2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

In Level 30 with blinds of 25,000/50,000 and an ante of 6,000, "Surge_Ibaka" open-jammed on the button and "HeyLookItsTez" called all in for 859,941 in the big blind on the very first hand of heads-up play.

"HeyLookItsTez":
"Surge_Ibaka":

The board ran out , unnecessarily giving "Surge_Ibaka" bottom pair as "HeyLookItsTez" found their two Broadway cards unable to hit, bringing about their runner-up finish good for $9,716.

Meanwhile, "Surge_Ibaka" has won MICOOP Event #18 for $12,988. A recap of the tournament will be posted shortly.

Player	Chips	Progress
Surge_Ibaka	3,275,000	865,941
HeyLookItsTez	Busted

In Level 30 with blinds of 25,000/50,000 and an ante of 6,000, "sexycaitlyn" jammed for their last 394,432 on the button and received a call from "Surge_Ibaka" in the big blind.

"sexycaitlyn":
"Surge_Ibaka":

"sexycaitlyn" saw their situation go from bad to worse on the flop and the turn left them only with the hopes of running jacks to chop. Unfortunately for them, the river did not comply and they hit the rail in third place as a result, earning a payday of $7,268 to go along with it.

Player	Chips	Progress
Surge_Ibaka	2,409,059	1,752,242
HeyLookItsTez	865,941	-102,000
sexycaitlyn	Busted

In Level 29 with blinds of 20,000/40,000, "barry20sanders" found themselves folding for several orbits and were down to just 66,522. They shoved in the small blind and "sexycaitlyn" called in the big blind.

"barry20sanders":
"sexycaitlyn":

"barry20sanders" found no true help as the board ran out and they were eliminated from the tournament in fourth place, earning a payday of $5,437 for their finish.

Player	Chips	Progress
sexycaitlyn	2,368,966	645,967
HeyLookItsTez	697,941	-145,695
Surge_Ibaka	208,093	-145,000
barry20sanders	Busted

In Level 28 with blinds of 15,000/30,000 and an ante of 3,750, "Johnanthony55" opened to 60,000 in the hijack and "sexycaitlyn" three-bet to 155,555 in the cutoff. Action folded back to "Johnanthony55" and they four-bet jammed for 738,664. "sexycaitlyn" called.

"Johnanthony55":
"sexycaitlyn":

The biggest pot of the tournament thus far had just transpired with "Johnanthony55" slightly ahead in a coin-flip situation for their tournament life. They remained ahead through the flop and turn , but were unable to dodge the river and fell in fifth place as a result, earning $4,067 for their performance on the evening.

Player	Chips	Progress
sexycaitlyn	1,722,999	806,164
Johnanthony55	Busted

Jennie "InkedOne" Allison, 40, recently spent seven years living in Oregon but moved back to Michigan back in October, which was just in time to participate in this MICOOP.

"I’ve been playing poker for just over two years," she told PokerNews. "I taught myself on an app that had poker on it. I got fed up with imaginary money and people shoving all in every hand. One day I went to a poker house in Oregon and played a tournament. In my first tournament, I took 11th place out of 40 or so people."

In her second tournament, she improved to seventh place and followed that up by taking second in her third-ever tournament.

"Over these two years, I have played both cash and tournaments but my favorite is tournament play. I play NLH, Omaha, and other variations such as Crazy Pineapple and Courchevel. I moved back to Michigan in October and it was hard not playing tournaments every week."

She added: "I have noticed that men play women differently. I learned early on I had to play fearlessly. I was not letting people bully me out of hands. While playing poker online, I even did an experiment where I changed my avatar and name to a man, played identical to my play and the men played me differently. I ended up first within 24 hours of changing that."

While that experiment didn't take place on PokerStars, she is enjoying grinding the virtual felt of Michigan's first regulated online site.

"On PokerStars, I have an ambiguous screen name and do not reveal my gender when playing. However, oddly enough, many people refer to me as 'bro' and 'buddy.' So, not sure if that’s a compliment that they can’t imagine I’m a woman, or if it means they just assume fewer women play."

She continued: "My experience with online poker is so-so. I pride myself on my reads. When dealing with online, sure I can figure out how people play, but I can’t see tells, eye contact, etc. I’ve been first in two tournaments on PokerStars and have cashed out at least a dozen times."

Allison tends to play tournaments with buy-ins $15 or lower and can be found battling at the micro stakes where she attempts to enhance her skill and learn from her hands.

