Germans Dominate 2013 PokerStars WCOOP Main Event; "PlayinWasted" Wins Title For $1.5M

October 01, 2013

The 2013 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Main Event came to a close early Tuesday morning. More than $10.6 million was awarded in the prestigious event, and when it was all over three players had locked up seven-figure paydays, each of them hailing from Germany. Landing in the winner's circle after two long days of work was "PlayinWasted," who locked up nearly $1.5 million in prize money along with the coveted WCOOP Main Event bracelet.

PokerStars WCOOP Event #66: Main Event ($8M Guaranteed)

*Denotes three-handed deal

The 2013 WCOOP Main Event began with 2,133 players in search of a massive payday, and after Day 1 only 296 remained. Among the notables still in contention heading into Tuesday were Jason Mercier, Jake Cody, Liv Boeree, Shaun Deeb, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Humberto Brenes, Andrew Lichtenberger, Vicky Coren, Steven "Zugwat" Silverman,Shane "shaniac" Schleger, and Dan "Danny98765" Smith, who began the day third in chips.

The top 243 finishers in the tournaments were set to lock up a minimum payday of $12,798, and it didn't take long to reach the bubble on Monday. After pros like Lichtenberger, Taylor "tRaMp$d0PrAy" Paur and Adam "simmsux" Geyer fell just shy of paydirt, Nick "PureCash25" Rampone landed directly on the money bubble when his set of three fell short to Luke "LukeFromB13" Staudenmaier's set of queens, leaving Rampone empty-handed.

Dozens of short stacks hit the wayside quickly from there, including Silverman, Anton "antesvante" Wigg, William "Altum Altrus" Reynolds, Coren, Deeb, and Cody. Jason Mercier then exited in 144th place when his ran pocket tens into pocket jacks, leaving only Brenes, Boeree, Schleger and Mickey "mement_mori" Pedersen as the last representatives of Team PokerStars.

Brenes was eliminated in 69th place, and Petersen hit the rail a short while later in 63rd. Then it was Boeree who was sent packing when she committed her last 11 big blinds preflop with A♦J♠ and couldn't hold against the 10♥7♣ of Larry "BBOY3110" Sharpe.

Other notables who fell shy of the final table were Jens "Jeans89" Kyllönen (47th - $26,662), Caio Pimenta (43rd - $29,862), James "croll1103" Carroll (31st - $34,128), Jason "TheMasterJ33" DeWitt (27th - $39,460), Chris "SLOPPYKLOD" Klodnicki (21st - $39,460), Jon "PearlJammer" Turner (15th - $56,524), Sharpe (14th - $56,524), and Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko (11th - $67,189).

That left 10 players eyeing online poker's most coveted final table, and only nine would advance. The unfortunate bubble boy was Francisco "Tomatee" Benitez who ran his K♦J♠ into PlayinWasted's pocket aces. That increased the German's stack heading into the final table, but he was still chasing countrymen "SwissCantMis" who was wielding a stack of more than 11 million.

Germany was well represented in the final nine, but one of the four players from the country was the first to exit. After PlayinWasted raised to 210,000 (blinds 50,000/100,000/12,500) from middle position, Stefan Tobias "Vampyboy" Kolossow moved all in for 2,256,886 from the button. PlayinWasted called with A♥J♦ and needed help to eliminate Kolossow, who tabled J♣J♥. The K♣K♥10♥ flop offered a few more outs to PlayinWasted, but he hit the original ace he needed on the A♠ turn. The 8♦ completed the board on the river, and Kolossow was eliminated in ninth place.

After Giuseppe "1M.BanKroLL" Polichetti and Dylan "Pokerl)eviL" Hortin survived all-in confrontations, high-stakes sit-and-go grinder Leon "flippetyflop" Louis was felted in eighth place. Louis min-raised to 240,000 from under the gun, and Daniel "Allanon85" Drescher moved all in for 2,938,164, having Louis covered. Louis called all in for 1,388,559, and the cards were flipped up.

Drescher: A♦K♦
Louis: A♣Q♣

The board ran out J♥10♦4♦8♠5♥, and Louis was eliminated in eighth place for $159,975.

Two eliminations then arrived back-to-back, the first being Hortin. SwissCantMis min-raised to 240,000 from the button and PlayinWasted called from the small blind. Hortin then shoved for 1,954,980 from the big blind. SwissCantMis folded, but PlayinWasted called. Hortin was ahead with A♠Q♦ against the German's A♣J♥, but the J♦8♦2♠ flop shifted the lead into PlayinWasted's favor. The 5♦ turn and K♣ river provided no help for Hortin, who hit the rail in seventh for $213,300.

On the next hand, SwissCantMis min-raised to 240,000 from the cutoff and PlayinWasted called from the button. Shane "shaniac" Schleger then shoved for 3,466,603 from the small blind, which prompted SwissCantMis to re-shove. PlayinWasted folded, and Schleger discovered he was flipping with pocket fives against SwissCantMis' A♠K♠. Schleger kept the lead through the 9♣4♦3♣ flop, but the A♣ on the turn left him needing a two-outer to stay alive. The Q♠ on the river wasn't what he needed, and he was eliminated in sixth place for $291,154.

A cruel board runout sent "alexandrapau" to the rail in fifth place. With the blinds bumped up to 70,000/140,000, alexandrapau min-raised from the cutoff and Drescher three-bet to 765,432 from the small blind. alexandrapau re-popped it to 1,400,864 and then called off for his remaining 3,787,799 after Drescher moved all in. Both players shockingly tabled pocket aces, alexandrapau's A♣A♥ against Drescher's A♦A♠. According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, the two players would chop 96% of the time, but the 7♦5♦3♦ gave Drescher a freeroll to the flush with two cards to come. The 2♣ on the turn briefly saved alexandrapau, but the 9♦ on the river was disastrous for the Canadian and he exited in fifth place for $426,600.

That left Malta's Giuseppe "1M.BanKroLL" Polichetti battling against three Germans for the title, and he wasn't able to overcome their big stacks. On his final stand, Polichetti moved all in for 1,139,064 (blinds 80,000/160,000) from the button with the K♣7♠, and Drescher called with the A♣5♠. The board ran out 10♥5♥3♠J♦A♥, and Polichetti's tournament ended with a fourth place result for $599,906.

"Team Germany" decided to negotiate a three-way deal, and the players came to an agreement which saw each of them become millionaires, with $160,000 left on the side to play for.

• Daniel "Allanon85" Drescher — $1,415,238
• PlayinWasted — $1,333,499
• SwissCantMis — $1,101,835

Shortly after play resumed, SwissCantMis was sent to the rail in third place when his A♥7♦ came up short against Drescher's A♣K♥. That left Drescher (16,918,683 in chips) heads-up for the title against PlayinWasted (25,741,317).

The two players competed for more than an hour, exchanging the chip lead multiple times, before PlayinWasted was able to pull away and ultimately prevail. On the final hand of the tournament, with the blinds at 200,000/400,000, PlayinWasted sneakily limped from the button with the A♠K♠, and Drescher raised to 888,888 with the K♣Q♠. PlayinWasted shoved all in and Drescher called, and the 10♠4♠2♣J♥J♠ board gave PlayinWasted the winning flush and the 2013 WCOOP Main Event title. With the victory, the German added his name to a champions list that includes Thomas Pedersen, Tyson Marks, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Carter King, and last year's winner Marat "maratik" Sharafutdinov.

For more on the World Championship of Online Poker, be sure to check out the coverage at the PokerStars Blog.

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