Three years later, that experiment has priven successful beyond measure. Late last night, Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro proved just how successful when he won more than half a million bucks in the 2011 SCOOP $10,300 main event. As Kristin Bihr reported, 380 players entered the big event, including Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem who finished just off the final table bubble. In the end, the headline read like this: Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro seizes SCOOP Main Event title in Event #38-H ($10,300 NLHE)

When it was all said and done, here's the 2011 SCOOP by the numbers:

Among those 107,697 unique entrants were -DrawingDad- and cal42688, two players who managed to win not just one, but two SCOOP championship watches during 2011. The series-long performances were great, but not quite enough to snag the Player of the Series award. That laurel hangs nicely around the neck of Team PokerStars Online's Anders "Donald" Berg. After winning a SCOOP watch, Berg racked up enough points to earn himself the top prize, the Player of the Series trophy, a 2011 WCOOP main event ticket, a 2012 PCA prize package, and an EPT Grand Final prize package.

Here are all the wrap-ups from the final two SCOOP events of 2011.

Event #37: NLHE (6-max)

Event #38: NLHE main event

If you'd like to look back on all the wrap-ups from this year, visit the 2011 SCOOP final tables page for links to every wrap-up.

Finally, as SCOOP draws to a close, so does the Inside SCOOP Web Show. Not only does the story of host Nick Wealthall get even odder, but they also have Team PokerStars Pros ElkY and Ivan Demidov.

So, that's all, folks. SCOOP has come and gone for another year. Congratulations once again to Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro for his big buy-in main event win, and to Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg for his Player of the Series title.

Eight years ago tonight, Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro was a 16 year-old student in Finland without the faintest idea that one day he'd be better-known by the alliterative moniker "Lars Luzak" and trading six-figure cash game pots on a regular basis. Since emerging on to the high-stakes scene in 2007, Kelopuro has won and lost millions online playing nosebleed-stakes no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha. However, despite banking over $200,000 in live earnings including two deep EPT runs, he's never been looked at as a serious force in tournaments. All that changed tonight, though, as Kelopuro joined Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth and Ryan "toetagU" Fair in the SCOOP $10K Main Event champions' club.

380 players put up $10,300 apiece for a shot at the title, creating a $3.8 million prize pool that smashed through the $2.5 million guarantee. 45 players earned a share of it with first place set to receive $735,300. More than two dozen members of Team PokerStars bought in, including Liv Boeree, Ivan Demidov, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Maxim Lykov, Humberto Brenes, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, Lex Veldhuis, JP Kelly, Alexandre Gomes, Leo Fernandez, Noah Boeken, Johannes Strassmann, and Jonathan Duhamel. Three Team Pros made the money, Ville Wahlbeck squeaking past the bubble in 45th place, Nacho Barbero finishing up in 34th place, and Joe Hachem making it to Day 2 where he just missed the final table, exiting in 11th place.

The final table bubble popped when Lrslzk opened for 16,500 from the cutoff and nikov moved all-in for 170,633 from the big blind. Lrslzk snap-called with pocket kings, nikov in dire shape with [Kd][6d]. The board ran out [As][7d][4h][6s][5d], nikov departing in tenth place as the final table was set.

Two players who already won SCOOP events this month advanced to the final table; Hernan "HN Kakaroto" Novick shipped Event #10-H ($3,150 seven-card stud) and danksemann won Event #22-M ($320 NLHE 4-max). Here's how they stacked up as action commenced:

Seat 1: danskemann (482,370 in chips)
Seat 2: 810ofclubs (284,144 in chips)
Seat 3: HN Kakaroto (95,527 in chips)
Seat 4: Lrslzk (1,032,309 in chips)
Seat 5: GotURead (202,616 in chips)
Seat 6: StigR (550,966 in chips)
Seat 7: altiFC (192,964 in chips)
Seat 8: Tagult (589,209 in chips)
Seat 9: el_klonkador (369,895 in chips)

Double, toil, and trouble

GotURead scored a double-up on the first hand of the final table, his pocket jacks holding up against 810ofclubs' pocket nines. Left with less than 100,000, 810ofclubs open-shoved preflop and got a call from Lrslzk in the big blind. 810ofclubs needed serious help on the board, his [Js][9s] up against [Ad][2s], but the poker gods complied, bringing him a spade on the flop, another on the turn, and a third on the river. Back up to a healthier 206,000 at 4,000/8,000 blinds, 810ofclubs opened for 18,000 from the cutoff with pocket threes but was quickly put to a decision for nearly half his stack when HN Kararoto shoved for 79,527 on the button. 810ofclubs made the call only to watch HN Kakaroto turn over [Jh][Jd]. Things looked grim until the river, when the [3s] spiked, 810ofclubs two-outerting a set to send HN Kakaroto to the rail in 9th place. He earned $66,500 for his finish.

Next to succumb was el_klonkador, who three-bet shoved for 329,895 after Tagult opened for a min-raise to 24,000. Tagult insta-called with [Ac][Ad], el_klonkador in poor shape with [2c][2d]. Both players flopped sets on the [As][Ts][2h][Js][6d] but the end result was the same, el_klonkador hitting the rail in eighth place for a $91,200 score.

Cold four-bet can't freeze Finn

With 16 big blinds left, GotURead was probably waiting for a moment just like this, picking up [Qc][Qh] after 810ofclubs opened for 27,000 and Lrslzk reraised to 58,500. GotURead shoved for 195,057, drawing a fold from 810ofclubs. Lrslzk, however, decided to gamble with [9c][Tc]. GotURead maintained his lead on the [Jh][Js][5d] flop, he held it on the turn when the [7d] fell, but couldn't survive the river, the [8d] landing to make Lrslzk a jack-high straight. GotURead's Main Event came to an end with a seventh-place finish, an extra $129,200.00 lining his pockets.

EPT Vilamoura champ Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis out in sixth place

With that elimination, Lrslzk tied the surging Tagult for the chiplead. Next, Lrslzk went to work on 810ofclubs, snagging more than half his stack in this hand when he caught running straight cards on the turn and river (again):

810ofclubs slipped below 250,000 after that hand, Tagult claiming the rest of his chips when he called 810ofclubs' three-bet shove with pocket deuces. 810ofclubs turned over [Ac][3d], but did not improve on the [Th][9c][6h][5d][Qc] board. He earned $167,200.00 for sixth place.

Five still fighting

Five-handed play dragged on for the better part of two levels. Table short stack altiFC doubled through StigR when his [Kd][Qd] rivered top pair against pocket threes, moving up to half a million in chips. Left with less than ten big blinds, StigR moved his chips in preflop with pocket tens and got a call from Lrslzk with pocket eights, final table host Ivan Demidov calling the play live on the air during an interview on Inside SCOOP. The tens held, StigR doubling to 319,000.

AltiFC was the first to propose a deal, his four opponents quickly agreeing to have a look at numbers. When the action was paused to do the math, the chip counts looked like this:

Tagult - 1,116,214
Lrslzk - 821,451
danskemann - 736,270
StigR - 603,384
altiFC - 522,681

Demidov brought back the chip count chop numbers and after one small adjustment (StigR gave up about $1,500 to altiFC), everyone agreed to the deal, leaving $50,000, the title, and the SCOOP champion's watch at stake.

danskemann down, altiFC foiled, StigR sacked

Shortly after action resumed, StigR and danskemann went to war on a [Td][8h][2h] flop, StigR check-raising danskemann's 41,900 bet to 121,055. Danskemann fired back with a three-bet to 219,999, StigR shoved, and danskemann called off his last 296,000. StigR needed a heart with [4h][6h], danskemann holding the lead with [Tc][7c] for top pair. StigR hit his flush on the turn, though, the [Qh] falling to leave danskemann drawing dead. StigR zipped into the chip lead while danskemann was left with 210,000.

Those chips went in a few hands later, danskemann three-bet shoving from the small blind holding [As][Kc] and Tagult making the call with [Ah][Qs]. Tagult hit top two pair on the [Ad][Qd][Ts] flop, leaving danskemann drawing only to a king or a jack. The turn and river, however, fell the [9d] and the [7h], danskemann departing in fifth place with $430,002,05.

Only two hands later, altiFC made his stand with [4d][4h], moving all-in for 472,681 after Lrslzk opened for 40,500. Lrslzk called with pocket tens and flopped a set, the board running out [Kd][Tc][7s][8c][2s] to send altiFC to the rail in fourth place. His share of the loot came out to $369,581.05.

Three-handed play hadn't gone on for more than a couple of minutes before a massive pot unfolded between StigR and Lrslzk. With the blinds at 12,500/25,000, Lrslzk opened for 51,000 on the button and StigR three-bet to 150,000. Lrslzk called and they saw a [Kd][6s][5d] flop. StigR led out for 150,000 and Lrslzk called. The turn brought the [5h] and StigR instantly shipped in his last 921,768. Lrslzk called, turning over [Kc][Js] for two pair while StigR showed [Jd][8d] for a flush draw. StigR missed the river, however, the [5s] falling to make Lrslzk fives full of kings. StigR exited stage left $390,000.00 richer as Lrslzk and Tagult went heads-up for $50,000 and the watch.

Finland vs. Germany

Heads-up chip counts:

Seat 4: Lrslzk (2,659,525 in chips)
Seat 8: Tagult (1,140,475 in chips)

Lrslzk started heads-up play with a 2.3 to 1 lead and quickly chipped up to 3.3 million after having a full house paid off on the river. Whittled all the way down to 382,000, Tagult staved off elimination when his [Kc][Qd] held up against Lrslzk's [Qs][Jd] in a preflop all-in, then picked up a 565,000 pot after flopping trip eights to take him back over a million. The chip counts were essentially back to where they were when heads-up started until Lrslzk took down this 1 million-chip pot with only a pair of fours and a busted flush draw:

Tagult was left on 578,000 after that hand and slipped to 413,000 before doubling up with [Ah][9s] against Lrslzk's [Ks][Th]. Tagult continued to chip up, reaching 1.3 million before Lrslzk swooped in and picked off a bluff. On a flop of [6h][5s][3d], Lrslzk check-called Tagult's 48,888 bet, then check-called another 135,225 when the [8h] hit the turn. The river was the [Jh] and Lrslzk checked a third time, Tagult firing a final 375,000 bullet. Lrslzk looked him up with [Ad][8s] for second pair, Tagult showing only [Qh][7d] for a stone bluff.

