WCOOP Day 13: Dan "djk123" Kelly Captures His Third WCOOP Bracelet

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Sep 17, 2011 9 min read Last updated Sep 24, 2011

Already regarded as one of the best all-around poker players in the world,Dan "djk123" Kelly was back in the spotlight Friday as he collected his record-tying third bracelet at the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. Kelly won the $100 8-Game Mixed event late Friday evening, adding to his High Roller H.O.R.S.E. and Razz bracelets from 2009. Not only that, but Kelly nearly secured a seat at final table of the $200 No-Limit Hold'em with rebuys event at the same time Friday night, making for an exciting night of poker on the world's No. 1 site.

PokerStars WCOOP 35 - $200 No-Limit Hold’em with Rebuys ($550K Guaranteed)

Event #35 on the WCOOP schedule attracted the game's top no-limit hold'em players in the world. The popular rebuy format generated a prize pool of $749,600, surpassing the guarantee by nearly $200,000. Several notables made deep runs in the event, including Patrick "pmahoney22" Mahoney, Steve "Illini213" Barshak, Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee, Tommy "Tmoney0209" Miller, and Team PokerStars Online members Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra, Andrew "foucault82" Brokos and Anders "Donald" Berg.

World Series of Poker bracelet winner Dan "djk123" Kelly had already reached the final table of Event #37 Friday and was still alive in the $215 rebuy with 10 players remaining. However, his chance at dual bracelets was denied by chip leader "montjeu8," who eliminated Kelly in 10th place. The two players saw a flop of Q♣J♣4♦ and Kelly checked. "Montjeu8" bet 278,125 and Kelly check-raised all-in for 1,056,403. "Montjeu8" called with K♦K♠, which had Kelly's Q♥10♣ in bad shape, and the 2♥ turn and A♣ river sent the online legend out the door just short of his sixth career WCOOP final table.

Kelly still went on to make history Friday night, as you'll read later. "Montjeu8," meanwhile, took a huge chip lead into the final table. Here's how it stacked up:

"Montjeu8" went right to work at the final table. Germany's "Havana85" was the first to feel the wrath of the big stack when his 5♣5♦ lost a coinflip to A♥J♥, sending him out in ninth place. Then, after the eliminations of "WhatIsICM" and "gabixuela," "montjeu8" crippled the reigning Masters Classic Main Event champ Marcel "p3rc4" Bjerkmann to further increase his lead. With the board reading 7♥4♥4♣A♦9♠, "montjeu8" fired a pot-sized bet of 533,750 and Bjerkmann went into the tank for more than a minute. He finally called, leaving less than three big blinds behind, and mucked his hand when "montjeu8" rolled over 5♣4♦ for trip fours. Bjerkmann made his exit three hands later.

The next to go was Malta's "Soccermom96," whose aces were cracked by none other than "montjeu8." "Soccermom96" fired on every street of the 7♣2♦4♣9♠6♦ board, including an all-in bet on the river, but "montjeu8" called with 6♠4♠ for a rivered two pair. That gave "montjeu8" more than nine million chips, with the other three players owning less than four million combined.

The dangerous Joao Mathias Baumgarten of Brazil was never able to pick up steam at the final table and bowed out in fourth place. Baumgarten moved all-in preflop for less than 10 big blinds with Q♣10♦ and was eradicated by "TiltStarter's" K♠Q♦. For his efforts, Baumgarten earned more than $50,000, which was his biggest score on PokerStars since taking fourth in the Sunday Million in 2009.

"TiltStarter," who took third place in the WCOOP $500 Triple Shootout the day before, matched that result in this event. "Montjeu8" folded the button and "iwonthurtyou" moved all-in from the small blind with K♦J♠, having the Russian's short stack covered. "TiltStarter" called with A♣8♦, but the J♦K♥4♦7♦Q♥ gave "iwonthurtyou" two pair and sent his opponent out in third place. "TiltStarter" collected $71,137, increasing his two-day total to more than $100,000.

That set up a heads-up match between "iwonthurtyou" and the overwhelming chip leader "montjeu8." Despite having a gigantic hill to climb, "iwonthurtyou" was able to claim the chip lead after a pair of double ups and never looked back again. On the final hand, "montjeu8" had his pocket aces cracked when "iwonthurtyou" turned a straight with 7♣6♠. Montjeu8" called off his remaining chips when he made two pair on the river and "iwonthurtyou" completed the unthinkable comeback, earning a payday of $127,432 and collecting his first WCOOP bracelet.

Notable Finishes: Patrick "pmahoney22" Mahoney (18th - $3,598), Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra (28th - $2,624), Steve "Illini213" Barshak (29th - $2,624), Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee (30th - $2,624), Tommy "Tmoney0209" Miller (31st - $2,624), Andrew "foucault82" Brokos (89th - $1,649), Anders "Donald" Berg (93rd - $1,574)

PokerStars WCOOP 36 - $500 Omaha Hi/Lo ($175K Guaranteed)

It's been an excellent WCOOP for Team PokerStars, and among the three members that have won a bracelet is Noah "Exclusive" Boeken. On Tuesday, Boeken won Event #26. Fast forward three nights and Boeken was back at it, making the final table of Event #36, the $500 Omaha Hi/Lo.

The first to fall was "bratpack1979", who was unable to pull it out with a short stack holding 5♠4♥3♣2♦. All-in before the four-handed flop, "kardioloq" collected the entire pot with A♠K♥Q♠2♠, having nailed the K♠Q♥Q♦5♣10♣ board. Next to depart was "jdimindtrix." We were unable to see his cards, but in a three-way pot that saw the board fall K♥9♥8♠Q♦5♣, "GreekToni777" took it down with K♣K♦10♦3♠. "Xolaider" only lasted a few more hands. All-in preflop with J♦5♥3♠2♣, "Xolaider" needed a bit of help to defeat Noah Boeken's A♥Q♥Q♦3♣. "Xolaider" actually did take the lead through the turn of the K♦6♠5♣3♦ board with two pair but was counterfeited on the K♠ river to award the pot to Boeken.

