With four to go, Canada’s kfaxMTL came out of nowhere to seize the lead after pocket Aces held up against the former chip leader’s Big Slick. kfaxMTL never looked back and cruised to an impressive victory in SCOOP Event #23-M.

$1.6 million. How many tournaments can actually boast a prize pool like that? In an era when we’re perpetually bombarded by outrageous figures, it’s easy to forget the significance of this week’s Sunday Million Special Edition. Quarter of a million was up for grabs in this two-day event. If you take a step back and really think about the money… the winner of Event #23-M will earn in two days what the average school teacher will earn in five years. A half-a-decade’s worth of wages inside of two days. That’s simply an amazing ROI considering the initial $215 investment.

SCOOP Event #23-M $215 NL, also known as the Sunday Million Special Edition, attracted 8,367 runners. They boosted the prize pool to $1,673,400.00. The top 1,080 places paid out with $251,014.40 set aside to the champion.

Team Poker Stars Pros taking a shot at a SCOOP title included ElkY, Nacho Barbero, Angel Guillen, Matthias De Meulder, Johnny Lodden, Jake Cody, Max Lykov, Jonathan Duhamel, Ike Haxton, Eugene Katchalov, Bryan Huang, Andre Akkari, Martin Hruby, Leo Fernandez, Liv Boeree, Christian “El Grillo” De León, Joao “jomane” Nunes, Joe Cada, and Natalie Hof. PokerStars Team Online grinding it out in this event included xflixx, nkeyno, sirfreddy83, DaWarsaw, Pessagno, FrenchDawg, and mement_mori.

Several familiar faces cashed in SCOOP Event #23-M Sunday Million SE including… xflixx (365th), Nacho Barbero (721st), nkeyno (790th), Matthias De Meulder (954th), FrenchDawg (1,102nd), and ElkY (1,065th).

This highly-popular event was so huge that we needed two days to reach a conclusion. Day 1 ended at the start of Level 32. At the end of Day 1, only 95 players were left in the hunt for a SCOOP title. Romania’s Dylxi0n led the remaining pack with a 3.6M stack with a sizable lead over second place.

SCOOP Event #23-M – End Day 1 – Top 10 Chips:
1. Dylxi0n (Romania) 3,663,732
2. Traveller99 (Canada) 2,514,333
3. MoshiMoshi84 (Netherlands) 2,113,417
4. NotACatOK? (United Kingdom) 1,951,416
5. LukeFromB13 (Canada) 1,836,339
6. AntagSS (Ukraine) 1,834,612
7. Divved (Poland) 1,793,275
8. srxakgirona (United Kingdom) 1,786,834
9. cbb84 (Norway) 1,780,314
10. G’s zee (Canada) 1,703,827

In less than ninety minutes into Day 2, the field halved itself from 95 to 48 as the rich got richer. End of Day 1 chipleader Dylxi0n’s stack doubled from 3.6M to over 7.5M, while more than a quarter of the remaining field held stack less than 1M.

With 30 to go, Dylxi0n’s stack incurred a hit and slipped to 4th overall. Meanwhile, MoshiMoshi84 seized the lead with almost 9M, but that lead was short-lived when MoshiMoshi84 abruptly exited in 22nd place. With 20 to go, LukeFromB13 surged into the lead with 15M, or twice as much as Dylxi0n lurking in second.

With 10 to go on the final table bubble, action went hand-for-hand. LukeFromB13 lost a coinflip A♠ Q♣ vs. AntagSS’s 8♣ 8♥ when AntagSS flopped a set of eights. That 11M pot cost LukeFromB13 the lead. srxakgirona took advantage of the timid nature of the bubble and aggressive built up a big stack. Short-stacked Hidey7 bubbled off the final table in tenth place after kfaxMTL rivered a flush with Q♦ 10♥ . With nine remaining, the final table was set.

Event #23-M Sunday Million SE Final Table – Chip Counts:
Seat 1: AntagSS (7,963,107)
Seat 2: F3nix35 (6,832,320)
Seat 3: LukeFromB13 (13,356,899)
Seat 4: Bispoland (12,597,583)
Seat 5: doungara (4,475,886)
Seat 6: srxakgirona (15,918,884)
Seat 7: DyIxi0n (10,416,028)
Seat 8: kfaxMTL (8,106,750)
Seat 9: SmallKindB (4,002,543)

The final table commenced during Level 45 with blinds at 150K/300K and a 37.5K ante. The U.K.’s srxakgirona held the lead with a shade under 16M, while SmallKindB was the smallest stack with 4M. Luke “LukeFromB13” Staudenmaier won his first WCOOP bracelet last year but he was seeking his first SCOOP and his second-overall COOP title. At the start of the final table, LukeFromB13 was second in chips.

SmallKindB eliminated in 9th place

A full level was played out before someone busted. Shorty SmallKindB open-shoved for 3,892,586, and srxakgirona re-raised all-in for 9,298,465 to isolate, and every one else folded. Heads-up. SmallKindB trailed with A♦ J♠ versus srxakgirona’s A♥ Q♣ . The board ran out 6♦ 5♠ 3♦ 3♣ K♠ . Neither player improved, but rxakgirona won the pot with Ace-high and a better kicker. SmallKindB became the first player to bust at the final table. Ninth place paid out $12,968.85.

