This year’s Spring Championship of Online Poker hasn’t yet produced a two-time winner, but it has been very good to past winners so far. Just last night David “Gunslinger3” Bach won his third title, defeating Triple COOP winner Shawn “buck21” Buchanan heads-up. Buchanan himself had earned his third SCOOP win the previous day, defeating fellow past SCOOP champ ElkY heads-up. And Buchanan’s fellow Triple COOP winner James “Andy McLEOD” Obst picked up his second SCOOP title two days ago.

That trend kept rolling tonight with a victory in Event #33-H by Team PokerStars Pro’s very own George Danzer. A three-time past winner of SCOOP titles, Danzer has 19 cashes this series and nearly picked up his fourth winner’s watch last week in Event #17-H, an Omaha Hi/Lo tourney where he finished second to aless_84. It was another Omaha variant that gave him his win. That was his fourth cash in an Omaha variant during SCOOP, and today’s win marked his fifth.

When it comes to SCOOP, George Danzer makes winning look easy

A $2,100 Pot-Limit Omaha tournament played in the Zoom Poker format with a turbo structure, Event #33-H drew a total field of 335 players by the time late registration closed at 6:30 p.m. ET. That built a $670,000 prize pool worth two and a half times the guarantee and scheduled a $129,645 top prize. Thanks to the Zoom/turbo combination, those players dropped quickly throughout the tournament and the final table came around just two hours and 42 minutes in.

The blinds were 10K/20K and these nine players took their seats:

Seat 1: Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer (193,309 in chips)
Seat 2: Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (184,484 in chips)
Seat 3: Dan “djk123” Kelly (89,623 in chips)
Seat 4: FaKeOrReaL (82,266 in chips)
Seat 5: Ziv “zivziv” Bachar (156,048 in chips)
Seat 6: Russell “rdcrsn” Carson (150,930 in chips)
Seat 7: JohnSmith (369,148 in chips)
Seat 8: Farid “SHiiPTHATiSH” Jattin (154,255 in chips)
Seat 9: JayP-AA (294,937 in chips)

No turbo tournament’s final table is ever destined to last particularly long, and Event #33-H was no exception. There was action the entire way and it only took 48 hands in 30 minutes to crown Danzer the champion, even though he wasn’t heavily involved in the early going.

Farid “SHiiPTHATiSH” Jattin survived the first confrontation on Hand #4 after three-betting all-in from the big blind for 154K with A♥ A♣ 9♦ 9♠ . That held up against chip leader and small-blind raiser johnsmith’s A♦ K♣ J♣ 2♠ on the Q♥ K♥ 8♠ 8♦ 4♦ board to give Jattin the 308K-chip pot and with it the lead.

Let the bustouts begin

Hand #5 opened with an 87K-chip bet in middle position from Dan “djk123” Kelly, leaving just 2,123 chips behind. FaKeOrReaL called all-in for 72K in middle position, and JayP-AA raised enough from the small blind to put Kelly all-in. The board came J♦ 8♣ 2♦ 9♦ J♥ and they showed down their hands:

JayP-AA: A♣ K♥ 7♠ 3♥
djk123: A♠ A♦ 7♦ 4♦
FaKeOrReaL: A♥ Q♣ 10♦ 9♥

Kelly’s ace-high flush won the 264K-chip pot and FaKeOrReaL hit the rail in 9th place ($11,725).

SHiiPTHATiSH opened the next hand with a raise on the button but folded after JayP-AA re-raised from the small blind. Hand #6 saw him just call from the cutoff after Ziv “zivziv” Bachar opened for 87K in early position. The flop fell 3♣ 3♠ 10♥ and Bachar bet 38K all-in, which SHiiPTHATiSH called with A♦ 10♣ 9♦ 8♣ for two pair, tens and treys. Bachar’s A♠ K♥ Q♥ 2♦ picked up a flush draw with the 5♥ on the turn, but the 7♣ was no help on the river and Bachar left in 8th place ($16,080).

