Canada) - $7,770
7th kasparov007 (Germany) - $6,290
8th DazzleO (Colombia) - $4,810

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

Players managed to get a few SCOOPs of Stud today.

While today's seven-card tournament was Hi/Lo, the stakes were high. 452 players put up $215 a piece to create a $90,400 prize pool. By using fancy PokerStars mathematical magic, it was decided that 64 players would cash and the grand prize would be $17,176.

Out of the 452 players that signed up for the tournament, 12 had a red spade decorating their name. A few of the Team PokerStars players in the field included, ElkY, Andre Akkari, Pius Heinz, Eugene Katchalov, George Lind and George Danzer.

While Pius Heinz was the only Team PokerStars Pro to cash in this event -- he finished 52nd for $339 -- Team Pro had a studly performance in the High and Low version of this Hi/Lo event.

In Event #26-L, George Danzer made the final table and finished in 8th. George "Jorj95" Lind also made the he final table, he actually managed to outlast the whole field, winning the SCOOP title and $9,352.58.

On the High side of things, Eugene Katchalov made the final table. Out of the 74 players that put up $2,1000 for some high-stakes Stud H/L, Katchalov managed to finish in 4th, earning $14,060.

While he outlasted most of the players, Katchalov wasn't able to outlast the current leader of the SCOOP Player of the Series race, Shaun Deeb. We've been covering Deeb's tremendous SCOOP run extensively here, and here, and now he did it again.

Shaun Deeb won Event #26-H for a third 2012 SCOOP title and $40,330. Oh, he also made the final table of Event #26-L.

So yeah, that gut feeling you just had, that disturbance you felt in the Internet, as if millions of SCOOP Player of the Series dreams cried in terror and were suddenly silenced, that was Shan Deeb.

But back in the Medium camp, Poland's texaspl was busy winning a tournament too. texaspl is no stranger to the SCOOP, or Stud.

This was texaspl's third SCOOP final table, and his second in Stud. Last year, texaspl finished 5th in SCOOP Event #10-L:$33 Limit Stud and then he finished runner-up in Event #17-L: $16.50 PLO +R.

There's no doubt that texaspl was thirsty for a SCOOP watch, and now, his thirst has finally been quenched.

TEXASPL TAKING THE TOP

texaspl was third in chips when the tournament was down to its final six players. Play had been going on for around 10 hours and the last two Russians had just been eliminated.

KIRKILLU was the first final table elimination, finishing in 8th place for $1,808. KIRKILLU was followed closely by the last Russian, NAR74. NAR74's 7th place elimination brought the tournament down to six players and earned him $2,260.

This is where texaspl started to take a stand and make his name known to the final table:

After winning a few more pots, texaspl was ready to do some final table damage.

With 16K/32K limits and a 3,200 ante, Psixiatr brought it in with a [3d]. texaspl raised to 16,000 with an [ah].

To texaspl's immediate left, Mammola -- with an [8d] -- re-raised to 32,000. texaspl 4-bet to 48,000 and Mammola made it 64,000 to go.

texaspl called and Mammola was left with just under 10,000. Then the next street was dealt:

texaspl: (x)(x)[ah][9c]
Mammola: (x)(x)[8d][jh]

texaspl bet and Mammola called, putting himself all in.

The cards were exposed and three more were dealt to each player. When things were over, the final hands were:

texaspl: [5h][ad][ah][9c][6d][7c][qs]
Mammola: [8s][3c][8d][jh][9d][10c][5d]

Mammola showed a pair of 8s and a busted straight draw, but texaspl's aces took the pot. Mammola was eliminated in 6th place, adding $3,164 to his PokerStars bank account.

texaspl, on the other hand, would jump into the chip lead. By taking all of Mammola's chips, texaspl's stack grew to 742,274, just passing psixiatr's 732,535.

POOKU33 POKES AROUND

There'd be a few split pots and texaspl would lose the lead until Pooku33 took a piece off of Psixiatr.

With 20K/40K limits and a 4K ante, --H77H-- had the bring in with a [2h]. Pooku33 bet with an [8c] and both Psixiatr -- with a [3d] -- and texaspl -- with a [5d] -- made the call.

Pooku33: (x)(x)[8c][9c]
Psixiatr: (x)(x)[3d][8d]
texaspl: (x)(x)[5d][9d]

Pooku33 bet, Psixiatr raised and texaspl folded.Pooku33 called and brought on sixth street:

Pooku33: (x)(x)[8c][9c][10h][9h]
Psixiatr: (x)(x)[3d][8d][10s][Ks]

Pooku33 bet 40,000 and Psixiatr called. Both players checked the river and showed their hands:

Pooku33: [ah][ad][8c][9c][10h][9h][kh]
Psixiatr: [2s][7s][3d][8d][10s][Ks][3h]

Pooku33 took the pot and was up to 317,994.

This left texaspl with a small lead until icandodge22 took over the reins:

Pooku33 sank back down before making it back up to 318,000 again.

With 161,994 left and a [3c], Pooku33 bet 20,000. Action was folded around to --H77H-- who raised to 40,000 with a [kh]. Pooku33 called and brought on fourth street:

Pooku33: (x)(x)[3c][as]
--H77H--: (x)(x)[kh][jd]

Pooku33 check-called --H77H--'s bet 20,000, brining fifth street:

Pooku33: (x)(x)[3c][as][5d]
--H77H--: (x)(x)[kh][jd][7h]

--H77H-- bet 40,000 after a check, leaving himself with only 16,676. Pooku33 called again:

Pooku33: (x)(x)[3c][as][5d][2c]
--H77H--: (x)(x)[kh][jd][7h][7c]

--H77H-- moved all in and Pooku33 made the call, the final showdown was:

Pooku33: [4c][2h][3c][as][5d][2c][kc]
--H77H--: [3h][js][kh][jd][7h][7c][8s]

--H77H-- showed a pair of 7s and Jacks for the Hi pot and nothing for the low. Pooku33 would scoop it up with an A-5 straight and an A-2-3-4-5 Lo.

