Friday, 29th March 2024 15:56
Home / Uncategorized / MicroMillions 5: joeisi wins Event 96, $3.30+R NL Courchevel Hi/Lo (6-max, 3x-Turbo)

If you’re the type of person who likes both to save the best for last and to play poker variants that give you lots of options on every hand, today was the perfect day for you. Event 96 fit the bill in both cases, as it was the only Courchevel Hi/Lo event on the MicroMillions 5 schedule and it fell on the final day of play.

If you’re not familiar with Courchevel Hi/Lo, it plays like five-card Omaha hi-lo, only with the notable twist that the first flop card is dealt face-up on the table as the players receive their hole cards. As if that weren’t already enough action, Event 96 was played in a no-limit, 6-max format with re-buys and a 3x-Turbo structure (5-minute levels and a 30K add-on at the end of the re-buy period). By the end of late registration at 2:35 p.m. ET the tournament had drawn 3,914 adventurous sorts, who together accounted for 11,677 re-buys and 1,585 add-ons. That created a total prize pool of $51,528 and a top prize of $7.989.66.

A double KO for the lead

At 5:43 p.m. ET the tournament was on the verge of making the final table, with blinds and antes up to 250K/500K/50K and four players left on each of the last two tables. In a single hand the last two bubble players would be eliminated, allowing the tables to consolidate. Trinidad and Tobago’s joeisi opened the betting by moving all-in for 14.52M on the button with the 4♦ showing on the board and Qâ™  10â™  6♥ 4â™  4♣ in the hole for a set of fours.

Colombia’s wilson205 called all-in for 5.77M from the small blind with Aâ™  Q♥ 8♦ 3♣ 2♦ , and Russia’s Dimmkp called all-in for 3.91M in the big blind holding A♥ J♥ Jâ™  5♦ 2â™  . The board ran out 4♦ 9♥ K♥ 8♣ 9♦ . joeisi held fours full of nines and scooped the pot as there was no low, and wilson205 (7th place, $566.80) and Dimmkp (8th, $566.80) fell just short of the final table.

That gave joeisi the chip lead as the final table started up:

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Seat 1: dubfitz (21,063,529 in chips)
Seat 2: IL0veBeer (11,548,652 in chips)
Seat 3: Vingtcent (14,394,017 in chips)
Seat 4: joeisi (24,416,859 in chips)
Seat 5: bogie8118 (11,498,956 in chips)
Seat 6: XimieN (11,400,987 in chips)

Bon voyage, Vingtcent

Hand #2 began with the 6â™  showing on the board. Ireland’s dubfitz opened the betting for 1.07M on the button and the Netherlands’ Vingtcent called from the big blind to see the full flop come 6â™  4♥ 5â™  . Vingtcent check-called a 1.26M bet there and 3.56M on the 7â™  turn but folded facing an all-in bet after the 7♦ came on the river. That moved dubfitz into the lead with 27.16M and dropped Vingtcent to 9.43M.

dubfitz opened the betting for 1M from the cutoff on Hand #3 with the Q♥ showing on the board. This time Vingtcent, sitting in the small blind, jammed for 9.38M. dubfitz called and showed A♦ Q♣ 10♥ 9♥ 2♣ for a pair of queens and a ten-high flush draw, while Vingtcent held A♥ K♥ 9♣ 6♣ 3♣ for a better flush draw. The full flop came Q♥ 9♦ Q♦ , though, giving dubfitz queens full of nines. Vingtcent was all but drawing dead, and the 3♥ turn and 3♠ river sent the Dutch player to the rail in 6th place ($901.74).

IL0veBeer’s pint runs dry

The next 20 hands would go by a simple pattern: the short stacks who got all-in split their pots but never won them outright. Sweden’s XimieN, Canada’s bogie8118, and Latvia’s IL0veBeer all had chances to double cut down when they could only claim half the pot. By Hand #23 the blinds and antes were up to 300K/600K/60K and IL0veBeer, holding just 6.67M chips with Aâ™  Kâ™  10♥ 8â™  6♥ and the [K] showing on the board, moved all-in from the cutoff. joeisi raised all-in to isolate and cleared out the players in the blinds, turning up A♦ K♣ 10â™  6♦ 4♣ .

The full flop came K♥ 2♦ A♣ , giving both players two pair for the high and also opening two backdoor flush draws for joeisi, while putting joeisi in the lead for the low with 6-4 to IL0veBeer’s 8-6. The 8♦ on the turn locked up the low for joeisi and brought the diamond flus hone card closer. Then the 7♦ fell on the river. joeisi scooped the 14.54M-chip pot and IL0veBeer left in 5th place ($1,628.28).

