A couple of days ago, Dutch poker pro Rens “Rens02” Feenstra won a big WCOOP event. In fact, it took him weeks to do so — it was the “phased” Event #1-H ($215 no-limit hold’em) that began way back at the start of the series.

Feenstra has won a lot before, including both live where he’s collected more than $1.2 million in tournament winnings and online where his accomplishments include a Sunday Million win for $234K.

In this one he managed to top a huge 11,254 entry field to earn a handsome $189,829.64 first prize. After multiple Phase 1’s played down to 1,273, those survivors met back up to play out Phase 2 on Sunday and Monday. And from that massive field, once Feenstra made it to the final two, there was a familiar screen name across the virtual felt.

“And I got heads-up with my friend.”

“He’s been around ever since I started playing live poker — he’s always been around,” said Feenstra with a laugh when  talking to PokerStars Blog.

It was Feenstra’s friend and fellow countryman “Pappe_Ruk,” a.k.a. Joep van den Bijgaart, who was the last opponent standing between him and his first WCOOP title.

Let’s back up a little. How did the long road to the final table go for Feenstra?

“I qualified pretty quickly… I’m not sure, but it was my first or second try,” says Feenstra. Indeed, the tourney journey was essentially smooth for him for the most part — until, that is, they reached the final day of play.

“I was short in the last two tables,” he says. “Then I won deuces against kings for my tournament life. And then like two hands later I won jacks against tens, again for my tournament life. I went from being one of the shortest stacks to chip leader in just a couple of hands.”

Feenstra still had the big stack when the final table started, and from there he took full advantage of being in such a favorable position.

“At the final table I just made a couple of big hands, and I kept my chip lead. I kept growing my stack pretty comfortably. I got into a spot where we were five-handed and I was huge chip leader — I could really push the other people around. And so I had a chance to grow my stack even more,” he explains.

As one of the shorter stacks, van den Bijgaart couldn’t escape Feenstra’s pressure, either.

“I actually bluffed him in a huge pot with around five players left,” says Feenstra. “He made a big laydown. Then at four-handed… [when] they were all struggling trying not to finish fourth, he shoved king-queen into my aces — and he won that one. So we had some confrontations at the final table.”

It was only at three-handed that Feenstra had any serious difficulty, slipping from 180 million to 110 million at one point. “Then I won a big flip against the guy who finished third,” he says.

Joep “Pappe_Ruk” van den Bijgaart

“And I got heads-up with my friend.”

The pair quickly made a deal and played it out. “It was very cool to be heads-up with him,” says Feenstra. “The heads-up was fairly short. He made a big bluff once after I had checked back my two pair on a 7-6-2 board. Then he bluffed twice more. I had started with a 2-to-1 chip lead, so after that he was really short and it was just a matter of time before we got into an all-in situation. I ended up winning the last one with my K♠2♠ versus his 10♠9♠.”

Feenstra says he likes the “phased” tournament structure. In fact, he made a deep run in the same event during SCOOP earlier in the year. “I think I got 14th or something — so back-to-back strong finishes.”

Winning this one was doubly sweet for Feenstra given how most of this year’s WCOOP had gone for him.

“I was struggling for the first two-and-a-half weeks. Then last Sunday it started going my way and I won this one, which was my last chance to make up for the losses I had made, so that was really cool.”

“It should never be too easy, right?” he chuckles.

Feenstra will enjoy some well-earned down time over the next few days while he decides whether or not play WSOP Europe. “Then after in November there’s a couple of fun series here in the Netherlands. There’s the World Series of Poker Circuit in Rotterdam and then the Master Classics in Amsterdam which is one of my favorite series, so I’m definitely going to be there for the whole time.”

Such is the poker pro’s life. Win or lose, there’s always more poker on the horizon. Best not to get overly fazed.

More WCOOP winner interviews:

• Dan “woodbine ave” Scott: Second victory was “a long time coming!”
• Maxim “Pylusha” Pylev: From 15 big blinds to NL08 champion
• “Mr. No way”: It’s not easy beating “Colisea” heads up. Or is it?
• Germany’s “Gaul4200”: “$44K is a lot of money for a 20-year-old student in Germany”
• Joris “BillLewinsky” Ruijs: Captures second career WCOOP title in $530 NLH PKO
• “myIT4”: “The WCOOP… it’s the World Cup, and I was representing Russia!”
• Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira: One week, three WCOOP titles!
• Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik: “It’s my first win in an official tournament”
• Rodrigo “guinHuuh” Freire: Brazilian’s roller coaster ride turns $11 into $13K
• Patrick “prepstyle71” Serda: No more pizzas for the three-time winner
• Jeffrey “Jefffrr8” Reardon: He wanted a five-figure score. He got one.
• Maxime “Daghemuneguu” Chilaud: Malta-based Frenchman wins first WCOOP of the series
• Norway’s “19_Kumite_79”: First two-day event, biggest field, biggest cash
• Viktor “TsiTool” Kovács: Puts Hungary on the WCOOP map
• Italo “sep_itl1914” Carandinas: Brazilian chooses his own adventure
• Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara: Woken up by a kick from his 3-year-old, plays Razz and wins!
• “snovalshik1”: first-timer, who turned $5.50 into $3,408
• Rinat “Zapahzamazki” Lyapin: Won PLO while streaming live
• Alex “dynoalot” Difelice: Second win, but “I feel I have a ways to go.”
• Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha: Akkari’s acolyte, who sets the record straight
• Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb: Seventh title, surely not the last

WCOOP is over, but the online action continues. Click here to open a PokerStars account.

We’ve known Patrick “pmahoney22” Mahoney for a good while here at PokerStars Blog. That’s him up above, on his way to the final table of an LAPT event in Panama several years ago.

He’s won plenty on PokerStars over the years as well, and when talking to us this week he recounted winning a TCOOP and making some WCOOP final tables in the past, including chopping one heads-up versus Dan “djk123″ Kelly” before finishing second. But a WCOOP title had alluded him.

Until this week, that is.

In the very first WCOOP tournament Mahoney played this year, it took him all of five hours to top a 653-entry field and win Event #63-H, a $530 buy-in, NLHE 6-Max. turbo tourney. With a first prize of $56,670.83, that meant a nifty $11K-plus per hour win rate for Mahoney.

“It was a pretty good start for the trip, I guess!” he laughs.

The man from Minnesota has traveled all over during the last decade to play poker, and in fact found himself in picturesque Andorra just prior to sitting down to play the final days of this year’s WCOOP.

The run to the final table meant outlasting a number of high-profile competitors, among them Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer” (who finished ninth) and Andrey “ThePateychuk” Pateychuk (who took 10th).

The final seven were reseated around the final table, and Mahoney quickly ended up in a confrontation with another big name, “Ole “wizowizo” Schemion.

“I think I won a flip against him to bust him in seventh,” says Mahoney. “He’s a great guy… I like him. But he’s got enough money I think!”

Mahoney describes the tournament as having been a bit of a blur, necessarily punctuated by numerous preflop all-ins and overall running well at showdowns. “With the turbo tournaments, that’s how you’ve got to be to get the win,” he notes.

Fifth out of seven to begin the final table, Mahoney was able to negotiate his way to three-handed play in order to do battle with two more tough opponents, the Italian Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza playing from Austria and Rodrigo “digopapel” Semeghini of Brazil, both of whom had enjoyed big stacks for much of the tournament’s final stages.

Then came a crucial hand — another one of those preflop all-ins Mahoney noted needed to be won in order to make it through an event such as this.

“Tankanza shoved the button with maybe 20 big blinds,” he explains. “I had a close spot in the small blind with A-9 offsuit and less chips, maybe 14 BBs. I called and he had 4-4, but the big blind (digopapel) called as well with Q-Q.”

“Obviously once the big blind calls, we’re not in good shape at all,” says Mahoney. “He’s not going to call with eights there, I think, which would be the best-case scenario.”

Speaking of best-case scenarios, the flop brought an ace and by the river Mahoney had made a full house, meaning Speranza had busted in third and after the triple-up Mahoney was suddenly in the chip lead. And it wasn’t long after that he’d won another all-in versus Semeghini and a WCOOP title to go along with his previous TCOOP victory.

“Just need to win a SCOOP now!” he says.

After playing those last days of WCOOP, Mahoney is planning to kick back for a short while, perhaps visiting Barcelona with his girlfriend. Then it’ll be a trip back to the U.S. for a friend’s wedding and more poker.

He’s not in a huge hurry to leave the tiny principality situated between France and Spain, though.

“Andorra is beautiful… I love it here,” he says. “The mountains, with real nice weather this time of year, too… I’m all in!”

Call it another successful all-in for Mahoney. Sounds like he’s chosen another good spot for it.

More WCOOP winner interviews:

• Rens “Rens02” Feenstra: 11,254 entries and the Dutch pro beats his buddy heads-up
• Dan “woodbine ave” Scott: Second victory was “a long time coming!”
• Maxim “Pylusha” Pylev: From 15 big blinds to NL08 champion
• “Mr. No way”: It’s not easy beating “Colisea” heads up. Or is it?
• Germany’s “Gaul4200”: “$44K is a lot of money for a 20-year-old student in Germany”
• Joris “BillLewinsky” Ruijs: Captures second career WCOOP title in $530 NLH PKO
• “myIT4”: “The WCOOP… it’s the World Cup, and I was representing Russia!”
• Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira: One week, three WCOOP titles!
• Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik: “It’s my first win in an official tournament”
• Rodrigo “guinHuuh” Freire: Brazilian’s roller coaster ride turns $11 into $13K
• Patrick “prepstyle71” Serda: No more pizzas for the three-time winner
• Jeffrey “Jefffrr8” Reardon: He wanted a five-figure score. He got one.
• Maxime “Daghemuneguu” Chilaud: Malta-based Frenchman wins first WCOOP of the series
• Norway’s “19_Kumite_79”: First two-day event, biggest field, biggest cash
• Viktor “TsiTool” Kovács: Puts Hungary on the WCOOP map
• Italo “sep_itl1914” Carandinas: Brazilian chooses his own adventure
• Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara: Woken up by a kick from his 3-year-old, plays Razz and wins!
• “snovalshik1”: first-timer, who turned $5.50 into $3,408
• Rinat “Zapahzamazki” Lyapin: Won PLO while streaming live
• Alex “dynoalot” Difelice: Second win, but “I feel I have a ways to go.”
• Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha: Akkari’s acolyte, who sets the record straight
• Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb: Seventh title, surely not the last

WCOOP is over, but the online action continues. Click here to open a PokerStars account.

For three hours on Thursday afternoon, several hundred players around the world gathered in Twitch chat to play poker with a world champion, a comedian, and a guy who works for Run It Up. You know, just your average home game.

Chat Plays Poker launched at noon Pacific Time yesterday on the PokerStars Twitch channel. The $1/$1 capped no-limit hold’em game featured a lineup of Chris Moneymaker, Joe Stapleton, and Jesse Fullen. Around 1,500 viewers watched, with several hundred of them voting on what actions to take through the Twitch client. All the while Run It Up mastermind Jason Somerville played host, giving Chat its options on every hand and commenting on its decisions in real time.

When we spoke with Somerville at the Run It Up House this summer, he told us he’d been looking for ways to make live streamed poker more interactive, more engaging, and more entertaining. “If you watch a lot of other live stream poker games, it’s usually stiff, often with no player audio, often with no one that understands Twitch,” Somerville told us. “We are Twitch, we live and breathe Twitch, particularly Twitch poker. So we know what the fans want.”