--H77H-- was eliminated in 5th place and won $4,520 for his finish.

Pooku33's rise would be short-lived as he would find himself severely short-stacked yet again.

Psixiatr brought it in with a [3d] and icandodge22 raised to 20,000 with a [7h]. Pooku33 moved all in for 32,670 and icandodge22 called.

After the river was dealt, Pooku33's fate as our 4th place finisher was sealed:

Pooku33: [10h][ac][qd][kd][6d][7c][5d]
icandodge22: [6h][7d][7h][qc][7s][2d][8d]

Pooku33's ace-high was no match for icandodge22's three 7s and Pooku33 earned $6,780 for his finish.

This last hand also put icandodge22 at 1.2MM, giving him more than texaspl and Psixiatr combined.

EVENING THINGS OUT

But texaspl would start to close the gap by taking a pot off of Psixiatr:

When the gap was closed enough, texaspl leapt right over and snatched the lead back from icandodge22.

With 25K/50K limits and a 5K ante, texaspl bet 25,000 with a [7h]. Psixiatr raised to 50,000 with a [js] and icandodge, with a [9d], called.

texaspl called too and all three players went to fourth street:

Psixiatr: (x)(x)[js][6h]
icandodge22: (x)(x)[9d][4s]
texaspl: (x)(x)[7h][8s]

Psixiatr bet 25,000 and everyone decided to go along for the ride:

Psixiatr: (x)(x)[js][6h][qc]
icandodge22: (x)(x)[9d][4s][2d]
texaspl: (x)(x)[7h][8s][kc]

texaspl and Psixiatr checked, bringing a 50,000 bet from icandodge22. Both players called and brought on sixth street:

Psixiatr: (x)(x)[js][6h][qc][7c]
icandodge22: (x)(x)[9d][4s][2d][kh]
texaspl: (x)(x)[7h][8s][kc]

icandodge22 bet 50,000 and everyone called again. texaspl led out for 50,000 on the river and both Psixiatr and icandodge22 folded.

texaspl won the 540,000 pot and took the lead with 1.2MM. icandodge22 was close behind with 900,000, and Psixiatr was left with just around three big bets.

All three of those big bets would go into the pot a few hands later. texaspl raised to 25,000 with a [3s] and Psixiatr raised to 50,000. texaspl called and the next street was dealt:

Psixiatr: (x)(x)[6d][5c]
texaspl: (x)(x)[3s][8s]

texaspl check-called Psixiatr's 25,000 bet and players went on to fifth street:

Psixiatr: (x)(x)[6d][5c][3c]
texaspl: (x)(x)[3s][8s][8h]

texaspl bet 50,000 and Psixiatr moved all in for 71,635. texaspl called and players went to showdown:

Psixiatr: [3h][ac][6d][5c][3c][5h][qh]
texaspl: [kc][4c][3s][8s][3d][5s]

Psixiatr showed a pair of 3s and 5s, but texaspl held the higher two pair with 8s and 3s. Psixiatr was eliminated in 3rd place, earning $9,275.04.

HEADS UP
With Psixiatr's elimination, the options for Event #26-M champion were narrowed down to two.

texaspl: 1,450,409
icandodge22: 809,591

texaspl then took a few pots off of icandodge22 and increased his lead even more. texaspl whittled icandodge22's stack down to about 120,000 before icandodge managed to double up:

texaspl would keep the heat turned up. For the rest of the match, the best icandodge22 could do was a 9-1 chip defect. icandodge22 managed to double up a few more times to stay in the game, but texaspl would soon put things to an end.

With about 70,000 left, icandodge22 bet 25,000 with a [ks]. texaspl raised to 50,000 with the [as] and icandodge22 moved all in for 68,456.

texaspl called and the final hand of the tournament was dealt:

icandodge22: [kh][ac][ks][9c][4d][9s][5d]
texaspl: [2d][kd][as][10d][ah][jc][qc]

icandodge22's kings and 9s weren't good enough to beat texaspl's straight and icandodge22 became our 2nd place finisher, earning $12,656.

This made texaspl our event champion. After two SCOOP final tables, he finally gets a victory and a fancy MOVADO watch. If that wasn't enough, he also gets $17,176.

Event #27-M Stud Hi/lo - Final Table Results and Payouts:


Entrants: 452

Places Paid: 64

1. texaspl (Poland) - $17,176

2. icandodge22 (Finland) - $12,656

3. Psixiatr (Latvia) - $9,275.04

4. Pooku33 (Japan) - $6,780

5. --H77H-- (Denmark) - $4,520

6. Mammola (Canada) - $3,164

7. NAR74 (Russia) - $2,260

8. KIRKILLU (Russia) - $1,808

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

*****

Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball is a fun tournament option for those looking for a challenge that doesn't include the usual suspects of No Limit Hold'em or Pot Limit Omaha. The usual lingo is replaced with phrases like "stand pat" and "discard," and players must learn new strategies and tips for getting ahead in Triple Draw. And if poker players aren't up for that kind of challenge, I'm not sure who is.