Lrslzk took his chip count back over 3 million on that hand, but Tagult managed to find one more double-up. With the board reading [8h][5d][3s][4c], Tagult bet 145,000, Lrslzk raised to 328,645, and Tagult shoved for 810,497. Lrslzk called, turning up [Ac][2h] for a wheel, but Tagult had him with [6h][7h] for an eight-high straight. The river fell the [Tc] and Tagult raked in the pot, moving up to 1.84 million in chips while Lrslzk was left with 1.96 million.

After more than 90 minutes of heads-up play, these two were virtually deadlocked. However, as we all know, in no-limit hold'em, everything can turn around on a dime. The final hand started innocently enough, Tagult min-raising to 80,000 on the button. Lrslzk three-bet to 194,500, Tagult four-bet to 385,555, Lrslzk shoved for 2.08 million and Tagult made the call, turning up [Kh][Kd] to Lrslzk's [As][Qc]. The sun was shining on Finland, however, the flop coming down [Ah][Js][2d] to pair Lrslzk's ace. The [Jh] came on the turn and now only a king would save Tagult. But it was not to be, the river falling the [Th] to seal Lrslzk's SCOOP Main Event victory. Although runner-up Tagult missed out on the title, he collected the most money at the final table, earning $540,125.82 as a result of the five-way deal while Lrslzk banked $504,691.09 for the win.

Congratulations to Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro on a fantastic run!

SCOOP Event #38-H ($10,300 NLHE Main Event) results
1. Sami "Lrslzk" Kelopuro (Finland) $504,691.09*
2. Tagult (Germany) $540,125,82*
3. StigR (Norway) $390,000.00*
4. altiFC (Germany) $369,581.05*
5. danskemann (Norway) $430,002.05*
6. Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis (United Kingdom) $167,200.00
7. GotURead (Netherlands) $129,200.00
8. el_klonkador (Sweden) $91,200.00
9. Hernan "HN Kakaroto" Novick (Uruguay) $66,500.00

*=reflects a five-way deal made at the final table

Kelopuro's victory brought the 2011 SCOOP to a close after 16 days, 114 tournaments and more than $40 million in prize money dispersed. For all of us at the PokerStars Blog, it's been a pleasure sharing the SCOOP with you over the last couple of weeks. To catch a final final wrap-up of all the action, including the results of the TLB race, make sure to catch the final episode of "Inside SCOOP" tomorrow at 22:00 GMT.

Action kicked off on Sunday afternoon and finished as the sun set on Europe Monday evening. 19 players advanced to Day 2 after 33 levels of play. A bit over two hours after action recommenced on Monday, burns1986 three-bet shoved for his last 2 million with pocket deuces only to run headlong into filthyfish's pocket aces, the board running out [7c][5d][4c][8c][7s] to take us to the final table.

Filthyfish arrived at the final table with the chip lead while pisha4 was hanging on with less than six big blinds:

Seat 1: steel144 (4,523,327 in chips)
Seat 2: marquitos74 (9,003,366 in chips)
Seat 3: filthyfish (11,578,553 in chips)
Seat 4: pisha4 (705,056 in chips)
Seat 5: Praetoriani (8,677,502 in chips)
Seat 6: 7tHEcROw7 (3,262,196 in chips)

Luckily for pisha4, he quickly found a double-up, three-bet shoving for 855,056 behind filthyfish's 249,000 opening raise. Steel144 re-shoved for 4.95 million from the big blind to isolate and filthyfish let his hand go. Pisha4's [Qs][Qh] held up against steel144's [Js][Jh], giving the short stack a reprieve. With the blinds up to 60,000/120,000, pisha4 was now on 17.5 BB with 2.1 million.

With 21.5 big blinds remaining, 7tHEcROw7 open-shoved for his last 3 million from the button and steel144 re-shoved from the small blind after picking up [As][Kd]. 7tHEcROw7 's [Ks][Jd] was dominated and although he picked up a gutshot straight draw on the [Ad][Tc][3h] flop, the turn and river blanked out, falling the [Td] and the [8d] to send him to the rail. For his sixth-place finish, 7tHEcROw7 collected $13,212.50.

Marquitos74 moved into the chip lead after his hand, where he got three streets of value pff Praetoriani when he flopped two pair and turned a boat:

Although Praetoriani took a huge blow on that hand, dropping to 5.2 million, he quickly chipped back up to 9.8 million when he picked up [Kd][Kh]. After opening for a min-raise to 320,000, steel144 three-bet shoved for 4.2 million on the button and Praetoriani quickly called. The kings held against [As][Qd] and steel144 departed in fifth place, earning $24,220.40.

Still holding the chip lead, marquitos74 increased his margin even further after going to war with filthyfish on a [9d][9s][8s] flop. Marquitos74 check-raised filthyfish's 800,000 bet to 1.6 million, then made the call when filthyfish re-popped it to 2.4 million. Both players checked down the [Kc] on the turn and the [7s] on the river, marquitos74 turning up pocket jacks to take down the 5.9 million-chip pot. After the hand, marquitos74 was up to 20.8 million while filthyfish was left on 7.2 million.

Remarkably after all this action, pisha4 was still hanging on despite starting Day 2 in 19th place out of 19 remaining players. Down to 454,000, pisha4 open-shoved for his last 2.5 big blinds and both Praetoriani and marquitos74 called. They checked down the [9s][6d][4d][Jc][6h] board, pisha4 turning over [Jh][8h] for the win. Pisha4 tripled to 1.3 million on that hand, was whittled back down to 612,000, then tripled a second time against the same two players when he turned a set of sixes. His opponents started joking about how he seemed to have nine lives and pisha4 himself made a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that they make a deal.

Filthyfish claimed more than half of Praetoriani's stack in an 8 million pot where he flopped a Broadway straight. Down to 4.2 million with the blinds up to 100,000/200,000, Praetoriani opened for a min-raise on the button. Filthyfish shoved from the big blind and Praetoriani made the call, his [Ah][Qc] racing against pocket nines. Although Praetoriani hit top pair on the [Qs][5c][2d] flop, filthyfish spiked a two-outer on the river, making a set of nines to eliminate Praetoriani in fourth place.

No one was happier about that river card than pisha4, still on only 1.9 million chips and now guaranteed third-place money. He made his last stand, shoving from the small blind with [Ad][2h], but ran into marquitos74's [7c][7s]. Marquitos74 flopped a set of sevens, leaving pisha4 drawing dead by the turn on the [9c][7h][3h][8d][Jc] board. For an extremely patient day of play, pisha4 scored $62,665.00.

Less than 2.5 million separated marquitos74 and filthyfish as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 2: marquitos74 (20,060,710 in chips)
Seat 3: filthyfish (17,689,290 in chips)

Only a few hands into their match and the counts even more balanced, marquitos74 proposed a deal. Filthyfish quickly agreed to the proposal, which gave each player $96,170 and left $10,000 in play.

marquitos74: deal?
filthyfish: 50 50 deal?
marquitos74: yep and 10k for champ
filthyfish: yes

Even with the vast majority of the prize money squared away, filthyfish and marquitos74 still played heads-up for 30 minutes. After a match that started and remained remarkably even, filthyfish went on a rush and won six consecutive pots to pull ahead of marquitos74. Then, one 30 million-chip monster pot decided it all.

Filthyfish limped in on the button and marquitos74 raised to 900,000 from the big blind. filthyfish called and they saw a [Th][8s][2c] flop. Marquitos74 led out for 900,000, filthyfish raised to 2.1 million, marquitos74 three-bet to 4.2 million and filthyfish shoved for more than 21.4 million. Marquitos74 quickly called off the 10.2 million he had behind, turning up [Kd][Ks]. Filthyfish was in dire shape after getting a little fresh with [Jh][8c]. The [8d], however, fell on the turn, making filthyfish trip eights. Marquitos74 couldn't pull a king on the river and the 2011 SCOOP had its final preliminary event champion in filthyfish. For the victory, he collected $106,170 and a snazzy Movado watch, while runner-up marquitos74 earned $96,170.

SCOOP Event #37-M ($215 NLHE 6-max) results
1. filthyfish (Norway) $117,025.00
2. marquitos74 (Switzerland) $85,315.00
3. pisha4 (Belgium) $62,665.00
4. Praetoriani (Austria) $40,015.00
5. steel144 (Australia) $24,220.40
6. 7tHEcROw7 (United Kingdom) $13,212.50

Don't miss the final episode of "Inside SCOOP" airing live tomorrow night at 22:00 GMT. Catch Main Event highlights, find out who won the TLB and enter for your chance to win T$500!

The "medium" version of the Main Event, a $1,050 buy-in no-limit hold'em tourney, drew 2,505 players, making the prize pool for this one $2,505,000 (well above the $1.5 million guarantee). The top 324 finishers would be dividing that money, with the winner due a life-changing $400,800, barring any final table deals.

Those are some big numbers. The kind that make you want to say "boom!"

Day 1: 2,505 to 324

After four hours and 15 minutes, the field had shrunk to 1,000 players, with tpleta, SeeYouWrong, jordi r1, Pr0fiteer, and mace_piri at the top of the counts. Of the nearly 20 Team PokerStars Pros still alive, Noah "Exclusive" Boeken had the most chips among them, which was good for a spot just inside the top 100.

About an hour-and-half later just 500 remained, with akulij2001, 3591omanyd, IHasOuts, Matthias "kabutze" Kurtz, and Flying Smile leading the way. By then nine members of Team PokerStars were left, led by Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser (42nd), SCOOP #18-High winner Sebastian Ruthenberg (47th), and Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth (92nd).

The Travails of Team PokerStars: 324 to 52

It would be at about the seven-and-a-half-hour mark that the cash bubble would burst. With 324 players left, fish2013 was in front with more than 373,000, Pr0fiteer next with over 263,000, with FelipeNunes, KevBoyStar, and akulij2001 just behind hovering around a quarter million.

While Ruthenberg fell short of the cash (finishing in 442nd), the other eight Team PokerStars players had made the money, though all would fall over the next three hours.

