2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

In Level 15 with blinds of 1,250/2,500, "zozopots" opened to 5,000 on the button and "iCollude810" three-bet to 16,250 in the big blind. "zozopots" called and the flop came .

"iCollude810" made a pot-sized continuation-bet of 33,750 and "zozopots" raised all inf or 66,252. "iCollude810" called.

"zozopots"
"iCollude810":

A flopped set of nines for "zozopots" left "iCollude810" in trouble, and they were unable to spike an ace or running Broadway cards as the turn and river completed the runout. The pot of more than 166,000 was sent to "zozopots", leaving "iCollude810" with 2,975 behind that they were unable to spin back up.

Player	Chips	Progress
zozopots	166,274	49,622
iCollude810	Busted
smileybpoker	Busted
Zeke232323	Busted
AndarBaharAndy	Busted
Smartass1974	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."

In Level 14 with blinds of 1,000/2,000, the tournament has reached another break. Just 28 players remain, meaning 14 eliminations are needed to reach the moeny. "RaceC19" is atop the counts by a decent margin, and updated counts from all 28 remaining players have been provided below.

Player	Chips	Progress
RaceC19	245,423	-21,000
JaDoncic	186,852	122,934
sexycaitlyn	161,634	161,634
URNOTGOOD05	160,812	55,014
grandma1967	155,776	104,612
PintiMellon	150,912	150,912
C0LD_W0RLD	143,920	100,140
zozopots	116,652	116,652
Ash1123	112,987	112,987
VolcanoBurst	109,440	84,440
TheColonelAngus	103,732	33,390
Andrew "autokorekt" Korby	86,597	50,557
Bearly8s	83,577	41,417
beardedbadger	83,168	-11,580
RudyGTC	82,063	26,135
Mithlin	80,000	80,000
J_Voorhees187	78,985	78,985
brickingflops1	78,549	41,569
Surge_Ibaka	72,862	-23,161
Jbird401	71,566	25,095
smileybpoker	65,796	65,796
AndarBaharAndy	65,650	65,650
Neckerson	57,505	35,345
StudleyDud517	45,797	45,797
TheWamboozler	38,288	38,288

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In Level 13 with blinds of 800/1,600, "RaceC19" opened to 4,800 under the gun and action folded around to "LOgator64" in the big blind, who three-bet to 15,200. "RaceC19" called.

"Logator64" fired a pot-sized continuation-bet of 31,200 on the flop , leaving just 5,781 behind that they called off upon "RaceC19" raising.

"LOgator64":
"RaceC19":

"LOgator64" got it in with a pair of kings and a gutshot straight draw but saw themselves up against a flopped set of sixes. Despite holding the best hand after the flop, "RaceC19" found themselves the one to improve futher as the turn and river completed the runout, giving them a flush along with it to send "LOgator64" to the virtual rail shortly after end of the late registration period.

Player	Chips	Progress
RaceC19	266,423
LOgator64	Busted

One player who has been busy grinding Michigan's first major online tournament series if 35-year-old Jason "MIpokerproAAAA" Young, who hails from Macomb Township.

Young, who has been married for three years and has his first child on the way, learned to play poker while attending Western Michigan University and continued on in Tuesday night home games in Kalamazoo.

"I have some friends with great poker skills that taught me a lot," he told PokerNews. "PokerStars gave me the ability to really sharpen my skills. When I moved back home from college, the charity poker scene had just begun to turn into a frenzy. I won my first tournament I entered. A $10 buy-in, with a $,2000 winner-take-all prize pool. I've hooked ever since. "

He continued: "Since then I have spent many hours at the poker table. It’s always been relaxing to me because I’m a professional window cleaner and I’m on my feet most days."

While traditionally a live player, Young hasn't been able to play much due to the pandemic, at least until online poker went live in the Wolverine State.

"I love to play live poker but due to the pandemic, it’s been tough to do that," he said. "So when PokerStars went live in Michigan I was pretty excited. I’ve really enjoyed it so far. I won a satellite ticket to Event 6 earlier in the week and I’m hoping my experience at the table pays off."

PokerNews will keep an eye on Young as he looks to capture a MICOOP title.

In Level 12 with blinds of 700/1,400, an even 100 entries have now been recorded. Just six minutes remain in late registration, meaning anyone who wishes to enter or re-enter should do so before it is too late.

Of those 100, just 36 players remain.

In Level 12 with blinds of 700/1,400, "Orlimar17" opened to 2,800 in the cutoff and "beardedbadger" called, defending their big blind. The flop came and "beardedbadger" check-called a continuation-bet of 1,890.

The turn came and "beardedbadger" checked again. "Orlimar17" continued, firing a second barrel of 6,048, and "beardedbadger" check-raised to 28,224, more than enough to put "Orlimar17" all in for their remaining 14,262. "Orlimar17" called, putting their tournament life at risk.

"Orlimar17":
"beardedbadger":

"Orlimar17" was ahead with trip fours but needed to fade the better flush draw and non-boated straight outs of "beardedbadger", which proved to be too tall a task to tackle as the river improved "beardedbadger" to a seven-high straight and earned them the pot and the knockout.

Player	Chips	Progress
beardedbadger	94,748	21,201
Orlimar17	Busted

In Level 11 with blinds of 600/1,200, last night's runner-up "Batmanstein" raised to 2,400 five-handed from the hijack and received a call from "Zeke232323", who defended their big blind. The flop came and "Zeke232323" check-called a continuation-bet of 5,400 from "Batmanstein".

The turn was and "Zeke232323" led out, shoving for their last 9,422. "Batmanstein" quicklly called.

"Zeke232323":
"Batmanstein":

"Zeke232323" was behind their opponent's pair of aces, holding a pair of deuces and the nut flush draw. The river gave them a third deuce, resulting in making the best hand to score the double.

Player	Chips	Progress
Zeke232323	35,044
Batmanstein	34,778