The penultimate day of the 2021 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker was highlighted by a flurry of Main Event action. The three tiers of Pot Limit Omaha Main Events crowned their champions while the final tables were set for each of the three No Limit Hold’em tournaments, including the $10K Main Event where there’s over $1.1 million up top.
All of that, plus a few more players saw their spring series saved by picking up one of the few remaining SCOOP titles left on the schedule.
Only Nine Remain
The final table of Event #92 ($10,300 NLHE, 8-Max, Main Event) is set with Hungary’s ‘kZhh’ sitting at the top of the chip counts with 36,337,283 (roughly 130 big blinds) and in position to make a run at the $1,130,395 first-place prize. Day 2 chip leader ‘Dannyz0r’ finished the day strong as well, capturing 27,226,846 in chips which is good for second place. Norway’s Kayhan ‘KayhanMok’ Roshanfekr rounds out the top three and will start the last day with 24,481,279.
The final table promises to be entertaining as, in addition to the chip leaders, experienced pro David ‘MissOracale’ Yan has a seat and over 20 million in chips. 2020 WSOP Online Poker Players Championship winner Christian ‘WATnlos’ Rudolph is still in the mix with roughly 40 big blinds and, although he’s on the short stack, Ka Kwan ‘kaju85’ Lau returns to the final table playing for a prestigious double Main Event win, having taken down the $10K PLO Main Event for over $263,000 earlier in the day.
All nine players are guaranteed a minimum payday of $102,085.35.
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Several notable players who made the top 40 of the $10K Main Event, returned but fell just short of making Day 4. Russia’s Arsenii ‘josef_shvejk’ Karmatckii finished in 14th place for $65,263.89 while Bruno ‘great dant’ Volkmann ended up in 19th place for $52,183.09. Tuen ‘tinnoemulder’ Mulder (26th) and Rui ‘RuiNF’ Ferreira (31st) both took home $41,724.43 paydays and Thiago ‘KKremate’ Crema (37th) and Dan ‘SmilleThHero’ Smiljkovic (38th) busted in the early part of the day and collected $33,361.35 for their deep runs.
In addition to the High NL Main Event, both the Medium and Low events also reached the final table.
In Event #92-M ($1,050 NLHE 8-Max, Main Event) the 80 players that returned for Day 3 have been whittled down to the final nine with Greece’s ‘alimounda’ holding a healthy overnight chip lead and an inside track to the $838,908.55 first-place prize. All nine players returning in the $1K Main Event are promised at least $55,926.20.
The massive 38,913-entry field of Event #92-L ($109 NLHE 8-Max, Main Event) is also down to 0.0002% of the field. UK player ‘Essa_mania’ finished Day 3 as the overall chip leader and will be looking to turn those 70 big blinds into the $376,086.99 first-place prize.
Huge Paydays In PLO Main Events
Event #93-H ($10,300, 6-Max, PLO Main Event) was the first of the Main Events to conclude as after three days of play Ka Kwan ‘kaju85’ Lau from Andorra topped the 134 player field to capture $263,099.34 for first as well as their first PokerStars SCOOP title. With a little over $65,000 difference between first and second place, when play reached heads-up, Lau and Denmark’s ‘LamassuShedu’ reached a deal in which ‘LamassuShedu’ locked up $234,365 (over $18,000 more than the posted second-place prize), which he ended up with as the runner-up. ‘TheBrodie5’ also earned a six-figure payday, finishing in third place for $166,176.75.
Event #93-M ($1,050, 6-Max, PLO Main Event) wrapped up with longtime Swedish pro Joel ‘Odonkor1’ Nordkvist besting the 935-entry field to take home the $153,356.38 first-place prize, plus his first career SCOOP title. Brazil’s Ramon ‘ZeDoBlefe11’ Sorgatto fell just one spot short of earning his second title, finishing as the runner-up which was good for $106,859.09. Nuno ‘BrigaDatada’ Capucho ended up in third and added $74,460.22 to his bankroll.
