The tenth event of the 2014 SCOOP schedule gave plenty of gamble to grinders of all levels. Pot Limit Omaha generates plenty of action with the regular variety but giving them an additional hole card and short-handed format boots it even higher. Event #10 was the popular 5-Card PLO 6-Max version and attendance topped expectations.

The high version of the tournament had a $700 buy-in with players holding one optional rebuy and add-on to stay in the game. The event sported a $100,000 guarantee that was blown away early and the 255 players (plus 134 rebuys and 140 add-ons) more than tripled that to a $351,785 prizepool. The players were given a sweet structure with the average stack regularly hanging around the 200 big blind mark, plenty of room to work.

The field slowly made its way towards the money where the last 30 standing would grab a piece of the pool. WSOP champion Fabrice “fabsoul” Soulier was the unfortunate bubble boy in 31st place, putting in 10 hours of work with nothing to show for it. Nacho Barbero was the only member of Team PokerStars to make it into the money but was gone in 28th soon after the bubble burst.

Play paused for the day at the end of the 22nd level with the field was once again in hand-for-hand mode, this time for the final table. The seven remaining players had a night to sleep on it before returning on Thursday aiming for one of the six spots and a possible title. The steady pace of play on Day 1 wasn’t to be found after the restart as it took exactly one hand to form the final table.

Luuk “pokerkluka” Gieles became a SCOOP champion on Tuesday to go along with his previous TCOOP win and had a chance for another. Those plans took a quick hit as he put his chips in the middle on the first hand with a flopped straight. The Dutch star would have been right back in the game but was outdone by a rivered flush for a fast jump to the final table.

Highstakes cash grinder Christopher “luckyulsa” Ulsrud was sitting with the big stack when the players returned while Adam “Adamyid” Owen was at the bottom. Also in the mix was 2012 Event #34-M champion C. Darwin2 looking for his second major title.

Final table chip counts:

Seat 1: Brandon-Tino (260,933 in chips)
Seat 2: IFiNishfish (409,300 in chips)
Seat 3: C. Darwin2 (402,518 in chips)
Seat 4: Harleyy30040 (219,893 in chips)
Seat 5: luckyulsa (1,254,378 in chips)
Seat 6: Adamyid (97,978 in chips)

Blinds: 2,000/4,000

Adamyid gets jacked, eliminated in 6th

The final bubble may have burst quickly but that was where the speedy part of the tournament began and ended. Adamyid hit the final table with the shortest stack but was still sitting comfortably with more than 24 big blinds. It took 30 minutes of 6-handed play before the first all-in move was called and a Adamyid was on the wrong end of it.

The problems started when Adamyid called a C. Darwin2 min-raise sitting in the big blind and then hit the J♦ 6♦ 4♠ flop. It took three bets before all the chips where in the middle and Adamyid saw his top pair with K♣ Q♦ J♣ 9♣ 3♦ was far behind the flopped set of C. Darwin2 holding A♦ Q♣ J♠ J♥ 5♦ .

Adamyid was drawing slim to running miracle cards but missed right out of the gate with the 9♣ turn and was drawing dead. C.Darwin picked up a nice pot while Adamyid was sent off the final table in 6th place for $14,423.

Harleyy30040 rides out, eliminated in 5th

Deep stacked and quality play kept things tight after the knockout of Adamyid and it took an interesting play to see the next one shipped away. The action began with a min-raise from C. Darwin2 bringing along Harleyy30040 from the button and Ulsrud in the small blind.

All three players checked the A♣ 8♥ 4♣ flop but Ulsrud took the initiative and bet 13,750 after the 7♣ turn. C. Darwin2 simply called the bet before Harleyy30040 min-raised to get a fold from Ulsrud and another call from C. Darwin2. The 9♥ river prompted a check from C. Darwin2 and Harleyy30040 tossed in his final 88,182 for a quick call.

Harleyy30040 put most of his chips in the pot after drawing dead with K♣ Q♠ J♦ 9♦ 6♠ when C. Darwin2 turned the second nut flush Q♣ 9♣ 7♦ 6♦ 5♣ . Hitting second pair on the river was enough to get Harleyy30040 to take a shot but was beaten back to go out in 5th place for $21,107.

