Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza Does The Unthinkable and Wins Back-to-Back SCOOP Main Events!
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Austria-based Italian Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza has completed a historic double by winning back-to-back PokerStars Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event High titles, adding $1,028,203 to the massive $1,133,160 he won almost exactly 12 months ago.
SCOOP 62-H: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza | Austria | $1,028,203* |
| 2 | OMGitshunt | Belarus | $924,096* |
| 3 | Dinesh “NastyMinder” Alt | Austria | $604,383 |
| 4 | Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez | Uruguay | $442,597 |
| 5 | nailuj90 | Austria | $324,119 |
| 6 | felipebeltra | Brazil | $237,356 |
| 7 | Korrinho | Austria | $173,819 |
| 8 | Nick “caecilius” Petrangelo | Canada | $127,290 |
| 9 | Preben “prebz” Stokkan | United Kingdom | $101,777 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
PokerStars guaranteed $5 million would be won in the SCOOP 62-H: $10,300 NLHE 8-Max Main Event, but eventually paid out $6,620,000 to the top 87 finishers after 662 entries were processed.
The money bubble burst on Day 1 when Ukraine’s “MoutainRo$e” busted in 88th place, securing a $21,264 prize for the remaining players. Day 1 ended with only 31 players left in the hunt for the $1,126,911 top prize, with everyone guaranteed $41,598.
A host of well-known players busted on the second and final day of the Main Event, including the likes of Connor “blanconegro” Drinan, Sami “Lrsklzk” Kelopuro, Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky and Adrian “Amadi_017” Mateos, the latter busting in 10th place for $81,377 to set the final table.
UK-based Norwegian Preben “prebz” Stokkan was the first casualty of the final table; his ninth place finish seeing his $10,300 investment swell to $101,777. Stokkan was then joined on the rail by Nick “caecilius” Petrangelo and one of four Austrians in “Korrinho”; the talented duo banked $127,290 and $173,819 respectively.
Brazil’s “felipebeltra” was the sixth-place finisher for $237,356 before Austria’s “nailju90” busted in fifth place for a $324,119 score. This in itself was an incredible achievement because nailju90 finished second in last year’s SCOOP High Main Event for a career best prize of $837,473.
Another player in hot form was Francisco “Tomatee” Benitez of Uruguay. Benitez won two PokerStars tournaments on May 26 and was among the chip leaders in the SCOOP Main Event at the close of play on Day 1. His fourth-place finish saw him win $442,597.
The surviving three players were now guaranteed more than $600,000. Dinesh “NastyMinder” Alt became the third place finisher and won $604,383.
This set up a heads-up battle between “OMGitshunt” and Speranza for the title. The pair agreed upon a deal that left $100,000 for the eventual champion and it was Speranza who got his hands on that additional cash for a total prize worth $1,028,203 with the runner-up netting $924,096.
Other SCOOP Main Event Results
There were six main events in total across May 26-27, three different six-max PLO events, and three no-limit hold’em events. Here are the champions of those SCOOP Main Events.
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCOOP 62-L NLHE Main Event | $109 | 33,987 | $3,398,700 | Jack Wastes | $315,955* |
| SCOOP 62-M NLHE Main Event | $1,050 | 5,475 | $5,475,000 | jakobgold | $668,558* |
| SCOOP 62-H NLHE Main Event | $10,300 | 662 | $6,620,000 | Tankanza | $1,028,203* |
| SCOOP 63-L PLO Main Event | $109 | 4,300 | $430,000 | tvtotalwin | $46,501** |
| SCOOP 63-M PLO Main Event | $1,050 | 900 | $900,000 | PeiMaiPano93 | $148,257 |
| SCOOP 63-H PLO Main Event | $10,300 | 150 | $1,500,000 | pkrbt | $285,762* |
*reflects a heads-up deal
**reflects a three-way deal
A thrilling conclusion to the 2019 SCOOP that awarded more than $105 million. We can hardly wait for the next installment, we bet Speranza cannot wait to play the $10,300 Main Event again either!
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