Unfortunately for Boeken, that elimination was followed with a few losing hands. Eight hands later, Boeken's run at two WCOOP bracelets in four nights ended. Boeken, "Floopy" and "kardioloq" saw an A♣7♠2♦ flop and each made it to the 5♠ turn. Just Boeken and "kardioloq" saw the 7♦ river, and unfortunately for Boeken, he was well behind in this hand from the flop forward with his A♦K♦K♥6♦, because "kardioloq" held A♠7♥4♠3♠ to send Boeken away in sixth place. That hand left "Floopy" with just two big bets, which a few hands later also ended up in "kardioloq's" stack, leaving only four players in the hunt.

Three players saw an A♦Q♣Q♥ flop and with less than two bets remaining, Attila "lyzardos" Kövesi committed the last of his chips with K♦K♣3♥2♣. He was drawing slim against the A♥Q♠10♥4♦ of "Mortholmes" and was officially drawing dead when the A♠ hit the turn. Three-handed play was the longest stretch at the final table, but "kardioloq" was the one who succumbed to the third-place finish. With 10♠10♣7♦5♣, "kardioloq" was unable to fade "Mortholmes'" K♣Q♥10♥4♣ as the board came down A♠K♥6♠Q♦K♦ to "Mortholmes'" kings full.

The chip counts at the start of heads-up play were the following:

"Mortholmes:" 1,932,340
"GreekToni777:" 1,022,660

Seventeen hands were all "Mortholmes" needed to seal the deal. The chips went into the middle on an 8♠4♠4♦ flop. Each had a 4x, but it was "Mortholmes'"J♠8♥5♥4♣, for a full house, which had "GreekToni777's" J♦9♣9♥4♥ on the ropes. The A♠ turn and K♣ river were safe for "Mortholmes" to clinch the victory.

Notable Finishes: Sergey "gipsy74" Rybachenko (17th - $1,773), Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee (21st - $1,379)

PokerStars WCOOP 37 - $100 8-Game 10-Minute Levels ($50K Guaranteed)

Surprise surprise — another Team PokerStars Pro made a WCOOP final table. This time it was Canada's Pat Pezzin. However, a WCOOP all star also was at the final table — two-time WCOOP bracelet winner Dan "djk123" Kelly. Here were the chip counts at the start of the final table:

Before the first elimination, Dan Kelly doubled up twice to take the chip lead. The second, in PLO, occurred after Kelly check-raised all-in on a K♠10♥7♦ flop. His opponent, "bzola," called with A♠A♦7♠4♠, but Kelly was well ahead with K♦K♣8♥8♠. The 10♣ turn and 6♦ river secured the double for Kelly. Shortly thereafter, the eliminations picked up. A severely short-stacked Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez was all-in before the draw in 2-7 triple draw lowball and faced the two aforementioned players. By the time the third draw came, only Kelly was pat. With 8x7x5x4x2x, Kelly took it down after Gonzalez drew two to a 9x8x7x4x4x.

The next hand was Pat Pezzin's last. After opening from the cutoff, Pezzin called "nilsef's" big-blind three-bet. Although "nilsef" drew two to Pezzin's one, it was "nilsef" who took the betting lead. Pezzin called and each drew one, leading to another "nilsef" bet, with Pezzin calling for the rest of his stack. Satisfied, "nilsef" stood pat and sent Pezzin into the tank for a bit before opting to break his hand and draw one. It was 10x8x5x3x2x for "nilsef," besting Pezzin's final hand of Qx8x6x5x2x to send the Team PokerStars Canada Pro to the rail in fifth place.

Kelly scored the next elimination, taking out "bzola" in fourth place. All-in preflop in limit hold'em, "bzola" was ahead with A♥J♣ against Kelly's K♦10♣. The board came down K♠10♥7♥3♥J♠, however, to give Kelly a winning kings up. He eliminated "whatamonkey" a few hands later in Omaha hi/lo. All-in preflop, "whatamonkey" saw a Q♥10♠10♦ flop against both opponents and while both checked the flop, Kelly isolated the pot when he bet the 9♦ turn. Kelly tabled J♦10♣8♦6♠ for a straight (with trips). Holding A♥Q♦9♠8♥, "whatamonkey" had outs to a full house. However, Kelly was the one who improved to full house when the 6♦ fell on the river.

At the start of heads-up play, Kelly held 3,561,020 to "nilsef's" 716,980. While "nilsef" did manage to close the gap, it was too much to overcome as Kelly put it away in razz in hand No. 12 of the heads-up battle. Their final hands were the following:

Kelly: 9x10x/3x9x7x6x/3x
"nilsef:" 7x5x/4xKx7xJx/8x

Much of "nilsef's" stack was in the pot before fourth street fell. The rest was in the pot when the Kx looked to be a bad card, though Kelly's 9x on fourth street was no help either. However, "nilsef" found little improvement from that point forward while Kelly made a 10-9 low to win the tournament, the $23,529 first-place prize, and his record-tying third WCOOP bracelet.

Notable Finishes: Bruno "Bruno GT" Gonzalez Terra (12th - $1,497.30), Andrew "foucault82" Brokos (13th - $1,162.19)

We will be providing in-depth daily recaps of all WCOOP final tables, so be sure to keep it here at PokerNews to stay up to date on all of the exciting action as it occurs.

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