This high buy-in of Event 25 offered players the chance to put up $1,050 for a chance at a Triple Draw title against some of the most well-known poker players in the world. And there were just enough to more than double the guarantee. The final numbers were:

Players: 118
Guarantee: $50,000.00
Prize pool: $118,000.00
Paid players: 18

There were several members of Team PokerStars in action in this event, and the first one to bust from it was Team Pro Martin Staszko, who left in 73rd place. Fellow Team Pro Ville Wahlbeck was right behind in 72nd place, and Team Online's George "Jorj95" Lind busted in 65th with fellow Online Pro Anders "Donald" Berg a few spots behind in 57th. Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier exited in 52nd, George Danzer in 33rd, and the last Team Pro standing - Eugene Katchalov - in 16th place for a min-cash of $1,534.00.

The players cashing in the tournament were mostly familiar names, including Tim "TurnRiva" Marsters who won SCOOP 15-M last week.

Play was seven-handed for well over 30 minutes, which ultimately led to the perpetually short-stacked Kroko-dill moving all-in after the first draw against joacowalter. Each player discarded one card for the second draw, and Kroko-dill stood pat in the end with [Jh][4s][6d][3h][5s]. But joacowalter took one more card and produced [5d][Tc][6s][2h][4c] for the win. Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (pictured here) was eliminated in seventh place with $3,835.00.

Joacowalter goes for second title

The star-studded final table began in Level 21, with 1,600/3,200 blinds and these chip counts:

Seat 1: SirWatts (109,697 in chips)
Seat 2: vovtroy (113,395 in chips)
Seat 3: ImaLucSac (72,078 in chips)
Seat 4: merla888 (38,817 in chips)
Seat 5: joacowalter (137,335 in chips)
Seat 6: ZeeJustin (118,678 in chips)

During the first 30 minutes, joacowalter continued to dominate and increase the lead, while SirWatts solidified a second place spot. ZeeJustin lost ground, however, to sit in sixth place of the six players with a very short stack at the first break, and merla888 chipped up to sit in the middle of the pack as opposed to the starting stacks.

Bonomo bombs

ZeeJustin was soon down to fewer than 12K chips and got involved with original raiser SirWatts and caller joacowalter. Each of the three players discarded two cards, and when joacowalter bet and ZeeJustin raised, SirWatts folded. Joacowalter reraised, and ZeeJustin called all-in. Each player drew one card on the second draw and joacowalter stood pat while ZeeJustin took one more card on the last draw. ZeeJustin showed [7h][6h][8s][Kh][2s] for his tournament life, but joacowalter had him beat with [3c][2h][4s][8c][Td]. Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, who finished second in Event 22-H yesterday, took sixth place in this event for $5,310.00.

SirWatts powers off

SirWatts struggled during four-handed play and finally got involved in a capped pot with merla888. Both players then took one card, and a bet from SirWatts was called by merla888. SirWatts stood pat after that, while merla888 took one card on each of the next two draws. SirWatts felt comfortable showing [2c][7d][8c][3c][4s], but merla888 turned over [6s][5s][2d][7s][4d]. After finishing second in Event 9H last week, Mike "SirWatts" Watson finished fifth tonight for $7,670.00.

Merla888 moves on

Merla888 struggled. Even after a double through vovtroy, merla888's stack was again reduced to less than 20K. Merla888 tangled with vovtroy again, and after both took two cards, a bet and call prompted them to each draw one. Vovtroy bet again, and merla888 responded by moving all-in. Vovtroy called and stood pat. Merla888 took one more card and showed [7c][Tc][6d][9h][3d], but vovtroy had [3s][7h][6c][8d][4c] for the win. Merla888 left in fourth place with $10,030.00.

ImaLucSac out of luck

A long three-handed battle left ImaLucSac facing tough competition. Finally, the short-stacked ImaLucSac pushed all-in after capped betting and then drawing two cards. Vovtroy was willing to play along and ended up with [Td][8h][2s][6h][3s], which bested the [8s][7h][2c][Th][6d] of ImaLucSac, who exited in third place with $15,340.00.

Joacowalter determined to win again

The heads-up match began with these chip counts:

Seat 2: vovtroy (179,337 in chips)
Seat 5: joacowalter (410,663 in chips)

Joacowalter saw the second bracelet like it was close enough to touch it, and that prompted a run of hands that gave joacowalter an enormous chip lead. Vovtroy was eventually relegated to a stack of less than 30K, though a double-up helped keep the action going. Finally, vovtroy pushed all-in for 5,174 chips, drew two cards, then another two, and finally one last card. Joacowalter took two, then one, and stood pat at the end with [9c][4c][3s][2c][7d]. Vovtroy showed [7h][6h][9d][8s][3c] and took second place and $20,650.00 in cash.

Joacowalter, on the other hand, claimed victory. And it was the second SCOOP title for joacowalter in the 2012 series, as the first came in Event 5-H last week. This title came with $30,680.00 and another Movado watch. Congrats!

2012 SCOOP Event #25-H ($1,050 Triple Draw 2-7) Results:

Total players: 118
Paid players: 18

1st place: joacowalter (Uruguay) $30,680.00
2nd place: vovtroy (Russia) $20,650.00
3rd place: ImaLucSac (Canada) $15,340.00
4th place: merla888 (Belgium) $10,030.00
5th place: SirWatts (Canada) $7,670.00
6th place: ZeeJustin (Canada) $5,310.00

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

A total of 540 players joined the $109 buy-in "medium" version of PokerStars' Spring Championship of Online Poker FL 2-7 Triple Draw event. That meant a $54,000 prize pool, all told, more than twice the event's $25K guarantee. The top 72 would split the loot, with $10,260 going to the player who managed to build enough broken hands to claim all of the chips and a SCOOP title.