He ain’t lying.

The smack-talk from the other players at the table was heavy from the very beginning, especially from Moneymaker. Stapes caught an earful on the very first hand.

Want to get in on some of that sweet Chat Plays Poker action yourself? The show returns to the PokerStars Twitch channel on Friday, October 4!

Do you want to get your hands on a Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) 2020? Of course you do. Well, if you happen to live in the UK and Ireland, a brand new experience could see you doing just that.

The Platinum Pass Experience will see eight PokerStars players heading to the Moneymaker Road to the PSPC at Asper’s Casino in London on November 9th, where they’ll play for a Platinum Pass worth €26,466 (approx. $30,000).

But it all starts online.

The qualifying period kicks off tomorrow, running from September 28 – October 20, with eight qualifiers in total. Each tournament will have a £5 entry fee (with re-entries allowed), and daily feeder satellites will run from just £0.50.

The winner of each of qualifying tournament will win a £2,200 package to the London Moneymaker Tour stop.

You’ll also get to meet the man himself, Chris Moneymaker

This prize includes £200 in spending money which will be credited to your PokerStars account (winners will win two nights in a London hotel, so we suggest you use it to book your travel to London), plus £2,000 which will go into the live final prize pool.

Note down these dates as you’ll need to win one of these to make it to the London final:

• Saturday 28th September
• Sunday 29th September
• Saturday 5th October
• Sunday 6th October
• Saturday 12th October
• Sunday 13th October
• Saturday 19th October
• Sunday 20th October

To find the qualifiers, simply search for ‘Experience’ in the PokerStars client.

Make it through and you’ll not only be playing an eight-player single table sit and go, you’ll also be playing for a Platinum Pass.

Just a reminder of what you’ll win should you take down a qualifier:

• A trip for two to Moneymaker’s Road to PSPC in Aspers Casino on the 10th November
• The chance to play live for part of a £16K prizepool and a Platinum Pass
• Hotel room for you and a guest (2 nights)
• Activities booked for you and your guests

The Final table will be streamed live on Twitch, so everyone will be able to root for you at home.

Best of luck!

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

PokerStars is looking for a brand new member of Team Pro, but not the type you might have seen before.

They’ll have the same passion and enthusiasm for the game. And they’ll be an active community members.

The difference will be they’ll have a VR headset to hand.

It’s just one part of a brand-new Virtual Reality Poker Tour we announced details of last week.

You can click here for spoilers, or read on below for more details.

Become the first PokerStars VR Ambassador

The PokerStars Virtual Realty Poker Tour starts this Saturday, the first of it’s kind. To register visit Discord in the VRPT channel

This is a brand-new role though, so will require a different type of Ambassador.

And for that reason, we want to open this up to everyone – as many VR poker players as possible, from anywhere you can play it.

That’s why we’ve created multiple ways for you to make the shortlist.

That’s the final ten players we’re looking for before we name our ambassador.

There are ten ways to qualify

It’s not just about your talents on the virtual poker felt. There are plenty of ways to get our attention off it too.

Here are the ten ways you can qualify:

• Every hand you play between Sept 27th 12pm ET until Feb 3rd 12pm ET gives you a ticket to be drawn for a seat into the Final 10.
• Community Hero – The most helpful community members (judged by Lucky VR Devs/PokerStars) across all digital channels will be selected. To be a community hero, you need to be someone who is passionate and helpful in growing and supporting the PokerStars VR community.
• Most Chips Won in Cash Games – this seat will be awarded to the player who is the largest net chips winner in Cash Games from Sept 26th to Feb 3rd 12pm ET.
• Leaderboard Rings/Spinning Tops Draw – Each Leaderboard Ring Won in Cash Games or Sit & Go or Spinning Tops won in Spin & Go Leaderboards between Sept 26th 12pm – Feb 3rd 12pm ET will count as 1 entry into this draw for a Final 10 seat. Multiple tickets may be won per player for this draw.
• VRPT Player of the Year – This Final 10 seat will be awarded to the Season 1 VRPT POY winner. The player who accumulates the most VRPT Tournament leaderboard points across all VRPT Tournaments until Feb 3rd 12pm ET 2020.
• Spin to Win – Any player who hits the PokerStars VR Ambassador Slot on the lobby spinwheel from Sept 27th 12pm – Feb 3rd 12pm ET will be entered into a draw for a Final 10 seat. You may only qualify once for this draw.
• Make a Royal Flush – If you make a Royal Flush in PokerStars VR from Sept 27th 12pm -Feb 3rd 12pm ET and the hand gets to showdown, you will be given a Royal Flush finalist draw ticket for each instance. We will then draw from the Royal Flush finalists for a Final 10 seat winner. Multiple tickets may be won per player for this draw.
• Spin & Go – Any player who wins the top chips prize on any stake Spin & Go will also win a ticket to a draw where one winner will advance to the Final 10. Multiple tickets may be won per player for this draw.
• Discord Ninja – The Discord Ninja qualifier will go to our top 5 most helpful, active and engaging Discord members from Sept 27th 12pm – Feb 3rd 12pm to be entered into a draw for the Final 10 seat. Selected by Lucky VR Devs/PokerStars.
• Popular Vote – The in game voting system will allow any player to cast their vote for who they think should be the PokerStars VR Ambassador using their watch UI. Must have played 1000 hands to qualify to vote. Player with the most votes from Sept 27th 12pm – Feb 3rd 12pm will earn a seat into the Final 10.

So being great on the tables is one way (and doing well in the VR PT – see below). But so too is being a community super star.

Start with the Virtual Reality Poker Tour this Saturday

The tour starts this weekend with the first Space event.

Here’s the full schedule:

• Friday September 27: Mini Main Event, a 1 million chip buy-in with a 60 million guarantee
• Saturday September 28: Main Event, a 5 million chip buy-in with a 300 million chip guarantee
• Sunday September 29: Ultra High roller, a 25 million chip buy-in with a 200 million chip guarantee

Winners of each event will become the first players to receive a PokerStars VRPT bracelet for their avatar.

They’ll also received points towards the Player of the Year leader board.

You can play from anywhere in the world and all for free. All you need is a headset and you could be winning all sorts of virtual swag, as well as tournament bracelets that you can add to your avatar.

Then make poker history

You might be thinking, wait, being a VR ambassador sounds a lot different to being a fully-fledged member of Team PokerStars.

Yeah, you’re right.

As our VR Ambassador, you won’t be required to travel to events.

And you won’t need to be away from home for long periods of time.

You’ll be spared the jetlag, the hotel bills, and the need to find someone who’ll feed your cat.

You can do everything from home.

But then there are the similarities too.

You’re still going to stand out.

Not just for the logo you’ll be wearing. But for the reasons that will make you our VR ambassador in the first place.

Are you up for it?

You have until now and next February to make your case.

Check out the video above for ways you can increase your chances, and watch out for more news about this vacancy in the coming weeks.

And remember… the PokerStars VR Poker Tour is free to play and available wherever our VR games are permitted. Get signed up now on the PokerStars Discord Channel before seats fill up.

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

When you get down to the final two players in a big online poker tournament, having the screen name “GODofHU” is sure to send shivers down the spine of your opponent, particularly when you have the results to back up such a bold screen name.

Unless, perhaps, your opponent is also a high stakes regular who regularly streams his sessions in front of thousands of viewers.

You see, when the UK’s Borys “GODofHU” Turitsa found himself heads up in WCOOP-30-H: $2,100 8-Max, he also found himself sat opposite none other than PokerStars Ambassador Lex Veldhuis, playing in front of an audience larger than that of a sold-out Wembley Arena.

“Winning a WCOOP feels satisfying but doing it on Lex’s stream felt even better and was lots of fun too,” Turitsa told PokerStars Blog once WCOOP was over.

Having outlasted the 327-entry field, Turitsa banked $121,542 and took down his first WCOOP title. Lex, meanwhile, would have to settle for $91,694.

Check out our full conversation with Turitsa below.

PokerStars Blog: Hi Borys, congratulations on winning your first WCOOP title. Did you know you were playing on a popular Twitch stream when it was happening?

Borys “GODofHU” Turitsa: Thanks. I have seen Lex’s streams in the past and I’d been watching him during the WCOOP series quite often, so I was well aware of how he tends to play and strategies that he was using. I was very happy that Lex played well and we managed to play until the end together.

Turitsa kept Lex from the top spot

What were your feelings on the final table? Did you like your seat? Was there anyone you tried to play pots with or avoid?

When I got to the final table, I was frustrated a bit as I lost a big chunk of chips in an all-in situation when I was way ahead, but after a few hands at the final table I got it all back.

I liked my position at the table and the chip leaders were not putting enough ICM pressure on us so the only challenge I had was to become the chip leader after which I could utlise my edge. The more chips I get and the shorter handed the game gets the bigger the advantage for me since I have plenty of experience at playing 3-4 handed. I have played many hands in cash games vs “P0KERPR02.0” [who finished in third] so I wanted Lex to stay in the game as long as possible and the same for “P0KERPR02.0” since I understand their strategies much better than others.

What does a title like this mean to you at this stage of your career?

This is the first time I have decided to play an MTT series with a primary focus on it, and so winning a title in the fashion I did whilst being on Lex’s stream couldn’t be better. If I had to write the script, I would not have changed anything. Also, It has given me more confidence and motivation to work in an MTT direction further.

What does your regular poker grind look like at the moment? Is it a mix of tournaments and cash or are you focusing on one particular area?

My casual session is usually a mix of cash games, four tables of Zoom $500 and regular tables of high stakes PLO/6+/NLH. During WCOOP it was a mix of mostly MTT’s and a few high stakes cash game tables.

Could you tell me a bit about how you discovered poker and your rise up the ranks? At what point did you go pro, and what was that transition like?

I discovered poker through my dad. I got very interested in the game by watching him playing online. Since early childhood I always enjoyed playing different games and winning at them, and poker was just the one game which created an opportunity to make a living out of it.

I still enjoy playing the game a lot and winning at it as much as I did at the early beginning. I went pro when I was studying economics at university as I realised that poker had far greater opportunities for me. I enjoyed it a lot more than studies at university so I made a decision to drop off my studies and pursue a career in poker.

Borys “GODofHU” Turitsa

You were playing at EPT Barcelona this year and secured your first ever live cash. Has there been a reason you’ve avoided live poker? What made you play this time?

When it comes to my decisions what to play, I usually try to look for higher EV opportunities with the lowest risk at the same time. Live games have very good EV but at the same time, they require a much greater time frame to realise it. In my opinion, it is good to mix both. I have been to Barcelona before and really enjoyed it so this year I decided to mix some fun with work. If it was some other location, I would not have come.

It also looked like you focused on playing the 6+ short deck tournaments. What is it about the game you like, and do you have much experience?

You don’t get to play 6+ MTTs online as much and given how much work I have put into 6+ I feel like my edge is significant there to make a much higher +EV than NLHE live MTTs. Overall, I have played a lot of 6+ on PokerStars and I enjoy it more since it is action-heavy,  where you get to play hands and make strong combinations more often. NLHE feels very dull and boring after 6+ but I still enjoy it.

Now you’ve won a WCOOP and ventured into live poker, are there any goals you’ve set yourself? Winning more online titles perhaps? Or maybe a big live event?

