Nineteen tournaments played to a winner on Tuesday in the 2021 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), with Simon Mattsson stealing the headlines as a single-night double champ. All the latest…

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TODAY’S HEADLINES

• Mattsson at the double in one night
• Simao adds a career fourth
• Sunday Million heads to Poland
• Addamo heads high rollers

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BEHIND THE HEADLINES

Magnificent Mattsson bags two in a night: It’s anyone’s guess when, or indeed if, Simon “C.Darwin2” Mattsson ever sleeps, but the magnificent Swede, a seeming ever-present in the deep stages of every tournament on PokerStars, last night pulled off something special, even by his standards. Mattsson became the second player of this SCOOP series to bag two titles in the same night, winning both the $530 NLO8 (SCOOP-38-H) and the $1,050 NLHE 8-Max Turbo (SCOOP-46-H). The former of those events started on Tuesday and wrapped at around 11.30pm, Stockholm time. The latter only got started at 11.05pm in Scandinavia, and finished four-and-a-half hours later. But both had Mattsson as the last man standing. Needless to say, these were not Mattsson’s first SCOOP wins. Indeed, he had three coming into this year’s series, from 2012, 2016 and 2020. But Mattsson now takes his career tally to five and adds $21,166 and $74,465 to his bankroll for the two successes. They came over fields of 262 and 461 entries, respectively. Mattsson did a deal with “IExPlayI”, of Russia, in the NLO8, and beat “kylix42” heads-up in the Turbo, with that second final table also featuring Jens “Fresh_oO_D” Lakemeier, Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha and Bert “girafganger7” Stevens. But all bowed down to Mattsson, who holds further burnishes his reputation as one of the greats of online poker.

Simao denies double to Silverstein and Alaväli: There was an incredible final four at the end of the $2,100 buy-in SCOOP-37-H in which Dinesh “NastyMinder” Alt sat alongside Jargo “Bungakat” Alaväli, Jonah “RaiseUpBlind” Silverstein and Joao “IneedMassari” Simao. The middle two of those — Alaväli and Silverstein — had already won SCOOP titles this year, while Simao has won three in his career, including two in 2020. Alt (a Turbo Series Main Event champ, and Platinum Pass winner) perished in fourth, then Alaväli’s quest for a double faltered. That left Silverstein against Simao. Silverstein also finished runner up to Brazil’s “LgwZ” on Saturday, before he put it right with a win on Monday, but he had to make do with silver once more. Simao was in unforgiving mood and claimed the final bounty, winning the fourth SCOOP event of his career. Simao won $62,574 from the main prize pool and $78,078 from the bounty pool for a total haul of $140,653. Incredibly, Silverstein hadn’t knocked out a single played en route to second place (there were 403 entries, so he’d had plenty of opportunity). It meant he won $62,574 and no bounty payments. Lex Veldhuis’s challenge in this one finished in 17th.

SCOOP’s biggest pay-cheque heads to Poland: The Sunday Million Special Edition, which had a $530 buy-in and lasted three days, produced the second biggest prize pool of the series so far and the biggest first prize. Under the watchful eye of the PokerStars Twitch and YouTube broadcast, the field of 4,218 entries was eventually whittled down to two players: Poland’s “seboraptor” and Bruno “brunoporto12” Porto, of Brazil. Porto is a former SCOOP champion, having won an $11 shootout event in 2019 for $9,909, but this was a different level. The pair agreed a near-even chop of the prize money, representing the parity in the stacks, and then played on into the night. Eventually, a short-stacked Porto called it off with pocket tens against a shove with A♣ 4♣ from seboraptor. The rag ace flopped a wheel draw, turned top pair with an ace, and then filled the straight on the river for good measure. That was the end of that. seboraptor took $265,896 and Porto made do with $248,245. Here’s the final hand:

