SCOOP 2013: sundalyonly has a fat Tuesday in Event #7-L ($7.50 NLHE Heads-Up)

Only last night, JacktShipper defeated a 12,000-strong field to win his first SCOOP title in Event #5-L, banking over $58k. Remarkably, he plowed through over 16,000 more today to make the elite eight in Event #7-L ($7.50 NLHE Heads-up). While JacktShipper was gunning for back-to-back titles, sundalyonly was looking to close out his first major. In 2010, sundalyonly made a WCOOP final table and banked over $42,000 for third place, but a title still eluded him. Today, he drop-kicked that monkey off his back, winning 14 straight heads-up matches to win his first SCOOP title.

16,384 players came out for Event #7-L, creating a $111,738.88 prizepool that more than doubled the guarantee. 2,048 places were paid with first place set to earn $8,169.59. A dozen Red Spades were in the mix including Lex Veldhuis, Randy “nanonoko” Lew, Jake Cody and Andre Akkari. Two of them made the money–Team Online’s 10 Million VPP Man George “Jorj95” Lind III (1,781st) and Team Pro Joe Cada (302nd).

THE QUARTERFINALS (Round of 8)

sundalyonly def. DryBarucFly

Sundalyonly and DryBarrucFly’s chip counts stayed relatively even through the first three levels of play before the deciding hand. Holding J♦ J♣ sundalyonly four-bet to 800 preflop and DryBarucFly five-bet shoved for 5,263. Sundalyonly called, a significant favorite over DryBarrucFly’s A♠ 10♠ . The jacks held and DryBarrucFly was left with only 486 in chips. Although he doubled to 972 when his Q♥ 8♦ turned a queen against A♠ 6♦ , DryBarrucFly succumbed four hands later when sundalyonly’s K♣ Q♦ rivered top pair against his pocket fours. Sundalyonly moved on to the semifinals, while DryBarrucFly collected $1,443.66 for eighth place.

WhatDFkCtgry def. JacktShipper

WhatDFkCtgry pulled away from JacktShipper when his 3♣ 6♠ flopped a six, turned two pair, and rivered sixes full to take his stack up to 7,048. From there, JacktShipper just couldn’t find any traction and ended up three-bet shoving his last 1,192 with A♣ 9♥ . WhatDFkCtgry called with J♠ 10♦ . JacktShipper hit top pair on the 9♦ 6♥ 3♦ flop, but WhatDFkCtgry caught up on the turn when the J♦ fell. The river 10♥ made WhatDFkCtgry two pair, dashing JacktShipper’s hopes for a second SCOOP title.

Marrakesz def. p1kes

Marrakesz struck first in this match, his K♣ 9♣ turning a flush against p1kes’s two pair. Marrakesz moved up to 7,370 in chips while p1kes dropped to 2,630. After a seemingly endless stretch of small pots with very few flops, Marakesz finished off p1kes. P1kes three-bet shoved 2,470 with A♥ 7♠ , but did not improve vs. Marrakesz’s A♣ 10♣ .

Jubei Savona vs. iHasYou

These two stuck to small-ball before iHasYou took down 14 pots in a row during Level 3 to move up to 7,260 in chips. Jubei Savona doubled back up to 4,400 when his pocket tens held up against A♥ Q♠ and even edged out a slight chip lead. However, he ended up losing a coinflip for almost everything when iHasYou’s A♣ J♠ hit a jack on the flop vs. his 10♦ 10♠ . Jubei Savona was left with 656 in chips and found 6♥ 6♦ on the next deal only to run into iHasYou’s J♠ J♣ . IHasYou advanced to the semis while JubeiSanova exited in fifth place.

THE SEMIFINALS (Round of 4)

iHasYou def. WhatDFkCtgry

This match was over before the end of the first level, lasting only 12 hands. The first ten were pretty uneventful, while the last two were decidedly more interesting. In Hand #11, iHasYou picked up Q♦ Q♥ and three-bet preflop. WhatDFkCtgry called and they say a K♣ J♦ 8♦ flop. IHasYou led out for 250 and WhatDFkCtgry called. Both players checked the 2♠ on the turn. The river was the 5♣ and iHasYou fired out another 600. WhatDFkCtgry paid him off and iHasYou raked in the 2,200 pot.

On the next deal, WhatDFkCtgry five-bet shoved preflop with 9♦ 9♥ only to learn iHasYou picked up Q♠ Q♦ two hands in a row! The queens held up, the board running out 10♥ 6♥ 5♠ 3♠ 10♣ to punch iHasYou’s ticket to the final. For fourth place, WhatDFkCtgry picked up $2,620.27.

sundalyonly def. Marrakesz

This one was a true see-saw battle. Sundalyonly ground out a small lead before Marrakesz rivered a wheel to move up to 6,776. A few hands later, Marrakesz played K♥ 2♠ in a three-bet pot and hit two pair when the flop fell 5♥ 5♣ 2♣ . However, sundalyonly did his bidding for him, betting 240 on the flop and another 400 when the Q♦ hit the turn. The river fell the K♦ and sundalyonly slowed down and checked. Marrakesz made it 960 to go with kings up and sundalyonly called only to muck his hand.

However, three hands later, sundalyonly won a flip to double up, his pocket eights holding against J♠ 9♠ . Sundalyonly chipped back up to 6,000, then picked up another 1,400 in chips when he three-bet a 6♠ 5♦ 2♦ flop and induced a fold. Now up to 7,410, sundalyonly found pocket fours and three-bet shoved, only to run into Marrakesz’s 6♠ 6♦ . However, the poker gods had other ideas. The flop fell 4♣ 3♦ 3♣ , making sundalyonly a full house. Marrakesz couldn’t find another six and went out in third, while sundalyonly advanced to the final round.

THE FINAL – sundalyonly vs. iHasYou

No sooner did the cards go in the air before iHasYou broached the subject of a deal. IHasYou wanted to leave $1,000 in play and chop the rest, but sundalyonly wasn’t interested, replying “No deal.” It turned out to be a very good decision.

This match began at twelve before the hour and ended at four past. Subtract the five-minute break and that’s only 11 minutes of play. It took 57 hands for sundalyonly to defeat iHasYou and he struck first, pushing iHasYou off a K♣ 8♥ 3♦ 10♦ board with a turn raise. Sundalyonly moved up to 6,900, but three hands later, iHasYou snagged it back when he flopped middle pair and picked off a bluff. IHasYou moved out to a slim lead but couldn’t hold onto it. In the pivotal pot of the match, iHasYou flopped top two pair but sundalyonly caught up on the turn when he spiked his gutshot to make a king-high straight.

Left with only 620 in chips, iHasYou open-shoved on the next deal with 10♣ 7♣ and if we needed another sign that this tournament belonged to sundalyonly, we got it when he revealed J♠ J♥ . Although iHasYou gave him a sweat when he turned a flush draw, sundalyonly’s pocket jacks held, locking up his first SCOOP title.

Congratulations to sundalyonly, our newest SCOOP champion. He banked $8,169.59 for the win while runner-up iHasYou earned $5,188.03.

PokerStars 2013 SCOOP Event #7-L ($7.50 NLHE Heads-Up) results

Players: 16,384
Prizepool: $111,738.88
Places paid: 2,048

1. sundalyonly (United Kingdom) $8,169.59
2. iHasYou (Romania) $5,188.03
3. Marrakesz (Poland) $2,620.27
4. WhatDFkCtgry (Malta) $2,620.27
5. Jubei Savona (Kazakhstan) $2,620.27
6. p1kes (Czech Republic) $1,443.66
7. JacktShipper (Belgium) $1,443.66
8. DryBarucFly (Brazil) $1,443.66

Kristin Bihr is a freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog.