It was fast. Such was to be expected from a tournament described by words like “Zoom” and “turbo.” Event #33-M, a $215 buy-in pot-limit Omaha tournament played using the Zoom format and with a turbo structure took but three hours and 40 minutes to complete tonight, all the time Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac of Serbia needed to top a field of 1,575 and earn a handsome $52,762.50 first prize and a SCOOP watch.
Šekularac outlasted Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez of Uruguay heads-up to take the title, with the German phenom Ole “wizowizo” Schemion also making a final table appearance before finishing eighth.
From 1,575 to 27
The field of 1,575 built a prize pool of $315,000, more than twice the event’s $150K guarantee. Late registration for Event #33-M lasted 90 minutes, but rapid-fire five-minute levels meant that by the time the doors closed that field of 1,575 had already been trimmed to just over 250 players. Just about 20 minutes later they were down to 198 and the cash bubble had burst, at which point Nessilita sat atop the rapidly-shifting counts.
The Zoom format doesn’t allow railing until the tourney reaches its final three tables when the “Zoom”-style dealing ends and the format reverts to that of a regular multi-table tournament. Nonetheless we could still see that three red spades had survived into the money, those next to Team PokerStars Pros Nacho Barbero and Chris “chrisdm” de Meulder, and Team Online member Dale “Daleroxxu” Philip.
De Meulder would last a short while longer to finish in 131st place for a $456.75 cash, with Barbero soon following him to the rail in 113th for $504 even. Philip would then hold on with a short stack a few minutes longer, but would likewise fall in 93rd place for $567.
Meanwhile, Nessilita remained out in front as the field shrunk down to 75 players. Finally others would catch and pass the Nessilita who by the tourney’s two-and-a-half-hour mark had slid to the lower division while Riverboom and Festivuss moved up to occupy the top spots.
From 27 to 9
When 27 were left the Zoomin’ stopped although the rapid, turbo-fueled pace of eliminations continued unabated. Before the tourney’s three-hour mark they were down to just 18 players, with Nessilita (26th), 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg “gregy20723” Merson (20th), and Mohsin “sms9231” Charania (19th) among those cashing for $1,260.
Adam “Roothlus” Levy would be the next out in 18th, followed by HelKingPin (17th) and fishermann86 (16th), with each earning $1,449 for their finishes. 14nummer (15th), johan_369963 (14th), and Borys313 (13th) went out next, picking up $2,047.50 apiece. And Danny “THE__D__RY” Ryan (12th), RiverBoom (11th), and Festivuss (10th) followed, each exiting with $2,646 paydays.
About three hours and 20 minutes after the tournament had begun and with Doncabalero having edged ahead of TheFish77 into the chip lead, a final table including Ole “wizowizo” Schemion, Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac, and Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez was underway.
Seat 1: Ole “wizowizo” Schemion (Germany) — 1,049,283
Seat 2: Skintz (United Kingdom) — 929,237
Seat 3: Doncabelero (Netherlands) — 1,276,023
Seat 4: Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac (Serbia) — 439,696
Seat 5: Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez (Uruguay) — 1,028,076
Seat 6: Naza114 (Portugal) — 1,243,676
Seat 7: Sasuke234 (Sweden) — 365,093
Seat 8: monzemann (Austria) — 282,230
Seat 9: TheFish77 (Norway) — 1,261,686
Sasuke234 swiftly struck down in ninth
Within the first final table orbit the field was further reduced by one.
The blinds were 50,000/100,000, and after Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez raised pot to 350,000 from the button, Sasuke234 pushed all in from the big blind for 365,093 total and Benitez called.
Sasuke234 had A♦ Q♣ 10♦ 9♠ while Tomatee showed K♠ J♣ 10♥ 8♣ . The community cards came 6♥ Q♠ 7♥ 5♣ 9♦ , making two pair for Sasuke123 but a ten-high straight for Benitez, thus sending Sasuke234 to the rail in ninth.
Schemion shut down in eighth
Benitez would be the one to claim the next knockout at the final table, too, this time eliminating the young German Ole “wizowizo” Schemion.
With the blinds already up to 60,000/120,000, Tomatee opened for 420,000 from early position, wizowizo pushed all in for 757,053 from the button, and Tomatee called.
Benitez had picked up single-suited aces, showing A♠ A♥ J♦ 6♥ , while Schemion was drawing with A♣ K♠ J♣ 10♥ . The board came 2♣ J♠ 7♣ 4♠ 6♠ , only giving wizowizo a pair of jacks while Tomatee paired both kickers to make jacks and sixes.
The eighth-place finish marked another deep SCOOP run for Schemion who just finished fourth in Event #24-H ($1,050+R PL Omaha, 6-Max, Turbo).
monzemann down in seventh
It didn’t take long for the blinds to jump again to 100,000/200,000, and soon after that monzemann open-raised all in for 694,460 with A♦ 8♦ 7♦ 2♥ from the button and Skintz called from the big blind with a double-suited hand, K♣ 4♠ 3♠ 2♣ .
The flop fell 5♣ A♥ 3♥ to give Skintz a wheel, and after the 9♥ Q♦ run out monzemann was knocked out in seventh.
TheFish777 hooked in sixth
Moments later TheFish777 open-pushed from the button for 671,686 (not quite three-and-a-half big blinds) and got a caller in Doncabelero in the big blind.
Doncabalero had A♣ K♠ 5♠ 4♥ while TheFish777 showed A♠ K♥ 10♠ 3♠ . The J♣ 8♦ 5♦ 6♦ 2♣ board then paired Doncabalero’s five while missing TheFish777 completely, sending the latter railward in sixth.
Doncabalero done in fifth
The knockouts kept coming without pause, as soon after Doncabelero raised the pot to 700,000 from the button, Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac reraise-shoved all in for almost 1.57 million from the small blind, and Doncabalero called all in with the 707,709 left behind.
psjebemvas showed A♥ K♥ 10♥ 3♠ and Doncabalero A♠ J♥ 7♥ 6♠ . The community cards then came 10♣ 2♠ 3♥ , then 8♦ , then 6♣ , giving Šekularac two pair (tens and treys) to beat the pair of sixes of Doncabalero who was out in fifth.
Naza114 knocked out in fourth
They still hadn’t moved on from the same five-minute level (100,000/200,000) when Naza114 opened for 600,000 from the small blind, Skintz shoved from the BB, and Naza114 called with the 473,676 left.
Naza114 showed Q♥ Q♠ Q♦ 8♦ while Skintz had A♣ J♣ 5♥ 2♣ . Naza114 was still ahead afte rthe 8♠ 9♥ 5♠ flop and 7♣ turn, but the 5♦ fell on fifth street, giving Skintz trip fives and ending Naza114’s run in fourth place.
It was still a very nice finish for Naza114 who made a second SCOOP final table this year after having finished eighth in another Zoom tourney with a turbo structure, Event #21-H ($2,100).
Skintz sunk in third
Three hands later Skintz was the one raising to 600,000 from the small blind, then Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac made it 1.8 million to go from the big blind. Skintz took to the chatbox while acting next.
Skintz: “my turn to win the flip vs u :)”
psjebemvas: “noooo”
Amid the typing Skintz pushed all in for 2,646,610 total and Šekularac called. Skintz had a decent drawing hand with Q♣ 10♥ 9♣ 8♥ while psjebemvas turned over A♣ 8♦ 6♥ 4♣ . The flop then came K♠ 7♦ 5♦ and turn the 3♠ , and Šekularac was the one who had drawn better having made a straight. The 9♦ river made psjebemvas’s straight even better, eliminating Skintz in third.
psjebemvas prevails, takes tourney over Tomatee
Heads-up play began with Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac enjoying a better than 3-to-1 chip lead with 6,024,015 to the 1,850,985 of Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez. The pair took turns folding preflop for three hands, then the end quickly came to put an end to a final table that only took a little over 20 minutes.
By the final hand the blinds were 125,000/250,000. Benitez started things with an opening raise to 750,000 from the button that represented nearly half of his stack. Šekularac then reraised the pot, and Benitez called with the 850,985 left.
psjebemvas: Q♣ Q♦ 3♣ 3♥
Tomatee: A♣ K♣ 9♣ 5♥
The flop fell J♠ 6♥ K♥ , a good start for Benitez as it gave him the better pair. But the Q♥ landed on fourth street to make a set for Šekularac, and after the 8♥ river it was all over.
Congratulations to Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac for surviving the breakneck-fast race through Event #33-M to claim a SCOOP watch and a nice $52K-plus return on his $215 buy-in.
Kudos as well to Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez for picking a 14th SCOOP cash and remaining in the chase for the 2014 SCOOP Player of the Series.
SCOOP 33-M: $215 PL Omaha (Turbo, Zoom)
Entrants: 1,575
Prize pool: $315,000.00
Places paid: 198
1. Ognjen “psjebemvas” Šekularac (Serbia) $52,762.50
2. Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez (Uruguay) $38,587.50
3. Skintz (United Kingdom) $29,137.50
4. Naza114 (Portugal) $21,420.00
5. Doncabelero (Netherlands) $15,435.00
6. The Fish777 (Norway) $12,285.00
7. monzemann (Austria) $9,135.00
8. Ole “wizowizo” Schemion (Germany) $5,985.00
9. Sasuke234 (Sweden) $3,244.00
There are still several days and a number of tournaments left to be played in the 2014 Spring Championship of Online Poker at PokerStars. Check the 2014 SCOOP homepage for details regarding all of the remaining events.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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