Eric “AceQuad” Brix is so hot right now, he could melt ice by just looking at it. AceQuad has put on a clinic during this year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker. Last night, one of the hottest online poker players on the planet made two final tables in “high” events (#37-H and #38-H). AceQuad began the day near the top of the Leader Board and is among the favorites to win Player of the Series.
AceQuad is still in the middle of an epic rush. His “run good” continued and he advanced to his seventh SCOOP final table after a sensational performance in Event #39-L, a truly remarkable feat considering he faded 3,001 other players to do so. With seven final tables thus far, no one player has made more final table appearances at this year’s SCOOP. The closest is David “WhooooKidd” Baker, who had five final tables going into today’s action.
The only downside to AceQuad’s magical kismet is that he was unable to break through and actually win one of these SCOOP events. Alas, his first title remained out of reach and AceQuad could only get as close as third place in this one. Denmark’s mossberg1988 pulled away with the victory in Event #39-L with a stunning double-elimination knockout to end the tournament.
SCOOP Event #39-L $55 PLO [6-Max] attracted 3,007 runners. They boosted the prize pool to $150,350. Only the top 390 places paid out with $23,681.55 originally set aside to the eventual champion.
PokerStars Team Pros were well represented in this event and included George Danzer, Marcin “Goral” Horecki, Bryan Huang, Joe Cada, David Williams, Nacho Barbero, ElkY, Lex Veldhuis, Alex Kravchenko, Richard Toth, Chad Brown, Martin Hbruby, Marcel Luske, and Rino Mathis.
Team PokerStars Online members taking a shot at a SCOOP title included the usual suspects like mement_mori, sirfredy83, and nkeyno.
Notables who cashed included Team PokerStars Pros George Danzer (52nd) and Marcin “Goral” Horecko (341st).
Team PokerStars Pro Danzer was seeking his third career SCOOP title after winning Event #12-H ($2,100 NL 2-7 Draw) last week. Danzer began the day near the top of the overall SCOOP Leader Board. Other big names vying for the coveted Player of the Series included Shaun Deeb, David “WhooooKidd” Baker, AceQuad, and ninototoroko.
Danzer was getting short and made a final stand with K♣ Q♦ 8♣ 5♣ against Holger Hott’s A♦ 9♥ 9♣ 8♦ . Holger Hott flopped a set and that’s all she wrote for Danzer, who was knocked out in 52nd place ($323.25). Danzer’s quest for a third SCOOP crown came up short.
With 18 players remaining on the final three tables, AceQuad sat atop of the chip lead with 2.1 million. With 12 players to go, AceQuad’s big stack incurred a hit and he slipped as AELISTAS1987 seized the lead with 2.3 million.
With seven to go, action went hand-for-hand since the final table was six-handed. Short-stacked hort336 bombed it all-in preflop with A♣ 7♣ 5♥ 3♦ and Strlxen tried to pick him off with A♦ Q♥ 4♥ 3â™ . The board ran out 10â™ 8♦ 2♥ 6♣ J♦ and both players failed to improve their hands, but Strlxen won the pot with Ace-high and a Queen-kicker. Canada’s hort336 unceremoniously bubbled off the final table in seventh place.
Event #39-L – Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: Strlxen (1,297,436)
Seat 2: ttouch77 (965,865)
Seat 3: ITSME81 (1,264,088)
Seat 4: balsareny88 (4,602,467)
Seat 5: mossberg1988 (3,197,608)
Seat 6: AceQuad (3,707,536)
The table commenced during Level 35 with blinds at 30K/60K. With six left in the hunt for a SCOOP title, balsareny8 sat on the big stack with 4.6 million, while ttouch77 was the shorty with 965K and the only player with fewer than 1 million in chips. AceQuad advanced to his seventh final table in this year’s SCOOP.
ttouch77 eliminated in 6th place
The final table played a full level before someone busted. Strlxen opened to 240,000, ttouch77 potted to 720,000, Strlxen shoved all-in for 1,017,436, and ttouch77 called all-in for 5,865.
Strlxen: K♦ K♠9♥ 8♣
ttouch77: A♦ A♣ 5♥ 2♦
Two big hands; ttouch7 was ahead with Aces versus Strlxen’s Kings. The board ran out J♦ 10♦ 2â™ 7â™ 4♣ and Strlxen dragged the pot with a Jack-high straight. ttouch77 flopped a diamond-flush draw, but whiffed on the river. For a sixth-place finish, ttouch77 collected $2,686.75.