I will be travelling more often to play live poker. Also, I will be focusing on MTTs during series like SCOOP or WCOOP so I will be definitely winning more titles in the future. I appreciate the freedom poker gives and will enjoy it to the fullest.

More WCOOP winner interviews:

• Rens “Rens02” Feenstra: 11,254 entries and the Dutch pro beats his buddy heads-up
• Dan “woodbine ave” Scott: Second victory was “a long time coming!”
• Maxim “Pylusha” Pylev: From 15 big blinds to NL08 champion
• “Mr. No way”: It’s not easy beating “Colisea” heads up. Or is it?
• Germany’s “Gaul4200”: “$44K is a lot of money for a 20-year-old student in Germany”
• Joris “BillLewinsky” Ruijs: Captures second career WCOOP title in $530 NLH PKO
• “myIT4”: “The WCOOP… it’s the World Cup, and I was representing Russia!”
• Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira: One week, three WCOOP titles!
• Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik: “It’s my first win in an official tournament”
• Rodrigo “guinHuuh” Freire: Brazilian’s roller coaster ride turns $11 into $13K
• Patrick “prepstyle71” Serda: No more pizzas for the three-time winner
• Jeffrey “Jefffrr8” Reardon: He wanted a five-figure score. He got one.
• Maxime “Daghemuneguu” Chilaud: Malta-based Frenchman wins first WCOOP of the series
• Norway’s “19_Kumite_79”: First two-day event, biggest field, biggest cash
• Viktor “TsiTool” Kovács: Puts Hungary on the WCOOP map
• Italo “sep_itl1914” Carandinas: Brazilian chooses his own adventure
• Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara: Woken up by a kick from his 3-year-old, plays Razz and wins!
• “snovalshik1”: first-timer, who turned $5.50 into $3,408
• Rinat “Zapahzamazki” Lyapin: Won PLO while streaming live
• Alex “dynoalot” Difelice: Second win, but “I feel I have a ways to go.”
• Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha: Akkari’s acolyte, who sets the record straight
• Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb: Seventh title, surely not the last

WCOOP is over, but the online action continues. Click here to open a PokerStars account.

WCOOP was wild, man. Record-breaking, too. And it climaxed with two huge Main Events, including the $55 buy-in “Low” version won by Finland’s Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen for a $130,035.12 first prize.

Over the last couple of days we’ve had the chance to speak with nearly everyone who made the Main Event-L final table, including Laakkonen, thereby making our report of how it all happened all the more fun. Start scrolling to learn their stories, see their faces, and even watch some of the action from the exciting final table.

Before we get to the final table and start sharing stories from those who made it, let’s get some numbers out of the way. They are super-mega-ridicu-big.

There were 37,065 entries in this three-day event (24,477 uniques). That meant a $1,853,250 prize pool that well exceeded the $1.25M guarantee. That also meant that with starting stacks of 25,000, there were a total of 926,625,000 chips in play (!).

A total of 6,007 places paid, with a min-cash being $89.69 and more than $180K up top, although as we’ll talk about below a final-table deal meant multiple players would realize six-figure scores.

In terms of entries, it was the third-largest field of all 219 events of this year’s WCOOP (only behind the “phased” events #01-L and #02-M). We might add as well that there were a handful of players who freerolled their way into the tournament via satellites, with “Choggard1997” of the U.K. the highest-finisher among them in 211st (for $750.93).

After two days of play just 16 were left, and on Day 3 they swiftly played down to nine in about an hour and 40 minutes.

“Ramirojnunes” (16th), “calv201” (15th), and “Ässnacke” (14th) were the first out, each earning $3,991.52. “C4trups!!” (13th) and “Lefterissin” (12th) followed, each of whom picked up $5,644.99. Then start-of-day-3 leader “vladobu6i” (11th) and “554477” (10th) were knocked out, with each taking away $7,983.05.

The final nine were assembled around one last table, and on just the third hand after that “rofllocktree” open-shoved from the small blind for a little less than eight big blinds with Q♠9♣, “Tobotheman” called from the big blind with K♣9♠, and the better hand held to send rofllocktree out in 9th ($11,289.44).

The official final table was set.

Seat 1: alexxt7 (Romania) — 181,507,654
Seat 2: Béla “SlyderS1” Tóth (Hungary) — 33,293,868
Seat 3: Klimbo (Canada) — 31,644,958
Seat 4: empty
Seat 5: Tobotheman (Finland) — 81,709,164
Seat 6: Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen (Finland) — 167,975,808
Seat 7: Thomas “Thomastom3” Bressler (Germany) — 103,794,557
Seat 8: Leonardo “Oreo+Coke” Ramos (Brazil) — 39,970,372
Seat 9: Ramiro “RamiroUY” Miqueiro (Uruguay) — 286,728,619

Oreo+Coke runs kings into aces to finish eighth

Leonardo “Oreo+Coke” Ramos of Brazil was among the short stacks to start the final table.

“Before Day 3 started all of my friends were texting and calling… it was an incredible sensation!” says Ramos.

Ramos hails from Curitiba, a hotbed of poker located in the southern part of the Brazil, home to many players including Ramos’s friend Yuri “theNERDguy” Martins. Ramos has been a full-time pro for five years, the first couple he spent while also attending college.

Leonardo “Oreo+Coke” Ramos

Getting to the final table understandably exceeded his expectations. Truth be told, he was sure he’d be done early on Day 2, having started the day short-stacked and therefore jumping into several other events.

“I didn’t think I had a huge future in the tournament,” he says. “But then I ran so good I stopped registering those other events.” Within an hour he’d more than quadrupled his stack, and with 150 players left he’d taken over the chip lead where he stayed for much of the rest of the day until the final levels.

“I was so nervous at the beginning of Day 3,” he says, noting how he was one of the shorter stacks among the final 16. But he hung on to make the final eight.

“I remember when we got to the final table, I felt like I had accomplished my mission. ‘Everything now is okay,’ I thought. ‘Time to have fun.'”

Alas for Ramos, he’d soon pick up K♠K♥ but unfortunately ran into the A♣A♠ of Thomas “Thomastom3” Bressler. An ace flopped, then a king turned, but the one-outer didn’t come on the river and Ramos was out in eighth.

“Sick cooler,” he shrugs. “I jam, he calls… haha.” Even so, like the others making it this far, Ramos was more than pleased with the accomplishment.

Klimbo cut down in seventh

About 25 minutes after that “Béla “SlyderS1″ Tóth” had slid into first position in the counts while Canada’s “Klimbo” had slipped to become the short stack.

A pro from Toronto who has been playing the last 10 years, Klimbo is mostly a cash game player although well understands how unlikely it is to navigate such an enormous field to be among the last players standing in a tournament such as this.

“I thought it was impossible. I’ve played quite a few of these events with 30,000-40,000 players… and this time it worked out!”

“Obviously you have to get extremely lucky to get this far,” he continues. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a tournament where I’ve won from behind as many times as I did in this one. Even leading up to the final table, I feel like I got it in bad every time but somehow managed to win,” he says.

In fact at the final table he points out he got all in twice at a disadvantage versus pocket queens — once with ace-jack, another time with ace-eight — and both times managed to survive. “But I couldn’t get anything going after that,” he adds.

Another shove with his last 11 big blinds holding A♥6♦ from the button followed, and this time Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen woke up in the big blind with A♣J♥. The board ran clean for Laakkonen, and Klimbo was out in seventh.

“The final day I didn’t really get any good spots or hands to do much with, so getting to seventh still feels like more than I deserved, in a way, if I can say that.”

It wasn’t his biggest cash, although as he points out nothing in his career has ever come close in terms of ROI. “It was a little disappointing, but I’m still very happy with it,” he says.

alexxt7 sunk in sixth

Over the next 45 minutes both Laakkonen and Ramiro “RamiroUY” Miqueiro built up big stacks while the others began to slip down the counts.

Then came a hand in which “alexxt7” of Romania picked up 7♠7♥ and open-jammed for about 12-and-a-half BBs from early position. It folded around to Laakkonen in the small blind who having been dealt A♦K♠ reraised to isolate.

The big blind folded, then the board ran out A♣3♠A♠4♠3♥ to give Laakkonen a full house and end alexxt7’s run in sixth.

Hundreds watch Thomastom3 survive to fifth

Meanwhile Germany’s Thomas “Thomastom3” Bressler was also having quite a memorable day.

We mentioned earlier how he picked up aces versus kings with eight left to knock out Leonardo “Oreo+Coke” Ramos. He’d already experienced some excitement before that hand. In fact, it wasn’t long before it he himself was nearly eliminated… and with a huge crowd watching him, too!

Bressler is one of many players who are part of the GRND Community led by Team Online Pro Felix Schneiders. As Bressler told us this week, he had been playing poker for small stakes for more than 10 years, but not long ago began getting more serious about the game. He started to follow some of the Twitch streams — including Schneiders’ — and as a result began to enjoy some nice results.

Bressler plays part-time, having a full-time job as an online marketing agency. Late last year he managed to win a $7.50 turbo for $750, then this past July won a Bounty Builder on PokerStars for $8.5K — his biggest ever cash before this week.

After enjoying the chip lead for a time on Day 1 and ending Day 2 second in the counts, Schneiders streamed Day 3 so the community could get behind Bressler as he continued his run.

“We had about 800 viewers,” says Bressler. “Such huge support! I joined the voice chat and it was a great sweat with the whole community… it was really an exciting day.”

By the time the final table began Bressler was in the middle of the pack. “Then at eight-handed I was at about 30 big blinds when I had a crucial pot,” he explains. “I opened ace-queen offsuit on the button, the big blind three-bet, and I four-bet jammed and he called — he had queens.”

Ramiro “RamiroUY” Miqueiro was Bressler’s opponent, and by the turn things were looking especially dire for Bressler. Watch what happened next:

“I binked the river!” laughs Bressler, noting how with those three hearts on the board by the turn only a non-heart ace could have saved him on the final card.

After that he continued to battle despite getting his pocket aces cracked by an opponent’s jacks.

“I was in the small blind with 10♥9♥ and went all in for my last 10 big blinds and got called by A♣4♠,” he explains, with Ramiro once again the opponent who had him at risk. As it happened, Bressler would flop a flush draw (6♥J♣2♥) and turn a straight draw as well (8♦) with his ace also still live, but the river 4♣ bricked and he was out in fifth. “Classic too many outs, I think!” he says.

Still, he was more than pleased with his fifth-place finish, something the entire GRND community can celebrate as well.

Felix “xflixx” Schneiders and Thomas”Thomastom3″ Bressler

A four-handed deal, then SlyderS1 slips in fourth

They battled onward. Ramiro “RamiroUY” Miqueiro would overcome that early setback versus Bressler to regain the chip lead, and the final four players ultimately struck a deal to divide up the remaining prize money, leaving $12,500 of it aside for the winner.

Speaking of battling back, that was certainly the story of the Hungarian Béla “SlyderS1” Tóth’s tournament as well.

As he told us, the first two days had gone smoothly for him, generally speaking, with a couple of memorable hands. A full-time poker player for 10 years, the Main Event wasn’t the only tournament Tóth had registered for when it began.

“The first day was Sunday, and I was playing a lot of other tournaments and so was not focused too much on the Main Event,” he says. “I remember one lucky hand when I doubled with A♠Q♥ through A♣K♠. I caught a queen on the river and survived, and I think I had an average stack to end the day.”