After just over six hours of play 100 players were left to pursue such hopes. Chipwise, Jordan "iMsoLucky0" Morgan had collected the most at that point with more than 75,000, with Filthy999, moggiii, Brendy88, and Barbosyan rounding out the top five. A little over an hour later the money bubble had burst and they were down to 72, with risti7, mundos, and ozenc then leading the way and Morgan still up there in fourth.

Two members of Team PokerStars were among the final 72, Marcin "Goral" Horecki and Ana Marquez. Horecki would hang on to his short stack for a while before lg123456789 took the last of his chips to send the Polish pro railward in 45th ($248.40). Meanwhile Marquez lasted a bit longer, though she finally was ousted by montoya049 in 39th ($270).

Other notables among the cashers included Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese (69th, $172.80), Alex "skalexjung" Jung (36th, $270), Morgan (28th, $324), SCOOP wunderkind Shaun Deeb (22nd, $378), and 2011 WSOP November Niner Phil "USCphildo" Collins (14th, $502.20).

At the 10-hour mark just 10 players remained gathered around two tables, with Menikagain leading as the only player with more than 500,000, and Filthy999 not far back with almost 475,000. bergeroo hit the rail shortly thereafter in 10th ($729). Then over the next 40 minutes JJinjo (9th), lg123456789 (8th), and ogotop76 (7th) each were eliminated as well, taking away $1,134 paydays apiece.

The final table was set.

Seat 1: Hefty.TILT (Sweden) -- 221,215
Seat 2: Filthy999 (Australia) -- 592,190
Seat 3: jusgivithere (Canada) -- 272,791
Seat 4: thehempy (United Kingdom) -- 260,780
Seat 5: mundos (Czech Republic) -- 482,154
Seat 6: Menikagain (Cyprus) -- 870,870

It took just over an orbit for the first elimination of the final table to come. With the stakes 10,000/20,000, jusgivithere raised from the cutoff and mundos three-bet from the small blind. It folded back to jusgivithere reraised all in for 32,791 total, and mundos called. Both players took two cards on the first draw, then one each, then stood pat. In the end mundos had [8c][6c][4d][3d][2s], just a touch better than jusgivthere's [8s][6h][5c][4s][2c] to knock the latter out in sixth.

Almost exactly one hour would pass before the next knockout, during which stretch Hefty.TILT grabbed the lead with more than 1.13 million while mundos slipped to become the short stack with a little over 90,000. Then, with the stakes up to 14k/28k, thehempy raised from the button, mundos three-bet from the small blind, Menikagain capped from the BB, and both thehempy and mundos called.

On the first draw, mundos discarded one, Menikagain two, and thehempy stood pat. It checked to thehempy who bet, and the other two called. The second draw saw thehempy standing pat once more while both opponents drew one. It checked to thehempy again who bet once more, mundos called off the last 20,945 left, and Menikagain called as well. On the third draw mundos stood pat, Menikagain took one, and thehempy stood pat a third time.

Menikagain picked up a king on the end, turning over [Kd][7c][4d][3s][2h], while thehempy tabled the better [8d][7s][5h][4h][2c]. Meanwhile, mundos mucked, hitting the rail in fifth.

About a half-hour later Hefty.TILT had chipped up close to 1.5 million while Menikagain had become the short stack with just over 80,000 -- just two big bets with the stakes at 20k/40k.

A series of raises before the draw between Menikagain and Filthy999 saw Menikagain almost all in, with the rest going in prior to the second. Filthy999 drew a single card on the first draw and then stood pat while Menikagain took two, one, and then one again. At showdown Filthy999 showed [7h][6d][4s][3h][2d] -- a "number two" -- while Menikagain had but [Kh][9s][7s][5h][2h] to go out in fourth.

They were approaching the 13-hour break when Hefty.TILT opened with a button raise (to 50k) and thehempy called from the big blind, drawing two while Hefty.TILT took three. thehempy led, Hefty.TILT raised, and thehempy called, drawing one on the second draw while Hefty.TILT stood pat. thehempy checked this time, and when Hefty.TILT bet, thehempy called all in for 2,055.

Both stood pat on the third round, then thehempy showed [8d][7s][6d][4c][3c]. It was a good hand, but not good enough, as Hefty.TILT had that barely beat with [8c][7c][6h][3h][2s] to send thehempy out in third.

Heads-up play began with Hefty.TILT leading with 1,507,490 to Filthy999's 1,192,510. Within 20 minutes Heftly.TILT had claimed more than half of Filthy999's stack, then came a hand in which betting back and forth resulted in Filthy999 all in before the third draw. Both players then stood pat, but Filthy999 showed a 7-6 to beat Hefty.TILT's 8-6 and survive.

Hefty.TILT again chipped away at Filthy999, and before long the latter was all in again, but wiggled free by drawing a 9-low to Hefty.TILT's J-low.

But as Filthy999's stack remained small, the chances of coming back were growing slimmer, and soon the end came.

Down to just over 300,000 (with big bets up to 60k), Filthy999 raised from the button, Hefty.TILT three-bet, and Filthy999 called. Hefty.TILT drew one while Filthy999 took two, then Hefty.TILT bet, Filthy999 raise, and Hefty.TILT called.

The second draw saw Hefty.TILT discarding one and Filthy999 standing pat. Hefty.TILT checked, Filthy999 bet, Hefty.TILT check-raised, Filthy999 raised all in, and Hefty.TILT called.

Hefty.TILT was the one standing pat now, while Filthy999 broke the hand to draw one. Hefty.TILT turned over [8h][6d][4c][3h][2d] for an 8-low, better than Filthy999's [Jd][8s][6c][5s][2h]. The tourney was won.

Congratulations to Hefty.TILT of Sweden for lowballing all of the way through a tough group of 540 to claim the five-figure first prize and SCOOP watch in Event #25-M!

2012 SCOOP Event 25-Medium, $109 Fixed Limit 2-7 Triple Draw:
1st: Hefty.TILT (Sweden) -- $10,260
2nd: Filthy999 (Australia) -- $7,560
3rd: thehempy (United Kingdom) -- $5,535
4th: Menikagain (Cyprus) -- $3,780
5th: mundos (Czech Republic) -- $2,700
6th: jusgivithere (Canada) -- $1,728

Entrants: 540
Places paid: 72

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

*****

Why would thousands of players line up to play a game like Limit Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball? To win a SCOOP title! (It's not a riddle, just a question and answer. Relax.) Put a price tag of $11 on a tournament with a $25K guarantee, and players will sign up for just about anything. But with Triple Draw gaining popularity among the greater players, everyone wants to become an expert, and there's no better way to gain experience than to register for an $11 SCOOP tournament.

Event 25 offered a low buy-in version of the event with that $11 buy-in, and nearly 3K players wanted in on the action. And again, the guarantee was shot down by the actual prize pool:

Players: 2,911
Guarantee: $25,000.00
Prize pool: $29,110.00
Paid players: 390

After the money bubble burst, courtesy of Team Wispy in 391st place, DBS2THELIMIT was the first player to cash for $16.88. Among the hundreds who also cashed were several Team PokerStars Pros, like Chad Brown, who cashed in 320th place, and Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg in 275th place and George "Jorj95" Lind in 182nd.

Approximately 15 minutes before the 11-hour mark of the tournament, the elimination of Gase10 in eighth place started hand-for-hand play, and about 10 minutes later, jickgh_ty was at it again. After a previous double-up, jickgh_ty was anxious to move and ended up all-in after the second draw against sumerki-2012. They both stood pat on the third draw, and the [6d][7d][4d][3s][8d] wasn't good enough to beat the [6c][4h][2c][7c][5s] of sumerki-2012. Jickgh_ty exited in seventh place with $349.32.

Sumerki-2012 strong as final table begins

The final table began just after the 11-hour break in Level 40, with blinds of 60,000/120,000 and starting player stacks as follows:

Seat 1: Dac*ROkaL (1,545,922 in chips)
Seat 2: sumerki-2012 (3,529,642 in chips)
Seat 3: vyatka6666 (2,914,552 in chips)
Seat 4: Flakon2010 (2,543,670 in chips)
Seat 5: toffee74 (1,545,050 in chips)
Seat 6: Dranik26 (2,476,164 in chips)

Play went on for quite some time, with a break for the final six players to discuss the possibility of a deal. When it became clear it wasn't going to happen, they resumed play.

Dac*ROkaL doubled up through Dranik26, and the latter was never able to fully recover. A while later, Dranik26 pushed all-in and found callers in sumerki-2012 and Flakon2010. Flakon2010 and Dranik26 each drew one card and sumerki-2012 took two. The second draw saw sumerki stand pat but the other two each took one card again. Flaon2010 stood pat on the third draw, as did sumerki-2012, and Dranik26 took one more card. Sumerki showed [6c][7c][3s][4s][2h] to collect the side and main pot after Flakon2010 showed [4h][5h][8h][2s][7s]. Dranik26 simply mucked and left in sixth place with $520.19.

Five-way deal

The final five again paused the tournament to discuss a deal, and after a bit of adjustment to the chip-chop numbers, they agreed. With $500 set aside to be added to the winner's payout, these amounts were set in stone:

Seat 1: Dac*ROkaL (2,681,844 in chips) = $2,338.65
Seat 2: sumerki-2012 (4,090,126 in chips) = 3,057.96
Seat 3: vyatka6666 (934,552 in chips) = $1,696.19
Seat 4: Flakon2010 (3,413,428 in chips) = $2,712.32
Seat 5: toffee74 (3,435,050 in chips) = $2,723.36

Flakon is a force

Flakon chipped up continuously and with aggression, soon to be the dominant force at the table. And when Dac*ROkaL pushed all-in, Flakon2010 was there with the call, though toffee74 came along as well. Flakon2010 and Dac*ROkaL each took two cards to start the action, and toffee74 took one. Flakon2010 and Dac*ROkaL each took one card on the second draw, and toffee74 stood pat, and the same actiosn were reflected in the third draw action. Flakon2010 then showed [3d][2d][6s][8d][5d] for the low, and both other players mucked their hands. Dac*ROkaL exited in fifth place with $2,338.65.

Toffee74 was the next player at risk, all-in after the first draw against sumerki-2012. Sumerki stood pat at the next two opportunities, while toffee74 took one card each time. Toffee74 showed [9s][Kd][8h][2d][7h], but sumerki-2012 had [3s][4c][9h][6c][5h] for the lowest of the low. Toffee74 left in fourth place with $2,723.36.

Vyatka6666 struggles

After vyatka6666 lost a big pot to sumerki-2012, the former doubled through Flakon2010 to stay in action, even doubling through the same player again to gain more ground. But as sumerki-2012 collected chips, vyatka6666 lost them. Finally, vuatka6666 tangled with sumerki-2012 again and pushed all-in on the first draw. Sumerki-2012 called, and each player drew one card, while vyatka6666 stood pat on the third draw and sumerki-2012 drew one. Vyatka6666 hoped for a double-up with [9c][4s][5d][2c][8s], but sumerki-2012 produced [7s][8d][2s][6d][5s]. Vyatka6666 exited in third place with $1,696.19.