A short-stacked Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth went out in 303rd ($1,878.75) after running [Ac][3c] into fabstinho's [Ad][Jc]. Just before the eight-hour break, Kwangsoo "PiS.ToTo" Lee of Team Online would follow in 238th ($2,254.50) when his pocket tens failed to hold up against 20mb's [As][Jd]. And just after the break, Fredy "sirfreddy83" Torres, also of Team Online, got caught up in a three-way preflop all-in in which he held pocket sixes, mimatadoro had [Jd][Jh], and fish2013 [Ah][Ks]. An ace flopped, then by the river four diamonds were on board, giving mimatadoro a flush and sending sirfreddy83 out in 232nd ($2,379.75).

A third member of Team Online, SCOOP Player of the Series leader Anders "Donald" Berg, would hit the rail shortly thereafter after taking [7s][7c] up against nnhheeoo's [Kc][Qd]. Berg's sevens were good through the turn, but the [Ks] on the river sunk him in 213th ($2,505).

With 200 players left, Pr0fiteer was leading with more than 391,000, with Tryboorn close with over 375,000 and KevBoyStar right at 355,000.

SCOOP star Noah "Exclusive" Boeken would be the next Team PokerStars Pro to go. With the blinds 2,000/4,000, Boeken open-raised for 73,167 from the button with [6d][6s] and was called by FellipeNunes who held [As][Js] in the big blind. The flop brought a jack and Boeken couldn't catch up, finishing in 144th ($3,256.50).

Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser of Team PokerStars Netherlands soon followed Boeken to the virtual cashier's cage. Visser was crippled after reraising all-in versus Toby_Maps with [9s][9h] only to have Toby_Maps call with [Ac][Ah]. Then, on the very next hand Visser had more misfortune. He open-pushed his 5-big blind stack with [Ah][Kd] and got called by flexxx111 who held [As][Qc]. But a queen flopped, and soon rubenrtv was out in 127th place ($3,381.75).

That left just Arnaud "frenchkiss" Mattern (France) and Lex Veldhuis (Netherlands) to represent Team PokerStars. Mattern would go out in 71st ($4,383.75) after losing a three-way all-in versus fish2013 and Halfrek. Mattern had open-pushed 115,400 (about 11.5 big blinds) with [Ks][9s] only to see fish2013 reraise and Halfrek call. fish2013 had [9c][9h] and Halfrek [As][Kd], and after the board ran out [4s][Kc][8d][6h][5d] Halfrek claimed the huge 835,000-plus pot as Mattern was eliminated.

Not too long after, Veldhuis would be knocked out as well. In his final hand, nemmad had minimum-raised to 24,000 from early position, then Pkr_b777 reraised to 55,055 from the button. Veldhuis, sitting in the big blind, shoved over the top for 159,524, causing nemmad to step aside. But Pkr_b777 quickly called, showing [As][Ad] to the Dutchman's [Th][Tc]. An ace flopped, and by the turn Veldhuis was drawing dead. He earned $5,260.50 for finishing 53rd.

The Night Concludes: 52 to 16

They'd been playing almost 11 hours when just 50 remained. At that point five players sported stacks of more than 1 million: Phil "philbort" Gruissem (1.72 million), fish2013 (1.19m), Halfrek (1.18m), OMGchips (1.09m), and KevBoyStar (1.07m).

By the 12-hour break, just 29 remained, with philbort still out in front, now with more than 2.62 million, followed by Halfrek (2.37m) and FiatEruditio (2.07m). As the evening came to a close, FiatEruditio soon grabbed the lead and began pushing way out ahead of the field, approaching the 5 million-chip mark by the time play concluded.

Just 16 players made it to the end of Day 1. Here's how the counts looked while the players took 11 or so hours off to regroup:

1. FiatEruditio -- 4,973,976
2. Halfrek -- 2,813,010
3. philbort -- 2,166,209
4. shalzy13 -- 2,069,097
5. Goldenboys -- 1,916,234
6. Coilmaster85 -- 1,692,875
7. merkurstar -- 1,571,846
8. Fischer80 -- 1,490,718
9. Pkr_b777 - 1,395,668
10. flexxx111 -- 1,122,221
11. Maksimus1978 -- 937,457
12. nemmad -- 845,101
13. KevBoyStar -- 842,760
14. nnhheeoo -- 697,543
15. totaloser -- 461,216
16. Pr0fiteer -- 54,069

Day 2: Finding a Final Table (16 to 9)

Just before the first hands of Day 2 were dealt, Pr0fiteer -- who'd lost nearly all of his stack on the last hand of Day 1 -- cheekily typed "giving me a chance?" to the table, eliciting some chatbox chuckles.

Unfortunately for Pr0fiteer, he was in the small blind to start, meaning a third of his stack (17,500) was already committed before the cards were dealt. merkurstar opened from the button with [Qc][Jd], Pr0fiteer called with [10c][2s], and five cards later Pr0fiteer was out in 16th ($9,519).

About 15 minutes later with the blinds still 17,500/35,000, Fischer80 open-raised all in from the small blind with [Kc][7d] and got called by totaloser who woke up with [As][Kh]. That hand cost Fischer80 nearly half his stack, knocking him from over 870,000 down to about 450,000. Then, just two hands later, Fischer80 would push with pocket sevens only to run into flexxx111's [Qd][Qc] and get bumped in 15th ($13,276.50).

A short while after that Maksimu1978 got it all in on the turn versus nemmad with the board showing [Qh][Jd][5d][3h]. Maksimus1978 had [Qs][Jh] for two pair, while nemmad had [Ad][10d]. The [2d] fell on the river, giving nemmad the flush and sending Maksimus78 out in 14th ($13,276.50).

Then, as the first hour of Day 2 concluded, there came four more eliminations in quick succession.

First, Pkr_b77 would lose a race with pocket treys versus merkurstar's [As][Jh] to go out in 13th ($13,276.50). Then, KevBoyStar went out in 12th when his [Ac][Ts] failed to catch up to flexxx111's [As][Js].

totaloser got all in with pocket eights against shalzy13's [As][9h], but a nine fell on the turn to send totaloser out in 11th. And in the last hand before the first break of the day, nnhheeoo ran [Ts][Td] into Goldenboys' [Jc][Js] to go out in 10th. Those latter three to bust each earned $17,034 for their efforts.

The final table was set!

Seat 1: merkurstar -- 1,916,217
Seat 2: shalzy13 -- 1,829,500
Seat 3: flexxx111 -- 1,935,604
Seat 4: Coilmaster85 -- 1,946,005
Seat 5: Halfrek -- 4,193,734
Seat 6: philbort -- 2,628,347
Seat 7: nemmad -- 1,357,191
Seat 8: FiatEruditio -- 6,208,610
Seat 9: Goldenboys -- 3,034,792

An orbit had passed when FiatEruditio, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000, opened for 137,375 from the hijack seat. All folded except flexxx111 who called from the big blind. The flop came [6d][As][9c]. flexxx111 checked, FiatEruditio continued for 147,800, and flexxx111 called. The turn was the [Jc]. flexxx111 checked again, and this time FiatEruditio bet 365,400. flexxx111 check-raised all in for 1,814,179 and FiatEruditio made the call.

flexxx111 showed [Ac][9d] for two pair on the flop, but FiatEruditio had [Ah][Jh] -- he'd turned a better two pair. The river was the [Ks], and flexxx111 was out in ninth.

About 20 minutes later nemmad was all in and at risk versus FiatEruditio, but his [Ac][As] held up against FiatEruditio's [Kd][Jc]. On the very next hand, with the blinds up to 40,000/80,000, shakzy13 opened for 190,000 from UTG and got one caller in merkurstar from the big blind. The flop came [7d][8c][Qc], and merkurstar pushed all in with the 1,373,342 he had left. shalzy13 called, showing [Qh][Th] for top pair of queens. merkurstar had [Ts][9s] and an open-ender, but the turn was the [Kd] and the river the [5h], and merkurstar was out in eighth.

A few minutes later the table had folded around to Coilmaster85 in the small blind who raised to 199,955, then Halfrek pushed his stack of 3.04 million-plus all in from the BB. Coilmaster85 called with the 1,867,629 he had left, tabling [9d][9s] and hoping it would hold versus Halfrek's [Kh][Qc]. The flop came [Td][2h][Kd], giving Halfrek the better pair. The [Qd] turn gave Halfrek two pair while also giving Coilmaster85 hopes for a gutshot, but the river was the [As] and Coilmaster85 was out in seventh.

The very next hand saw the next elimination. After FiatEruditio opened for 176,375 under the gun, it folded back to Philipp "philbort" Gruissem who pushed all in for 1,265,297 from the small blind. nemmad folded the BB, and FiatEruditio snap-called, showing [Kd][Kh] to philbort's [Ad][9s]. The board came [Qs][Td][5c][Jc][5h], and Gruissem was gone in sixth.

As they neared the next five-minute break, talk arose among the final five of a possible deal, but that got interrupted by an all-in situation on the last hand before the break.

With the blinds at 50,000/100,000, shalzy13 opened for 210,000 from under the gun, then Halfrek, sitting to shalzy13's left, reraised to 423,475. It folded around, then shalzy13 pushed all in for 1,812,957 total and Halfrek called.

shalzy13 [As][Qc]
Halfrek [Td][Ts]

The five community cards came [5d][4h][4d][Jh][8c], and shalzy13 was out in fifth, having made a six-figure score for doing so.

During the break, nemmad, FiatEruditio, and Goldenboys all expressed a desire to talk about a deal, but Halfrek wasn't responding, and so they played on. At that point, FiatEruditio led with 10,592,904, Halfrek was next with 8,648,225, Goldenboys was third with 3,589,372, and nemmad last with 2,221,499.

Over the next half-hour, Halfrek pushed out ahead of FiatEruditio, then put significant distance between himself and the other three, building a stack of more than 15 million -- about 60% of the chips in play. Then came a huge hand in which Halfrek had turned two pair against Goldenboys top pair-top kicker and had the latter in dire straits after getting his whole stack in with one card to come. But the river saved Goldenboys. Take a look:

A few hands later the blinds were 70,000/140,000 when Halfrek opened for 280,000 from the button, then nemmad shoved all in for 1,818,548 from the small blind. FiatEruditio folded, and Halfrek called, showing [As][6h] to nemmad's [2d][2s]. Halfrek didn't pair up, but the board came [Qh][5d][Qs][Kc][Kh], counterfeiting nemmad who went out in fourth.

That hand helped extend Halfrek's lead again, giving him 13,566,479 to Goldenboys' 8,651,588 and FiatEruditio's 2,831,933. FiatEruditio would soon enjoy a double-up (through Halfrek) to tighten things up again, after which Goldenboys again proposed deal talk. But Halfrek still wasn't responding.

