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Home / Uncategorized / SCOOP 2013: Rodrigo “caprioli” Caprioli earns third SCOOP title in Event #26-H ($1,050 PL Courchevel Hi/Lo [Turbo, 1R1A])

Rodrigo Caprioli may not be a household name in the poker world, but he’s the only 31- year old I know of who has already earned a lifetime achievement award. In December 2012, the Brazilian Supernova Elite was honored at the EPT Prague for amassing five million VPPs. That year, Caprioli had already used a few thousand of them to buy in to the EPT Grand Final and booked a stunning ROI, finishing fifth for €315,000. The Tag Heuer watch he brought home from Prague was the third timepiece he’d won on PokerStars. Caprioli earned his first in the 2010 SCOOP, topping Event #33-L ($22 NL Omaha Hi/Lo) and his second last year in Event #4-H ($2,100 Badugi). With 50 lifetime cashes and 10 final tables, he is one of the most successful SCOOP players of all time and today he cemented his place in history. Calvin “cal42688” Anderson did it in 2011, Shaun Deeb followed suit in 2012, and today, Rodrigo Caprioli became the third player to win three SCOOP titles, topping the field in event #26-H ($1,050 PL Courchevel Hi/Lo, Turbo 1R1A).

rodrigo_caprioli_scoop2.jpg

Rodrigo Caprioli, the third to three SCOOP watches

Whoa, whoa, hang on just one hot second…

Courchevel?

Is it a fancy French appetizer? A breed of purse dog? Kim Kardashian’s new fragrance? A track on the new Daft Punk album?

Google “Courchevel” without the word “poker” and you’ll actually find an encyclopedia of information on a lovely resort town in the French Alps. If legend is to be believed, a late-night poker game in this tiny ski hamlet was the birthplace of the most action-packed variant of pot-limit Omaha yet to join the canon. Courchevel is played exactly like 5-card Omaha or “Big O” with one additional wrinkle. While players receive five hole cards in both games and must use two of them along with three board cards to make the best hand, in Courchevel the first flop card is exposed prior to the preflop betting round. So, not only do players have ten potential hole card combinations instead of the usual six, the ability to be triple-suited, and a chance to hit a set without paying to see the flop, that exposed door card gives everyone a starting point when it comes to putting opponents on hands. Small sets and non-nut flushes are vulnerable, A-A means almost nothing in the hole unless it comes with some suited or connected cards, and if the door card doesn’t relate to your starting hand at all, it’s probably better off in the muck.

After landing in the PokerStars lobby less than two months ago, Event #26 marked Courchevel’s SCOOP debut. The $1,050 buy-in “high” edition drew 148 players, who made 96 rebuys and 31 add-ons, contributing $275,000 to the prize pool. However, as this event carried a $300,000 guarantee, there was a juicy $25,000 overlay for those who chose to give this new variant a whirl. 24 places were paid with first place set to earn $65,250.00.

Three of the eight Red Spades in this field made the money. Marcel Luske and Nacho Barbero went out back-to-back in 23rd and 22nd places respectively, while two-time SCOOP champ George Danzer ended his deep run in 14th place. Danzer was crippled to only 2,300 in chips after calling Sorel “zangbezan24” Mizzi’s three-bet shove, the 6â™  in the door. Mizzi revealed 6♦ 6♥ 2â™  3♥ 7♦ while Danzer tabled A♥ Q♣ J♣ 4â™  2♣ . Danzer improved to queens up but couldn’t fade Mizzi’s set of sixes, the board finishing 6â™  Q♥ 10♥ 9♣ 4♦ . Danzer was eliminated on the next hand and picked up $5,250 for his performance.

Blinds were up to 10,000/20,000 with nine players remaining. With the 2♠ on board, el_batong opened for 70,000 from UTG and dagunman moved all-in for 73,663. El_batong called the small balance, his A♠ K♥ 8♣ 8♠ 6♣ up against A♥ K♣ J♦ 10♦ 5♣ . El_batong flopped the nut flush draw and hit it on the turn, the board running out 2♠ J♠ 2♣ 10♠ K♠ to eliminate dagunman and send us to the final table.