Good match goes bad

The final two players began their battle with these counts:

Seat 2: sumerki-2012 (7,481,540 in chips)
Seat 4: Flakon2010 (7,073,460 in chips)

Sumerki-2012 took some momentum into the match and didn't look back. With mostly average-sized pots, sumerki-2012 took chips after chips and climbed above 12 million chips. Flakon2010 doubled through sumerki-2012 at one point but left sumerki-2012 with over 10 million chips.

Suddenly, though, sumerki-2012 typed in the chat box: "I go on job" followed by "congrts." Sumerki-2012 then sat out and never returned. Flakon2010 could only say "wow" and continue taking the blinds.

We're not making this up.

So, when sumerki-2012's last 8,080 chips went all-in with the small blind, Flakon2010 posted the big blind. Sumerki-2012 folded and took second place with $3,057.96.

Flakon2010 won the tournament, which came with a SCOOP title, Movado watch, and $3,212.32. Congrats!

2012 SCOOP Event #25-L ($11 Triple Draw 2-7) Results (reflects deal):

Total players: 2,911
Paid players: 390

1st place: Flakon2010 (Latvia) $3,212.32*
2nd place: sumerki-2012 (Russia) $3,057.96*
3rd place: vyatka6666 (Russia) $1,696.19*
4th place: toffee74 (United Kingdom) $2,723.36*
5th place: Dac*ROkaL (Romania) $2,338.65*
6th place: Dranik26 (Netherlands) $520.19

*Based on a five-way chop with $500 added to winner's money

Looking for more SCOOP reporting? Visit our special SCOOP 2012 coverage section.

See, it's already been well-reported that Shaun Deeb has put the overall SCOOP Player of the Series race on a leash and is leading it around his yard like a Pomeranian puppy. Just past the halfway point in SCOOP, Deeb has 470 overall leaderboard points, a full 165 points more than the nearest competitor, Belgium's JRADF79.

This is not to say Deeb is going to win the overall Player of the Series, but for him not to win is going to take a very serious effort on the part of his opponents. How serious?

Well, let's break out the abacus, shall we?

For the purposes of this exercise, let's assume a guy didn't get to play any events in the 2012 SCOOP until now. For that guy--let's call him Slappy Jones--to even catch up to Deeb, he would have to win--WIN!-- four events and finish runner-up in another, or come up with some other exceptionally weird series of of cashes to catch up. Let's just say it: Slappy ain't gonna win the overall Player of the Series, the trophy, and the 2013 EPT Grand Final package. I'm sorry, Slappy, but you're just too late to the party. Deeb has already played 68 SCOOP tournaments this year. He's cashed in 15 of them for a total of $132,665. Slappy can still have a lot of fun in SCOOP, but the abacus won't let him win Player of the Series.

Deeb, however, can't start counting his chickens. To examine that, let's just look at JRADF79, the nearest person to Deeb on the board.

JRADF79 hasn't won any events yet, but he has cashed in eleven out of the 31 SCOOP events he has played and won about $140,000 more than Deeb has. What would it take for the Belgian man to catch the American expat in Mexico? Here are a few ways it could happen. JRADF79 would have to:

Frankly, the possibilities are endless (you can see how the points system works on the SCOOP Player of the Series page).

But all of that doesn't take into account the following: JRADF79 would have to do all of that...without Deeb posting another cash and accruing more points.

This is a long row to hoe for anyone wanting to catch Deeb after this halfway point. For now, we're all just his Pomeranian named Slappy*, and the overall SCOOP leaderboard belongs to Deeb.

*Deeb doesn't have a Pomeranian named Slappy (as far as I know).

But Badecker is still a little worried. When the nights get chilly and it's time to snuggle up by the campfire, you don't want to be playing footsie with bacon. I mean...well, there's grease involved. It hurts. Especially if you're dressed for love...I've said too much. Badecker loves bacon. Let's leave it there.

But consider this for a moment. Badecker is a nomad. A man without a country since Black Friday, Badecker (known as southrnctowl on PokerStars) left his home in Vernon, CT, went to Las Vegas, won a World Series of Poker bracelet, and then left the country so he could play on PokerStars.

"I'm currently a nomadic poker professional without any real base other than my parents' house which I visit a few times a year," he said.

This rootless life is what Badecker thinks is probably the most interesting think about his existence. The people he meets ask question after question about his life as a traveling pro. People are jealous. They want to be him. Of course, those people don't know everything.

Badecker's lovelorn heart reaches beyond bacon and bracelets

See Badecker is an honest guy, and he is confident enough to admit that he recently missed a chance to start dating a girl he liked on the poker circuit. It's a common thing in any young man's life, and he wasn't overwrought and heartbroken, but it also got him thinking.

"I might never get a girlfriend. I haven't had a real relationship or even real feelings for a girl since I started playing for a living, and the thought of possibly spending your life alone is not a pleasant one," he said. "It's extremely difficult to meet women in an industry that's probably 25:1 male to female. How will I meet one grinding SCOOPs or WSOPs every day, and constantly moving around the rest of the year?"

This is probably a rhetorical question. Probably, because right now, Badecker is currently rolling around in the biggest online cash of his career. He's won more money live, but the $60,000 and SCOOP watch he won in Event #17-H ($2,100 NLHE 10-Max Shootout) is quite a resume and bankroll builder.

"(It is) definitely my most prestigious online title. I've been a winning online reg for many years now, but all of my biggest successes have been in live tournaments," he said. "I was starting to think maybe I can't win online anymore, and I've just become a live pro! Defeating such a stacked field was a reminder that I can always compete with the best in the world in any arena. Also it was cool that it was a shootout win like at WSOP."

There is also this: Badecker is currently grinding SCOOP with theczar19 and kleath, and suffice it to say, the crew is doing very well.

