Dan "monkeyman067" Sewnig Earns NJCOOP Championship Trophy After Shipping Event #4: $100 NLHE Big Kickoff ($5,187)
The 2021 New Jersey Championship of Online Poker kicked off with a bang this weekend, with Event #4: $100 NLHE Big Kickoff Championship Trophy Event bringing a total of 298 players to the felt (191 entrants and 107 re-entries) to push the total prize pool past the advertised $25,000 guarantee. Of the $27,356 prize pool, it was Yardville, New Jersey's Dan "monkeyman067" Sewnig who took home the top prize of $5,187, as well as a shiny new NJCOOP Trophy to add to his collection of accolades.
Sewnig, a poker pro with over seven figures in online earnings, told PokerNews back in 2020 that “I've put more work into studying and improving over that timespan than I have in the rest of my career combined. I've also done a much better job of dealing with adversity." Those words rang true as his heads-up battle with "HBKandSting" saw his stack dwindle down to just eight big blinds, but a rally of double-ups and pure aggression saw him chip away until he finally vanquished "HBKandSting" and earned the coveted NJCOOP trophy.
NJCOOP Event #4: $100 NLHE Big Kickoff Championship Trophy Event Final Table Results
| Position | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dan "monkeyman067" Sewnig | $5,187 |
| 2 | HBKandSting | $3,813 |
| 3 | wxg1989 | $2,804 |
| 4 | BENN DOVERR | $2,062 |
| 5 | Paceman2jr | $1,516 |
| 6 | TStacksPaper | $1,115 |
| 7 | LilNickyDaBoss | $820 |
| 8 | Stackhe20 | $603 |
| 9 | Kaymeal | $507 |
Action of the Day
Forty-one players would walk away with a chunk of the prize pool, and notables such as "DangerFloof" (10th - $426), Ross "rosseg" Gottlieb (23rd - $302), and Benji “OtB_RedHeron” Felson (29th - $254) all managed to earn a cash.
The top two stacks at the start of the final table were Dan "monkeyman067" Sewnig and "HBKandSting", and four fast eliminations kept the two of them in what looked to be a collision course for a heads-up showdown. "HBKandSting" then lost two straight all-in pots to fall to the short stack, and had to cling on as Sewnig busted "Paceman2jr" in fifth.
Sewnig, who now held more than half of the chips in play, sat on the sidelines as "wxg1989" finished off "BENN DOVERR" in fourth, and "HBKandSting" now sat neck and neck with "wxg1989". That's when one of the most pivotal hands of the final table took place; "wxg1989" held aces and got it in against "HBKandSting", who was about to be coolered to crumbs with kings. A king on the flop and a clean runout turned fortune on its head for "wxg1989", however, and the fated heads-up battle came true, with Sewnig holding a 4:3 chip lead at the onset.
Sewnig lost an early preflop all in spot with ace-ten against the ace-queen of "HBKandSting" to fall down to just over eight big blinds. Sewnig then reeled off three doubles in quick succession to bring the stacks back to even, and on the final hand, he four-bet shoved with ace-queen and held against the ace-eight of "HBKandSting" to earn the title and the trophy.
PokerNews will return for coverage of Event #15: $250 NLHE Super Tuesday NJCOOP Edition Championship Trophy Event on Tuesday, September 15th at 7 p.m. EST, so be sure to tune in then to see who the next NJCOOP Trophy Winner will be!
Recent 2021 NJCOOP Winners
| Tournament | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
| Event #1: $10 NLHE [NJCOOP Warm Up], $5K GTD | 535 | $5,000 | GHOSTBX70 | $811.11 |
| Event #2: $100 NLHE [NJCOOP Big Warm Up], $8K GTD | 172 | $15,789.60 | MisAnnthr0pe | $3,179.14 |
| Event #3: $50 NLHE [Turbo, NJCOOP Turbo Warm Up], $6K GTD | 181 | $8,235.50 | aerols80 | $1,635.04 |
| Event #4: $100 NLHE [8-Max, Big Kickoff Trophy Event], $25K GTD | 298 | $27,356.40 | Dan "monkeyman067" Sewnig | $5,186.56 |
| Event #5: $300 NLHE [6-Max], $22.5K GTD | 75 | $22,500 | iFoldN0T | $5,487.93 |
| Event #6: $75 NLHE [6-Max, Turbo, Zoom], $12.5K GTD | 166 | $12,500 | MoZZyNJ | $2,528.60 |
flop, but chop opportunities emerged on the 
turn. The 
river was a brick, and "HBKandSting" settles for second, while Sewnig earns the first NJCOOP Championship Trophy of the series.
runout to earn another double and pull closer to "HBKandSting".
runout, and took a massive hit to his stack, while "HBKandSting" doubled up.
turn and 
runout left the kicker of "wxg1989" in front, and "BENN DOVER" was dusted in fourth.
flop to "TstacksPaper", who jammed for 281,483. Only "BENN DOVERR" called.
turn, but the 