Team Akkari Off to a Flying Start in the 2024 WCOOP League as Team Spraggy Falters
The 2024 World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) shuffled up and dealt at PokerStars for the first time on September 8, marking the start of the eagerly anticipated WCOOP League.
Over the next three-and-a-half weeks, teams selected by Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, Fintan "easywithaces" Hand, Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, Sebastian "peace&loove" Huber, Andre "AAkkari" Akkari, and Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis will earn points based on their finishing positions in WCOOP events as they bid to become the 2024 WCOOP League champions.
Team Lex ran away with proceedings in the inaugural SCOOP League earlier this year, but his fellow team captains won’t let him things his own way during WCOOP, that is for sure.
2024 WCOOP League Standings After Day 1
- Team Akkari – 85 points
- Team Tonkaaaa – 75 points
- Team Lex – 50 points
- Team Fintan – 45 points
- Team Huber – 25 points
- Team Spraggy – 0 points
As you can see, Team Akkari is off to a flying start in the 2024 PokerStars WCOOP League, having amassed 85 points on Day 1. The bulk of Team Akkari’s points total (50) came from Laurie "LaliTournier" Tournier’s impressive eighth-place finish in the WCOOP 07-H: $530 NLHE Turbo Progressive KO. Tournier banked a total prize worth $6,212.
The rest of Team Akkari’s points came in the $109 edition of the event Tournier finished eighth in. Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha finished 112th while "FollowTheBreath" bowed out in 130th.
Team Tonkaaaa pulled off a masterstroke by acquiring 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event third-place finisher Niklas "Lena900" Astedt. The Swede is a high-volume superstar who is likely to add to his seven WCOOP titles this year. He came close to doing so on the opening night, finishing seventh in WCOOP 07-M: $109 NLHE Turbo Progressive KO for $3,920 and 50 WCOOP League points.
Astedt also finds himself as the chip leader in WCOOP 06-H: $1,050 NLHE 6-Max, where only 29 of the 251 entrants remain. Play resumes in that event at 8:05 p.m. BST on September 9.
"Zidix," who earned their spot on Team Akkari via the WCOOP Boot Camp, earned their team some valuable points with a cash in WCOOP 02-M: $55 NLHE WCOOP Kickoff.
Team Lex, Team Fintan, and Team Huber also got off the mark, but spare a thought for Team Spraggy, who amassed no points.
The likes of Spraggy, Kelvin "kelvin_fp:ar" Kerber, Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson, Daniel "SmilleThHero" Smiljkovic, and "Revenge4Dodo" may have drawn a blank on the opening night. However, there's still a long way to go in the 2024 WCOOP.
"Tr!pleeeee" Captures Their Third WCOOP Title
Poland-based grinder "Tr!pleeeee" got their WCOOP campaign off to the best of starts by taking down WCOOP 07-H: $530 NLHE Progressive Knockout. The result earned them a total cash prize of $28,406 (including bounties) plus 115 WCOOP Leaderboard points, giving them the overall lead after Day 1.
The event attracted 338 entries, who fought for a slice of the $175,000 prize pool. As mentioned earlier, Team PokerStars Pro and Team Akkari member Laurie "LaliTournier" Tournier finished eight for $6,212.
Eventually, the event progressed to the heads-up stage where "Tr!pleeeee" and "SerVlaMin" locked horns. Both players locked in $14,772 from the main prize pool, leaving the final bounties payments to play for. "Tr!pleeeee" came out on top, adding $13,633 to their main prize pool prize for a total sum of $28,406; "SerVlaMin" banked $20,040 in total.
This was the champion's third WCOOP victory, having secured two titles in 2023. They won WCOOP 18-H: $1,050 NLHE Deep Stack for $66,174 and followed that up with a first-place finish in WCOOP 90-H: $1,050 NLHE Deep Stack for an additional $50,391.
WCOOP 07-H: $530 NLHE Turbo PKO Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tr!pleeeee | Poland | $13,633 | $14,773 | $28,406 |
| 2 | SerVlaMin | Mexico | $5,268 | $14,772 | $20,040 |
| 3 | mikke8282 | Sweden | $2,205 | $9,416 | $11,621 |
| 4 | Grovsey1 | United Kingdom | $1,171 | $7,024 | $8,195 |
| 5 | viinig | Brazil | $3,503 | $5,239 | $8,742 |
| 6 | Piranha_n1 | Brazil | $3,203 | $3,908 | $7,111 |
| 7 | Piaggesi | Argentina | $2,160 | $2,915 | $5,075 |
| 8 | Laurie "LaliTournier" Tournier | Brazil | $4,037 | $2,175 | $6,212 |
| 9 | MizRedUrHan | United Kingdom | $2,136 | $1,788 | $3,921 |
WCOOP Results From Day 1 of the Series
"Sintoras" was the biggest winner on Day 1 of the 2024 PokerStars WCOOP. They outlasted 4,525 opponents in WCOOP 02-M: $55 NLHE WCOOP Kickoff and received a bankroll-boosting $32,247.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #02-L: $5.50 NLHE WCOOP Kickoff | 13,093 | $64,155 | thimbex | $8,143 |
| #02-M: $55 NLHE WCOOP Kickoff | 4,526 | $226,300 | Sintoras | $32,247 |
| #07-L: $22 NLHE PKO | 4,954 | $99,080 | Azkabanter | $10,325* |
| #07-M: $109 NLHE PKO | 2,158 | $215,800 | CPUrul0r | $24,344* |
| #07-H: $530 NLHE PKO | 338 | $175,000 | Tr!pleeeee | $28,406 |
*includes bounty payments
Action Packed Day 2 in Store for WCOOP Grinders
Day 2 of the 2024 WCOOP runs on September 9, and it will be a busy day of poker action that could flip the current WCOOP League standings. Thirteen in-play events conclude on September 9, including the WCOOP 04-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO Sunday High Roller.
Twenty-four new tournaments get underway, including a huge WCOOP 09-H: $5,200 NLHE Bounty Builder Super High Roller at 5:30 p.m. BST, which is guaranteed to draw in some of the biggest names in online poker.
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