Sunday Warm-up: orange6 pounces on the final table for victory

120 tournaments in two weeks and you might be worn out too. Unless you are Shaun Deeb of course. The 2012 SCOOP player of the series was collecting watches like he was trying to outfit a pet octopus with PokerStars jewelry. But, not all players have the stamina to play through all those deep runs as seen in tonight’s $500,000 guaranteed Sunday Warm-up. A lighter than usual crowd gathered, as perhaps the players needed a little R & R from the series overload. 2,996 players did however find an extra Red Bull or five to power up the PokerStars lobby and break the guarantee with a $599,200.00 prize pool.

Team PokerStars Pros and Team Online were not allowed to claim one of the 432 prizes on the board tonight as Team Online Shane “shaniac” Schleger flew the Red Spade flag the longest finishing in 788th place.

Players like Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver were back in the money tonight, just like his 4th place finish for $52K in SCOOP Event #39-H Tonight there would be no final table run for Oliver after finishing in 211th place ($539.28).

Down to two tables the final 18 had no problem removing eight people from their seats quickly but the second hand-for-hand portion of tournament would take a little longer than people realize. It would start with the blinds at 50K/100K ante 10K but did not finish until two blind level later. 80K/160K ante 16K blinds meant utreg’s 643,182 chips were not going to last long as utreg min raised from the cutoff and lonxs told utreg from the big blind that the rest of those chips are going into the middle by three-betting. No choice here as utreg made the call holding 4♠ K♦ and slightly ahead of lonxs’ 10♣ 9♦ . The flopped straight 7♥ 8♦ J♥ Q♣ A♣ put an end to any discussion about a comeback tonight as utreg hit the rail in 10th place ($3,745.00) starting up the final table below:

Seat 1: herby5 (3906014 in chips)
Seat 2: Ciejas (4365560 in chips)
Seat 3: orange6 (2040862 in chips)
Seat 4: SteenD (3043989 in chips)
Seat 5: lonxs (4587632 in chips)
Seat 6: belmondo78 (1797288 in chips)
Seat 7: bartels30 (5357549 in chips)
Seat 8: chrispker23 (2843406 in chips)
Seat 9: Palmero92 (2017700 in chips)

Another sign that hand-for-hand was a bit long winded, the blinds immediately went up to 100K/200K ante 20K once the special final table outlay was spread across the virtual felt and Team Online’s Kevin “WizardofAhhs” Thurman dropped in on the final nine to congratulate them on making it this far.

Peeled from the table

The final table would start innocently enough with a “raise-it and take-it” loop around the oval but two hands after belmondo78 doubled up off lonxs, Palmero92 saw an opening to grab the hefty blinds and shoved just under two million chips from the cutoff. orange6 sitting in the big blind sitting on just over two millions made the call holding A♠ J♠ . It was a good one as Palmero92’s A♥ 7♦ was a heavy underdog. Three wheel cards on the 3♥ 8♦ 5♥ 2♠ 3♣ threatened to chop up the pot, but 4.2 million chips found their way to the big blind as Palmero92 was finished in ninth place ($4,793.60). It would denied Palmero92 to add a second Sunday Warm-Up title in two months as the German took down this tournament last month for $72K.

lonxs rocked

The final table tonight would be a fast one as the blinds moved up to 125K/250K ante 25K as back-to-back preflop shoves broke out. First, chrispker23 had major kicker issues after SteenD called the British player’s shove from the small blind. K♥ A♦ for SteenD rolled to victory over chrispker23’s A♥ Q♦ as king flopped K♣ 5♠ 2♠ 5♥ 8♣ for a 4.1 million chip pot.

On the next hand bartels30 would min raise UTG and lonxs shoved from the small blind for 2.4 million chips holding pocket queens Q♣ Q♦ . Back to bartels30 holding big slick K♥ A♣ to make the call as big slick was looking to go two-for-two. It did. Ace on the turn 10♣ 3♥ 6♠ A♦ 5♦ would lock in the 5.4 million chip pot and lock lonxs out in eighth place ($7,789.60).

Nines are not fine

Still in the 125K/250K ante 25K blind level herby5 would lead off for a 785,500 chip raise as belmondo78 in the small blind (again???) shoved for 2.5 million. Back to herby5 who started with 3.2 million would make the call holding A♥ J♥ . Up against the pocket nines 9♠ 9♦ of belmondo78, the ace would waste no time hitting the flop 5♣ 5♦ A♠ 6♥ 3♦ to ship the 5.6 million chip pot to herby5 and $13,781.60 to belmondo78 in seventh place.

The final six would stir the idea of a chop for a bit but all attempts were veto’d to stop the clock as play moved through the 150K/300K ante 30K level with all six holding a chair.

Comeback kid

chrispker23 took a massive hit earlier after doubling up SteenD but rallied from that low to over 3.6 million chips when this 6.1 million chip preflop pot broke out against bartels30:

After chrispk23 shoved over the top of bartels30’s min-raise from the small blind, bartels30 made the call holding J♦ A♠ flipping against the 10♦ K♦ of chrispk23. The three diamond flop 2♦ 3♦ 6♦ locked down the hand (yes the 4♦ and 5♦ COULD HAVE shown up, but they did not) for chrispk23 as bartels30 exited in sixth place ($19,773.60).

More chop talks, more chop nots

After the big pot chrispk23 tried to rally the table again for a chop but herby5 was still having none of it despite the play starting to get a little “shovey”. Then, the blinds moved up to 200K/400K ante 40K and SteenD would give up a double up to herby5 after SteenD’s K♦ Q♠ ran face first into herby5’s big slick K♣ A♠ for a 6.2 million chip pot. Left with 1.3 million, two hands later SteenD tried to min-raise from the small blind as chrispk23 in the big blind was happy to three bet SteenD all-in. Holding 7♣ Q♣ SteenD needed some clubs or a seven to stay alive versus chrispk23’s Q♠ 10♣ . The only club to show up for the party was on the door 6♣ 3♦ 10♠ K♠ 3♠ as chrispk23 sent SteenD packing in fifth place ($25,765.60). A little bit better performance today from SteenD as the Dane scored a seventh place in the Warm-Up in February.

As the 11th hourly break hit, all four decided to query Mr. Thurman about chop numbers. While Kevin calculated chip chops and ICM numbers, the players could not agree and turned the poker machine back on. Right away herby5 would double up off orange6 holding ducks against orange6’s big slick for a 8.1 million chip pot and flattening out the chips even further.

No chop means more money

Good thing the chop did not go through as herby5 would have taken below third cash. Now bolstered with 7.5 million chips and blinds at 250K/500K ante 50K herby5 waited calmly in the small blind as chrispk23 shove slightly more chips from button holding K♠ 10♠ . herby5 was calm due to holding big slick A♣ K♦ and made the call. Despite the evil 6♣ 6♠ 6♥ Q♦ 3♣ flop, big slick held for the win and the 15.7 million chip pot. 145,318 chips left over would go to Ciejas on the next hand as chrispk23’s comeback was enough to grab fourth place cash ($34,454.00).

C-ya

The very next hand Ciejas would min-raise from the button as orange6 shoved 4.6 million from the small blind holding Q♦ A♣ and Ciejas was there for the call with pocket fives 5♥ 5♠ . The board was clean for the fives through the turn 8♥ K♥ K♦ K♠ . But, the river A♥ would ship the 9.9 million chip pot to orange6. Three hands later herby5 would be there to call out of the big blind as Ciejas, now down to under four million chips, shoved from the button holding K♥ 10♦ . J♠ A♦ for herby5 who could not seem to do anything wrong as the Swiss flopped a jack 6♥ 5♦ J♥ 10♠ 9♥ to the 8.2 million chip victory. Ciejas could have had $67K in the chop, took home $49,745.58 in third place.

Face your partner and shake hands

“I agree” and “I agree”. No drawn out listing of poker achievements or chip counts, just two short words in the chat box got our remaining two their deals below:

herby5: $78,025.95
orange6: $76,155.43

As fast as the chop talks were, heads-up play would take a bit longer as there was still $10,000.00 on the table for the champ. In four short minutes orange6 would flip the chip lead after notching an unlikely straight holding K♦ 7♥ as value bet herby5 on the river to claim a 24.6 million chip pot. Five hands later it was herby5’s turn to win. Down to 5.5 million, herby5 called all-in preflop with A♦ 3♣ as orange6 applied the pressure with a real hand, pocket sixes 6♦ 6♠ . Ace on the flop 8♦ 2♦ A♣ Q♥ Q♣ and the battle continued.

Then, with the blinds up to 300K/600K ante 60K the two players shoved 20.8 million chips into the middle in the hand below:

Deuces 2♣ 2♦ for herby5 and big slick A♥ K♥ for orange6 would name our champion today. It did not take long for the ace A♦ J♠ 10♥ 5♥ 5♦ to spoil herby5’s chances at a late run comeback as orange6 took down the final 20.8 million chips and claimed this week’s Sunday Warm-Up title!

Players Entered: 2,996
Entry Fee: $215.00
Prize Pool: $599,200.00

$500,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-Up results (05-27-12):
( * denotes part of two-way deal )
1. orange6 (Israel) *$86,155.43
2. herby5 (Switzerland) *$78,025.95
3. Ciejas (Poland) $49,745.58
4. chrispker23 (United Kingdom) $34,454.00
5. SteenD (Denmark) $25,765.60
6. bartels30 (Denmark) $19,773.60
7. belmondo78 (Switzerland) $13,781.60
8. lonxs (Spain) $7,789.60
9. Palmero92 (Germany) $4,793.60