2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

Welcome back to PokerNews coverage of the inaugural PokerStars Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP). Wednesday night will see three more events of the two-week, 60-event flagship tournament series, with the marquee event of the night being Event #18: $500 NLHE [6-Max, High Roller], $35K Gtd.

Registration is already open for all currently present inside Michigan state lines on the PokerStars Michigan client with play set to get underway at 8 p.m. ET. Players will receive 25,000 starting stacks and blinds will begin at 80/160 with an ante of 20, increasing every 10 minutes through the duration of the one-night event.

Registration will remain open until 10:40 p.m. ET, at the approximate end of Level 15 (1,250/2,500/325). During that time, all players may fire up to four total bullets before being fully eliminated from the tournament. Should players at the final table agree to a deal, they must do so while leaving at least $700 up top for the eventual champion.

Updates will be coming fast and frequently from the time play gets underway all the way until one player remains. Stay tuned to PokerNews to follow along.

Jason "Clozer" Kapoor, 26, resides in Redford, Michigan and has established himself as one of the state's fiercest players. He spent five years selling cars before opting to play poker full time beginning at the end of 2019.

"I don’t have much family, my mom just passed away five months ago," Kapoor told PokerNews. "I'm really trying my best to ship a tournament soon to dedicate a win to her."

Kapoor started playing poker avidly in 2017. He always knew the basics of the game, but like so many, he wasn't aware of just how in-depth the game could be.

Kapoor didn't graduate high school and actually left home when he was just 14 years old. He spent 70 hours a week working at a Dunkin Donuts when he was 16 years old just to pay rent and bills. To succeed in poker, one has to grind and deal with hardships. Kapoor has real-life experience in both.

"I was in survival mode my whole life, so I had to get good at reading people," he explained. "Knowing how people worked. What they wanted to hear and see. It’s sad but true. In my opinion, this really helps in poker, one of my best abilities is knowing where I’m at a lot of the time."

In regards to PokerStars launching in Michigan where he plays under the screen name “TheRealClozer," Kapoor said: "I’m super excited that we have the chance to play legally online now."

When not playing online, Kapoor sniffs out the action. For the past five months, he's traveled to what little live events there have been. Primarily a cash game player at the $5/$10 level, Kapoor added tournament play to his skillset in 2019. His biggest live tournament cash to date is $12,051 for finishing 19th in the 2019 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship for $12,051.

"I can’t wait for the world to reopen. I’m beyond blessed to have this ability to make this kind of living considering where I came from and everything I’ve had to overcome throughout my life," he said. "Poker is not just a hobby. It’s a lifestyle, and I can’t see myself ever giving it up. I’ve met some of the best friends I could ever have from poker."

He added: "If you see me at the tables, you will either love me or hate me. I’m a talker, it’s part of my game. I mean no harm, I just want your chips!"

Kapoor is currently in Tampa Bay for a live event but will be returning to Michigan soon to compete in the MICOOP.

"Ideally I would like to ship that [live event] then come back here to Michigan and win the Main Event of the MICOOP."

PokerNews will be keeping an eye out for Kapoor whenever he jumps into online tournament action.

Tags: Jason Kapoor

A couple of familiar faces around the live poker circuit are among those to have entered straight away in Event #18. The pair of Patrick "MSPT-HOF" Steele and Henry "xlzou1990" Zou both have mid-six-figure lifetime earnings in the live realm and look to add to their already-impressive resumes with some online success in tonight's event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Henry "xlzou1990" Zou	25,000 25,000	25,000
Patrick "MSPT-HOF" Steele	25,000 25,000	25,000
22yardPUNT	25,000 25,000	25,000
AUTOKOREKT	25,000 25,000	25,000
backdoorFILTH	25,000 25,000	25,000
BeefySupreme	25,000 25,000	25,000
eyewantoowin	25,000 25,000	25,000
GrandKam616	25,000 25,000	25,000
jTizzle450	25,000 25,000	25,000
LambForeshanks	25,000 25,000	25,000
SimpinAintEasy	25,000 25,000	25,000
YouPaid2SeeNuts	25,000 25,000	25,000
santasworkshop	25,000 25,000	25,000

In Level 6 with blinds of 250/500 and an ante of 60, "PowerRanges" opened the action with a raise to 1,000 in the hijack and action folded to "D-Cronk0126" in the small blind, who re-jammed for 20,242. "Diddy Donkeeeey" called all in for less in the big blind, totaling 13,784 and "PowerRanges" opted not to go for the double knockout.

"Diddy Donkeeeey":
"D-Cronk0126":

It was a classic coin-flip situation between the two players, and "D-Cronk0126" got a favorable flop of to pull ahead with top pair, top kicker. The turn and river left things just the way they were, eliminating "Diddy Donkeeeey" for just a moment before they re-entered and received a fresh stack of 25,000 at a new table.

Player	Chips	Progress
PowerRanges	82,800 12,153	12,153
D-Cronk0126	35,386 35,386	35,386
Diddy Donkeeeey	25,000 25,000	25,000

In Level 10 with blinds of 500/1,000 and an ante of 125, "D-Cronk0126" limped under the gun and "SimpinAintEasy" limped behind from the hijack. "freebrit" was next to act in the cutoff and pumped it up to 6,250, prompting a couple of folds before "autokorekt" three-bet shoved for 32,745. Both limpers folded and "freebrit" called the jam.

"autokorekt":
"freebrit":

No aces were in the runout and "autokorekt" saw all of their chips sent in the opposite direction, resulting in their brief elimination before re-entering to receive a new stack of 25,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
freebrit	82,853 82,853	82,853
SimpinAintEasy	55,724 -8,463	-8,463
D-Cronk0126	46,589 11,203	11,203
AUTOKOREKT	25,000 -29,060	-29,060

Level 16 has begun, and one minute prior, the two-hour-and-forty-minute late registration period officially became a thing of the past. A total of 131 entries generated a prize pool of $61,570, leaving the top 19 places set to be paid a minimum of $903. The eventual winner is set to earn $12,988.

For complete prize pool information, check the Payouts Tab above.

Matthew "Luna_Nova21" Davis is a 31-year-old former director of mortgage banking for Quicken Loans and now an owner of his own Allstate Insurance Agency. Davis, who is single with no kids, resides in Washington, Michigan not far from Detroit.

"I started playing poker when I was 15 with friends from school," he said when asked how he learned the game. "There was about four of us who would play $5 sit n gos. I play mostly Texas hold ‘em, but I mix in PLO, 7-Card Stud, and five-card PLO from time to time. I play mainly tournaments but I do want to start playing more cash. I do really well in cash games but I love to hunt for titles."

He continued: "I used to play online before Black Friday. I’ve been playing on another site for the last few years but now play on PokerStars. I’ve mostly played tournaments. I typically will play the mid to higher-stakes games online."

In the live realm, Davis has more than $160K in lifetime earnings according to The Hendon Mob. That includes a career-high $98,120 for finishing 76th out of an 8,569-player field in the 2019 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He also finished 24th in the 2015 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond $1,675 Main Event for $13,437, 28th in the same tournament in 2019 for $8,065, and 21st in the 2014 Heartland Poker Tour Mount Pleasant $1,650 Main Event for $4,933.

Only time will tell if Davis' live success will translate to the online felt here in the 2021 MICOOP.

Tags: Matthew Davis

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

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 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	396,946
FukDaRivereh	Busted