WCOOP – Event #1, $215 Short-Handed NLHE: 'samh133' Snags First Bracelet

September 15, 2007

Matt Wehner

WCOOP – Event #1, $215 Short-Handed NLHE: 'samh133' Snags First Bracelet 0001

The sixth annual PokerStars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) kicked off yesterday afternoon with the NLHE $200+$15 (6 max) tourney, Event #1. Last year's biggest event in terms of players was the NLHE $530 event, which saw 4,495 entrants and had a guaranteed prize pool of 1.5 million dollars. The NLHE $215 broke that record, with 4,610 in attendance and a guaranteed prize pool of $400,000. The guarantee wasn't needed, as $922,000 was generated for the prize pool.

Out of the massive playing field, many notable players were to be found including Andy McLeod, 'SCTrojans,' 'BeLoWaBoVe,' gb2005, 'Mattg1983,' 'The___DR___Y,' and 'bustosoon.'

Two hundred players were eliminated in the first fifteen minutes, while half of the field was eliminated within just two hours of play. 'SlimsChicken' ended up being the bubble boy in 535th place, while 'TiltHappens' ended up being the first player to reach two million in chips after his A-Q went heads-up against 'LuckyLady519''s A-J and held up.

The final table finally arrived after fourteen hours of play. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000, TiltHappens raised to 120,000 while 'philivey6922' pushed all in for 553,649 from the small blind. TiltHappens made the call and showed 4♠4♥ while philivey6922 showed A♣3♥. The board came K♦K♣3♣J♦Q♦ and philivey6922 was sent home with $6,454.00.

'Toomanydonks' became the first player eliminated from the final table when his A♥3♣ ran into 'samh133''s A♠J♠. It was folded around to samh133 in the small blind, and he moved all-in for 2,211,713 with toomanydonks, the short stack, in the big blind. Toomanydonks made the call and the board came K♠10♠2♠ and he was drawing dead to the nut flush.

The craziest hand of the night fell when 'LUFCBas' opened to 200,000 with blinds 25,000/50,000 and an ante of 5,000. 'WiLDmAn75' raised to 1,939,997 and was all-in as well when 'bearbeer123' moved all-in as well for 2,406,652. LUFCBas got out of the way and WiLDmAn75 and bearbeer123 went to the flop all-in and heads-up. WiLDmAn75 showed A♣K♠ while bearbeer123 showed Q♦Q♥. The flop came 10♦4♥2♠, but the A♦ spiked on the turn and bearbeer123 was looking for a queen on the river to save him from becoming the short stack, which didn't arrive. LUFCBas informed the table that he folded pocket tens, while TiltHappens says he folded pocket queens. Bearbeer123 was left as the short stack.

The blinds were 30,000/60,000 with a 6,000 ante when Bearbeer123 was eliminated in fifth place. Bearbeer123 was the short stack and moved all-in under the gun pre-flop for 747,310, and was called by WiLDmAn75. WiLDmAn75 showed 9♣9♦ while bearbeer123 showed 7♦7♥. The board came 10♦4♣2♦K♥2♥ and WiLDmAn75's higher pocket pair held up.

TiltHappens lost over one million in chips when he flopped top pair against LUFCBas's pocket aces. Later, with the blinds at 30,000/60,000 and a 6,000 ante, samh133 raised to 166,666 from under the gun when WiLDmAn75 made it 420,000. TiltHappens moved all-in for 1,567,300 and samh133 moved all-in for 4,393,662 and WiLDmAn75 got out of the way. TiltHappens showed A♦K♠ while samh133 showed K♣K♥. TiltHappens couldn't find an ace, and was eliminated in fourth place.

With just three players remaining, LUFCBas asked the other players if they'd be interested in looking at the figures for a split. The figures came back with samh133 getting $109,561, WiLDmAn75 getting $96,352, and LUFCBas getting $84,710. Samh133 took a little convincing, as he had a decent chip lead over the other two, but eventually accepted the deal, leaving $46,000 and a bracelet up for grabs.

From the button, WiLDmAn75 made it 180,000 to go and LUFCBas called from the small blind. The flop came 10♥5♦2♥, WiLDmAn75 led out for 240,000 and LUFCBas made the call. The turn was the A♦; WiLDmAn75 made it 475,000 and LUFCBas moved all-in for 2,716,721, with WiLDmAn75 making the call. LUFCBas showed A♠J♣ while WiLDmAn75 showed 5♥5♣ for a set. LUFCBas failed to improve and was eliminated in third place.

Several blinds later, and heads-up with the blinds at 40,000/80,000 and an 8,000 ante, WiLDmAn75 made it 160,000 to go and samh133 called. The flop came Q♣J♠5♣ and samh133 checked to WiLDmAn75, who led out for 240,000. Samh133 check-raised to 825,000 and WiLDmAn75 made the call. The turn was the 7♦ and samh122 led out for 1,680,000, while WiLDmAn75 moved all-in for 4,729,705. Samh133, with a decent chip lead over WiLDmAn75, made the call and showed 5♦5♥ for a set while WiLDmAn75 showed top pair with Q♠9♠. WiLDmAn75 failed to improve and was eliminated in second place, leaving samh113 as the WCOOP Event #1 bracelet winner.