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Home / Uncategorized / SCOOP 2016: Russia’s otitov survives marathon final table in the Super Tuesday Special Edition (Event #10-H $1,050 NL)

The bottom line is simple: quarter of a million dollars on the line for first place. The second-richest prize in the first four days of SCOOP was up for grabs. Not too shabby of an ROI on a mere $1,050 investment.

Russia’s otitov outlasted a field of 1,525 runners as the lone survivor during a laborious marathon final table to win the Super Tuesday Special Edition, which also pulled doubled duty as SCOOP Event #10-High. It appeared as though Anthony ‘holdplz’ Spinella looked poised for a wire-to-wire victory in the Super Tuesday, until he got coolered and busted in fifth place.

The polarizing action at the final table oscillated between utter boredom and sheer exhilaration. But that’s par for the course with poker, especially in deep-stacked tournaments with solid players downshifting gears to take advantage of 30-minute levels. In this instance, you could have watched Rounders (120-minute run time) three times in a row and you still would have time leftover to catch Rounders almost a fourth-time through during the prolonged heads-up match between Russia’s otitov and Slovenia’s Sinoire.

The Super Tuesday Special Edition was also the high version of Event #10-H $1,050 NL Hold’em. This particular ‘special’ incarnation attracted 1,525 runners. The Super Tuesday came with a $1 million guarantee, but it wasn’t even close to kicking in when the prize pool tipped over $1.5 million. The top 171 places paid out with $259,250.00 originally set aside for the champ.

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Deep run in Event #10-H for Team PokerStars Pro Akkari
Day 1 ended with only 149 players renaming. ThoNapalm bagged up the most chips with 420K. Team PokerStars Andre Akkari advanced to Day 2, but the Brazilian pro was among the short stacks.

On Day 2 Akkari had all of Brazil on the rail sweating his deep run in Event #10-H. Just when it looked like Akkari was poised for a huge comeback in the Super Tuesday, he was slayed down in brutal fashion much to the dismay of all of the Brazilian empire. Akkari four-bet shoved for 50,048 with Qâ™  Q♣ and big-stacked lulDocuments called with Kâ™  Q♥ . lulDocuments flopped a gutshot and rivered a Broadway straight to snap off Akkari’s pocket Queens. Akkari busted in 71st place and took home $3,507.50.

With two tables to go, Anthony ‘holdplz’ Spinella passed 2M mark after dragging a 2.6M pot when his pocket Aces held up in a preflop raising war. He had gotten it all-in against Openshoves85’s A♦ 10♣ . With 13 to go, holdplz became the first player to pass 3M. On the final table bubble holdplz continued to hold down the lead with 3.5M, while a trio of shorties treaded water below 1M.

The final ten played out a full level before someone busted. The board read K♦ 9â™  7â™  A♦ 6♥ , sk2ll_m0dR checked, benatias tanked-bet 653,695, then sk2ll_m0dR semi-tanked before calling with only K♥ 2♥ and a pair of Kings against benatias, who had top two after flopping a pair of Kings and turning two pair with Aâ™  K♣ . benatias won the 1M pot and advanced to the final nine. Germany’s sk2ll_m0dR bubbled off the final table in tenth place.

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Event 10-H – Final Table Chip Counts:
Seat 1: otitov (1,282,904)
Seat 2: holdplz (3,239,945)
Seat 3: ThoNapalm (2,205,002)
Seat 4: benatias (1,356,050)
Seat 5: Sinoire (601,572)
Seat 6: jorginho88 (2,295,771)
Seat 7: Greenstone25 (2,469,434)
Seat 8: PureCash25 (1,196,712)
Seat 9: PISKER4VILDT (602,610)

The final table commenced during Level 35 with blinds at 9K/18K and 2,250 ante. holdplz advanced to the final table as the leader with 3.2M. A duo of shorties occupied the basement: Sinoire and PISKER4VILDT with approximately 600K each.

Anthony ‘holdplz’ Spinella won the first-ever WSOP online bracelet. He passed seven figures both online and in real life. He also went deep in a 2012 SCOOP event and also made a final table at the 2009 WCOOP. He took second in the Sunday Million back in 2007. He also shipped the “Monday Million” on Full Tilt five years ago for his biggest online score of $225K.

Johannes ‘Greenstone25’ Korsar has over $7.7M lifetime online earnings. He won an FCOOP title on PokerStars.fr in 2013. He also went deep at the first-ever WSOP Europe Main Event and made the final table.

Other notables at the final table included… Russia’s otitov had a six-figure score when he shipped a WCOOP 2nd Chance in 2014… Croatia’s ThoNapalm made a final table in Event #1-H… Nick “PureCash25” Rampone has been around the block a few times and even won the Super Tuesday in 2014…. jorginho88 won the Sunday Warm Up in 2014.


