When is a knockout a “super knockout”? When it’s worth nearly half your buy-in back, that’s when, such as was the case for Event #41, a $530 buy-in, $500K guaranteed no-limit hold’em tourney that awarded a cool $256 per elimination along the way.
It took two days for all of the bounties to be collected, with Austria’s young_diam18 being the one to take the last ones to earn a $96,876.80 prize for first, plus a few more bucks for those bounties to add up to an almost six-figure score.
In other words, for young_diam18, Event #41 was pretty super all around. Was also not bad for a number of others, too, with an enormous field of 2,547 creating a total prize pool of $1,304,064 — way, way above the $500K guarantee. Here’s the story of how it played out.
Day 1: From 2,547 to 39
After four-and-a-half hours of action on Saturday’s Day 1 the field had been carved down to 1,000 players with EvnomiYa of Russia sitting at the top of the counts and six-time COOP champ Dan “djk123” Kelly (four WCOOPs, two SCOOPs) having by then amassed the most knockouts with eight (worth $2,048 total).
Three hours after that they were down to 324 and the bursting of the money bubble. Unfortunately for Kelly, he was unable to knock out another player, and in fact had been knocked out himself well shy of being able to earn part of the regular prize pool, too.
Meanwhile 3P3NIPA of the Czech Republic had claimed the top spot with Handebraken having earned the most knockouts of anyone with 11 at that point. 3P3NIPA would continue to lead for the next two hours, and as the field was carved down to 100 players was still out in front.
Among those cashing along the way were three Team Online members — Randy “nanonoko” Lew (311th, $456.42 + $512 for two bounties), Tatiana “Mysters_Y” Barausova (291st, $489.02 + $1,280 for five bounties), and Andre “acoimbra” Coimbra (283rd, $521.62 with no bounties) — and Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov (267th, $552.22 + $512 for two bounties).
With 100 left only Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin was sporting the red spade, and she continued to battle with a below average stack as the field further shrunk and several players passed 3P3NIPA to take turns atop the counts.
Finally Lin took her chances with 6â™ 6♣ but unfortunately ran into the 8♥ 8♦ of nabourisk and when she couldn’t improve was eliminated in 62nd place for a $1,206.25 cash, with one bounty giving her another $256 for her efforts.
As they reached the last levels of the night, Sytraxx of the Netherlands emerged as a new leader, becoming the first player to cross the 1 million-chip mark. Then it was lafila of Greece cruising past everyone to take a big lead that ¡No pasarán! eventually narrowed before play concluded.
Having played through 30 twenty-minute levels, play was halted with 39 players still in the hunt. Here’s how the top five looked overnight:
1. lafila (Greece) — 1,377,134
2. ¡No pasarán! (Russia) — 1,282,660
3. Sytraxx (Netherlands) — 905,038
4. weygang (Australia) — 857,596
5. EpickFail (Ukraine) — 756,444
Meanwhile, another making Day 2 with a short stack was current 2013 WCOOP Player of the Series leader -Rebus1980- who’d collected the most knockout bounties on Day 1, having eliminated 15 players for $3,840 — already better than 15th-place money!
Day 2: From 39 to 1
Play resumed early Sunday afternoon, and after an hour they were down to 24 with lafila still in front, then -Rebus1980- went out in 24th without collecting another bounty. The second hour next saw lafila slip back to the middle of the pack, and with 18 left it was Australia’s weygang leading with a stack of more than 2.5 million.
Over the next hour-and-a-half the field was cut to nine, during which stretch Sytraxx retook the lead and pushed out way in front with more than 5 million chips.
bearsfan775 (18th), shumeilove (17th), and good genius (16th) each picked up $2477.72 shares of the regular prize pool in addition to their bounties. Jon “JonnyKilo” Kyriakides (15th), ¡No pasarán! (14th), and SsicK_OnE (13th) made off with $3,455.76 each plus bounties. And slapnuts3 (12th), TheTakeover (11th), and upstrick77 (10th) just missed the final table, each earning $4,433.81 plus their bounty bonuses.
The final table was underway.
Seat 1: lafila (Greece) — 1,481,598
Seat 2: cRkRaideRzR (Canada) — 1,725,134
Seat 3: young_diam18 (Austria) — 1,039,324
Seat 4: sosickPL (Poland) — 969,308
Seat 5: LeCelli Br (Brazil) — 1,330,572
Seat 6: Sytraxx (Netherlands) — 5,449,955
Seat 7: EpickFail (Ukraine) — 2,986,170
Seat 8: weygang (Australia) — 3,714,749
Seat 9: moneymike7 (Germany) — 405,690
About 15 minutes after the final table began, the blinds were at 40k/80k when sosickPL open-raised all in for 621,808 from early position then watched moneymike7 reraise from the button, earning folds from the blinds.
sosickPL was hoping to double up and continue a quest for a second WCOOP bracelet after having won one back in 2011 in a $320 NLHE 6-max. event. But sosickPL had A♦ Jâ™ and moneymike7 9♣ 9â™ , and when the board came six-high — 3♣ 5â™ 6â™ 2â™ 6♥ — sosickPL was out in ninth.
