WCOOP Day 9: Mickey Petersen and Joel Adam "2FLY2TILT" Gordon Make Final Tables

Brett Collson
Chief Editor
Mickey Doft
Live Reporter
12 min read
Mickey Petersen

Four bracelets were awarded on Day 9 of the 2011 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker. Among those who flirted with winning those bracelets were Joel Adam “2FLY2TILT” Gordon and Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen. Gordon, who made two final tables this WCOOP, already held the WCOOP Player of the Series lead and added to his points total. Petersen, who two days ago was announced as the newest member of Team PokerStars Online, quickly showed why he is worthy of that distinction.

PokerStars WCOOP 21 - $200 No-Limit Hold'em Two-Day ($1.25M Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$158,484$1,696,800

Fewer than 60 players returned for Day 2 of the $215 No-Limit Hold'em Event #22 with a first prize of $254,524 up for grabs. Athanasios "Athanasios 9" Polychronopoulos, who won a World Series of Poker bracelet in July, was third in chips heading into Day 2, but the 27-year-old found trouble early on Monday and ultimately made his exit in 27th.

Other notables coming up short were Matt "ch0ppy" Kay, Jimmie "AlusivPnkBny" Guinther, and Andy "andyh26" Holman. Day 2 lacked a member of Team PokerStars, since the best finisher was Sandra Naujoks who earned $526 for her 536th place finish.

The diversity of the final table created an interesting dynamic when discussions of a deal came about. Seven countries were represented, including three players from Russia, and a translator was needed to finalize the negotiations. Here's how the final table stacked up:

SeatPlayerChips
1gregor78789,302,684
2OverTheTop4311,553,086
3BlockWinner16,514,435
4Gnostan10,816,450
5borvik4,427,383
6soydelmillo12,325,646
7prot05,655,608
8robban 28x8,801,950
9obamaria5,442,758

Hungary's "obamaria" was the first to exit the final player after moving all-in preflop for 17 big blinds with 1010 and being called by Russia's "Gnostan," who was holding KK. Then, fellow Russian "borvik" moved all-in for 13 big blinds from the button with KJ and was called by "soydelmillo", from Argentina, who held A10 in the small blind. The 2J7810 board left "soydelmillo" crippled, and he was eliminated on the next hand.

Action slowed a bit before a short-stacked "OverTheTop43," from Germany shoved from under the gun with A8. "Borvik" found AK and re-shoved from late position, and his hand held up to remove "OverTheTop43" from the final table in seventh place for $36,481. The next bustout came a few hands later when "robban 28x" lost a coinflip with AK to the pocket queens of Russia's "BlockedWinner," who still had the chip lead to that point.

That opened negotiations for a five-way deal but a language barrier slowed the process. "Gnostan" was having difficulty understanding that he needed to type "agree" in the chat box to accept the proposed deal that would give him $169,324, but the agreement was eventually completed and play resumed.

"BlockedWinner" opened up his play after locking up $147,000 and got his remaining stack in preflop with A10 against "Gnostan," who had AQ. The 974K2 sent the former chip leader out the door and pushed "Gnostan" into the pole position. Five hands later, "borvik" exited in fourth place when he ran A9 into the kings of Poland's "gregor7878."

New Zealand's "prot0" had been relatively quiet at the final table but made his presence known with an impressive call against "Gnostan," when play was three-handed. With the blinds at 400,000/800,000, "Gnostan" min-raised from the small blind and "prot0" three-bet to 4 million in the big blind. "Gnostan" called and then check-called a bet of 4 million on a flop of AK8. Both players checked the K on the turn, and the 3 fell on the river. "Gnostan" moved all-in, having the 14.3 million chip stack of his opponent covered, and "prot0" made a bold call with QQ. "Gnostan" was bluffing with a pair of threes, and that turned out to be the beginning of his demise; the Russian player later ran 44 into "gregor7878's" AA to finish his run in third place.

The heads-up match between "gregor7878" and "prot0" only lasted seven hands after a gut-wrenching river card all but ended things on the very first hand. "Gregor7878" five-bet all-in for nearly 40 million with A8 and was snap-called by "prot0" with KK. The KQJ gave "gregor7878" an extra out to a straight, and sure enough the 10 fell on the river to leave his opponent with 6.5 million. The tournament ended minutes later after "prot0" moved all-in preflop with J10 and couldn't improve against the pocket jacks of "gregor7878," who collected $158,627 for his first WCOOP title.

