WCOOP Day 19: Nicolas "niccc" Chouity Wins Two-Day Event in One Day

September 23, 2011

Former European Poker Tour Grand Final champ Nicolas "niccc" Chouity was among the three winners on Day 19 of the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. The pro from Lebanon breezed through a tough final table to win the two-day six-handed pot-limit Omaha event in only one day, pocketing more than $150,000. Several other notables made final tables on Thursday, including Jonas "Telefonkiosk" Lindlof, Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger, Andras "and217" Kovacs, and 2009 November Niner James "Asprin1" Akenhead.

PokerStars WCOOP 52 - $300 No-Limit Hold'em ($400K Guaranteed)

More than 1,700 players were up bright and early for the start of Thursday's $300 No-Limit Hold'em event. The massive field, which included 30 members of Team PokerStars, generated a prize pool of $531,300 with the winner taking home a cool $85,009.

Two of the most-recognizable faces in poker made deep runs in the event. Team PokerStars players Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu and Liv Boeree were among the leaders for much of the day but ultimately fell short of the final table. Negreanu was eliminated in 104th place when he ran pocket kings into German player "Pro1612's" aces. "Pro1612" went on to make the final table. Boeree then exited in 54th place when she moved her short stack in preflop with Q♥J♦ and failed to improve against her opponent's A♣J♥.

The final table was loaded with high-stakes regulars, including Jonas "Telefonkiosk" Lindlof, Chris "d0r1t0s" McClung and Ben "F3nix35" Dobson. Here's how the final nine stacked up:

Sweden's "B_Lindberg" got things started by eliminating Germany's "redmaex1989" in ninth place, but he handed most of his chip over to Chris "d0r1t0s" McClung moments later. With the blinds at 25,000/50,000, "B_Lindberg" raised to 118,615 from early position with A♦K♦ and McClung three-bet to 277,558 directly behind with 8♣8♠. Action folded back to the Swede who moved all-in, and McClung called off his remaining 1.4 million. The board ran out Q♣6♥J♠2♦6♦ and McClung's pair of eights were good enough to thrust him into the chip lead. "B_Lindberg" was eliminated in seventh place following the exit of "Pro1612" in eighth.

Jonas "Telefonkiosk" Lindlof cut into McClung's lead by sending Todd "toddytheboy" Bailey to the rail in sixth place. After Lindlof opened for a preflop raise, Bailey moved all-in for around 16 big blinds from the small blind with A♥9♠ and Lindlof called with A♥Q♦. Lindlof flopped a pair of queens to leave Bailey nearly dead, and the Aussie failed to improve on the turn and river. He earned $19,658 for his day of work.

Action really picked up with the elimination of Ben "F3nix35" Dobson. After Dobson missed a massive draw against "Demokritos09" to leave him crippled, he moved all-in for 248,644 (blinds 30,000/60,000) from under the gun and "HerrLauti" and "Demokritos09" called to see a flop of A♣{Jd5♥."HerrLauti" checked and "Demokritos09" opened a side pot by betting 270,000. "HerrLauti" then check-raised to 660,000 and "Demokritos09" fired back with a three-bet to 123,000. "HerrLauti" moved all-in for 2.45 million and "Demokritos09" called, setting up a three-way all-in with nearly 6 million chips in the middle:

Dobson: K♣6♠
"HerrLauti:" 5♦5♠
"Demokritos09:" A♠Q♦

"HerrLauti" was in great shape with his set of fives and the 7♠ turn and 10♥ river changed nothing, giving him both the main and the side pot. Dobson collected $25,237 for fifth place, which he later confirmed was his largest online score to date.

"HerrLauti's" newly generated big stack didn't last long. The German player lost a big pot to McClung and then made his exit in fourth when his preflop shove was called by McClung and "Demokritos09," who turned a flush to rake in the pot.

