What a night! What a WCOOP! And what a Main Event, a two-day marathon that ultimately saw three Germans — Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher, PlayinWasted, and SwissCantMis — emerge at the end to strike a three-way deal, then PlayinWasted prevailing to claim this year’s Main Event title and a first prize worth $1,493,499.15!
The memory of last year’s stirring story of Marat “maratik” Sharafutdinov was fresh in the minds of many as this year’s Main Event played out. Sharafutdinov, of course, starting with 40 Frequent Player Points had won himself a WCOOP Main Event seat, then incredibly took down the event for a $1,000,907.26 first prize, famously saying “I wont million” amid the final table deal-making.
As it would turn out, all three of the final table deal-makers would walk away millionaires tonight. Here’s the story of the Germans’ success and PlayinWasted’s victory (and you can read an interview with him here).
Day 1
There were just over 1,100 players in their seats when the first hands were dealt Sunday afternoon in the $5,200 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament, but with four whole hours’ worth of late registration, that total was destined to rise considerably. About two hours and 20 minutes in the total field crossed the 2,000 player-mark, meaning the total prize pool had moved up over the $10 million mark, and was continuing to grow.
When late registration was finally over, 2,133 players had joined the party to create a $10,665,000 prize pool to be divided among the top 243 finishers. All nine of the players making the final table would be assured six-figure paydays.
With Main Event’s numbers finalized, that meant the 66 events of the 2013 World Championship of Online Poker added up to $62,362,757, well exceeding the overall guarantee of $40 million for the series and also beating the $55,522,590 worth of prize money awarded during the events of last year’s WCOOP.
One of those many taking seats was PokerStars Team SportStar Ronaldo who unfortunately had a short day of it as one of the day’s early eliminations. By the time the first 400 players had been eliminated it was blur5f6 taking the early chip lead as the first player to 100,000.
After almost seven-and-a-half hours of play there were 1,000 players left with 35 of them with 100,000 or more, with Jon “PearlJammer” Turner having just snuck into the top spot ahead of xxxLev.
About two-and-a-half hours later the field had been carved down under 500 players with Andrey “Kroko-dill” Zaichenko — owner of both a WCOOP bracelet and a SCOOP watch — having pushed up over 300,000 chips and into the chip lead.
As they worked through the last levels of Day 1, other familiar names taking turns appearing near the top of the counts included Jason “jdtjpoker” Wheeler, Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki, and David “CrabMaki” Shallow.
Finally the 20th half-hour level of Day 1 ended and the scheduled stoppage of play arrived with 296 players still with chips, meaning another 53 eliminations would need to come before the bursting of the money bubble.
Austria’s HeroCallFold surged to the top of the counts near the end of the night, building a stack of nearly 720,000 by the time play was halted. Here’s how the top 10 looked overnight:
1. HeroCallFold (Austria) — 719,357
2. Pkr_b777 (Switzerland) — 551,511
3. Dan “Danny98765” Smith (Canada) — 536,211
4. VOZNI (Russia) — 500,786
5. Pantkvittot (Sweden) — 452,007
6. PokerMack92 (Sweden) — 441,853
7. Andrey “Kroko-dill” Zaichenko (Russia) — 440,745
8. Zimnan “Zimmy86” Ziyard (United Kingdom) — 416,810
9. tonkaaaa (Canada) — 407,694
10. Jord4n (Mexico) — 400,360
Among the Team PokerStars Pros still in the event, Jason Mercier picked up pocket kings and pocket queens among his final hands of the night to double up once then knock out an opponent to finish with a stack of just under 275,000, putting him just outside the top 30.
Also with chips were Team PokerStars Pros Humberto Brenes, Jake Cody, Liv Boeree, and Vicky Coren, while Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen and Shane “shaniac” Schleger of Team Online were both still in as well.
Day 2
A little over an hour into play on Monday, 50 unfortunate players had fallen and the money bubble had drawn achingly close. The players remaining number stuck on 246 for a while, then ismo<3seppo and Akira "Clutch Hero" Ohyama were knocked out to bring the tourney one elimination away from the cash.
Hand-for-hand play commenced across the 28 remaining tables, and it didn’t take long before the ironically-named PureCash25 was knocked out in 244th to become the last player eliminated before the money.
PureCash25’s demise was thanks to Luke “LukeFromB13” Staudenmaier, a painful-to-witness hand that saw PureCash25 flop a lesser set of treys against Staudenmaier’s set of queens. Check out the hand here, if you’ve got the stomach for it.
From 243 to 63: Shaniac surges
Meanwhile, with 243 players left, it was Jon “PearlJammer” Turner leading everyone with a stack of about 830,000.
Among the Team PokerStars Pros and Team Online members still in the hunt at that point was Jason Mercier. Mercier was sitting at Turner’s table, in fact, and a short while after the bubble burst tweeted an update on both himself and “PearlJammer”:
In the money #wcoop main event @Pokerstars 117/210 bit card dead on bubble, watched PearlJammer win every hand… Lets run this thing up!!!
— Jason Mercier (@JasonMercier) September 30, 2013
Also at that table was a short-stacked Vicky Coren who soon thereafter was knocked out by Gavin “gavonater” O’Rourke in 209th ($13,331.25). She’d be followed to the rail a little while later by Jake Cody in 179th ($14,397.75), then some time after that by Mercier, too, who made it to 144th ($15,997.50) before falling.
After a little over three hours on Monday there were just 100 players left led by Peter “GARFIELD25” Chan with a little over 1.15 million. Andrey “Kroko-Dill” Zaichenko, James “croll103” Carroll, Zimnan “zimmy86” Ziyard, and Turner were among those in the top 10, with Team Online member Shane “shaniac” Schleger also on the first page of the counts sitting just inside the top 15.
The Schleger surge would continue, and as Day 2 reached the three-and-a-half-hour break he’d push up close to 1.25 million and into the chip lead with 89 players left.
Play continued. After becoming short-stacked Team PokerStars Pro Humberto “Humberto B.” Brenes fell in 69th place ($23,463.00) after taking Q♥ 3♥ up against theidolist’s A♣ 4♥ then turning a queen but losing to a flush when the river brought a fourth club.
A little while after that Team Online member Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen was ousted in 63rd ($24,529.50) after shoving his stack of about eight-and-a-half big blinds with Q♦ 8♦ , getting called by SwissCantMis who had 7♣ 7♦ , and failing to improve.
From 63 to 27: Boeree bounced
Among those following Petersen to the rail over the next stretch were Jordan “iMsoLucky0” Morgan (62nd, $24,529.50), David “CrabMaki” Shallow (60th, $24,529.50), start-of-Day-2 leader HeroCallFold (59th, $24,529.50), Luke “LukeFromB13” Staudenmaier (56th, $24,529.50), Jamie “AndTheLawWon” Kerstetter (54th, $26,662.50), and Dan “Danny98765” Smith (53rd, $26,662.50).
By then, Liv Boeree found herself down to a stack of about 223,000 — just over 11 big blinds — and when Benson “BBOY3110” Nikkerson open-shoved from the small blind she made the call with A♦ Jâ™ . BBOY3110 had 10♥ 7♣ , and after flopping a ten ended with the best hand to end Boeree’s run in 52nd ($26,662.50).
They battled onward through the six-and-a-half-hour break for Day 2, shortly after which just 40 players remained led by saphire1 with Matias “Festivuss” Gabrenja (50th, $26,662.50), Ryan “king10clubs” Madsen (46th, $26,662.50), Caio “caio_pimenta” Pimenta (43rd, $29,862.50), and Sergio “zcedrick” Aido (41st, $29,862) among the eliminated.
Meanwhile, the lone red spade left in the counts was next to Team Online member Shane “shaniac” Schleger’s name, and he continued to maintain an average stack as play proceeded.
He also continued to tweet (@ShaneSchleger) throughout the night as he updated his followers about having to pay a bellman for another night in his motel room (and for a fresh pack of smokes), reported on his cycling through Bob Dylan’s gambling songs (e.g., “Rambling, Gambling Willie”), and shared a link to a great (and appropriate) track from David Bowie’s Young Americans LP, “Win.”
From 27 to 9: Another deep run for hummylun; SwissCantMis keeps hitting
About an hour later they were down to 27, with James “croll103” Carroll (31th, $34,128) and Aaron “AJSuited16” McCready (30th, $34,128) among the fallen. By then, PlayinWasted had moved into the top spot, joined by Tomatee and SwissCantMis as the only players with more than 3 million.