The final trio fought their way to the three-hour break, during which time Goldenboys seized the advantage while Halfrek saw his stack start to slip. At that point Goldenboys had 11,107,188, FiatEruditio 9,352,916, and Halfrek 4,589,896.

Soon Halfrek was all in with [Kd][Qs] against Goldenboys' [Ks][Qd]. The flop came a scary (for Halfrek) [5s][As][Ts], but the turn and river brought no more spades and Halfrek survived.

A half-dozen hands later Halfrek would be all in again, open-pushing for 3,496,421 from the small blind. FiatEruditio called from the BB, showing [Kd][Js] to Halfrek's [Ad][3s]. The flop was good for Halfrek, coming [2c][4s][7d], but the turn was the [Kh], pairing FiatEruditio. The river was the [2s], and they were down to heads-up.

FiatEruditio and Goldenboys were almost even in chips when heads-up began, and both immediately agreed to sit out and discuss a deal. "At least one russian doing well in the main event," chimed Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov from the rail, referring his fellow countryman FiatEruditio.

Goldenboys (from the United Kingdom) had a slight edge with 12,723,888 to FiatEruditio's 12,326,112, and suggested to FiatEruditio they do an even 50-50 split, leaving $30,000 on the table -- and the SCOOP watch -- for which to play. FiatEruditio agreed to the idea, meaning both would be guaranteed $335,386.88.

"Now it's time to call your friends and family" said Richard "Tzen1" Veenman, host of the Event #38-M final table. A few moments later the cards were back in the air.

Goldenboys took a quick advantage, then scored a large, 15 million-plus chip pot in a hand in which FiatEruditio floated the flop with air, then bluffed the turn and river unimproved only to get called by Goldenboys who'd flopped top pair.

Not long after that, FiatEruditio was down to a little over 3 million and all in with [Ks][6h] versus Goldenboys's [5c][5h]. But a six fell on the river, ensuring FiatEruditio's survival for a few more hands.

Finally the end arrived. Back down to 2,390,562 (about 11.5 big blinds), FiatEruditio shoved from the button with [9h][5c] and Goldenboys couldn't have called any more quickly with [Kc][Kh]. The flop came [Ks][3s][4c], giving Goldenboys a set, and FiatEruditio was already typing "gg" as the turn and river fell.

Congratulations to both Goldenboys and FiatEruditio for chopping Event #38-M, and especially Goldenboys for scoring the next-to-last SCOOP watch of 2011!

SCOOP Event #38-Medium (Main Event), $1,050 NLHE, Results (*reflects two-way deal):

1st: Goldenboys ($365,386.88)*
2nd: FiatEruditio ($335,386.88)*
3rd: Halfrek ($212,925)
4th: nemmad ($150,300)
5th: shalzy13 ($112,725)
6th: philbort ($86,422.50)
7th: Coilmaster85 ($61,372.50)
8th: merkurstar ($36,322.50)
9th: flexxx111 ($22,545)

Thanks for following our coverage of this year's Spring Championship of Online Poker at PokerStars. For all the results and stats from all three years' worth of SCOOPs, check out the SCOOP page.

Event 37 was the second-last tournament of the series, starting just hours before the Main Event. But players seeking their SCOOP fame and fortune turned out in solid numbers for this second-last event and the very last of the six-max tournaments.

The high buy-in level of Event 37 offered a $500K guarantee for a $2,000 + $100 buy-in, though satellites offered cheaper seats for many of the players. And they came out strong, more than doubling the prize pool from its original guarantee and making for one exciting tournament.

Players: 558
Guarantee: $500,000
Actual prize pool: $1,116,000
Paid players: 66

Day 1

As the hours passed on the first day of action, many players exited without extra cash to show for their efforts. One of them was Team PokerStars Pro Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, who was eliminated in 85th place, several spots shy of the money bubble.

The bubble finally burst just past the nine-hour mark of the tournament, leaving the rest of the field guaranteed a minimum of $3,906.00 payout. One of the players who took that amount was Team Online's Anders "Donald" Hoyer Berg, who ended his run in 63rd place.

But as players were relegated to five tables, the last PokerStars player was in jeopardy and ultimately eliminated. Team Online's Diego "vgreen22" Brunelli departed the field in 27th place with $7,254.00 in prize money.

At the end of Level 21, there were 21 players left on four tables, but another 30 minutes remained before action paused for the night. Only 18 players at three tables were left 15 minutes later, but allinstevie exited in 18th place and Mexitexi in 17th, both receiving $10,602.00 for their play. That left 16 players to end the day.

The break of more than 11 hours ensued, and the final chip counts for the night were:

1ncorrigible (837,994)
IAmSoSo (719,982)
vic_xcite (710,013)
danceofddead (492,040)
hahila (466,980)
lb6121 (352,272)
nikov (317,391)
4rebmun (299,607)
padjes (269,421)
Face333X (255,488)
Hagbart55 (246,859)
Traumatize (183,793)
wolfeman99 (179,251)
Improved (99,219)
Frrrrrr (81,522)
AlexanderT (68,138)

Day 2

Level 23 was the first of the second day of play, with blinds at 2,500/5,000 and a 625 ante. The first to take a risk and lose was Face333X, who accepted 15th place, and nikov exited in 14th. Short-stacked AlexanderT followed in 13th to set the final two tables.

The first to depart at that stage of the game was Frrrrrr in 12th place, and 4rebmun followed in 11th. The final ten played on for some time before Traumatize left in tenth place. After the first break of the day, more than a half hour passed before former chip leader 1ncorrigible was ousted in ninth place. Two hours into the day, danceofddead eliminated wolfeman99 in eighth place.

Two hands later, Hagbart made a big preflop reraise, and padjes called all-in for nearly 310K with [Ad][Tc]. Hagbart55 showed [Jd][Js], a hand that only improved on the [Jh][3c][8c][5s][Td]. Padges was gone in seventh place with $23,436.00.

Danceofddead waltzes into chip lead

It was just into Level 27, with blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 1,250 ante, that the final table was set. The players' beginning chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: danceofddead (1,606,920 in chips)
Seat 2: vic_xcite (602,527 in chips)
Seat 3: hahila (788,943 in chips)
Seat 4: lb6121 (608,481 in chips)
Seat 5: Hagbart55 (1,463,201 in chips)
Seat 6: IAmSoSo (509,928 in chips

While danceofddead maintained the lead going into the final table, Hagbart55 was close behind. Lb6121 took a pot worth 244,500 from vic_xcite to leave the latter as the new short stack.

A short time later, vic_xcite looked down at [Ad][Jd] and pushed all-in. Original raiser danceofddead called with [8c][8s], and the race was on. The board only provided [Tc][3d][5s][5h][Kd], giving danceofddead two pair. Vic_xcite was the first to leave the table, taking $35,712.00 for the sixth place finish.

Lb6121 took a pot worth nearly 750K from IAmSoSo, leaving IAmSoSo with less than 150K chips behind. A few hands later, IAmSoSo moved that stack all-in preflop with [Tc][8h]. Hahila reraised all-in from the small blind, which worked to isolate the two players. Hahila showed [Ad][Js], and the board brought [Jh][6c][Kh][6s][8s] to give two pair to each, but hahila's were best. IAmSoSo left in fifth place with $55,800.00.

The comeback of hahila

Hahila was on the short stack but doubled not once, not twice, but three times through danceofddead, the last one putting hahila in very close chip position with lbe6121.

Hagbart55 soon jumped into the chip lead, knocking danceofddead out of that position for the first time during Day 2. But it didn't take long for those two players to battle, and the 605K pot that resulted from the preflop raises and reraises went to danceofddead, who regained the lead.

But danceofddead put hahila to the test once more, and the result gave hahila quite a bit of new life:

Into the sixth hour of the day, the final four players changed position drastically, as hahila was in first with Hagbart55 in a close second. Lb6121 and danceofddead were both under the 1 million mark but hanging tough.

But danceoftheddead finally made a push with [Kh][Td] from the big blind. Original raiser hahila called 528,399 more with [Ad][Qd], a hand that dominated all the way through the [4d][8c][2h][7d][8s] board. That left danceofddead out in fourth place with $78,120.00.

Lb6121 doubled through Hagbart55 more than once, but it was a battle with hahila that would make the difference. LB6121 pushed all-in with [7c][7s], and hahilacalled with [Jh][Jc]. The board brought [3c][5c][5d][6d][Js] to give hahila the full house, and lb6121 was eliminated in third place with $114,390.00.

Hagbart55 and hahila haggle for the title

The final two began their match with the following counts:

Seat 3: hahila (3,706,030 in chips)
Seat 5: Hagbart55 (1,873,970 in chips)

More than an hour and a half into the match, hahila was still in charge with a substantial lead, but Hagbart55 found the following opportunity to double up:

But Hagbart55 couldn't gain much more ground. After two hours of heads-up play, Hagbart55 moved all-in again, this time with [Ad][Js]. Hahila had [Ac][Qd] with which to make the call, and the board of [Ks][Tc][Jc][5s][8h] turned that already-winning hand into a straight. Hagbart55 conceded defeat and took home $156,240.00 for second place.

Hahila of Denmark collected $212,040.00 and a SCOOP watch for winning Event 37-H. Congrats!

SCOOP Event #37-H Results:

1st place: hahila ($212,040.00)
2nd place: Hagbart55 ($156,240.00)
3rd place: lb6121 ($114,390.00)
4th place: danceofddead ($78,120.00)
5th place: IAmSoSo ($55,800.00)
6th place: vic_xcite ($35,712.00)

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

Welcome to the 2011 SCOOP Main Event.

Call it Event 38 if you'd like, but it's the Main Event of the 38-event series that boasted of 114 tournaments in all, three buy-in levels for each event. And this level of the main event was the lowest of the three, offering a $100 + $9 buy-in with a very substantial $750K guarantee. What a way to conclude this year's SCOOP!

And for this low buy-in Main Event, otherwise known as Event 38-L, the numbers were quite strong, with the turnout more than doubling the guarantee:

Players: 16,782
Guarantee: $750,000
Actual prize pool: $1,678,200
Paid players: 2,475

Strong, indeed.