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EYE KNOW: benatias eliminated in 9th place

By the time Level 38 began, no one had busted at the final table during the initial three levels of play, but holdplz was closing in on 4M. Late into Level 40, we saw the first elimination, then a few hands later, we had a second bustout. The proverbial flooddgates were opened.

Cooler time. Nothing is worse than running a big pair into another big pair while waiting around for a few hours to finally get a decent hand. Alas, that’s benatias’s sad story. After finally waking up with pocket Queens, benatias got ambushed by Kings. Rough, eh? Sinoire had four-bet shoved for 1,076,819 and benatias called all-in for 796,760. Sinoire led with K♦ K♥ against benatias’s Qâ™  Q♦ . The board — A♥ 9♣ 6♥ 7♦ 2♦ — did not save benatias and pocket Kings held up for Sinoire. Israel’s benatias became the first player to exit the final table. Ninth place was worth $16,470.00.

LITTLE BIT OF SOAP: PISKER4VILDT eliminated in 8th place

How about another cooler? Another tale of big pairs. This time it was Jacks into Aces. Big-stacked holdplz instigated the fracas when he opened to 79,875, jorginho88 just called, PISKER4VILDT shoved for 846,264, holdplz bailed, and jorginho88 called. PISKER4VILDT was in trouble with Jâ™  J♥ against jorginho88′ A♣ Aâ™  . However, PISKER4VILDT took the lead after flopping a set of Jacks. Alas, jorginho88 caught running clubs to win the pot with an Ace-high flush. Aces saved by the river flush. PISKER4VILDT’s set of Jacks were no good. For an eighth-place finish, PISKER4VILDT earned $29,737.50.

With seven to go, holdplz chipped up to 4.8M and Greenstone25 was the shorty with 383K.

COOL BREEZE ON THE ROCKS: Greenstone25 eliminated in 7th place

It was time to pick any two cards and hope to do some damage. Greenstone25 made a final stand for 365,832 with J♦ 8♥ , but holdplz tried to pick him off with A♥ Q♥ . Neither player improved when the board ran out 10â™  7♦ 4♥ 2♣ 5♣ . holdplz won the pot with Ace high. Sweden’s Greenstone25 was dunzo in seventh place, which paid out $44,987.50.

TREAD WATER: PureCash25 eliminated in 6th place

And within an orbit, someone else bowed out. Shorty PureCash25 bombed it all-in for 237,066, otitov re-shoved for 981,663 and holdplz called. Three-way.

holdplz: 10♣ 10♦
otitov: 9♦ 9♣
PureCash25: 2♦ 2♣

Everyone showed up at the rumble with at least a pocket pair. Although the deuces would take the lead on the flop…only to relinquish it on the turn. The board ran out Jâ™  3♣ 2â™  9♥ 4♥ . otitov won the main pot and side pot with a set of nines (in a set over set situation). PureCash25 earned a nice chunk of cash. Sixth place paid out $60,237.50.

With five to go, holdplz was still the big stack with 4.7M followed by jorginho88’s 3.8M. Sinoire was the shorty be default with 1.8M.

CHANGE SPEAK: holdplz eliminated in 5th place

Two of the biggest stacks rumbled and the results were disastrous for holdplz. jorginho88 opened to 96,000, holdplz raised to 306,525, jorginho88 re-raised to 603,600, holdplz shoved for 3,202,253, and jorginho88 had him covered and called. Yeah, you guessed it. Another premium pair vs. premium pair!

jorginho88: K♣ K♥
holdplz: J♥ J♣

jorginho88 was ahead with Kings but both players would make a four-flush by the river, with jorginho88 dragging the pot with a Ace-King club flush. The board finished up A♣ 7♣ 4♦ 3♣ 10♣ . For a fifth-place performance, Anthony’ holdplz’ Spinella earned $75,487.50.

With four to go, jorginho88 held more than half the chips in play with 7.5M.

POTHOLES IN MY LAWN: ThoNapalm eliminated in 4th place

Action slowed down a bit once it got four-handed. Short-stacked ThoNapalm was the next player to hit the bricks. jorginho88 opened to 135,000 and ThoNapalm called. The flop was 6♣ 3♣ 2♠ . ThoNapalm checked, jorginho88 bet 221,000, ThoNapalm called. The turn was the 3♥ . ThoNapalm check-called a 447,400 bet from jorginho88. The 4♦ fell on the river and ThoNapalm shoved for 1,509,850. jorginho88 called.