Three more players fell — Jason “TheMasterJ33” DeWitt (27th), NA$DAq (26th), and DavidSabrina (25th) — each earning $39,460.50, then Schleger found himself with a short stack as he reported to his followers:
Won the first two critical flip, both 77 > AK but just lost the third, even more critical one JJ < AK. Shortest stack with 24 left now!
— Shane Schleger (@ShaneSchleger) October 1, 2013
Shortly after delivering that message, Schleger enjoyed a timely double with Aâ™ Q♣ versus Ace0fDiamond’s Qâ™ Q♦ when the board brought a couple of aces to preserve Schleger’s tourney life.
USoGotPwnd next went out in 24th, then Schleger took the rest of Ace0fDiamond’s stack when his Jâ™ J♦ held versus the latter’s A♣ 8♣ to send Ace0fDiamond out in 23rd. Fiks (22nd), Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki (21st), Dan “APowers1968” Colpoys (20th), and saphire1 (19th) were next to go, all earning $39,460 as well, and just two tables remained.
SwissCantMis led with 18 left, with Vampyboy and Jon “PearlJammer” Turner next in line. Also still in the hunt was Jerry “hummylun” Wong with a just below average stack, making a second straight deep WCOOP Main Event run after finishing 11th a year ago.
el_klonkador (18th), superf1sh (17th), adn MKKMOO (16th) next went out in rapid fashion, each earning $45,859.50.
SwissCantMis continued to lead, and added still more chips after knocking out Jon “PearlJammer” Turner in 15th in a hand that saw Turner all in before the flop for almost 1.5 million (25 big blinds) with K♣ K♦ versus SwissCantMis’s 7♣ 7â™ , then a seven fall among the community cards.
Benson “BBOY3110” Nikkerson (14th) and Jerry “hummylun” Wong (13th) followed Turner to the rail, like PearlJammer earning $56,524.50 for their finishes and nearly equaling Wong’s score for taking 11th a year ago.
The next three to go each earned $67,189 apiece. krmont22 was knocked out in 12th after taking A♥ 8♥ up against alexandrapau’s A♦ K♥ and losing. Andrey “Kroko-dill” Zaichenko was eliminated in 11th after his 7â™ 7♦ failed to outdraw Vampyboy’s 9♣ 9♥ . And after 1M.BanKroLL narrowly escaped elimination a couple of times, it was Tomatee falling in 10th with K♦ Jâ™ versus PlayinWasted’s Aâ™ A♥ .
Almost exactly 10 hours after play had begun on Day 2, the final table was underway with SwissCantMis still the frontrunner.
Seat 1: PlayinWasted (Germany) — 7,551,467
Seat 2: Dylan “Pokerl)eviL” Hortin (Canada) — 2,067,700
Seat 3: Team Online member Shane “shaniac” Schleger (Mexico) — 3,694,701
Seat 4: Vampyboy (Germany) — 2,518,386
Seat 5: alexandrapau (Canada) — 5,610,664
Seat 6: Leon “flippetyflop” Louis (United Kingdom) — 4,244,756
Seat 7: 1M.BanKroLL (Malta) — 2,871,036
Seat 8: Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher (Germany) — 2,709,187
Seat 9: SwissCantMis (Germany) — 11,392,103
They’d outlasted more than 2,100 opponents including most of poker’s toughest players to get this far, and now the final nine had still more hard work left before them if they hoped to go further.
Among the final nine were a Sunday Million winner (Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher), a SCOOP champ (alexandrapau), and a WCOOP bracelet holder (Schleger). In this year’s WCOOP, Dylan “Pokerl)eviL” Hortin had finished third in Event #35 ($320 PLO 6-max.) and Vampyboy took fourth in Event #14 ($530 NLHE 6-max.). But all had well proven themselves to get this far, with each securing at least a six-figure score for their efforts.
Of course, all were eyeing those seven-figure prizes up top, as Schleger acknowledged with wry reference to last year’s WCOOP Main Event champion:
shaniac: oh yeah
shaniac: altogether now
shaniac: I WONT MILLION
Vampyboy vanquished in ninth
It would take more than half an hour for the first final table elimination to occur, during which period the blinds increased to 50,000/100,000 with a 12,500 ante.
That hand saw PlayinWasted open for 210,000 from middle position, then Vampyboy reraise-shove for 2,256,886 from the button. It folded back to PlayinWasted who called, turning over A♥ J♦ while Vampyboy showed J♣ J♥ .