PlacePlayerPrize
*1gregor7878$158,627
*2prot0$145,615
*3Gnostan$169,324
*4borvik$116,376
*5BlockWinner$147,099
6robban 28x$52,600
7OverTheTop43$36,481
8soydelmillo$20,361
9obamaria$13,150

*denotes five-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Athanasios "Athanasios 9" Polychronopoulos (27th - $3,954), Andy "andyh26" Holman (39th - $3,190), Jimmie "AlusivPnkBny" Guinther (53rd - $2,935), Matt "ch0ppy" Kay (59th - $2,681)

PokerStars WCOOP 22 - $500 No-Limit Hold'em Two-Day ($1.5M Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$500+$303,739$1,869,500

A monstrous field of 3,739 was trimmed to 131 when Day 2 of Event #22 began on Monday. As expected, several big-name players were in contention for the first-place prize of $293,512, including Kenny "LoneHixx" Hicks, Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis, Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah, Jeremy "00psiedaisy" Fitzpatrick, Steve "gboro780" Gross, and newly-minted Team PokerStars member Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen.

Only Fitzpatrick reached the final table out of that group. The prominent online grinder joined notables Torsten "jektiss" Brinkmann, Gabriel "kafelnikovz" Almeida, and Paul "pvas2" Vas Nunes in what would be a back-and-forth battle for WCOOP glory.

SeatPlayerChips
1Torsten "jektiss" Brinkmann1,946,218
2Jeremy "00psiedaisy" Fitzpatrick2,669,089
3Gabriel "kafelnikovz" Almeida4,801,907
4Flying Smile3,186,259
5TheUrsaraie8,341,631
6Mad4it4life5,948,788
7Paul "pvas2" Vas Nunes8,281,702
8lachanin1,013,474
9IbABzuSPkR1,200,932

Short-stacked "lachanin" of Spain doubled early when he made quad queens against Paul "pvas2" Vas Nunes' AJ but was the first to say goodbye at the final table. Following a preflop min-raise from "Mad4it4life" on the button, "lachanin" moved all-in for 14.5 big blinds with AK, and "Mad4it4life" called quickly with JJ. The J99 left the Spaniard with little hope, and he failed to improve, making his exit in ninth place.

Romania's "TheUrsaraie" began Day 2 with the chip lead and was in front again going into the final table. However, his fortune ran dry when he lost with pocket jacks to the pocket kings of Fitzpatrick to lose the overall lead. Then, he rivered a queen-high flush but was bested by the ace-high flush of Van Nunes to bow out in eighth place.

That began a flurry of action spearheaded by Van Nunes, a former PokerStars Sunday Million winner. He eliminated Gabriel "kafelnikovz" Almeida and Torsten "jektiss" Brinkmann in seventh and sixth place, respectively, to collect nearly half the chips in play. Then, after Fitzpatrick was sent to the rail by "Mad4it4life," Russia's "Flying Smile" got involved by eliminating "IbABzuSPkR" when his pocket sevens held up against the Swiss player's A3.

The final three players discussed a potential deal for more than 20 minutes but couldn't come to an agreement. After picking up a few pots, Van Nunes led the way with 25 million of the 38 million chips in play, but momentum shifted when he doubled "Flying Smile" with 99 to KK.

"Mad4it4life" built his stack from just over 2 million to 13 million, but his tournament ended when his AK couldn't improve against the pocket eights of Van Nunes. That gave the Brit a 6-to-1 lead over "Flying Smile" — but it didn't last long. The Russian player went on a rush that saw him win four massive pots over the course of 10 hands to take the lead. Van Nunes had dwindled down to just 8.5 million when the last hand took place: With the blinds at 80,000/160,000, Flying Smile raised his button to 400,000, Van Nunes re-raised to 1.28 million and Flying Smile called. On the K42 flop, Van Nunes led out for 1.12 million and "Flying Smile" called. The 10 hit the turn and Van Nunes check-called a tiny bet of 212,124, leading to the J falling on the river. Van Nunes moved all-in for 5.8 million and "Flying Smile" called instantly with Q9 for a straight. Van Nunes had rivered a set of jacks, but it was second best as he took home $218,731 his biggest score since winning the Sunday Million for $234,000 in August 2010.

"Flying Smile," meanwhile, earned $293,512 and his first WCOOP bracelet.

PlacePlayerPrize
1Flying Smile$293,512
2Paul "pvas2" Vas Nunes$218,731
3Mad4it4life$154,233
4IbABzuSPkR$107,496
5Jeremy "00psiedaisy" Fitzpatrick$79,453
6Torsten "jektiss" Brinkmann$60,759
7Gabriel "kafelnikovz" Almeida$42,064
8TheUrsaraie$23,369
9lachanin$14,956

Notable Finishes: Ken "kleath" Leathart (15th - $8,413), Kenny "LoneHixx" Hicks (26th - $4,767), Joao 'joaoMathias' Mathias Baumgarten (33rd - $4,206), Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah (39th - $3,832), Jared "jvengrin" Vengrin (40th - $3,832), Steve "gboro780" Gross (46th - $3,552).