Bye-bye bogie8118

dubfitz now held the lead with 39.2M, trailed by joeisi (28.5M), XimieN (14.26M), and bogie8118 (12.34M). Four hands later the blinds and antes were up to 350K/700K/70K and joeisi would move a little closer to the lead. The player from Trinidad and Tobago opened the betting for 1.4M on the button, with the 10♠ showing on the board and A♠ 10♥ 9♥ 6♣ 2♠ in the hole. bogie8118 moved in for 11.49M from the small blind and turned up A♠ A♣ Q♣ J♦ 4♠ after joeisi made the call, bringing a full flop of 10♠ 8♥ K♥ .

bogie8118’s pair of aces was ahead for the high and had several outs to a straight; joeisi had a pair of tens, a backdoor spade draw, and backdoor draw to the nut low. The 6â™  on the turn did nothing to improve bogie8118’s position but gave joeisi a ten-high straight and kept those low and flush draws alive as well. The 6♦ on the river completed joeisi’s low and the straight held up against bogie8118’s bare pair of aces, sending the Canadian player out in 4th place ($2,730.98).

Ximien’s exit

On the hand after bogie8118’s departure, Hand #28 of the final table, XimieN had the button with the 3♥ showing on the board. The Swedish player moved all-in for 9.5M with A♦ A♣ 8♥ 6♦ 3â™  in the hole and was called by dubfitz, who held 7♥ 7♣ 5♣ 3♦ 2♥ . The full flop of 3♥ 4â™  6â™  was gold for dubfitz, giving the Irish player a seven-high straight and a made 6-5 low. XimieN had hit two pair, sixes and treys, and had outs for a full house, but the K♣ turn and 8â™  river were no help. joeisi scooped the 19.91M-chip pot and XimieN finished in 3rd place ($4,276.82).

A short duel

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The final table had begun with joeisis holding the lead and dubfitz slightly behind. Now dubfitz held 56.15M chips as heads-up play began, about 26 big blinds more than joeisi. The two talked about making a deal, but they couldn’t come to an agreement so play resumed.

The chip situation would turn upside down on Hand #30. With the 5♣ showing on the board and A♥ 9♠ 5♦ 4♥ 3♦ in the hole, joeisi raised to 1.4M on the button. dubfitz made the call with 7♠ 6♠ 5♠ 4♦ 3♠ to see the full flop come down 5♣ 5♥ 8♥ . Both players had a five in the hole and hit three of a kind; dubfitz had outs to a straight and 4-3 for a low draw, while joeisi held the nut flush draw and A-3 for a low draw. The 7♣ on the turn gave dubfitz fives full of sevens, but joeisi still had outs to a better boat. The 9♣ was one of them, and when it hit the river joeisi scooped the 83.27M-chip pot with fives full of nines and no low.

Left with just 11.04M, dubfitz was in a desperate posiiton. Two hands later, with the 3♣ showing on the board and joeisi having opened on the button for 1.4M, the Irish player moved all-in for 11.74M with A♣ 10♣ 9♣ 6♥ 6♠ in the hole. joeisi called with K♣ Q♠ 7♣ 4♣ 2♠ , bringing a full flop of 3♣ 3♦ 8♠ . The 10♦ on the turn gave dubfitz a solid chance of scooping the pot and a slim one of losing out. But the K♥ river gave joeisi two pair, kings and threes, good enough to scoop the pot and win the tournament.

For second place dubfitz earned $5,822.66, marking the second runner-up finish worth at least $5,800 in the last week for the Irish player. As for joeisi, the $7,989.66 winner’s purse was a career best by more than $6,700, a perfect way to end this installement of the MicroMillions.

MicroMillions 5 Event #96: $3.30 NL Courchevel Hi/Lo (6-max, 3x-Turbo)
3,914 entrants, 11,677 re-buys, 1,585 add-ons
$51,528 prize pool
510 places paid

1st place: joeisi (Trinidad and Tobago) $7,989.66
2nd place: dubfitz (Ireland) $5,822.66
3rd place: XimieN (Sweden) $4,276.82
4th place: bogie8118 (Canada) $2,730.98
5th place: IL0veBeer (Latvia) $1,628.28
6th place: Vingtcent (Netherlands) $901.74

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

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