Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick has enjoyed plenty of success in PokerStars-sponsored events in the past, with wins at the PCA and all around the EPT. He has also enjoyed success in both SCOOP and WCOOP in the past, making him a player to watch any time he makes a deep run. He did just that tonight, putting himself in position to win and then hanging on through a bruising fight with two determined players to burnish his already impressive resume even further by taking down the title in Event #20-M.
A $215 Fixed-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo tournament, Event #20-M drew a total field of 489 players, building a $97,800 prize pool that was nearly double the original guarantee. The top 64 places paid and plenty of familiar names were in the mix as the money rolled around, including Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome of Team Online, who finished in 43rd place ($415.65).
As the tournament rolled over into Day 2 it seemed like everyone left in the field had a solid list of tournament accomplishments, yet all eyes remained on four-time SCOOP winner George Danzer of Team PokerStars Pro. He outlasted Dzmitry “Colisea” Urbanovich, who finished 16th ($1,124.70) in pursuit of a third SCOOP title of his own, but eventually fell just short of the final table in 11th ($1,467).
It took just two and a half hours after the restart to get down to the final eight players, including a few in search of just their latest COOP victory:
Seat 1: Clayton “slammedfire” Mozdzen (606,246 in chips)
Seat 2: Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick (1,207,370 in chips)
Seat 3: Turok11-S (496,616 in chips)
Seat 4: 1bloodflood (575,568 in chips)
Seat 5: sleepy_seven (514,387 in chips)
Seat 6: Ti0373 (647,764 in chips)
Seat 7: Marco “NoraFlum” Johnson (570,784 in chips)
Seat 8: atlantic17 (271,265 in chips)
The first 37 minutes of the final table passed without an elimination thanks to a combination of the hi/lo split format, the wins being distributed around the eight-handed table, and a few players’ connection difficulties. Nearly everyone found a win at some point, and only the stakes advancing to 40K/80K would eventually force the action.
As a three-time WCOOP winner – once in 2015 and twice in one week in 2012 – Ti0373 had enjoyed arguably more COOP success than anybody else at the table. A SCOOP win had proved elusive, though, without much to speak of since coming out on the short end of a 322-hand heads-up battle back in 2013.
This final table appearance would be the briefest of returns as the Russian player drew the first exit. First Ti0373 and Turok11-S tangled in a pot where the two players were separated by less than a tenth of a big bet. Ti0373 had opened under the gun with A♦ 8♦ 4♣ 3♦ in the hole and then called Turok11-S’s button three-bet to see the Q♦ K♦ 2♣ flop. Ti0373 had had all the draws but Turok11-S was ahead with A♣ K♥ 7♥ 5♣ for a pair of kings. Ti0373 still had 41.3 percent equity when the last chips went in on the 4â™ turn, but the Jâ™ river was one of the handful of cards that offered no help. Turok11-S doubled to 609K, and Ti0373 was left with just 7K. Two hands later Ti0373 would leave in 8th place ($1,956).
The 11-minute gap before the next payout was distributed gave the impression that the rotation could keep going indefinitely, but there was a wave of knockouts just over the horizon. Two-time WCOOP winner Marco “NoraFlum” Johnson had come close to a SCOOP win once before, bagging a SCOOP Omaha Hi/Lo runner-up finish in 2014, but he didn’t find any foothold at this final table.
After calling single bets on three streets and losing to 1bloodflood’s rivered full house, Johnson was left with 244K, or three big bets. One more called raise that led to a fold and an orbit of blinds then left him vulnerable with just 64K. A few hands later he picked up Aâ™ 2â™ Q♥ 6♦ and opened all-in for 64K. Both stevie444 and Turok11-S called in the blinds, with stevie444 chasing the Russian player away and showing down A♦ A♣ Jâ™ 10♣ . That made aces and eights on the 8♣ 8♦ 4â™ K♥ 4♣ board to take the pot, and Johnson exited in 7th place ($2,445).
The pace picked up from there. slammedfire survived all-in to win the next hand, making quads with A♦ Q♥ J♦ J♥ , and then again with A♣ 6♥ 5♥ 2♥ for the high pot against stevie444’s Aâ™ Qâ™ J♦ 4♥ . That took the stakes up to 50K/100K, and stevie444 struck on the first hand. atlantic17, a SCOOP 2010 8-Game Mix finalist, was all-in after three-betting from the small blind. The Polish player’s A♣ K♥ 3♣ 2♥ was a favorite against stevie444’s A♥ J♣ 7â™ 2♦ before and after the 4♦ 10â™ 9â™ flop, but the 8♥ turn made a straight and left atlantic17 needing a low card to split the pot. The K♣ came on the river instead, and atlantic17 was gone in 6th place ($3,423). 19:27 ET
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The wave of mutilation was finished off shortly afterward with two eliminations within a single minute at 7:29pm ET. Turok11-S was in the big blind and called a pre-flop raise, a flop bet, and a turn bet from stevie444 in the small blind – 250K in all – before folding on the river with the board reading 10â™ 9♦ 2♦ 4♦ Q♣ . The Russian player then ended up all-in on the next hand for 190K total, three quarters of it going in from the small blind before the flop with A♣ A♥ 10♦ 7♦ . The rest of it went in against 1bloodflood and slammedfire when the first three cards came J♣ 4â™ K♥ . Both opponents called that bet and checked the 6â™ turn, and then slammedfire folded to 1bloodflood’s bet on the river. 1bloodflood had hit the king-high straight with Aâ™ Qâ™ 10â™ 8♥ , beating the bare aces to knock out Turok11-S in 5th place ($4,890).
A past finalist in SCOOP, TCOOP, and WCOOP, sleepy_seven went on the next hand. The German player opened from the small blind with K♥ 8♥ 6♠3♠and re-raised to 200K before getting the last 44K in on the 9♠7♠2♦ flop. slammedfire had the spade flush draw covered with A♦ Q♠J♣ 5♠, so sleepy_seven was looking for a low draw to come in after the 8♠on the turn locked the high up for slammedfire. The Q♥ was no help, and sleepy_seven was out in 4th place ($7,335).
That took play down to to the final three, who would prove to be quite evenly matched. For nearly an hour, the chip lead changed hands back and forth between 1bloodflood, Razz champion during MicroMillions 7; Clayton “slammedfire” Mozdzen, the 7th-place finisher at the Grand Final of EPT8 and finalist at eight past SCOOP final tables, including second-place finishes in 2011; and Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick, a past SCOOP and WCOOP winner.
After 51 minutes of back-and-forth play with a $3,600 pay jump hanging in the balance, a three-way pot developed that finally changed the course of play. stevie444 raised to 80K on the button and both opponents called, bringing the 8♥ 10♦ K♠flop. They both check-called another 80K there before 1bloodflood led all-in for 109K on the 2♠turn. slammedfire called that bet and then checked the J♣ river, as did stevie444, and the three players showed down their cards:
1bloodflood: A♠Q♠J♠10♣
stevie444: K♦ 8♦ 7♣ 6♣
slammedfire: 8♠6♦ 4♠2♦
Everyone held two pair, and slammedfire had a better low draw than stevie444. If the river had been a low card, 1bloodflood would have been knocked out. Instead the Russian player made a Broadway straight and, since there was no low possible, won the main pot of 1M chips. stevie444 took the 101K-chip side pot, and slammedfire’s stack dropped to 135K.
slammedfire doubled once from there but folded two blind hands before ending up all-in on the big blind with K♦ 9♣ 7♦ 3♦ . stevie444’s A♦ Q♥ 10â™ 8â™ flopped two pair and improved to a flush on the J♦ Jâ™ Aâ™ 6â™ 9â™ board, and slammedfire’s ninth career SCOOP final table ended in 3rd place ($10,034.28).
Mr. Chidwick had the advantage heads-up with 3.7M chips to 1bloodflood’s 1.1M, but at 80K/160K stakes neither was really secure. After getting three-quarters of the first major pot and a scoop of the second, though, stevie444 had all the momentum and nearly all the chips. It wasn’t long before he picked up A♦ A♣ 10♥ 3♣ and hit a Broadway straight on the river to close the tournament out in style.
1bloodflood couldn’t add a SCOOP title to that MicroMillions victory on the tournament resume, but $13,692 makes for a good runner-up prize in a SCOOP-Medium hi/lo tourney. As for Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick, his third career COOP (and second SCOOP) win was worth $18,582. Congratulations to him for adding another title to his resume during SCOOP 2016!
SCOOP-20-M ($215 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, 8-Max) results
Entrants:Â 489
Total prize pool:Â $97,800
Places paid:Â 64
1. Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick (United Kingdom) $18,582
2. 1bloodflood (Russia) $13,692
3. Clayton “slammedfire” Mozdzen (Canada) $10,034.28
4. sleepy_seven (Germany) $7,335
5. Turok11-S (Russia) $4,890
6. atlantic17 (Poland) $3,423
7. Marco “NoraFlum” Johnson (Mexico) $2,445
8. Ti0373 (Russia) $1,956
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