The K♣ K♥ 10♥ flop meant Vampyboy still led, but the A♠fell on the turn to give PlayinWasted a better two pair, and after the 8♦ river Vampyboy was out in ninth.
flippetyflop stopped in eighth
Play continued with SwissCantMis and PlayinWasted virtually even for the lead, both hovering around 12.5 million while the nearest competitors had but a third of that total.
IM.Bankroll survived an all-in with Aâ™ K♥ versus Leon “flippetyflop” Louis’s Qâ™ Q♥ when an ace came on board. Then Dylan “Pokerl)eviL” Hortin survived as well in dramatic fashion after going all in with 9â™ 9♥ versus SwissCantMis’s Aâ™ 8â™ , watching the flop come 8♥ 8♣ J♣ and the turn the 4♦ , then hitting a two-outer to survive when the 9♣ fell on fifth street.
They were nearing the 11-hour mark for Day 2 when flippetyflop opened for the minimum for 240,000 from under the gun, then Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher reraised all in for over 2.9 million from a couple of seats over. It folded back to Louis who called, showing A♣ Q♣ and needing help against Drescher’s A♦ K♦ .
The board came 10♦ J♥ 4♦ , then 8♠, then 5♥ , and flippetyflop was eliminated in eighth.
Pokerl)eviL bedeviled in seventh
Following a wild hand that saw 1M.BanKroLL shove all in on the river on a Jâ™ 6♣ K♥ 5♥ A♥ board, get a fold from Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher, then show 10♦ 4â™ (!), the next elimination came as Dylan “Pokerl)eviL” Hortin’s Main Event run came to an end in seventh.
Hortin’s last hand started with a min-raise from SwissCantMis from the button to 240,000 and a call from the small blind by PlayinWasted. Pokerl)eviL then shoved for 1,954,980 from the big blind, and after SwissCantMis stepped aside PlayinWasted called.
It was Aâ™ Q♦ for Hortin against PlayinWasted’s A♣ J♥ . The flop came 2â™ 8♦ J♦ , putting PlayinWasted ahead, and after the 5♦ turn and K♣ river they were down to six.
shaniac shut down in sixth
On the very next hand, SwissCantMis min-raised to 240,000 from the cutoff seat, PlayinWasted called from the button, then Shane “shaniac” Schleger shoved for 3,466,603 from the small blind.
It folded back to SwissCantMis who reraised to more than 10.8 million — enough to chase out PlayinWasted — then showed Aâ™ Kâ™ to Schleger’s 5â™ 5♥ .
The 4♦ 9♣ 3♣ flop was good for shaniac, but the A♣ on the turn was not. Fifth street was the Q♠, and the Team Online member was out in sixth and tweeting the news to his followers:
That's a wrap. Lost the ultimate crucial flip 55 to AK for heaps, still feeling pretty f'ing good about this run.
— Shane Schleger (@ShaneSchleger) October 1, 2013
AA < AA for alexandrapau, finished in fifth
The remaining five pressed forward, and while some brought up the possibility of a deal the tourney was never paused to discuss the idea further.
Then with the blinds at 70,000/140,000 a hand arose that saw alexandrapau raise to 280,000 from the cutoff, Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher three-bet to 765,432 from the small blind, alexandrapau make it 1,400,864, Drescher shove all-in for more than 10 million total, and alexandrapau called with the 3,787,799 left behind.
Their cards were flipped over, and all relaxed at the anticlimactic sight of A♦ A♠for Drescher and A♣ A♥ for alexandrapau.
But then came the community cards, with the 7♦ 3♦ 5♦ flop suddenly introducing tension to the scene as Allanon85 needed but one diamond more to win the entire pot. The turn was the 2♣ , but the 9♦ fell on the river, and alexandrapau was out in fifth giving Allanon85 a huge pot.
1M.BanKroLL depleted in fourth
Before long 1M.BanKroLL of Malta became the short stack versus three German opponents, eventually getting whittled down to about 1.15 million while the others all had stacks ranging from 9 to 17 million.
Finally the blinds were 80,000/160,000 when 1M.BanKroLL shoved for 1,139,064 from the button with K♣ 7â™ and got a single caller in Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher from the blinds holding A♣ 5â™ . The board rolled out 5♥ 10♥ 3â™ J♦ A♥ , and 1M.BanKroLL was done in fourth.
After carving up field, Team Germany chops
The final three played a few hands before pausing the tournament to talk about a possible deal, at which point Allanon85 led with 18,467,214, PlayinWasted was next with 15,831,469, and SwissCantMis third with 8,361,317.