“On Day 2 I tried to focus more, and it worked out well for me,” Tóth continues. “I built up my chips, and with 43 players left had a big hand where I had A♥9♥. I three-bet preflop and my opponent called, and the flop came 7♠10♥J♥. When I continued he check-raised all in and I called, and he had K♦J♦. The turn was the 7♦, but the river 5♥ gave me the flush and I eliminated him. I then finished the day ninth out of 16.”

Béla “SlyderS1” Tóth

Then came Day 3. “The final day was a crazy rollercoaster for me,” he says. With 13 left he lost a flip (his pocket fives vs. king-eight) and was suddenly down to just two big blinds. “But I can come back!” he thought to himself, and sure enough he did.

At six-handed he had grabbed the chip lead, but lost it after losing a big preflop all-in versus Tobotheman. Tóth had A♣Q♥ versus his opponent’s A♦9♣, but a nine came on the river. “I thought that was really the end,” says Tóth, but he persevered and managed to make it to the four-handed deal.

A little after that Tobotheman was the one taking the last of Tóth’s chips, too, after Tóth open-jammed his last dozen BBs from the small blind with jack-seven, Tobotheman called with ace-five, and the board ran dry.

Even so, Tóth had managed to secure a second career six-figure online score after having won a SCOOP event back in 2013 for almost $170K.

RamiroUY’s run ends in third

They were down to three. As mentioned, the Uruguayan Ramiro “RamiroUY” Miqueiro was the biggest beneficiary at deal-making time, having secured more than $128K for himself before play resumed.

“After that I played without any pressure,” he told us. A high school math teacher, Miqueiro had been in a downswing at the tables prior to this event. He was also still lamenting his last big run in a major tournament when he made it to a Sunday Million final table back in February before going out quickly in eighth.

Like others Miqueiro had a good start to the tournament (“I doubled my stack in the first few hands”), and ended Day 1 strong (“I was 11th out of 761 players, I think”). Then on Day 2 he had a few ups and downs but ultimately ended well again, entering the final day third in chips.

“On the third day I was not running good,” he says. “If I had run better, I might have won the tournament.” Indeed, we’ve already seen an example of what Miqueiro is talking about with that queens vs. ace-queen hand versus Thomas “Thomastom3” Bressler at eight-handed. That boon for Bressler was misery for Miqueiro.

“That was more than half my stack,” Miqueiro notes. “Mentally I got down a little, but I kept playing poker — finding spots, winning hands, and increasing my stack again. I stayed aggressive, and I think that was the key to my doing well.”

A little later more misfortune followed when a short stack doubled through him — he had ace-king, but his opponent had aces. “I can’t escape that hand,” he says.

But he kept up the pressure to build up again, grabbing the lead before the deal was made. Then at three-handed and when shortest of the three he reraise-pushed with A♥5♣, got called by Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen who had Q♣Q♦, and the board came 9♠7♠K♥J♥2♠ to send Miqueiro out in third.

“I am super happy,” he says. “This tournament was kind of like revenge for me for that Sunday Million I couldn’t win. I won more than first place did in that one!”

It’s worth adding as well that Miqueiro satellited into this one for $18.75, meaning he won back 6,848 times what he invested! That’s one of the biggest ROI’s of the entire WCOOP, as chronicled on our “All the stats, records, and oddness” page.

Jesseonboss outlasts Tobotheman after tough heads-up

Heads-up began with Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen enjoying the chip edge with just over 510 million to the Tobotheman’s 416 million — two Finnish players at the finish.

A full-time online gamer who also plays Fortnite competitively (where he’s enjoyed success as well), Laakkonen mostly plays pot-limit Omaha cash games although likes to jump in the big online MTTs. Prior to this week, his biggest score had been for $11K a few years back.

“Day 1 went easily,” he tells us. “I didn’t have any tough spots and played pretty well. But on Day 2 I almost busted after losing with queens to ace-king. But I managed to grind my stack up to be chip leader for a long time before losing the last hand of the day.”

Still one of the big stacks entering Day 3, Laakkonen would be up and down as the field winnowed, losing some all-ins and winning others before making it to the four-handed deal. Like Miqueiro, he, too, felt after that “the pressure was gone and I could play my game for the rest of the tournament.”

Heads-up would last more than half an hour and saw both players enjoy the advantage at different points. “The most memorable hand,” says Laakkonen, was “where I called down a massive bluff for my tournament life with third pair.”

Watching the replay, it was both a bold bluff and an excellent call. It began with Tobotheman raising the button with Q♣J♠, Laakkonen three-betting with J♦8♣, and Tobotheman calling. The flop came K♥8♦10♣ and after Laakkonen c-bet, Tobotheman called. Laakkonen then checked the 7♠ turn, Tobotheman bet, and Laakkonen called.

Laakkonen checked again after the 7♣ river completed the board, and that’s when Tobotheman bluff-shoved to put his opponent to the ultimate test. Laakkonen thought hard about it, but ultimately made the right choice.

A big bluff by Tobotheman, a big call by Jesseonboss

“After that hand, I had like an 8-to-1 chip lead and knew I was going to win the tournament and the remaining $12.5K,” he says.

Tobotheman did manage to double a couple of times to keep things going a little longer, but finally he jammed with K♦4♦, Laakkonen called with A♥7♦, and after the board came 9♥3♠6♥9♦8♥ Laakkonen was the champ.

Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen, 2019 WCOOP Main Event-L champion

Big congratulations to everyone who made deep runs in 2019 WCOOP Main Event-L, and especially to this year’s champion — Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen!

2019 WCOOP-70-L Main Event ($55 NLHE 8-Max) results
Entries: 37,065 (24,477 entries, 12,588 re-entries)
Prize pool: $1,853,250
Places paid: 6,007

1. Jesse “Jesseonboss” Laakkonen (Finland) — $130,035.12*
2. Tobotheman (Finland) — $96,981.68*
3. Ramiro “RamiroUY” Miqueiro (Uruguay) — $128,412.08*
4. Béla “SlyderS1” Tóth (Hungary) — $107,118.88*
5. Thomas “Thomastom3” Bressler (Germany) — $45,156.10
6. alexxt7 (Romania) — $31,930.38
7. Klimbo (Canada) — $22,578.33
8. Leonardo “Oreo+Coke” Ramos (Brazil) — $15,965.37
*denotes four-way deal

WCOOP is over, but the online action continues. Click here to open a PokerStars account.

Still getting over WCOOP? Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of exciting action to report from the online felt. Here’s everything you need to know from the weekend on PokerStars.

HEADLINES

• PokerStars Ambassador Igor Kurganov wins Sunday HR ($46K)
• Canada’s HR_Dub wins PKO edition Sunday Million ($96K)
• Michael “imluckbox” Addamo is High Roller Club’s big winner ($68K)
• Top results from the High Roller Club and Sunday majors
• All things WCOOP

IGOR KURGANOV WINS SUNDAY HR ($46K)

With the 2019 World Championship of Online Poker wrapping up last week, the High Roller Club once again resumes normal service as the go-to grind for the best players with the deepest pockets.

Igor Kurganov

One of the club’s formidable talents is PokerStars Ambassador Igor Kurganov, who jumped straight back into the winner’s circle yesterday with victory in the $2,100 Sunday High Roller. That’s a tournament always chock-full of the game’s best and brightest, with 100 total entries (including 39 re-entries) taking a shot at the $200K prize pool.

Kurganov outlasted a tough final table which including Michael “imluckbox” Addamo (6th – $12,315) and Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche (4th – $20,878), before defeating Luke “Bit2Easy” Reeves heads-up. Reeves would have to settle for $35,395, while Kurganov banked $46,086.

SUNDAY MILLION GOES PKO

As a special treat, this week’s $109 Sunday Million played out in the popular Progressive Knockout format, with a $25 bounty placed on the head of each player. A massive field of 14,446 entries (including 4,400 re-entries) assembled a $1,444,600 prize pool, which was then split between the final 2,582 players.

After a 14-and-a-half-hour session, only one player remained: Canada’s “HR_Dub”, who won the first-place prize of $67,141 whilst also collecting $28,805 in bounties along the way.

This isn’t “HR_Dub”s first taste of a massive score though. They took down a WCOOP event back in 2011 for $172,674.

A COOL $68K FOR MICHAEL ADDAMO

The High Roller Club’s biggest winner of the weekend was Michael “imluckbox” Addamo, whose $68,301.12 prize (including bounties) in the $2,100 Sunday Cooldown Turbo PKO just pipped the $67,923.20 won by “Buehlero” in the $530 Bounty Builder.

Addamo, now representing Thailand having moved there from his native Australia, is both a long-time online crusher and a regular on the high roller live circuit. He took down his first WCOOP title a couple of weeks ago for $259K, adding to the SCOOP title he won back in 2016.

Michael “imluckbox” Addamo

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE HIGH ROLLER CLUB

†inc. bounties, *inc. deal

TOP 5 RESULTS FROM THE SUNDAY MAJORS

†inc. bounties, *inc. deal

ALL THINGS WCOOP

If you still need to scratch that WCOOP itch, we’ve got you covered.

Over the weekend we told the story of how the $55 WCOOP Main Event was won, and continue to bring you fascinating interviews with WCOOP winners, including Borys “GODofHU” Turitsa who defeated Lex Veldhuis heads-up live on Lex’s Twitch stream.

Head here to browse through all of our WCOOP coverage.

Borys “GODofHU” Turitsa

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

Adrián “marval231” Kott has lived on the Atlantic coast in Miramar, Argentina, his entire life. In those 49 years he’s celebrated many milestones. First came his marriage (“my wife is my biggest supporter in poker”), then the birth of three daughters and, after years of hard work, the opening of his business, Brujas Café. Earlier this month Kott passed another major marker, adding his name to the roll of WCOOP champions.

“I usually play poker when my job allows me to play, about three days per week,” he told the Blog by email this week. “My routine on PokerStars begins after midday when my daughters go to school. I only play low buy-in tournaments, no more than $22 entry, so when there is a special series like WCOOP I usually play the low-tier MTT’s.”

Adrián “marval231” Kott in action

One of Kott’s days off during WCOOP’s first week of action coincided with Event #10-L, a $2.20 turbo rebuy tourney. Along with 6,637 other players, he jumped in — and then it promptly faded into the background with the other tournaments he was multi-tabling, until he realized he’d made the money.

“Because it was a turbo game, I only had a few big blinds and I was living an ‘all-in or fold’ situation,” he said. “I doubled up many times but when we were 50 left there was a key hand. I opened from under the gun with king-jack and the big blind called. I flopped top pair and called my rival’s check-raise. He bet both the turn and the river and I paid him off — it turned out he was bluffing and I won the pot.”

It was smooth sailing from there to the final table, where Kott arrived with a big stack. From there, if he called another player’s all-in, it was the end of the road for them. Soon enough he was heads-up for the title, and after five and a half hours of play, a pocket pair of queens sealed the deal. His prize was $5,360 and change — not his largest cash ever, but the most he’s ever earned for an outright victory.

“It was a big joy to be honest,” Kott said of the win. “I have played some bigger tournaments during WCOOP, but my biggest result came in this low buy-in tournament! I sat looking at the screen for at least two hours afterward because I couldn’t believe it. I would like to dedicate this victory to all of those people who are supporting me in this beautiful sport.”

