WCOOP Day 23: Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen Wins WCOOP Main Event

September 27, 2011

The 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker has come to a close. More than $47 million in prize money was handed out over the course of 63 events, and several well-known pros added WCOOP bracelets to their already illustrious careers. Among the winners this year were Team PokerStars Pros Noah "Exclusive" Boeken, Shane "shaniac" Schleger and Anders "Donald" Berg, who won his record-tying third WCOOP bracelet in Event #16, Six-Max Pot-Limit Omaha.

Spain's Joel Adam “2FLY2TILT” Gordon locked up Player-of-the-Series honors on Monday after an exceptional series in which he won his first bracelet and cashed 10 times. Gordon tied "Big_Nemo" with 295 points but won the tiebreaker by earning more money during the series. For his efforts, Gordon collected a 2012 PCA package, a 2012 EPT Grand Final package, a SCOOP Main Event entry, and a commemorative chip set.

The biggest winner of the series, though, was Denmark's Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen. The Danish pro earned more than $1.2 million on Tuesday morning for becoming the newest WCOOP Main Event champion and joined the likes of Tyson "POTTERPOKER" Marks, Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko and Carter "ckingusc" King as WCOOP Main Event winners.

PokerStars WCOOP 62 - $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Two-Day ($5M Guaranteed)

After 22 levels of play on Day 1, 167 players survived to make it to Day 2 and have a chance at making the WCOOP history books. Among them were Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov, Matthias "mattidm" De Meulder, Johnny Lodden, Bertand "ElkY" Grospellier, and Team Online's Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen. However, all would fall in the beginning stages of the day. Other notables who had early exits on Day 2 were David "Gunslinger3" Bach, Shawn "buck21" Buchanan, Luke "lb6121" Schwartz, and Steve "gboro780" Gross.

It took about eight and a half hours, but the final table of nine was reached with the elimination of Kenny "LoneHixx" Hicks in 10th place. With 9♥9♦ and a stack of about 19 big blinds, Hicks three-bet shoved into Vojtech "Vojta_R" Ruzicka's Q♥Q♣. No help came for Hicks, whose elimination set the stage for the final table. Here were the chip counts at the start:

Dan "dan82mur" Murariu bit the dust first, four-betting all-in for about 27 big blinds with A♣10♦. Chip leader Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen looked him up with A♠K♠ and held up as the board came down Q♠6♥5♠3♦2♦. Shortly thereafter, Pedersen held 9♥9♦ and looked to bust Nick "OU THE NICK" Hahn who tabled K♦Q♣. The board fell 8♠7♥5♦2♥3♦, offering Hahn nothing of value to end his tournament in eighth place.

Somebody else finally got in on the action as "VadziMoney" sent "jle90" to the rail in seventh place on the next hand. In the big blind with two raises in front, "jle90" re-raised all-in for 17 big blinds with 10♠10♦. However, "VadziMoney" had the goods with A♠A♦, holding up when the board rolled out 9♣8♣2♠J♠J♦. Thomas Pedersen got back in the elimination game, felting "WhySoSrsSon" in sixth place. Just like the previous elimination, "WhySoSrsSon" woke up with a pair in the big blind and four-bet shoved. However, this time it was for about 40 big blinds and with J♠J♦. Pedersen had picked up K♣K♠ and took down the pot when the board ran out Q♦8♥5♠8♦Q♥.

For the next hour, the remaining five players hashed out a deal that ensured each a score of at least $560,000. Once the numbers were worked out, "VadziMoney" exited in fifth place. With 10♣10♦, "VadziMoney" got it in good against the A♣5♣ of Thomas Pedersen. However, a Q♥9♥2♥4♦A♥ board fell as the ace on the river spelled the end for "VadziMoney." A mere seven hands later, Pedersen picked up A♠A♦. BackDoorovic, with K♠J♦, got his chips in on the J♠10♦8♦ board against Pedersen, but was unable to overtake the chip leader's aces and finished in fourth place.

It was quite the tournament for third-place finisher Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah. On the money bubble with 15 big blinds on Day 1, Leah tanked for a good three minutes before committing his stack (luckily, he was not called). About 21 hours later, Leah was pocketing more than a half million dollars. He entered the final table as the short stack, but rode it all the way an excellent result. On his final hand, Leah was all-in for just shy of 16 big blinds with A♦Q♦ against the A♠K♣ of Vojtech "Vojta_R" Ruzicka. A J♦10♥3♣9♥9♠ ended Leah's Main Event, setting the stage for heads-up play:

Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen: 21,398,383
Vojtech "Vojta_R" Ruzicka: 11,141,617

With nearly a 2:1 chip lead to start heads-up play, Pedersen had little trouble closing it out. He extended his lead to about 7:1 before finishing Ruzicka off. On the button Ruzicka min-raised, but for probably the 100th time or so, Pedersen three bet. With 3♥3♦, Ruzicka re-raised all-in for about 25 big blinds. Pedersen called with A♠10♥ and won the race as the final board of the 2011 WCOOP came down 10♠9♥2♦5♦4♥. Not only did Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen win the WCOOP bracelet and $1,260,018.50, but he has cemented a place for himself in WCOOP history.

