A million dollars. And then some. More than what most of those winning WSOP bracelets will be taking home this summer. That's what awaited the winner of the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event ($10,300 buy-in, NLHE) which played to its conclusion on Monday.

After yesterday's Day 1, the original field of 615 had been cut down to 27. (Click here to read a full recap of the first day's action.)

As the first hands were dealt on the final three tables, Greg "DuckU" Hobson enjoyed the chip lead with 607,196, followed by Aaron "AJinOK" Ruppert in second (539,241) and Sam "siola" Iola in third (407,169).

From 27 to 18

The first nine out today would all earn $36,900. Action resumed with Level 23, where the blinds were 2,500/5,000 with a 625 ante.

Phil "USCphildo" Collins started the day in 27th place out of the remaining 27. And after just five minutes of play on Day 2 that's where he'd end up after his [Ah][3h] failed to catch up to BradL's [As][Jh].

Nicolas "niccc" Chouity began the day squarely in the middle of the pack -- in 14th -- and was sitting with about 200,000 when a hand arose in which he'd get all of his chips in the middle on a [5h][7h][6d] flop against Ryan "toetagU" Fair. niccc held [4h][4c] and toetagU [Kh][9h]. The [6h] came on the turn, giving Fair the flush, and the [Qh] sealed it, sending Chouity out in 26th.

Meanwhile, Benny "toweliestar" Spindler won a massive pot versus overnight chip leader Greg "DuckU" Hobson when his set of queens held against the latter's flush draw, propelling Spindler into first and sending Hobson into the lower division.

The mysterious RaiseOnce (about whom there's been much speculation regarding his identity) was next eliminated in 25th, after getting it all 275,000-plus of his chips in preflop [Ac][Ks] but failing catch up to Kristoffer "Sumpas" Thorsson's [Jc][Jd]. He'd soon be followed by Fred Brink in 24th who lost a race with [Kd][7d] to Sam "KingKobeMVP" Stein's [Jc][Jd].

At about the 40-minute mark, Brent "Astrolux85" Roberts was knocked out in 23rd after a three-way all-in hand when romashka55 rivered a straight. Take a look:

One hand later Konstantin "Bongbob" Bücherl would dispatch of ubon1. The latter held pocket sevens against BongBob's [As][Ks], but an ace flopped, ending ubon1's day in 22nd.

KGBkaka would next go out in 21st in a big hand versus "toweliestar" Spindler and nagyy88. KGBkaka held pocket queens, Spindler pocket kings, and nagyy [Ah][Qh]. Three hearts would come, giving nagyy88 the nearly half million-chip pot and sending KGBkaka to the rail.

Play had reached Level 25 (3,500/7,000/875) when Herr_Jude got his stack of just under 150,000 all in with pocket nines versus BradL's [Ac][Js]. A jack flopped, and Herr_Jude was out in 20th.

Next, with the board showing [Ts][Jh][Ac][8s][Ad] and 115,160 in the middle, Nickdawgg checked, and "toweliestar" Spindler shoved all in for 278,172. Nickdawgg thought a bit, then called with his remaining 188,005 with [Kc][Js]. Unfortunately for him, Spindler held [As][Td] for aces full of tens, and they were down to two tables.

From 18 to 9

At this point "Sumpas" Thorsson had surged into the chip lead, followed closely by BradL and "toweliestar" Spindler. Meanwhile, Danny98765, ofishstix, and jpmetalman were all sitting on the short stacks.

The next three to go all earned $49,200. Danny98765 would soon be forced to gamble with [Kd][10s] against "BongBob" Bücherl's [As][Kc], and when the community cards brought no help he was out in 18th. Next came an all-in between nagyy88 with [As][Kd] and toetagU with [Ah][Kh]. Two hearts flopped, and a third on the turn meant nagyy88 was out in 17th. ofishstix then lost a race with pocket sevens to garompon's [Ah][8d] to exit in 16th.

The next three spots paid $61,500. A hand arose in which Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen raised preflop from middle position and got a caller in siola in the big blind. The flop came [5s][8s][2d]. siola checked, Guillen fired a c-bet, siola check-raised all in, and Guillen called with his remaining 200,000 or so. Guillen held pocket nines for the overpair, but siola had flopped a set with [5s][5d]. siola's hand held, and Guillen was gone in 15th.

Next to go was romashka55, felled in 14th with [Jd][3d] by "BongBob" Bücherl's pocket sevens. Then came a big hand between "toweliestar" Spindler and delaney_kid in which a series of preflop raises put Spindler all in with pocket nines against delaney_kid's [Tc][Td]. The tends held, and Spindler was out in 13th.

Aaron "AJinOK" Ruppert had started the day in second, but had become short-stacked and would be the next to go all in. Ruppert held pocket nines, and had committed his stack of 177,561 preflop versus BradL's [Jh][8h]. Both a jack and an eight flopped, and AJinOK was out in 12th, earning $73,800. Taking home the same prize were garompon in 11th -- outsted with [As][Qd] against toetagU's [Ah][Kc] -- and Sam "KingKobeMVP" Stein in 10th -- done in with [Ah][Jd] against BradL's pocket fives after the board brought five cards no higher than a six.

After less than two hours of play on Day 2, we had our final nine:

Seat 1: cpfactor -- 371,912
Seat 2: toetagU -- 1,648,000
Seat 3: delaney_kid -- 498,992
Seat 4: BradL -- 816,526
Seat 5: DuckU -- 507,287
Seat 6: Sumpas -- 871,742
Seat 7: jpmetalman -- 155,075
Seat 8: BongBob -- 624,653
Seat 9: siola -- 655,813

From 9 to 2

First out at the final table was delaney_kid -- who also, incidentally, very nearly made the final table in the "Medium" version of the Main Event, going out in 10th place. Over here, delaney_kid was sitting with just over 500,000 in sixth place when toetagU opened with a raise to 18,000 from middle position. delaney_kid called from the next seat over, then it folded around to Sumpas who made it 55,000. All folded back to delaney_kid who repopped it to 121,111, Sumpas shoved, and delaney_kid called, showing [Td][Th] to Sumpas's [Qs][Qd]. The board ran out [Jd][2s][Kh][Jc][8h], and delaney_kid was gone in ninth.

Next jpmetalman, short-stacked at 258,380, watched from the big blind as siola raised, then BradL reraised. jpmetalman shoved all in over the top, getting siola to fold but drawing a call from BradL. jpmetalman had a good hand [Tc][Th] -- but BradL had a better one -- [Ac][Ah]. The board went eight-high, and jpmetalman was out in eighth.

Not long afterwards, it folded around to Konstantin "Bongbob" Bücherl in the small blind who raised to 26,969. Sam "siola" Iola reraised to 69,420, Bongbob pushed all in, and siola called with his last 408,338. Like jpmetalman, siola had [Tc][Ts], but also like jpmetalman, that would prove his last hand, as BongBob showed [Kd][Qd], a queen flopped, and siola couldn't improve, busted in seventh.

At the three-hour mark for Day 2, the blinds had reached 6,000/12,000 (1,500 ante) when toetagU raised to 28,454 from UTG. BradL called from UTG+1, as did BongBob (SB) and cpfactor (BB). The flop came [8s][Js][2c]. It checked to toetagU who continued for 48,000, then BradL raised to 156,000. BongBob then shoved all in for 694,065, prompting quick folds from cpfactor and toetagU, but a quick call from BradL.

"BongBob" Bücherl showed [8h][8d] for middle set, but BradL had [Jh][Jh] for top set. The turn was the [6c] and the river the [Qd], and they were down to five.

About 15 minutes later, Danny "cpfactor" Smith open-raised all in for 249,968 with [Kd][Js] and was called by toetagU who held [Ac][Jd]. The community cards came [3h][2h][Jc][5d][Ah], and cpfactor was out in fifth.

The final four battled back and forth for a little over a half-hour, with very few flops seen as all were mostly content to nurse their still deep stacks. Finally toetagU raised from the button, BradL called from the SB, then DuckU pushed all in for 298,333 from the BB. toetagU got out, but BradL called, turning over [Ac][Kh] to DuckU's pocket jacks. A king flopped, and DuckU couldn't catch up.

With just three left, the tourney was paused to discuss a possible deal. Both toetagU and BradL were agreeable to a straight "chip chop" (leaving $100K for which to play), but Sumpas -- third in chips at the time -- said he'd prefer to play on, and so they did.

They were in Level 30 (8,000/16,000/2,000) when toetag1 raised to 40,980 from the small blind, and BradL called from the BB. The flop came [2d][7s][7c]. toetagU bet 43,000, and BradL called. The turn was the [8d], and toetagU bet again, this time 112,000. BradL responded by raising to 270,000, and after a bit of a think toetagU called.

The river was the [Kc]. toetagU bet a smallish-looking 180,000, then BradL shoved all in for 1,093,927. toetagU took his time, then finally called, showing [7h][6h] for trip sevens. BradL held [As][5c] -- a failed bluff -- and was out in third.

Heads-Up

When heads-up play began, toetagU had 3,847,887 and the lead over Kristoffer "Sumpas" Thorsson's 2,302,113. The pair would battle for 44 hands, with toetagU increasing his lead to about a 3-to-1 advantage. Then, on the 45th hand, with the blinds 10,000/20,000 (2,500 ante), toetagU opened with a raise to 48,000 from the small blind/button, Sumpas made it 153,000, toetagU pushed back making it 340,500, Sumpas pushed all in for 1,533,500 total, and toetagU called.

Sumpas showed [7c][7s] and needed help against toetagU's [Js][Jc]. The flop came [4c][4h][Kc], the turn was the [Ks], and the river brought a [Jd], giving toetagU a poetic-seeming full house to go with that $1,162,350 first prize.

