TCOOP: gabrieldin6's deal-making brinksmanship
pays off in Event 38 ($55 NLHE Ante Up)

When I was in school, I took a semester-look seminar in negotiation. The class taught me that, as much as negotiation is a science (employing myriad acronyms like BATNA to explain why people will behave in certain predictable ways during a negotiation), it's also an art form. The science only defines the boundaries within which a deal will take place; the actual form of the deal is where the art comes in.

2012 TCOOP Event 38, $55 No-Limit Hold'em (Ante Up) provided an object lesson in deal-making: its potential and its pitfalls. And although gabrieldin6 won the tournament after a five-way deal was struck, rejecting an earlier 9-way deal almost cost gabrieldin6 several thousand dollars in prize money.

Big antes created big prizes for the final table of Event 38. With 3,814 players entering the tournament, the minimum payout at the final table was $1,525.60 - about 28 times the $55 buy-in. The winner stood to receive nearly $30,000 of the $190,700 prize pool. Once again, as has been the case throughout TCOOP, the guarantee set for this event by PokerStars ($100,000) was shattered.

It was another tough day for Team PokerStars. Nine Team Pros and Team Online players entered the tournament but not a single one cashed. Team Pro Marcin Horecki came closest, but he fell more than 500 places shy of the money. Sometimes, in this game, demonstrably high levels of skill aren't enough to take you all the way home.

The deal-making started in earnest just moments after the tournament reached its final table:

Seat 1: LeviTheKing1 (1321973 in chips)
Seat 2: zcedrick (1241903 in chips)
Seat 3: Nyefated (613368 in chips)
Seat 4: all IQ (1441670 in chips)
Seat 5: Ilkinopoulos (2042620 in chips)
Seat 6: gabrieldin6 (4210503 in chips)
Seat 7: ImlykwagwanG (5266232 in chips)
Seat 8: german brain (1892347 in chips)
Seat 9: falldown666 (1039384 in chips)

Let's make a deal

The blinds were fixed at 5/5, as they had been all tournament. The ante was up to 90,000, representing 23 antes against the average stack of 2.1 million. 810,000 was in the middle to start each hand, about 40% of the average stack. Nyefated took the first pot uncontested with ace-queen, then doubled up on the second hand to about 4 million by winning a traditional "ace-king versus queens" flip against gabrieldin6.

With a more dominant chip position secured, Nyefated suggested the table should discuss a deal. Surprisingly, everyone else agreed and the tournament was paused after only four final-table hands.

ImlykwagwangG: $23,535.10
Nyefated: $19,537.17
gabrieldin6: $13,200.04
Ilkinopoulos: $9,044.31
LeviTheKing1: $9,446.04
german brain: $8,368.78
all IQ: $6,342.95
zcedrick: $5,444.93
falldown666: $4,534.52

Now if you know anything about groups of 5 or more people, you know it's difficult to get them all to agree on where to eat for lunch, never mind a deal in which almost $100,000 is up for grabs. So when the numbers came back from PokerStars support, I expected there to be a long period of dissent as each player tried to angle for a better deal. Although the dissent was muted, the bartering dragged across 20 minutes. The horse-trading that ensued produced this second suggested deal:

ImlykwagwangG: $22,835.09
Nyefated: $18,837.17
gabrieldin6: $13,200.04
LeviTheKing1: $10,000.00
Ilkinopoulos: $9,044.31
german brain: $8,194.28
all IQ: $6,342.95
zcedrick: $6,000.00
falldown666: $5,000.00

That deal got agreement from 6 of the 9 players - all but zcedrick, all IQ and gabrieldin6. zcedrick wanted $7,000; all IQ did not want zcedrick to get more than all IQ got. While gabrieldin6 continued to remain silent, zcedrick convinced the four biggest payouts to give up $250 each to make up the extra $1,000 that zcedrick wanted to receive. all IQ acquiesced, creating a third proposed deal:

It was at that moment that gabrieldin6 expressed opposition to the deal, despite the fact that gabrieldin6's 3rdd-place chip stack would earn just shy of 3rdd-place money at a high-variance, short-stacked, turbo-paced final table. gabrieldin6 wanted to resume play, and so after 33 minutes of fruitless negotiations, play resumed, leaving eight players incredibly hot under the collar with gabrieldin6. They pestered gabrieldin6, asking what deal would be acceptable, but received no response other than, "No."

The trials of gabrieldin6

The players got back to the action, trading antes and expressing frustration, until all IQ pushed in for 750,000 and was called by none other than gabrieldin6. all IQ's pockets queens were ahead of gabrieldin6's pocket 9s, but a 9 flopped to give gabrieldin6 a set and what would be the winning hand.

Again the table tried to get gabrieldin6 to agree to a deal; again gabrieldin6 refused. While the gabrieldin6-bashing continued, a three-way all in produced two more eliminations. falldown666 (8th) and zcedrick (7th) were both all in as short stacks and both hit the rail after ImlykwagwanG rivered a straight:

The elimination of Ilkinopoulos in 6th place when [ah][5d] failed to improve against the [th][tc] of Nyefated renewed calls from the players for a deal. gabrieldin6, now in 4th chip position of the remaining five players, finally agreed to re-pause the tournament. Chip chop numbers now produced the following proposal:

ImlykwagwanG: $27,496.72
Nyefated: $23,938.60
german brain: $11,361.51
gabrieldin6: $11,265.88
LeviTheKing1: $10,993.28

In this version of the deal, gabrieldin6's share actually dropped by $2,000 despite the elimination of four players. Everyone quickly agreed to the new deal except german brain, who requested $13,000 total. After all the previous negotiations, however, it seemed german brain's heart wasn't in a protracted fight. Within another minute the unmodified proposal was agreed to by all players.