DyIxi0n eliminated in 8th place

It didn’t take long before we saw another bustout. Bispoland min-raised to 800K, DyIxi0n bombed it all-in for 8,000,985 with K♦ J♥ , and Bispoland called with A♦ Q♦ . Bispoland hit the flop, the board finished up A♠ 8♥ J♦ 4♦ 10♠ , and Bispoland won the pot with a pair of Aces. Romania’s DyIxi0n took home $20,080.80 for eighth place.

doungara eliminated in 7th place

Short-stacked doungara moved all-in for 4,275,886 with K♥ J♣ , and F3nix35 insta-called with Q♠ Q♣ . The board ran out J♦ 6♦ 5♠ 9♣ 6♠ . Although doungara flopped a pair of Jacks, that would not be good enough to win the pot. F3nix35’s Queens held up (and dragged the pot with two pair — Queens and sixes). Greece’s doungara hit the virtual rail in seventh place, which paid out $35,978.10.

With six to go, Bispoland held a commanding lead with 34M.

LukeFromB13 eliminated in 6th place

It was the biggest pot at the final table (up until that point). LukeFromB13 made a final stand with K♦ Q♦ and moved all-in for 9,641,298, and Bispoland called with A♠ 10♥ . The board ran out 9♣ 8♣ 8♦ 9♥ 7♥ . Neither player improved. With a pair of eights and nines on the board, Bispoland won the pot with an Ace-kicker. LukeFromB13 busted out in sixth place, which paid out $51,875.40.

With five to go, Bispoland contained to lead with 38.7M, AntagSS brought up the rear with 6.3M.

AntagSS eliminated in 5th place

It didn’t last five-handed very long before we saw a quickie bustout. AntagSS open-shoved for 4,113,992 and kfaxMTL called. Although AntagSS led with A♦ 5♦ versus kfaxMTL’s A♥ 2♥ , the board ran out K♥ Q♠ 2♣ 7♦ 2♦ , and kfaxMTL dragged the pot with trip deuces. For fifth place, AntagSS collected $68,609.40.

With four to go, kfaxMTL chipped up to 35M, but still trailed big-stacked Bispoland.

Bispoland eliminated in 4th place

Canada’s kfaxMTL seized the lead in a cooler when A♠ A♥ held up against Bispoland’s A♣ K♠ . That pot was worth 55.7M and kfaxMTL rocketed to the top. with two-thirds of the chips in play. Meanwhile, Bispoland was crippled down to 5M.

Super-short Bispoland eventually made a final stand with K♣ 8♥ for 1,859,345, and kfaxMTL called with K♦ 9♣ . The flop was 9♠ 5♠ 3♦ and kfaxMTL improved to a pair of nines. The turn was the 4♦ and the river was the J♦ . kfaxMTL’s pair of nines held up. Alas, Bispoland was knocked out in fourth place, which paid out $88,690.20.

With three to go, kfaxMTL was out in front with 54M, followed by srxakgirona with 18M, and F3nix35 was last by default with 11.5M.

srxakgirona eliminated in 3rd place

srxakgirona bombed it all-in for 13,602,032 holding 5♦ 5♠ , and kfaxMTL snap-called with J♠ J♦ . The board ran out Q♦ 9♦ 4♠ 2♣ 10♦ . kfaxMTL’s Jacks held up and the U.K.’s srxakgirona went busto in third, which paid out $133,872.00.

HEADS-UP: kfaxMTL (Canada) vs. F3nix35 (United Kingdom)
Seat 2: F3nix35 (13,412,627)
Seat 8: kfaxMTL (70,257,373)

With two to go, kfaxMTL appeared to be in the driver’s seat.

DEAL

On the first hand of heads-up, F3nix35 doubled up in a 26.8M pot with Q♠ Q♦ vs. kfaxMTL’s 7♣ 7♠ . kfaxMTL lead slipped — 54.5 to 29.1M.

Action was paused to discuss a deal. Any deal had to leave $20,000 on the table to the eventual champion. The terms of the money deal were: kfaxMTL ($214,901.20) and F3nix35 ($200,806.35). kfaxMTL liked those numbers, but F3nix35 wanted 205K. When he was rebuffed, F3nix35 asked for 203K.

“lol, no I play headsup for a living,” responded kfaxMTL.

After several minutes, F3nix35 finally accepted the original numbers. With a deal in place, play resumed.

F3nix35 eliminated in 2nd place; kfaxMTL wins Sunday Million Special Edition and SCOOP Event #23-M!

kfaxMTL slowly chipped away at F3nix35’s stack, which dwindled to around 7M. On the final hand, kfaxMTL shoved for 76,220,746, and F3nix35 called all-in for 6,449,254. F3nix35 led with K♠ 5♥ against kfaxMTL’s Q♣ 8♥ . However, the board finished up 7♣ 6♣ 6♥ 8♦ 6♠ . kfaxMTL turned two pair and rivered a full house, meanwhile, F3nix35 could only muster up trip sixes. Alas, kfaxMTL won the pot and F3nix35 was knocked out in second place.

For a runner-up performance, F3nix35 collected $200,806.35.

Congrats to kfaxMTL for winning SCOOP Event #23-M and earning $234,901.20 for first place, plus a cool SCOOP Champion’s watch.

View the final hand in the replayer:

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SCOOP-23-M: $215 NL Hold’em [Sunday Million SE]
Entrants: 8,367
Prize pool: $1,673,400.00
Places paid: 1,080

1. kfaxMTL (Canada) $234,901.20 **
2. F3nix35 (United Kingdom) $200,806.35 **
3. srxakgirona (United Kingdom) $133,872.00
4. Bispoland (Portugal) $88,690.20
5. AntagSS (Ukraine) $68,609.40
6. LukeFromB13 (Canada) $51,875.40
7. doungara (Greece) $35,978.10
8. DyIxi0n (Romania) $20,080.80
9. SmallKindB (Czech Republic) $12,968.85

** Denotes a deal between the final two players

Visit the SCOOP homepage to view a schedule of remaining events and see who is in the running for Player of the Series.

Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

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