Brandon-Tino runs into quads, eliminated in 4th

Another elimination and another 30 minutes of steady play. Ulsrud continued to push the action but there were few big hands as he extended his lead, the rich than got richer when he hit a big hand in a multi-player pot. Brandon-Tino was the shortest at the table and began the hand with a small raise under the gun.

C. Darwin2 and Ulsrud called from the blinds to the 7♠ 6♣ 5♣ flop. C. Darwin2 checked as first to act before Ulsrud bet out 19,000 and picked up calls by the other two players. Another check from C. Darwin2 after the 5♦ turn and Ulsrud put out a big 58,000 bet getting a shove from Brandon-Tino for 84,135. The other players stuck around until the end and the J♥ river saw C. Darwin2 bet out 38,640. Ulsrud put another 100,000 on top and C. Darwin2 once again called to his determent.

Ulsrud was first to showdown and dropped quads on the table with 8♣ 7♣ 5♥ 5♠ 4♠ , a hand strong enough that the other two simply mucked their hands. Brandon-Tino was left with nothing and was gone in 4th place for $28,142.

C. Darwin2 evolves, eliminated in 3rd

Ulsrud continued to dominate and was holding over 80% of the chips in play at the three-handed table, more than enough ammo to play practically every hand with a chance to get the tournament heads up. He caught perfect to do just that when C. Darwin2 raised from small blind and then called after Ulsrud three-bet to 45,000.

The flop came Q♦ 3♥ 2♥ and C. Darwin2 bet the pot and called all-in for less than a min-raise from Ulsrud. C. Darwin2 was looking good for the double up holding top and bottom pair A♥ Q♠ J♠ 10♠ 2♠ against Ulsrud’s A♠ K♣ J♣ 4♣ 3♠ .

Ulsrud had out for a bigger two pair and the 9♠ turn gave Ulsrud more outs to the gutshot and spiked it with the 10♦ river. It was a tough way to lose to the chipleader but it was enough to knock out C. Darwin2 in 3rd place for a nice $42,214.

luckyulsa doesn’t need luck to win Event #10-H

Seat 2: IFiNishfish (295,675 in chips)
Seat 5: luckyulsa (2,349,325 in chips)

Ulsrud entered heads up play with a nearly 8-to-1 chip lead and IFiNishfish would have been excused if he just gave in with an early gamble. But the Finnish grinder stuck it out and battled over a long match. IFiNishfish grabbed a nice double half way through play and was looking at a nice chance to pull the stacks even closer.

It began with a button min-raise from IFiNishfish and call from Ulsrud to the A♥ K♣ 7♥ flop. They both liked the flop and set off on a raising war with four bets to get everything in the middle and a sizable pot. IFiNishfish was ahead with A♠ J♥ 10♥ 10♣ 9♥ but slightly behind statiscally against Ulsrud’s K♥ Q♥ 10♠ 8♣ 3♠ .

The Norwegian was holding a ton of outs to straights and flushes and other possibilities. It was the other method which did the deal and quickly on the 8♣ turn to give Ulsrud the lead. IFiNishfish was still looking at 15 comeback outs on the river but blanked on the 4♣ to go out in 2nd for $56,285. Ulsrud added a nice chunk of change to his highstakes bankroll with the SCOOP title and $80,910.

SCOOP 10-H: $2,100 PL 5-Card Omaha [6-Max, 1R1A]
Entrants: 255 (134 rebuys, 140 add-ons)
Prize pool: $351,785
Places paid: 30

1. Christopher “luckyulsa” Ulsrud (Norway) $80,910.66
2. IFiNishfish (Finland) $56,285.60
3. C. Darwin2 (Sweden) $42,214.20
4. Brandon-Tino (United Kingdom) $28,142.80
5. Harleyy30040 (Mexico) $21,107.10
6. Adamyid (United Kingdom) $14,423.18

Christopher “luckyulsa” Ulsrud

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