*denotes five-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Kenny "LoneHixx" Hicks (10th - $53,691), Niki “RealAndyBeal” Jedlicka (12th - $53,691), Dani "supernova9" Stern (13th - $45,556), Sam "Rekrapmas" Parker (18th - $37,421), Sebastien "p0cket00" Sikorski (20th - $33,353.50), Jason "jadedjason" James (22nd - $33,353.50), Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese (23rd - $33,353.50), Dave "sexygee" Gent (24th - $33,353.50), Kyle "kwil20" Wilson (25th - $33,353.50), Lari "Operga" Sihvo (29th - $29,286), Chris "Big Huni" Hunichen (35th - $29,286), Terrence "Unassigned" Chan (36th - $29,286)

PokerStars WCOOP 61 - $10,000 8-Game High Roller Two-Day ($500K Guaranteed)

Regardless of how Eugene Katchalov's day went, he was going to add six figures to his bankroll.
The stacks going into Monday's Day 2 are the following:

Eugene Katchalov: 396,517
"Ostrov:" 303,483

Despite entering with the chip lead, Katchalov was unable to capture WCOOP gold. "Ostrov" mounted a comeback and took it down during no-limit hold'em. On the final hand with the blinds and antes at the 2,500/5,000/625 level, "Ostrov" min-raised to 10,000 on the button. Katchalov shoved for 122,734 with K♦Q♥. "Ostrov" called with A♦8♣, but fell behind when the flop came down K♠J♠3♥. Katchalov appeared primed to double up and get back in the match. However, the A♠ landed on the turn and gave "Ostrov" the lead. The 4♣ river sealed the deal, securing the WCOOP bracelet and $210,000 first-place prize for "Ostrov."

Notable Finishes: Anders "Donald" Berg (7th - $28,000), Jason "TheHood" Gray (8th - $28,000), Matt "Hoss_TBF" Hawrilenko (9th - $28,000)

PokerStars WCOOP 60 - $200 No-Limit Hold'em Two-Day ($1.25M Guaranteed)

Nearly 10,000 players entered the final $200 two-day event of the 2011 WCOOP to create a prize pool of close to $2 million. After 11 hours of play on Day 1, only 72 players were left vying for a first-place prize of $284,319 and one of the last WCOOP bracelets of the 2011 series.

Among the notables still alive entering Day 2 were Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin and Matt "All_in_at_420" Stout, who began Day 2 fourth overall in chips. However, both were eliminated early on Monday as Ramdin finished in 56th and Stout bowed out in 38th.

That left a group of unknowns to battle it out at the final table. Here's how it stacked up:

"Flyboys007" began the final table as the short stack and was the first to go down. He got his remaining chips in preflop with K♦K♣ against the A♠4♠ of "Veg 101," but the A♣3♦4♣5♣7♠ board gave his opponent two pair to send him to the rail.

It took a while for the next elimination to occur as "Veg 101," "The_Stat" and "tormos" all doubled up to survive. "DeRp0kErGuRu" then lost a massive pot to "X-Front" and met his demise moments later when he lost a flip to "Veg 101." "Zanjong" had lost most of his stack early at the final table and was sent packing after moving his short stack in preflop with K♥9♥ and failing to improve against the A♠7♦ of "X-Front," who was the new chip leader.

"Veg 101" was ousted in sixth place when he three-bet all-in with A♣2♥ and lost to the K♦Q♦ of "X-Front," who continued his demolition of the table. However, tormos made up some ground by eliminating "1WHALEN1" and "The_Stat" in fifth and fourth place, respectively.

The final three players discussed a potential deal but couldn't come to terms and decided to play on. "X-Front" lost the chip lead to "Yarik1903" but the two players battled for a massive pot that would again give "X-Front" control. With the blinds at 300,000/600,000, "X-Front" opened the button with a min-raise and "Yarik1903" three-bet to 3 million from the small blind. "Tormos" folded and "X-Front" four-bet to 5,222,250. "Yarik1903" called and the two players saw a flop of A♠K♠2♦."Yarik1903" check-called a bet of 3.9 million and the turn brought the A♣. "Yarik1903" check-called again, this time a bet of 5,250,000, and the J♣ fell on the river. "Yarik1903" checked for a third time and then folded to a shove from "X-Front," who won the 30 million-chip pot without seeing a showdown.

"Yarik1903" was eliminated on the very next hand when his pocket tens couldn't hold up against the A♣9♦ of "tormos". The two players got their chips in preflop and the A♥ landed on the river to send "Yarik1903" to the rail in third place with $144,960.

That gave "tormos" a slim lead over "X-Front" going into heads-up play. The two exchanged the pole position numerous times during a lengthy match but ultimately it was "X-Front" who chipped away at his opponent and secured the victory with the cooler of all coolers. On the final hand, "tormos" moved all-in for just under 13 million preflop with K♦K♦ but dove face first into the A♣A♠ of his opponent. The harmless 4♦5♦9♣5♠5♣ board changed nothing and "X-Front" won his first WCOOP title and $284,319.

Notable Finishes: Matt "All_in_at_420" Stout (38th - $3,577), Victor Ramdin (56th - $2,996)

That concludes our daily coverage of the 2011 WCOOP. Thanks for checking in with PokerNews for all the updates!

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