Like any tournament, Event #2-L of the 2014 SCOOP, a $27 no-limit hold’em affair, provided plenty of highs and lows for all 25,620 players who entered. Such is the nature of tournament poker, although of course no matter how many enter, only one can end on the ultimate high of securing victory.
It sure looked like ROUNDSKY of Russia was going to be that player in this one, but another Russian, Marina “Bobrovaflya” Zemskova would deny ROUNDSKY that pleasure after a drama-filled heads-up comeback, earning $59,840.53 for the triumph. Here’s the story of how the two-day event played out to end with Zemskova on top.
Day 1: From 25,620 to 61
With 25,620 taking part, the $629,707.50 prize pool well exceeded the event’s $400K guarantee. It would take about five hours and 15 minutes on the first day of play for that huge field to be whittled down to 3,600 players and the money bubble to burst, at which point Horse93, BigWizzard, and Salesman1989 were sitting atop the counts with more than half of Day 1 still left to go.
About two-and-a-half hours after that the field had already been reduced further to just 600, with Team Online member Andre “acoimbra” Coimbra (3,555th, $37.78), Team PokerStars Pros Christophe “chrisdm” de Meulder (2,961st, $44.07) and Lex Veldhuis (2,686th, $50.37), and Team Online member Felix “xflixx” Schneiders (760th, $157.42) among the eliminated.
SCHWEUFEL, pipo101, and quizer11 were the new leaders by then, with Team Online member Grzegorz “DaWarsaw” Mikielewicz having positioned himself just inside the top 10 in the counts.
A couple of hours later just 200 players were left. Mikielewicz was back down to an average stack, while Argentin_GOd, krec23, and BlowMyHigh had surged to the top of the counts.
Play wound down for the night, as did Mikielewicz’s stack as he was reduced to less than six big blinds. Then with about a half-hour to go in Day 1, DaWarsaw reraise-shoved over a MattMGL open and the latter called. Mikielewicz had 10♣ 9♣ and MattMGL A♥ K♣ , and after a 10♥ Aâ™ 8â™ 2♥ 7♦ run out the Team Online member was finished in 86th place for a $535.25 cash.
During that final half-hour of play LudiKK of Serbia surged ahead of all with more than 10 million. Then on one of the last hands of the night LudiKK won a 21 million-chip plus pot versus fellow big stack BlowMyHigh. They got all BlowMyHigh’s chips in on a 6♥ 10♣ 5♦ flop with LudiKK holding A♥ 10♦ and BlowMyHigh Q♥ 10♥ , and when LudiKK’s hand held BlowMyHigh was the last elimination of Day 1 in 62nd place for $724.16.
With 61 players left play was halted for the night at the end of Level 40. Here’s how the top 10 looked with LudiKK enjoying a big overnight lead:
1. LudiKK (Serbia) — 21,850,861
2. Akameo (Hungary) — 10,864,082
3. lenonss (Bulgaria) — 10,842,286
4. King_geoden (Greece) — 9,690,779
5. ROUNDSKY (Russia) — 8,015,805
6. patsyeire (Ireland) — 7,962,423
7. Justuks (Lithuania) — 7,830,213
8. sosickPL (Poland) — 6,857,126
9. ante_unreal (United Kingdom) — 6,799,136
10. lukegraves (United Kingdom) — 6,106,380
Day 2: From 61 to a Winner
When play resumed Monday afternoon the eliminations came quickly, and within two hours they were already down to 18 players sitting around two tables. One-time WCOOP champion sosickPL was among the eliminated after getting knocked out in 31st for a $1,007.53 cash.
At that point Akameo had grabbed the top spot away after building a stack of more than 30 million while LudiKK had slipped back to the middle of the pack.
Nine more then hit the rail, with rainman4166 (18th), Rob1991315 (17th), and TUriST_P.S (16th) taking away $1,290.90 apiece, krec23 (15th), start-of-Day-2 leader LudiKK (14th), and OleRoberts1 (13th) earning $1,826.15 each, and luskepeter (12th), King_geodon (11th), and Justuks (10th) finding $2,361.40 more in their PokerStars accounts after being eliminated.
By then ROUNDSKY had charged in front having accumulated nearly 70 million chips to the lead the way, one of four remaining Russian players at the final table.
Seat 1: Marina “Bobrovaflya” Zemskova (Russia) — 20,063,602
Seat 2: Akameo (Hungary) — 32,539,450
Seat 3: Sr.FireoNe (Brazil) — 19,098,922
Seat 4: niko19666 (Russia) — 10,582,438
Seat 5: lenonss (Bulgaria) — 35,495,267
Seat 6: firstcup99 (Canada) — 13,289,582
Seat 7: savik007 (Russia) — 15,034,648
Seat 8: ROUNDSKY (Russia) — 69,749,923
Seat 9: DutchPoker23 (Netherlands) — 40,646,168
About 10 minutes after the final table began, the blinds were 600k/1.2m when Akameo opened for 2.4 million from middle position, then firstcup99 shoved all in for 12,789,582 from the small blind and Akameo called.
Akameao had 6♦ 6â™ and firstcup99 Kâ™ Q♥ . The 8♥ 4♦ 5♣ Jâ™ A♦ board didn’t hit the latter’s hand, and firstcup99 was first out at the final table.
About 10 more minutes passed, then with the blinds up to 700k/1.4m it was niko19666 shoving all in for 9,807,438 from the hijack seat and getting one caller in DutchPoker23 sitting in the big blind.
Both players had two Broadway cards, with niko19666’s Aâ™ 10♣ ahead of DutchPoker23’s K♥ Q♥ before the flop. But the board came Kâ™ 2♥ 2♣ Qâ™ 8♣ to give DutchPoker23 two pair and send niko19666 railward in eighth.