“bauruzito” and “pl@ta0plomo” make it two: Brazil’s Renato Almeida Prado Valentim plays on PokerStars as “bauruzito“, where he has won more than $3.5 million in documented tournaments, including a few of Super Tuesdays and a handful of $109s. He also won a SCOOP title last year, in a $55 Midweek Freeze. Last night he added another with victory in SCOOP-37-M, a 6-Max PKO event with a $215 buy-in. Including nearly $25K in bounties, Prado won $79,065, which is the biggest single cash of all of them. He earned it, beating the ‘COOP titan “ShipitFTW911” heads-up to add another title to Brazil’s tally for the series. Romania’s “pl@ta0plomo” also had to beat an all-timer to book a second career SCOOP title. pl@ta0plomo squared off against Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche heads up in the $109 8-Max Turbo last night, but downed the UK-based German to win $35,972, including bounties. That was pl@ta0plomo’s second SCOOP win, after success in a $22 NLHE event in 2018.

First for Ireland as Fitzgerald prevails: Ireland was one of the earliest hotbeds of poker talents in Europe, ahead of both poker booms of the past 60 years. Irish players were well scattered among the Vegas sharks in the 70s and 80s, while the tables of the EPT were also an Emerald shade during the immediate post-Moneymaker era. As if to corroborate the point, Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth was the first SCOOP Main Event champion, back in 2009. Ireland hadn’t made much of a mark in SCOOP this time until last night when Niall “dubfitz” Fitzgerald won SCOOP-38-M, the $55 NLO8 event. It was particularly sweet as Fitzgerald finished second in a similar SCOOP tournament last year, losing heads-up to Ukraine’s “TheInnuendo” in the $27 buy-in NL Omaha. Fitzgerald went all the way this time, however, and beat a field of 1,351 entries, including Bosnia & Herzegovina’s “dejanaceking” heads up. It was worth $10,489, the biggest single tournament win of his career, and puts Ireland on the board this time around.

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Two bloods for 1blood; more near misses for FONBET_RULIT: If you examine the leader boards in major PokerStars series, you not only get to know the names of the superstars, but also the players who just seem to be slightly under the radar every single time. Russia’s “FONBET_RULIT” is one such player, having previously won two “low” designation SCOOP titles (in 2017 and 2020) and has already cashed 33 times in SCOOP tournaments this year. Three of those cashes were actually final table appearances, two of which were in the same event last night. However, FONBET_RULIT still doesn’t have a win this time, despite twice being a runner up. Last night, the Russian player finished fifth in the $530 NLO8 SCOOP-38-H and second in the $5.50 NLO8 SCOOP-38-L. The winner of the first was Simon Mattsson, as discussed above, while “1bloodflood” took the spoils in the “low”. That title came after 1bloodflood and FONBET_RULIT had done a heads up deal, with the latter taking the most money — $2,948 to $2,851. But 1bloodflood is the official champion, earning a second career SCOOP title, and leaving FONBET_RULIT off the winner’s list once again.

On the subject of runners-up from Russia: Rinat “Zapahzamazki” Lyapin had his second runner-up finish of the series last night, beaten into second place by his countryman “Arttyomka” in the $215 buy-in fixed limit 2-7 Triple Draw. Lyapin also has one outright victory as well as a fifth and sixth place, so he’s showing the kind of form that took him to the WCOOP Player of the Series title. It was a Russian 1-2-3 in that tournament last night, with “melaniecosm” finishing third. The payouts were $9,908 to Arttyomka, $7,315 to Lyapin and $5,400 to melaniecosm. There were 257 entries.

Solo-warrior, indeed: The picture on the right shows the final five players from SCOOP-46-L: $11 NLHE 8-Max Turbo PKO, and a screen-name was rarely more fitting. Brazilians have been completely swarming and dominating during this SCOOP, especially at the lower buy-in levels, with players from the UK not getting anywhere near their usual performance levels. But hats off to the appropriately-named “Solo-warrior” who, for once at least, managed to hold the Brazilians at bay.