Hand #7 kicked off with a raise to 53K by SHiiPTHATiSH in the hijack and calls from JayP-AA in the cutoff and Dan Kelly in the big blind. Kelly led with a pot-sized bet on the 7♣ 5♥ 2♥ flop, SHiiPTHATiSH folded, and Kelly called all-in for 35K more after JayP-AA raised in the cutoff. Kelly held a pair of deuces and the nut flush draw with A♥ K♠ J♥ 2♣ , while JayP-AA had sevens and two flush blockers with K♥ J♠ 8♥ 7♠ . The 10♠ on the turn changed nothing and the 8♦ made two pair for JayP-AA, who won the 594K-chip pot. Kelly finished in 7th place ($22,780).

The blinds and antes then went up to 15K/30K and after a three-hand lull, Russell “rdcrsn” Carson doubled through JayP-AA with K♠ 10♣ 7♣ 5♠ against A♥ K♦ Q♠ 9♦ on a 3♠ 10♦ K♣ 7♥ 2♦ board. Hand #11 saw the two short stacks tangle when George Danzer raised to 90K from the small blind and then called 56K more to match Davin “Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi’s all-in bet. Danzer’s K♠ K♣ 5♣ 3♦ stayed ahead through the turn of the 8♠ Q♥ 2♥ A♦ board, but the 9♣ on the river gave Georgi two pair, queens and nines, to double up to 293K.

Danzer was now up against the wall with only 53K chips. With less than two big blinds in his stack the only strategy available was to shove and pray, which turned out to be a winner four times in a row. Hand #12 saw him with with A♣ K♠ 10♥ 8♣ against JohnSmith’s Q♥ J♦ 10♣ 5♠ on a K♦ 2♣ 3♦ 5♦ 9♣ board. Hand #13 was a 290K-chip win with K♥ K♠ 10♠ 8♣ against JayP-AA’s 10♣ 7♠ 6♠ 3♣ on a 5♥ 8♥ K♣ 4♣ 5♦ board. And Hand #14 saw him win a pot worth nearly twice the chip stack of anyone else at the table, crippling JayP-AA in the process:

RSS readers, please click through for replay

JayP-AA was left with just 39K in chips, all of which went in the middle from the small blind on Hand #15 with J♣ 8♠ 4♦ 4♥ . Danzer called with A♥ K♠ Q♥ 7♦ and won with a royal flush against jacks and tens to bounce JayP-AA in 6th place ($29,480).

George Danzer hits the gas

With half the finalists eliminated, George Danzer had a large lead, if not necessarily a comfortable one given the tournament’s turbo nature:

Seat 1: Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer (635,039 in chips)
Seat 2: Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (278,968 in chips)
Seat 6: Russell “rdcrsn” Carson (309,360 in chips)
Seat 7: JohnSmith (146,068 in chips)
Seat 8: Farid “SHiiPTHATiSH” Jattin (305,565 in chips)

JohnSmith doubled up to 312K two hands later after the board came 4♣ A♦ 8♣ 5♣ 5♦ , pairing the ace with A♠ K♠ Q♦ 8♥ to beat SHiiPTHATiSH’s K♥ K♦ 6♦ 6♠ . Other than two more blind steals, that was the last pot JohnSmith would win. In fact, it was one of only a quarter of the remaining pots in the tournament that wouldn’t be won by George Danzer.

Danzer split a 517K-chip pot pot with Georgi on Hand #20 when both players made queens and eights with a king kicker. Two hands later Danzer opened for a pot-sized raise to 140K in the cutoff and Georgi moved in for 93K more. Danzer called and showed A♠ 8♣ 2♠ 2♦ , which was ahead of Georgi’s A♣ K♦ J♥ 9♦ and stayed there on the Q♣ 6♠ 8♥ flop. The K♠ moved Georgi into the lead with a pair of kings but gave Danzer a flush draw, which came home on the 5♠ river to claim the 537K-chip pot and knock Georgi out in 5th place ($38,190).