SCOOP Event #38-High Main Event Results:
1st place: toetagU ($1,162,350)
2nd place: Sumpas ($851,775)
3rd place: BradL ($627,300)
4th place: DuckU ($473,550)
5th place: cpfactor ($332,100)
6th place: BongBob ($261,375)
7th place: siola ($199,875)
8th place: jpmetalman ($138,375)
9th place: delaney_kid ($94,095)

For more on the Main Event-high final table, check out the live blog. And for all sorts of results and other stats from this year's 114-tourney long Spring Championship of Online Poker, check out the SCOOP site.

Two-day tournaments have their perks. For the players remaining at the end of Day 1, it allows them to regroup, rest, and develop a strategy for the second day based on their chip stacks and notes they've accumulated about their opponents. The rest keeps them from making decisions based on fatigue or making mistakes due to exhaustion. Sure, there are those who feel that the momentum of the chip leaders can be broken by the break in the game, which can be the case, but most players support the two-day extravaganzas.

Event 38 of the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) was better known as the Main Event, and this was the Medium version of it, boasting of a $1,050 buy-in and $3 million guarantee. There were 3,675 entrants in the NLHE tournament, making for an actual prize pool of $3,675,000.

Day 1 saw the vast majority of the field eliminated. The top 495 players made it into the money, and that group included names of Team PokerStars Pro like Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson, and Chris Moneymaker. Leo Fernandez ran deep and made it to 61st place, but it was Lex "RaSZi" Veldhuis who looked as Day 2 was in the bag. But in the last hour of play, Veldhuis got involved in a massive pot and his queens were all-in against aces. The last standing member of Team PokerStars Pro went from the top ten on the leaderboard to a 27th place finish in a matter of moments, and he took $9,371.25 out of the tournament with him.

When action stopped at the end of Level 33, there were 24 players remaining, and it was cashclctor in the lead with 4,559,905 chips. It should also be noted that the ninth place player from Day 1, delaney_kid, was also still in the running from the High version of the Main Event where he was sitting in sixth place.

Day 2 began

The 11-hour break ended with those 24 players back at the tables, starting with Level 34, which consisted of 17,500/35,000 blinds and a 4,375 ante.

It didn't take long for pi3t3r to depart in 24th place with $9,371.25, followed by Hagbart55, ragingquads, -Bay777-, CPT CRUX, and Joey Capp. And suddenly, there were only two tables remaining.

It was soon after that AxisP exited in 18th place, broseph321 in 17th, TheAssassin3 in 16th, wiklund in 15th, cizmakk in 14th, LordBurghley in 13th, and Believer82 in 12th. After rl111 busted in 11th place, it was delaney_kid who saw an opportunity. Rage4dorder raised preflop, and delaney_kid reraised all-in from the big blind with [Tc][Td]. Rage4dorder called with [Ah][Qs], and the race ended on the [Ac][4d][Qd] flop. The [4s] and [2c] finished the hand, leaving delaney_kid out in tenth place on the final table bubble, with $22,050.00 to show for it. And almost simultaneously, he busted from the High version of the Main Event in ninth place after just making that final table.

NOREFUNDS42 leads final table at start

It was just at the beginning of Level 40 that the final table got underway, and the blinds were at 60,000/120,000 with a 15,000 ante. The starting chip counts and seating arrangement for the players was as follows:

Seat 1: cooperz0311 (5,619,038 in chips)
Seat 2: rage4dorder (5,805,984 in chips)
Seat 3: Mr.M.M0ney (1,517,470 in chips)
Seat 4: NOREFUNDS42 (6,283,941 in chips)
Seat 5: cashclctor (5,182,272 in chips)
Seat 6: KJulius10 (1,389,717 in chips)
Seat 7: 888_OCTV (4,018,560 in chips)
Seat 8: Athanasios 9 (4,708,456 in chips)
Seat 9: hook2120 (2,224,562 in chips)

But things were about to change. Quickly.

On the very first hand of action, short-stacked KJulius10 pushed all-in from the small blind. But 888-OCTV made the call from the big blind with [7d][7s], calling the semi-bluff of KJulius10, who was holding [5c][4c]. The board came [3c][As][6h][3s][Js], and 888-OCTV was looking at two pair. KJulius10 was the first to be let go from the final table, taking with him $29,400.00 for the performance.

In the first few rounds, Athanasios 9 was making several aggressive moves to try to stay in contention for first place on the leaderboard with NOREFUNDS42. Athanasios 9 even took a pot worth more than 3 million chips from cooperz0311, and that allowed the former to jump into first place by more than 1 million chips.

Meanwhile, hook2120 doubled through rage4dorder to stay alive, and Mr.M.M0ney doubled through 888_OCTV to do the same. By the time the first break of the final table rolled around, 888-OCTV had climbed into the top spot, mostly due to a 3 million-chip pot taken from cashclctor. NOREFUNDS42 was in second, and Athanasios 9 was in a solid third on the leaderboard.

A new day

When cashclctor finished Day 1, he was riding high atop the leaderboard with a solid chip stack. But Day 2 proved to be a different animal altogether, as cashclctor consistently bled chips throughout the first few hours of play. Soon, as one of the short stacks cashclctor tangled with NOREFUNDS42 preflop, the former pushing all-in with [3c][3s], but the chip leader calling with [Qd][Qs]. The flop of [Qc][Td][9d] immediately brought the set for NOREFUNDS42, and the [2s] turn and [Kh] river ended the tournament for cashclctor, who walked away with $45,937.50 for eighth place.

The very next hand saw Mr.M.M0ney, who was suffering toward the bottom of the chip counts, made a miraculous double-up through 888-OCTV:

Another big hand followed soon after, when Athanasios 9 doubled through NOREFUNDS42 when the two tangled and pocket queens beat A-10. NOREFUNDS42 was suddenly in the middle of the pack.

Then it was time for Mr.M.M0ney to jump ahead, and two players suffered for it. Hook2120 started off the hand with an all-in move for 2,247,425 chips. Rage4dorder followed with a reraise all-in for 2,815,022. And Mr.M.M0ney called them both. The hands were:

hook2120: [Qs][Tc]
rage4dorder: [Ks][Kd]
Mr.M.M0ney: [Ah][As]

The board came down [Jd][3h][4c][6h][3c], and the aces eliminated two players, hook2120 in seventh place with $82,687.50, and rage4dorder in sixth place with $119,437.50.

Five for fighting

With five players remaining, short-stacked cooperz0311 decided to take a chance, and the double-up attempt was successful, courtesy of NOREFUNDS42

Then it was 888-OCTV's turn to climb, and through a 5.8 million-chip pot off Mr.M.M0ney and a 3.3 million one from Athanasios 9, 888-OCTV jumped right into first place.

How quickly things changed for NOREFUNDS42, who finished Day 1 in third place but fought battle after battle during the Day 2 final table. As one of the shorter stacks at the table, NOREFUNDS42 decided to risk it all preflop with [Ad][9s], and Athanasios 9 went along from the small blind holding [Ac][Kd]. The board of [Ah][2d][7c][6c][Qh] gave both players top pair, but Athanasios 9 had the best kicker. NOREFUNDS42 was forced out in fifth place with $156,187.50.

Cooperz0311 doubled again, this time through 888-OCTV, but that wasn't enough. A short while later, the two tangled again with the following results:

That catapulted cooperz0311 into a solid second place on the leaderboard, while 888-OCTV was suddenly on the short stack. But when Athanasios 9 took a pot worth more than 8 million from cooperz0311, it was the former who soared into the lead again, leaving the other three to fight for their chances.

And it was 888-OCTV who took that chance, pushing all-in preflop with [Ad][2d] against the [As][Th] of Athanasios 9. The deal brought down a [Kh][Td][Qd][8s][Qc] board, giving Athanasios 9 two pair and the pot. 888-OCTV was eliminated from the tournament in fourth place with $211,312.50.

And they have a deal

It soon became clear that the last three players were fairly close in chip stacks and no particular progress was being made. The three decided to pause the tournament to look at some chip-chop numbers. Though they didn't like the first numbers, they came up with their own chop arrangement, and it worked. With $60,000 set aside for the eventual winner, the following numbers were agreed upon for payouts:

Seat 1: cooperz0311 (15,199,974 in chips) = $448,500.00
Seat 3: Mr.M.M0ney (9,292,448 in chips) = $383,137.50
Seat 8: Athanasios 9 (12,257,578 in chips) = $418,500.00

Play resumed, and it wasn't long before Athanasios 9 worked his way to the lowest chip stack and pushed all-in preflop with [Ad][7c]. Mr.M.M0ney called with [Jh][Jc], and the board of [4s][Th][7d][5s][Tc] shipped the 10 million-chip pot to Mr.M.M0ney. Athanasios 9 was eliminated in third place and took home $418,500.00 for it.

Cooperz0311 v. Mr.M.M0ney

The last two players standing found themselves vying for the title in a battle that began just before the 29th hour of play. Their chip counts were as follows:

Seat 1: cooperz0311 (20,325,474 in chips)
Seat 3: Mr.M.M0ney (16,424,526 in chips)

The match-up saw both players take the chip lead at one time or another, as chips were traded in small pots followed by the occasional multi-million chip ones. There were double-ups as well, but it wasn't until the nearly an hour into the match when Mr.M.M0ney took the lead with the following hand:

That left cooperz0311 anxious to move, and three hands later, cooperz0311 pushed all-in with [Kc][8c]. Mr.M.M0ney called with a solid [As][Jc], and that only improved to a pair on the [Js][3h][Td] flop. A [4c] appeared on the turn, followed by a [5h] on the river, and cooperz0311 had to settle for second place in the tournament, which was worth $448,500.00.

The player with a name made for a champion - Mr.M.M0ney - won the Medium Main Event of the 2010 SCOOP series. For that feat, he was awarded $443,137.50, along with a championship watch and the title. Congratulations!