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TOURNAMENTS ONGOING

Some very tasty events are paused at their mid-points overnight, including the $25,000 Super High Roller (SCOOP-43-H) which has the usual constellation of superstars still involved — even if the list of the departed is equally amazing. The tournament attracted 71 entries, including 20 re-entries, and was a who’s who of the best. With $1.74 million in the prize pool, and nine player due to be paid, they played through the money bubble last night. Jason “jakoon1985” Koon fell the wrong side of the cruellest dividing line, leaving everyone now guaranteed $54K at least. Those players, in order of chip counts, are:

1 – Michael “imluckbox” Addamo – 4,377,475
2 – Ben “bencb789” Rolle – 2,687,426
3 – Wiktor “Imitless” Malinowski – 1,962,432
4 – Christian “WATnlos” Rudolph – 1,906,328
5 – Samuel “€urop€an” Vousden – 1,877,297
6 – Conor “1_conor_b_1” Beresford – 1,684,957
7 – Joao “Naza114” Vieira – 1,264,231
8 – Mikita “fish2013” Badziakouski – 1,021,752
9 – Niklas “Lena900” Astedt – 968,102

It is, in short, a ridiculous field, and there’s a ridiculous $469,987 up top.

It’s also worth mentioning SCOOP-41, a NLHE Deep Stacks tournament, in which 22 (of 288 entries) are remaining in the $1,050 High buy-in tier, and 101 (of 2,824 entries) are left in the $109 Medium level. Luke “Bit2Easy” Reeves is chip leader in the $1K and second in the standings in the $109. That’s a pretty powerful place to be.

All these tournaments play to a winner tonight.

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TODAY’S RESULTS

†inc. bounties
*after deal

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STAT TRACKER

After an incredibly busy Tuesday night, the stat tracker’s needles came to rest on the following figures for the series so far:

Entries: 658,230 (inc. 127,649 re-entries)
Prize pools: $49,177,237
First place payouts: $7,021,772 (inc. $1,165,841 in bounties)
Tournaments completed: 126
Tournaments ongoing: 9
Tournaments starting today: 12

(Note: Stats from completed tournaments only)

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INTERVIEWS! INTERVIEWS! INTERVIEWS!

We’ve been catching up with some of the stars of SCOOP to talk about their latest triumphs, including:

Dejan “dejanlc357” Kaladjurdjevic: First ever from Montenegro — and he’s won three!
Daniel Almeida: Study brings success
Francesco “dottorsydUK” La Cognata makes the most of his free time
Elias “SinKarma” Gutierrez on winning title with 15,000 watching
Fagner “FagnerCR7” Brito one step closer to ambition of turning pro

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TWITCH WATCH

Fintan “easywithaces” Hand was so, so close to the final table in the $1,050 SCOOP-39-H. But then there was this flip (and the rest went in soon after):

By that point, Hand’s team-mate (and, for a long portion, table-mate) Lex Veldhuis had already departed. Veldhuis made two Day 2s for the second consecutive day, but it all went pear-shaped. Share Lex’s frustration…

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COUNTRIES LEADER BOARD

Austria and Ireland won their first titles of the series so far, putting 29 countries in total on the board. Brazilians are not letting up, however, and are seven clear at the top.

Latest standings:

24 – Brazil
17 – Russia
8 – Finland, UK
7 – Canada, Sweden
6 – Netherlands
5 – Czech Republic, Norway, Romania
4 – Hungary, Poland
3 – Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Montenegro
2 – Ukraine
1 – Austria, Belarus, Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Ireland, Japan, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, New Zealand, Uzbekistan.

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TODAY’S ACTION

The biggest money tonight will be contested during the Midweek Freeze, an 8-Max hold’em event, with no re-entries. Buy-ins are $55, $530 and $5,200. However, there’s going to be plenty of action in the 6-Max PLO rebuy, which will be a frenzy. Oh, and then there’s Razz. In short, it’s going to be varied and fun tonight.