Two more players would fall before they’d reach the four-hour break of Day 2, EpickFail (in eighth) and moneymike7 (in seventh).
EpickFail’s last hand began with cRkRaideRzR min-raising to 160,000 from middle position, Sytraxx reraising to 322,000 from the button, then EpickFail four-betting to 560,000 from the small blind. cRkRaideRzR folded and Sytraxx called, and the flop came 4♦ 2♦ 7♥ .
EpickFail led for 400,000 and Sytraxx called, then EpickFail checked following the 7♠turn. Sytraxx took that opening to bet 810,000, and when EpickFail shoved all in for 2,803,670 Sytraxx called. EpickFail had K♠K♥ , but Sytraxx had turned trips with J♣ 7♣ . The J♠river improved Sytraxx to a full house, and EpickFail was done.
About an orbit later, Sytraxx made a 2x raise to 160,000 from the cutoff seat, then moneymike7 reraised all in for 1,408,188 from the small blind. It folded back to Sytraxx who called instantly, showing A♣ A♥ . moneymike7 had J♦ 10♦ and needed help, but the community cards came 9♥ 6♠8♦ 6♥ K♥ and moneymike7 hit the rail.
Those two knockouts put Sytraxx well ahead at the break with more than 10.45 million and weygang the nearest competitor of the other five players with about 3.93 million.
On the third hand back the blinds were still 40k/80k when young_diam18 open-pushed all in for 1,019,324 from early position and got a single caller in lafila who called all in for 724,048 from the big blind.
young_diam18 had A♦ 7♥ and lafila A♥ J♥ . The flop came 3â™ 5♣ 6♦ , then the 4â™ turn filled a straight for young_diam18. The river was the 3♦ , and lafila’s Event #41 run had ended in sixth place.
On the very next hand, Sytraxx raised 2x to 200,000 from the cutoff, then cRkRaideRzR reraised all in for 2,107,684 from the small blind and Sytraxx called. cRkRaideRzR had A♣ 9♣ and Sytraxx A♦ Q♦ . The board then came J♣ 8♥ 5♦ 8♠3♦ , and cRkRaideRzR was out in fifth, nearly equaling a fourth-place finish in Event #37 ($215+R NLHE).
The blinds were still 50k/100k when weygang next raised to 200,000 from the button, then LeCelli Br pushed for 1,083,072 from the big blind and weygang called. LeCelli Br had the edge with A♥ 7♥ versus weygang’s Qâ™ J♣ , but the Q♣ 4♣ 8♣ flop gave weygang both a pair and a flush draw. The 9♣ on the turn then completed the flush, making the K♦ on the river no matter and weygang collected LeCelli Br’s bounty.
Just three remained, and before long they paused the tournament to talk about a possible deal.
Sytraxx still led with 11,641,125, with weygang next with 4,039,631 and young_diam18 third with 3,421,744. First “chip chop” numbers were produced, followed by ICM-based figures, with both leaving $10,000 on the table for which to play.
After some back-and-forthing the trio appeared ready to agree to the ICM figures which would give Sytraxx $85,847.05, weygang $72,171.05, and young_diam18 $69,812.11 (with $10K still up for grabs). But young_diam18 wanted a little more, asking for $70K even.
The others balked at first, but after young_diam18 fell silent for a while Sytraxx finally gave in and agreed to give up enough to give young_diam18 another $187.89 to make the $70K. That’s when young_diam18 returned to request $70,800 total, at which both of the others objected and ultimately no deal was made.
They battled on through the day’s five-hour break, with weygang narrowing the gap by cutting into Sytraxx’s lead and young_diam18 chipping up some, too. They played on a little longer and then paused the tourney once more to talk about a possible chop, by which point weygang had nudged out in front.
weygang had 7,262,262, Sytraxx 6,848,144, and young_diam18 4,992,094. The host again produced the deal figures following the ICM method:
HostSilviaF (Administrator): weygang: $78,074.29
HostSilviaF (Administrator): Sytraxx: $77,225.49
HostSilviaF (Administrator): young_diam18: $72,530.43
HostSilviaF (Administrator): Left To Play for place 1: $10,000.00
“gimme your 530,” Sytraxx cheekily said to young_diam18, and weygang responded “haha.” Then young_diam18 requested $74K, and the laughing stopped.
weygang: fk this
young_diam18: maybe sytraxx want give up a bit
Sytraxx: no way dude
And just like that, another deal was scuttled.
