The final table of 2012 SCOOP Event 1-Low, $27 No-Limit Hold’em 6-max, had a former Sunday Million winner, a player who was down to a single ante long before the final table began and a player who played far more aggressively than anyone else at the table. And yet, poker being what it is, none of them won the tournament. That honor went to Blackbeaty, a player who persevered even when it seemed certain that someone else would win.

2012 SCOOP Event 1-Low, a two-day event, kicked off yesterday with a $250,000 guarantee. Or to put it differently, PokerStars made a guarantee that at least 10,000 players would sign up for Event 1-Low. As Brad Willis wrote earlier today, the first day of SCOOP 2012 was “a colossal, guarantee-busting machine.” 25,520 players entered Event 1-Low, creating a prize pool of $638,000 and a 1st-place prize worth $74,008. For a $27 tournament, that would be an amazing ROI for the winner.

The winner took quite a while to decide, of course. 3300 players were paid, with the lowest rung on the pay ladder earning $57.42. Included among the ranks of the money finishers were Team PokerStars Pros Martin Staszko (2491st) and Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth (1,021st) and Team Online players Anders “Donald” Berg (1,809th) and George “jorj95” Lind (1066th). Teams PokerStars Pro (and 2011 WSOP Main Event champion) Pius Heinz put up the best result for the Red Spade, finishing 278th and earning $223.30, a return of more than eight times his original investment.

But even Heinz was long gone by the time the final table was decided:

Seat 1: Blackbeaty (24680821 in chips)
Seat 2: zebest_666 (45751508 in chips)
Seat 3: Lundsild (19286692 in chips)
Seat 4: darknikson (51924667 in chips)
Seat 5: estofesto (68862402 in chips)
Seat 6: posten (44693910 in chips)

Level 51: blinds 600k / 1200k, ante 150k

Lundsild was riding a wave of luck, which hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“lundsild you were almost out and now ft,” said darknikson.
“yea seriously. sick comeback. u had like an ante or something haha” added zebest_666.
“yes, down to almost a chip and a chair!” Lundsild acknowledged.

estofesto was aggressive with the big stack in the earlygoing and accumulated the most chips, climbing as high as 109 million, but zebest_666 was also applying the pressure, as seen here:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Danish player posten was finally the first player eliminated, just before the blinds rolled up to 800k / 1600k. From second to act, posten opened to 3.5 million. darknikson raised all in to 33 million, with posten calling off another 15.4 million with A♠ 9♥ . That medium ace was dominated by darknikson’s A♣ K♠ and was almost drawing dead after a king-high flop, 8♣ 8♥ K♥ . The 6♥ turn gave posten some hope with a flush draw, but the river bricked out 2♦ . posten finished in 6th place, earning $6,788.32.

With five players left, things looked grim again for Lundsild, the player who had been down to a single ante, when Lundsild wound up all in pre-flop with J♠ 8♦ and was called by darknikson’s A♠ 8♥ . But a jack flopped, and Lundsild’s charmed ride through Event 1-Low was able to continue.

Meanwhile estofesto took a rare hit at the final table, opening pre-flop with A♠ 10♥ and then calling button player Blackbeaty’s 19-million chip shove with K♠ Q♥ . This round went to Blackbeaty when a flopped queen gave Blackbeaty a pair of queens and a hand that held through the river.

Very shortly thereafter, the players started asking about a deal again but neither zebest_666 nor estofesto was willing to deal. That proved a good decision for zebest_666, who min-raised pre-flop to 3.2 million, then snap-called after darknikson shoved for 27 million with A♦ 10♣ . It was bad news for darknikson, as zebest_666 showed A♥ A♣ . Neither player’s hand improved by the river, sending darknikson to the rail in 5th place and vaulting zebest_666 up to 96 million, just a few chips ahead of estofesto for the lead.

But estofesto didn’t relent, continuing to pressure the other players for decisions for their whole stacks. The result of that pressure? estofesto quickly regained the chip lead, climbling to 114 million. estofesto then went for the kill when Blackbeaty opened all in for 23 million in the 1MM-2MM round, but Blackbeaty’s pocket jacks held against estofesto’s A♥ 10♣ , 10♦ Q♠ J♦ 4♠ A♦ . zebest_666 took another big bite oute of estofesto three hands later by check-calling all the way on a 9♥ A♦ 5♠ 4♦ J♠ board with A♠ 8♦ , a pair of aces. estofesto showed nothing but imagination with K♠ 7♣ .

“Never say die” Lundsild got it all in with pocket 10s against Blackbeaty’s A♥ 9♠ and lived to see another hand when the board ran out harmlessly, bumping Lundsild to 51 million and pushing Blackbeatty back down to the short stack. But it was Lundsild’s turn to get unlucky, and that’s what happened when Blackbeaty’s king-seven all-in shove bested Lundsild’s ace-seven by flopping a king. They changed places in the counts, with zebest_666 and estofesto still far in the lead.

Lundsild’s good fortune never returned. Down to 11 million in chips, Lundsild moved all in from the first position with A♠ 6♣ . zebest_666, in the big blind, called with 10♠ 7♥ and made two pair, 7♠ 5♥ 2♥ 10♥ 3♦ . Lundsild, down to a single ante long before the final table, clawed all the way back for a 4th place finish worth $18,687.02

Lundsild’s elimination gave zebest_666 a commanding chip lead with 136.4 million. estofesto was in 2nd place (78.8 million) and Blackbeaty was the short stack (39.8 million). They agreed to consider a deal and paused the tournament. But neither zebest_666 nor estofesto were happy with the proposed deal numbers so play resumed.

On the very first hand back, zebest_666 and estofesto played a 160-million chip pot, the biggest of the tournament to that point, that had Blackbeaty saying “you guys are funny” after it was over. Take a look:

RSS readers click through to see replay

After a scheduled break, zebest_666 said “ran to backyard and got a 4-leaf clover”. It almost worked, too, when zebest_666 wound up all in pre-flop with Q♠ J♦ against estofesto’s K♦ K♣ . Neither player improved on the 3♦ 8♦ 10♥ flop, but zebest_666 turned an inside straight with the 9♦ . However, zebest_666’s good fortune on the turn was topped by estofesto’s good fortune on the 10♦ river. Both players had diamond flushes, but estofesto’s was the best. He knocked zebest_666 out in 3rd place.

Starting heads-up play, estofesto had a 6-to-1 chip lead over Blackbeaty, but blackbeaty won the first six hands, without a showdown, to climb reduce the deficit to less than 4-to-1. After some back and forth, Blackbeaty’s A♠ Q♥ held up all in against estofesto’s 7♦ 9♦ . Blackbeaty was still the short stack, but the deficit was reduced to about 2-to-1. One more big pot that ended with a three-best shove on the flop by Blackbeaty that wasn’t called, and the stacks were basically level.

“Wanna make a deal now?” Blackbeaty asked.
“It’s ok,” replied estofesto. “Let’s play. Thank you for the offer.”

From there, estofesto took control. Twice estofesto opened up leads; twice Blackbeaty wound up all in with pocket treys and re-leveled the stacks. The first time, the treys held against estofesto’s ace-jack, despite estofesto having 18 outs going into the river. The second time, estofesto held pocket 5s by blackbeaty rivered a 4-flush in diamonds. Blackbeaty was proving to be a tough out – so tough, in fact, that it would be estofesto who went out first.

The final hand of the tournament started with Blackbeaty slightly in the lead, 130 million to 124.8 million. Blackbeaty opened to 7.5 million before estofesto three-bet to 18.6 million. Blackbeaty called to a jack-high flop, J♣ 8♣ 4♥ . estofesto continued for 14.2 million, then shoved for a total of 105.8 million after Blackbeaty raised to 30 million. Blackbeaty snap-called with J♦ Q♦ , a pair of jacks with a better kicker than estofesto’s pair of jacks, J♠ 6♠ . Neither the turn 3♠ nor the river Q♥ improved estofesto.

Blackbeaty was all in and called at the final table at least five times. Losing any one of those hands would have resulted in a very different finish for Blackbeaty. But some luck, some skill and some perseverance allowed Blackbeaty to become the first champion of the 2012 SCOOP.

2012 SCOOP Event 1-Low, $27 NLHE (6-max) results:

1st: Blackbeaty ($74,008.00)
2nd: estofesto ($53.209.2)
3rd: zebest_666 ($35,919.40)
4th: Lundsild ($18,687.02)
5th: darknikson ($10,737.54)
6th: posten ($6,788.32)

There are 119 more events in the 2012 SCOOP. How many will you play? Check out the schedule, the results, and all of the stats at the SCOOP homepage.

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