WCOOP-22-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller], $750K Gtd Day 1 | PokerStars WCOOP 2021

08-26-2021 18:52 UTC

Grafton Busts Once More as Spragg Collects His Bounty

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante

Sam "SamSquid" Grafton made it 10,000 to go on the button and called a three-bet to 40,000 by fellow PokerStars ambassador Ben "Spraggy" Spragg. In the battle of the Brits, the flop came and Spragg continued for 38,000. Grafton shipped in his stack of 129,593 and was instantly called.

Sam "SamSquid" Grafton:
Ben "Spraggy" Spragg:

Grafton was trailing with the bottom pair and gutshot. He found no help on the turn and the river was a blank as well to end his second bullet.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fintan "easywithaces" Hand	814,011 15,531	15,531
Ben "Spraggy" Spragg	462,242 77,015	77,015

Sam "SamSquid" Grafton	Busted

08-26-2021 18:35 UTC

Crema Busts Watson and Segebrecht

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante

The action kicked off with a raise to 7,416 by Thiago "KKremate" Crema in the under-the-gun position and Mike "SirWatts" Watson jammed for 25,005 from one seat over. Claas "ssicK_OnE" Segebrecht four-bet to 68,400 and Crema moved all-in. Segebrecht called for 456,290 to create the biggest pot of the tournament so far.

Mike "SirWatts" Watson:
Claas "ssicK_OnE" Segebrecht:
Thiago "KKremate" Crema:

The board ran out and Crema jumped above one million in chips while also collecting two bounties.

Player	Chips	Progress
Thiago "KKremate" Crema	1,002,795 555,570	555,570
Claas "ssicK_OnE" Segebrecht	Busted
Mike "SirWatts" Watson	Busted

08-26-2021 18:24 UTC

Benitez Felted by Hand

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 4 : 1,800/3,600, 450 ante

Fintan "easywithaces" Hand had scored an early double and then opened to 7,200 in the hijack. Francisco "Tomatee" Benitez three-bet to 36,000 in the small blind and Hand obliged to see a flop of . Benitez continued for 19,688 to pick up a call and fired a second barrel worth 68,400 on the turn, earning yet another call from Hand.

Benitez emptied the clip and ripped it in for 175,802 on the river, which Hand quickly called. The Uruguayan tabled for a missed gutshot and flush draw as Hand earned the bounty with for the top two pair.

Fellow PokerStars ambassador and Twitch streamer Ben "Spraggy" Spragg is now also in the mix on the same table as well.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fintan "easywithaces" Hand	798,480 559,640	559,640
Eccentric_BG	702,374 173,780	173,780
Ben "Spraggy" Spragg	385,227 385,227	385,227

Francisco "tomatee" Benitez	Busted

08-26-2021 17:56 UTC

Grafton Loses It All and Re-Enters

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 3 : 1,600/3,200, 400 ante

Within two hands, the stack of Sam "SamSquid" Grafton vanished and he re-entered right away into the very same seat.

First he was involved in a three-bet pot to 32,000 against "Sintoras", who then bet the flop for 22,704. Grafton called and did so again for 57,104 on the turn. The duo checked the river and "Sintoras" prevailed with .

Grafton then opened to 6,000 and Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet defended the big blnd. On a flop of , Van Fleet check-called for 16,000 and led the turn for 16,368. Grafton opted for a raise to 44,800 to pick up a call and Van Fleet checked the on the river.

Grafton jammed for 116,812 with the and was snapped off by Van Fleet, who held the nuts with .

Player	Chips	Progress
Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet	458,412 458,412	458,412
Sintoras	334,851 8,838	8,838
Sam "SamSquid" Grafton	250,000 14,040	14,040

08-26-2021 17:28 UTC

Talbot Enters With a Double

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Christian Zetzsche

Level 2 : 1,400/2,800, 350 ante

Right before the blinds went up, Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson raised to 5,976 from under the gun and Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker three-bet to 18,000 on the button. Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, who had recently entered, then four-bet to 46,800 in the big blind.

That prompted a five-bet jam by Mattsson, Muehloecker folded and Talbot snap-called.

Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot:
Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson:

The board ran out and Talbot doubled right away.

"ok" ... "war", Mattsson conceded in table chat and was left short.

Player	Chips	Progress
Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot	526,940 526,940	526,940

Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker	198,361 23,100	23,100
Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson	25,098 201,796	201,796

08-26-2021 16:11 UTC

Welcome to Day 1 of the 2021 WCOOP Event 22-H: $5,200 NLHE PKO

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Christian Zetzsche

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 2021 is in full swing and high-stakes regulars will be vying to add another title to their resume. Up next is Event 22-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, Progressive KO, High Roller], which features a price tag of $5,200 and a guaranteed prize pool of $750,000. It is the joint second-most expensive tournament of the schedule thus far and will certainly attract some of the biggest names in the world of poker.

All players start with 250,000 in chips and the levels are slated to last 20 minutes each during the entire duration of the event. Up to two re-entries can be purchased during the registration period, which is open for the first five hours and five minutes. Day 1 will conclude when the money bubble has been burst and the survivors then get one day off before determining a winner on Saturday, August 28.

The tournament features the popular progressive knockout format and $2,500 each will go towards the bounty and cash prize pool. For each casualty, a bounty prize of at least $1,250 will be awarded to the bankroll straight away. The other half of the bounty portion will go on the winner's head, which will make for some significant bounty targets during the late stages of the tournament.

Among the WCOOP 2021 high-stakes winners thus far were big names such as Pedro "pvigar" Garagnani , Patrick "pads1161" Leonard, Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski, Peter "twirlpro" Turmezy, Anatoly "NL_Profit" Filatov, Naoya "nkeyno" Kihara, Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha, and Claas "ssicK_OnE" Segebrecht. Many of them are expected to be back in action tonight in order to take another shot at a WCOOP title and the precious trophy that comes along with it.

Day 1 is slated to commence at 1.05 pm EST and the PokerNews team will provide conclusive updates from start to finish.