Day 1

The money bubble burst rather quickly in the event considering the substantial field. It happened just after the 5.5-hour mark of the tournament and guaranteed the top 2,475 players at least $151.03 for their efforts. But with six-figure payouts for the top three finishers, there was a lot of motivation to strive for that final table.

Along the way, as players cashed out of the tournament, many of the players with PokerStars logos next to their names departed sooner than they hoped. The first to do so was Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree in 2353rd place, followed by Team Online's Kwangsoo "PiS.ToTo" Lee in 2160th place. Friend of PokerStars Charlotte "Sjlot" Van Brabander exited in 1617th place, Team Pro Toni Judet in 1593rd, Joep "Pappe_Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart in 1559th, and Stavros "IDOLLS" Kalfas in 1503rd.

And a bit later, the last team member standing was eliminated. Team Online's Anders "Donald" Hoyer Berg accepted $469.89 for the 594th place exit.

Play continued into the ninth hour as the field dropped below the 200-player mark, and it was well into the tenth hour that the payouts at 117th place exceeded the $1K rate. The field thinned quite a bit by the start of the 11th hour, when only 68 players remained. And by the time Level 44 was ready to end, Zoukki became the 17th finisher with $3,440.31 cash.

Only the following 16 players remained:

vossiman (20,419,395)
120568 (17,185,948)
SeriouzFox (16,663,970)
tyumenChere (14,343,616)
Luckbox4Life (12,091,425)
socutiesf (11,899,801)
Cheprykalov (11,133,936)
nagy88 (11,102,790)
BOZLAD (9,986,880)
Emmmmmmm (9,483,726)
Le Dolce (9,089,620)
fittungen (7,406,711)
Flush_Entity (6,699,448)
Smicer32 (5,236,562)
JGagMan (2,968,173)
Valerich112 (2,107,999)

Day 2

Level 45 welcomed the players back to the tables for the second and final day, with blinds at 150,000/300,000 and a 37,500 ante.

In the first 30 minutes of the second day of play, Flush_Entity doubled through chip leader vossiman to gain serious ground and jump into the top five. Emmmmmmm and fittungen also climbed while BOZLAD fell toward the bottom of the pack.

But Cheprykalov took the toughest fall and became the first player to exit, walking away with $3,440.31 for 16th place. Meanwhile, JGagMan doubled and climbed up the ladder into the top ten. Valerich112 couldn't improve on his short stack coming into the day and left in 15th place with $4,866.78, andBOZLAD followed in 14th for the same payout.

Le Dolce struggled and finally exited in 13th place, and 120568 failed to find any positive momentum on Day 2 and left in 12th place with $6,293.25. And the subsequent elimination of JGagMan led to hand-for-hand play.

Just into the second hour of the day, socutiesf made the all-in move with [Kd][Ts], and tyumenChere called all-in from the big blind with [Ad][Qh]. The board of [7d][Qd][Kh][6h][9c] gave the pot to socutiesf with the pair of kings, and tyumenChere departed in tenth place with $6,293.25.

LuckBox4Life locks up initial chip lead

The final table was then set, starting in Level 29 with 400,000/800,000 blinds and a 100,000 ante. Starting chip counts were listed as follows:

Seat 1: nagyy88 (10,705,390 in chips)
Seat 2: SeriouzFox (13,336,762 in chips)
Seat 3: socutiesf (22,257,979 in chips)
Seat 4: fittungen (9,073,100 in chips)
Seat 5: Flush_Entity (10,355,796 in chips)
Seat 6: Luckbox4Life (31,903,474 in chips)
Seat 7: vossiman (24,574,645 in chips)
Seat 8: Emmmmmmm (20,724,406 in chips)
Seat 9: Smicer32 (24,888,448 in chips)

Soon after action got underway, fittungen doubled through Flush_Entity, leaving the latter with a short stack. Those 382,696 chips went all-in from the big blind on the next hand with [4h][2d], but original raiser vossiman had [Ac][Tc] and made the call. The board of [Td][8s][7h][2s][5h] eliminated Flush_Entity, who final tabled Event 31-M, in ninth place with $10,069.20.

Fittungen doubled through Smicer32, and Smicer32 then did the same through socutiesf.

Meanwhile, nagyy88 tried the same thing, moving all-in for little more than 7 million chips preflop, but original raiser vossiman called with [Td][7d]. The double-up looked promising as nagyy88 showed [Ad][Kh], but the board of [7c][Qc][4c][4h][Qh] gave vossiman queens and sevens. Nagyy88 finished the tournament in eighth place with $15,103.80.

Smicer32 was at risk again, pushing all-in with [Kd][9h], but Luckbox4Life called with the [Ad][Ac], and nothing on the [Tc][8d][Qd][7s][Ah] board could beat Luckbox4Life. That left Smicer32 out in seventh place with $25,173.00.

Socutiesf soars

SeriouzFox doubled through vossiman. And vossiman took another big hit courtesy of socutiesf:

While socutiesf rivaled Luckbox4Life at the top of the chip counts, Emmmmmmm was in jeopardy. The all-in move was made after an initial raise from vossiman, and Emmmmmmm reraised with [Kc][Jc]. Vossiman called with [4d][4h], which won the race when the board produced [Ts][Ks][3h][4c][3d] for the full house. Emmmmmmm departed in sixth place with $41,955.00.

Shortly thereafter, a hand developed as SeriouzFox raised and fittungen reraised. SeriouzFox responded by pushing all-in for more than 17 million chips with [Ts][Th], and fittungen made the call with [As][Qs]. Another race situation ensued, and the [8h][8d][7h] gave SeriouzFox two pair. But the [Ah] turn and [Ad] river gave fittungen the full house and eliminated SeriouzFox in fifth place with $58,737.00.

Fittungen then doubled through socutiesf in a risky move that paid off and pushed fittungen into the top spot on the leaderboard:

Socutiesf then doubled through Luckbox4Life to stay in the game. Vossiman doubled through fittungen.

But vossiman was itching to move again. After a raise from socutiesf, vossiman made the move for more than 10 million chips with [As][Jc], and socutiesf called with [Td][9s]. The board of [Kc][8d][Js][Qc][9c] gave socutiesf a straight, and vossiman vanished in fourth place with $75,519.00.

Luckbox4Life came back to double through fittungen to dominate three-handed action.

Socutiesf finally made another move, this time with [Ks][Ts], and fittungen was along for the ride with [As][7s]. The ace improved to trips on the [8s][Ah][Qh][2c][Ac] board, and socutiesf had to depart in third place with $109,083.00.

Final two battle for Main Event title

The last two players standing took their positions as follows:

Seat 4: fittungen (79,458,766 in chips)
Seat 6: Luckbox4Life (88,361,234 in chips)

They paused the action almost immediately to discuss a chop, and they agreed to the numbers given, noting that an extra $15,000 was to be set aside for the eventual winner:

Seat 4: fittungen = $153,574.13
Seat 6: Luckbox4Life = $155,092.54

Luckbox4Life came out strong by taking a pot worth 60.3 million chips early in the match. But the following double-up for fittungen changed everything:

Two hands later, Luckbox4Life risked it all with [9h][4s], and fittungen called with [Ks][9d]. The board was virtually blank when it came [5c][Ac][6d][Jd][Qd], and the kicker played. Luckbox4Life was eliminated in second place with $155,092.54.

Fittungen of Sweden claimed the Event 38-Low Main Event title, along with a SCOOP championship watch and $168,574.13 in prize money. Congratulations!

SCOOP Event #38-L Main Event Results (reflecting two-way deal):

1st place: fittungen ($168,574.13)*
2nd place: Luckbox4Life ($155,092.54)*
3rd place: socutiesf ($109,083.00)
4th place: vossiman ($79,519.00)
5th place: SeriouzFox ($58,737.00)
6th place: Emmmmmmm ($41,955.00)
7th place: Smicer32 ($25,173.00)
8th place: nagyy88 ($15,103.80)
9th place: Flush_Entity ($10,069.20)

*players involved in two-way deal agreement

Information about SCOOP is easy to find, especially if we provide the links! You can browse the tournament schedule, list of satellites, and the leaderboard, and you can check out the Inside SCOOP daily web show.

If you need something by which you can set your watch, it's a Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier poker victory. You just had to know one was coming in this year's Spring Championship of Online Poker. Why wouldn't it be in the biggest of all buy-ins? As Kristin Bihr reported in ElkY reigns supreme in Event #35-H ($25,500 heads-up NLHE), ElkY picked up a SCOOP watch and more than $112,000 after beating Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe for the championship.

Here are the Event #35 wraps.

Event #35: NLHE (heads-up)

With that event put to bed, now we only have to wait for the final two 2011 SCOOP events to finish up today. Event #37's Day 2 is already underway, and the main event's finals begin in just a couple of hours. The $109 low buy-in main event has 16 players remaining in the fight for the $181,000 first prize. Germany's vossiman leads the field. In the $1,050 contest, 16 players out of the original 2,505 remain with FiatEruditio on top of the hunt for the $400,000 first place purse.

The $10,300 high buy-in main event drew 380 players. Heading into Day 2, 22 remain looking to win the $735,000 first prize. The UK's 810ofclubs sits on top, and still in the hunt is Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem. The 2005 WSOP champ is currently in 14th place and sitting at the chip leader's table. Day 2 kick off at 2pm ET.

While we wait, we have just a couple of days eft to enjoy the vocal stylings of James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton on the Inside SCOOP Web Show. In the episode below you'll hear Team PokerStars Pros Jose Barbero and Tony Hachem. There is also a special appearance from the departed Nick Wealthall.

Good luck to all of those remaining alive in the 2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker. Stay tuned later today for wrap-ups from all the remaining action.

The penultimate event of the 2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker attracted a mass field as 17,876 players bought into the Low version of Event 37: No-Limit Hold'em 6-max, more than played in the first 35 years of the World Series of Poker main event--combined.

The resulting prize pool of $357,520 easily eclipsed the $200,000 PokerStars guarantee for the event. First would be worth nearly $45,000 and 3,000 participants got paid. Among that group were Team PokerStars pros Liv Boeree in 2,952nd ($28.60), Pierre "Zoutechamp" Neuville in 1,389th ($46.47), Lex Veldhuis in 1,196th ($53.62), Sigge "ClarkKent89" Reichard in 968th ($64.35) and Richard Toth in 579th ($89.38).