There’s no need to travel. There’s no need to book a hotel room. Heck, there’s no need to even get dressed if you don’t want to.

The $5,200 Main Event of the World Championship of Online Poker is the pinnacle of the online poker calendar, and for four days it sees professionals, amateurs, satellite winners, and everyone in between competing in an event which has a larger first-place prize than most live poker stops out there, all from the comfort of their homes.

Past winners, like Fedor “CrownUpGuy” Holz and Steven “SvZff” van Zadelhoff, will tell you how special an event this one is to win. “It is the most prestigious tournament in Online Poker,” Holz told us after his victory in 2014. “There is nothing comparable to winning this bracelet for me.”

Now the elite club of Main Event world champions has a new member.

Scotland’s Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell is the latest to etch his name into the poker history books, winning the whole thing outright on Wednesday 25 October for $1,665,962.

PokerStars Blog sat down for a chat with 27-year-old Russell over the weekend, before which not much was known about the elusive “BigBlindBets”, aside from the fact he was an accomplished high-stakes cash game player.

Oh, but there was also Russell’s now infamous 2015 post on a poker forum in which he claimed he’d been on “the baked bean grind” for a few years.

“I best explain this baked bean thing, since it’s fast becoming a ‘thing’,” Russell tells us. “This was just a slang phrase a friend and I used to use years ago because it was at a point in my life where often all I could afford to eat was cheap tins of beans and toast. So, to be clear, no – I have no plans to open a baked bean factory!”

You heard the man.

Russell’s skills quickly became evident at the Main Event final table, but how did we get there, and how did Russell take it down? Before we get to our full interview with Russell, let’s recap how the whole tournament went down.

THE BIG ONE

It was clear right from the off that this was going to be huge.

Players started with stacks of 250,000 and blinds of 500/1,000, and after eight hours and five minutes of play on Day 1 we’d seen 2,070 total entries with registration still open until the beginning of Day 2. The $10 million guaranteed had already been beaten.

Anyone tuning into PokerStars Ambassador Fintan Hand’s Twitch stream during Day 1 was in for a treat. Hand absolutely crushed it, ending the day with 2.4 million which was good for second place of the 788 survivors, giving fans around the world a glimpse of what it’s like to compete in such a prestigious event.

Of course, Hand wasn’t the only member of Team PokerStars to make it through the opening day. His team-mates Igor Kurganov (66th), Andre Akkari (114th), Lex Veldhuis (465th), Leo Fernandez (541st), Ramon Colillas (546th) and Liv Boeree (671st) also ended the night with chips.

When Day 2 got going, we had official numbers confirmed. There were 2,236 total entries (including 599 re-entries), swelling the aforementioned $10M into an $11,180,000 prize pool. Only 271 players would make the money, although we were a long way from the bubble.

During Hand’s Day 2 Twitch stream, a huge rail gathered to not only root Hand on, but also to cheer for Twitch moderators Croaks and RuthannK, whom Lex Veldhuis and PokerStars had entered into the Main Event as a thanks for all they do for the Twitch community. While RuthannK sadly busted before the money, Croaks made it all the way past the bubble, ultimately busting in 185th place for $13,978.

At the end of Day 2, Hand was the last PokerStars Ambassador standing, ending the night 23rd in chips of the 86 survivors. Unfortunately for him (and all of us watching) his Main Event run would come to an end on Day 3, coincidentally in 23rd place.

Hand had amassed a huge audience, with 18,000 tuning in at his peak. Seeking a double-up, he lost the last of his chips with pocket sevens to “TheMakrill7”’s pocket kings. He then sent his fans to rail for his poker coach, Jordan “BigBluffZinc” Drummond, who was also streaming his run on Twitch. Drummond made it all the way to 12th place, good for $79,168.

That night the final table was set, with a very familiar face topping the chip counts.

Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi

Hedge-fund manager and high stakes beast Talal “Raidalot” Shakerchi has plenty of experience playing in big online tournaments. He won the 2016 SCOOP Main Event for $1.4M after all and was in a great position to become the only person to win both Mains when he entered Day 4 with 122M in chips.

Here’s a look at how the final nine stacked up overnight:

1 – Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi (UK) – 122,626,562
2 – XMorphineX (Belgium) – 82,023,949
3 – Danilo “dans170′” de Lima Demetrio (Brazil) – 81,843,549
4 – Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell (UK) – 68,825,817
5 – NeedBeat (Estonia) – 56,071,362
6 – Leitnant (Estonia) – 44,901,942
7 – TheMakrill7 (Sweden) – 42,717,905
8 – 19Pistike93 (Hungary) – 31,260,220
9 – moglimiranda (Germany) – 28,728,694

THE FINAL TABLE

While the likes of Hand and Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot—who were streaming the final table on Hand’s channel—favoured Russell to win it all, all eyes were on Shakerchi to begin with. For good reason too.

He got off to a flying start, eliminating “TheMakrill7” when his A♠Q♦ sucked out on the Swede’s A♥K♠ after a pre-flop all-in. Shakerchi eliminated the eight-place finisher too when his 9♦10♦ got all-in from the small blind against “moglimiranda”s A♥9♣ and ended up turning a straight.

Shakerchi wasn’t the only one doing work though. Russell was busy trying to keep up, and did so without putting too much of his stack on the line. Seven handed, the two were the only players comfortably over the 100M chip mark.

But still, the KOs kept on coming for Shakerchi. With no action in front of him, “Leitnant” jammed the small blind with K♦3♥ for 11 big blinds, only for Shakerchi to snap-call with his dominating K♠J♣, which held up after the runout.

Finally, it was someone else’s turn to bust a player, and it was Russell who played executioner. Action folded to “19Pistike93” in the small blind who ripped his 21 big blinds in with K♥10♠, but Russell woke up with A♦J♣ in the big blind and made the call. An ace hit the flop, and then there were four.

Russell held the chip lead at this stage, with roughly 217 million to Shakerchi’s 170 million. The latter would run into a spot of bother versus “dans170” soon after though.

With blinds at 1M/2M, Russell opened the 7♥4♥ to 4.8M in the cutoff, before Shakerchi three-bet from the small blind to 18M holding the 10♦9♥. “dans170” had the A♣A♦ in the big blind and bumped it up to 33M, which shook off Russell but got a call from Shakerchi. The A♠Q♥K♣ flop gave “dans170” top set, and he’d take it down with a 20M bet when it checked to him.

“NeedBeat” would be the next to fall, after opening A♣J♣ and getting three-bet by “dans170” holding 9♦9♣. “NeedBeat” jammed for 28 blinds, “dans170” called, and the pocket pair held up to take them down to three.

Russell kept his foot on the gas and built a 3:1 chip lead on both “dans170” and Shakerchi, before ending the former SCOOP Main Event winner’s shot at a second COOP Main title.

With blinds at 1.75M/3.5M, Shakerchi opened the button to 7.5M holding K♣J♣. It folded to Russell in the big blind who had A♥J♥, and he then three-bet to a little over 24M. Shakerchi jammed for 102M, and was snap-called. Two aces on the flop all but ended it for him, and after the river his fate was confirmed.

That left Russell heads-up with Brazil’s Danilo “dans170′” de Lima Demetrio, and with a 7:1 chip advantage it seemed like Hand and Talbot’s premonition of a “BigBlindBets” victory was on the cards. “Congrats dan, gllll” wrote Russell in the chat. “Gg wp man, glgl,” replied “dans170”.

The final hand

The whole thing was over pretty quickly thereafter, albeit in a pretty sick fashion. “dans170” had A♦K♦, slyly limped the button, and got the perfect setup when Russell set him all in holding A♠2♠. However, by the river there were three spades on board, and we had ourselves a new WCOOP champion.

Thanks to everyone who took part in this year’s WCOOP, making it the biggest and best we’ve seen so far.

And now, without further ado, meet Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell: the champ.

World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)
Event: WCCOP-70-H NLHE Main Event
Dates: Sept 22-25, 2019
Buy-in: $5,200
Entries: 2,236 (inc. 599 re-entries)
Prize pool: $11,180,000

1 – Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell (UK) – $1,665,962.04
2 – Danilo “dans170′” de Lima Demetrio (Brazil) – $1,187,553.01
3 – Talal “raidalot” Shakerchi (UK) – $846,528.35
4 – NeedBeat (Estonia) – $603,434.91
5 – 19Pistike93 (Hungary) – $403,148.26
6 – XMorphineX (Belgium) – $306,624.91
7 – Leitnant (Estonia) – $218,572.35
8 – moglimiranda (Germany) – $155,805.59
9 – TheMakrill7 (Sweden) – $111,063.23

INTERVIEW

PokerStars Blog: Hi Fraser. Congratulations on winning the Main Event for your first WCOOP title in the biggest event of the year. Has it sunk in yet?

Fraser “BigBlindBets” Russell: Thanks, I was really blown away by all the supportive messages I received. I went in to make the best decisions I could and came out with a great result.

It really is an amazing achievement. What does a win like this mean to you, and how do you think you’ll look back on it in, say, 20 years?

That’s an interesting question, 20 years is a long time. I’d be a very different person in 20 years. More broadly I would like to think I’d look back and say I gave things my best shot, attempted to think things through and developed on the many things I am not great at. All of that applies to poker, and so that in the end also applies to this tournament.

$1.66 million is a nice chunk of change. How do you think this will impact your life and poker career, if at all?

It is a lot of money. You’re always offered more choices with more money, and that can have a positive or negative outcome on your life. I would hope to think I would use it positively.

You were tipped as a heavy favourite by the likes of Fintan Hand and Tonkaaaa, who were streaming the final table. Did you feel confident going into the final table? Did you like your seat? Was there anyone, in particular, you looked to play pots with/avoid?

I’m happy they had confidence in my abilities. Yes, I felt confident, although I was certainly feeling some pressure not to make a massive mistake with many people railing. I preferred not to go heads up against “Moglimiranda” and I was generally not looking to play pots with “Raidalot” [Talal Shakerchi] as the big stack.

There aren’t many four-day online tournaments. How did the tournament go for you overall? Were there any huge hands you remember which either surged you up or down? Was it mostly a smooth ride?

This is probably a bit strange, but I don’t really remember many specific hands from any particular session or tournament unless I felt I made a mistake. I just get dealt a decision and try to make it well. I will say there was a hand on the final table where I opened the button with A5 offsuit at 40 big blinds, got called from the big blind, and bet twice on Q942r then checked when I hit an ace on the river. I am still unsure if I should have bet or checked there.

How did WCOOP go for you as a whole? Did you put in a big schedule or were you just picking certain tournaments?

I didn’t play many events at all this year, although it was a nice schedule. I normally focus on cash games.

Could you tell me a bit about your poker journey so far?

I kept public blogs of my journey. As you can imagine, some things I posted or wrote in the past make me cringe when I look back on them, but I prefer to keep things unfiltered. I started nine years ago playing with friends and in free money games online. I began enjoying learning about the game and it took up more and more of my time. I got a coach and then eventually went pro after having my first $50K year while studying.

Was there anyone instrumental in your poker rise? Which players did you ‘come up with’?

There were a bunch of guys I talked strategy with on my way up, and so many people helped impact my game positively. However, my coach Paul “Lnternet” Otto helped me to make massive strides in my game and introduced me to some truly smart and hard-working players who helped me shape my thoughts.

As a cash game player, how do you feel about the attention tournament players get? Do you prefer to stay out of the spotlight usually?

Yes, I am. I have never really considered how I feel about this before. I can understand why, as tournaments are much more exciting to follow. They have leader boards, special events, sudden eliminations and upsets and probably most importantly for following, a completion date. Overall I think the attention tournament players get has a positive impact on the game as a whole and I welcome that. The spotlight is not something I chase nor is it an ambition of mine. I feel admiration for the people that handle the spotlight well and don’t let the negative sides of it affect them. I’m sure it is not an easy task.

Do you think you’ll focus more on MTTs going forward or will cash always be your bread and butter?

I have no plans to move away from 6max NL cash games at this time.

What were you doing before poker? Were you studying or working?

I was studying, however I was never committed to my studies. I was doing it because I knew I really didn’t want to work in a shop or a warehouse full time. However, I was really looking for something that I enjoyed working on for hours each day, and that thing became poker.

Do you have any specific goals in poker you’d like to achieve?

That’s a good question. There are no specific goals like I want to win this or that event. I want to develop and become stronger at the game and continue competing with extremely talented players.

Check out all of our WCOOP coverage here.

Have events in WCOOP inspired you to start playing poker? Click here to open a PokerStars account.

There were a number of familiar usernames at the top of the payouts in WCOOP Event #53-H, the $1,050 6+ Hold’em event that drew 178 entries. That includes the player who finished at the top of the list, Nick “FU_15” Maimone.

It was another impressive poker accomplishment for Maimone, made all the more so by the fact that it was his first ever 6+ tournament!

Following his win, Maimone talked PokerStars Blog about his win. The story started a year ago, in fact, when his family had scheduled a trip to Greece that as it turned out cut significantly into the WCOOP schedule.

“That was a nightmare,” Maimone laughs. “I was there on vacation with my wife and daughter, staying up in the dark there in the hotel until 3 or 4 a.m. trying to grind.”

Despite the conditions, Maimone did manage to score one WCOOP title last year in the $530 NLO8. But the experience mainly served to whet his appetite even more for this year’s series. Indeed he says he played just about every day, although coming into the final week he hadn’t necessarily notched the results at which he’d been aiming.

“I hadn’t been doing too well, then this 6+ tournament comes around,” he says, noting how typically he focuses on his strongest games, hold’em and Omaha 8-or-better (pot-limit and no-limit).

“I had never played a 6+ before, which is pretty funny. I had played a little bit of cash, and I just lost. I didn’t really like the cash format with the button ante, and I hadn’t really worked on it that much. However, I had watched a lot of the streams such as the ones from Triton and some videos, so I understood some of the hand strengths and how the equities run and things like that.”

That bit of 6+ experience and study, put together with his knowledge of tournament strategy, encouraged enough to try to satellite into the $1K 6+ event, though not to buy in directly.

“There was a $109 satellite and I played it… I just went all in a lot,” he says. “The hand strengths are really close in 6+, even more so than in PLO, so you’re just trying to deny equity from your opponent, to get them to fold their share in the hand a lot. So in the satellite I was going all in a lot and I won a lot of hands, and I won a seat into the $1K.

The event had already been going for a while when Maimone was seated.

“I was initially seated at Kristen “krissyb24” Bicknell‘s left, and by the time I had satellited in she already had like a million chips.” (The starting stack was 100,000.)

Kristen Bicknell (in action at EPT Barcelona)

Maimone played as solidly as he could, mostly sticking with a tight approach but taking chances whenever they arose. “I ended up getting more confident as the tournament went on, despite not having any tournament experience with 6+.”

At one point he clashed in a memorable hand versus another familiar, tough opponent.

“Everybody who plays 6+ says don’t worry about flushes because they are so rare, but I did hit a flush to bust my friend Dario Sammartino who got second in the Main Event this year,” Maimone says.

Dario Sammartino (in action at EPT Barcelona)

“I had A♣J♣ and raised pre and he called with K-Q offsuit. The flop came A-Q-Q and I checked, and he bet and I called. The turn was the K giving him a full house but also giving me both a straight draw and [with two clubs on the board] a flush draw, and I check-called again. The river was the 6♣, and I think I just open-jammed.” Sammartino called to see the bad news, since a flush tops a full house in 6+.

Eventually the final table arrived. Bicknell also made it that far. She’d had Maimone outchipped the entire way to the final table, but with four left he had more than her when the pair clashed.

“I limped 10-9 offsuit and she iso’d me. I jammed and she called me with aces — then it came 8-7-6!” says Maimone, explaining how Bicknell ended up bowing out in fourth.

“That was kind of funny, because I had just been talking with my friend before about short deck and he was telling me how I wasn’t valuing how good 10-9 and J-9 were. And I think it is about 44-46 percent equity or so with 10-9 off vs. aces preflop — practically a flip.”

There was still work to do for Maimone… and more tough competition to face.

“The player who finished second was very good — “bajskorven87” from the U.K.,” says Maimone. “He was much better and more experienced than me at 6+. He had all the chips and abused the bubble. I bluffed him once on the bubble and he just called me with two pair when I blocked the straight on both sides but missed a double-gutshot.”

“But the final table just went very smoothly,” Maimone concludes. He managed to continue winning those big all-ins, ultimately taking the final one to claim the title and a better than $35K first prize.

Maimone thus joins the list of successful tournament players who have been able to win events playing variants that are new to them.

“It shows that if you use good tournament strategy and intuition, you can be competitive… And [in 6+] if you run really good with your all-ins you can win it — it’s pretty do-able.”

Poker and Perseverance

For Maimone, ending another WCOOP with a victory like this one proved once again a lesson he says poker has taught him time and time again.

“My faith is very important to me, and one of the virtues that I really like is perseverance and not giving up,” says Maimone. “I’ve been taught this lesson countless times. The first instance was back in ’09. I was almost broke, I owed people money, and I was like 0-for-10 at the WSOP. And then the last tournament was the Main Event and I got 15th place. While I couldn’t retire off that money, that kept me in the game and allowed me to keep playing and find more opportunities.”

That deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main was where a lot of us first got to know Maimone. Some years later he’d follow that performance with another impressive one at the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure where he won the $25K High Roller for a nearly seven-figure score

“It was similar in the Bahamas in ’16. I wasn’t broke, but I didn’t have a lot of money at that point. Then just in the nick of time — this was just before my first child was born — I was able to satellite into this tournament and win it,” he says. “Even though I didn’t have a huge percentage of myself, I was still able to keep myself in the game.”

Maimone after winning the 2016 PCA High Roller

“So many times in poker, people give up,” says Maimone. “They get overwhelmed by the negativity and the frustration and the stress of it. I ask myself after 12-13 years how am I still doing this, with the travel, the uncertainty, and everything? I still love the game, and I love the opportunities it has given me — and, really, that lesson it has taught me about not giving up and persevering and to keep trying and keep working.”

Such a lesson is especially relevant to tournament poker, where the “survival” aspect of the game gets a kind of special emphasis.

“The way I see it, one single tournament is like an example of poker in general,” says Maimone. “In each tournament, you’re just trying to survive and not lose your chips, to stay alive and win other people’s chips. But then in the grand scheme of things, with all of these tournaments you are also trying to survive with your bankroll and to stay relevant, to stay on top of the game and studied and competitive so you can make money in the game.”

As one of the “veterans” of the game (relatively speaking) who has been around since the 2000s and the “boom,” Maimone well understands how sometimes even talented players find themselves forced out of poker when the cards don’t fall their way, while others who perhaps aren’t as skilled are nonetheless able to win enough to keep their seats.

“All you can do is control what you can and your work ethic and willingness to grind and willingness not to give up,” he says. “I tell people if you don’t love the game anymore, if you don’t enjoy playing, then just give it up. You shouldn’t be playing poker as a chore because it’s so stressful.”

“I can justify the stress because I love the game and playing and the exhilaration of playing and competing and the mental stimulation it provides. But if I didn’t love the game anymore, I’d have to find something else to do.”

Playing Hands… then Lending a Hand

For Maimone, winning not only enables him to stay in the game, it helps him help others. He makes it a regular practice after winning to send money to help children from single-mother homes in Honduras, the country he called home for several years.

“One of the organizations that I work with is a charity called the Children’s Impact Network, a group home for children than have been abused or neglected,” says Maimone. “I help find kids who have been abandoned or mistreated and write up a profile. They only have limited capacity, but if you can get the kids there you can guarantee them a stable home, a safe environment, guaranteed access to education, clean water, and three meals a day.”

While many reasons motivate Maimone toward such charitable work, being able as well to highlight poker’s “upside” (as he calls it) is an added benefit, he explains.

“I like to try to get people to focus on where poker can be good and not just focus on the negative things,” he says. “There’s a lot of good that can be done through poker. It can give you freedom, so if you’re a parent you can spend time with your family. And if you win money, you can share it and give back to your community or to charities to support children or animals or the environment — whatever you are passionate about doing.”

“Of course, there are no guarantees — I may not make anything and I may struggle to make an income. But when I do make money there’s the potential I can make a million dollars and make a big, positive impact on others.”

Congrats to Maimone for continuing to persevere in poker and for successfully capturing another WCOOP title.

More WCOOP winner interviews:

• Adrián “marval231” Kott: “It was a big joy to be honest,” he says of winning #10-L
• Borys “GODofHU” Turitsa: The man who beat Lex to win $121K!
• Rens “Rens02” Feenstra: 11,254 entries and the Dutch pro beats his buddy heads-up
• Dan “woodbine ave” Scott: Second victory was “a long time coming!”
• Maxim “Pylusha” Pylev: From 15 big blinds to NL08 champion
• “Mr. No way”: It’s not easy beating “Colisea” heads up. Or is it?
• Germany’s “Gaul4200”: “$44K is a lot of money for a 20-year-old student in Germany”
• Joris “BillLewinsky” Ruijs: Captures second career WCOOP title in $530 NLH PKO
• “myIT4”: “The WCOOP… it’s the World Cup, and I was representing Russia!”
• Filipe “Zagazaur” Oliveira: One week, three WCOOP titles!
• Espen “_sennj_” Sandvik: “It’s my first win in an official tournament”
• Rodrigo “guinHuuh” Freire: Brazilian’s roller coaster ride turns $11 into $13K
• Patrick “prepstyle71” Serda: No more pizzas for the three-time winner
• Jeffrey “Jefffrr8” Reardon: He wanted a five-figure score. He got one.
• Maxime “Daghemuneguu” Chilaud: Malta-based Frenchman wins first WCOOP of the series
• Norway’s “19_Kumite_79”: First two-day event, biggest field, biggest cash
• Viktor “TsiTool” Kovács: Puts Hungary on the WCOOP map
• Italo “sep_itl1914” Carandinas: Brazilian chooses his own adventure
• Naoya “nkeyno” Kihara: Woken up by a kick from his 3-year-old, plays Razz and wins!
• “snovalshik1”: first-timer, who turned $5.50 into $3,408
• Rinat “Zapahzamazki” Lyapin: Won PLO while streaming live
• Alex “dynoalot” Difelice: Second win, but “I feel I have a ways to go.”
• Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha: Akkari’s acolyte, who sets the record straight
• Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb: Seventh title, surely not the last

WCOOP is over, but the online action continues. Click here to open a PokerStars account.

WCOOP 2019 is officially in the history books now. It was another huge success, smashing records over the course of 219 events and crowning champions both new and familiar. This week’s guest, three-time WSOP bracelet winner Benny “RunGodLike” Glaser, is one of the latter. He enjoyed a great run during the series, earning his second WCOOP title and finishing runner-up in two other events.