"I was grinding in the same room as theczar19 and kleath all day the day of my win. I got to watch them play heads up battleship style for the SCOOP watch!" Badecker said. "Our house took down two SCOOP watches and over $150,000 in cashes that day! Easily the best grind crew day I've ever been a part of."

So, Badecker isn't lonely. He has a good group of friends, a WSOP bracelet, and a SCOOP watch to keep him company. And even if that doesn't last forever, even if he continues to struggle to find a suitable mate in a male-dominated field...well, I think we can always agree....bacon is forever.

Perhaps no one was more excited for the long grind more than online sensation, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, who was taking a break from his usual cash-game surrounding. "Gon bad in cash games lately, so looking forward to play many nice scoops now! #SCOOP2012 @PokerStars," he tweeted prior to the May 6 kickoff.

Now, Blom may have been running bad in the cash games, but nothing could have been further from the truth in tournaments. In SCOOP 2-M $200 N0-Limit Hold'em, the Swede was one of 8,240 entrants looking to claim a share of the $1,648,000 prize pool. Much to the delight of the railbirds, Blom made it all the way to the final table and went on to square off against "RaisingRay91" in heads-up play with a 4-1 chip lead.

In the fifth hand between the two, "RaisingRay91" opened with a raise on the button and was met with a three-bet by Blom. "RaisingRay91" responded with a four-bet shoved for 30 big blinds with and Blom called with the superior . The board ran out and Blom won his first-ever SCOOP title, not to mention the $247,200 first-place prize.

Then, just a day later, Blom conquered a field of 486 players in SCOOP 3-H: $500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max with Rebuys for $160,000 and his second title. "Nice to win the two scoops, can't have a single winning day in PLO tho, don't know what I'm doing wrong there. #SCOOP2012," Blom said in a tweet, showing that even in victory, the allure of cash games were on his mind.

Daniel Negreanu was another pro excited for action, thought he couldn't play right away. "Playing my first #SCOOP2012 2-7 Single Draw NL playing all three, the $11 $109 and $1050," Negreanu tweeted. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have things exactly right: "Haha OMG I have been playing the wrong game this whole time! It's 5 card draw HIGH oops! Too funny."

Once he knew he was playing SCOOP #6-H: $1,000 No-Limit 5-Card Draw, Negreanu quickly got busy navigating the 84-player field. "11 players left 5 Card Draw #SCOOP2012 and I'm chip leader with a decent lead. This game is way more fun than its given credit for."

Negreanu went on to make the final table, where he was joined by "Maestro Shao" and fellow Team Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier; in fact, the triumvirate were the last men standing. Then, when the blinds were blinds were 1,250/2,500, "Maestro Shao" opened for 5,500 from the small blind and Grospellier reraised all in for 110,561 from the BB. "Maestro Shao" made the call and took two cards while Grospellier took just one. The latter showed for two pair, but it no good against the of his opponent.

After the hand, Grospellier tweeted: "Sick fished out to finish 3rd... oh well good luck to @realkidpoker . was lots of fun anyways. #SCOOP2012."

Likewise, that prompted Negreanu to take to his own account: "I'm heads up for a SCOOP bracelet. He has the lead after busting @elkypoker," though his enthusiasm didn't last long: "Another 2nd HA! Had him all in with KK vs JJ lost then a big one with AATT vs 444. Oh well. No more SCOOPs for me this week unfortunately."

Despite Kid Poker's runner-up finish, the members of Team PokerStars Pro were on a roll in this year's SCOOP with many others having their eyes firmly fixed on obtaining online glory. Here's just a small sample of the excitement whipped up on Twitter in the last week:

Jason Mercier: "Gonna be playing #scoop2012 starting on thursday. Really excited! Haven't played an online tourney in 13 months #soundslikeimDUE"

Liv Boeree: "Landed in Amsterdam... Only a few hours til home and two weeks of Scooping the #SCOOP2012."

Jude Ainsworth: "Roll on the SCOOP. Feeling good today can't wait to start playing"

Chad Brown: "playing in 1knlh @pokerstars scoops. wsop champion pius heinz is at my table. i final tabled the 215 badugi last night coming in 6th place."

Victor Ramdin: "#Scoop5 i just made my 1st cash of the series still in the 215 turbo and a few other tourneys here on PokerStars"

Eugene Katchalov: "Playing day 3 of #SCOOP2012 today. Never played 5 card Draw NL before but I like it!"

There are plenty of SCOOP tournaments remaining on this year's schedule, so be sure to take part and test your talents against the game's best.

Zorc comes from Zagreb, Croatia, a place where he almost didn't make it to adulthood. He discovered he had cancer at age 16. And he beat it.

"I don't really like talking about it, but I guess its kinda important since it really helps to put things in perspective," Zorc said. "Losing sessions are nothing horrible really."

After a fight like that, you might imagine Zorc would be too tired to fight for anything else in life. Perhaps he would have just enough left in him to enjoy the little things the universe provides. Maybe that would be just enough.

Not so much. Instead, Zorc attacked life, learned everything he could, and has done more than three people could reasonably be expected to do in one lifetime. He got an advanced degree in math specializing in decision theory. During his college years, he spent a good deal of time, in his words "geeking out" in high level gaming. It was around that time he also started playing poker.

"(I was) winning a lot more than I could possibly make with any starting salary in east Europe," he said.

Meanwhile, he started an IT company that focused on payment solutions, got into management consulting, and worked 70-hour weeks. Oh, and he also got his MBA during that time.

He's since taken a break...to pursue his PhD, of course.

"It's left me a lot more time to spend on poker," he said. "I am a HU PLO specialist, and spend most of my time on those tables, where I am, as far as I know, one of the bigger winners."

