2012 PokerStars SCOOP Day 15: Oshima and Wilinofsky Lead The Final 63 in Main Event-H

May 21, 2012

The end is near for the 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) at PokerStars — Day 15 was the last starting day of the series. The heads-up tournaments wrapped up while the Main Events and 6-Max affairs will be completed on Monday.

PokerStars SCOOP 40-H: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Two-Day ($2.5M Guaranteed)

The first day of the two-day SCOOP "High" Main Event saw a huge turnout of 517 players, more than doubling the total prize pool of the event's $2.5 million guarantee. The money was set at the top 63 finishers, and as it turned out, the cash bubble burst on the last hand of the night leaving 63 players to return for Monday's final day of play. Awaiting the first-place finisher is a cool $982,300 first prize, barring any final-table deals.

As the day wore on, several players took turns at the top of the counts until "KeyserMM" found a spot ahead of the others as the field shrunk below 200 players. Then as they approached the final two half-hour levels of the night, Kazu "imashokU" Oshima pushed out in front, then was caught and passed by Ben "NeverScaredB" Wilinofsky and "ValueH" as the bubble neared.

With 66 players left — three from the cash — play slowed considerably. Then came a hand in which Andre "akkarri" Akkari min-raised to 5,000 from under the gun, then "Also11" reraised to 12,500 from late position. Action folded back to Akkari who shoved all-in, and "Also11" called with the 11,915 left behind. "Also11" had A♥Q♣ and Akkari 4♣4♦, and when the board brought no improvement for "Also11," they were down to 65.

Akkari's fellow Team PokerStars Pro Martin Staszko had a short stack of just less than 40,000 but wasn't necessarily in danger of bubbling. At least not until a hand in which "aagefr" opened with a raise to 5,000 in middle position and Staszko called from the big blind. The flop came 2♥8♠7♦, Staszko checked, and "aagefr" shoved all-in, prompting Staszko to call. The 2011 WSOP Main Event runner-up had 10♠10♥ for an over pair, better than "aagefr's" 4♣8♣ for top pair of eights. But the 4♦ fell on the turn to give Staszko's opponent two pair, and after the 5♣ river they were just one away from the money.

Play wound down to the last hand of Level 20 and the scheduled end of play for Day 1. It looked like the night might end with 64 still remaining, but when Wilinofsky opened with a min-raise on the button at his table, Steve "Illini23" Barshak shoved for 28,317 from the big blind and Wilinofsky called. Barshak tabled A♠3♠ and Wilinofsky 8♠8♣. The flop was 8♦2♠J♣ to put Wilinofsky way in front, although the K♠ on the turn opened the door for a flush save for Barshak. But the river was the Q♣, Barshak had bubbled, and all 63 players returning for Monday's Day 2 would be in the money.

Here's how the top 10 looked at the end of Day 1 of Event #40-H

Other notables returning tomorrow include Peter "twirlpro" Turmezey (14th - 187,087), Jon "FatalError" Aguiar (18th - 142,636), Nick "GripDsNutz" Grippo (21st - 137,062), Stefan "I'am_Sound" Huber (22nd - 133,279), Jamie "TheCronic420" Rosen (23rd - 117,068), Spencer "UH Big Tex" Hudson (24th - 111,525), Vojtech "Vojta_R" Ruzicka (26th - 107,986), Sorel "zangbezan24" Mizzi (28th - 101,149), Rory "Mafews" Mathews (29th - 98,913), Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (30th - 97,522), Clark "snake8484" Hamagami (33rd - 92,491), William "Altrum Altus" Reynolds (34th - 88,669), Dan "w00ki3z." Cates (35th - 87,115), Frederik "Fred_Brink" Jensen (36th - 83,060), Johan "buston_soon" Van Til (38th - 80,176), Anthony "wwwBTHEREcom" Gregg (39th - 76,771), Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger (48th - 56,435), Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen (51st - 42,615), Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira (52nd - 38,431), Calvin "cal42688" Anderson (54th - 35,812), Brian "Halfrek" Elgaard (57th - 28,171), David "Betudontbet" Emmons (59th - 23,906), and Jeff "jeff710" Hakim (60th - 19,944).

PokerStars SCOOP 40-M: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Two-Day ($1.5M Guaranteed)

First place in the medium buy-in Main Event is set at $560,019. Among those making it to the later stages of Day 1 before busting: Cassio "cassiopak" Kiles (76th - $5,707.20), Aaron "AaronBeen" Been (77th - $5,707.20), Valentyn “touchmynuts1″ Shabelnyk (80th - $5,707.20), Matthias "goodvibe1" Neu (85th - $5,350.50), Bryan "theczar19" Piccioli (94th - $5,100.81), Carter "devinr12" Gill (102nd - $4,922.46), and Aaron "aejones" Jones (112th - $4,744.11).