The field was whittled down to 13 players after 44 levels of play on Sunday, resulting in three short handed tables returning for Day 2 play Monday. Mendieta19 entered as the chipleader with a stack of nearly 25 million as blinds began at 150K/300K with a 37,500 ante.

Early play saw the short stacks bust quickly. We were down to nine players after 20 minutes of play, and mendieta19 continually added to his stack as it grew to 36 million. At that point, each player had a stack of at least eight figures, giving each a minimum of 20 big blinds to play with--not extremely short stacked, but enough to keep things interesting.

We finally lost one of our final nine when Shauro 's stack shrunk to 6.7 million and the Russian pushed all in with [Kh] [Th] and was called by lehout with [Ac] [Jd]. A jack on the flop ended Shauro's day in ninth, which paid $2,860.16.

Dissent left in eighth after he shoved a flop of [Th] [2c] [2h] holding [Ac] [7s]. AAmA10 called with [Ah] [Jh]. The board finished up with [5s] [Qc] and ace-jack was good for the win. Dissent also earned $2,860.16. Meanwhile, lehout used agressive play against mendieta19 to wrestle the chiplead away.

A big bluff caused mendietta19 to lose most of his stack. Fidget65 check called mendieta19 three times after raising preflop. On a board of [4d] [8c] [5s] [3h] [3c], Fidget65 faced a bet for the rest of the Russian's 14 million chips. After using much of his time bank, Fidget65 called with [Qd] [Qh] while mendieta19 showed [Qs] [Js] for the three-barrel bluff. This dropped mendieta19 to about 15 million chips.

A few hands later on the other table this bad beat set the final table:

The final six:

Seat 1 -- MaxHam (14,510,944)
Seat 2 -- AAmA10 (52,380,397)
Seat 3 -- djdecide (12,157,539)
Seat 4 -- lehout (45,731,407)
Seat 5 -- Fidget65 (38,527,138)
Seat 6 -- mendieta19 (15,652,575)

The first departure from the final frame occurred when djdecide raised all in for 10 million under the gun and AAmA10 thought a while and called with [5c] [5s]. Djdecide showed [Kh] [Th] and could not win the flip when the community cards read [9c] [3s] [2c] [Jh] [8c]. The sixth-place prize of $3,575.20 was added to the Hungarian's account. This hand gave AAmA10 a stack of nearly 77 million, or more than double that of any other player.

A slowdown

After we got down to five players the action slowed down tremendously. What one saw for the next hour were plenty of raises and re-raises, but almost no calls. The participants played quite cautiously and not many chips were moved during this period.

Finally, a cooler forced another elimination. AAmA10 raised to 2.8 million in the cutoff playing the 700K/1.4 million blind level and lehout called on the button. Fidget65 pushed for 18.3 million in the small blind and the action folded to lehout, who called and showed [Kc] [Kh]. Fidget65 held [Ah] [Ks] and missed the 2.5-to-1 shot when the board came [8d] [Jh] [2d] [Qs] [4c]. Fidget65 earned $7,150.40 for the fifth-place showing and lehout vaulted close to AAmA10 in chips, who claimed to have folded 9-10, which would have made the nut straight.

Lehout used those chips wisely, playing aggressive poker to win most pots preflop for the next several minutes, and before you knew it, the Dutchman held a 2-to-1 chip lead over the field.

After that, it was mendieta19's turn to get back in the match. First, AAmA10, perhaps still steaming after steadily going from the penthouse to the doghouse, called a big all in from mendieta19 with deuces only to find his opponent held aces. Then mendieta19 knocked out MaxHam in fourth after calling an all-in reraise from the Swede.

The hands:
mendieta19 [Ac] [Qs]
MaxHam [7s] [7d]

The board ran out cruelly for MaxHam in the form of [Kh] [2d] [4d] [9c] [Qd] to river mendieta19 the winning hand. MaxHam was paid $10,725.60 for fourth.

The crippled AAmA10 busted on the next hand after shoving for 11.3 million on the button. Lehout liked his hand better and pushed for 89.3 million in the small blind to get mendieta19 out of the way. The revealed cards were bad news for AAmA10 as his [Tc] [6s] was well behind the [Td] [Th] shown by his opponent. The flop of [3d] [2d] [4s] gave AAmA10 hope, but two nines fell next and AAmA10 was shown the door in third, which was worth $21,451.20.

The remaining two players asked for a deal breakdown, but mendieta19 would not agree to the proposed chop. Before play resumed, lehout tried to get action going quickly:

lehout: first hand blind allin?
mendieta19: nah
mendieta19: might call u tho

Neither player followed through as mendieta19 raised it, lehout made a small re-raise and mendieta19 folded. The all-in action didn't take long to commence, however, even if it was done with eyes wide open. The final hand of this long event was a dandy:

With that, mendieta19, who experienced a roller coaster ride throughout the day, finished in second and lehout was the champion of Event 37 Low.

Final table placements:

1st -- lehout ($43,487.20)
2nd -- mendieta19 ($32,176.80)
3rd -- AAmA10 ($21,451.20)
4th -- MaxHam ($10,725.60)
5th -- Fidget65 ($7,150.40)
6th -- djdecide ($3,575.20)

Day Two begins!

Round of 64:

DrPill1, runner up in Event #28-L would make short work of his first opponent of the day. DrPill1 would defeat paul0s in just 23 minutes after reeling off wins in seven out of the last eight hands. zivziv, who was fresh off a final table in last night's Event #34-H would take a little under a hour to show mr_marrekie the door becoming one of 32 players to claim at least $1,767.50 for making it to the round of 32.

P0P goes the round

Ninety minutes after returning to the felt for day two just MrP0P and jackellwood were left to open the door for the round of 32 on table two. With the blinds moved up to 150/300 jackellwood made a min-raise from the button holding a 10,850 to 9,150 chip lead. MrP0P came back with a raise to 1,200 and jackellwood shoved holding pocket queens [Qd][Qc] to start the race against MrP0P's big slick. The flop [7h] [Tc] [7s] was clean for the queens, the turn [Ah] and river [Ks] gave MrP0P the higher two pair and the 18,300 chip pot. Three hands later MrP0P would claim the rest of the chips starting the next level.

Players receiving $1,010.00: v1cious, XTheDecanoX, muckipedia, majskolv, Reno1989, Scott "BigRiskky" Clements, Hariseldo723, LiLonen, Sghango, zyxel888, paul0s, dirtyplay25, 00oasis00, srNrooo, PAAD72, PuglieseA, 40and7, huiiiiiiiiii, IxLUVx$$$$$$, DeFrag3, RJRJ, __2cb__, mr_marrekie, tollefishy, Sjos de Nos, Barakiel27, P-i-t.DqDoG, StigR, PanamaRespec, JeffreyRZ, MagicMan111, jackellwood

Round of 32

Stakes moving up with a little more than a thousand dollar difference for making it to the sweet sixteen. zivziv continued to dominate quickly, only needing 20 minutes in this round partly thanks to nailing a rivered nut flush against 1BigAceHole's rivered top two. Another player of note in the round of 32 was -DrawingDad- who notched together two SCOOP victories already this series in Event #9-M and Event #21-L got off to a slow start against Amoroso5 down 18,138 chips to 1,862 early on in the match. DrPill1 would take a little more than an hour to claim his seat in the next round. Holding a 15,500 to 4,500 chip lead and blinds at 100/200 DrPill1 would catch a little luck as both players shoved preflop with Revjot holding [Jd][Ah] to DrPill1's [As][Tc]. However, the board would spike a ten on the turn [5c] [8h] [8d] [Td] [5d] handing DrPill1 the match sending Revjot out in 19th place. -DrawingDad- continued to collect more Player of the Series points as one of the final matches to complete. With the blinds at 100/200 he managed to mount a comeback taking an 11,890 to 8,110 lead in his match. After a standard min-raise from the button by -DrawingDad-, Amoroso5 re-raised to 1,250 total as both showed some excitement about the [4s] [Ts] [7d] flop. After trading raises post-flop Amoroso5 would turn over [7s][As] for a pair and the nut flush draw, going up against -DrawingDad-'s top pair [Th][9h]. -DrawingDad-'s quest for a three-peat would continue on, dodging all outs on the [Jd] turn and [8c] river, scoring a seat to the next round after zumbii's [9c][7c] failed to get past the pocket jacks [Jd][Jc] of Bushman to start up the round of 16.

Players earning $1,767.50: schNITzzzel (runner up in Event #9-M http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2011/-drawingdad--not-drawing-dead--german-wi-081253.html ), BBlackkk, OMGlmBlack (no relation to BBlackkk), 1BigAceHole, nzaczac06, Jim1983Pim, a.kerdy, Nos172, Karelkorm, NessXG, mrG01R4NG, foster18, pololralph, Revjot, Amoroso5, zumbii.

Round of 16

Once again -DrawingDad- would dig himself a hole in the early goings of the match, but this time did not have the ladder to climb back out. A little over a half hour into the game with the blinds at 50/100 -DrawingDad- sitting on just 2,918 chips to BetrThanPhil's 17,082 the two-time SCOOP champion would take matters preflop after a several raises to get his small stack in the middle holding big slick [As][Kh]. No racing this time for a double-up as -DrawingDad- would need a small miracle to topple BetrThanPhil's aces [Ah][Ac]. Not even a sweat would appear on the [8s] [Th] [4c] [Td] [3c] board and -DrawingDad- was drawing dead by the turn, out in 14th place ($2,775.00). Tunnelvisie would give DrPill1 his final prescription in 12th place, and zivziv was short on chips against MrP0P and could not fade a small flush draw ending the chance for another final table appearance in 11th place.

Just 53 minutes into this round we would be down to Bushman and DemonBilly battling for the last quarterfinal seat and fairly steep $5K difference between 8th and 9th. Despite being on the small stack for the majority of the higher blind levels, Bushman would push DemonBilly for another 20 minutes as the blinds moved up to 100/200. Holding pocket fours [4s][4h] Bushman would call a shove by DemonBilly only to see it would not be a race. Wired sevens [7c][7d] for DemonBilly and no help on the [3c] [Qh] [3h] [6h] [As] board ended the round of 16 with Bushman's elimination in ninth place.

