SCOOP 8-L: $11.00+R NL Hold’em [Heads-Up], $50k guaranteed was a two-day event and needed to be that way after 6,521 players tuned up for, what some say, is the purest form of poker. It’s certainly intense and requires a huge amount of one’s attention.

A guarantee-breaking $65,210 was gathered into the prize pool and a share of that was on offer for those who could win two matches or more. That left 1,024 players who won minimum of $21.51. Marc “FrenchDawg” Ladouceur made the first money round before busting, whereas Chris “Money800” Moneymaker and Jamie “JamieStaples” Staples went one round further, earning $35.21.

Day 1 continued until 64 players remained and they came back for Day 2 today with another five matches between them and the title. After a couple of hours, just four players remained:

P9kerpete versus Aethyr13
Cathulos versus DiegoCheblii

Semi-final one

P9kerpete’s semi-final versus Aethyr13 was a very even affair, and then, over the course of two hands, it was all over. The former was odds-on to make the final after he got Aethyr13 all-in dominated with 10♦ 10♠ to 8♣ 8♠ , but the board ran 2♦ A♣ 7♣ J♣ 3♣ to see the eights four-flush. P9kerpete had a third of his stack in the middle as the big blind the very next hand and called all-in with 4♣ 5♦ . Aethyr13 wasn’t miles in front with 6♦ 10♣ but was after the 6♥ 9♦ J♠ Q♣ 3♠ board was delivered.

Semi-final two

The second semi-final took longer to play out and was defined by one key hand.

Cathulos opened the button with Q♣ Q♦ and DiegoCheblii peeled from the big blind with 9♥ 10♠ . The flop fanned 8♥ 4♦ 5♦ and Cathulos continued. DiegoCheblii made a float that would end up costing him dear. He turned top pair when the 9♦ rolled off the deck, enough for him to call a second barrel to see the 4♥ complete the board. Cathulos moved all-in for twice the pot and DiegoCheblii made a quick check-call.

Eleven more hands passed with no flop seen and then it was all over. Cathulos just flat called on the button with 7♦ 7♥ and then called the 15 big blind shove from DiegoCheblii. He opened A♠ 5♠ but the 2♠ 6♥ 3♦ K♣ Q♥ board failed to rescue him.

The final

Blinds: $204,800/$409,600

Aethyr13 – $40,960,000
Cathulos – $40,960,000

Both players started with 100 big blinds and there was little movement until hand #14 where Cathulos made an audacious bluff with jack high but ran into the two pair of Aethyr13.  The Latvian raised with J♣ 7♦ and Aethyr13 defended to see a 4♦ 3♠ 9♦ flop appear. Cathulos continued and Aethyr13 check-called to the A♦ turn where the hand got interesting. Cathulos fired a second barrel and then three-bet after Aethyr13 check-raised. The Romanian wasn’t put off though and called to the Q♣ river where a check brought about a third-pot bet from Cathulos. Aethyr13 made the right call and took a near two-to-one chip lead moving forward.

Cathulos managed to win a couple of pots to take over the chip lead but once Aethyr13 got back into a dominating chip lead, the Romanian put the foot to the floor. Cathulos’ stack had dropped to around 10 big blinds and Aethyr13 went into shoving mode, applying maximum pressure every hand. The tactic paid off for a while but Cathulos couldn’t continue to fold and called a shove holding K♣ 5♥ . Aethyr13 opened Q♥ 2♥ but couldn’t hit on a board than ran 3♣ 9♣ 5♠ 8♠ 10♣ .

Aethyr13 still had twice as many chips but the double gave Cathulos a boost and after a few non-showdown hands, the Latvian had crept into the lead. Both players enjoyed periods of mild dominance before it was Aethyr13’s turn to double, and get back into the lead. Cathulos opened with J♦ 10♥ and called after Aethyr13 three-bet all-in for just under 11 big blinds with K♦ 8♠ . The board ran king high and Cathulos was now reduced to 11 big blinds.

The final hand

Four hands later it was all over. Cathulos moved all-in for just over 8 big blinds and Aethyr13 made the call.

Aethyr13: K♥ 4♣
Cathulos: Q♥ 3♠

The board ran 4♠ 5♠ 7♣ K♣ K♠ to make Aethyr13 a full house.

Congratulations to all the players who went deep in this event, as online heads up tournaments are intense, challenging affairs. Special congratulation to Aethyr13 for a first SCOOP title, Romania’s second of the series so far.

SCOOP-08-L ($11.00 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up]) results
Entrants: 6,521
Prize pool: $65,210
Places paid: 1,024

1. Aethyr13 (Romania) $5,731.83
2. Cathulos (Latvia) $3,641.97
3. P9kerpete (Germany) $1,840.22
4. DiegoCheblii (Brazil) $1,840.22
5. Vinni-jok (UK) $1,013.36
6. gotyoudude (Germany) $1,013.36
7. Grundahl (Denmark) $1,013.36
8. Secoy (Lithuania) $1,013.36

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