Glaser joins Stapes and Hartigan at the 18:20 mark below. If you’re trying to advance in the game, this is one interview you’ll want to listen to. He talks with the guys about whether a win and two seconds is a good result for WCOOP, what it takes to grind the biggest online tournament series in the world, how he went from a guy who watched lots of poker to a guy who wins lots of titles, what pros mean when they talk about studying and “putting in work,” and plenty more.

Check out Episode 161 of Poker In The Ears on Soundcloud, iTunes, or Spotify. And if you want to help the boys out, make sure to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast!

WSOP photography by pokerphotoarchive.com

As we enter the Asper’s Casino in Stratford on a wet, blustery Tuesday evening, one thing becomes abundantly clear: this weather is perfect for live poker.

After all, why would you want to go outside when there’s a full festival of Main Events, side events, and Twitch community Sit&Gos taking place in the warm surroundings of a London casino?

You see, Lex Veldhuis is in town for the second edition of Lex Live; a ten-day poker shindig which sees PokerStars Ambassadors and members of his Twitch community coming together in person, hanging out, going for food and beers (so many beers), taking part in fun activities, and of course battling against each other and the London locals on the poker tables of Asper’s in Westfield Stratford City.

LEX LIVE 2: FULL SCHEDULE | ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW | GUIDE TO LONDON

MISSED THE FIRST LEX LIVE? CHECK OUT ALL COVERAGE HERE

The cool thing about it? Everyone is wearing name tags.

Now I know what you’re thinking, that probably doesn’t sound very cool. But it is when you consider a lot of people here are meeting for the first time, and they all know each other by their Twitch handles rather than their real names.

(Oh, and if anyone wants to buy us a beer, I’ll be the guy with the ‘PokerStars Blog’ tag. Cheers.)

Lex himself has been here for six days already.

Fucking brutal when the picture cutout from 2 years ago looks younger and in better shape.. https://t.co/IBIsxAjd3R

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) September 30, 2019

We’ve already seen winners crowned in fun-filled side events like the £40 8-Game, the £50 + £50 Big Bounty, and the £50 6+ event. Stay tuned for the rest of the week as we catch up with the winners of those, each of whom will take home a Lex Live 2 trophy.

Trophies for #lexlive are sickkk. So happy with how they turned out. Tonight is £50/£50 bounty at 7pm local.

Next £230 Main Event day 1 is on Wednesday. Highly suggest coming Wednesday and Thursday. Friday is going to be busy af @AspersPoker pic.twitter.com/y4uqs9EiJD

— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) September 30, 2019

Plus, community Sit&Gos are filling up all the time. PokerStars’ own Melanie Moser even defeated Benj “Spraggy” Spragg for one such victory.

Busted @spraggy and won the heads-up against @OP_Poker_Nick ! Community sit&gos at #LexLive 2 @AspersPoker are amazing! Huge thanks to @AspersPokerMGR for making all this possible! ♠️❤️💸 pic.twitter.com/ZDwz1XtOSp

— Melanie M (@MelanieMoser_) September 29, 2019

The next Day 1 of the £230 Main Event (which comes with a £100K guarantee) will take place tomorrow (October 2) at 6pm. If you fancy getting here earlier, there’s a £50 Mini Bounty at 11am which is sure to wake everyone up.

Games are getting really tough at @AspersPoker … #lexlive pic.twitter.com/q8nmZVMxFh

— Ben Martin (@TheBenMartin98) October 1, 2019

Even if you don’t fancy playing poker, hit the machines and you never know what might happen. Right, Zeeth?

I cant fucking believe it!!!! I sit in the casino at aspers at #LexLive i bet 25 on red and 1 pound on 3 numbers, a Dutch guy comes and says “bet on 8” and presses 50 pounds in on 8 and 5 (a machine) it hits 8…. 900 pounds!!! FUCK YES!!!! I paid him pic.twitter.com/1XSr4iwIhk

— Morten Ottosen (@zeeth__) September 29, 2019

As we’re putting faces to the names here at Lex Live 2, it’s only fair we let you do the same.

Check back to PokerStars Blog all week for interviews with Twitch regulars, PokerStars Ambassadors, online qualifiers and more.

Outside it’s raining, it’s pouring…but going outside is boring.

Bring on Lex Live 2.

If you can get yourself to London this week, you definitely should.

Lex Live 2 is heating up, with just a few more Day 1 flights of the £230 buy-in, £100K guaranteed Main Event still to go.

While the likes of Lex Veldhuis, Benj “Spraggy” Spragg, Fintan “easywithaces” Hand, Chris Moneymaker and Kalidou Sow have made their own way here, alongside hundreds of members of Lex’s Twitch community, a select few managed to win their way to the big smoke through online qualifiers on PokerStars.

We had a chat with two of them to find out why they wanted to be here, and what it means to them now that they are.

LEX LIVE 2: FULL SCHEDULE | ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW | GUIDE TO LONDON

Glenn van Ingelghem 
31 years old, from Belgium

Lex Live 2 qualifier Glenn van Ingelghem

With two young daughters and another on the way, life at home is pretty busy for Glenn van Ingelghem. Combine that with his job at a medical company as a Technical Coordinator for anesthetic machines, and it doesn’t leave him much free time.

“Gaming is the only way I can relax,” van Ingelghem tells PokerStars Blog. That, and watching Lex Veldhuis on Twitch.

“I was really attached to his stream a few years ago, so I became a helping hand in the channel as a Moderator. From then on I had the most fun in my life and the most success in poker so far. Lex kind of taught me how to play low stakes and grind up to the medium stakes which I’m playing now.”

However, getting divorced put a strain on his personal life. Poker (and Twitch) took a backseat, but his passion for the game never waned.

When the chance to qualify for Lex Live 2 rolled around, van Ingelghem jumped at it. He still remembers the feeling when he realised he’d won a package.

“The moment I knew I won a ticket the adrenaline was really rushing true my veins. I won the Triple Threat for $3K, so I decided to take a shot for the package. On my first bullet, I ended up fifth, just three spots away from winning a package. I was very disappointed because I really wanted to attend Lex Live 2.

Rocco Blanc
28 years old, from Vlissingen, Netherlands

Online qualifier Rocco Blanc

Rocco Blanc is a real estate broker who loves to travel, particularly when he can combine it with a poker trip. Lex Live 2 is perfect, then, because not only can he do that, he also gets to catch up with an old friend.

“Lex is actually a real-life friend of mine, so it’s awesome that I can come and support him in London at his own tournament. I couldn’t make it to the first Lex Live but I was told the people and community around Lex’s stream and Lex Live are really nice. I’m looking forward to meeting new people and having some fun in London!”

With some live tournament success already under his belt, we’re sure Blanc will have a blast this week. He hopes Lex does too.

“I think Lex is playing a very important role in the current poker community in which he is doing an amazing job.”

As for the Main Event, Blanc is calling his shot early.

“I’ve had some lives cashes but my biggest tournament scores are from online poker. I plan on winning Lex Live in London though!”

You know on game shows when they ask contestants whether they want to take their winnings so far or gamble it all on a “mystery prize”? 

Well, this is like that. Except the only thing you need to give up is your precious time.

There’s an amazing community spirit here at Lex Live 2 in London, built over hundreds of hours of chatting on Twitch whilst watching Lex Veldhuis stream.

And now we want to ruin it all by turning everyone on each other.

LEX LIVE 2: FULL SCHEDULE | ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW | GUIDE TO LONDON | ALL COVERAGE

Sorry to turn your community on each other, Lex

We’re kidding, of course. But trust us, guys: the “mystery prize” will be worth it.

To be in with a shot of winning, here’s what you have to do.

First of all, get yourself a card here at the casino (ask around you’ll find one).

We’re going to be playing a scavenger hunt, in which players at Lex Live 2 will have to complete certain tasks in order to get their card stamped.

This is running right now, so if you’re thinking of heading down this way, we suggest you do so as soon as possible.

Time is of the essence.

The tasks you’ll need to complete are as follows:

• Join both the PokerStars and Lex Veldhuis Discord server, then direct message BLACKSUS#1909
• Take a picture with the Lex cutout and post it on social media with the hashtag #LexLive
• Say “F**k Croaks” to his face
• Attend the beer pong social event (taking place on Thursday, October 3 at the Bat and Ball Bar, opposite the Aspers Casino)
• Play in a community Sit & Go
• Take a selfie with a community member outside the casino and post on social media with the hashtag #LexLive
• Sign the canvas for Lex (available to be signed at Aspers Casino)
• Keep an eye on both Discord servers for ‘Daily Discord’ tasks

Terms and conditions

You must complete 10 of the 14 tasks to be eligible for the chance to win the prize.

All completed tasks must be stamped by PokerStars staff, Ambassadors, or Croaks.

Some of the Daily Discord tasks will be time-sensitive and can not be completed once they expire.

Daily Discord tasks will be posted by BLACKSUS#1909 in either the PokerStars or Lex’s Discord server.

Once you have collected your 10th stamp and become eligible, your middle black box will be stamped.

Cards will stop being stamped at 10am BST on Saturday, October 5. To be eligible to win the prize, you must be in the tournament area of Aspers Casino at 10:30am BST on Saturday morning with your stamped card.

Best of luck everyone.

While the £230 Main Event—currently playing through its fourth Day 1 flight—is the apple of Lex Live 2’s eye, the biggest buy-in on the schedule, the £750 High Roller, will no doubt be grabbing its fair share of attention.

Lex Veldhuis may have chosen to sit this one out (he’s busy having drinks with the community over at the Welcome Party), but there are plenty of well-known faces who have shown up at Aspers Casino tonight.

Well-known online high stakes players like two-time SCOOP champion “extnl01”, Andy “BowieEffect” Wilson (who we interviewed last year) and Marc “14Alonso14” Macdonnell are in the field, looking to take home a Lex Live trophy.

Online crusher “extnl01”

Andy “BowieEffect” Wilson

LEX LIVE 2: FULL SCHEDULE | ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW | GUIDE TO LONDON | ALL COVERAGE

Marc Macdonnell

Then there are Twitch community members like Ben ”TheBenMartin98” Martin and Tjenno ”TjennoE” Eskes, hoping to keep this one in the Veldhuis family.

Ben Martin

They have a long way to go, mind.

Players started with stacks of 100,000, good for a whopping 500 big blinds at the kick-off, and they’ll play no longer than 10 hours tonight before the chips are bagged and tagged.

Right now the tournament screens show 22 entries. Check back with PokerStars Blog tomorrow to find out how many of them survive the night.

Spraggy on the grind

Meanwhile, Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg has taken his seat in the Main Event with a stack of 30,000 and a dream. You love to see it.

You can follow live updates of that over at PokerNews.

Or check out more Lex Live 2 coverage here.

A very special live edition of the Poker in the Ears podcast was recorded yesterday at Lex Live 2, here at London’s Aspers Casino.

James Hartigan was in the house, while Joe Stapleton transmitted his voice using some crazy new technology. I think it’s called ‘internet’ or something.

The man of the moment, Lex Veldhuis, was this week’s guest, joining Hartigan on the mics in front of a warm crowd comprised of Lex’s Twitch community. Each of them knew a thing or two about the Lex, aka the Dutch Terminator, aka the Beaker, aka Alexander Veldhuis, but only one could be chosen to take part in ‘Superfan vs Stapes’.