Players receiving $2,777.50: thë_®ö©K, Waaaghbozz, -DrawingDad-, xJohny02x, DrPill1, zivziv, ocnits, Bushman

Quarterfinals

Big_nat123 vs. BetrThanPhil

This match would only last 14 minutes as BetrThanPhil got behind early on and stayed there as the blinds stood at 50/100 and BetrThanPhil holding just 1,030 chips to Big_nat123's 18,970 chips when the final hand went down. BetrThanPhil managed to find pocket tens [Ts][Th] at the right time but Big_nat123's [Kc][8s] managed to connect with the [Ac] [As] [Kd] [7c] [7s] board just enough to eliminate BetrThanPhil (Ivey, Helmuth, Collins?) in eighth place.

spice5 vs. goodkicker1

The rest of the matches would not go so quickly into the night as spice5 and goodkicker1 would make it to the 80/160 blind level before spice5 got lured into a trap. Watch below for the results:

After a preflop min-raise and call both players would check out the [7s] [8c] [5c] flop. goodkicker1 checked as spice5 bet 450. goodkicker1 wasn't going anywhere and dropped in another 830 chips making it 1,280 to go. Back to spice5 who held top pair top kicker [8d] [Ad], shoved for 6,950 as goodkicker1 covered and snap called with queens [Qs][Qh]. The queen on the turn [Qd] put this one out-of-reach as spice5 took home seventh place cash ($7,827.50).

Tunnelvisie vs. MrP0P

MrP0P was not pleased in the chat box at the conclusion of this one. This hand would take place almost the same time that spice5 was racking up for the day and moving on to another tournament as the blinds stood at 80/160 and MrP0P needed a double up quickly. Down to his last 2,665 chips he would limp in from the button and snap called the shove by Tunnelvisie holding pocket jacks [Jc][Jh]. Tunnelvisie turned over deuces [2c][2s] as the flop would contain the source of MrP0P's ire showing a two between a nine and a four [9d] [2h] [4d]. And as you read, the re-suck did not hit the [3d] turn nor [6c] river and MrP0P fizzed out in sixth place.

DemonBilly vs. john_baird_1

The longest match of the quarterfinals finishing nearly 40 minutes after Tunnelvisie wrapped up his match. With blinds all the way up to 200/400 and DemonBilly held a slight 11,450 to 8,550 lead as the two finally decided to settle it preflop. [Ah][Ts] for john_baird_1 as DemonBilly held the dominating [Ac][Js]. Needing a ten to extend the match, john_baird_1 did not find the [3d] [7c] [6d] [4s] [Qd] board to his liking and ended the quarterfinal round finishing in fifth place.

Players receiving $7,827.50: BetrThanPhil, spice5, MrP0P, and john_baird_1

Semifinals

Neck and neck for the first 75 minutes of the match as the players went to the hourly break just a few chips deviated from their starting stacks. They would play for another 45 minutes before the hand below went down during the 125/250 blind level:

After an all-club flop of [3c] [6c] [Jc] and the minimum in the middle, goodkicker1 would check as Tunnelvisie bet 225. goodkicker1 check-raised to 1,000 as Tunnelvisie took a few seconds from the time bank for shoving for 8,150 all-in. Holding the flopped flush [5c][2c] goodkicker1 made the call. Tunnelvisie flopped a decent top pair with a re-draw to a higher flush [8c][Js], and a jack [Jh] made things even more interesting (or scary if you are rooting for goodkicker1). But, the river bricked [As] as the remaining 16,800 chips on the table settled into goodkicker1's stack and Tunnelvisie finished in third place ($15,150.00).

Big_nat123 would take the lead early on in this one, adding to it by winning nine straight hands and expanding the lead 12,000 to 8,000 with blinds still at the starting 25/50. Another string of 10 wins in a row for Big_nat123 during the 30/60 blind level increased the lead to 14,677 to 5,323. Towards the end of the 30/60 round DemonBilly finally scored a double up with a fortunate river card. With the board showing [7s][5d][4d][Qd] and 1,810 in the pot DemonBilly would get the rest of his 3,303 chips in the middle as Big_nat123 called holding a flopped set of fours [4s][4c]. [Jd] on the river and DemonBilly's pocket tens [Tc][Td] found a four card flush to claim the 8,416 chip pot.

But Big_nat123 was too much, pounding away with aggression and backed DemonBilly into a corner. With the blinds at 50/100 and DemonBilly now holding just 2,796 chips he would call the button min-raise to see a [Js] [Qs] [Jc] flop. DemonBilly checked as Big_nat123 followed through with a 225 chip bet that was quickly check-raise to 700 total. A call and Big_nat123 now faced a 900 chip bet after the [2d] dropped on the turn. Big_nat123's turned pair of deuces [2s][6d] was good enough to set DemonBilly all-in as the short stack did not have much of a choice holding just 996 chips left. DemonBilly made the call and was in decent shape to catch a decent river card holding [Kh] [Ts]. Any ace, king, queen, ten, or nine would extend the match but the [3c] ended DemonBilly's tournament in fourth place ($15,150.00).

Finals

This is the way all deal discussions should go:

Big_nat123: Split the winnings and play for $5K?
goodkicker1: Sure
Big_nat123: I agree
goodkicker1: I agree

Fin.

$35,375.00 to both our player with $5,000.00 and the SCOOP championship watch for the winner.

Sorry, I don't believe you: Part One

Equally fast was the heads up play. As our final two took just 15 minutes to award the SCOOP championship watch and extra $5,000.00 from the chop deal. As with previous matches, Big_nat123's aggression was just too much for goodkicker1. Down to 3,838 chips in the first blind level 25/50 scored a much needed double making a huge call on the river. With the board showing [Qs] [4d] [3h] [Qc] [8c] after both players checked the flop, and Big_nat123 check-called a 800 chip bet on the turn, goodkicker1 checked the river as Big_nat123 set him all-in for the remaining 2,338 chips. Holding just fourth pair [3s][As] goodkicker1's read was correct as Big_nat123 flipped up [9s][Js] for the bluff.

Sorry, I don't believe you: Part Two "The Redemption"

Nine hands later watch the final hand of the SCOOP 2011 Event #35-L play out:

A standard min-raise from the button by Big_nat123 got called as the players looked to the coordinated [Jd] [8d] [7h] flop. goodkicker1 checked as Big_nat123 c-bet to 125 and goodkicker1 made the call. [7c] on the turn same check and bet 300, but this time goodkicker1 check-raised to 950 as Big_nat123 made the call. [Qs] on the river and goodkicker1 checked again as Big_nat123 continued to fire away with a 1,362 chip bet. Holding plenty of ammo left (7,176 chips) goodkicker1 would shove all-in holding a busted straight draw [9h][6d]. Great play, but Big_nat123 looked right through it, making the call with a pair of jacks [Jh][9s] to claim all of goodkicker1's chips, the extra $5K from the chop, and the SCOOP championship watch for winning Event #35-L!

Be sure to watch for our Main Event updates via The Daily SCOOP recap post or Inside SCOOP webshow.

SCOOP 2011 Event #35-L NLHE Heads-up Matches results (05-22-11)
(* denotes part of two-way deal leaving $5,000 to the winner)
1. Big_nat123 (Canada) *$40,375.00
2. goodkicker1 (Germany) *$35,375.00
3. Tunnelvisie (Netherlands) $15,150.00
4. DemonBilly (Belarus) $15,150.00
5. john_baird_1 (United Kingdom) $7,827.50
6. MrP0P (Canada) $7,827.50
7. spice5 (United Kingdom) $7,827.50
8. BetrThanPhil (Canada) $7,827.50

At this point, what hasn't he won in poker? A World Poker Tour event? Been there, drank the champagne. The PCA Main Event? Done that, somehow got the trophy through customs. An EPT High Roller Event? He won three of them. A WCOOP bracelet? Try two in one year. However, until Sunday evening, the man absolutely no one calls Bertrand Grospellier had yet to ship a SCOOP event. Well, cross that one off the list. In typical ElkY fashion, it was a big one, the French Team PokerStars Pro taking down Event #35-High, $25,500 heads-up NLHE.

This was the steepest buy-in, the smallest field, and the only SCOOP event this year to have an overlay. Nine players entered the $250,000 guaranteed event, resulting in an extra $25,000 up for grabs. Four spots were paid with the champion earning $112,500. Action was spread out over two days, with the first two rounds taking place on Saturday and the "final four" matches playing out on Sunday evening.

Round One

With nine players in the field, seven received first-round byes leaving ChrisFun123 to take on K_0_S_T_Y_A. It only took four levels of play for ChrisFun123 to whittle down his opponent. The deciding hand was a classic coinflip, K_0_S_T_Y_A four-bet shoving for 6,190 with pocket sevens and ChrisFun123 making the call with [Ah][Jc]. An ace flopped and K_0_S_T_Y_A was out, taking us to the round of eight.

Quarter-final

Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe was the first to punch his ticket to the final four after making quick work of Kanu7. Ifrarii claimed half his opponent's stack on the eighth hand of the match, a bit of a cooler where both players flopped top pair, Iftarii's [Kh][Qc] outkicking Kanu7's [Kc][Jc]. Fifteen minutes later Kanu7 five-bet shoved preflop with pocket eights, but Iftarii called with [Ah][Qh] and flopped an ace, sending Kanu7 to the rail.

ElkY and Berndsen12 played small-pot poker for the better part of two levels, ElkY inching out to a 12,000 to 8,000 lead before one hand decided the match. On a flop of [Kc][Jc][6d], ElkY led out for 456, Berndsen12 raised to 1,187, ElkY three-bet to 2,345 and Berndsen12 shoved for 7,497. ElkY made the call, turning over a set of kings while Berndsen12 was looking for a club that didn't pair the board with [Ac][7c]. ElkY's set held, the turn and river falling the [Ad] and the [9h] to eliminate Berndsen12.

Everyone's favorite Swede Viktor "Isildur1" Blom--the king of swing, the sultan of spew, the overbet overlord-- made an appearance in this event, but could not get past Also11. Although Isildur1 quickly had him on the ropes when his [Qs][8d] turned two pair against pocket aces, Also11 picked the bullets up again a short time later and got paid off when he flopped top set. Down to 4,300 in chips, Isildur1 three-bet shoved a [Qd][Td][8c][Jh] board and Also11 made the call with [As][Kd] for the nut straight. Isildur1 was drawing dead with [Jc][9h] and finished in sixth place while Also11 advanced to the semi-final.

In the final match to finish on Day 1, Sussie Smith defeated ChrisFun123, the last of his chips going in preflop with [As][9s]. Sussie Smith called with [Ac][Qc] and made the nut flush on the river, setting the final four.