12.05pm ET
47-L: $5.50+R PLO 6-Max, $35K Gtd
47-M: $55+R PLO 6-Max, $125K Gtd
47-H: $530+R PLO 6-Max, $300K Gtd

1.05pm ET
48-L: $55 NLHE 8-Max, Midweek Freeze, $275K Gtd
48-M: $530 NLHE 8-Max, Midweek Freeze, $400K Gtd
48-H: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max, Midweek Freeze, $750K Gtd

2.15pm ET
49-L: $11 Razz, $20K Gtd
49-M: $109 Razz, $40K Gtd
49-H: $1,050 Razz, $80K Gtd

3.30pm ET
50-L: $11 NLHE PKO, $60K Gtd
50-M: $109 NLHE PKO, $250K Gtd
50-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO, $350K Gtd

(All timings are ET)

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LEADER BOARD LATEST

Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson’s incredible Tuesday catapulted him right to the top of the “High” buy-in leader board, but Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna still holds firm in the Overall standings, with more cashes at different buy-in levels. Unfortunately for Mattsson, Swedish players are not eligible for the cash prizes, owing to local regulations, but everyone else will still need to be on top form to unseat him.

Here’s the latest standings:

Low
1 – FONBET_RULIT, Russia – 355 points
2 – phil_a-QQ, Germany – 350
3 – muggsyboges, Canada – 300
=4 – 2.8 OG, Estonia – 295
=4 – andreyayo9, Canada – 295
=4 – Alex_Vol, Russia – 295

Prizes: 1st – $5,000 + Trophy; 2nd – $2,500; 3rd – $1,500 (20 players rewarded)

Medium
1 – aleksandrs10, Russia – 385 points
2 – Ilari “Fabahaba” Tahkokallio, Finland – 320
3 – ShipitFTW911, Sweden – 265
4 – römpsä, Finland – 250
=5 – B-rabbit444, Norway – 220
=5 – I am Bubhha, Netherlands – 220

Prizes: 1st – $10,000 + Trophy; 2nd – $7,500; 3rd – $5,000 (10 players rewarded)

High
1 – Simon “C. Darwin2” Mattsson, Sweden – 495 points
=2 – Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna, Finland – 435
=2 – Jonah “RaiseUpBlind” Silverstein, Canada – 435
4 – Patrick “pads1161” Leonard, UK – 385
5 – Niklas “Lena900” Astedt, Sweden – 375

Prizes: 1st – $15,000 + Trophy; 2nd – $10,000; 3rd – $5,000

Overall Player of the Series
1 – Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna, Finland – 895 points
2 – aleksandrs10, Russia – 840
3 – Ilari “Fabahaba” Tahkokallio, Finland – 800
4 – Patrick “pads1161” Leonard, UK – 695
5 – Konstantin “krakukra” Maslak, Russia – 645

Winner: $25,000 + Trophy

See official SCOOP page for more details

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WATCH! WATCH! WATCH!

PokerStars’ streaming army will be out in force during this SCOOP, with all of Lex Velduis, Spraggy, Fintan “easywithaces” Hand, Arlie “Prince Pablo” Shaban, Mason “Pyefacepoker” Pye and Georgina “GJReggie” James certain to be playing most, if not all, days.

The PokerStars central Twitch and YouTube account will also be streaming cards-up final table action five nights a week. Here’s the schedule.

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PREVIOUS ROUND-UPS

Day 1: Opening night salvos
Day 2: Bujitas and Brazil win big
Day 3: Shakerchi reigns as superstars dominate
Day 4: Double for Montenegro, plus Mateos and Malinowski
Day 5: Two in a night for Nevanlinna; three for Montenegro
Day 6: Lex denied by Padilha
Day 7: Two $1m+ prize pools, and more Lex
Day 8: Astedt and Mulder take customary titles

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