The audience included Fintan Hand, Spraggy, and former ‘superfan’ Ben Martin

That fan was well-known community member Sanne “Antim00n” Bombeek, a 29-year-old Emergency Room Nurse from Belgium, who lives close to Aalst. If you’ve ever chatted away during one of Lex’s streams, you’ll no doubt be familiar with her.

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We first met her at the first Lex Live festival in Namur, Belgium, which took place back in March. We even typed up an interview with her, which you’ll find here. 

“Antim00n” with Veldhuis and Hartigan

She joined the boys onstage and proceeded to answer true or false questions that Lex had prepared about himself. From “Did I die my hair grey?” to “Was I ranked top 40 in the world at Starcraft?”, and even “Is Chris Moneymaker an asshole?”, both Bombeek and Stapes competed and only one could come out on top.

But you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out who did.

You can also listen to Poker in the Ears on Soundcloud here.

Did “Antim00n” win? Listen and find out.

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October is now upon us, which in the northern hemisphere means the nights drawing in, the temperature gradually dropping and circumstances improving for long nights on the poker grind. It’s best to be indoors, whether playing online or a live tournament at a casino.

By the end of the month, there will be another reason to lock the doors: it will be Halloween, when the liberated spirits of the other world run freely through ours. And in this instance, playing poker will be no defence. Over the past years, professional poker players have embraced Halloween with great enthusiasm, reaching for every last cosmetic, turning out old wardrobes of ill-fitting clothes, dressing up, dressing down, and bringing the costume party to the poker table.

In fact, it’s not only Halloween that brings out this tendency. Every year a sizeable handful of players mark the grand occasion that is the World Series of Poker (WSOP), with a dip into the costume box. Here we celebrate Halloween by taking a look at some of the best costumes at the poker table and beyond.

ElkY asks: “Why so serious?”

ElkY: the ultimate Joker

The French pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is one of online poker’s earliest superstars, transitioning from the high-glitz world of professional Starcraft to the more profitable environs of poker. But having spent much of his gamer career in Asia, and adopted much of that world’s love of all things bright and shiny, ElkY very often stuck out at the poker table: a dazzle of bleached hair and sequins in an otherwise drab environment. Even so, nothing quite prepared the APPT field in Macau for ElkY’s 2008 arrival, when he showed up to the tournament room with an unusual cackle, and a walking advertisement for that year’s hit movie The Dark Knight.

By the way: ElkY is far from poker’s only Joker. Both Bobby Baldwin and Andrey Filatov have also given this one a spin, and with JOKER set for release very soon, he’s hardly likely to be the last.

The many talents and many faces of Victoria Coren Mitchell

Eight years of Halloween with Victoria Coren Mitchell

In the poker world, Victoria Coren Mitchell is known as the first woman ever to win a Main Event on the European Poker Tour (EPT) and also the first (and so far only) person to win two of them. For all that, in the UK, she’s probably even better known as a writer turned TV presenter, and a regular face on the small screen. Every year, she is one of a clutch of lucky people invited to a Halloween party hosted by British chat-show host Jonathan Ross, and every year Coren Mitchell steals a march on the tabloid photographers camped outside Ross’s house by tweeting her costume for the evening. So our second entry here is the Coren Mitchell Halloween gallery, from cat to skeleton to nurse and everything in between.

All the images come from Coren Mitchell’s tweets, specifically here:
2010 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018

The phenomenon of Mason “Uncle Ron” Hinkle

Mason “Uncle Ron: Hinkle: Watermelon out of shot

The Hinkle brothers of Kansas City are both prominent figures in the contemporary poker scene. Blair has recorded live tournament cashes of more than $4.5 million, the most in Missouri, including a WSOP bracelet and five circuit rings. Mason meanwhile pulls a wheely trolley carrying a watermelon, sports a thick brush moustache, wears a fanny-pack and a wide variety of garish threads and goes by the character name “Uncle Ron”. In the ultra professional high-stakes world, where we don’t even get out of bed for $4.5 million, it’s Mason who really draws the crowds. If Mason has explained the genesis and the purpose of his Uncle Ron alter ego, then we’ve missed it. But equally it’s the kind of thing that doesn’t need a reason. Wherever there’s a major poker event in the United States, the self-styled “ultimate railbird” Uncle Ron is likely to be there, throwing rakes or dodging balls or petting that watermelon.

Kyle Miholich aka Jack

By the way: There’s a similar lack of explanation for why Kyle Miholich shows up to the World Series every year wearing the head of the mascot from burger chain Jack In The Box. But he does. Miholich is one of a loose collective of recreational players from Southern California who call themselves the “Poker Sharks”. They document their travels on YouTube, where they state: “We hope you learn from our poker journey, and have a few laughs along the way.” The arrival of Jack In The Box is pretty much guaranteed every year at the WSOP, though as far as records show he is still cashless in the Main Event.

A grown man: Phil Hellmuth

Phil “Thor” Hellmuth at the 2018 WSOP

In 2018 film producer Randall Emmett strode into the World Series of Poker Main Event trailed by a brass band and a harem of women wearing feather explosions from their heads. (Emmett himself wore cargo shorts and a black T-shirt, along with a couple of promotional patches.) Though Emmett’s arrival took all by surprise, it was only because it was him and not Phil Hellmuth at the centre of the melee. Hellmuth, the former Main Event champion and all time leading bracelet winner, has made something of a habit of arriving to the WSOP late and loud. Over the past decade he has showed up dressed as everything from a Roman emperor, lounging on a lectica, to a tank commander in military uniform, and also a NASCAR driver — a moment slightly undermined when he pranged the racecar into a lamp-post base in the Rio parking lot. We salute Hellmuth, however, for his willingness to play at least a couple of levels dressed in full regalia. There’s nothing quite so amusing as seeing someone dressed as Thor bluff off a stack with a missed draw and having to shimmy out of the Amazon Room, tail between his legs, and thunderhammer (or whatever) notably lowered.

Old man take a look at my life, I’m a lot like Phil

Phil Laak: Aging face before Age Face (YouTube grab)

Most poker-table costumes, whether for Halloween, a prop bet, or anything else, are usually a quick bit of disposable fun, with a legacy that lasts no longer than it takes for a “temporary” tattoo to be scrubbed away. However, the fallout of Phil Laak’s appearance at the 2008 World Series ended up lasting significantly longer. Though Laak spent much of his early career styled as the “Unabomber” in dark shades and a hood drawn tightly over his head and face, it wasn’t until he employed the services of a Hollywood make-up artist that he grabbed the rule-maker’s attention. And that was mainly because it took so long for him to get anyone’s attention: he was concealed behind a near-perfect prosthetic rendering of an old man’s face. If you looked close enough, perhaps you could have made out Laak. But to all casual observers, this player was just one of the thousands of poker enthusiasts, all but unknown outside their homegame, who take a $10K stab at the Main Event each year. The effectiveness of Laak’s disguise prompted the WSOP rule-makers to introduce a law prohibiting masks at the tables, which still goes by the colloquial name of the Phil Law rule.

Damiano ‘DAMMO_23’ Aloi had never been outside his native Australia prior to last week. Now he’s here in London, 10,100 miles from home, having the time of his life.

“Has it been worth it? Let me tell you, it has been worth every penny,” he tells PokerStars Blog over a beer in the Lex Live 2 players’ lounge at Aspers Casino. “And it cost a few pennies to get here from Australia.”

Back home in Adelaide, the 24-year-old usually spends his time coaching football (“Seven days a week, mate!”). But when he has free time, there’s one guy who’s always there for him: Lex Veldhuis, through which he’s made some great friends, many of whom he has met here for the first time.

“The reason why I made this my first trip abroad is that I’ve been a part of this community for so long–I think my 26-month Sub to Lex’s channel went through whilst on this trip–and all the people I interact with,” Aloi explains. “Because of the time difference, I often fall asleep to Lex and leave the TV on.

“To know all the people in chat online is one thing, but to come and actually meet them is unbelievable. I’ve made some new friends, met people I’ve chatted with once or twice, everybody is just so friendly. I’ve already said I’ll be at Lex Live 3!”

If you’re in London, come on down

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For someone who Aloi now has such a strong connection with, the way in which he discovered Lex’s stream was actually by knowing nothing him.

“I wasn’t really watching poker at the time, but when I was 18 or 19 I was a bit of a punter. I remember busting a few tournaments online on a Tuesday night, and I felt I’d had enough. But then I saw the $215 Super Tuesday was running, and I went to reg it. I saw that Lex was playing it–I didn’t even know he was a PokerStars Pro–and then I saw he was also streaming it. I’ve been hooked ever since.”

Aloi had to sit out for the first installment of Lex Live, which took place in Namur, Belgium back in March 2019. It’s a massive trip from Australia after all, and he just didn’t have time to plan it.

But when Lex announced the second stop in London, he knew had to be here.

“I decided I didn’t want to miss it and for the past couple of months, I’ve been planning it. I came here with a limited bankroll, but it’s been a good trip so far. This trip has been more than just a poker trip though. It’s been about interacting. It’s been sensational. There’s a party going on right now, but I’m also sweating five of my friends in the High Roller!”

At this point in our conversation, the elusive Twitch moderator RuthAnnK comes and takes a seat at our table. Aloi beams with admiration. “Meeting RuthAnnK alone has been worth the trip!”

“It’s been about interacting.
It’s been sensational.”

It’s a brave leap for a young man who has never left his home country to fly to a new city and spend all his time with people he has never met before. But while many would argue that sitting watching a Twitch stream is unsociable, being here at Lex Live shows the opposite is true.

Members of this community know each other. There are no awkward silences (particular when Aloi is around), and no one is made to feel left out.

“It’s been great meeting all of the PokerStars Ambassadors,” Aloi says. “I love watching Spraggy and Fintan, and I’ve been a Lex sub for so long. Then I meet the guy and he’s like, 6-foot-10 or something. I get a bit starstruck. Even James from OP-Poker, he’s the guy from OP-Poker I watch the most, and meeting him was a bit like, ‘wow’. Then from the community, getting to meet RuthAnnK, Croaks, everybody.”

Lex and Fintan at the Welcome Party

Here, Aloi is able to play side events each morning, community Sit & Gos each night, and has even made it through to Day 2 of the £230 Main Event. But back home in Australia, where online poker is illegal, it’s harder for him to scratch his poker itch.

“Not having online poker in Australia does hurt,” he tells us. “I used to play online a lot, now I’m trying to get back to playing live. Unlike Melbourne and Sydney where poker is massive, there aren’t many games in Adelaide where I live. It’s small, high rake.”

This experience has inspired him though.

“In January, although it won’t please my parents, I’m thinking of going back to playing live poker semi-professionally. If I move somewhere with online poker I’ll start grinding the low stakes on PokerStars too, and we’ll see where we go from there.”

Whatever his plans for the future, Aloi is having the time of his life right here, right now.

“Seriously. If anyone is on the fence about Lex Live in the future, just do it. It’s the greatest.”

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We’re here for the poker, sure, but also…to party.

Last night (Wednesday, October 2) The Lex Live 2 Welcome Party brought an entire community together in the confines of a drinking establishment with an open bar.

Needless to say, fun ensued.

Check out our photo gallery below, then head here for the latest coverage from Lex Live 2 in London.

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