"MauriceSch" Wins PokerStars WCOOP High Roller; Mercier Nearly Grabs Third Title
On Monday, plenty more action in the 2013 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) took place, highlighted by the big and bad Event #23: $10,300 High Roller.
Two other prizes of over a quarter of a million dollars were won, and one of those victories came when Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe earned his third WCOOP title in Event #22: $215 NL Hold'em. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier nearly notched his third in Event #24: $700 NL Hold'em, but ended up just short in third place.
PokerStars WCOOP Event #22 — $215 NL Hold'em ($1.25M Guaranteed)
It was Jaffe who shined brightest in the massive field of 9,394 players in Event #22 to earn his third WCOOP bracelet, but it wasn't easy. Jaffe had to overcome Miguel "LOL_U_91" Use and Brian "brianm15" England in the final three to claim victory.
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $200+15 | 9,394 | $1,878,800 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe | $251,673.45* |
| 2 | Miguel "LOL_U_91" Use | $226,673.44* |
| 3 | Brian "brianm15" England | $140,910 |
| 4 | RickyAs27 | $94,940 |
| 5 | Skrigepas | $75,152 |
| 6 | jinji men | $56,364 |
| 7 | danger0us | $37,576 |
| 8 | VyruAlus | $20,666.80 |
| 9 | toolhead82 | $14,560.70 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Notable Finishes: David "dpeters17" Peters (22nd - $4,133.36)
PokerStars WCOOP Event #23 — $10,300 High Roller NLHE ($2M Guaranteed)
The High Roller event attracted 276 players an additional 22 rebuys for a total of 298 entries, which juiced up the prize pool to a whopping $2,980,000. When it was all said and done, Germany's "MauriceSch" earned the top spot and $533,200 in first-place prize money. He managed to make a heads-up deal with second-place finisher Martin "M.nosbocaJ" Jacobson before going on to secure the title.
Other notables reaching the final table were Mustapha" lasagnaaammm" Kanit, Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko, and Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood. 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg "gregg20723" Merson narrowly missed out on the final table, finishing in 12th place.
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000+300 | 298 | $2,980,000 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MauriceSch | $533,200* |
| 2 | Martin "M.nosbocaJ" Jacobson | $480,000* |
| 3 | uri1013 | $327,800 |
| 4 | Mustapha" lasagnaaammm" Kanit | $238,400 |
| 5 | OLD TIME GIN | $163,900 |
| 6 | Andrey "Kroko-dill" Zaichenko | $119,200 |
| 7 | Frenzuh | $89,400 |
| 8 | Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood | $74,500 |
*Denotes heads-up deal
Notable Finishes: Greg "gregg20723" Merson (12th - $59,600), Darren "darrenelias" Elias (13th - $44,700), Griffin "Flush_Entity" Benger (14th - $44,700), Andrew "RunThisTable" Lichtenberger (15th - $44,700)
PokerStars WCOOP Event #24 — $700 NL Hold'em ($1.5M Guaranteed)
Event #24 attracted 3,491 players, but all eyes were on Jason Mercier at the final table as the Team PokerStars Pro eyed his third WCOOP title. Mercier had been battling a short stack for quite some time as the event grew deeper and deeper into the money, but then hit a rush after tripling up with the Q♣Q♠ against the A♣K♠ for "yaffy" and the 8♥8♣ for "paleta25" back in Level 27 with the blinds at 5,000/10,000/1,250.
With eight players left at the final table, Mercier once again found himself short on chips. Thanks to a double up with the Q♦J♦ against the A♦8♦ for "romanooo64," Mercier found some momentum and rode it out until the final four players remained. It was here that a deal was brokered between the remaining competitors, with the Netherlands' "Pimmss" locking up the most money.
When the dust settled, though, "vovanmillion" earned the extra $30,000 set aside for the winner and the bracelet, taking home a total of $271,889.75.
| Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool |
|---|---|---|
| $665+35 | 3,491 | $2,321,515 |
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | vovanmillion | $271,889.75* |
| 2 | Pimmss | $247,457.00* |
| 3 | Jason Mercier | $229,965.47* |
| 4 | romanooo64 | $212,957.88* |
| 5 | chosenwinner | $99,384.05 |
| 6 | javdani | $75,449.23 |
| 7 | DEX888 | $52,234.08 |
| 8 | Michael "Skämmes" Tureniec | $29,018.93 |
| 9 | glupakat | $18,572.12 |
*Denotes four-handed deal
Notable Finishes: Michael "wywrotX" Wywrot (13th - $10,795.04), Olivier "Adonis112" Busquet (19th - $6,152.01), Jason "jakoon1985" Koon (31st - $5,339.48)
For more news on the 2013 PokerStars WCOOP, please head over to the PokerStars Blog.
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