He's not exaggerating about his speciality. Last year, he finished runner up in the PLO HU high buy-in SCOOP event. This year, he won the medium buy-in of the same event.

"Just another day at work," he said with a wink. "But, seriously, the win is nice, but it's within the normal monthly variance of the stakes I play, so doesn't really affect my life nor my bankroll in a significant manner."

That, folks, is the outlook of a man who has already won the biggest fight of his life. He may go on to win a lot more watches, WCOOP bracelets, or whatever he wants. It will all be just another day at work. Once you've won your life, it seems, SCOOP wins may not seem all that monumental. That said, when you're looking to keep track of the extra life you've earned, the hands of a SCOOP championship watch will do the job just fine.

Although the players pistons87 had to beat for his SCOOP title may not be as well known, definitely less photographed, there was certainly some talent to beat. g.karolis and AaronBeen had $1,593,536 and $1,597,257 in online winnings to their names respectively, nutsinho had racked up $421,958 while JRADF79's $209,062 was hardly to be sniffed at.

pistons87 had proved that he could do it at the highest levels and also when it was up close and personal. He was always going to be a threat, but first he had to reach the final table, the only time in the entire comp the action was as large as - gasp - five-handed. The player to go was a short stacked takechip who had shoved [8s][9s] and was looked up by nutsinho with [as][2c]. An ace on the turn was good enough to take the action down to five after 24 30-minute levels had played out, a good half-a-day of online battle.

Looking at the numbers
The money jumps were considerable - $28,029 for fifth and $208,797 for first - and with no breakaway big stack or tiddly short stack (AaronBeen was shortest with 95 big blinds, nutsinho largest with 150 big blinds) numbers were quickly suggested and accepted. No wrangling, just a satisfied acceptance that each would be striking a huge return on their $2,100 investment. The title, the SCOOP watch and the not-so-small matter of an additional $6,000 was still to play for. These five had outlasted 390 other players, a field of which had cumulatively built up a $790,000 prize pool.

Players that made the money but were knocked out before the chop included Tom 'kingsofcards' Marchese (9th, $12,600.50), Team PokerStars Online's Diego 'vgreen22' Brunelli (8th, $12,600.50) and Joseph 'subiime' Cheong (16th, $9,361.50), who final tabled the Gardner-Mercier-Galfond flip event just a couple of days ago.

Hat tips should also be made in the general direction of both pyszalek, a final table finisher at the beginning of this series, and three-time WCOOP winner Dan 'Djk123' Kelly who also enjoyed deep runs finishing 23rd and 24th for $6,912.50 each. Plenty of other threats bobbled around, including Jim 'Mr_bigQueso' Collopy (38th, $5,180.70). But the tournament was no longer about them.

The final four five
After the deal had been struck it still took a full two hours for a winner to be crowned. Did players take a more aggressive line than they would have otherwise? Most likely. Did they shovel it in with any two? Certainly not. The final table was toughly contested with big hands and some even larger calls. Following a double big slick chopped pot of half-a-million chips (1,975,000 were in play), JRADF79 correctly refused to believe the check-raise of AaronBeen and jammed it in with [qd][4d] on the turn of a [2c][Qh][7h][Ks] board. AaronBeen called it of with a big [jh][th] draw with but failed to get there with the [7s] dropping on the river.

That left AaronBeen short and he open-shoved for 15 big blinds (59,508) with [jh][th]. He was called by pistons87 with [7s][7c], who was at that time the second shortest player at the table. That pulled pistons87 back into the tournament, now effectively a winner-takes-all freeroll. The extra ballast would come in handy less than five minutes later.

The 8-bet shove
Four players remained when JRADF79 min-raised under-the-gun to 8,000 and was called by nutsinho in the small blind before pistons87 three-bet squeezed to 26,850. JRADF79 came back over the top for 45,795 and, pistons87 pumped it up 88,500, which was returned for 140,000, re-min-raised to 191,500 and finally shoved by JRADF79. pistons87 made the call for his remaining 286,000 with [kh][kc] way ahead of JRADF79's pocket tens. That rocketed pistons87 into the chip lead, a position from which he never wavered.

The same could not be said for the previous chip leader JRADF79, another ten minutes and he was out. JRADF79 called a three-bet from g.karolis on the button with [jh][th] and shoved for 2,59,439 over a 33,093 c-bet on a [td][5h][7s] flop. g.karolis made the call and showed pocket jacks. No suck out and JRADF79 was sent to the rail $100,308 richer leaving pistons87 with two players with combined PokerStars online tournaments winnings of more than $3,000,000. It was one of those tournaments titans to go next; nutsinho calling all-in with a flush draw against the flopped straight of pistons87.

That set up the heads-up finale with pistons87 weighing in with a 1,356,000 to 619,000 chip lead, but with almost 400 big blinds in play neither player would need to rush in for a double or a knockdown. The heads-up took 40 minutes.

It was mainly small pots and pre-flop raises but there was moment where g.karolis couldn't seem to find the trigger to fire the river of a [3d][kh][5h][ks][4c] board, which is not to say that pistons87 would not have called with his pocket eights. That 313,770 pot gave pistons87 a three-to-one chip lead and some 20 minutes later the knockout blow was finally landed, a flip with pocket nines up against two over cards. pistons87 came out on top to take the title, the SCOOP watch and the extra $6,000 of cheese.

The final table payouts
1. pistons87, Canada, $106,336*
2. g.karolis, Lithuania, $100,308*
3. nutsinho, Canada, $107,054*
4. JRADF79, Belgium, $89,09*
5. AaronBeen, Mexico, $76,504*
*Indicates a deal was made.

Number of players: 395
Players paid: 44

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