Here are the top 10 counts entering Day 2:

Seventy-four players have moved on to Day 2, including Rich "ChipRich20" Hare (11th - 1,151,614),Jesper "KipsterDK" Hougaard (15th - 1,054,445), David "malicous222" Randall (18th - 924,302), Dylan "WhiteRabbito" Honeyman (23rd - 798,745), Peter "twirlpro" Turmezey (25th - 757,001), Mike "Timex" McDonald (30th - 701,661), Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth (36th - 647,951), Veronica "Princesa" Dabul (42nd - 580,554), and McLean "PureProfitFo" Karr (57th - 358,483)

PokerStars SCOOP 40-L: $100 No-Limit Hold'em Main Event Two-Day ($1M Guaranteed)

Among the players cashing in the Low buy-in Main Event were Mike "Pipedream17" Dietrich (90th - $1,880.88), Nick "GripDsNutz" Grippo (93rd - $1,659.60), Seth "Setherson2" Davies (125th - $1,239.16), Steven "stevejpa" Paul (130th - $1,194.91), Alex "TIJO" Brenes (145th - $1,106.40), Steve "BetrThanPhil" Tripp (176th - $1,040.01), and Matthias "mattidm" De Meulder (191st - $1,017.88).

Here are the top 10 counts entering Day 2:

Eighty-eight players remain with hopes of capturing the $221,292.59 first-place prize. Among them are Jamie "pokerjamers" Armstrong (15th - 5,812,061), Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (19th - 5,058,912), Christophe "chrisdm" De Meulder, (23rd - 4,574,887), Mike "Gags30" Gagliano (25th - 4,370,000), Ryan "RJules12" Julius (40th - 3,700,961), and Derek "derek8" Lerner (64th - 2,093,511).

PokerStars SCOOP 37-H: $20,000 No-Limit Hold'em, Heads-Up, Two-Day ($150K Guaranteed)

Only four players survived the first three rounds of play on Saturday in the "High" version of the “High Roller” heads-up SCOOP event, with Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia set to battle Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky in one semifinal match and “Also11” up against Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker in the other.

Here’s a reminder of how those four made it through to Day 2 and the cash in this event:

Semifinal #1: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky vs. Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia

Mandavia grabbed the advantage in the very first hand. After Sulsky had the initiative before and after the flop, Mandavia bet the turn and Sulsky called, then Mandavia fired a big 2,850-chip bet into a pot of 3,150 on the river with the board showing 3♦5♥4♠8♦J♠. Sulsky thought a bit, then let it go. Sulsky soon battled back, however, and after a few minutes the pair were virtually even.

Sulsky had just nudged out in front when a seemingly ordinary-looking hand began to develop in which Mandavia opened with a min-raise for 100 from the button, Sulsky made it 350 to go, and Mandavia called. The flop came Q♥8♥3♣, and that's when things quickly became much less ordinary.

Sulsky led out for 489; Mandavia raised to 1,000. Sulsky pushed it to 2,620, Mandavia reraised all-in for 8,700 total, and Sulsky insta-called. Mandavia turned over K♥3♥ a flush draw while Sulsky had Q♠Q♣ for top set. The turn was the 6♥, giving Mandavia the flush, but the river brought the 6♣ to pair the board and give Sulsky the better full house. In less than nine minutes, Sulsky had claimed the first spot in the finals.

Semifinal #2: Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker vs. “Also11”

“Also11” was the one pushing out in front in this match, winning 12 of the first 16 hands — including a 4,100-chip pot in one — to grab the early lead.

The pair then traded small pots through the rest of the 20-minute level, then on the last hand of Level I, Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker had to fold to a five-bet all-in shove from “Also11,” allowing the latter to climb up over the 13,000-chip mark while Heinecker slipped below 7,000.

Level 2 again saw several small pots being exchanged, with “Also11” continuing to increase the lead by the time they took a five-minute break halfway through the level. By then “Also11” sat with 14,374 to Heinecker’s 5,626.

They played on for about 10 more minutes, and were nearing the end of Level 2 when Heinecker opened with a min-raise to 120, “Also11” made it 480, Heinecker fired back with a reraise to 960, “Also11” shoved all-in, and Heineckerragen called for 6,373 total. Heinecker had Q♠Q♣ and was hoping to hold versus “Also11”'s A♦K♠, but the flop came 3♣6♦K♥ to pair “Also11.” The turn was the 7♦ and river the 3♦, giving “Also11” a full house and the other spot in the championship round.