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Final table chip counts

Seat 1: PAARTYPAN (28,196 in chips)
Seat 2: el_batong (201,300 in chips)
Seat 3: zangbezan24 (76,051 in chips)
Seat 4: vandir4rek (71,911 in chips)
Seat 5: Naps555 (123,272 in chips)
Seat 6: Taknapotin (98,478 in chips)
Seat 7: caprioli (96,250 in chips)
Seat 8: JaniOsmo (129,542 in chips)

Sorel “zangbezan24” Mizzi eliminated in eighth place

With the entire field under ten big blinds, this final table was primed to move fast. On the fourth hand, Sorel “zangbezan24” Mizzi opened for 70,000 with the 4♦ on board and caprioli shoved for 96,250 from the big blind. Mizzi called, having already flopped a set of fours with 9â™  8♥ 4♥ 4♣ 3â™  . Caprioli showed A♦ K♦ 9♣ 5â™  2♥ and made a wheel with a flush redraw when the rest of the flop came 4♦ 3♣ 2♦ . Caprioli improved to a six-high straight when the 6♥ came on the turn and Mizzi couldn’t pair the board on the river, the K♥ falling to eliminate him in eighth place.

Top set no good for PAARTYPAN

Moments later, the blinds rose to 12,500/25,000. With the J♦ in the door, JaniOsmo opened for 87,500 from the cutoff. PAARTYPAN called all-in on the button for 43,892 and vandir4ek reshoved for 110,000 from the big blind. JaniOsmo called off his remaining 20,000 and the cards went on their backs.

vandir4ek K♥ K♦ 8♦ 4♦ 3♦
JaniOsmo Q♥ Q♦ 10♦ 4♥ 3♥
PAARTYPAN A♣ A♥ 10♥ 9♣ 2♥

Although PAARTYPAN hit top set on the A♠ J♦ 9♠ flop, JaniOsmo filled his gutshot when the 8♣ came on the turn to make him a queen-high straight. The river 2♦ made vandir4rek an 8-4-3-2-A low and PAARTYPAN was squeezed out as his opponents split the pot. For seventh place, PAARTYPAN picked up $10,050.00.

Taknapotin, Naps555 hit the hay

Vandir4rek doubled up at Jason “Taknapotin” Somerville’s expense, his A♣ 2♦ 7â™  8â™  9♦ making a nine-high straight and a 7-6-5-2-A low to scoop. Left with only 10,600, Somerville doubled through caprioli, but couldn’t make it through the next level. All-in for 21,212 from the big blind, Somerville watched caprioli and el_batong check down the 4♥ 6♥ 10♥ 6♣ 9♥ board. Caprioli turned up Kâ™  Q♣ 8♥ 4â™  3♥ for a ten-high flush and with no low possible, he scooped the pot. Somerville hit the rail in sixth place, earning $13,500 for his finish.

Two hands later, Naps555 open-shoved for 46,361 with the 5♥ showing and el_batong called the extra 16k from the big blind.

el_batong A♠ J♥ J♦ 10♠ 7♣
Naps555 A♣ A♥ 9♦ 5♣ 3♠

Naps555’s aces were snapped off as el_batong hit a set of jacks on the 5♥ J♣ 10♥ flop. Naps555 picked up two pair and the nut flush draw on the turn, but blanked the river, the Qâ™  falling to send him home in fifth place.