PokerStars WCOOP 23 - $200 No-Limit Hold’em Four-Max Two-Day ($500K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$152,622$524,400

The lone 4-max event on the WCOOP schedule kicked off with a two-day no limit hold'em event on Monday. After 11 hours of play, only seven of the 2,622 entrants remained as the final table would have to wait until Tuesday.

Team PokerStars member Randy "nanonoko" Lew had a large following as he made a deep run in the event. The multi-tabling cash game specialist had a chance to enter the final day among the chip leaders, but he lost a crucial coin flip during the final hour to end his tournament in 10th.

With the blinds at 6,000/12,000, Lew min-raised on the button and Germany's "Da3dalus" three-bet to 58,146 from the small blind. Lew then four-bet to 135,000, and "Da3dalus" fired back with a five-bet to 213,417. Lew shoved for 862,982 and his opponent snap-called, and the cards were revealed:

"Da3dalus:" QQ
Lew: AK

The 4455Q gave the German player a winning full house and Lew exited with $6,424 in prize money. "Da3dalus" entered Day 2 as the chip leader with nearly 4 million. Here's how the remaining seven stacked up when play resumed at 1100 ET (1600 BST) on Tuesday:

PlacePlayerChips
1Da3dalus3,948,969
2KingRakker3,412,517
3kekim11,618,548
4Loverat1,617,550
5z_balata1,220,644
6BrightStripe780,870
7claypole510,893

PokerStars WCOOP 24 - $300 Stud ($50K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$300+$20337$101,100

Fresh off of a 70th-place finish in Event #22 for $3,178.15, Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen not only final-tabled Event #24 but was chip leader going in.

SeatPlayerChips
1SebbyGl155,719
2Big_Nemo75,376
3Hood_Ace64,643
4Operga225,118
5TIETYMM343,012
6Bilybob88276,870
7Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen413,383
8caprioli130,879

“Hood_Ace” began the final table on the short stack and was the first to bow out. All-in on fifth street with KA/Q28, “Hood_Ace” looked to pair a big card to best “SebbyGl's” JJ/295. Unfortunately for “Hood_Ace,” the 2 on sixth street followed by the 7 on seventh street was not enough to defeat the buried jacks of “SebbyGl.” Those chips didn't last long in “SebbyGl's” stack, though, because a big hand against “Big_Nemo” changed the tide of the final table.

“SebbyGl:” J5/KQ3K/J
“Big_Nemo:” 49/9434/9

“SebbyGl's” flush draw turned into kings up, but “Big_Nemo's” split nines eventually became a full house to double up, leading to “SebbyGl's” elimination in seventh place the following hand. “Operga” was felted next, starting the hand with split queens. “TIETYMM”, though, held buried aces. The rest of “Operga's” chips made it into the pot on fifth street and by the time seventh street was dealt, “TIETYMM” had improved to aces up. In need of a queen on seventh street to survive, “ Operga” made an inferior two pair and was out in sixth place. Saying goodbye next was “caprioli,” all-in on third street with 99/3. “TIETYMM” held a measley 34/K, but got there on fifth when the K fell. No more pairs came for “caprioli,” leaving only four players in the field.

Despite notching the previous two eliminations, “TIETYMM” succumbed to a fourth-place finish. After the betting between “TIETYMM” and “Bilybob88” was capped on third street, the remainder of “TIETYMM's” chips were in the middle on fourth street.

“TIETYMM:” A4/J66J/3
“Bilybob88:” Q9/9829/A

While “TIETYMM” hoped to catch spades, it would be jacks up on sixth street that emerged. Facing “Bilybob88's” split nines, “TIETYMM” fell when “Bilybob88” pulled trips on sixth street to win the pot. “Big_Nemo” began to pull away when action was three-handed, and after severely denting Mickey Petersen's stack, it was all but over. This is how their boards looked at the end of the hand:

“Big_Nemo:” K9/10587/K
Petersen: XxXx/2386/Xx

Petersen raised “Big_Nemo's” completion on third street and followed that with bets on fourth and fifth. “Big_Nemo” raised on fifth, following that with bets on sixth and seventh. The spades never got there for “Big_Nemo” but a pair of kings did on seventh street. Petersen couldn't beat it and busted the following hand, leaving “Big_Nemo” with a nearly 12:1 chip lead against “Bilybob88” heads-up. One hand was all it took as on fifth street of hand No. 1, “Bilybob88” was all in.

