WCOOP Day 1: Ashley "DYBYDX" Mason Wins High Roller for $430,000

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Sep 05, 2011 6 min read

One day down, 22 to go. The 2011 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars began on Sunday with three events on the docket. More than 17,000 took to the virtual felt for the WCOOP on Day 1, and what a Day 1 it was. A new champion was crowned, six players are six-figures richer, and the stage has been set for a thrilling three weeks of tournament poker.

PokerStars WCOOP 1 - $200 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max Two-Day ($1M Guaranteed)

Event #1 kicked off with a bang Sunday as 7,500 players entered the two-day $200 No-Limit Hold 'em Six-Max event. The massive turnout generated a prize pool of $1.5 million as players prepared to duke it out for 34 20-minute levels before play concluded on Day 1. The field was trimmed all the way down to 37 when play ended. Dutch player "Fisherman903" held more than 5.7 million chips as the overall leader. Russia's "Dimka19881" and Canada's "qbgoose" were also among the big stacks vying for the WCOOP bracelet and a first-place prize of $225,000.

Two members of Team PokerStars made deep runs in Sunday's inaugural event. Jan Heitmann and Liv Boeree each cracked the top 100 late in the evening, but Heitmann eventually made his exit in 83rd place after losing twice with the best hand when the chips went in — both times with pocket jacks.

That left only Boeree representing the home team, and the former PokerStars European Poker Tour San Remo champ was able to squeeze her way into Day 2 with a short stack of 596,697 (17 big blinds). Boeree's biggest pot of the day came in a preflop confrontation with A♥K♠ against "Wh0c4r3s'" A♣Q♥. The Q♠J♣9♣ flop put "Wh0c4r3s" in front, but the 10♥ on the turn gave Boeree Broadway. A meaningless 2♦ landed on the river and Boeree reeled in a pot worth nearly 1.5 million. She built her stack as high as 1.75 million later in the day, but then lost several pots before play ended.

Day 2 got underway at 1000 EDT (1500 BST) on Monday and will play down until to a champion. Here's a look at the top 10 stacks entering Day 2:

PokerStars WCOOP 2 - $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller ($1.25M Guaranteed)

The only event to crown a champion on Day 1 of the 2011 WCOOP, the $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller drew a field of 200. Some of poker's biggest names took to the virtual felt for this one. We knew that many American players would find a new "home" for the WCOOP and that certainly showed when looking at the names registered for the High Roller. Already reaping the benefits are Americans Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee and Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese, now living in Canada and already with a WCOOP final table under their belts.

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu was also in action Sunday and he tangled with Tobias "PokerNoob999" Reinkemeier in what we're going to dub our "hand of the day."

With the blinds at 30/60, Reinkemeier opened to 150 under the gun. Negreanu made it 420 to go from middle position and Reinkemeier called to see an 8♠6♦3♣ flop. Reinkemeier check-called 600 from Negreanu, and did the same for 1,500 when the 3♦ landed on the turn. The river brought the 10♦ and Reinkemeier checked for a third time. Negreanu bet 3,600, and we can only imagine his surprise when Reinkemeier shoved for 9,950. A call from Negreanu revealed 10♥10♣ for Reinkemeier, having bested Negreanu's A♦A♠. Nearly 12 hours later, Reinkemeier found himself at the final table.

These were the chip counts at the start of the final table:

A short-stacked Tom "kingsofcards" Marchese got the last of his chips in with K♥J♥ but ran into chip leader Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee's A♦K♣. No help came for Marchese who was eliminated in ninth place for $40,000. Evan "SenorPokes" Jarvis was the next to fall. He four-bet shoved for 30 big blinds with A♦K♥ and Ashley "DYBYDX" Mason looked him up with 8♦8♥. No ace or king hit the board for Jarvis, and he pocketed $60,000 for his efforts. Another one of the early chip leaders, "MatchBalla", bowed out in seventh place. Once again, Ashley Mason held a pair of eights, this time 8♠8♣, and held against "MatchBalla's" A♠J♣.

Tobias Reinkemeier held the chip lead with six players left, but he finished in sixth place after a run of losing hands. The biggest of which was when his pocket queens failed to hold against Ashley Mason's A♣7♣ all-in preflop. An ace hit the flop, beginning Reinkemeier's downward trend. He got the last of his chips in with A♥10♣, but found himself dominated and sent to the rail by Mason's A♣Q♦.

Five-handed play saw Mason chip up quite a bit and become the first player to crack seven figures. Both "Skilled G" and "roi kin23" traded turns as the short stack, at one point each having under five big blinds. It was "roi kin23" who exited in fifth place with J♥8♦, failing to crack "xraypies'" A♠A♦. "Skilled G" busted shortly thereafter with A♥4♠, bested by Kevin MacPhee's A♣9♠.

Ashley Mason held the chip lead to start three-handed play and further extended it before MacPhee found a huge double. With the blinds and antes at the 6,000/12,000/1,500 level, MacPhee raised to 30,000 from the small blind. Mason popped it to 68,900, only to see MacPhee move all-in for 448,329. Mason called immediately with K♦Q♦, slightly trailing MacPhee's A♦8♠. The board ran out 9♦5♣3♥9♠8♣, securing the double for MacPhee and giving him an oh-so-slight one-small-blind chip lead. Unfortunately for MacPhee, it was all downhill from there. He didn't win a single pot over the next 28 hands and found himself as the short stack. His final stand came with 9♦9♠, racing with Mason's A♦10♦. The board came down Q♣6♣3♦8♦K♦ to give Mason the nut flush, ending MacPhee's tournament in third place for $235,000.

Heads-up play began with Mason holding 1,528,990 to "xraypies'" 471,010. A quick race ensued when "xraypies'" 7♦7♠ held against Mason's A♣J♦ to bring the duel to nearly even. At the break, they discussed a possible deal, but it quickly fell through and the cards were back in the air. It didn't take long for Mason to re-establish a sizable lead and at 7,000/14,000/1,750, it was all over. After "xraypies" limped on the button, Mason shoved with the big stack. A few moments later, "xraypies" called all-in for 227,328 with Q♦7♠, needing to improve against Mason's K♠4♣. No improvement came, as the final board ran out J♠4♦2♣10♣J♦ to eliminate "xraypies" in second place for $310,000.

For his outstanding performance, Ashley "DYBYDX" Mason earned $430,000 and a WCOOP bracelet.

Notable Finishes: Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser (12th - $35,000), Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (15th - $30,000), Chris "d0r1t0s" McClung (16th - $25,000), JP Kelly (18th - $25,000), Greg "gregior" Howard (21st - $20,000), Joe Hachem (24th - $20,000), Mark "AceSpades11" Rodoja (25th - $20,000), Jean-Francois "bmwmcoupe" Talbot (26th - $20,000)

PokerStars WCOOP 3 - $200 No-Limit Hold’em Two-Day ($1.25M Guaranteed)

A field of 10,107 entered Event #3, the $200 No-Limit Hold’em Two-Day. Only 69 players are left heading into Day 2 with "ChiphunterTH" from Germany is leading the way. The shortest stack remaining is Team PokerStars Online's Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman who certainly has his work cut out for him, returning on Day 2 with a stack of less than six big blinds. Johan "busto_soon" van Til is also still in the mix, sitting with a stack of 13 big blinds.

Here are the top ten chip stacks heading into Day 2, set to resume 1400 EDT (1900 BST) on Monday.

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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