The 2020 SCOOP continued on May 21, crowning several champions and whittling down the massive Thursday Thrill SE event from 1,047 entrants to only 61. That last event saw Rui Sousa bag a massive chip lead under the watchful eyes of the PokerNews Live Reporting team. Continue reading to discover more.
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A field of 1,047 starters were reduced to a more manageable 61 after the first day’s action in the SCOOP-85-H: $1,050 NLHE [8-Max, PKO, Thursday Thrill], $1M Gtd. Rui “sousinha23” Sousa is the man to catch when play resumes at 7:00 p.m. CET on May 22. Sousa finished Day 1 with 8,974,565 chips in his stack, more than double that of his nearest rival “G A W” of Romania.
Sousa was involved in a massive hand that threatens to shape the entire tournament. Brazil’s Alisson “heyalisson” Piekazewicz had been the chip leader for most the the previous levels so the pot this pair was involved in was massive.
It took place 15,000/30,000/3,750 level and Piekazewicz opened to 50,000 from early position with king-queen of clubs. Sousa called in the big blind with king-nine of spades. Sousa flopped two pair and check-called a 91,410 continuation bet. Another nine on the turn gifted Sousa a full house and he led for 102,840, which was called.
The deuce of club river gave Piekazewicz a flush, but was a very expensive second-best hand. Sousa bet 198,280, it was raise to 1,075,000 before Sousa jammed for 3,002,507. That shove was called, Piekazewicz’s stack was decimated and Sousa soared to the top of the chip counts where he remained.
While Sousa is in pole position for the $73,596 (plus bounties) top prize, he won’t have it all his own way when play resumes. A whole host of talented grinders are among the returning players, each will have a major role to play in where the title calls home.
The likes of Jamie “Ship it 2010” O’Connor, Felipe “Fepoker20” Meister, Even “PURPLE”K”99” Parkes, Mike “gorodski” Gorordinsky, Luke “Bit2Easy” Reeves, and Pete “psxfrcndhe” Chen are all still in the hunt for SCOOP glory.
It was an Irish one-two in this event with the pair from the Emerald Isle banking a combined $103,958. “zufo 16” was the player who was crowned champion after defeating Marc “14alonso14” Macdonnell heads-up.
Pete “psxfrcndhe” Chen (3rd - $29,870) and Joao “IneedMassari” Simao (12 - $4,223) were just two stellar names to make it into the money places.
“Nacho124441” got their hands on $92,000 and a SCOOP title on May 21, They topped a field of 227 in the $2,100 buy-in PKO event. The Mexican defeated “KKing James” of Brazil heads-up for the lion’s share of the prize pool, leaving the runner-up to pad their bankroll with $68,990.
Two of poker’s superstars narrowly missed out on a final table appearance. Mike “SirWatts” Watson fell in 10th place for a total prize worth $8,772 while Niklas “Lena900” Astedt busted in ninth for $10,294 with bounties included.
In-Play Events
SCOOP-84-L: $5.50 NLHE, $75K Gtd
Entries
17,340
Players left
151
Prize Pool
$84,966
Chip leader
99ifonly99 (United Kingdom)
First place prize
$9,083
SCOOP-84-M: $55 NLHE, $250K Gtd
Entries
6,134
Players left
195
Prize Pool
$306,700
Chip leader
silskyer (Netherlands)
First place prize
$43,590
SCOOP-84-H: $530 NLHE, $350K Gtd
Entries
745
Players left
49
Prize Pool
$372,500
Chip leader
Kabatajoe (Germany)
First place prize
$63,440
Germany’s “Kabatajoe” is going to have a busy day on May 22 thanks to juggling being chip leader in this event and being among the final 61 of the Thursday Thrill SE. Superstars such as this are used to playing multiple tables against the world’s best players. It could turn out to be an amazing Friday for the German.
SCOOP-85-L: $11 NLHE [Progressive KO], $150K Gtd
Entries
20,302
Players left
192
Prize Pool
$198,959
Chip leader
zuturunga (Argentina)
First place prize
$8,625 (plus bounties)
SCOOP-85-M: $109 NLHE [Progressive KO, Mini Thursday Thrill], $500K Gtd
Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.