Final: Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky vs. “Also11”

About 40 minutes after their semifinal matches had started, the final match between Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky and “Also11” was under way. The pair have a history of high-stakes, heads-up clashes at the cash tables, having battled over some of the biggest pots on PokerStars over the last couple of years, so it was only fitting to them meet again in this high-roller heads-up finale.

Sulsky and “Also11” began their championship match exchanging "gl" wishes, then trading back and forth small pots until Sulsky grabbed the first 2,000-plus chip pot. In that one Sulksy was able to draw a full house with 5♦2♥ on a 6♥5♥8♥8♠5♣ board, and managed to get a little value after getting “Also11” to call a small river bet holding but 10♣9♠.

“Also11” soon scraped back, however, then seized the advantage in a hand in which Sulsky called a big 1,000-chip river bet into a pot of 800 with the board showing 10♦5♥J♣6♣6♦. “Also11” showed K♣J♠, Sulsky mucked, and “Also11” took the 2,800 pot.

At that point, Sulsky began to show some aggression, grabbing 10 of the next 15 hands to retake the lead with 10,520 to “Also11's" 9,480. When they moved into Level 2 (blinds 30/60), Sulsky opened a hand with a raise to 150 from the button, earning a three-bet to 540 from “Also11.” Sulsky made it 1,320, “Also11” kept pushing to make it 2,400 to go, and Sulsky called.

The flop came 8♠6♣2♣, and “Also11” checked. Sulsky then bet 2,220, prompting an all-in shove for 7,080 from “Also11” which Sulsky quickly called.

Sulsky showed 10♣10♥ for the over pair and was hoping to hold against “Also11”'s A♥K♥. The turn was the 9♦ and river the 3♥, and after just over 22 minutes of play, Sulsky had won.

PokerStars SCOOP 37-M: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em, Heads-Up, Two-Day ($150K Guaranteed)

The "Medium" version of the "High Roller" heads-up event saw 16 players make it through to Sunday's second day of play. Those losing the first matches of Day 2 each earned $10,752.

"Banderivets" was the first to earn a spot in the semifinals after taking the last of "Xereles'" chips. A short while later, it was "KRab42" defeating TJ "1BigAceHole" Ulmer. "w00tLOL" was the next one through after wiping out "C. Darwin2," then "Helio TYF" outlasted Chris "Moorman1" Moorman and the final four were set.

The four players falling in the quarterfinals each took away $19,968. Here's a look at their Event #37-M tourney journeys:

The semifinal match between "Helio TYF" and "Banderivets" ended in short order. "Helio TYF" quickly built a lead of more 13,601 to the 6,399 of "Banderivets." The came a hand in which preflop raising put "Banderivets" all-in with A♣K♣ versus the 10♠10♥ of "Helio TYF." The board came 3♠J♦8♠Q♣5♣ and "Helio TYF"'s jacks held to win a spot in the finals.

In the other semifinal, it wasn't long after crossing the half-hour mark before "KRab42" was short-stacked and all-in with A♣K♥ against "w00tLOL's" A♠2♥, and when the board ran out 5♥9♣7♥6♠2♠ "w00tLOL" had made it through to the final round.

Here's a look at how "KRab42" and "Banderivets" made it as far as the semis and a $35,840 payday:

"w00tLOL" and "Helio TYF" played a few hands in the final, then paused the tourney to talk about possibly closing the gap between the scheduled prizes for first ($112,640) and second ($71,680). They were able to come to agree to reduce the difference in prizes to $20,000, and continued their match.

They subsequently battled for about a half-hour, and were still nearly even in chips when "Helio TYF" opened to 160 from the button and "w00tLOL" called. The flop came 3♣6♦J♦, "w00tLOL" checked, "Helio TYF" bet 160, "w00tLOL" raised to 582, and "Helio TYF" called. The turn was the 6♠, and this time "w00tLOL" bet 979, to which "Helio TYF" responded with a raise to 2,528 which "w00tLOL" called. The river brought the 10♣, a check from "w00tLOL," and an all-in push for 6,677 from "Helio TYF." "w00tLOL" called again, turning over 3♥3♠ for threes full of sixes, better than "Helio TYF"'s trip sixes with Q♦6♠, and "w00tLOL" had won.

