Despite Saturday having a light schedule of events for the 2021 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker, there was still plenty of action to be had. The star-studded field of the High Roller PKO which kicked off on Thursday came to a conclusion while one of the most dangerous high rollers in the game showed off his skills in the late-night Turbo.
One of the most anticipated events of the SCOOP 2021 schedule wrapped up on Saturday as Event #53-H ($10,300 NLHE, 8-Max, PKO, High Roller) drew 122-entries from high-roller heavyweights who battled for a piece of the $1,220,000 prize pool. And for those hoping to see poker superstars go toe-to-toe, the final table did not disappoint.
Recent SCOOP winner Adrian ‘Amadi_017’Mateos (8th, $32,409.63), Artur ‘mararthur1’ Martiorsyan (7th, $38,923.45), and Michael ‘imluckbox’ Addamo (6th, $60,455.65) all had a seat at the final table. The Brazilians were well-represented with worldwide #7-ranked Bruno ‘great dant’ Volkmann (5th, $59,431.58) and current #1-ranked player Yuri ‘theNERDguy’ Martins (4th, $101,561.51) making deep runs.
Daniel ‘Oxota’ Dvoress nearly took home the title, however, he fell in third place and picked up $80,262.27 plus an additional $45,312.50 in bounties for a total haul of $125,574.77. It was also close for 2019 WSOP Main Event runner-up Dario ‘Secret_M0d3’ Sammartino, who finished in second here as well and added $118,647.68 plus $89,218.75 in bounties to his bankroll.
When all was said and done, Uruguay’s Francisco ’Tomatee’ Benitez grabbed the gold for his second career SCOOP title and a total score of $265,365.86 with bounties included.
It took just three and a half hours for Super High Roller savant Mikita ‘fish2013’ Badziakouski to top the 172-entry field of Event #61-H ($2,100 NLHE, 8-Max, Turbo). It marks the first career SCOOP title for Badziakouski who came close earlier in the series, finishing as the runner-up to Joao ‘Naza114’ Vieira in the $25,500 Super High Roller. This time though it was Olli ‘Era_Koria’ Ilonen’s turn to finish in second place, which earned him $53,992.82. Thomas ‘WushuTM’ Muhlocker ended up taking third place in the Turbo, collecting $42,034.83.
Brazil’s ‘Psuedo Fruto’ fired three bullets into Event #60-H ($1,050 NLHE, 4-Max, PKO) and the third time was a charm. They wrapped up the $20,396.84 first-place prize and added another $21,296.86 in bounties for a total score of $41,693.70. ‘SonOfBadger’, playing out of the UK, settled for second and earned $20,396.66 with an additional $7,343.74 in bounties. Finally, it was Bulgaria’s #3-ranked pro ‘cocojamb0’ who finished in third place and added a total of $24,441.44 to his more than $5.6 million in online career earnings. Also of note, PokerStars ambassador Lex Veldhuis finished in seventh place, collecting $9,255.31.
Other winners on Saturday included ’Sebsssx’ (Event 53-L), ‘FiatEruditio’ (Event #53-M), ‘Nick-Hale’ (Event 60-L), boemi21’ (Event 60-M), ‘whipEEr’ (Event 61-L), and Matt1nho (Event 61-M).
Event #53-H ($10,300 NLHE, 8-Max, PKO, High Roller)
Entries: 122
Prize pool: $1,220,000
1. Tomatee – $265,365.86
2. Secret_M0d3 – $207,866.43
3. Oxota – $125,574.77
Event #60-H ($1,050 NLHE, 4-Max, PKO)
Entries: 249
Prize pool: $249,000
1. Psuedo Fruto – $41,693.70
2. SonOfBadger – $27,740.40
3. cocojamb0 – $24,441.44
Event #61-H ($2,100 NLHE, 8-Max, Turbo)
Entries: 172
Prize pool: $344,000
1. fish2013 – $69,352.65
2. Era_Koira – $53,992.82
3. WushuTM – $42,034.83