Soon the three players’ stacks were all close to even, and before long Sytraxx was third of three while young_diam18 grabbed the lead. That’s when a big all-in confrontation developed between Sytraxx and weygang that saw the latter holding 7♣ 7♥ versus Sytraxx’s K♥ 10♦ , then a ten flopped and Sytraxx earned a big double to move back in front.
weygang would battle back, however, doubling through young_diam18 with J♣ 10♣ versus the latter’s Aâ™ 6♦ when a saving jack fell on the river, then chipping up some more to grab the lead once again.
A while later the blinds were 70k/140k when weygang opened for 280,000 from the button and Sytraxx called from the big blind. The flop came 5♥ 10♠3♥ , and Sytraxx checked. weygang bet 302,000, then Sytraxx check-raised to 840,000 and weygang called.
The turn was the 9♦ , and this time Sytraxx led for 840,000. weygang called again, and when the Q♣ fell on fifth street, Sytraxx shoved for 2,573,183 and weygang was there with the call again.
Sytraxx had but A♣ 2♥ for ace-high while weygang had a set with 10♦ 10♣ , and they were down to two.
weygang enjoyed a big chip lead to start heads-up play with 14,201,174 to young_diam18’s 4,901,326, but the fourth hand between them saw young_diam18 enjoy a double up to even the score.
That hand saw the two battle to the turn with the board eight-high which is where young_diam18 would check-call an all-in push from weygang. weygang had 8♣ 7♣ for a pair of eights, but young_diam18 held K♥ K♦ for a better pair and the hand held through the river. Take a look:
Not long after that hand the two players paused the tourney one more time to talk about a deal with young_diam18 enjoying a slight lead. In contrast to earlier negotiations, both agreed instantly when ICM numbers were proposed, and a deal having been made they played on for the last $10K, the last bounties, and the WCOOP bracelet.
weygang would grab the edge again shortly after play started back up, but young_diam18 fought back and after taking the lead began to chip away at weygang, eventually assuming a better than 3-to-1 edge. weygang earned one double up after getting it all in on the turn with a flush versus young_diam18’s trips and surviving. But shortly after the eight-hour mark of Day 2 a hand arose that proved weygang’s last, and the tournament was decided.
The blinds were up to 100k/200k, and weygang started things with a raise to 400,000 from the button which young_diam18 called. The flop came a ragged Q♣ 2♣ 7♦ . young_diam18 checked, weygang bet 402,000, young_diam18 shoved, and weygang called all in with the 6,152,721 left.
young_diam_18: K♣ 6♣
weygang: 10♣ 10♥
weygang’s tens were in front, but the J♣ fell on the turn to complete young_diam18’s club flush, making the river Q♥ inconsequential and giving the pot, the last bounties, the extra $10,000, and the WCOOP title to young_diam18.
Congratulations to young_diam18 for outlasting a big WCOOP field and surviving a lengthy, tough battle three-handed to earn the win and almost $100K when adding in the bounties collected. Kudos as well to weygang not only for making it to heads-up and the deal, but also for collecting the most knockout bounties of anyone in the tournament by eliminating 16 opponents.
PokerStars 2013 WCOOP Event #41 $530 NLHE (Super-Knockout) results (*reflects two-way deal)
Players: 2,547
Total prize pool: $1,304,064.00
Regular prize pool: $652,032.00
Bounty prize pool: $652,032.00
Places paid: 324
1. young_diam18 (Austria) — $96,876.80* + $2,816 (11 bounties) = $99,692.80
2. weygang (Australia) — $85,530.69* + $4,096 (16 bounties) = $89,626.69
3. Sytraxx (Netherlands) — $55,422.72 + $3,840 (15 bounties) = $59,262.72
4. LeCelli Br (Brazil) — $39,121.92 + $2,304 (9 bounties) = $41,425.92
5. cRkRaideRzR (Canada) — $29,341.44 + $2,560 (10 bounties) = $31,901.44
6. lafila (Greece) — $22,495.10 + $2,560 (10 bounties) = $25,055.10
7. moneymike7 (Germany) — $15,974.78 + $2,560.00 (10 bounties) = $18,534.78
8. EpickFail (Ukraine) — $9,454.46 + $2,048 (8 bounties) = $11,593.46
9. sosickPL (Poland) — $5,868.28 + $3,072.00 (12 bounties) = $8,940.28
There’s still a week to go in the 2013 World Championship of Online Poker, culminating with next weekend’s $5,200 buy-in Main Event with an $8 million guaranteed prize pool. Read all about what has happened and what is to come on the WCOOP information page.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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