It was a busier Sunday than normal on the virtual poker felts as the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) recommenced with three events, two of which played down to a champion early Monday morning. The $215 No Limit Hold ’em (Event #9) drew a field of 11,131 players, while the $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em High Roller (Event #10) attracted nearly 300 of the wealthiest and most respected poker players in the world.
The $10,300 High Roller Event easily surpassed its $2 million guarantee as 299 entrants produced a prize pool of $2,990,000. A first-place prize of $611,455 of was on the line as well as the coveted WCOOP gold bracelet, which was won by Scott “dorinvandy” Dorin in the High Rollers event in 2008.
Several Team PokerStars Pro members participated in the tournament, including Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Ylon Schwartz, Steve Paul-Ambrose, J.C. Alvarado, Katja Thater, William Thorson, Dennis Phillips, Alexandre Gomes, and Hevad Khan. Fellow team member John Duthie made the final table, taking eighth place for $74,750.
The final table was loaded with big names as it formed late into the night. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul entered with the chip lead, while Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman, Peter “Belabacsi” Traply, Mike “Sowerss” Sowers and Dustin “DDBeast” Dorrance-Bowman were among the others vying for the title.
Sumpas, hailing from Sweden, took the chip lead into three-handed play and eliminated Saul shortly after Saul declined a three-way chip chop of the remaining prize money. With the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 1,250 ante, Sumpas raised to 21,400 on the button and Saul re-raised to 56,530 from the small blind. Sowers folded his big blind and Sumpas called to see a flop of Ad-Qs-3h. Saul checked, Sumpas fired 46,500 into the pot and Saul called. The 3d fell on the turn and Saul check-called again, this time a bet of 125,000. The river brought the 10h and Saul checked to Sumpas for a third time. The Swede moved all in, putting Saul to a decision for his remaining 453,000 chips. Saul took some time before deciding to call with Ac-8s for aces up, but Sumpas tabled Kd-Jd for a rivered straight to scoop the pot and send Saul on his way with $337,870.
Sumpas had a 5-1 chip lead over Sowers going into heads up play but the short stack battled for nearly an hour before ending his tournament on a bluff. On a board of Ks-4s-4d Sumpas bet 30,000 and Sowers check-raised to 90,000. Sumpas re-raised to 165,000 and Sowers moved all in for 748,250. Sumpas called with Kd-Tc, which had the Jh-10d of Sowers drawing nearly dead. The 7s turn and 3d river sealed the deal for Sumpas, who earned a WCOOP bracelet and $611,455 for his victory. Sowers walked away with $448,500.
The massive score was the biggest ever online for Sumpas, who also made the final table of last year’s WCOOP Main Event, taking sixth place for $415,150. Here’s a look at the final results of WCOOP Event #10:
1. Sumpas – $611,455
2. Mike “Sowerss” Sowers – $448,500
3. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul – $337,870
4. Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman – $254,150
5. Peter “Belabacsi” Trapley – $173,420
6. Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani – $134,550
7. Matias “Festivuss” Gabrenja – $104,650
8. John Duthie – $74,750
9. Dustin “DDBeast” Dorrance-Bowman – $56,810
Event #9 more than doubled its guarantee as an astounding number of players took part in the $215 No Limit Hold ’em tournament on Sunday. The 11,131 generated a prize pool of $2,260,200, with the winner collecting $303,876.
It was a long, protracted day for the nine players that reached the final table. The tournament began at 1:00 ET Sunday afternoon and play didn’t conclude until after 8:00 a.m. The final table lacked the power punch of the High Rollers Event but high-stakes tournament specialist Grayson “graybone” Nichols managed to take fifth place for $89,048.
When heads-up play began Slovakia’s ternoplayer was at a considerable chip disadvantage to France’s maxisou, but the tables turned quickly. Ternoplayer doubled up holding As-Qc against maxisou’s Ah-3s and then gained the chip lead by winning a few small pots. On the final hand, maxisou raised in position preflop and ternoplayer called. The two saw a flop of Qs-Js-5h and ternoplayer checked to maxisou, who led out for 1.6 million. Ternoplayer raised to 4 million and maxisou moved all in for around 18 million. Ternoplayer called with Kc-Qd and had his opponent’s Jc-8h in bad shape. The 8d landed on to turn to give maxisou the lead but the river brought the Kd, giving ternoplayer the pot, the WCOOP title and the first-place payday of $303,876.
WCOOP Event #9 Results:
1. ternoplayer – $303,876
2. maxisou – $214,828
3. micha88 – $155,834
4. r&g2007 – $111,310
5. Grayson “graybone” Nichols – $89,048
6. akilam77 – $66,786
7. PanjoDeLuxe – $44,524
8. masterpice – $22,262
9. SoulMaster7 – $13,913