“Big_Nemo:” 910/38J
“Bilybob88:” Q4/292

A 3 on sixth street was all it took, locking up the WCOOP bracelet and $19,461.91 first-place prize for “Big_Nemo.”

PlacePlayerPrize
1Big_Nemo$19,461.91
2Bilybob88$14,406.75
3Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen$10,868.25
4TIETYMM$7,835.25
5caprioli$5,307.75
6Operga$3,791.25
7SebbyGl$2,780.25
8Hood_Ace$2,274.75

Notable Finishes: Dan "djk123" Kelly (15th - $1,364.85), Humberto Brenes (17th - $985.72), Søren "Kongsgaard" Kongsgaard (19th - $985.72), Amanda "ROXY24" Thomas (22nd - $985.72)

PokerStars WCOOP 25 - $200 Pot-Limit Omaha Turbo 1R1A ($225K Guaranteed)

Buy-inEntrantsPrize Pool
$200+$151,086$417,600

For the third time in less than a week, Joel Adam "2FLY2TILT" Gordon final-tabled a WCOOP event. Gordon is certainly showing a very impressive all-around game, as all three final tables have been in different forms of poker. His win in Event #8 was in triple stud, and his second final table appearance in Event #17 was in no-limit 2-7 low-ball single draw. How would he fare in the $200 Pot-Limit Omaha Turbo 1R1A? He began the final table third in chips.

SeatPlayerChips
1MiPwnYa446,032
2joejoe1337613,490
3L0ve2playU3,236,874
4sllvllasH747,556
5Joel Adam "2FLY2TILT" Gordon1,162,555
6Schermanator1,049,612
7zwacke1,218,314
8tbac1895,943
9asik171,069,618

The first bust came in the form of a double elimination. Action folded to “asik17” in the cutoff who raised the pot. On the button “MiPwnYa” re-raised all-in and from the small blind, “joejoe1337” called all-in. The big blind folded, leading “asik17” to call all in as well. Cards on their backs:

“asik17:” JJ109
“MiPwnYa:” AK83
“joejoe1337:” KQJ10

The board came down A10326, making the nut flush for “MiPwnYa” to score the double KO. Hitting the rail shortly thereafter was “tbac1,” busting at the hands of Joel Adam “2FLY2TILT” Gordon. With KQ1010, “tbac1” faced the AJ106 of Gordon. An AJ596 board made aces up for Gordon to leave six players remaining.

A second double elimination took place two levels later with “L0ve2playU” earning the spoils. After “zwacke” opened with a pot-sized raise from the hijack, “L0ve2playU” re-raised pot from the button. A short-stacked Joel Adam Gordon called all-in from the big blind and “zwacke” called all-in, as well.

“zwacke:” QQ52
“L0ve2playU:” AKK2
Gordon: 9653

The flop fell QJ10 giving “zwacke” top set, but “L0ve2playU” flopped Broadway. The 8 turn and A river secured the pot for “L0ve2playU” who at this point held a commanding chip lead. “Schermanator” fell next, also to “L0ve2playU.” Holding A1098, “Schermanator” got it in against “L0ve2playU's” QJ96. The board ran out Q4277 to give “L0ve2playU” queens and sevens to knock out yet another opponent. Just a few hands later, “L0ve2playU” kept it going with 9865 against “sllvllasH's” QQ102. “L0ve2playU” hit the board hard as it came down A75K8 to give “L0ve2playU” a straight.

Even though “L0ve2playU” held greater than a 3:1 chip lead to start heads-up play, “MiPwnYa” rallied to take it down. On the final hand with KJ93, “MiPwnYa” slightly trailed “L0ve2playU's” AQ64. The flop fell AQ6, giving “L0ve2playU” top-two (even three) pair. The 4 turn made it four pairs, but it didn't matter when the 10 landed on the river. “ MiPwnYa” made Broadway to seal the deal and win the WCOOP bracelet.

PlacePlayerPrize
1MiPwnYa$72,996.48
2L0ve2playU$53,035.20
3sllvllasH$39,672
4Schermanator$29,649.60
5zwacke$20,880
6Joel Adam "2FLY2TILT" Gordon$16,704
7tbac1$12,528
8asik17$8,352
9joejoe1337$4,802.40

Notable Finishes: Chris "Bushman" Bush (14th - $3,132), Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis (19th - $1,753.92), Luke "LukeFromB13" Staudenmaier (20th - $1,753.92), Jonas "Telefonkiosk" Lindlof (21st - $1,753.92), Thierry "BOKPOWER" van den Berg (27th - $1,753.92)

*Event #25 data obtained from PokerStarsBlog.com

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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Brett Collson
Chief Editor
Mickey Doft
Live Reporter

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