There was also a heads-up deal at the end of Event #93-L ($109, 6-Max, PLO Main Event) as Germany’s Austin ‘DaCus3’ Marks and Andoraa’s ‘Francois2323’ agreed to split up roughly $102K when they got heads up. With $3,500 and the title of SCOOP Main Event champ left on the table, Marks brought home the victory and ended up with a $59,989.02 score. For his part, ‘Francois2323’ earned $46,301.81 as the runner-up, roughly $2,500 more than the original prize for second place. Left out of the deal was third-place finisher ‘MikeDannnn’, who still managed to turn his $109 buy-in into a healthy $30,311.89 payday.
It’s Not Over…
Consider Pavels ‘Rigapols81’ Spirins series officially saved. The Latvian pro battled through a field of 1,610 entries in Event #95-H ($1,050 NLHE, 8-Max, PKO, Series Saver) and walked away with a handsome $104,609.90 first-place prize plus another $92,690.83 in bounties for a total haul of $197,300.73. It wasn’t a bad Tuesday for Russia’s ‘spaise411’ too, as they ended up as the runner-up but still managed a six-figure score of $129,178.59, bounties included. One week ago, Thomas ‘MarToMchat’ Boivin finished in second place in Event #86-H for just over $43,000. Here he finishes down one spot in third place and uses the $75,055.22 prize to send him over $3 million in lifetime online earnings.
One of the most interesting formats on the schedule comes in the form of SCOOP #99-H ($530 NLHE, Heads-Up, Turbo, Progressive Total KO, Zoom). It’s fast-paced, heads-up Zoom action where the title is determined by the last player standing. However, because of the Total KO format, where there are no prizes other than bounties, where you finish is not necessarily indicative of how much money a player will take home. Here, Canada’s Elliot ‘4rebmun’ Smith made it all the way to the end, claimed his second career SCOOP trophy and $28,128,38 in total bounties. Right behind him was ‘Nacho124441’ who locked up $17,017.08 worth of KO’s. Officially in third place was Germany’s ‘BruNudel’ who won $10,983.40, the fifth-highest cash prize of the tournament.
The final event of the day to finish was Event #96-H ($530 NLHE PLO, 6-Max, PKO) in which, on his third bullet, Ukraine’s ‘Andre_Hansen’ took home his second career SCOOP victory and a total score of $29,415.78. Settling for second was the Netherlands ‘tonn22’ who earned themselves $26,540.46. Finally, Sweden’s ‘iamivar’, who took home a SCOOP 2021 title in Event #81-M, finished in third place and picked up another $18,647.57.
Event #93-H ($10,300, 6-Max, PLO Main Event)
Entries: 134
Prize pool: $1,340,000
- kaju85 – $263,099.34*
- LamassuShedu – $234,365*
- TheBrodie5 – $16,176.75
Event #93-M ($1,050, 6-Max, PLO Main Event)
Entries: 935
Prize pool: $935,000
- Odonkor1 – $153,356.38
- ZeDoBlefe11 – $106,859.09
- BrigaDatada – $74,460.22
Event #93-L ($109, 6-Max, PLO Main Event)
Entries: 4,391
Prize pool: $439,100
- DaCus3 – $59,989.02*
- Francois2323 – $46,301.81*
- MikeDannnn – $30,411.89
Event #95-H ($1,050 NLHE, 8-Max, PKO, Series Saver)
Entries: 1,610
Prize pool: $1,610,000
- Rigapols81 – $197,300.73
- spaise411 – $129,178.59
- MartoMchat – $75,055.22
Event #96-H ($530 NLHE PLO, 6-Max, PKO)
Entries: 446
Prize pool: $223,000
- Andre_Hansen – $29,415.78
- tonn22 – $26,540.46
- iamivar – $18,647.57
SCOOP #99-H ($530 NLHE, Heads-Up, Turbo, Progressive Total KO, Zoom)
Entries: 713
Prize pool: $356,500
- 4rebmun – $28,128.38
- Nacho124441 – $17,017.08
- BruNudel – $10,983.40