"My favorite tournaments on PokerStars are the bounty hunters and the knockout ones," she said. "One of my first-place wins had more cash won in knockouts than the actual top prize."

Allison concluded: "I really love poker. I may have only been playing two years but I learn and grow every time I play."

Tags: Jennie Allison

In Level 24 with blinds of 7,000/14,000 and an ante of 1,750, action folded to Matthew "ProfitablePloof" Ploof on the button and he jammed for his last 117,374. "HeyLookItsTez" called in the big blind.

Matthew "ProfitablePloof" Ploof:
"HeyLookItsTez":

The flop gave Ploof 15 outs to sweat, and he was unable to avoid falling behind on the turn , leaving him with just two non-spade aces to stay alive. Neither came on the river and he finished in sixth place as a result, earning $3,042 for his efforts.

Player	Chips	Progress
HeyLookItsTez	1,136,116	-8,870,126
Matthew "ProfitablePloof" Ploof	Busted

In Level 23 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and an ante of 1,500, "PowerRanges" open-jammed for 182,512 in the hijack and received action from "Surge_Ibaka" on the button.

"PowerRanges":
"Surge_Ibaka":

The MICOOP Event #1 Winner smacked the flop but saw it smack their opponent harder, running top two pair into top set. The turn squashed any hope of hitting running quads, and the river proved to be the last card of their tournament as they finished in seventh place for a total cash of $2,485.

Player	Chips	Progress
HeyLookItsTez	1,006,242	42,750
Johnanthony55	684,296	-13,500
Surge_Ibaka	626,468	264,127
sexycaitlyn	561,640	-24,000
barry20sanders	254,980	-156,860
Matthew "ProfitablePloof" Ploof	141,374	-32,500
PowerRanges	Busted

In Level 23 with blinds of 6,000/12,000 and an ante of 1,500, "Johnanthony55" opened to 36,000 in the cutoff and "FukDaRivereh" re-jammed for 222,451 in the small blind. "Johnanthony55" called.

"FukDaRivereh":
"JohnAnthony55":

A paired flop followed by the turn left possible chop outs, but the river was of no avail and "FukDaRivereh" saw the last of their chips shipped in the direction of "Johnanthony55" as they were eliminated in eighth place.

The seven-handed final table has now begun.

Player	Chips	Progress
Johnanthony55	697,796	396,946
FukDaRivereh	Busted

One player off to a hot start in the 2021 MICOOP is 40-year-old Eric "Eze0302" Rayner III, who grew up in Brighton, went to Eastern Michigan, and currently resides in Plymouth with his wife Karina, son Éric IV, and a foster son his family is working to adopt. When not playing poker, Rayner helps run a small brokerage called Midtown Home Mortgage.

"I got invited to a home game that was a $1/$2 limit game on Tuesdays and a $1/$2 mixed game on Sundays. That’s where I learned Omaha 8, my favorite game," Rayner said when asked how he learned the game."I play more mixed games than anything but I play all of them. When going to Vegas, I stay at The Orleans for their mixed games and O8

Prior to the pandemic, Rayner would often play live at Doc's Sports Bar and Greek Town while also dabbling online. That includes now playing on PokerStars, usually $0.50/$1.00 NLH but also taking a seat anytime Omaha 8 has a table running.

Rayner got off to a hot start in the MICOOP finished 10th in a field of 883 entries in Event #1: $100 NLHE Kick Off, Nightly Star SE Event, good for $755. He also placed 34th in Event #3: $50 NLHE 8-Max for $175, and fourth in Event #13: $50 PLO8 8-Max for $975. Not too shabby as he had only played six tournaments up to that point in the series.

In addition, he's already won a satellite into Event #55: $300 NLHE [Main Event], $125K Gtd on March 7-8. Until then, he'll continue to grind when not at his day job or spending time with his family.

"I'll play the limit and mixed game events for sure," he said. "But [loan] rates have dropped so I've been writing loans the last few days."

Tags: Eric "Eze0302" Rayner

In Level 18 with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and an ante of 625, "freebrit" open-jammed on the button for 71,223 and received action from "PowerRanges" in the small blind.

"freebrit":
"PowerRanges":

"freebrit" had their sights set on a double through the flop and turn , but the river spelled disaster, giving "PowerRanges" a full house and eliminating them as the official bubble finisher in 20th place.

All 19 remaining players are now officially in the money.

Player	Chips	Progress
freebrit	Busted
PowerRanges	Busted