There’s only one day on the 2015 SCOOP schedule where players can get their Triple Draw 2-7 fix and this was that day. Three different buy-in levels were available for those who like to play a little limit 5-card draw lowball and it was a nice group.
The medium buy-in version cost the players $215 to get in the game and it drew 381 players to the field. A nice boost from the 333 who entered last year’s run and they created a $76,200 prize pool. The last 48 players were set to take home a piece of that money with $15,621 put aside for the champion.
There were plenty big names in the field as they hit the money with 48 players remaining but most dropped by the wayside as they hit the final table bubble less than nine hours after starting. Several players were in danger of missing that last seat but it was Aftret getting outdrawn.
It was a battle between Aftret and Akademnuk with three bets put in before the first draw and they each took one card. Aftret check called a bet before drawing one more while Akademnuk stood pat. This time Aftret check/raised and Akademnuk’s fourth bet put Aftret all-in.
Aftret stood pat on the third draw prompting Akademnuk to change tactics and take a card after stading pat on the second draw. It was proved a good move when he tabled the stone-cold nuts Number 1 7♦ 5♥ 4♣ 3♣ 2â™ to best Aftret’s 8♦ 7♣ 5♦ 4♦ 2♥ . A tough way to go out but it set up a final table that included Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick, Timothy “highland” Finne, and past Sunday Million winner FONBET_RULIT. Akademnuk is also no stranger to success with SCOOP PLO/8, 2012 Sunday Million, and 2011 Super Tuesday wins to his credit.
Final Table chip counts:
Seat 1: imokokokokok (527,722 in chips)
Seat 2: FONBET_RULIT (332,251 in chips)
Seat 3: Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick (294,251 in chips)
Seat 4: Timothy “highland” Finne (192,980 in chips)
Seat 5: droseff (413,694 in chips)
Seat 6: Akademnuk (144,102 in chips)
Limits: 6,000/12,000
Akademnuk can’t add another title, eliminated in 6th
Despite Akademnuk’s previously mentioned accolades, nothing worked once he hit the final table. He sported the shortest stack and eventually tried to get back in the game with a raise under the gun. FONBET_RULIT and droseff came along to the first draw when FONBET_RULIT took one versus two for droseff and Akedemnuk.
Akademnuk put out one bet, FONBET_RULIT followed with a raise, and droseff added a third bet. Akademnuk just called with less than one big bet behind and FONBET_RULIT called as well. droseff and Akademnuk drew one card while FONBET_RULIT stood pat before Akademnuk put in his last 13,653. FONBET_RULIT raised it up and droseff called both.
droseff and Akademnuk took one last card while FONBET_RULIT continued to stand pat and led with one final bet. droseff finally moved out of the way to see FONBET_RULIT table Number 2 7♥ 6♥ 4♦ 3♥ 2♦ . It easily beat Akademnuk’s K♥ 7â™ 5♣ 4♣ 2â™ to send him out in 6th place for $2,857.
Finne is fini, eliminated in 5th
Timothy “highland” Finne took his spot at the bottom of the chip counts when Akademnuk went out and he needed to get moving to add another title to his previous 2013 SCOOP $2,100 No Limit Hold’em Knockout championship.
Finne’s downfall came in two consecutive hands, both against droseff, and he came up on the short end of both. The first hand saw him get all the way to showdown, with bets the entire way, only to see droseff with a very nice 8♦ 5â™ 4♦ 3♥ 2♥ to drop Finne under one big bet.
He put them in when he called a raise from droseff in the big blind and they were underway. Finne improved with every draw taking three, two, and one with each turn while droseff drew two and stood pat on the next two draws.
droseff showed down another quality hand in 8♦ 6♥ 5â™ 4♦ 2♥ to best Finne’s 7♥ 7♦ 8â™ 6♣ 4♥ and send the poker pro out in 5th place for $4,381.
Seat 1: imokokokokok (514,742 in chips)
Seat 2: FONBET_RULIT (358,353 in chips)
Seat 3: Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick (434,751 in chips)
Seat 5: droseff (597,154 in chips)
Limits: 8,000/16,000
imokokokokok not alright, eliminated in 4th
There was a race to the bottom between imokokokokok and FONBET_RULIT while Chidwick and droseff were pulling away. imokokokokok was under three big bets and he put them at risk in a three-way pot with Chidwick and FONBET_RULIT.
imokokokokok drew two cards along with Chidwick followed by FONBET_RULIT taking one. imokokokokok was all-in after a bet and raise before they each drew one more. Chidwick stood pat while his two opponents drew one more, imokokokokok mucked his hand after Chidwick tabled 8♥ 7♣ 6♥ 3♠2♥ to scoop that pot.
The hand sent imokokokokok out in 4th place for $5,905 while Chidwick took over the chip lead.
Seat 2: FONBET_RULIT (208,353 in chips)
Seat 3: stevie444 (866,493 in chips)
Seat 5: droseff (830,154 in chips)
Limits: 12,000/24,000
FONBET_RULIT can’t capitalize, eliminated in 3rd
Even with a move on the payout ladder by one position, FONBET_RULIT was still looking up at his two opponents. He lost a few small pots and finally moved all-in against Chidwick.
They each took two cards on the first draw and Chidwick took two more on the second. FONBET_RULIT closed it out with one card on the last two draws while Chidwick took one last card. FONBET_RULIT had a nice draw but ended with Jâ™ 8♣ 7♦ 5♥ 2♣ which was second best to Chidwick’s 9â™ 7♣ 4♦ 3♦ 2â™ to go out in 3rd place for $8,572.
The knockout set up a tight heads up battle between Chidwick and droseff.
Seat 3: stevie444 (906846 in chips)
Seat 5: droseff (998154 in chips)
Limits: 12,000/24,000
droseff outlasts Chidwick to win first SCOOP title
Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick couldn’t add to his virtual trophy cash
On paper, Chidwick should have chipped away at his opponent to capture his second SCOOP title. He has huge results both online and live while this was already guaranteed to be droseff’s biggest tournament result.
But as people like to say, that’s why they play the game. droseff took the lead early and pulled away over nearly 50 hands of action. Chidwick was able to hold him off with a few small doubles but he ran out of time and chips.
The final hand of the tournament saw Chidwick all-in before the first draw, where he took one while droseff drew three. It must have been some good cards because he only took one more then stood pat on the third draw.
Chidwick drew one card each time but the best he could come up with was 8♥ 8â™ 7♥ 5♦ 2♦ , not good enough against droseff’s 9♦ 8♦ 6♥ 5â™ 2♥ to finish as the runner-up for $11,430.
droseff played a fine tournament to earn the biggest online payout of his career. He picked up $15,621 for the title along with slick watch to commemorate the occasion.
SCOOP 11-M: $215 FL Triple Draw 2-7
Entrants: 381
Prize pool: $76,200
Places paid: 48
1. droseff (Bulgaria) $15,621.00
2. Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick (Mexico) $11,430.00
3. FONBET_RULIT (Russia) $8,572.50
4. imokokokokok (Austria) $5,905.50
5. Timothy “highland” Finne (Canada) $4,381.50
6. Akademnuk (Russia) $2,857.50
