It was little surprise to see a heads-up PLO tournament as one of the offerings new to the 2010 SCOOP schedule. Heads-up PLO is, in the parlance of our time, “all the rage” for young guns with large bankrolls and out-sized egos – basically, anyone that plays poker on the internet. When the “HU4ROLLZ” challenge is issued these days, PLO isn’t just implied. It’s mandated.

194 stepped into the ring for Round 1 of this $2,100 tournament, bracket-style tournament. Only four answered the bell in Round 7.

The semi-finals
Match 1: Patonius2000 v. ur_beatAA
Match 1: jadedjason v. Astrolux85

Each semi-final matched followed almost exactly the same script. The combatants circled each other warily, testing with quick jabs. Then one player landed a hard cross to take a big lead in the match and began pounding away. In Match 1, Patonius2000 was the player to come through unscathed.

In the other match, Astrolux85 opened a huge 9-to-1 chip lead with after jadedjason’s river hero-call backfired. jadedjason was the pre-flop four-bettor in the hand, with Astrolux85 tanking before making the call. The two players were greeted with a paired flop, 6♣ 6♥ 8♦ . Astrolux85 check-called a bet that was about two-thirds pot. Both players checked the 3♥ turn, leading Astrolux to bet pot, 2,850 in all, when the river was another small card, the 4♥ . jadedjason used 60 seconds from the time bank before going for the knock-out punch. We didn’t get to see jadedjason’s hand, but we do know that it couldn’t beat Astrolux85’s 10♦ 10♠ 7♣ 7♥ , tens and sixes.

With that chip lead, Astrolux85 was able to close out the match in short order. jadedjason and ur_beatAA each finished one round short of the finals but earned $31,040 in prize money for making it to the semi-finals. For Patonius2000 or Astrolux85, there was one more bell to answer.

The finals – Patonius2000 v. Astrolux85

“Interested in some sort of save?” Astrolux85 asked as soon as the two players were seated at the final table. Nobody doubts it’s the sane thing to do. But the pure fact is that a carving out a save is not quite as captivating as a $46,000 heads-up sit-n-go.

“Maybe we could take $75,000 each and play for the rest,” replied Patonius2000. Astrolux85 agreed to do that, leaving $12,960 up for grabs and taking much of the drama out of the match.

Astrolux85 opened the early chip lead, then extended it by hitting an excellent turn card a short time later. Astrolux85 opened pre-flop with a raise that Patonius2000 called. Patonius2000 check-called a bet of 200 on a flop of J♦ A♦ 8♣ , then led for 520 and for 1,160 when the turn and river came 9♥ and K♥ . Astrolux85 turned a small straight with J♠ 10♠ 10♥ 7♦ and cautiously called each bet. The straight was good; Patonius2000 had three pair, A♠ K♣ J♣ 6♥ .

After that loss, Patonius2000 was never able to climb back into the match. The stacks didn’t move for a while, staying at about a 4-to-1 lead for Astrolux85. Then, as the blinds increased, Astrolux85 hit a rush of small pots to grind Patonius2000 down to 1,405 chips. With blinds at 30 and 60, the end came quickly. In an unraised pot, all the chips were in on a flop of 10♣ 6♦ 4♠ . Patonius2000 showed down a pair and a straight draw, J♥ 6♣ 5♣ 3♠ . Astrolux85 had flopped two pair, 10♦ 4♦ 7♠ K♥ . The K♣ on the turn gave Astrolux85 three pair; Patonius2000 needed a seven, a six or a deuce on the river to avoid elimination. The river was not any of those cards; it was the 10♠ to give Astrolux85 a full house and a satisfying end to Event 11-High.

SCOOP Event 11-High $2,100 Pot-Limit Omaha [Heads-Up Match Play] results (includes 2-way deal):

1st place: Astrolux85 ($87,960)
2nd place: Patonius2000 ($75,000)
3rd place: ur_beatAA($31,040)
4th place: jadedjason ($31,040)

There are still another 27 event on the SCOOP schedule. All of the results of the previous events and the schedule of the future events can be found on the SCOOP homepage.

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