The $2 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown seemed to come out of nowhere. Just a week before it was set to play, it popped up on the PokerStars software and offered just about everybody in the PokerStars community a chance to play for some of the biggest money of the day.
It was a concept rarely seen in the world of online poker: A buy-in with no dollar sign in front of it and a prize pool that grabs the attention of the highest of rollers. No surprise, it attracted nearly ten thousand players to the virtual felt on a Sunday afternoon.
The structure was an interesting one. It started fast and then gradually got a bit slower. The bigger the prizes, the more poker there was to play. It made for a final table that started just seven hours after it began, but left the players with some room to breathe.
Here’s what the final table looked like when it began.
Seat 1: Karsten85 (2298010 in chips)
Seat 2: mmmy17 (1602090 in chips)
Seat 3: mombasi (4108659 in chips)
Seat 4: D.Nowitzki (2448035 in chips)
Seat 5: TXSooner518 (4520003 in chips)
Seat 6: tobededope (3873262 in chips)
Seat 7: BleedBlue33 (2719149 in chips)
Seat 8: oakblack (1872790 in chips)
Seat 9: qbgoose (5358002 in chips)
Oakblack was the first of the final table players to find the rail. With the blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000. BleedBlue33 came in for a raise to 222,222. Oakblack decided he was going to get it in before the flop and pushed for nearly two million more. BleedBlue33 called with AK, up against oakblack’s AQ. Neither hand improved and oakblack went out in ninth place. He won $11,000 for his effort.
Next out was D.Nowitzki (no, not that one…). He got AJ all-in versus mombasi’s pair of nines. Nowitzki bricked on all five streets and went out in eighth place for $20,000.
Mombasi took out the seventh place finisher, as well. He held AQ and got mmmy17 all-in with QJ. By the river, the both had straights, but Mombasi’s was Broadway. Mmmy17 picked up $30,000 for seventh place.
Shortly thereafter, the sickness began. Karsten came in for a raise from the button and mombasi called from the small blind. The flop came out 9s2h3s and mombasi bet about 500,000 at it. Karsten pushed for another 1.5 million. Mombasi called with only A7. Karsten showed Q9 and was ahead all the way until the river…when an ace hit. Karsten finished in sixth place for $40,000.
Karsten’s exit and chip gave mombasi a chip lead to be admired. He sat with more than $12 million chips, more than twice what anybody else at the table had.
With one sick beat out of the way, qbgoose likely felt great getting his chips in the middle with KK, especiall up against tobededope’s AK. It was a short-lived taste of success. An ace on the flop crooppled qbgoose. Left with fewer than 200,000 chips, we was able to stick around long enough to stick to the pattern of busting to mombasi. For fifth place, qbgoose picked up $50,000.
If the Mombasi Busts the World Story is getting old, you may want to take a break, because just a few minutes later, he sent TXSooner518 out in fourth place. It was Q8 all in pre-flop versus TXSooner518’s J9. A jack on the flop gave TXSooner518 the lead. A queen on the turn turned it around and TXSooner518 went out in fourth place for $65,000.
Three-handed play lasted a long while and broke the Mombasi streak. BleedBlue33 got his final 1.8 million in the middle with Q5. Problem was, he ran into tobededope’s A3. An ace on the flop was enough to send BleedBlue33 out in third place. He earned $80,000.
Heads up, talk of a deal began. Tobededope held about 15 million to mombasi’s 13 million. The players couldn’t reach an agreement and it would soon become the mombasi show. Just a few hands later, mombasi flopped a set of deuces to beat tobededope’s pair of fives. After that, it was over in just a couple of hands . Mombasi completed his table-thrashing and took down the $200,000 first prize.
Congratulations to all the players.
Here are the final table results.
1. mombasi (Germany) $200,000.00
2. tobededope (Germany) $120,000.00
3. BleedBlue33 (United States) $80,000.00
4. TXSooner518 (United States) $65,000.00
5. qbgoose (Canada) $50,000.00
6. Karsten85 (Germany) $40,000.00
7. mmmy17 (Brazil) $30,000.00
8. D.Nowitzki (Germany) $20,000.00
9. oakblack (United Kingdom) $11,000.00