McClung's stack fluctuated throughout the final table, and he eventually bowed out in third when his 7♦7♠ lost a coin flip to Lindlof's A♦8♥. That set up a heads-up match between Lindlof and "Demokritos09" who led his Swedish counterpart 10.9 million to 6.7 million. After 17 hands, it was all over. The two players saw a flop of A♥Q♥8♦ and got all of their chips in. Lindlof held A♦8♠ for two pair and "Demokritos09" tabled A♠10♦. Lindlof was in great shape to double up and take control of the match, but the 10♠ came on the turn to give "Demokritos09" a higher two pair. The 6♦ river secured victory for the Greek player, who collected his first WCOOP bracelet and $85,009. Lindlof collected $63,756 for his runner-up finish.

Notable Finishes: Joe "nineallday00" Stanski (17th - $2,390), Jordan "Jymaster11" Young (23rd - $2,019), Hiren "hustla16" Patel (25th - $2,019), Liv Boeree (54th - $1,355)

PokerStars WCOOP 53 - $500 No-Limit Hold’em with Rebuys ($600K Guaranteed)

Entering the final table of Event #53, the $500 No-Limit Hold’em with Rebuys, with the chip lead was Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger. A "wow" pot occurred with 11 players left, leaving Benger on top of the counts. A series of raises led to "softcored" being all-in with 10♠10♦, Benger all-in with Q♣Q♥, and Giuseppe “Ansgar2000″ Pantaleo (the chip leader at the time) holding A♦K♥ with a chance to knock both out. A K♦10♥5♦ flop gave "softcored" (the shortest stack of the bunch) the lead with a set of tens. Pantaleo, though, took the lead in the bigger side pot with a pair of kings. The A♠ turn gave Pantaleo two pair, but it also gave Benger four more outs to a straight. Sure enough, the J♥ hit the river to give Benger a straight, winning the entire pot. Here were the chip counts to start the final table:

Despite losing that hand, Pantaleo appeared primed to get back to a seven-figure stack. After three-betting a cutoff raise from the button from Ariel "Skilled G" Mantel, Mantel called to see a 10♠9♣4♣ flop. Mantel check-raised all-in, leading to Pantaleo calling all-in with K♥K♣. Mantel was well behind with 7♣7♦, but nailed the 7♠ on the turn to pull ahead. The 3♦ river failed to save Pantaleo, out in ninth place. The next to go was "salfshb", running Q♥Q♣ into the A♥A♣ held by "Vinkyy". The board ran out K♥J♥5♠2♣4♠ to eliminate "salfshb" in eighth place.

It was aces again that did in seventh-place finisher "99Jam.Mr." From the small blind, "99Jam.Mr" three-bet shoved 17 big blinds with Q♦10♠, but ran into the the A♦A♥ that James "Asprin1" Akenhead raised with on the button. Though "99Jam.Mr" liked the Q♠9♦8♥ flop, the A♣ turn left only four outs for "99Jam.Mr" to survive with on the river. The 6♣ wasn't one of them, leaving six players remaining. Departing shortly thereafter was "patasss" after shoving for about 12 big blinds on the button with K♠J♠. Ariel "Skilled G" Mantel called out of the big blind with 10♠9♠ and took down the pot with trips when the board came down Q♥9♦8♣9♣K♣.

"Lecher1991" fell in fifth place, three-bet shoving 15 big blinds from the small blind with Q♠9♠. Mantel looked at A♣10♣ in the big blind and called, getting the original raiser, Griffin Benger, to fold. The J♥8♥6♦4♥3♣ board improved neither player, but Mantel's ace high took it down. James "Asprin1" Akenhead finished in fourth place, losing a race. Griffin Benger opened in the cutoff, leading Akenhead to shove on the button for 22 big blinds holding A♦K♠. Ariel Mantel called with 10♥10♠ and held up as the board rolled out 9♥7♣3♥7♥J♣. The remaining three players briefly discussed a deal, but terms were not agreed upon.

Play continued for about 80 minutes before Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger was eliminated in third place. "Vinkyy" raised on the button and Benger three bet Q♠Q♣ from the small blind. A call from "Vinkyy" delivered a 10♣6♦5♠ flop where Benger put in a continuation bet. "Vinkyy" min-raised, only to see Benger shove for another 27 big blinds. "Vinkyy" called with K♦10♦ and was trailing, but spiked the 10♥ on the turn to pull ahead. The 2♣ river officially ended Benger's tournament. Here were the chip counts at the start of heads-up play:

"Vinkyy:" 8,484,988
Ariel "Skilled G" Mantel: 2,380,012

Mantel won a race to double up, closing the gap significantly. About 12 minutes into the heads-up duel, talks of a deal were once again brought up and the two agreed to an even chop (OK, difference of a penny), leaving $12,000 to be played for. After that, it only took about three minutes for the chips to get into the middle. Mantel four-bet shoved 47 big blinds with 10♦10♠ and was called by "Vinkyy" with A♣K♠. The board rolled out A♦Q♠4♥8♦3♥, giving "Vinkyy" a winning pair of aces and the WCOOP bracelet.

*denotes head-up deal

Notable Finishes: Joseph "Joey Capp" Cappuccio (12th - $10,543.50), Jamie "TheCronic420" Rosen (16th - $6,709.50), Daniel "GotURead" Reijmer (18th - $6,709.50), Nico "PKaiser" Fierro (19th - $4,792.50), Tommie "Godfatti" Janssen (20th - $4,792.50), Steve "mcnallyville" McNally (21st - $4,792.50)

PokerStars WCOOP 54 - $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Max Two-Day ($450K Guaranteed)

To say that Event #54, the $2,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Six-Max Two-Day, played down to a final table quickly would be an understatement. What was supposed to be a two-day event only needed one as 2010 EPT Grand Final Champion "Nicolas "niccc" Chouity" emerged victorious. Here were the chip counts at the start of the final table:

Despite entering the final table with the second-shortest stack, Chouity emerged as the chip leader a mere 13 minutes into the final table following a double up and a few winning pots. Exiting first was "Andras "and217" Kovacs. All-in preflop with A♦J♦5♠3♠, a now short-stacked Kovacs was facing the J♣10♦7♦7♣ tabled by Benjamin "beastishngry" Juhasz. The board came down 8♣7♥2♠A♥K♠, giving Juhasz a set of sevens to score the elimination. Two hands later, "el_klonkador" bet the pot on a 10♣5♥2♠ board. "NoLimi7Souja" raised, leading "el_klonkador" to call all-in with K♥Q♦10♥9♥. With A♣A♦8♠2♣, "NoLimi7Souja" held up through the J♣ turn and 5♠ river, sending "el_klonkador" away in fifth place.

Departing in fourth place was "liujunwei926". After an A♥8♦5♥ flop, "liujunwei926" was all-in with A♣Q♦5♣3♥ for two pair against Juhasz's 9♣7♣6♦4♠ for a wrap. The 3♠ turn kept "liujunwei926" ahead, but the 2♦ river gave Juhasz the straight. Just three more hands passed before Juhasz sent "NoLimi7Souja" to the rail, as well. Severely out-chipped, "NoLimi7Souja" four-bet shoved with K♠J♠8♥6♥ but wasn't in great shape against Juhasz's K♥K♣Q♣2♠. It was all but over when the flop came down Q♦Q♥J♣ to give Juhasz trips. The A♣ turn provided some hope to a chop, but the 5♥ river meant heads-up play was on. The chip counts at the start were the following:

Benjamin "beastishngry" Juhasz: 1,558,467
Nicolas "niccc" Chouity: 1,576,533

They played for about 13 minutes before agreeing to make a deal. From there, Chouity went on to take it down. On the final hand, Juhasz was short stacked and all-in with K♠K♥10♦2♥ against Chouity's J♦10♥9♥9♣. The J♠8♦4♣ flop left Chouity with a lot of outs to a win. It didn't get there with the 2♠ turn, but the 7♠ river locked it up for Chouity to take down his first WCOOP bracelet.

*denotes heads-up deal

Notable Finishes: Alex "Allingomes" Gomes (8th - $18,392), Hernán "HN Kakaroto" Novick (11th - $11,704), Kyle "KJulius10" Julius (13th - $7,942), Erika "Eri264" Moutinho (15th - $7,942), Aaron "JeanGrae" McCready (16th - $7,942), Jonathan "johnduhamel" Duhamel (17th - $7,942), Dave "SexSeen" Sands (18th - $7,942)

We will be providing in-depth daily recaps of all WCOOP final tables, so be sure to keep it here at PokerNews to stay up to date on all of the exciting action as it occurs.

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