Strlxen eliminated in 5th place
On the very next hand, we lost another player. Strlxen min-raised to 160,000, balsareny88 bumped it up to 400,000, and Strlxen called. The flop was Q♣ J♥ 5♣ . balsareny88 fired out 640,000, Strlxen jammed all-in for 1,343,301, and balsareny88 called.
balsareny88: A♥ K♦ 10♦ 9â™
Strlxen: K♣ Q♠10♣ 7♣
The turn was the 7♥ and the river was 8♦ . balsareny88 won the pot after rivering a Queen-high straight. Strlxen could only muster up two pair — Queens and sevens — and hit the virtual rail. For a fifth place performance, Sweden’s Strlxen took home $5,262.25.
With four players remaining… balsareny88 held a slight lead with 5.14 million versus mossberg1988’s 5.05 million. AceQuad was third with 3.6 million and ITSME81 brought up the rear with 11.8 million.
ITSME81 eliminated in 4th place
ITSME81 opened to 207,317, balsareny88 raised to 500,000, ITSME81 shoved for 1,077,572, and balsareny88 called.
balsareny88: A♥ Q♦ J♦ 10♣
ITSME81: J♥ Jâ™ 4♥ 2â™
ITSME81 was slightly ahead with Jacks, but the board ran out 9♣ 8♣ 4â™ 7♣ 8♥ and balsareny88 won the pot with a Jack-high straight. Alas, ITSME81 could only improve to two pair — Jacks and Eights. Belguim’s ITSME81 earned $8,269.25 for a fourth-place finish.
With three players remaining, the chip counts were: mossberg1988 (8,501,353), balsareny88 (4,033,554), and AceQuad (2,500,093).
DEAL
With three to go, action was paused so the remaining players could discuss a deal. The supercomputer at PokerStars HQ spit out the ICM numbers: mossberg1988 ($18,969.18), balsarney88 ($16,834.15), and AceQuad ($15,948.22). They had to leave $2,000 on the table for the eventual champion (along with a cool champion’s watch). Everyone agreed on the money distributions. With a deal set, play resumed.
DOUBLE KO: AceQuad eliminated in 3rd place; balsareny88 eliminated in 2nd place
We never got to see a heads-up match because mossberg1988 took out both of his opponents in the same knockout blow!
Here is how the double bustout went down… AceQuad kicked off the skirmish and he opened to 300,000, balsareny88 bumped it up to 960,000, mossberg1988 flatted, AceQuad re-shoved all-in for 2,912,093, balsareny88 also shoved for 3,657,554, and big-stacked mossberg1988 had both covered and called.
mossberg1988: J♦ 10♣ 8♦ 6♣
balsareny88: A♥ Q♣ J♣ 3♥
AceQuad: K♠J♠9♥ 7♥
The board ran out 4â™ 4♦ 2♥ Q♦ 2♦ . When the dust settled, mossberg1988 rivered a Queen-high flush and dragged the entire pot (including a main pot with all three players and a side pot with balsareny88). AceQuad could only make a pair of fours and balsareny88 flopped a Wheel draw, but never got there and only improved to two pair — Queens and fours. Both AceQuad and balsareny88 hit the rail after getting knocked out simultaneously.
For a third-place finish, AceQuad boosted his bankroll with a $15,948.22 payday.
For a runner-up performance, balsareny88 earned $16,834.15.
Congrats to mossberg1988 for binking Event #39-L!
For a first-place finish in Event #39-L $55 PLO [6-Max], Denmark’s mossberg1988 won $20,969.18 in cash and a snazzy new SCOOP champion’s watch.
View the crazy double-elimination final hand in the innovative replayer:
2013 SCOOP – Event #39-L $55 PLO [6-Max] – Final Table Results:
Entrants: 3,007
Prize Pool: $150,350
Places paid: 390
1. mossberg1988 (Denmark) – $20,969.18 ***
2. balsarney88 (Malta) – $16,834.15 ***
3. Eric “AceQuad” Brix (Mexico) – $15,948.22 ***
4. ITSME81 (Belguim) – $8,269.25
5. Strlxen (Sweden) – $5,262.25
6. ttouch77 (New Zealand) – $2,686.75
*** denotes a three-way deal
2013 SCOOP is almost over, so head over to the fix SCOOP home page to check out the remaining schedule. Plus, find out who is currently in the lead for Player of the Series. And if you like numbers, then wander over to the comprehensive SCOOP stats page.
Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.
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