Play resumed. lmlykwagwanG, as the big stack, began to play very aggressively. But nobody was knocked out until gabrieldin6 moved all in with [ac][tc]. german brain called all in for less with [ah][9c] and lost the battle of kickers on a board of [7h][2s][5c][8h][3c]. The very next hand LeviTheKing1 shoved a short stack with [as][9d] but lost the hand when gabrieldin6's [qd][8d] made a pair of 8s, [8c][kd][2d][ks][5s]. LeviTheKing1 finished in 4th place.

Nyefated put a tough beat on ImlykwagwanG by getting all in after the flop with unimproved [ad][4h] against ImlykwagwanG's unimproved [ac][9c]. A 4 promptly spiked on the turn, leaving ImlykwagwanG with about 6 antes. Those 6 antes wound up in gabrieldin6's stack the next hand as ImlykwagwanG 's [tc][9c] couldn't overtake gabrieldin6's [ks][5s].

The last two players, Nyefated and gabrieldin6, took turns with the chip lead. The ante by the time heads-up play started was 20,000; total chips in play were 19 million, giving the final two players about 95 antes between the two of them. They were deeper than they'd played for most of the final table, especially given that 40,000 was all in that was in the pot to start each hand.

Yet somehow all the chips went in pre-flop anyway. On the final hand, gabrieldin6 checked the small blind for 5, then called Nyefated's all in shove of 8.2 million. Nyefated showed [3h][3d]; gabrieldin6 showed a disguised [9s][9d]. A single 9 would have been enough for gabrieldin6 after the board rolled out [8h][8d][6h][qh][6d] to overcoat Nyefated's starting hand.

In the end, with the $2,000 set-aside for the champion, gabrieldin6 received exactly the payout under the 5-player deal as gabrieldin6 would have received under the 9-player deal - but with much more volatility and variance. It was certainly an unusual way to crown the lastest TCOOP champion.

2012 TCOOP Event 38 $55 No-Limit Hold'em (Ante Up) results (reflect five-way deal):

*1st: gabrieldin6 ($13,265.88)
*2nd: Nyefated ($23,938.60)
*3rd: ImlykwagwanG ($27,496.72)
*4th: LeviTheKing1 ($10,993.28)
*5th: german brain ($11,361.51)
6th: Ilkinopoulos ($6,197.75)
7th: zcedrick ($4,290.75)
8th: falldown666 ($2,383.75)
9th: all IQ ($1,525.60)

We're in the home stretch of the 2012 TCOOP, but it's not too late to get in the game. Find all the information about TCOOP that you could possibly want - leaderboards, stats, and the schedule of remaining satellites and events - at the TCOOP home page.

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TCOOP: Code_version dominates and wins Event 39
($109 FLHE 6-Max)

What better way to prepare for the last weekend of TCOOP events (11 of them, to be exact) than to dabble in a FLHE event on Friday? There were NLHE and PLO options as well, but limit players were finally given their platform on which to shine in Event 39.

The last of the four options to start today was this $100 + $9 buy-in Limit Hold'em event with a $100K guarantee, and while many poker fans think LHE is a slow game, the turbo version and six-max tables are anything but slow. More than a thousand players ponied up more than $100 to gather and fight it out for this TCOOP title.

After an hour, registration closed with these numbers in place:

Players: 1,227
Prize pool: $122,700.00
Paid players: 156

With the guarantee left far behind, the tournament proceeded through the second hour and reduced the field to less than 150 players. Along the way, most of the PokerStars players exited the event, starting with Team PokerStars Pro Pat Pezzin in 1,010th place. Team Pro Martin Staszko left in 857th, Team Online's Javier "El_Canonero" Dominguez in 578th, Team Pros Alex Kravchenko in 526th and Lex Veldhuis in 523rd, Team Online's Shane "shaniac" Schleger in 471st, and Team Pro Martin "AABenjaminAA" Hruby in 392nd. A bit later, Team Pros Marcin "Goral" Horecki and Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth left in 209th and 162nd, respectively.

Still going strong as the money bubble burst just before the two-hour mark, Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg was hovering in the top 10 on the leaderboard.

With less than 100 players remaining, Donald dropped into the top 20. A short time later, though, he hit a rough patch and exited in 47th place, which was worth $368.10.

As four tables were reduced to two, the payouts rose about $1K, and frozZy was the first to exit with $1,030.68 in cash. More players busted on the way to leaving only two tables in play, and the three-hour mark break showed only 11 players still in action.

The eliminations of ozenc in ninth place and kfasdfa in eighth brought about hand-for-hand play, and it took a very short time for short-stacked Pandakey to move all-in with [Td][Ts]. Jennndo had [Ah][Qd], and that improved to a pair of aces on the [AD][Kd][6s][2c][3s] board. Pandakey left in seventh place with $2,147.25.

Code_version controls the table

Level 35 set the stage for the final table with blinds of 60,000/120,000 and these starting stacks:

Seat 1: code_version (3,373,925 in chips)
Seat 2: maciekzbg (544,161 in chips)
Seat 3: ArmyOfLovers (670,322 in chips)
Seat 4: Jenndo (649,398 in chips)
Seat 5: kosmoposmo (280,539 in chips)
Seat 6: Big_Dady_Coo (616,655 in chips)

The first elimination came quickly. The hand began with preflop betting between kosmoposmo and Big_Dady_Coo capped. The [8d][6h][3d] flop prompted a bet from Big_Dady_Coo and all-in call from kosmoposmo with [Ks][Jd]. But Big_Dady_Coo showed [Kh][Kc], and nothing about the [3c] turn or [2s] river changed anything. Kosmoposmo departed in sixth place with $3,681.00.

ArmyOfLovers in the small blind and Jenndo in the big blind battled preflop until betting was capped. The [Ks][Qc][Kh] flop prompted ArmyOfLovers to make the all-in push with [Ac][Jd] for the straight draw and pair of kings, while Jenndo called quickly with [As][Ah] and top two pair. The [Qs] and [4c] finished the hand, and ArmyOfLovers marched away in fifth place with $5,227.02.

Despite an earlier double-up for maciekzbg through Big_Dady_Coo, the former was on a short stack again and pushed all-in from the small blind. Jenndo called from the big blind with [7s][7c], and maciekzbg was going to have to improve on [Qc][4h]. The board of [Jc][9c][Kh][Ks][6c] didn't do it, though, and maciekzbg left in fourth place with $7,975.50.

Challenges to the chip leaders

Big_Dady_Coo scored a double-up through chip leader code_version with this hand:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Code_version still dominated, though, and Big_Dady_Coo battled the leader again. A raise and reraise led to the [8h][7h][6c] flop. Big_Dady_Coo bet, and code-version check-called. The [Ad] on the turn prompted an all-in bet from Big_Dady_Coo with [Qs][9h] and the straight draw, and code_version called with [Ah][Jd] for turned top pair. The [6s] on the river eliminated Big_Dady_Coo in third place with $11,656.50.

Code_version dominates heads-up

The last two players standing began their match with these counts:

Seat 1: code_version (4,636,958 in chips)
Seat 4: Jenndo (1,498,042 in chips)

Aggressive was the word to describe code_version, who won the first three hands of the battle. On the fourth hand, betting was capped going to the [3s][5d][7h] flop, at which point code_version bet 120K and Jenndo called all-in. Code_version showed [Kd][3d] for the pair of threes, and Jenndo turned over [Qd][Jh] for queen high. The [Ks] and [3h] completed the board and a full house for code_version, leaving Jenndo out in second place with $15,337.50.

Code_version of Denmark won TCOOP Event 39 and the $20,552.40 that went with it. Congrats!

TCOOP Event 39 ($109 FLHE 6-Max) Results:

1st place: code_version ($20,552.40)
2nd place: Jenndo ($15,337.50)
3rd place: Big_Dady_Coo ($11,656.50)
4th place: maciekzbg ($7,975.50)
5th place: ArmyOfLovers ($5,227.02)
6th place: kosmoposmo ($3,681.00)

There a few days left to get in on the TCOOP action. Check out the main page for updates, leaderboard information, and a full schedule of events.

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TCOOP: AlexKP cleans up, wins Event #37 ($55 PLO
[6-Max, 2R1A])

Event #37 on the Turbo Championship of Online Poker schedule was guaranteed to feature a few hours of action-fueled power poker. The game was six-handed pot-limit Omaha, with a $55 buy-in plus a couple of re-buys and an add-on available to inspire further risk-taking early on. And five-minute levels -- the norm for most of these TCOOP events -- ensured further there wouldn't be a lot of waiting around for perfect spots to commit those chips.

The first 90 minutes constituted the re-buy period, during which late registration remained available as well. Players started with 5,000 chips, and had the option to re-buy two times (5,000 chips for $50) during those first 90 minutes. An add-on period followed, during which players could grab another 5,000 for $50 more if they wished.

By the time they reached the end of the re-buy period, a total of 1,422 had entered Event #37, with the group having picked up 1,741 re-buys between them. Another 286 add-ons were then purchased, making the total prize pool $172,450, beating the event's $100K guarantee by a wide margin.

The top 180 finishers would make the money. A top 24 finish got you at least four figures. Making the final four earned you at least $11,036.80. And winning the sucker would reward you with a $28,455.04 payday barring any final-table deals.

Just 486 of the original 1,422 remained when play resumed after the add-on period, with Geddit71 leading the way as the only player among them to have cracked the 200,000-chip mark. Behind him were just six players with better than 100,000 -- fireman19984, Fred-wpt, Joe "ender555" Ebanks, Baddrawings, thegr8str8, and JohnSmith.

Among the Team PokerStars players just three remained at that point.

Shane "shaniac" Schleger of Team Online would last a while longer before getting knocked out in 295th by Andre_Hansen. The money bubble then burst at about the two-and-a-half-hour mark, and Team PokerStars Pro Martin Staszko was eliminated shortly thereafter in 165th place ($232.80), knocked out by Yanque.

That left just Alex Kravchenko of Team PokerStars Russia to represent the home squad. He'd hang on a while longer before finally having the last of his chips taken by $harlatan to go out in 72nd ($388.01).

By the three-hour mark just 50 players were left, with 19Moir91 having pushed way ahead with almost 1.4 million chips, dj_friction his nearest challenger with just over 837,000.

But with the blinds rising quickly, chips necessarily were moving back and forth at a rapid pace. One casualty of chip redistribution was 19Moir91 who saw his run end in 12th place ($1,810.72) following a eyebrow-raising beat applied by Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen. Take a look:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Following 19Moir91 to the rail were moneyM7 (11th, $1,810.72), JohnSmith (10th, $1,810.72), Yurmala (9th, $2,759.20), G-$tarr91 (8th, $2,759.20), and lazgeich (7th, $2,759.20).

After just under four hours of play, they'd reached the six-handed final table.

Seat 1: AlexKP -- 9,169,315
Seat 2: Norrmaniano -- 779,567
Seat 3: DASILVOTE -- 1,168,784
Seat 4: theczar19 -- 1,326,951
Seat 5: dj_friction -- 2,215,643
Seat 6: Fred-wpt -- 2,584,740

During that stretch run to the final table, Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen (profiled here) ran red-hot to build his stack up to that huge advantage with six left. And with the blinds 125,000/250,000, the others were going to need to run well themselves -- and soon -- if they hoped to close the huge gap.

In just the fifth hand of the final table, AlexKP completed from the small blind and Norrmaniano checked in the big blind. The flop came [Kc][2h][Th] and AlexKP checked. Norrmaniano bet 500,000 (the pot), leaving himself but 29,567 behind. AlexKP responded with a raise and Norrmaniano called, showing [8h][7c][6h][4h] for a flush draw to AlexKP's flopped set of deuces with [Td][4s][2s][2c].

The turn and river brought no more hearts and a couple of fives, improving AlexKP to a full house and sending Norrmaniano out in sixth.

The remaining five began to talk about possibly making a deal, but that discussion was soon interrupted. With the blinds up to 150,000/300,000, Bryan "theczar19" Piccioli raised to 1.05 million from the cutoff, then AlexKP reraised to 3,176,471 from the big blind. Piccioli called with the 853,902 he had left, showing [Qc][Qs][Ts][7c]. Meanwhile AlexKP had [Ad][Ac][Ah][3c].

The flop came [5c][Qh][Kc], giving theczar19 a set and AlexKP a club flush draw. The turn was the [2h] and Piccioli was still best, but the river was the [8c] and they were down to four.

Now Petersen was up over 10.7 million with the other three all hovering just above or below 2 million. Some deal talk ensued again, but with nothing agreed upon the remaining four carried on without pausing.

From there the other three -- dj_friction, Fred-wpt, and DASILVOTE -- found themselves all-in a few times, all surviving, until finally dj_friction ran out of luck versus AlexKP. All in for 1,931,286 total with [As][Ts][7c][6c] against Petersen's [Ac][Js][6h][3h]. The board came [3d][5d][5s][9d][Jd], giving AlexKP a winning two pair and sending dj_friction out in fourth.

On the very next hand it was Fred-wpt exchanging bets with AlexKP preflop to get his 2,156,380 all in with [As][Kd][6s][5c] against Petersen's [Ad][Tc][8d][6c]. The five community cards came [6d][8c][2d][7h][5h], giving both two pair but AlexKP's eights and sixes were best and Fred-wpt was eliminated in third.

RSS readers click through to see replay

After just over four hours of play, two players remained. Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen continued to enjoy the huge advantage with 14,318,800 to DASILVOTE's 2,926,200. DASILVOTE would survive four hands, then on the fifth watched as AlexKP completed from the button to 500,000. DASILVOTE checked, and the pair saw the flop come [7c][5s][Tc].

DASILVOTE led for 1 million, AlexKP raised to 3.4 million, and DASILVOTE called with the 926,200 he had left.

AlexKP: [9s][7h][7s][3h]
DASILVOTE: [As][Kc][8c][2h]

A flopped set of sevens for AlexKP had given him the lead in the hand, although a non-pairing club could still preserve DASILVOTE's tourney life. But the turn was the [Ad] and river the [Kh], meaning AlexKP had won the last of DASILVOTE's chips and a TCOOP title.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Congratulations to Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen for besting a field of 1,422 -- and knocking out all five of his opponents at the final table -- to grab the TCOOP gold-plated card capper and a $28K-plus payday!

Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen, TCOOP Event #37 champion

TCOOP Event #37 Results ($55 PLO, 6-Max 2R1A):
1st: AlexKP ($28,455.04)
2nd: DASILVOTE ($21,383.80)
3rd: Fred-wpt ($15,951.62)
4th: dj_friction ($11,036.80)
5th: theczar19 ($7,070.45)
6th: Norrmaniano ($4,742.37)

Still a couple of days left to jump into the TCOOP game yourself. See the Turbo Championship of Online Poker website for details.

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TCOOP: flaszeczka outflanks the competition in
Event 36, $82 NLHE (6-max)

When you get all-in with pocket aces in a hold'em game and find yourself up against a smaller pair, you're roughly a 4-to-1 favorite to win the hand. Most of the time you'll win the hand, but sometimes you'll find yourself looking at the board and realizing that the unlikely has just become reality.

Such was the case with today's tournament, a rare instance of a TCOOP overlay. Most of the tournaments during this series have broken their guarantees - often wildly exceeding them - but Event 36 became the exception to the rule. At 3,289 players, the field was about 50 players shy of breaking the guarantee. And so that guarantee - $250,000 - became the official prize pool, with $39,375 set aside for the winner.

Mikielewicz was the only Team Pro to cash today

The players fell away from their shorthanded tables fast enough that the money bubble burst just as the second break was beginning, with Hulk9950 of Brazil falling short and anarhist69 of Russia taking home $135 in 420th place for becoming the first player to bust in the money. The only member of Team PokerStars Pro to cash - Grzegorz 'DaWarsaw' Mikielewicz - busted shortly after play resumed, finishing 405th ($135).

A familiar name

A third hour of poker reduced the field to just 49 players. Sitting in the lead was Denmark's jojoha0999 with 963,554 chips, followed closely by 2009 WCOOP Main Event winner Daniel "djk123" Kelly with 919,666 chips. Kelly had been outside the top five just before the break but leapfrogged thanks to his proficiency at getting three streets of value out of top pair:

With blinds already up to Level 33 (8K/16K/2K) and a big stack to wield against his much-shorter-stacked opponents, Kelly was in exactly the kind of environment where he tends to thrive. Yet djk123 couldn't get a big confrontation to go his way for the next few levels - the closest was a coin flip with pocket fours that doubled up the United Kingdom's thekevilfish, who had shoved with [Jh] [8d]. While Kelly managed to stay just ahead of the structure, his neighbor, the Ukraine's egor B52, charged into the chip lead thanks to two consecutive pots - one worth 539K with [Ad] [Kh] to knock out Australia's united3058 in 30th place ($1,000), and the other worth 882K when his [Ac] [Jh] spiked an ace on the river to send the UK's cianus-ie, holder of pocket queens, home in 27th ($1,000).

While egor B52 was busy contending with Kelly, the Netherlands' ullicha was busy climbing to the top of the leaderboard with three tables left, stacking up to 2.88 million chips thanks in part to picking up pocket aces when ARARATLI (16th, $1,650) held [Ah] [Kc]. Poland's flaszeczka also spent some time in the top spot after picking up pocket queens against Norway's angellk1 (15th, $1,650), who was all-in for 389K holding pocket sevens.

Two tables

The blinds had reached Level 39 (30K/60K/7.5K) when play reached the final two tables, with ullicha in the lead and egor B52 close behind. ullicha expanded that lead by knocking out the Netherlands' AfterBeatMSc (12th, $2,187.50) to jump over 3.5 million chips. Next out was Kelly (11th, $2,187.50), the former WCOOP champ who shoved for 608K under the gun with [Ac] [4c] only to run into k345's [As] [Qs]. Spain's Nyefated (10th, $2,187.50) then became the second player of the late game to fall to ullicha's pocket aces when [As] [Qh] didn't get any help from the board. Then jojoha0999 reclaimed the chip lead for the first time in quite a while thanks to this hand against ullicha:

Spain's flan16 (9th, $3,000) became the next to bust after running [Ad] [Kc] into the [As] [Ah] of thekevilfish. Then another Spaniard, fontainerote (8th, $3,000), hit the rail after losing two consecutive pots - one worth 1.3 million chips and the other worth 1 million - to flaszeczka. That left seven players on Level 42 (50K/100K/12.5K) with just six seats waiting at the final table. Two of the players who had been fighting back and forth for the chip lead - ullicha and egorB52 - both suffered setbacks on the bubble, with egorB52 doubling k345 up despite being ahead when he called and ullicha dropping a 5.44-million-chip pot to jojoha0999 on a runner-runner flush. Neither would bust, though, as egor B52 made the final elimination when his pocket sevens held up against Kot_Spartac's [As] [6h] to send the Russian out in 7th ($3,000) and this event to a final table.

The final countdown

As the fourth hour drew to a close, the final table was set with 60K/120K blinds, 15K antes and this lineup:

Seat 1: flaszeczka (2,192,803 in chips)
Seat 2: egor B52 (2,577,656 in chips)
Seat 3: thekevilfish (1,627,737 in chips)
Seat 4: jojoha0999 (7,550,562 in chips)
Seat 5: ullicha (562,406 in chips)
Seat 6: k345 (1,933,836 in chips)

The first casualty was, unsurprisingly, the short-stacked ullicha, who called all-in for 509K on the big blind with [As] [Qh] for a coin flip against the pocket tens of k345. The flop came [Th] [8s] [2s], though, and the set of tens was all it took to bust ullicha in 6th ($4,437.50). The other short stack, egor B52, was the next to go after having the bad fortune to pick up [Js] [Jd] on the same hand that saw flaszeczka pick up [Qc] [Qh]. With no help from the baord, egor B52 was out 5th ($8,705).

Three hands later the field was reduced further when the action folded to thekevilfish in the small blind; the UK player shoved for 2.33 million holding [Kc] [9h] and got called by jojoha0999 in the big blind with [As] [9s]. As if being dominated preflop weren't bad enough for thekevilfish, the flop came down [Ad] [Td] [Ac]. The [4h] turn and [3d] river were formalities that sent thekevilfish out in 4th place ($13,625).

That boosted jojoha0999's stack to 10.72 million chips with the blinds at 100K/200K and antes at 25K. That was far ahead of flaszeczka's 3.83 million and k345's 1.88 million, but things quickly turned around for the short stack. Seven hands later an all-in confrontation holding [As] [2d] against jojoha0999's [Ah] [9s] ended well after the board came [8c] [4d] [4h] [2s] [Kd], bringing k345 up to 4.46 million chips. Another seven hands went by before the two players clashed again, the time with k345's [Qs] [9h] running down jojoha0999's pocket sevens for a 4.875 million-chip pot, one which gave k345 the lead with 8.08 million chips.

Despite none of the players trying to make a deal, the play among the final three was far from aggressive. There were plenty of flops, most of them seen after one player had previously min-raised and another had called. After k345's survival hand in the early going, another 28 hands would pass before the next all-in confrontation. It came on the 200K/400K/50K level, when jojoha0999 shoved on the button for 3.6 million with [Qd] [5c]. K345 overshoved from the small blind holding[Ac] [Kh], which stayed ahead only until the [Qh] [8d] [6h] flop. The [3c] turn and [Js] river kept play three-handed; just four hands later, heads-up play was set after k345 (3rd, $21,000) shoved holding [Kc] [8h] but couldn't outrun jojoha0999's [Kd] [Jh].

Poland's flaszeczka was behind with just 4.66 million chips to jojoha0999's 11.77 million, but within moments that deficit had been erased. On the third hand, flaszeczka shoved with [8d] [6d], was called by jojoha0999 with [Ah] [9c], and caught enough of the [3s] [Th] [Tc] [Kc] [8c] board to jump into the lead with 10.46 million chips. Then, on the very next hand, came the final confrontation:

Congratulations go to flaszeczka, who came from behind to win the tournament through patience, perseverance, and a little bit of well-timed card luck. And congratulations as well to the rest of the final tablists, whose accomplishment in making the final table from a 3,289-player field shouldn't be underestimated.

TCOOP Event 36 - $82 No-Limit Hold'em (6-max)
3,289 entrants, $250,000 prize pool

1st place - flaszeczka (Poland) - $39,375
2nd place - jojoha0999 (Denmark) - $28,750
3rd place - k345 (Russia) - $21,000
4th place - thekevilfish (United Kingdom) - $13,625
5th place - egor B52 (Ukraine) - $8,705
6th place - ullicha (Netherlands) - $4,437.50

Just like that, another TCOOP tourney is in the books. If you blink you might just miss the rest of this tournament series - so go check out the full schedule for a rundown of this weekend's remaining events.

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Women's Poker League: Bertie867 & SARITA15350
Comment on 2011 Victories

For the better part of 2011, the PokerStars Women's Poker League became more exciting by the month. Women played the league tournaments on a regular basis, and those who earned the most points found extra cash in their online poker bank accounts in addition to the money they won in the events. And those who consistently performed in each of the two leagues won 2011 prizes at the end of the year.

The WPL consisted of two divisions in 2011, the $.10 and the $1.10 leagues. When the yearly tallies were published, it stood out that KleopatraRTS finished second in BOTH divisions, and maadcaroma and tjumpy also made the top 10 of both. But the winners were clear. SARITA15350 bested the $.10 league by two points over her nearest competitor, and Bertie867 leapt into first place in the $1.10 league by a solid 33 points. Both players were awarded PS Women Live prize packages to be used at their discretion.

SARITA15350 of Spain

Winner SARITA15350, known as Sara Mouzo in real life, spoke with our Spanish correspondent, Nilda Cerna. The article on the Spanish blog can be found here. Mouzo summed it up: "I cannot believe it."

Mouzo began playing online poker only recently, starting with some training on Intellipoker and then low buy-in sit-n-gos. She began playing the league early in 2011 in the hopes of winning the PS Women Live prize package. Her dedication to the games often kept her from spending time with friends, but she was determined. And she did it.

Having never played live poker in a casino, the PS Women Live prize package gives her the opportunity to travel to one of the EPT stops in the future. She is anxious to put her poker skills to work at the live tables. Her advice for other women is to play in the 2012 league and practice as often as possible to gain experience. "Do not be afraid," Mouzo said.

However, if you see SARITA15350 at your table, be afraid.

Bertie867 of Canada

Alberta, known to her online competitors and friends as Bertie867, is no stranger to the Women's Poker League. She was our October featured player and continuously showed up in the top 10.

When she found out she won the $1.10 division for the year, she was thrilled. Admittedly, she was a little relieved, too. "I didn't think I would be able to hang on because I was basically card dead for the month of December," she told us. "KleopatraRTS was breathing down my neck for the whole month. She is a very is a very good player and not one to let up for a minute." But Alberta made her moves, even arranging her Christmas dinner around the WPL. "Thankfully, family and friends were understanding."

With a trip already planned to go to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January, she used her PS Women Live prize package to cover the costs and stay at the Atlantis Resort. And she told us that it was an amazing experience. From the water rides to the aquarium activities, from the beaches to the poker tables, Alberta had a great time.

"The hotel staff was very accommodating, but they did not compare at all to the PokerStars staff, who were friendly, accommodating, and encouraging in ways that totally surprised and pleased me. Staffers Emma from Toronto and Phillip from Norway really stood out as great PS ambassadors. They were genuinely invested in my having a great experience, which I did," said Alberta. And she added, "We especially enjoyed the PS party; it was awesome."

Of course, she also attended the PS Women Live poker tournament, as well as the panel discussion prior to the event featuring Vanessa Rousso, Vanessa Selbst, and Liv Boeree. She said it was a great way to get into tournament mode, and despite being nervous when she first took her seat, she did well. She made it all the way down to 30-something players but had some trouble with a certain Team PokerStars Pro. "Vanessa Selbst sat down at my table and pretty much cleaned up." That is what she tends to do.

Alberta enjoyed the Bahamas so much that she stayed for another five days. "After my vacation, I will take some time to decide where to put my poker focus," she said.

With another new division in 2012, all players have some decisions to make about which division(s) they will pursue. But nothing will take away from the 2011 final numbers and the first WPL annual winners.

Information about the PokerStars Women's Poker League is provided on the home page, and current league standings are listed on the rankings page.

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TCOOP: Black Friday refugees cashing in

Until 2011, for many young American poker players Mexico was a vacation spot. It was the place they spent their Spring Break holidays or a couple of regrettable nights in Tijuana. It was never the place they intended to call home. That all changed on April 15, 2011.

"I was coming into form at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011," said Nicholas "Rounder63" Carrillo. "April 15th was a really bad day for me."

Like American poker players from coast to coast, Carrillo lost his ability to make a living playing online poker overnight. Though he had Los Angeles' Commerce Casino nearby, Carillo's real profit and living money came from grinding tournaments online.

"It ruined my entire WSOP planning and completely put me into a mental lapse," Carillo said.

To people outside the online poker community, it was hard to understand. But for anyone who paid their bills with poker money, it wasn't hard to see how Carillo's life started to get out of control.

Sean "wcsquad3" Pramuk is one of those people who can understand.

"Due to Black Friday, I have been unemployed for the last few months and just recently had to relocate to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with friends," Pramuk said.

Shores of Cabo San Lucas courtesy Stan Shebs

Pramuk has been playing professional poker for the past four years. Now 26 years old, his move to Mexico came at the beginning of this month. Like Carillo, it's already proven to be a good decision.

Just a few days ago, Parmuk won $85,000 in Event #25 of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker. A day later, Carillo won $30,000 in Event #30.

Pramuk--a near-scratch golfer--is finding a measure of relief south of the border. He's getting in a few rounds on the links and learning more about poker than he ever expected.

Though Black Friday upended both TCOOP winners lives, it has also had the unintended consequence of creating Mexican poker think tanks. No longer isolated in their hometowns and bedrooms, America's displaced poker players find themselves constantly surrounded with like-minded and talented pros.

"I just try and get better all the time," Pramuk said. "Being down here in Mexico with all these great poker minds definitely helps with that."

Carillo is in the same situation. A lifelong football player and coach, at 32 years old Carillo found his favorite form of competition stripped from him in one day. Now, albeit with a move to another country, Carillo has found a new drive and spirit. Once again, he's optimistic.

"I want to able to care of myself and make sure that my wonderful mother doesn't have anything to worry about," Carillo said. "I dream of one day making a charity foundation that gives back to underprivileged kids in sports."

In the world of TCOOP, things move quickly. Tournaments can be up and down in a matter of a couple of hours. For American poker players, there is no easy fix. Nothing moves quickly, it seems. A move to Mexico is part of the long game. For some like Pramuk and Carillo, it's paying off quickly.

"I moved to Mexico with lofty goals and this win puts me even closer to my goal," Carillo said. "This win is nice because of the money, but mentally it's like a bunch of weight has been lifted off my shoulders."

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Winner Of Peter Eastgate's 2008 WSOP Bracelet
Looking To Help Charities With It

You might remember back in November of 2010, when 2008 World Series of Poker main event winner Peter Eastgate auctioned off his bracelet, raising over $140,000 for charity. The winner of that auction, William Haughey, talked to a poker news website to discuss the bracelet and revealed how he wants to work with the WSOP organization to arrange a charity event where he'd match any money raised, up to $1,000,000.

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TLB winner to fight Sports Star for record prize

If you're not a former winner of PokerStars' Tournament Leader Board, you may not even know this event exists, much less what's happening with it. However, it's become so interesting that we have to pay it some attention. It's history-making, after all.

Every week for as long as I can remember, the weekly winner of the TLB has gotten to play a heads-up match against one of PokerStars' pro or celebrity players. The prize pool always starts at $1,000. If the TLB winner is the victor, he or she scoops the dime and everything starts over the next week. If the Team Pro wins, the $1,000 stays in the prize pool and the next week's winner gets a shot at $2,000.

Well, let's just say the TLB winners have not been faring very well in recent weeks, and for the first time in the history of the weekly TLB match, the prize pool has swollen to $9,000. It's sort of like the lottery when nobody wins for several weeks. It's gotta crack before long, and when it does, somebody is getting paid, yo.

So, this Sunday, January 29th, at 14:00 ET, PokerStars player 88Xin88 will be going up against PokerStars Sports Star Fatima Moreira de Melo for an historic $9,000 match.

Fatima Moreira de Melo

While the prize may not be as much as the $67,903 he won in TCOOP Event #1, it will still be quite an event to watch. If he wins, he will pocket a history-making prize. If he loses, next week's winner will be playing for a cool $10,000.

If you'd like to handicap the match, you can get some idea for how 88xin88 plays by clicking the link above. For a little more on De Melo, you can check out her PokerStars Sports Stars bio.

For more on the TLB, visit the PokerStars Tournament Leader Board home page.

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Muhamet Perati leads IPT San Remo

While things were already in full swing at ESPT Madrid, PokerStars IPT San Remo opened its doors for another bumper crowd in the tour's sixth Season 3 event. 102 played Day 1A of the ?2,000 tournament, including 16 PokerStars qualifiers.

After eight levels, with blinds at 400-800 (ante 75), the chip leader was PokerStars qualifier Muhamet Perati with 138,100 chips, followed by Italian players Alberto Spigolon and Marco Della Tommasina. The average stack was 54,957 chips and 47 survived.

Muhamet Perati

Day 1B begins today at 2pm local time, when Team PokerStars Pros Luca Pagano, Dario Minieri, Salvatore Bonavena and Pier Paolo Fabretti will take to the tables, along with Team PokerStars Online's Luca Moschitta.

You can follow all of the IPT action live on our sister Italian PokerStars Blog. If you can read a language that has far too many letter 't's and 'i's, then all well and good. If not, Google Translate is your friend.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Giulia Bonello, who was the IPT San Remo Ladies Event winner, taking home ?1,900.

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ESPT Madrid playing to 113,000 first prize

There can be no doubting the continued success of the PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour. Yesterday's Day 1B of the Madrid event, the first of Season 3, attracted another huge field of 263 players, 69 of whom qualified on PokerStars. At the end of the night, 118 of them had made it through to join Wednesday's survivors for today's Day 2.

With the first prize being announced as ?113,350, and 59 players being paid, the current chip leader is Spanish player Juan Perez Benitocomo with 95,100 chips, followed Pedro Javier Piazuelo Ferrero, who has 89,400. Also still in the hunt is Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez with 47,200.

Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez

One player who should have been out made it through in unlikely circumstances. On a [jd][ks][8s] flop, Mures Jaime was all-in with [js][8c] but found himself up against a set of kings and a set of jacks. No problem for Mures, however, as the turn was [8d] and the river... [8h] to make him quads! He ended the night with 31,200.

Jaime Mures

Day 2 begins at Casino Gran Madrid at 2pm local time today and, if you can read Spanish, or are handy with Google Translate, you can follow the coverage live on our sister Spanish PokerStars Blog.

Meanwhile, here are the Day 1B chips:

Juan Perez Benito Spain 95100
Pedro Javier Piazuelo Ferrero Spain 89400
Larsen Bjarke Riis Denmark 82500
Jose Ureña Moreno Spain 82000
Luis Rufas Acin Spain 80300
Miguel Angel Salinas Garcia Spain 69600
Victor Manuel Hinojosa Luna PokerStars Qualifier Spain 68600
Jose Vazquez Spain 67900
Perico Nuñez De Cela Cortes Spain 66300
Daniel Rauta Romania 65100
Jonathan David Concepcion Tacoronte PokerStars Player Spain 64000
Mateo Sempere Spain 61700
Paulo Jorge Carvalho Duque PokerStars Qualifier Spain 61300
Vital Villarrubia Spain 61200
Antonio Blanco Saiz PokerStars Qualifier Spain 59600
Jose Miguel Espinar Cuenca Spain 59500
Carlos Lopez Neira PokerStars Player Spain 54600
Maciek Rozycki PokerStars Qualifier Poland 53600
Miguel Alonso Fernandez PokerStars Qualifier Spain 52900
Aljoscha Kleve Germany 52400
David Tovar La Sierra PokerStars Qualifier Spain 51100
Ruben Setien Herrera Spain 51000
Antonio Gutierrez Maestro Spain 48900
Sebastian Benz Germany 48800
Rafael Santisteban Blanco Spain 48300
Ana Laura Marquez Esteban Team PokerStars Pro Spain 47200
Cristian Casais Barcia Spain 44900
Aberto David Boal Santos PokerStars Qualifier Spain 44000
Juan Febrer Rosello Spain 42800
Alberto Gomez Gomez PokerStars Player Spain 42100
Rafael Romero Davila PokerStars Qualifier Spain 41500
Lander Lijo Bereciartua PokerStars Qualifier Spain 41000
Jose Luis Perlines Auso Spain 40200
John Gallagher PokerStars Qualifier Ireland 39900
Joan Albert Tortajada Viñes PokerStars Qualifier Spain 39100
Antonio Dieguez Rodriguez Spain 39000
Ricardo Tajada Salcines Spain 38500
Abraham Serrano Gil Spain 37500
Alain Sanzol Martinez De Buja Spain 37000
Gregorio Cibrian Mendinueta PokerStars Qualifier Spain 36800
Juan Miguel Tome Perez PokerStars Qualifier Spain 36700
Xavier Simon Plana PokerStars Qualifier Spain 36200
Leonor Margets Perez Spain 36100
Matias Adrover Parera Spain 35600
Ivan Moreno Garcia Spain 34500
Juan De Diego Salcedo Spain 34300
Daniel Coloma Sema Spain 33700
David Algarra PokerStars Qualifier Spain 33400
Carlos Tejado Perez PokerStars Qualifier Spain 33200
Amir Dara Niknejad Uk 32700
Philipp Rohrer PokerStars Qualifier Switzerland 32400
Miguel Angel Barajas Pastor PokerStars Qualifier Spain 32300
Asif Warris PokerStars Qualifier Uk 32000
Jorge Del Arco Cañizares PokerStars Qualifier Spain 31500
Jaime Mures Rodriguez Spain 31200
Marco Antonio Sanchez Sanchez Spain 31100
Cesar Domingo Ordoñez Lopez PokerStars Qualifier Spain 30900
Alfonso Ramos Covarrubias Spain 30800
Eric Santiago Grurich PokerStars Player Argentina 30800
Luis Rojas Martinez Del Marmol PokerStars Qualifier Spain 29900
Sergio Garcia Galdeano PokerStars Qualifier Spain 29200
Jose Maria Solis Marcos Spain 29000
Raul Bello Garcia Spain 28000
Eduardo Guillen PokerStars Qualifier Spain 27600
Bernard Straubinger Austria 27200
Javier Palacios Lopez Spain 26500
Mariusz Ocwieja Poland 25800
Oscar Garcia Pelayo Spain 25300
Javier Gonzalez Spain 25200
Luis Angel Arroyo Martinez Spain 24700
Antonio Andres Saura Pina Spain 24500
Alejandro Yepes Fernandez Spain 24200
Pedro Oliva Martinez Spain 23700
Antonio Gambero Transmonte Spain 22800
Antonio Gomez Gonzalez PokerStars Qualifier Spain 22800
David Kolmberger PokerStars Qualifier Germany 22800
Jose Maria Marfil Ortiz Spain 22500
Pawel Walczak PokerStars Qualifier Poland 22000
Jaume Pous PokerStars Qualifier Spain 21900
Aquilino Lopez Del Rio Spain 21400
Kakwan Lau PokerStars Player Hong Kong 20900
Rafael Aparicio Pico Spain 20900
Pablo Rojas PokerStars Qualifier Spain 20600
Jose Maria Azorin Azorin PokerStars Player Spain 20300
Benjamin Garcia Rivera PokerStars Qualifier Spain 19800
Ismael Arribas Munoz Spain 19800
Lukasz Robert Roczniak PokerStars Qualifier Poland 19800
Manuel Lago De Haro Spain 19300
Maarten Willemsen PokerStars Qualifier Netherlands 19000
David Martinez Galiana PokerStars Qualifier Spain 18900
Hasan Alexander Anter Alexander Sweden 18900
Ruben Saldaña Echevarria Spain 18100
Taras Sotnikov PokerStars Qualifier Spain 16400
Daniel Cascado Silveira PokerStars Player Spain 15500
Jerry Gerardo Spain 14400
Tomas Almazan Tenreiro PokerStars Qualifier Spain 14400
Alexey Sergeevich Pavlenko PokerStars Qualifier Russian Federation 14200
Marcos Roiz Del Cerro Spain 13600
Jose Miguel Delgado Pintado Spain 13500
Sergio Pardo Ramirez Spain 13300
Marciano Rodriquez Cortes Spain 13200
Roman Vecino Fernandez Spain 13100
Adam Tomasz Jaguscik PokerStars Qualifier Poland 12700
Miguel Jesus Moreno Vico Spain 12200
Antonio Maestro Lorenzo PokerStars Qualifier Spain 11900
Esteban Gimenez-Vega Ferramola Spain 11200
Jose Daniel Perez Sanchez Spain 11100
Juan Jose Picazo Folgado Spain 10700
Hugo Uceda Alvarez PokerStars Qualifier Spain 10500
Norberto Rodriguez Latorre Spain 10200
Roberto Fernandez De Frutos Spain 10000
Sara Mariani Poza Spain 9900
Alejandro Lorente Martinez PokerStars Player Spain 9800
Alvaro Marino Nadal Spain 9600
Fco Javier Bravo Hurtado Spain 7700
Javier Etayo PokerStars Player Spain 7700
German Arques Ruiz PokerStars Qualifier Spain 2600
Heseding Hauke Gustav Germany 2500

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