Benny Spindler, Sami Kelopuro and Ana Marquez All Capture SCOOP Titles
The 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) has already seen a handful of events come to a close, and some notable champions have been crowned including Paul “paulgees81” Volpe, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler, Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro and Ana Marquez. We’ve already covered Volpe’s win in which he denied Shaun Deeb a sixth SCOOP title, so now we’ll turn out attention to the other three.
PokerStars SCOOP 1-H: $2,100 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max ($1M Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $2,100 | 848 | $1,696,000 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Benny “toweliestar” Spindler | $301,040 |
| 2 | “€urop€an” | $223,024 |
| 3 | “bbbbb33” | $169,600 |
| 4 | JC "PrtyPsux" Alvarado | $118,720 |
| 5 | “Amadi_017” | $84,800 |
| 6 | “akut” | $50,881 |
On Monday, Benny “toweliestar” Spindler took down theSCOOP 2013 Event #1-High, $2,100 No-Limit Hold’em Six Max for $301,040 and added another SCOOP victory to his résumé, which also includes an European Poker Tour title.
The 848-player field included 17 Team PokerStars Pros and PokerStars Team Online players like George “jorj95” Lind III and Randy “nanonoko” Lew, both of whom finished in the money but didn’t get much further.
The final table consisted of players who respectively held their own accolades. Spindler was a SCOOP champion from 2009, “bbbbb33” was a World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) champion in 2010, “€urop€an” made several MicroMillions and Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) final tables, while “akut” and JC "PrtyPsux" Alvarado both had a WCOOP and SCOOP final tables, respectively.
According to the PokerStars Blog, “Akut” was the first to hit the rail (sixth place) after his J♠8♠ failed to keep him alive against Spindler’s A♦10♦. Neither player connected and Spindler’s ace-high took the pot.
With blinds at 10,000/20,000, “Amadi_017” was struggling to find a place to make a move. He opened for 44,200 from early position, and Spindler reraised to 96,500. “Amadi_017” moved all in with his remaining 554,000 chips, and Spindler called with pocket queens. “Amadi_017” held pocket eights. The 7♥6♠7♠10♠J♦ board was of no help to “Amadi_17”, sending him home with a fifth-place finish for $84,800.
Then, in back-to-back eliminations, Alvarado got all his chips in the middle with the A♣Q♣ against Spindler’s 4x4x. The small pocket pair held to knock Alvarado out in fourth place for $118,720. On the very next hand, “bbbbb33” had his chips all in with KxKx versus the 6x6x of “€urop€an”. A 6x on the turn ended “bbbbb33’s” run, and he collected $169,600 for his third-place efforts.
Heads-up action began with “€urop€an” as the slight chip leader over Spindler, 4.6 million to 3.9 million. After some discussion of a chop, neither player could agree to terms, so play resumed. After about half an hour of play, Spindler took the chip lead after an all-in shove on the river forced “€urop€an” to fold. On the final hand, “€urop€an” opened to 70,000, Spindler three-bet to 175,000, and “€urop€an” four-bet shoved for 851,000. Spindler called with 7x7x against “€urop€an’s” A♥6♣. The board ran out in Spindler's favor, giving him a full house and the SCOOP title.
PokerStars SCOOP 3-H: $530+R No-Limit Hold’em, Six Max Action Hour ($500K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $530 | 432 | $699,000 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro | $143,295 |
| 2 | Sander "Berndsen12" Berndsen | $104,850 |
| 3 | Roman "RomeOpro" Romanovskyi | $78,638 |
| 4 | “abeainy” | $54,173 |
| 5 | “nizmo jiz” | $40,193 |
| 6 | Chris "Moorman1" Moorman | $26,213 |
Finland’s Sami “Lrslzk” Kelopuro claimed victory on Tuesday in Event #3-High, a $530 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament with unlimited rebuys during the first hour. For his achievement, he collected $142,295 and his second SCOOP watch.
The structure for “Action Hour” events start with five-minute levels during the 60-minute rebuy period, then continue to half-hour levels after. Some 432 players participated in the event creating a prize pool of $699,000, which included 610 rebuys and 356 add-ons.
Once the final table settled, blinds jumped to 4,000/8,000, and it took over a half hour for the first player to bust. Chris “Moorman1” Moorman saw all his chips in the middle preflop with 5x5x while Roman "RomeOpro" Romanovskyi called with the A♥9♥. The board showed 9♠K♣8♠Q♦4♣, leaving Romanovskyi with a pair of nines to eliminate Moorman in sixth place.
About 40 minutes later, blinds were up to 5,000/10,000. The K♦8♦ would be “nizmo jiz’s” demise after he three-bet shoved from the small blind. “Abeainy” called from under the gun holding the A♦Q♣, the board ran out 2♠A♥4♦K♥4♥ to give both a pair, but “abeaniy” had the winning hand, and “nizmo jiz” was out in fifth place.
The next level, “abeaniy” was eliminated in fourth after he shoved all in on the river with the board reading 10♦A♣4♦Q♦6♣. His flopped set of tens didn’t hold against Romanovskyi’s turned flush with the A♦8♦, and he finished in fourth place for a cool $54,173.
Romanovskyi started three-handed action third in chips with 866,000, Sander "Berndsen12" Berndsen second with 1.96 million and Kelopuro with 2.07 million. As the short stack of the three, Romanovskyi five-bet shoved in the big blind for 864,633 against Kelopuro. Romanovskyi tabled the A♦10♦ while Kelopuro showed 9x9x. The flop of K♥J♦3♣ gave Romanovskyi some hope, but the 9♠ wasn't what he needed. The 6♦ on the river sealed the deal for Kelopuro, pushing Romanovskyi out in third place.
Kelopuro started heads-up action as the leader, holding 2.9 million in chips to Berndsen’s 1.9 million. Just eight hands later, Kelopuro increased his stack to more than 3.5 million. In the final hand, Berndsen raised to 40,000 from the button and Kelopuro called. The flop came down 3♦8♦3♠, Kelopuro check-called Berndsen’s bet of 60,000 and the turn brought the 4♣. Kelopuro check-called again, this time for a 160,000 bet from Berndsen, and the river was the 10♦. Kelopuro checked, and Berndsen shoved for 1,094,125. Kelopuro called with the A♠4♥ for fours and treys while Berndsen showed 9♥7♠ for a failed river bluff. Kelopuro collected $143,295 for first place and added a second SCOOP title to go with the Main Event (High) title he won two years ago.
PokerStars SCOOP 5-H: $1,050+R No-Limit Hold’em Turbo ($750K Guaranteed)
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $1,050 | 437 | $1,329,000 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ana Marquez | $255,035 |
| 2 | “TIPCHIK321” | $189,383 |
| 3 | “Amadi_017” | $139,545 |
| 4 | “shinbunshi” | $106,320 |
| 5 | “blakjak19” | $74,424 |
| 6 | “aliasbissen” | $56,483 |
| 7 | “treezer” | $43,193 |
| 8 | Brendon “brendon1717” Rubie | $29,903 |
| 9 | “China_White1” | $22,061 |
The SCOOP Event #5-High $1,050+R No-Limit Hold’em Turbo was a quick affair, as turbo tournaments often are. Team PokerStars Pros were out in full force, but no one had much success. In fact, Ville Wahlbeck, who fell shy of the money in 65th place, gave the team's best performance.
According to the PokerStars Blog, the final table began in Level 37 (25,000/50,000/6,250) and Ana Marquez, who would end up eliminating seven of her eight opponents, got to work straight out of the gate. On the very first hand, Marquez moved all in from middle position and “China_White1” called off holding the A♠K♠. Marquez tabled the 2♠2♥ and ended up improving to a set on the 2♦9♦8♦ flop. Neither the turn nor river changed a thing, and “China_White1” became the first casualty of the final table, earning $22,061 for his ninth-place finish.
After Brendon “brendon1717” Rubie, who began the final table as the short stack, was eliminated by “aliasbissen” in eighth place, Marquez got back to business by eliminating “treezer” and “aliasbissen” in seventh and sixth place respectively.
Not long after, Marquez raised under the gun, “blakjak19” called off his remaining 146,068 and “TIPCHIK321” called from the big blind. The J♦2♠3♣ flop saw Marquez lead out for 120,000 and “TIPCHIK321” fold.
Marquez: [Ad}5♥
“blakjak19”: 5♠5♦
“Blakjak19” was ahead, but not after the A♥ spiked on the turn. The 9♦ river changed nothing and Marquez sent “blakjak19” to the rail in fifth place for $74,424.
After “shinbunshi” exited in fourth place in Level 40, “Amadi_017”, who, if you recall, finished fifth in the event Benny Spindler won, called off his stack from the big blind holding the K♣9♦ after Marquez had moved all in from the small blind with the Q♠10♠. Marquez had been on fire and this hand was no different as the board ran out J♥9♥Q♦Q♥5♠. “Amadi_017” was sent packing in third place for $139,545.
With nearly a 4-1 chip lead it took Marquez just minutes to seize victory. In the final hand, “TIPCHIK321” moved all in holding the Q♠3♦ and Marquez called with the 6♣6♠. The board ran out 7♠8♦J♥6♦K♠ and that was all she wrote for “TIPCHIK321”, who earned $189,382.50 for a runner-up finish. Meanwhile, Ana Marquez captured her first SCOOP title and the accompanying $255,035 first-place prize.
*Data and hands provided by the PokerStars Blog.
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