ThoNapalm: K♣ 3♠
jorginho88: Qâ™  5â™ 

ThoNapalm turned trip treys but lost to jorginho88’s rivered six-high straight. For a fourth-place performance, ThoNapalm collected $103,700.00. With three to go, jorginho88 led with 9.5M, or twice as much as the other two stacks combined.

DEAL? NOPE

With three remaining, they decided to discuss a deal. jorginho88 led with a massive lead and a 9.9M stack, followed by Sinoire (3.1M) and otitov (2.1M). Any deal had to leave $20,000 on the table for the winner. Both ICM and chip chop numbers were floated. Sinoire liked the ICM numbers but otitov rejected both numbers and wanted to play on.

DEAL 2.0? NOPE 2.0

After the chips were slightly redistributed during a level, action was paused a second time to discuss a deal. jorginho88’s lead was trimmed a bit to 7M, whereas otitov chipped up to second overall with 5.6M, followed by Sinoire’s 2.5M. The numbers were floated but jorginho88 wanted a chip chop or no deal. The difference for the big stack was $209,307.46 vs. $204,987.06. Shorty Sinoire wanted at least 180K, or more than 9K more. jorginho88 laughed and said, “Let’s play.” For a second time in a row, deal negotiations collapsed. Action resumed without a deal in place.

THE MAGIC NUMBER: jorginho88 eliminated in 3rd place

Once the deal fell apart, you had a sense the final three were really out for blood. Tedium and fatigue had set in, and someone was on the edge of breaking. Then it happened. One of the biggest pots of the tournaments occurred. One player had pocket Queens cracked and the other got it all in on a straight flush draw. jorginho88’s Q♥ Q♣ lost to Sinoire’s 6â™  5â™  . The money went in on a flop of 9♥ 4â™  3â™  . Sinoire whiffed on the straight flush, but turned a straight to win the 7.4M pot. jorginho88 crashed hard and became the shorty, while Sinoire rocketed into the lead.

Three hands later, jorginho88 met his fate after losing with Q♣ 9♥ against otitov’s A♣ Kâ™  . Both players rivered a four-flush, but otitov won the pot with the nut flush. For a third place finish, Portugal’s jorginho88 earned $144,722.50.

HEADS-UP: otitov (Russia) vs. Sinoire (Slovenia)
Seat 1: otitov (7,696,054)
Seat 5: Sinoire (7,553,946)

Nearly six hours after the final table began, the final heads-up match was set. Both players were virtually deadlocked. They decided to chop up the rest of the cash and play out for the bling.

DEAL 3.0… YES!

Shrewd negotiating pays off! With both players even in chips, they discussed a deal for a third time. They had to leave $20,000 on the table (plus the Movado watch and the bracelet), but they agreed to a money chop: otitov with $215,303.56 and Sinoire with $214,571.44. With a deal in place, action resumed.

ME MYSELF AND I: Sinoire eliminated in 2nd place; otitov wins the SCOOP bracelet

Heads-up would last nearly 90 minutes. The lead swapped hands too many times to count, but over the first 80 or so minutes, neither player could successfully bust the other and no one could deliver the magic wallop that would pulverize their opponent. Eventually, otitov started to pull away and opened up a sizable advantage.

There was a moment when this table might not ever end. Then again, the theme of this final table was “cooler city.” Seemed like every big bustout occurred in a cooler-type situation. In the final hand, it took a set of dueces to crack pocket eights to settle this Super Tuesday Special Edition.

Going into the final hand, otitov led with 13.5M and had Sinoire on the ropes with 1.75M. otitov did not waste any time and open-shoved for 13,475,766, and Sinoire called all-in for 1,624,234. Sinoire was looking good with 8♦ 8â™  against otitov’s 2♣ 2♥ … until the turn. Alas, the board ran out 10♣ 9♥ 6♥ 2♦ A♦ and otitov turned a set of deuces to win the pot and the tournament. Sinoire was knocked out in second place, which paid out $214,571.44.

Congrats to Russia’s otitov for winning Event #10-H. The Super Tuesday Special Edition paid out $235,303.56, in addition to a champion’s watch by Movada.

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SCOOP-10-H ($1,050 NL Hold’em, Super Tuesday SE) results
Entrants: 1,525
Total prize pool: $1,525,000
Places paid: 171

1. otitov (Russia) $235,303.56 *
2. Sinoire (Slovenia) $214,571.44 *
3. jorginho88 (Hungary) $144,722.50
4. ThoNapalm (Croatia) $103,700.00
5. holdplz (Mexico) $75,487.50
6. PureCash25 (Canada) $60,237.50
7. Greenstone25 (Sweden) $44,987.50
8. PISKER4VILDT (Denmark) $29,737.50
9. benatias (Israel) $16,470.00

* Denotes a deal between the final two players


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Pauly McGuire is the author of “Lost Vegas” and a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

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