SCOOP Event 38-Medium (NLHE Main Event) Final Results for 05/17/10:

1st place: Mr.M.M0ney ($443,137.50)*
2nd place: cooperz0311 ($448,500.00)*
3rd place: Athanasios 9 ($418,500.00)*
4th place: 888-OCTV ($211,312.50)
5th place: NOREFUNDS42 ($156,187.50)
6th place: rage4dorder ($119,437.50)
7th place: hook2120 ($82,687.50)
8th place: cashclctor ($45,937.50)
9th place: KJulius10 ($29,400.00)

*denotes a three-way chop agreement

Thanks for joining us for all of the 2010 SCOOP action! Check out the Spring Championship of Online Poker website for details of the series and PokerStars.TV for highlights.

It would not take long for our final nine to be named, with sizable blinds and short-ish stack our final 17 from yesterday would play down to one in today's $109 SCOOP Main Event-Low.

Andre Akkari wasted no time in improving his chip position by doubling up on the game's second hand against pmahoney22 catching an unnecessary flush with AQo against pmahoney22's AJs for a 13.8 million chip pot. pmahoney22 would get several of those chips back with interest from 3615 who shoved after a three-bet from pmahoney22 for 7.5 million. After a few ticks pmahoney22 made the call with pocket jacks and was up against the big slick [Kh][Ac] of 3615. Nothing came down the [8c] [4d] [Th] [2s] [2c] board for 3615 and the player's final number was 16th place ($3,933.54).

Soon after StructureK and scarface_79 would fall quickly in 14th and 15th place both earning $5,564.52 for their two days of work. NotAble2Fold lived to the namesake after tangling with B18GsrR. After B18GsrR three-bet an early position raise from NotAble2Fold he would shove for 14.5 million holding [Jd][Ac] and was quickly called by B18GsrR's pocket queens [Qh][Qd]. The [8d] [7s] [3d] [3c] [Th] board stayed ace-free and b18GsrR scooped up the huge 30 million chip pot, knocking out NotAble2Fold in 13th place ($5,564.52).

Some hands you just need to watch:

A three way all in with iFROST barely covering 0120 and yuan for a sizable 20 million chip pot.

iFROST: [Qd][Qh]
0120: [Kd][Ac]
yuan: [Kc][Ks]

yuan held the big lead pre flop and looked like a winner after the [4c] [6h] [9h] flop. But, the hearts would not stop coming out as the [3h] turn and [2h] river matched up with the queen of hearts in iFROST's hand putting a deep freeze of 0120 and yuan's tournament in 11th and 12th place (both earning $7,195.50).

You just got VAMOOOOO'd

At the final table bubble short stacked LuckyWin017 tried to three-bet shove for 4.7 million over Akkari's preflop raise with pocket eights [8s][8d]. The Brazilian was well stocked to call holding pocket queens [Qc][Qh] and after the [Js] [Ks] [3c] [Kc] [Ad] board failed to turn the tide LuckyWin017 could not get lucky one more time and was out in tenth place ($7,195.50).

Seat 1: pmahoney22 (28408804 in chips)
Seat 2: MikeTBH (8747304 in chips)
Seat 3: midjat (39643203 in chips)
Seat 4: Elpinto54 (2733926 in chips)
Seat 5: aakkari (16166309 in chips)
Seat 6: Quitti33 (21941934 in chips)
Seat 7: Grodindono (6997579 in chips)
Seat 8: B18GsrR (47406890 in chips)
Seat 9: iFROST (19834051 in chips)

It took a full day to go from 19,188 players to 17, and just 40 minutes to go from 17 to our final nine. Blinds would start out at a staggering 250K/500K ante 62.5K as it would take just three hands for our first competitor to fall. B18GsrR would raise to 1.3 million, midjat called from the button, as Elpinto54 with just over three big blinds would shove for about 500K more from the small blind. Both big stacked players would call to check down the [8h] [5d] [6d] [4c] [8c] board. Epinto54's [Kh][Qs] got B18GsrR to muck, but not midjat's [Ac][Qc] which took the 6.8 million chip pot ending Elpinto54's day 2 adventure in ninth place ($11,512.80).

The definition of cold cards

iFROST's night went wrong in a hurry and might be Webster's new definition of "cold cards". The implosion started with calling a raise from Akkari in the big blind to see a flop of [As] [Th] [Qh]. After both traded bets resulting in Andre being all-in, iFROST flipped up [8d][Ah] for top pair as Akkari turned over the nuts [Kd][Js]. The straight would hold for a 43.7 million chip pot. Two hands later iFROST would get the chips in preflop against midjat holding pocket queens [Qh][Qs]. Not iFROST's night has midjat held kings [Kh][Kc] which held on the [Jc] [Ac] [7c] [8s] [Jd] board for another 41.3 million chip pot. After those iFROST still had nine million left but those went in on the very next hand against Akkari. A flip of [Qd][Ad] for iFROST and pocket sevens [7h][7d] for Akkari. iFROST's fortune seemed to change after a queen hit the turn, but the river card [4h] [3h] [6c] [Qh] [5d] gave the Team PokerStars pro a straight knocking out iFROST in eighth place ($17,269.20).

No need to slow down

Just three hands later with blinds at 500K/1MM ante 125K, MikeTBH would shove from middle position for 10.1 million, folded around to Quitti33 in the small blind who would re-raise to shut out the big blind holding big slick [Ah][Kd]. MikeTBH's [5d][As] was in a big hole, too big to crawl out of after the [4s] [Qs] [3h] [Th] [Qh] board failed to produce a wheel or a five and MikeTBH was out in seventh place ($26,959.14).

Crowded house

Blinds move up again to 600K/1.2MM ante as the table folded to B18GsrR in the small blind who simply shoved into a short stacked pmahoney22 in the big blind. With just 9.8 million in chips pmahoney22 would make the call holding hopefully two live cards [8h][Jd]. They were as B18GsrR held [Kh][Td] as the [8s] [Kd] [Kc] [5s] [8c] board gave both players a full house but B18GsrR's had a bigger bedroom thus took the 20.2 million chips and showed pmahoney22 to the front door in sixth place ($38,376.00).

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari finishes fifth

Watch the hand below as the Brazilian pro catches some bad luck on the flop against midjat:

The queen on the flop allowed midjat to sneak his [Qc][Jd] past the pocket jacks of Akkari [Jc][Jh] and the case jack failed to appear on the [Qh] [3s] [2s] [As] [3c] board sending the 56.6 million chip pot to midjat and Akkari to the showers in fifth place
($57,564.00).

Slow play = Fourth place pay

The blinds would move up again to 800K/1.6MM ante 200K as Grodindono would lead out for 3.7 million from the small blind getting called by B18GsrR. Both would check at the [Ah] [Qd] [7h] flop but the [7d] sparked some action. Grodindono checked as B18GsrR bet 3.5 million, and Grodindono woke up with a check-raise to 9.6 million. Not done and holding trip sevens [7s][Th] B18GsrR shoved while covering Grodindono. With only 11.6 million behind Grodindono made the call holding the flopped top pair [As][8h]. The [6c] river lacked the miracle ace and Grodindono lacked tournament chips to continue finishing in fourth place ($76,752.00).

Not a quitter

B18GsrR's stack fell on hard times and the once might stack was reduced to "just" 16 million chips with blinds now at 1MM/2MM ante 250K. The shortstack would shove from the button for the 16 million chips as both midjat and Quitti33 would call. After a [3s] [Qh] [Kc] flop, Quitti33 decided not to share with midjat and bet 17 million. midjat responded with a quick fold. Wise decision as Quitti33 turned up aces [As][Ah] which needed to fade two queens as B18GsrR turned over a bit of a cooler three-handed [Ad][Qd]. Trey on the turn [3d] and a deuce on the river [2c] sealed up the 48.9 million chip pot for Quitti33 starting up heads-up play with midjat. B18GsrR earned nearly six figures taking home $95,954.00 in third place.

The race for $191,892.59 begins:

Fairly even in chips as shown below, midjat and Quitti33 were determined to produce an all out winner this evening as no chop talks were agreed to as our final two would play until one receives the entire $191,892.59 first place prize.

midjat (109,675,516 in chips)
Quitti33 (82,204,484 in chips)

Straight to the winner's circle

The players would battle back and forth up to the 1.5MM/3MM ante 375K blind level when the big hand finally occurred. Watch midjat catch a little love on the river and get paid in the video below:

[7h][5d] may not be much of a hand pre-flop but put some connecting cards on the [4h] [Ac] [8h] [5c] [6d] board and they can overcome a premium hand like Quitti33's pocket tens [Td][Tc]. With the straight midjat finished where he started yesterday on top of the leaderboard, except this time it was worth $192,892.59 and a SCOOP championship watch. As the runner-up Quitti33 won't get the wrist bling but takes away a six-figure win ($142,586.02).

$1 Million Guarantee SCOOP Main Event-Low buy-in Results:
1. midjat (zurich) $191,892.59
2. Quitti33 (boynton beach) $142,586.02
3. B18GsrR (Westerville) $95,940.00
4. Grodindono (La Bastide L'Eveque) $76,752.00
5. Team Pokerstars Pro Andre "aakkari" Akkari (Sao Paulo) $57,564.00
6. pmahoney22 (Lakeland) $38,376.00
7. MikeTBH (Saint-Mandé) $28,959.14
8. iFROST (GREENVILLE) $17,269.20
9. Elpinto54 (Montigny Les Metz) $11,512.80

The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) live blog coverage of today's Main Event-High final table is brought to you by David Aydt and Martin Harris.

9:59pm: toetagU takes it down!

