Event #38: $250 NLHE [Super Tuesday SE], $50K Gtd | 2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

03-02-2021 21:22 UTC-4

Eric "Eze0302" Rayner Off to Hot Start in Inaugural MICOOP Series

HillKerby

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."

03-02-2021 21:15 UTC-4

"justinbrown69" Sends "PowerRanges" Onto Bullet Number Two

HillKerby

In Level 2 with blinds of 100/200 and an ante of 25, "PowerRanges" opened to 400 in the hijack and was three-bet to 1,200 by "justinbrown69" on the button. "PowerRanges" called.

The flop dropped and "PowerRanges" check-raised to 3,000. "justinbrown69" called and the turn came . "PowerRanges" checked and "justinbrown69" bet 1,600, prompting another check-raise from "PowerRanges". This time, it was for all 11,853 that remained in their stack and "justinbrown69" found a call.

"PowerRanges":
"justinbrown69":

"PowerRanges" missed their flush draw and open-ended straight draw on the river and were eliminated by the trips of "justinbrown69", prompting them to quickly re-enter and receive a new stack of 25,000 once more.

Player	Chips	Progress
justinbrown69	42,148	42,148
PowerRanges	25,000

03-02-2021 21:07 UTC-4

Names and Faces in the Crowd

HillKerby

Play is over halfway through Level 1 (80/160/20) and the field has already grown to 96. There are plenty of familiar recognizeable names, including the likes of Patrick "MSPT-HOF" Steele, Henry "xlzou1990" Zou, Matthew "Luna_Nova21" Davis, and Adam "Red4novak" Novak. Last week's Super Tuesday winner "Bout2CrushU" is also among those in on the action from the get-go.

Player	Chips	Progress
Matthew "Luna_Nova21" Davis	25,000	25,000
Adam "Red4novak" Novak	25,000	25,000
barry20sanders	25,000	25,000
Bout2CrushU	25,000	25,000
D-Cronk0126	25,000	25,000
eyewantoowin	25,000	25,000
FarmingYou	25,000	25,000
GrandKam616	25,000	25,000
Patrick "MSPT-HOF" Steele	25,000	25,000
PowerRanges	25,000	25,000
teddylansky	25,000	25,000
Henry "xlzou1990" Zou	25,000	25,000

03-02-2021 21:01 UTC-4

Play Has Begun

HillKerby

Level 1 has begun with blinds of 80/160 and an ante of 20. There are already 69 players registered, and that number is expected to continue climbing throughout the two-hour-and-forty-minute late registration period.

03-02-2021 19:59 UTC-4

Welcome To MICOOP Event #38: $250 NLHE [Super Tuesday SE], $50K Gtd

HillKerby

The inaugural 2021 PokerStars Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) continues tonight with the second of two Super Tuesday events. Last week's $200 buy-in has been upped to $250 for Event #38, and the former $30K guaranteed prize pool will follow as a minimum of $50,000 will be up for grabs in this event.

A week ago, "Bout2CrushU" topped a field of 298, one that generated more than a $50K prize pool of its own to earn themselves a five-figure payday of $10,448. A week's worth of tournaments since have also seen their guarantees well surpassed, and it would be of no surprise to see that trend continue throughout the rest of the week as MICOOP races towards its finish line throughout the next week.

Cards are in the air at 8 p.m. ET with late registration remaining open until 10:40 p.m. Players may register up to four total times (three re-entries) during this span should they run out of chips and desire to do so. All players receive 25,000 in chips to start with blinds beginning at 80/160 (20 ante) and increasing every 10 minutes for the duration of the tournament.

Registration is already open with more than a dozen players ready to go well before the start of the tournament. Anybody within Michigan state lines is welcome to compete, regardless of their permanent residence.

PokerNews will be covering all of the action until just one player is left to claim victory, so be sure to catch all the updates every step of the way.

Event #38: $250 NLHE [Super Tuesday SE], $50K Gtd

Day 1 Started