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars SCOOP 37-L: $200 No-Limit Hold'em, Heads-Up, Two-Day ($150K Guaranteed)

Sixty-four players returned for Day 2 of the "low" version of the heads-up "High Roller" event. Among those falling in the first round of play on Sunday: Ben "delaney_kid" Delaney who lost to "user223" and Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah who lost to "hneves182." Like everyone else knocked out in the Round of 64, Delaney and Leah earned $1,295.22 for their efforts. Among those winning one but losing in the Round of 32 on Sunday was Rory "Mafews" Mathews, who like others getting that far took away $2,135.14.

Round-of-16 losers earning $4,077.97 included "qbgoose," "ZKostas," "arek11," "LFB TUBI," "harddecision," "MrJovelli," "user223," and "Slottinho." Those making it one round further to the quarterfinals before falling and thereby cashing for $7,579.04 were "ndscott," "zoro555," "_qpuni$her_," and Andrew "RunThisTable" Lichtenberger.

The semifinals pitted "oxynak" against "sonik4" in one match, and "dontdoitlol" and "goxomago" in the other. "sonik4" took care of "oxynak" in their match within about a half-hour, while it took "goxomago" more than an hour to dispatch of "dontdoitlol." "oxynak" and "dontdoitlol" each made $13,605.50 for making the final four.

"sonik4" had beaten "lev67," "jahve00," "qbgoose," "ndscott," and "oxyzak" in the previous five matches to reach the finals, while "goxomago's" Sunday had consisted of wins over "bojabääs," "Jamie_KK," "Slottinho," Andrew "RunThisTable" Lichtenberger, and "dontdoitlol."

"sonik4" jumped out to a quick lead in the final against "goxomago," eventually winning in under a half hour. On the last hand, "goxomago" committed all-in on a J♣3♠4♣ board with K♣Q♣ for a flush draw while "sonik4" held 4♥4♠ for a flopped set. The turn was the 6♥ and river the 9♦, and “sonik4” had won.

PokerStars SCOOP 39-H: $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max Two-Day ($750K Guaranteed)

After 20 half-hour levels, 41 players remain from the starting field of 840. Among those who cashed were Andrew "foucault82" Brokos (52nd - $5,712), Anton "antesvante" Wigg (55th - $5,376), Mike "munchenHB" Telker (56th - $5,376), Sorel "zangbezan24" Mizzi (61st - $5,040), Shyam "G's zee" Srinivasan (66th - $5,040), Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek (68th - $4,872), Clark "snake8484" Hamagami (70th - $4,872), Jason "jakoon1985" Koon (86th - $4,368), and Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia (88th - $4,386).

Others still in include Mathew "Matfrankland" Frankland (14th - 238,563), Laurence "rivermanl" Houghton (20th - 190,074), Brandon "oncommand" Meyers (21st - 189,630), Randal "RandALLin" Flowers (22nd - 186,450), Ariel "ArielBahia" Celestino (25th - 161,838), Chris "Moorman1" Moorman (26th - 157,950), Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (27th - 155,126), William "Altrum Altus" Reynolds (33rd - 92,308), Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick (35th - 84,339), Ricky "RonaldKosh" Fohrenbach (36th - 80,742), Russell "rdcrsn" Carson (38th - 67,369), Mike "Gags30" Gagliano (40th - 59,425), and Leandro "leopeluca" Csome (41st - 29,530).

PokerStars SCOOP 39-M: $200 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max Two-Day ($500K Guaranteed)

Among the cashers so far in Event #39-M are Luke "Bdbeatslayer" Vrabel (50th - $2,143.07), David "SexSeen" Sands (53rd - $2,143.07), and Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman (77th - $1,672.64).

Forty-four players will return on Day 2 to duke it out for the $159,425.30 first-place prize. The top 10 counts are as follows:

Also still in the field are "Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis (18th - 1,407,650), Brandon "oncommand" Meyers (20th - 1,338,119), Jamie "TheCronic420" Rosen (20th - 1,023,666), and Dmitry "Russian_nuts" Stelmak (32nd - 703,756).

PokerStars SCOOP 39-L - $25 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max Two-Day ($250K Guaranteed)

Only 39 players remain from a massive starting field in Event #39-L. Notable finishes thus far include Richard Toth (40th - $1,000.22), Ben "bennybunny18" Richardson (85th - $401.13), Mayu "maroca5" Roca (116th - $322.98), Rupert "ElRupert" Elder (136th - $302.15), and Brian "brianm15" England (150th - $291.73).

Here is how the leaderboard looks going into Day 2:

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