Congratulations to toetagU, 2010 SCOOP Main Event-High champion! Here are the payouts for the final table:

1st place: toetagU ($1,162,350)
2nd place: Sumpas ($851,775)
3rd place: BradL ($627,300)
4th place: DuckU ($473,550)
5th place: cpfactor ($332,100)
6th place: BongBob ($261,375)
7th place: siola ($199,875)
8th place: jpmetalman ($138,375)
9th place: delaney_kid ($94,095)

Thanks for following our live blog of today's final table. For all results from the 2010 series, check the SCOOP site.

9:46pm: Let's play chicken for $310,575

As the blinds moved up to 10,000/20,000 (2,500 ante), the players started to let their chips rather than the cards do the talking preflop. A hand arose in which toetagU started with a raise to 48,000 and was three-bet to 153,000 by Sumpas. Still not done, toetagU pumped it up again after a few clicks of the time bank to 340,500. Sumpas however wasted little time with the last bet all-in for 1,533,500 as toetagU called just as quickly.

Watch the video below for the conclusion of the 2010 SCOOP Main Event-High:

Pocket sevens -- [7c][7s] -- for Sumpas were well behind the pocket jacks -- [Js][Jd] -- held by toetagU. Even if Sumpas would have caught a seven for trips, a tournament ending jack hit the river [4c][4h][Kc][Ks][Jd] to crown toetagU the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event-High champion, earning $1,162,350.00 for the victory. The runner-up Sumpas adds yet another impressive six-figure
score to the Swede's poker resume, taking home $851,775 tonight.

9:28pm: Updated chip counts (heads-up)

toetagU: 3,847,887
Sumpas: 2,303,113

9:27pm: Bagged and tagged: toetagU busts BradL in third

Whoa. We nearly choked on our popcorn on this one. Check it out.

Sumpas folded on the button, then toetagU raiesd to 40,980 from the small blind (a little over 2.5x). BradL made the call from the BB, and the flop came [2d][7s][7c]. toetagU bet 43,000, and BradL called. The turn brought the [8d]. This time toetagU bet 112,000, and BradL responded with a raise to 270,000. toetagU studied a moment, then made the call.

The river was the [Kc], and toetagU made a smallish bet of 180,000 into the 713,960 pot. BradL paused for about 20 seconds, then shoved all in for 1,093,927. toetagU went deep into the tank -- to call would only leave him 750,000 or so.

Finally he did make the call, showing [7h][6h] for trip sevens. BradL tabled [As][5c] -- air -- and is gone in third ($627,300).

9:14pm: Grab some popcorn and a comfortable chair

With the slow blinds (currently at 8K/16K, ante 2K) and big stacks, we could be in for a long fight for that seven-figure first prize tonight:

Sumpas: 2,669,093 (166 big blinds)
toetagU: 1,918,000 (119 big blinds)
BradL: 1,532,907 (95 big blinds)

9:04pm: Sumpas rolls a big straight, but doesn't mark off Yahtzee

With the blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante), Sumpas would lead out from the button for 37,400, toetagU folded, and BradL in the big blind three-bet to 92,500. Sumpas made the call. A semi-coordinated [6d] [Js] [7h] flop came out. BradL checked and Sumpas took control by betting 98,500. BradL called. The turn brought the [8s] and again a check-call from BradL of Sumpas' bet, this time for 235,000.

The river brought the [4h] and another check from BradL, a bet of 530,000 from Sumpas, and a call again from BradL. Sumpas showed [5s][9s] for the the turned straight with a redraw as BradL mucked, conceding the 1,926,000 chip pot to Sumpas.

Sumpas assumes the chip lead with that one, moving to 2.66 million, while toetagU has 2.16 million and BradL tumbles to 1.31 million.

8:54pm: Stop for chop, but they say play!

Once they reached three-handed, the tourney was paused to talk about a possible deal. At that time, here were the counts:

1. BradL -- 2,304,327
2. toetagU -- 2,232,000
3. Sumpas -- 1,613,673

Team PokerStars Pro Juan Macerias Lapido ran the numbers for a "chip chop" and came back with $874,415.65 for BradL, $866,659.32 for toetagU, and $800,350.03 for Sumpas, leaving aside $100,000 for the eventual winner.

BradL and toetagU were on board, but Sumpas said he'd rather play on, and cards are once again back in the air.

Incidentally, the scheduled prizes are $1,162,350 for first, $851,775 for second, and $627,300 for third.

8:50pm: DuckU down in fourth

After Sumpas folded, toetagU raised to 32,250 from the button, and BradL called from the small blind. Then DuckU pushed all in once again -- for 298,333 this time -- prompting a fold from Sumpas, but BradL stuck around.

BradL: [Ac][Kh]
DuckU: [Jh][Jc]

The flop swung the advantage to BradL -- [Kd][Qc][8c]. The turn was the [9h], giving DuckU some straight outs, but the river was the [5h], and DuckU is out in fourth ($473,550).

8:38pm: Trading ducks for queens

While on the short end of the chip counts as the other three players possess seven figure stacks, DuckU still had room to move up with the slow 30-minute blinds. Now in Level 29 (blinds 7,000/14,000, ante 1,750), DuckU would push preflop again for 197,416, this time holding [Qd][Ad]. He was called by toetagU holding a lesser ace [As][Jc].

No drama in this run to the river as a queen hit the flop and had toetagU drawing dead by the turn -- [6c][Qh][9s][2s][Qs] -- thus shipping the 408,832 chip pot to DuckU.

8:34pm: Four-handed, finally a flop

After 16 straight hands without a flop, Sumpas limped in from the small blind (completing to 14,000) and toetagU decided to check his option in the BB. The flop came [3c][Js][Qs]. Sumpas checked, toetagU bet 19,500, and Sumpas called. The turn brought a provocative [10s]. Sumpas checked, toetagU took his time, then bet 29,000. Sumpas again called.

The river was the [Ac]. Sumpas again checked, and this time toetagU checked behind. Sumpas showed [Jd][Kh] for a straight, and toetagU mucked. toetagU still has the lead with 2.53 million, followed by BradL with 1.97 million, Sumpas with 1.41 million, and DuckU the short stack with 225K.

8:20pm: Current chip counts (four remain)

1. toetagU -- 2,159,468
2. BradL -- 1,959,410
3. Sumpas -- 1,760,206
4. DuckU -- 270,916

8:17pm: No longer a factor; cpfactor out in fifth

Shortly after DuckU doubled up, the other short stack, cpfactor, tried to do the same with a push from the button for 249,968. toetagU would quickly make the call from the small blind, holding [Ac][Jd] as cpfactor turned over the dominated [Js][Kd].

Both would pair their jack on the [3h][2h][Jc] flop. The turn was the [5d], then toetagU added insult to injury by pairing the kicker on the [Ah] river, eliminating cpfactor in fifth place ($332,100).

8:11pm: Quack Quack DuckU speaks up

Sitting on the short end of chips with cpfactor, DuckU found himself facing a shove from a bullying BradL. With the blinds still 6,000/12,000 (ante 1,500), BradL put DuckU all-in from the small blind, and with 179,735 chips left DuckU found an appropriate pair -- [2d][2c] -- in his hand with which to make the call.

Usually a player is flipping with deuces, but not this time as BradL had one in his hand, too, holding [2h][9d]. DuckU's ducks would gently float down the river as the board came [Qc][Js][4d][3d][4h], giving him the 363,970 chip pot.

8:05pm: BongBob busto in sixth

Just back from the break, toetagU opened with a raise to 28,454 from under the gun, BradL called from the next seat over, and it folded around to the blinds both of whom -- BongBob (SB) and cpfactor (BB) -- called as well.

The flop came [8s][Js][2c], and it checked to toetagU who bet 48,000. BradL raised to 156,000, then BongBob shoved all in over the top to the tune of 694,065. It folded back to BradL who made the call.

BongBob showed [8h][8d] for the set of eights, but BradL had the better set with his [Jd][Jh], completely killing BongBob's buzz. The turn was the [6c] and river the [Qd], and BongBob was gone in sixth ($261,375).

7:56pm: Day 2, three-hour break; six remain

Level 28 (blinds 6,000/12,000; ante 1,500)

1. toetag -- 1,992,954
2. Sumpas -- 1,691,629
3. BradL -- 1,172,241
4. BongBob -- 724,019
5. cpfactor -- 360,922
6. DuckU -- 208,235

7:53pm: toetagU sticking to bagging chips instead of bodies thus far

BongBob would lead out for a minimum-raise from the button (to 24,000) and got called by toetagU in the big blind. The [2d][6h][Tc] flop got both players to check. The turn was the [3c] and toetagU led out for 42,477. BongBob called.

The river brought the [4d] and toetagU upped the price to 125,000. BongBob called again, and toetagU flipped up the turned straight [5h][4h]. BongBob went for more water and mucked as toetagU earned the 397,954 chip pot.

7:42pm: siola gets smoked in seventh

The former Sunday Million champ would not add a SCOOP title to the poker resume after tangling with BongBob preflop. With blinds at 6,000/12,000 (ante 1,250), play would fold around to the blinds where BongBob would open for 26,969. siola holding [Tc][Ts] in the BB three-bet to 69,420. (An appropriate bet-size ending against BongBob?).

Unfazed, BongBob shoved while covering siola, and the latter made the call. BongBob showed [Kd][Qd] and would spike a queen on the [Qs] [8s] [3s] all spade flop. Only siola held a spade, but the flush failed to produce on the [6c] turn and [5h] river, sending siola off with a six-figure win in seventh place ($199,875).

7:33pm: jpmetalman pedals away in eighth

With the blinds 5,000/10,000, siola opened with a raise to 23,400 from UTG+1, then BradL made it 52,500 from the cutoff seat. It folded to jpmetalman in the big blind who then shoved all in for 257,130. siola got out, but BradL decided to stick around.

jpmetalman: [Tc][Th]
BradL: [Ac][Ah]

Bad timing for jpmetalman. The board came [3s][7s][8h][4d][7c], and jpmetalman is out in seventh, earning $138,375.

7:29pm: WCOOP champ looking for SCOOP watch

Sumpas got a winner's interview from Brad Willis last year. Reason? The Swede won the 2009 WCOOP Event #10 (see winner's interview here).

After a bit of hard luck at the 2008 WCOOP main event finishing sixth ($415,000), Sumpas came back big taking down Event #10 of last year's WCOOP for over $600,000. Tonight with a big stack he'll be looking for a possible seven-figure payday.

7:21pm: Balance of power

After about a half-hour of play at the final table, Sumpas and toetagU have pushed out from the rest of the pack considerably, with both sitting with more than 1.6 million chips. Their closest competitors -- BradL and BongBob -- are hovering between 620,000-650,000, with the other four all in the 300K-400K range.

7:17pm: The delaney double

We should note that delaney_kid -- who busted here in ninth place -- very nearly also made the final table of the "Medium" version of this year's SCOOP Main Event ($1,050 buy-in), going out in 10th place in that one for an additional $22,050 score. Quite a feat!

7:12pm: The Kid-die game is down the street; delaney_kid out in ninth

With the blinds holding steady at 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante), chip leader toetagU led out for 18K, and delaney_kid flat-called. The table folded to Sumpas who raised to 55K which sent toetagU's cards into the muck, but Delaney_kid would four-bet shove for 121,111 total. Sumpas wasn't done and five bet all-in, covering delaney_kid who made the call.

delaney_kid showed pocket tens -- [Td][Th]. Meanwhile Sumpas held a couple of ladies [Qs][Qd], which the kid couldn't handle the sight of and the [Jd] [2s] [Kh] [Jc] [8h] board agreed it was time for delaney_kid to take leave in ninth place ($94,095.00).

7:06pm: Not exactly their first time

With the big buy-in comes big talent. Here are a few scores some of our final tablists have racked up here at PokerStars:

Sam "siola" Iola - Sunday Million champ

Danny "cpfactor" Smith - Runner-up in SCOOP Event #15

toetagU - 6th place in Sunday Warm-up

6:54pm: Sail away with me

jpmetalman tried to make something happen from UTG + 1 by shoving for 151,075 preflop with the blinds starting the final table at 4K/8K ante 1K. But DuckU had a pair of tens [Tc][Th] waiting in the big blind and made the call.

The third sailboat appeared from the harbor on the flop and held to the river [Qc] [Jd] [4s] [2c] [3h] giving jpmetalman the 315,150 chip pot staying alive early on.

6:49pm: Final table underway

Seat 1: cpfactor -- 371,912
Seat 2: toetagU -- 1,648,000
Seat 3: delaney_kid -- 498,992
Seat 4: BradL -- 816,526
Seat 5: DuckU -- 507,287
Seat 6: Sumpas -- 871,742
Seat 7: jpmetalman -- 155,075
Seat 8: BongBob -- 624,653
Seat 9: siola -- 655,813

6:30pm: Getting close

Day 2 began with 27 players returning. After just an hour-and-a-half of play today they are already down to the final dozen. It won't be long before we have our final nine.

(Click here to read a full recap of Day 1, when 615 played down to our final three tables.)

This wasn't just any no-limit hold'em tournament. It was the last SCOOP NLHE tournament with the exception of the Main Event in the 2010 series. It gave players the chance at a $750K guarantee. And it brought some of the biggest names in the game of poker to the online tables.

Event 37-High offered players the high-buy-in version of this tournament with a $2,100 buy-in, though many players won their seats in satellites or qualifiers for a fraction of that cost. But others bought in directly as well, making the field one mixed with amateurs and pros alike. The event filled up with 914 players, and the prize pool more than doubled its guarantee as it landed at $1,828,000. Substantial, if we do say!

As the tournament played down and the money bubble approached, two Team PokerStars Pros just missed the cash in this one: Gavin Griffin, who finished in 114th place, and Hevan "RaiNKhAN" Khan, who left in 112th place. On the other side of the bubble, there were a few members of the team who took home a bit of a profit for their efforts: Leo Fernandez in 105th place, Jorge Arias in 78th place, Johannes Strassmann in 70th place, and Randy "nanonoko" Lew in 52nd place. And as the final table inched closer, only one Team Pro remained in the running: Chris "Money800" Moneymaker.

Ultimately, though, the short-stacked pro got his chips all-in with pocket jacks, but BrynKenney was right there with pocket aces, and the board couldn't save Moneymaker's tournament. He exited in 40th place with $6,763.60.

With two tables remaining into the 15th hour of play, Benny "toweliestar" Spindler exited in 18th place, Noah "fouruhaters" Schwartz in 17th, DaMadPotter in 16th, dibsy in 15th, jadedjason in 14th, toril274 in 13th, Mttjn in 12th, and Josh "nitbuster" Arieh in 11th place. That led to hand-for-hand play, which ended when mement_mori pushed all-in preflop from the big blind with [Jh][Js]. It just so happened that jcamby33 was able to call with [Qd][Qc]. The board blanked with [Kh][4c][8c][5d][6d], and that was all we wrote for Mickey "mement_mori" Peterson, who left in tenth place with $19,742.40.

Jcamby33 took significant lead to final table

Right in the middle of Level 28, with blinds at 6,000/12,000 and a 1,500 ante, the final table of nine players was set. Their starting chip counts and seating assignments were as follows:

Seat 1: e1mdopp (339,110 in chips)
Seat 2: Taknapotin (2,004,236 in chips)
Seat 3: chtirly (848,779 in chips)
Seat 4: slammedfire (235,294 in chips)
Seat 5: tommyboy83 (336,208 in chips)
Seat 6: APerfectGent (183,900 in chips)
Seat 7: jcamby33 (3,032,226 in chips)
Seat 8: BrynKenney (884,820 in chips)
Seat 9: niccc (1,275,427 in chips)

It took only three hands to see big action from these players, as APerfectGent doubled through BrynKenney to stay alive.

Though BrynKenney was not exactly short-stacked, the very next hand saw him push all-in from the small blind. His 717,420 chips were at risk with [Ah][Qh], and niccc called from the big blind with [Jh][Jc]. The coin flip looked like it was going BrynKenney's way when the [As][3s][2s] flop came down, and the [7h] turn card changed nothing. But a [Jd] hit on the river, giving niccc the set of jacks and eliminating Bryn "BrynKenney" Kenney, winner of Event 8-H, in ninth place with $23,398.40.

A very short time later, one of the original short stacks at the table decided it was all or nothing. E1mdopp pushed all-in preflop with [As][Qd], and chtirly made the easy call with [Kd][Kc]. The board of [5h][Qc][8s][2c][5c] brought nothing of significance, and e1mdopp was let go in eighth place with $40,398.80.

Play slowed down a bit from that point, as Taknapotin tried to chip away at jcamby33, though the latter simply took it out on other players to remain solidly atop the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Taknapotin took some hits from other players. Slammedfire doubled through and chtirly took a 838K-pot from Taknapotin, relegating the latter to a third, then fourth place spot on the board.

But it was slammedfire who continued to have a tough time accumulating chips. Finally, after a raise from chtirly, slammedfire pushed his last 203,338 all-in with [Td][Th], and chtirly called with [Ah][2c]. The flop of [9h][5d][4s] gave chtirly the straight outs, and the [3d] on the turn made it. A [4d] on the river ended the hand, eliminating slammedfire in sixth place with $57,582.00 for the best finish of his 2010 SCOOP.

Gentlemen, please

APerfectGent had been whittled down to less than 100K in chips due to losing a few battles with players like niccc. Finally, the last 52,550 chips went all-in preflop, and niccc and chtirly called. They checked the [4s][4d][Jc] flop and the [Qc] turn, but when the [5c] fell on the river, niccc bet and chtirly folded. APerfectGent showed [Ad][4h] for trip fours, but niccc turned over [Ac][9c] for the rivered flush. justin "APerfectGent" Schwartz left in sixth place with $75,862.00.

Table talk that had been building some not-so-cordial feelings finally ended with APerfectGent commenting on his way out:

"DIE"

And exit left.

Civility got the better of the last five players, as the continued in silence for awhile.

Tommyboy83 doubled through chtirly to stay alive, and niccc, still with an eye on first place but a distance from it, took a 1.1 million-chip pot from jcamby33 to edge a bit closer.

Then it was chtirly's turn to move. After a raise from Taknapotin and reraise from jcamby33, Taknapotin got out of the way when chtirly reraised again. Jcamby33 pushed all-in, and chtirly called for the remainder of his chips holding [Jc][Js]. Jcamby33 showed [5c][5h], but the board came [7s][As][Ah][4s][5s], and a rivered full house beat chtirly's flush. Chtirly finished the tournament in fifth place with $94,142.00.

Niccc made another run at jcamby33's chip stack, but this was the result:

Tommyboy83 was far from giving up, doubling up again through jcamby33 and doing the same through the already-suffering niccc.

A few hands later, niccc pushed all-in for his last 455,239 chips from the small blind holding [Ac][5s], and Taknapotin called from the big blind with [Ts][Th]. The board was an unventful [Qc][6h][2d][6c][Kd], and Nicolas "niccc" Chouity was eliminated in fourth place with $133,444.00.

Let's make a deal

Almost as soon as three-handed play began, the players decided to pause the tournament to discuss a possible deal. And discuss they did. It took more than 40 minutes to come to an agreement on the numbers, but eventually they figured something out that worked for all. With $15,000 extra set aside for the ultimate victor, the payouts would be set as follows:

Seat 2: Taknapotin (1,363,972 in chips) = $219,333.65
Seat 5: tommyboy83 (2,443,528 in chips) = $236,071.01
Seat 7: jcamby33 (5,332,500 in chips) = $276,333.33

Play resumed with somewhat cautious play, but it wasn't long before tommyboy83 tangled with the chip leader.

Tommyboy83 started it off with a raise, and jcamby33 reraised. Tommyboy83 bumped it up again, and jcamby33 called to see a [8d][Tc][4c] flop. Tommyboy83 bet, but jcamby33 check-raised all-in. Tommyboy83 called for his tournament life with [9d][9h], but jcamby33 showed [Kh][Ks], which found a [Kd] on the turn to make the set. The [Ad] on the river ended the hand and sent Tom "tommyboy83" Koral packing in third place with $236,071.01.

Campbell and Somerville battle it out

Midway through the 18th hour of the tournament, two players remained with chip counts as follows:

Seat 2: Taknapotin (1,373,972 in chips)
Seat 7: jcamby33 (7,766,028 in chips)

Taknapotin took his time, making no rush all-in moves to jeopardize his tournament. But when he did make a move, he doubled up in style, quad-like style to be exact.

A few more subsequent pots shipped to Taknapotin prompted jcamby33 to write:

"u got too many chips now"

The two continued their friendly banter as Taknapotin soon evened up the stacks and eventually took the lead. Though jcamby33 took it back, a big hand erupted, and on a [2h][4c][5h] flop, Taknapotin moved all-in with [Ah][7h] for the straight and flush draws, and jcamby33 called with [Jh][Js] and the operpair. The [3c] hit on the turn to make Taknapotin's straight, and the [4s] on the river shipped the chips to Taknapotin.

Jcamby33 was left barely standing. He was able to double-up once, but he moved all-in again, this time with [7d][4d] against the [Js][7s] of Taknapotin. The board brought [Jd][6c][As][Th][Ah] to give Taknapotin two pair, and James "jcamby33" Campbell, winner of a 2007 Sunday Million, came up just short of winning a 2010 SCOOP event. He walked away with $276,333.33 for second place.

After having finished in fifth place in Event 1-H and seventh place in 28-H, James "Taknapotin" Somerville finally took down his first SCOOP event, for which he was awarded a watch and $234,333.65.

SCOOP Event 37-High (NLHE) Results for 05/16/10:

1st place: Jason "Taknapotin" Somerville ($234,333.65)*
2nd place: jcamby33 ($276,333.33)*
3rd place: tommyboy83 ($236,071.01)*
4th place: niccc ($133,444.00)
5th place: chtirly ($94.142.00)
6th place: APerfectGent ($75,862.00)
7th place: slammedfire ($57,582.00)
8th place: e1mdopp ($40,398.80)
9th place: BrynKenney ($23,398.40)

*denotes a three-way chop agreement

Check out the Spring Championship of Online Poker website for details of the SCOOP series and PokerStars.TV for highlights.

Playing for your part of over $1.3 million dollar prize pool is not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon, really. It's not even a bad way to spend a Sunday night. And frankly, it's a decent way to spend a Monday morning, too. And that's a good thing, because by the time the final table kicked off in the SCOOP Event #37M - No Limit Hold'Em, the remaining nine players had been going at it for 17 hours! And that wasn't the end of the road, either. To get to the $205,000 top prize (the result of a heads up deal), Shuriken555 had to survive not only a grueling final table but also a raucous back-and-forth heads up match at the end of 20-hour tournament!

A whopping 6,827 players turned out for the event, building a prize pool of $1,365,400. Not bad for a tournament with a guarantee of $750K! The shot at SCOOP glory (and bucketfuls of cash) brought out the Team PokerStars Pros in droves. In the field for this event were big stars like Jason Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Gavin Griffin, Noah Boeken, Bertrand Grospellier, Hevad Khan, Chris Moneymaker, Vicky Coren, and Chad Brown. And those are just the superstars who weren't lucky enough to make the money!

Plenty of Team PokerStars Pros and Team PokerStars Online Pros cashed in the event, with Lex "RaSZi" Veldhuis going deepest at 35th. Veldhuis picked up $2,594.26 and the title of Last PokerStars Pro Standing for his efforts. Other Team PokerStars Pros finishes included Grayson "spacegravy" Physioc (49th, $2,389.45),Nichoel "NicP" Peppe (115th, $1,228.86), Ivan Demidov (194th, $764.62), Alexandre "Allingomes" Gomes (212th, $737.31), 2009 SCOOP Main Event Champ Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth (265th, $655.39), and Christophe "chrisdm" De Meulder (487th, $477.89).

But as always, the real money was at the final table, and after the better part of a day's work, the final nine was settled. The chip counts looked like this as the weary combatants settled in for one last battle -

Mpiyavv - 13,904,854
shuriken555 - 12,588,660
Had to be - 12,473,018
norcalsurf83 - 9,225,000
VanBabe - 5,465,912
nofingclue11 - 5,320,484
mikeyKay - 5,019,866
tiki2431 - 2,724,712
sanyakms - 1,547,494

It took a few orbits of dodging and weaving before the first elimination, but all the players were able to do that thanks to the deep structure. Finally, VanBabe and tiki2431 both found hands to go to war with, and the battle looked a little like this - VanBabe raised preflop from early position with [9s]-[9h]. Tiki2431 re-raised with [Ah]-[Qh], and VanBabe pushed all in over the top. After a moment's thought, tiki made the call, and the race was on! It was over almost before it began as VanBabe picked up a set on the [3d]-[9c]-[Jh] flop. Tiki was looking for runners to stay alive, but the [2s] on the turn ended those hopes. The river was an almost insulting [Ad], and tiki2431 was done in 9th place ($10,650.12).

SuperNova sanyakms was the next to fall, busting in 8th place ($17,067.50) at the hands of fellow SuperNova Mpiyavv. Sanyakms moved his short stack all in preflop with [Ad]-[Jh] and found one caller in Mpiyavv, who tabled [6s]-[6c]. Once again the race was short-lived as Mpiyavv flopped a set on the [6h]-[Qc]-[2c] board. The [9s] meant that sanyakms was drawing dead, and when the river brought the [7c], there were seven survivors.

You know, some days are made for racing, and some days, it's just not meant to be. In the early stages of this final table, it just wasn't meant to be. Our 7th-place finisher went much the same way as the two who busted before him - he lost a race. Shuriken555 did what big stacks do at final tables - he raised preflop. Norcalsurf83 did what medium stacks do in late position when they find [As]-[Kc] - he moved all in over the top. Shuriken555 called with [8d]-[8c], and those watching on the rail knew from past experience that it was all over. Sure enough, just like in the previous two bustouts, the pocket pair held up on a board of [2d]-[3h]-[4h]-[9s]-[Td], and norcalsurf83 was done in 7th place with $30,038.80 to lull him to a well-deserved sleep.

Shuriken555 put on a clinic in aggression when the tournament got down to six-handed, raising with impunity most orbits. By the time the next elimination occurred, he had built a massive stack, and then added all of Mpiyavv's chips to his stack. Mpiyavv raised preflop from middle position with [6h]-[6s], and shuriken555 re-raised with [9s]-[9c]. Mpiyavv moved all in, and shuriken quickly called. The flop helped neither player, as it came down [Ad]-[Td]-[3s], but the [9d] on the turn sealed Mpiyavv's fate. The river was an irrelevant [5d], and Mpiyavv was done in 6th place $43,692.80.

The action started to pick up as the blinds, and the sun, began to rise. It was on the very next hand that VanBabe rode off into the sunrise. Had to be opened for a raise from under the gun, and VanBabe moved all in over the top. Action folded back around to Had to be, who made the call. VanBabe had [As]-[Ks], but was up against one of two hands that had a significant edge - [Kd]-[Kc]. The board came down an aceless [6c]-[2h]-[Ts]-[Qh]-[7s], and VanBabe picked up $57,346.80 for 5th place.

With four players left, the players paused for a brief discussion of a chop. After a brief chat, no agreement was reached, and play continued. Play continued four-handed, with the three underdogs chipping away at the massive stack shuriken555 had built until he reclaimed it all in one big pot that sent mikeyKay to the rail in 4th place. MikeyKay opened for a raise from under the gun, and shuriken three-bet from the small blind. Mikey moved all in over the top with [Ah]-[Jc], and shuriken called with [9c]-[9s]. As we saw all morning long at this final table, pocket pairs were holding up in elimination hands, and this time was no different. The board ran out [7d]-[Qc]-[3d]-[4c]-[5d], and Mikey went to breakfast with $76,667.21 added to his bankroll.

The three survivors took a moment to look at numbers once again, and once again there was no agreement, so play resumed. It only took a few hands for the short-stacked nofingclue11 to double up, then bust out in the cruelest fashion at the hands of mega-stacked shuriken555. It happened like this -

And with that, nofingclue11 was done in 3rd place for $110,597.40, and the tournament was heads up. Had to be and shuriken555 settled on a deal that paid out $190,000 to shuriken and $163,660.79 to Had to be with $15,000 left in the middle for the eventual winner. With the deal in place, both players had made their biggest score ever, and play resumed for the final time to see who would take home the bragging rights and the extra $15K.

You would think a heads up match where one player held such a commanding chip lead going in wouldn't be very exciting, right? WRONG! The lead changes were as fast and furious as a NASCAR race, with Had to be coming from behind to double through, then shuriken retaking the lead, then Had to be coming on strong from the outside, then they were down the stretch and it came down to monster draw versus monster cards and it all ended up looking something like this -

It was a long journey, but to the last two standing, it was certainly worth the climb. Congratulations to Had to be, our champion Shuriken555 and everyone who cashed in SCOOP 37-Medium!

There were 111 tournaments before it. The Spring Championship of Online Poker was certainly not short on opportunities for players to find their games of choice at whatever limits their bankrolls allowed. But after two weeks of everything from PLO to stud, it was time for the straight no-limit hold'em action of the grand finale of SCOOP.

The Main Event offered three buy-in levels, but this was the medium-level tournament with a $1,050 buy-in and whopping $3 million guarantee. The attraction was obvious, as registration finally stopped with 3,675 players at the tables. That took the prize pool well over the guarantee to $3,675,000, which would pay out 495 top finishers and reserve $576,975 for the winner.

Play during Day 1 moved along throughout the afternoon and evening as casualties were significant in the early going. As the money bubble approached, a number of players exited in that hurtful way, after having exerted hours of effort but finishing just short of the money. One player in that category was Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu, who exited in 506th place. His frustration was palpable, as he conveyed on Twitter:

Gross. Came 506th it paid 495 in the 1k. Had KK vs AQ. Flop 10 2 2 Q 3 came 4 clubs he had the Ace.

Also likely a frustration candidate was Mr. Wheeler, who became the bubble player with his 496th place elimination. From there, players still standing were guaranteed a minimum payout of $1,690.50.

Team play

Speaking of Team PokerStars Pros, a number of them made it into the money and departed with some extra cash. Among them were:

Julian Thew - 425th place
George Danzer - 418th place (Event 4-M winner)
Joe Hachem - 304th place
Marcin "Goral" Horecki - 287th place
Lee "LeeNelsonP*" Nelson - 201st place
Chris "Money800" Moneymaker - 191st place
Steve "stevesbets" Jacobs - 189th place
Marcello Del Grosso - 159th place
Johannes Strassmann - 118th place
Thierry "BOKPOWER" van den Berg - 83rd place

Just into the 11th hour, Leo Fernandez joined the group of eliminated players, taking with him $6,615.00 for 61st place. But Lex "RaSZi" Veldhuis was going strong in the middle of the pack.

The final hour

Leading up to the final hour, quite a few changes took place at the top of the leaderboard. Level 31 saw cashclctor double through hook2120 to jump into first place, which was locked in through most of Level 32 as well. Several players stayed in the top five throughout that time, like 888_OCTV, NOREFUNDS42, and KJulius10, but many others came and went.

Level 32 brought a solid move from RaSZi, as he was seemingly tired of holding steady in the 20-something range on the board. The following hand pushed him into 12th place:

Only four tables remained as Level 32 came to a close, but the rate of elimination slowed tremendously as players seemed to be looking forward to regrouping and resting, maybe addressing a new strategy for Day 2.

RaSZI then made another move, this time to take on philter, who moved all-in with [8c][8h]. RaSZi called with [Ac][Kh], and the board of [Qd][As][3d][5h][4h] knocked philter out and pushed RaSZi up into the top ten on the leaderboard.

But soon after, all hell broke loose with one hand. A preflop raising war between KJulius10 and RaSZi ended with the latter moving all-in preflop holding [Qd][Qc]. KJulius10 snap-called with [Ac][Ah]. The hand played out as follows:

KJulius10 soared into second place in the chip counts, but that was all she wrote for Lex "RaSZi" Veldhuis, who finished the tournament in 27th place with $9,371.25.

In the last few moments of play, BrandanZ left in 26th place, and dmon2323 was eliminated in 25th place, both also taking home $9,371.25 each.

The top ten remained virtually the same through the last few levels, with the exception of cooperz0311 making a jump into the top ten during the last minutes of play. The others were comfortable in their spots, and though cashclctor remained far in front of the rest, his lead was chopped a bit by KJulius10's recent leap into second place.

Three tables remain

The tournament was paused at the end of Level 33 with 24 players remaining, all of whom were welcome to rest for 11 hours and 10 minutes before returning to the tables.

Play was set to resume at 5:00pm ET on Monday, May 17, at the beginning of Level 34 with blinds at 17,500/35,000 and an ante of 4,375. The 20-minute levels will continue through the end of play when only one player will be left standing with one of the most coveted titles in poker.

SCOOP Event 38-Medium (NLHE Main Event) Top Chip Counts for 05/16/10 (Day 1 of 2):

1st place: cashclctor - 4,559,905 chips
2nd place: KJulius10 - 3,633,777 chips
3rd place: NOREFUNDS42 - 2,710,483 chips
4th place: 888_OCTV - 2,528,373 chips
5th place: Mr.M.M0ney - 2,460,641 chips
6th place: broseph321 - 1,959,569 chips
7th place: Athanasios 9 - 1,778,758 chips
8th place: cooperz0311 - 1,730,464 chips
9th place: delaney_kid - 1,632,757 chips
10th place: Believer82 - 1,627,288 chips

Check out the Spring Championship of Online Poker website for details of the SCOOP series and PokerStars.TV for highlights.

A "normal" Sunday would see about 4,500 players lining up for the Sunday Warm-up and 8,500 players for the Sunday Million. But, this isn't a normal weekend at PokerStars, nor a normal last two weeks for that matter as tonight's Main Events were the beginning of the end for another successful Spring Championship of Online Poker series. The last three events of the 38 event series would be the biggest in terms of prize pools. $5 million guaranteed for the $10,300 buy-in high tournament, $3 million guaranteed for the $1,050 buy-in medium tournament, and right here the $109 buy-in Main Event low buy-in tournament was guaranteed for $1 million.

The set $1 million amount for a prize pool that was nearly doubled thanks to the 19,188 players that crashed the gates creating a $1,918,800.00 fund of which $191,892.59 of it would good to the person sleek enough to weave through the huge field. 44 levels at 15 minutes a piece would be played tonight knocking the player pool to low double digits before the tournament clock would pause for the evening. To get to those double digits first we had to lose enough players so the rest could home and spend the spoils. 3,150 places paid out meaning philstar777's demise in 3,151st place gave $134.31 to every player.

Some of those players cashing had little PokerStars symbols (Team PokerStars Pros in case you haven't seen them) next to their names like Steven "stevejpa" Paul ($134.31 3,132nd place), Juan Maceiras ($134.31 3,057th place), Martha "Marene" Herrera ($153.50 2,689th place), Emad Tahtouh ($153.50 2,678th place), Lee Nelson ($191.88 2,217th place), Grzerorz "DaWarsaw" Mikielewicz ($211.06 1915th place), Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth who might know a thing or two about winning the SCOOP Main Event having done so last year http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/scoop/2009/scoop-winner-jthaddeus-scores-963338-in-038439.html (1735th place, $230.25), Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra ($326.19 1314th place), Vanessa "LadyMaverick" Rousso ($326.19 1292nd place), Greg "Fossilman" Raymer 1,276th place $326.19), Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hruby ($345.38 1,183rd place), Alexandre "Allingomes" Gomes (766th place $460.51), Grayson "spacegravy" Physioc ($594.82 479th place), Alvaro "VARICO" Blanco ($825.08 245th place).

But, one Team PokerStars pro seemed bent on taking a little more than just a few buy-ins tonight. Shortly after checking in with Andre "aakkari" Akkari run in the top 100 chip stacks we checked out this hand which elicited the familiar cries of "VAMOOOOOOOOOOO" from the crowd.

And with the nine on the turn, Akkari overcame the pocket tens with a set of nines scooping the massive pot and breaking into the top 10 in chips during level 26.

And that chip stack would grow and grow continue growing into almost 10 million chips as the clock wound even closer to the level 44 stoppage time before the evening's designated day two break time. Andre's run good would finally slow down a bit but still held a top ten chipstack with just two level of play before the break. Meanwhile midjat came out of thin-air to decimate several big stacks and ran the chip leading stack to over 30 million as StructureK, pmahoney22, and LuckyWin017 and Grodindono tried to keep up with their eight figure stacks.

Because you just can't get enough VAMOOOO

Rapid fire Portuguese continued to come across Andre's table, cheering on the Team PokerStars pro into the wee hours of the morning as his chip stack was not as mighty as it once was especially with new tablemate midjat sitting on his immediate left. Level 44 finally came with the blinds at 125K/250K ante 37.5K and just 23 players remained for the last level of the morning after 13 hours of play.

From three tables to two

z81ima's pocket tens were no good against Florida State supporter Quitti33's pocket jacks and we were down to 22. On the same table wolfram17's KJo tried to slide by pmahoney22's pocket nines even after a scary flop of [Qh] [8h] [Td] wolfram17 would brick out on the [3s] turn and [2h] river to bust in 22nd place ($3,453.84). pmahoney22 continued to snip the field's size down by taking pocket tens eliminating the pocket sevens of Hagmasch (21st place $3,453.84) for a 4.1 million chip pot.

Fire Drill! Everyone Evacuate!

Then with just one minute left before the morning break for day two we had three rapid fire eliminations. dubbeemin tried to shove pocket queens past 3615 after a [Tc] [2c] [Jh] flop. But, with an overcard and the nut flush draw [Ac][7c] 3615 made the call and hit the [Ah] on the turn, faded the river [Th] to knock out dubbeemin in 20th place ($3,453.84). Freddoe got a big triple espresso wakeup call from yuan. After shoving for his remaining 4.9 million chip holding [Ac][Qc], yuan sat patiently in the big blind covering the bet and holding pocket rockets [Ah][As]. The turn [9c] [3h] [Th] [Jd] gave yuan a little flavor shot of sweat, but the [7h] closed down the table and Freddoe's tournament in 19th place ($3,453.84).

And now it's time to say farewell

After the breaking down to two tables and still just one minute left on the clock midjat claimed another 4.7 million chip pot without showing cards and pmahoney22 wanted one more scalp before retiring for the evening and went all-in preflop against Garnerus for a 14 million chip pot. Watch the action play out below:

And with the six on the flop, matching pmahoney22's [Ac][6h] Garnerus was forced to beg for a jack to match his [Ah][Jd] to turn the hand back around. But, it wasn't meant to be as the board read [Qd] [6c] [3h] [Td] [2s] shipping the 14.6 million chip pot to pmahoney22 and ended Garnerus' night in 18th place ($3,933.54).

Shortly after Garnerus took leave the final minute bloodbath ended with 17 (shown above) still remaining and safely able to head to their beds to rest up for tomorrow battle to claim one of two six figure paydays sitting at the final table.

Here's what the final 17 will be shooting for tomorrow at the final table:

1. $191,892.59
2. $142,586.02
3. $95,940.00
4. $76,752.00
5. $57,564.00
6. $38,376.00
7. $26,959.14
8. $17,269.20
9. $11,512.80

Chad Brown is a man who knows a thing or two about longevity. He's played California card rooms and Vegas casinos, after the boom and many years before it. Brown drew hosting duties for the final table of SCOOP's final low buy-in no-limit hold'em event and as the nine remaining players condensed to one table, he congratulated them on side-stepping a massive minefield of players to make it this far.

ChadBrownPRO said: "congrats on making the final table"
ChadBrownPRO said: "i have a hard time with 200 players"
ChadBrownPRO said: "you made it with over 24000"

A 24,000-player tournament used to be record-breaking. 24,000 players used to give people pause. Now 24,000 players is just another Sunday on PokerStars, where all you need is $22 and a dream for a shot at earning the average American's annual salary in one night. To be precise, 24,417 players bought in to Event #37-Low, creating a $488,340 prize pool. 3,600 places were paid with first place set to earn $46,406.85. Nearly three dozen Team PokerStars Pros were in the field including Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, J.P. Kelly, Maria "maridu" Mayrinck, Hevad Khan and Jose "Nacho" Barbero. Seven Team Pros cashed: Randy "nanonoko" Lew (3,557th), Johannes Steindl (3,195th), Johannes Strassman (2,575th), Victor Ramdin (1,425th), Gavin Griffin (840th), Tae Joon Noh (811th), and Nichoel Peppe (206th).

The bubble burst on the final table just before 3:00 a.m. EDT, with the blinds at 250,000/500,000 and a 62,500 ante. Eke1988 limped in from the small blind and jmap823 checked his option. Eke1988 led out for 555,555 on the [9s][9d][7d] flop and jmap823 called. The turn came the [6d] and Eke1988 led again, this time for 1.25 million. Jmap823 came in for a raise to 4 million straight, and Eke1988 set him in for the rest of his chips, shoving for 23.9 million. Jmap823 called, committing his last 5.3 million to the pot. Jmap823 turned up [2d][3d] for a small flush, but was already drawing dead against eke1988, who held [Kd][4d] for the second-nut flush. The river was the [6s] and eke1988 advanced to the final table, while jmap823 was eliminated in tenth place.

Here's how everyone stacked up as the final table kicked off:

Seat 1: djvbasebal (39,579,138 in chips)
Seat 2: DaGuruZ (13,287,307 in chips)
Seat 3: titoköpek (37,842,480 in chips)
Seat 4: ASPoker8 (13,303,000 in chips)
Seat 5: sklu (16,312,329 in chips)
Seat 6: Clarkson7 (47,908,236 in chips)
Seat 7: d3pp (33,115,575 in chips)
Seat 8: Eke1988 (35,710,204 in chips)
Seat 9: Respek66 (7,111,731 in chips)

Short stack Respek66 picked up pocket aces at the perfect time and scored a key early double-up to take himself out of immediate danger. After eke1988 opened for 1,000,000 from under-the-gun, Respek66 moved all-in for 6.9 million and eke1988 looked him up with [Ad][Kd]. The pocket rockets held on the [Kc][9s][5s][Jc][2h] board and Respek66 doubled to 15.1 million

Meanwhile, Clarkson7, who held the chip lead coming in to the final table, had his stack halved when d3pp flopped a set of deuces. Clarkson7 fired three bullets on the [Jc][3c][2d][8s][Ad] board and d3pp called him down the whole way, picking up a 40.3 million pot. Clarkson7 fell from 44 million to 25 million in chips on that hand.

About twenty minutes into the final table, DaGuruZ became the first casualty. Eke1988 opened for 1.2 million, djvbasebal flat-called on the button and DaGuruZ three-bet shoved for his last 16.7 million. Eke1988 folded but djvbasebal called. DaGuruZ's [As][8s] did not improve against djvbasbals' [Ad][Jd] and he exited in ninth place, collecting $2.441.70.

Respek66 was able to double his stack again, his pocket queens holding up against titoköpek's [Ad][3d] to take him up to 30.1 million. Eke1988 didn't fare as well, however, losing most of his stack to ASPoker8 when his [Tc][Ts] couldn't hold up against [As][Kh]. A few minutes later he moved what was left of his stack in the middle with [Kc][Td] and djvbasebal called on the button with [Ad][Tc]. Eke1988 couldn't find a miracle on the [Qd][5h][3d][7s][6d] board and hit the rail in eighth place for a $4,150.89 score.

Onetime chip leader Clarkson7 was all the way down to 8.7 million with the blinds at 500,000/1,000,000 and made his move with [Ad][9h], open-shoving before the flop. D3pp insta-called with pocket tens, and ended Clarkson7's SCOOP run in seventh place after the board ran out [Qh][5s][3h][Js][Jd]. He collected $6,104.25 for his finish, certainly not a bad ROI.

With six players remaining it was about time for Respek66 to go for another double-up. Oh, and double up he did, snapping off djvbasebal's pocket kings in dramatic fashion:

As the blinds climbed to 600,000/1,200,000, both sklu and titoköpek were down to only around 4 million apiece. With no deal in place, it seemed to be a battle for fifth-place money between these two, as sklu passed his 1.2 million big blind, leaving him with only 2.7 million. Leave it to fate, the poker gods, whatever you want to call it, but just as we were scratching our heads over that move, sklu picked up pocket aces and doubled up against ASPoker8 on the very next hand. With a bit over 8 million, sklu could now try and wait out titoköpek--only he scored a double-up of his own a few orbits later, his pocket tens holding up against d3pp's [As][Kh].

Sklu's stack dwindled down to 1.8 million before he pulled the trigger, shoving with pocket deuces and earning calls from both djvbasebal and titoköpek. Djvbasebal's [Jd][4d] turned two pair on the [8d][4c][7h][Jh][Ac] board and sklu was out in sixth place, earning $8,790.12.

Respek66 was second in chips with 43.5 million behind d3pp's 120.4 million when he decided to make a big move. After opening for 3.2 million from UTG, Respek66 faced a 5 million three-bet from titoköpek. He tried to end the hand right there, shoving for his entire 43.3 million, but titoköpek made the call, creating a 70.1 million pot, by far the largest of the tournament thus far. Respek66 was in dire shape with [8h][8c] against titoköpek's [Td][Ts] and could not improve his hand, losing all but 9.7 million of his chips. The hand put titoköpek in a solid second place behind d3pp.

Five minutes later, it was all over for Respek66, who three-bet shoved for his last 6.9 million with [Ac][5h] only to run into d3pp's [Kc][Kh]. Respek66 couldn't crack cowboys twice, and he exited in fifth place, $13,185.18 richer.

Following Respek66's elimination, it took a grand total of only seven minutes for play to go from five-handed to heads-up. With the blinds up to 800,000/1,600,000/200,000, ASPoker8 open-shoved for 27.7 million from the cutoff and titoköpek called from the big blind, turning up [Th][Tc] to ASPoker8's [As][4s]. ASPoker8 was drawing dead by the turn, the board running out [Kc][2h][Ks][Ts][Js] to make titoköpek tens full and ASPoker8 a useless nut flush. For his fourth-place finish, he took home $17,580.24.

Djvbasebal bowed out in third on the very next hand when titoköpek flopped two pair against his top pair. His payday on that $22 investment? $21,975.30.

Titoköpek held a 1.5-1 chip lead over d3pp as heads-up play commenced:

Seat 3: titoköpek (145,559,632 in chips)
Seat 7: d3pp (98,610,368 in chips)

Now, we're not ones to judge here at PokerStars Blog, but as heads-up play got underway, we started wondering what sort of crazy sauce titoköpek was on. Small-ball poker is apparently not in this man's vocabulary. Titoköpek was open-shoving for 148 million. He was three-bet shoving for nine figures over the top of d3pp's opening raises. In the few instances that he did allow a flop, he'd lead at the pot for a massive overbet. 7 million in the pot on the flop? He'd bet 16 million.

Then there was this pot. We're not sure if it was the crazy sauce or perhaps the most ill-timed typo ever, but with 8 million in the pot on the flop, titoköpek bet 62 million:

After folding with nearly half his stack in the middle, titoköpek was down to 70.4 million while d3pp held 173.7 million. Still, he stuck with the same kamikaze strategy and managed to double up a few hands later after flopping a flush with the [4d][7d] against d3pp's pocket jacks.

D3pp remained patient, waiting his opponent out as titoköpek continued to wield his stack like a billy club. Holding [Ac][9s], d3pp opened for a min-raise to 4 million and titoköpek called with [7h][8d]. The flop came down [As][Ts][5d], d3pp flopping top pair. Titoköpek checked, and d3pp made a crafty check-behind. The turn was the [9d], making d3pp aces up. He didn't even have to think about how to extract the maximum out of titoköpek because he made another massive overbet, moving all-in for more than 65.3 million. D3pp snap-called and had to fade a six or a ten on the river to end the tournament right there. It was the [Kh] and after 15 hours and 47 minutes of play, d3pp was the last man standing.

Congratulations to d3pp for turning $22 into $46,406.85. For his runner-up finish, titoköpek earned $33,871.26.

SCOOP Event #37-Low, $22 NLHE Results

1. d3pp ($46,406.85)
2. titoköpek ($33,871.26)
3. djvbasebal ($21,975.30)
4. ASPoker8 ($17,580.24)
5. Respek66 ($13,185.18)
6. sklu ($8,790.12)
7. Clarkson7 ($6,104.25)
8. Eke1988 ($4,150.89)
9. DaGuruZ ($2,441.70)

Curious about how your favorite players fared in SCOOP? Head over to the SCOOP page and check out the leaderboard.