Semi-final

ElkY vs. Sussie Smith: Considering the starting stack sizes (10,000) and the structure (20 minute blinds starting at 25/50),ElkY's defeat of Sussie Smith was incredibly swift, taking only a bit more than 45 minutes. The Frenchman quickly leapt out to a 3 to 1 chip lead, but Sussie Smith reclaimed those lost chips in a hand where they both rivered trip fours, ElkY's with an inferior kicker. ElkY went back on the grind and pulled back out to a small lead when a fateful turn card led Sussie Smith to commit the rest of his chips:

Iftarii vs. Also11: This match was relatively even until Iftarii took a 3 to 1 chip lead during the second level of play. Iftarii called an opening min-raise to 60 from the big blind, then checked the [8h][5c][4h] flop over to Also11, who bet 120. Iftarii called and the [Kh] came on the turn. Iftarii checked again, Also11 bet 300, Iftarii raised to 720, and Also11 camed back over the top for 1,140. Iftarii flat-called and they went to the river, which fell the [6d]. This time, Iftarii led out for 850. Also11 looked him up, but could not beat his [Ks][6c] for the rivered two pair.

Iftarii caught a lightning bolt on the river in the final hand of the match after calling Also11's four-bet shove for 3,065. Iftarii had a temporary lead with pocket sixes against Also11's [Qh][8d], but the [Ac][Kd][Qs] flop left him drawing to only two outs. The turn was the [7d] but the [6h] fell from the heavens on the river, making Iftarii a set and eliminating Also11 in third place. We had our final two.

The final: ElkY vs. Iftarii

ElkY and Iftarii, high-stakes veterans both, were extremely relaxed as their match got underway, discussing among other topics, their mutual background in heads-up SNGs, the Vancouver Canucks (ElkY has tickets to Tuesday night's game), StarCraft2 and Iftarii's recent move to Montreal. Their first major confrontation came midway through the first level, ElkY opening for 100 and Iftarii making the call. Iftari check-called another 100 on the [Ah][Ac][8c] flop, then led for 250 when the [As] came on the turn. ElkY smooth-called, and the [Jd] hit the river. Iftarii bet 600, ElkY raised to 1,678, and Iftarii three-bet to 2,800, prompting the following chat.

"Probably gonna make the sickest fold of my life, lol" ElkY wrote.

He made the fold, claiming he had pocket kings.

Iftarii started clawing his way back, getting some nice value when he rivered a king-high flush in a 9,700 pot to take a 3 to 1 chip lead. However, he bluffed much of those chips off when he fired at the river on a [8s][7d][2d][9c][Td] board with only ace-high. ElkY called him with a jack-high straight and moved back up to 7,000 in chips. Things looked bleak for ElkY when he three-bet shoved on a [9d][7d][2s] flop with [Kd][Td] for overs and a flush draw, Iftarii looking him up with [Ad][4d]. An ace or a diamond would have ended the match right there and given Iftarii his second SCOOP bracelet of the series, but the [Kc] turned making ElkY top pair. The river blanked with the [3c] and ElkY doubled to 14,426, leaving Iftarii on 5,574.

Iftarii evened the score again when he turned jacks up and got two streets of value out of ElkY. However, only a few hands later, ElkY made trips on the turn with [As][5s] on a [5c][3d][Js][5d] board. He checked and Iftarii checked behind, the river falling the [Tc]. ElkY checked again, Iftarii bet 1,320, ElkY raised to 3,480 and Iftarii called to see he was beat. ElkY seized the momentum and continued to chip up, whitting Iftarii down to only 3,174 before he made a misstep. With the blinds up to 80/160, Iftarii opened for 320 and ElkY three-bet shoved for 16,826. Iftarii snap-called with pocket aces, which held up against ElkY's [Ks][9s].

The match would not make it out of Level 4, all the marbles going in again before the flop only five minutes later. Iftarii led off the betting with a raise to 320, ElkY three-bet to 800, Iftarii four-bet to 1,350 and ElkY shoved for 14,091 total. Iftarii called, his [7s][7c] up against [Ac][Jh]. Today belonged to ElkY, however, the board running out [As][9s][9c][4d][Ts] to seal his SCOOP win.

Congratulations to the inimitable "ElkY" on another incredible tournament victory. He earned $112,500 for his efforts, while Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe banked $62,500 for his runner-up finish.

So, ElkY... next stop WSOP bracelet?

SCOOP Event #35-High ($25,500 heads-up NLHE) results
1. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (U.K.) $112,500
2. Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe (Canada) $62,500
3. Also11 (Germany) $37,500
4. Sussie Smith (Sweden) $37,500

PokerStars.tv's hit web show "Inside SCOOP" airs at a special time tomorrow, 23:00 GMT/18:00 EST. Nick Wealthall is back behind the desk with Joe Stapleton for the final two episodes-- don't miss it!

Event 35 presented another chance for players to compete in this heads-up format. With no-limit hold'em as the game, players were paired randomly with other players, each of whom could be a novice who won a satellite or a professional with extensive heads-up experience. Players had to be prepared for anything that came their way for each round.

The medium buy-in version of Event 35 offered a $200K guarantee for a $2,500 + $100 buy-in. While that may sound a bit pricey for the medium level, consider that the high version of this event cost players $25,500. So, medium this was. And as soon as the tournament began, registration was closed and offered these numbers:

Players: 152
Guarantee: $200,000
Actual prize pool: $380,000
Paid players: 32

Round 1 launched Day 1 of the two-day action, as every player started in Level 1 with 25/50 blinds and 10,000 chips. A number of players received byes for the first round, as the number of players exceeded 128 but wasn't enough for 256 (powers of 2).

It took seven levels for most of the matches to finish, but one table took it well into the eighth level before it ended. And it stopped when UhhMee was defeated and left in 129th place. Meanwhile, one of the Team PokerStars Pros in the field ended his run as well, as Britain's JP Kelly was ousted in the first round.

Round 2 got underway into the tournament's second hour with every single player partnered with a competitor. The 128 players on 64 tables wasted little time thinning the field further, with all eliminated players unable to recoup their cash.

This was the time that most of the PokerStars players also departed. The first to go was Stavros "IDOLLS" Kalfas, and Team Pros Lex Veldhuis and Dag Palovic followed. Team Online's Jorge "Baalim" Limon was next, and Team Pros Vicky Coren and Joep "Pappe_Ruk" Van Den Bijgaart also accepted elimination.

Round 3 was set up to reduce the field from 64 players to only 32, and this was considered the bubble round, as only those winning their matches and going to Round 4 would make the money. Play began with the necessary caution that was to be expected.

One of the two remaining Team PokerStars Pros was eliminated along the way, as Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser of the Netherlands tangled with XTheDecanoX on a board of [Kc][3d][Ks][8c][7c]. Visser moved in with [Kh][9d], but the trip kings were no good against the [Ac][3c] flush of XTheDecanoX. Visser exited in 63rd place.

The round finally came to its conclusion when bmwmcoupe defeated MONSTER_DONG.

Round 4 took a little pressure off the players, as they were all guaranteed a minimum $3,800.00 payout. The final 32 players were back at the tables to move on, though only 16 of them would do so.

The last Team PokerStars Pro in the tournament was Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and he was involved in a very back-and-forth battle with SyrahJenNe. It wasn't until Level 4 that the final hand began with a series of raises that resulted in Grospellier calling all-in with [Qs][Qc], but SyrahJenNe showed [Ad][As]. The board of [4s][Ac][5h][2h][Ts] only improved those aces and eliminated Grospellier in 21st place.

A few more players, like toweliestar and Moorman1, exited as well, and PanamaRespec left in 18th place. When Lrslzk was eliminated in 17th, it ended the round and Day 1 of the tournament.

Day 2

Round 5 kicked off the second day of play at 12:30 ET with 16 players left in the field. Everyone was guaranteed at least $5,700.00 for their finishes, but the eight winners would move onward and upward. With a little rest under their belts, they proceeded and their matches were decided as follows, in the order they were completed:

yadio defeated VbV1990
supfoolio defeated StigR
Greenstone25 defeated GotURead
Rens02 defeated PrtyPsux
treezer defeated p0cket00
L0ve2playU defeated SyrahJenNe
ChrisFun123 defeated JIZOINT
deadfizh defeated XTheDecanoX

Round 6 - Quarterfinals

Play for the final four tables started just over two hours into Day 2, and the final eight players were guaranteed a payout of $13,300 for making it to the quarterfinals. But with money jumps significant for those who moved on, the matches were contentious.

Table 1 was the first to find a winner. Supfoolio had only a slight lead over Rens02, but the two got into a heated betting war over the course of the [Ad][Kh][4d][2s][As] deal. A bet from Rens02 led to a check-raise all-in from supfoolio, and Rens02 called all-in with [Ah][Th]. But those trip aces were beat by the [Ac][4s] of supfoolio who made a full house. Rens02 was gone in eighth place with $13,300.00.

A few levels later, Table 2 finished. It happened when short-stacked deadfizh got involved with ChrisFun123 to see a [Qh][3d][2s] flop, after which a bet, raise, and call led to the [Ad] turn. ChrisFun123 bet all-in, and deadfizh check-called all-in for 3,920 more with [As][5d]. But ChrisFun123 had [Ah][Tc], and deadfizh was out in seventh place with $13,300.00.

Soon after, Greenstone25 risked his last 1,300 chips with [Qc][8s] on a [6d][5h][Qs] flop, but treezer called with [Qd][Tc]. No help came on the [Ks] turn or [2d] river, leaving Greenstone25 out in sixth place with $13,300.00.

And moments later, yadio put his last chips on the line with [Jd][Jc], and L0ve2playU had only [8c][8h]. But the flop not only brought [8s][2d][Qc] for the set of eights, but the [Jh] turn and [8d] river completed the board with quads, which beat the full house of yadio. That painful elimination left yadio out in fifth place with $13,300.00.

Round 7 - Semifinals

The two tables in the semifinal round guaranteed each player at least $30,400.00 for finishing this deep in the tournament. The action got underway at the following two tables, with each player starting with 10,000 chips:

Table 1: ChrisFun123 v. supfoolio
Table 2: L0ve2playU v. treezer

On Table 2, treezer ran into trouble early in the match but managed the following double-up to completely take control of the table: