The first unlimited-rebuy event of the 2015 PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker kicked off today at 12:00 p.m. ET. With an initial buy-in of $27, one could theoretically make a run at the $60,435.93 first prize, but far more likely was that one would end up making at least one re-buy and probably take the add-on at the end of the first hour was well. Still, at $76, even that would be a modest investment for a five-figure return.
A fairly large portion of the 5,070-player field seemed to agree, as they combined for 7,735 re-buys and 2,886 add-ons to bring the total prize pool to $385,214.05. The top 675 finishers got paid at least $130.97 each, and the race was on for the latest TCOOP title. With so many chips in play, and such a thin margin for error, the game was less about whether a player caught a run of good cards and more about when that good run came along. And for Portugal’s apalma2156, it came at precisely the right time to earn a TCOOP title.
Counting down
The end run to the final table saw everyone operating on a razor’s edge between being a big stack and begin eliminated, so it was no surprise to see the lead change hands multiple times. China’s kevin840302 was the lead with four tables remaining with 2.4M, worth about 17 big blinds when the average stack was about 12. Nine knockouts later it was Germany’s Buchdorfer leading the remaining three tables with 4.2M, worth almost twice the average of 14 big blinds.
By the time the field had narrowed to its last two tables, MrFrency of Hungary was well ahead with 9.4M, for 31 big blinds compared to the 10-big-blind average. Nobody else was above 4.1M, and half the players had less than eight big blinds to work with. Three consecutive knockouts at the two remaining tables would end up setting up an eight-handed final table at 4:21 p.m. ET, less than four and a half hours after the tournament began.
At the first table, Finland’s Pininfarin90 opened the betting under the gun by moving all-in for 7.2M with A♣ 8♦ . Timeltalmal called all-in for 470K with K♥ 3â™ in the cutoff, and paolos did the same for 1M with Qâ™ Jâ™ in the big blind. Pininfarin90 and paolos66 were in a dead heat at just over 37 percent apiece to win before the 2♥ 7♥ 10♦ flop, which moved Pininfarin90 ahead to a 52 percent chance to win the hand. The Finn kept that lead even though the 6♥ turn gave Timeltalmal a flush draw, and won the pot unimproved when the 6â™ came on the river.
On the other, chanmario opened the betting with an all-in bet of 1.2M, or three big blinds. MrFrency came over the top to isolate with A♣ J♥ , which outran chanmario’s 5â™ 5♦ when the board came 7♦ 10â™ J♦ 9♦ 10♥ . For starting the final hand with the smaller stacks, Timeltalmal (11th place) and paolos66 (10th place) earned $2,311.28 apiece. Meanwhile chanmario earned the 9th-place payout ($3,081.71) but missed out on the final table with these eight players:
Seat 1: czaczar (6,917,232 in chips)
Seat 2: MrFrency (10,865,720 in chips)
Seat 3: BIWENZHEN (3,401,210 in chips)
Seat 4: Pininfarin90 (9,231,441 in chips)
Seat 5: vincelis (3,138,528 in chips)
Seat 6: apalma2156 (4,119,451 in chips)
Seat 7: bigi123456 (7,899,381 in chips)
Seat 9: M0NG19 (7,272,037 in chips)
22 minutes to the title
The blinds and antes rose to 250K/500K/62.5K on the second hand of the final table, leaving even chip leader MrFrency with just under 22 big blinds. Lithuania’s vincelis came in with the shortest stack at 3.1M, but after being down to less than two antes only hands earlier and mounting a comeback just prior to the final table, it must have felt like the chip lead.
The Lithuanian looked to stack up even higher on the third hand and moved in for 2.9M from early position, holding 9â™ 7â™ , and faced off against apalma2156, who moved all-in from the hijack for 3.9M to isolate with Kâ™ K♦ . Already a 4-to-1 favorite, the kings didn’t need to make a set to win the pot, but they did when the board came 2♥ 10♣ Q♦ K♣ 4â™ , knocking vincelis out in 8th place ($4,815.17).
Two hands later, Switzerland’s bigi123456 picked up J♣ J♦ in early position and opened for 1.5M. The action folded back to the big blind, where Pininfarin90 moved all-in for 7.9M with A♣ Q♦ . The bet was just 532K more than bigi123456 held, but that turned out to be the difference maker when Pininfarin90 made two pair, queens and nines, on the Q♥ 9♦ 9♣ 4♦ 8♥ board. The 15.4M-chip pot went to Pininfarin90, and bigi123456 departed in 7th place ($8,667.31).
czaczar vs BIWENZHEN
apalma2156 moved just ahead of Pininfarin90 for the lead on the next hand when the two played a limped pot in the blinds and apalma’s 4♦ 2♦ flopped two pair, moving the Portuguese player up to just shy of 15M. Two hands later came a rarity at this final table: a double-up by a short stack. China’s BIWENZHEN jammed for 2.1M, or just under four big blinds on the 300K/600K/75K level, with A♥ 6♥ . That held up against czaczar’s 10♦ 8s] by making a six-high straight on the 3♣ 4♦ 5♣ 2♥ 10♣ board, giving BIWENZHEN a boost to 5M chips.
That was 486K ahead of czaczar, who two hands later moved all-in on the button with 10♥ 2♥ and was only called by BIWENZHEN. The Chinese player’s A♦ 9â™ was a 60-percent favorite before the flop, but that chance plummeted to 2.4 percent when the first three community cards were 2♣ 5♣ 2â™ . The 9♥ on the turn kept hope for a full house alive for BIWENZHEN, but the 8♣ on the river was no help and the Chinese player was down to less than one big blind.
A third confrontation with czaczar on the next hand gave BIWENZHEN a double to 1.7M, but two hands later their fourth tussle would be the last. czaczar moved in with A♣ K♣ , BIWENZHEN called with Q♠J♦ , the board came A♠5♠4♣ 7♣ 8♦ , and BIWENZHEN exited in 6th place ($12,519.45).
MrFrency falls
With five players left and blinds and antes just about to rise to 400K/800K/100K, the chip counts were clustered a bit closer together:
Seat 1: czaczar (12,018,442 in chips)
Seat 2: MrFrency (9,690,720 in chips)
Seat 4: Pininfarin90 (10,668,322 in chips)
Seat 6: apalma2156 (14,420,479 in chips)
Seat 9: M0NG19 (6,047,037 in chips)
MrFrency had come to the final table with the chip lead thanks to a rush of hands with about 18 players left, but without a similar rush since then the Hungarian player’s chip stack had stagnated. And after a short series of hands where opening raises by MrFrency turned into pre-flop folds after re-raises by new chip leader apalma2156, that stagnant stack had turned into the shortest at the table, worth just 5.3M. All of it went in the middle from the small blind on a steal with 10â™ 7♣ , which ended up racing with 4â™ 4♣ when Pininfarin90 called in the big blind. The 4♦ 7â™ 8♦ flop gave the Finnish player a set and left MrFrency hoping for running cards to a straight or full house. The 2♥ turn ended that hope, and the 10♥ on the river made two pair too late, sending MrFrency to the rail in 5th place ($16,371.59).
Race for the prize
Four-handed player would last just five hands, the last of which saw M0NG19, already in for 1M in the big blind, call all-in for another 2.7M with K♦ 8♣ after apalma2156 moved in for more from the small blind. The Portuguese player’s Jâ™ 8â™ was dominated and just 11 percent to win on the 10♦ J♣ K♥ flop. The 7♥ on the turn kept the chance for an inside straight alive, but it was the J♦ on the river for three of a kind that won the pot for apalma2156. M0NG19’s kings and jacks couldn’t compete, and the Russian player, who had been looking to improve on a second-place finish during TCOOP 2014, was eliminated in 4th place ($21,764.59).
Six hands later, apalma2156 would be dominated by another all-in opponent before the flop. This time it was czaczar, who called for 7.8M total in the big blind with K♣ 8♣ , a 70-percent favorite over apalma2156’s 9♣ 8♦ . The 9â™ 9♥ 8â™ flop was a perfect catch for the Portuguese player, though, making nines full of eights and leaving czaczar in need of another perfect catch to stay alive. The 7♥ on the turn left the Polish player drawing dead, though, and the 2♦ river made official a departure in 3rd place ($31,780.15).
Seat 4: Pininfarin90 (16,954,042 in chips)
Seat 6: apalma2156 (35,890,958 in chips)
The 13-hand heads-up match started with apalma2156 in the lead, and the Portuguese player never dropped more than one big blind back from that 35.8M-chip starting point. The final hand saw apalma2156 raise to 2.4M on the button with 8â™ 8♦ and call after Pininfarin90 moved all-in for 10.3M with A♣ 6♦ . Pininfarin90 caught a pair of aces on the Q♦ 8♣ A♦ flop, but apalma2156 did one better by catching bottom set. Both players made flushes as the board ran out 3♦ 4♦ , but apalma2156’s was higher, bringing the tournament to a close.
In just 22 minutes, the tournament had gone from 11 players to one. Pininfarin90 was almost the last one standing but settled for a runner-up finish worth $44,877.43, more than twice as much as the Finnish player’s previous best here at PokerStars. The win was worth $60,435.93 for apalma2156, the Portuguese player’s best score since winning $60,912 back in early 2010. Better yet, it came with a TCOOP title. Congratulations to both players for riding the turbo wave to their big paydays!
TCOOP 2015: Event #7, $27 No-Limit Hold’em
5,070 entrants, 7,735 re-buys, 2,886 add-ons
$385,214.05 prize pool
675 places paid
1st place: apalma2156 (Portugal) $60,435.93
2nd place: Pininfarin90 (Finland) $44,877.43
3rd place: czaczar (Poland) $31,780.15
4th place: M0NG19 (Russia) $21,764.59
5th place: MrFrency (Hungary) $16,371.59
6th place: BIWENZHEN (China) $12,519.45
7th place: bigi123456 (Switzerland) $8,667.31
8th place: vincelis (Lithuania) $4,815.17
9th place: chanmario (Germany) $3,081.71
Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.
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