Danzer picked up the next four consecutive pots, and six of the next seven overall, without a fight. That run was only broken up by SHiiPTHATiSH’s double to 188K with A♠ K♠ 6♦ 3♠ against JohnSmith’s K♦ 7♠ 3♥ 2♠ . After one more blind steal by JohnSmith, the Russian player and SHiiPTHATiSH tangled once again.

JohnSmith raised the pot to 150K in the small blind and called 13K more with K♦ 7♦ 5♠ 3♠ after SHiiPTHATiSH moved all-in from the big blind, holding A♦ Q♣ J♣ 10♠ . The board fell 6♠ 9♦ A♥ K♣ 6♦ to give SHiiPTHATiSH aces and sixes plus the 327K-chip pot. JohnSmith was left with just 8,645 chips, which went in the from the big blind three hands later in this pot played between SHiiPTHATiSH and George Danzer:

RSS readers, please click through for replay

SHiiPTHATiSH earned the 605K in the side pot but JohnSmith managed to win the 34K in the main pot. The Russian player folded 30K of that away in the small blind, which was good enough to ladder up a spot after rdcrsn was forced all-in from the big blind holding 8♦ 7♣ 6♥ 2♦ against George Danzer’s K♥ Q♠ 7♦ 5♥ . Danzer’s flopped full house was all it took on the 5♠ 5♣ Q♥ 2♥ 9♦ board to knock rdcrsn out in 4th place ($55,275).

Danzer would win seven of the next eight pots to close out the tournament. Three hands after rscrsn’s departure Danzer hit another full house, this time with K♣ 10♣ 9♦ 3♥ against JohnSmith’s K♥ Q♣ J♠ 8♠ to win the 27K-chip pot and send the tenacious Russian out in 3rd place ($73,700).

After stealing the next three pots consecutively to start heads-up play, the Red Spade pro called a pot-sized raise from SHiiPTHATiSH with J♣ 10♠ 2♦ 2♣ and then bet 35K more on the 7♣ 10♣ 3♥ flop with top pair. SHiiPTHATiSH had hit bottom two pair with A♥ K♦ 7♠ 3♠ , though, and that held up for a double to 430K.

All those chips went in the middle as a three-bet on the next hand, and Danzer called on the button to set up the final showdown:

GeorgeDanzer: A♥ K♦ 10♦ 3♦
SHiiPTHATiSH: 9♣ 7♦ 6♥ 5♥

The board came Q♥ 8♦ J♥ Q♦ 2♦ . SHiiPTHATiSH played the pair of queens on the board, while Danzer made a king-high flush. Just three hours and 13 minutes after its first hand was dealt, and exactly 30 minute after its final table began, this event had come to an end.

For finishing second, Farid “SHiiPTHATiSH” Jattin grabbed $97,150, a new career best at PokerStars. And the winner, Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer, earned $129,645 and his fourth career SCOOP title. Big congratulations to him from everyone for reaching this impressive milestone!

Among winners of SCOOP events, Danzer is now tied for second all-time with Calvin “cal42688” Anderson. They both trail leader Shaun Deeb by one, a lead that could very easily disappear entirely before this series comes to its conclusion early next week. As if things weren’t already interesting enough already!

SCOOP 33-H, $2,100 Pot-Limit Omaha (Turbo, Zoom)
Entrants: 335
Prize pool: $670,000
Places paid: 45

1. Team PokerStars Pro’s George Danzer (Austria) $129,645
2. Farid “SHiiPTHATISH” Jattin (Costa Rica) $97,150
3. JohnSmith (Russia) $73,700
4. Russell “rdcrsn” Carson (Canada) $55,275
5. Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi (Germany) $38,190
6. JayP-AA (United Kingdom) $29,480
7. Dan “djk123” Kelly (Australia) $22,780
8. Ziv “zivziv” Bachar (Israel) $16,080
9. FaKeOrReaL (Canada) $11,725

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

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