2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

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."

As time looked to expire in Level 19 (2,500/5,000), action folded to "PintiMellon" in the small blind and they completed. "grandma1967" raised their option to 15,000 and "PintiMellon" limp-reraised to the pot-sized amount of 45,000. "grandma1967" called.

The flop came and "PintiMellon" went all in for their last 31,741. "grandma1967" called again and hands were tabled.

"PintiMellon":
"grandma1967":

Though "PintiMellon" had the best hand with their pocket kings, they were a statistical underdog to the open-ended straight flush draw of "grandma1967". Their chances reduced to zero on the turn as "grandma 1967" hit a straight, and the river completed the runout to bring about the end of their tournament life.

Moments earlier, "VolcanoBurst" was also eliminated as the first post-money casualty. The pair of bust outs brings the field down to 12, and two tables now remain.

It's time for another break with hand-for-hand play still in effect. Level 19 has now begun with blinds of 2,500/5,000, doing so just moments before the five-minute pause. Fifteen players still remain with the short-stacked "J_Voorhees187" doubling through chip leader "RaceC19" on the final hand before the break to stay alive. Another complete list of updated chip counts has been provided below, with "TheColonelAngus" and "Ash1123" now finding themselves as the shortest stacks in the tournament..

Player	Chips	Progress
RaceC19	499,616	45,765
zozopots	342,743	32,945
grandma1967	295,036	-1,640
C0LD_W0RLD	292,289	17,140
Neckerson	276,215	-13,200
sexycaitlyn	226,851	-30,245
Jbird401	174,573	-56,000
Mithlin	151,801	66,500
PintiMellon	100,241	-2,100
J_Voorhees187	76,470	26,235
beardedbadger	65,836	-26,000
Andrew "autokorekt" Korby	64,860	22,430
VolcanoBurst	60,234	-35,830
TheColonelAngus	42,748	-11,000
Ash1123	30,487	-35,000

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.

Play has moved into Level 18 with blinds of 2,000/4,000 with hand-for-hand play in effect. Here's a complete and up-to-date look at chip counts on the bubble.

Player	Chips	Progress
RaceC19	453,851	208,428
zozopots	309,798	143,524
grandma1967	296,676	140,900
Neckerson	289,415	231,910
C0LD_W0RLD	275,149	131,229
sexycaitlyn	257,096	28,517
Jbird401	230,573	159,007
PintiMellon	102,341	-48,571
VolcanoBurst	96,064	-13,376
beardedbadger	91,836	8,668
Mithlin	85,301	5,301
Ash1123	65,487	-47,500
TheColonelAngus	53,748	-27,000
J_Voorhees187	50,235	-28,750
Andrew "autokorekt" Korby	42,430	-44,167

PokerNews is slated to offer live updates from the bolded events.

In Level 16 with blinds of 1,500/3,000, "TheColonelAngus" raised to 6,000 in the cutoff and was called by "RudyGTC", defending their big blind. "RudyGTC" check-called 6,750 on the flop , bringing the turn .

"RudyGTC" checked again and "TheColonelAngus" shoved for 26,874 into a pot of 27,000, sending "RudyGTC" into the tank before ultimately finding a call.

"TheColonelAngus":
"RudyGTC": [asc4s3h]

"RudyGTC" failed to improve beyond their pair of fours and flush draw on the river and "TheColonelAngus" scored the easy double with jacks up.

Less fortunate were the likes of a handful of other players, and 19 now remain.

Player	Chips	Progress
TheColonelAngus	80,748	-22,984
RudyGTC	60,862	-21,201
Bearly8s	Busted
URNOTGOOD05	Busted
StudleyDud517	Busted
JaDoncic	Busted