While “chip chop” numbers were calculated — leaving $160,000 for which to play — tourney host and Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden took to the chat box:
johnnylodden (TeamPro): germans are even taking over high stakes tourneys online now!
PlayinWasted: Team Germany!
Allanon85: 🙂
The numbers were then provided — $1,415,238.66 for Allanon85, $1,333,499.15 for PlayinWasted, and $1,101,835.44 for SwissCantMis (with $160K left). Both Drescher and SwissCantMis immediately said they wanted more, but PlayinWasted wouldn’t budge. After further thought and discussion, however, all decided they could accept the deal that would assure each of them seven-figure scores.
SwissCantMis sunk in third
Not long after play resumed, PlayinWasted grabbed the lead after flopping a flush versus Allanon85 and getting three streets’ worth of value. From there, PlayinWasted continued to enjoy a big lead over the other two for another half-hour, although no one was in a hurry to go just yet.
Finally there came a hand in which Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher opened with a 2x raise to 400,000 from the button, then SwissCantMis shoved over the top for 4,986,228 total. PlayinWasted stepped aside and Drescher called.
Both players had picked up aces, but Allanon85’s A♣ K♥ had SwissCantMis’s A♥ 7♦ dominated. The community cards came 5â™ 8♥ 10♣ 6♦ Kâ™ , and just two players remained.
Marathon match ends with PlayinWasted win
Heads-up play began with PlayinWasted in front with 25,741,317 to Allanon85’s 16,918,683. After just a few minutes of play, however, Drescher swiftly grabbed the edge in a hand in which he flopped two pair and rivered a full house to earn a 16 million-plus chip pot and a 2-to-1 chip advantage.
Drescher proceeded to whittle away at PlayinWasted’s stack, eventually pushing his opponent down under 5 million. PlayinWasted survived an all-in with A♣ 4♥ against Aâ™ 10♥ when the board came 9♦ K♥ Q♥ A♦ 9♥ for a split pot.
PlayinWasted doubled up soon after that one flopping trips, then doubled once more to even the match after flopping two pair versus Allanon85’s flush draw, getting the chips in the middle, and having the hand hold.
They’d continue to push back and forth over the next several dozen hands, with each taking turns taking the lead as their heads-up duel continued on past the one-hour mark.
Eventually PlayinWasted pushed back out ahead again, chipping up over 36 million while Allanon85 slipped back to just over 6 million. Then with the blinds at 200,000/400,000, PlayinWasted limped in from the button, Drescher raised to 888,888, PlayinWasted shoved all in, and Drescher called.
Allanon85: K♣ Qâ™
PlayinWasted: Aâ™ Kâ™
Five cards later it was all over, as the board came 4â™ 2♣ 10â™ J♥ Jâ™ . After more than 26 hours’ worth of poker spread over two days, a final table lasting more than four-and-a-half-hours, and a heads-up match taking over an hour-and-a-half and 140 hands, PlayinWasted had won the WCOOP Main Event!
Congratulations to PlayinWasted for becoming the newest World Championship of Online Poker Main Event champion and claiming nearly $1.5 million in first prize money. And kudos as well to PlayinWasted’s countrymen Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher and SwissCantMis for their seven-figure paydays following the three-handed deal.
PokerStars 2013 WCOOP Event #66 ($5,200 NLHE Main Event) results (*reflects three-way deal)
Players: 2,133
Prize pool: $10,665,000.00
Places paid: 243
1. PlayinWasted (Germany) — $1,493,499.15*
2. Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher (Germany) — $1,415,238.66*
3. SwissCantMis (Germany) — $1,101,835.44*
4. 1M.BanKroLL (Malta) — $599,906.25
5. alexandrapau (Canada) — $426,600.00
6. Team Online member Shane “shaniac” Schleger (Mexico) — $291,154.50
7. Dylan “Pokerl)eviL” Hortin (Canada) — $213,300.00
8. Leon “flippetyflop” Louis (United Kingdom) — $159,975.00
9. Vampyboy (Germany) — $106,650.00
Thanks for following our coverage of the 2013 World Championship of Online Poker. Remember you can check the WCOOP information page for all of the results and statistics from this year’s series, as well as read recaps of all 66 events here on the blog.
Martin Harris is Freelance Contributor to the PokerStars Blog.
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