A game of chicken

Down to less than two big blinds, vandir4rek doubled through second-in-chips JaniOsmo, his Qâ™  J♣ Jâ™  8♣ 6â™  making a jack-high flush and an 8-6-5-4-2 low. However, JaniOsmo snatched those chips right back two hands later. With the 7â™  on board, JaniOsmo open-shoved for 135,444 and vandir4rek called from the big blind, his A♣ K♥ 6♥ 5â™  4♦ up against JaniOsmo’s Aâ™  K♦ 9♣ 5♦ 4♣ . Miraculously, JaniOsmo scooped with only a pair of nines, the board running out 7â™  2♦ Q♣ 9♥ 10♣ to leave vandir4rek on only 33,000.

Vandir4rek chopped the low on the next deal to survive with 23,000 chips but found himself in an interesting situation on the following hand. El_batong was under-the-gun with only 72,661 in chips and faced the big blind on the next hand. With less than a minute to go before that big blind would rise from 40,000 to 50,000, vandir4rek let all but a few seconds of his time bank tick away before folding.

“Fair play, sir,” el_batong wrote in the chat, understanding the strategy behind the play.

All but 22,000 of el_batong’s stack ended up in the big blind on the next hand, but he doubled to 145,000 with kings up. That forced vandir3rek to take his turn in the big blind, but he doubled as well, his K♣ 10♥ 7â™  3♣ 3♦ flopping tens and sevens vs. caprioli.

Caprioli KOs two

After picking up the next two pots, caprioli was up to 622,000 while his three opponents were all under 100,000 in chips. It set the stage for a multi-way showdown that began with JaniOsmo all-in for 48,227 from the big blind and the 5♦ on board. El_batong open-shoved for 95,322. With two players already all-in and caprioli in the 25,000 small blind, vandir4rek made the +EV move and folded, hoping to move up the pay ladder. Caprioli called 70,322 more and the cards went on their backs.

caprioli K♦ 7♦ 6♣ 5♠ 3♥
el_batong 10♠ 9♥ 5♥ 5♣ 2♣
JaniOsmo Q♦ 10♣ 6♥ 4♠ 2♥

El_batong had already hit a set, but when the flop finished out 5♦ 10♦ 9♦ , caprioli had a king-high flush. The Q♠ on the turn made JaniOsmo queens and tens but neither player improved, the river falling the A♣ . JaniOsmo was eliminated in fourth place and collected $25,500 while el_batong took third for $36,000.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 4: vandir4rek (59,547 in chips)
Seat 7: caprioli (765,453 in chips)

At least $21,000 richer for folding but still severely short-stacked, vandir4rek doubled to 119,000 on the first heads-up hand, his K♣ 10♦ 6♥ 5♥ 3♥ making a wheel to scoop. They split the second pot, but vandir3rek didn’t make it through the third.

caprioli Q♥ 10♦ 6♠ 5♣ 4♠
vandir4rek 10♣ 9♦ 7♠ 4♦ 3♥

All-in preflop with the 5â™  in the door, vandir4rek picked up a flush draw on the 5â™  A♦ Q♦ flop while caprioli made two pair. Vandir4rek paired up when the 9â™  hit the turn but couldn’t find a nine or a diamond on the river, the J♣ falling to lock up the win for caprioli.

Congratulations to Rodrigo “caprioli” Caprioli on his third SCOOP title! He banked $65,250 for the win while runner-up vandir4rek earned $46,500.

PokerStars 2013 SCOOP Event #26-H ($1,050 PL Courchevel Hi/Lo [Turbo, 1R1A]) results

Players: 148
Rebuys: 96
Add-ons: 31
Prizepool: $300,000
Places paid: 24

1. Rodrigo “caprioli” Caprioli (Brazil) $65,250.00
2. vandir4rek (Russia) $46,500.00
3. el_bantong (Finland) $36,000.00
4. JaniOsmo (Finland) $25,500.00
5. Naps555 (Australia) $16,500.00
6. Jason “Taknapotin” Somerville (Canada) $13,500.00
7. PAARTYPAN (Latvia) $10,500.00
8. Sorel “zangbezan24” Mizzi (Canada) $8,250.00

Kristin Bihr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.

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