Not quite two orbits later, they were in the same level when savik007 open-raised all in from early position for 4,410,726 — a little over three big blinds — and Sr.FireoNe called from the big blind. savik007 had 6â™ 5â™ and was behind Sr.FireoNe’s 10♦ 6♦ , and after the board came J♥ K♥ K♦ 4â™ Q♣ they were down to seven.
About 20 minutes’ worth of poker followed with ROUNDSKY remaining out in front. Then with the blinds up to 800k/1.6m, ROUNDSKY opened for 3.2 million from the cutoff seat and Akameo defended the big blind with a call.
The flop came 7♣ 5♦ 4♦ . Akameo checked, ROUNDSKY bet 3.95 million, and Akameo called. The turn then brought the 4♥ and a bet of 7,025,000 from Akameo. ROUNDSKY came back with a raise to 15,154,500, Akameo pushed for 36,389,930, and ROUNDSKY called.
Akameo: Kâ™ 6â™
ROUNDSKY: 10♦ 10â™
It was two pair for ROUNDSKY, while Akameo had an open-ended straight draw and one overcard. The river brought the A♥ , and Akameo was out in sixth.
The blinds climbed again, this time to 1m/2m with a hefty 250k ante. Then came a hand that saw Sr.FireoNe open for 4 million from the cutoff seat, lenonss push all in for 29,523,965 from the button, then DutchPoker23 reraise-shove for more than 51 million from the big blind.
Sr.FireoNe folded, lenonss showed K♦ J♦ , and DutchPoker23 Qâ™ Q♥ . Five cards later — 2♦ 9â™ Aâ™ J♥ 8♣ — lenonss had been eliminated in fifth.
Play continued, with ROUNDSKY still the pace-setter with a stack that by then exceeded 100 million. Then with the blinds at 1.25m/1.5m, Sr.FireoNe opened with an all-in shove for 33,542,372 from the small blind and ROUNDSKY called from the big.
Both had pairs, but ROUNDSKY’s 6♥ 6♣ was the big favorite against Sr.FireoNe’s 3â™ 3♣ . The community cards came 4♣ 5♥ 10♦ K♥ 8♣ , and ROUNDSKY added more to the lead as Sr.FireoNe was eliminated in fourth.
Soon after that DutchPoker23 was open-pushing for 21,048,007 from the small blind with 10♥ 3â™ and Marina “Bobrovaflya” Zemskova called from the BB with A♦ 8♦ . The board came Q♦ Jâ™ Q♥ , then K♦ , then 5♥ , and DutchPoker23 was done in third.
ROUNDSKY had a better than 3-to-1 lead to start heads-up play with 194,237,521 to Marina “Bobrovaflya” Zemskova’s 62,262,479. It appeared as though ROUNDSKY was about to end things quickly, too, after a preflop all-in situation soon ensued in which ROUNDSKY had the big preflop edge with A♦ 7♦ versus the 8♣ 7♣ of Zemskova. But see what happened:
That flopped straight gave Zemskova tourney life — and the chip lead — but ROUNDSKY soon won a series of hands to move out in front once more. Bobrovaflya narrowed the gap somewhat after that, then another hand followed that once more saw ROUNDSKY right on the verge of securing a coveted SCOOP watch.
The hand started with a min-raise to 6 million by Bobrovaflya from the button, then ROUNDSKY three-bet to 15 million and Bobrovaflya called. The flop came 6♦ 10♠4♥ , and a series of bets ensued that saw Zemskova all in and at risk for just over 105 million more.
Bobrovaflya had 6♥ 3♥ for middle pair while ROUNDSKY had flopped top and bottom pair with 10♣ 4♣ . But the turn was the 8♥ and river the 5♥ , filling a backdoor flush for Bobrovaflya and knocking ROUNDSKY down to just a few big blinds.
ROUNDSKY quickly managed to double up twice after enduring that gut punch, then was challenging for the lead once more. But Bobrovaflya would knock ROUNDSKY back down to just under 50 million, then suddenly the end arrived.
With the blinds 2m/4m, Zemskova open-pushed from the button and ROUNDSKY called with the almost 45 million left after posting the big blind.
ROUNDSKY had Q♥ 9♦ and a dominating hand versus Bobrovaflya’s Qâ™ 5♣ , but the flop came 5â™ 8â™ Aâ™ , that five in the window giving Bobrovaflya a pair and those three spades a flush draw to boot. The turn was the J♥ and river the K♦ and Bobrovaflya had won.
Congratulations to Marina “Bobrovaflya” Zemskova — a one-time MicroMillions winner and the MicroMillions 7 Player of the Series back in March — for hanging on while ROUNDSKY gathered up chips at the final table, then managing that stirring comeback to take down Event #2-L and the SCOOP watch. Kudos also to ROUNDSKY for a gritty performance and running into some misfortune late to come up one spot shy of the win.
SCOOP 02-L: $27 NL Hold’em
Entrants: 25,650Â
Prize pool: $629,707.50Â Â
Places paid: 3,600
1. Marina “Bobrovaflya” Zemskova (Russia) — $59,840.53
2. ROUNDSKY (Russia) — $43,676.51
3. DutchPoker23 (Netherlands) — $28,336.83
4. Sr.FireoNe (Brazil) — $22,669.47
5. lenonss (Bulgaria) — $17,002.10
6. Akameo (Hungary) — $11,334.73
7. savik007 (Russia) — $7,871.34
8. niko19666 (Russia) — $5,352.51
9. firstcup99 (Canada) — $3,148.53
The Spring Championship of Online Poker has only just gotten underway. Click over to the 2014 SCOOP homepage for a complete rundown of the remaining events.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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