2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

Event #38: $250 NLHE [Super Tuesday SE], $50K Gtd
Day: 1
Event Info

2021 Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP)

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
qq
Prize
$11,525
Event Info
Buy-in
$250
Prize Pool
$59,881
Entries
257

Jason “TheRealClozer” Kapoor's Decision to Turn Pro Leads to MICOOP

Jason Kapoor
Jason Kapoor

Jason "Clozer" Kapoor, 26, resides in Redford, Michigan and has established himself as one of the state's fiercest players. He spent five years selling cars before opting to play poker full time beginning at the end of 2019.

"I don’t have much family, my mom just passed away five months ago," Kapoor told PokerNews. "I'm really trying my best to ship a tournament soon to dedicate a win to her."

Kapoor started playing poker avidly in 2017. He always knew the basics of the game, but like so many, he wasn't aware of just how in-depth the game could be.

Kapoor didn't graduate high school and actually left home when he was just 14 years old. He spent 70 hours a week working at a Dunkin Donuts when he was 16 years old just to pay rent and bills. To succeed in poker, one has to grind and deal with hardships. Kapoor has real-life experience in both.

"I was in survival mode my whole life, so I had to get good at reading people," he explained. "Knowing how people worked. What they wanted to hear and see. It’s sad but true. In my opinion, this really helps in poker, one of my best abilities is knowing where I’m at a lot of the time."

In regards to PokerStars launching in Michigan where he plays under the screen name “TheRealClozer," Kapoor said: "I’m super excited that we have the chance to play legally online now."

When not playing online, Kapoor sniffs out the action. For the past five months, he's traveled to what little live events there have been. Primarily a cash game player at the $5/$10 level, Kapoor added tournament play to his skillset in 2019. His biggest live tournament cash to date is $12,051 for finishing 19th in the 2019 MSPT Michigan State Poker Championship for $12,051.

"I can’t wait for the world to reopen. I’m beyond blessed to have this ability to make this kind of living considering where I came from and everything I’ve had to overcome throughout my life," he said. "Poker is not just a hobby. It’s a lifestyle, and I can’t see myself ever giving it up. I’ve met some of the best friends I could ever have from poker."

He added: "If you see me at the tables, you will either love me or hate me. I’m a talker, it’s part of my game. I mean no harm, I just want your chips!"

Kapoor is currently in Tampa Bay for a live event but will be returning to Michigan soon to compete in the MICOOP.

"Ideally I would like to ship that [live event] then come back here to Michigan and win the Main Event of the MICOOP."

PokerNews will be keeping an eye out for Kapoor whenever he jumps into online tournament action.

Jason Kapoor
Jason Kapoor

No Longer in the Tournament

Sixty-nine players now remain in Level 16 with blinds of 1,500/3,000 and an ante of 375. The following players are not among those still in contention.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of eyewantoowin us
eyewantoowin
Busted
Profile photo of teddylansky us
teddylansky
Busted
Profile photo of PowerRanges us
PowerRanges
Busted
Profile photo of Gamestop2012 us
Gamestop2012
Busted
Profile photo of GrandKam616 us
GrandKam616
Busted
Profile photo of Matthew "Luna_Nova21" Davis us
Matthew "Luna_Nova21" Davis
Busted
Profile photo of Bout2CrushU us
Bout2CrushU
Busted
Profile photo of Gotzillions us
Gotzillions
Busted
Profile photo of Almudryk us
Almudryk
Busted
Profile photo of Brandelt14 us
Brandelt14
Busted
Profile photo of dankecomwieder us
dankecomwieder
Busted
Profile photo of kmen224 us
kmen224
Busted
Profile photo of Declan Scott us
Declan Scott
Busted
Profile photo of sexycaitlyn us
sexycaitlyn
Busted
Profile photo of icebong619 us
icebong619
Busted
Profile photo of Upay4mySushi us
Upay4mySushi
Busted
Profile photo of vikmod us
vikmod
Busted
Profile photo of Diddy Donkeeeey us
Diddy Donkeeeey
Busted
Profile photo of FarmingYou us
FarmingYou
Busted
Profile photo of jTizzle450 us
jTizzle450
Busted
Profile photo of gabpoker_cc us
gabpoker_cc
Busted
Profile photo of ChippewaBadger7 us
ChippewaBadger7
Busted
Profile photo of Adam "Red4novak" Novak us
Adam "Red4novak" Novak
Busted

Registration Closes, Prize Pool Information Finalized

MICOOP 2021
MICOOP 2021

Play is midway through Level 15 with blinds of 1,250/2,500 and an ante of 325 and the clock has struck 10:40, meaning late registration is officially closed. An overall 257 entries generated a total prize pool of $59,881.

The top 35 places are set to be paid with a first-level payout good for $552. All nine to make the final table will earn at least $1,106, and payouts will increase from there with the eventual winner earning themseleves $11,525. Complete payout information can be found in the Payouts tab above.

Eighty players remain.

"Owens18853" Doubles Through "chunkypineapple"

"Owens18853"
"Owens18853"

In Level 14 with blinds of 800/1,600 and an ante of 200, action folded to "Owens18853" on the button and they open-jammed for 38,306. "chunkypineapple" called in the small blind.

"Owens18853": {k-Hearts}{6-Diamonds}
"chunkypineapple": {4-Hearts}{4-Clubs}

Upon being called, "Owens18853" was in a near-coin flip and the flop {10-Spades}{q-Spades}{9-Hearts} gave them four more outs to double. Those four outs became chop outs after the turn {k-Diamonds} appeared and they picked up a pair of kings, and the river {a-Diamonds} fell behind to complete the runout and score them the double.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of chunkypineapple us
chunkypineapple
115,641
42,186
42,186
Profile photo of Owens18853 us
Owens18853
80,612

High School Social Studies Teacher Adam "Red4novak" Novak Chasing MICOOP Glory

Adam Novak with his family
Adam Novak with his family

Adam "Red4novak" Novak, 39, hails from Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan where he's lived most of his life. He's been married for nine years and has three daughters with his wife — Hazel (6), Ruby (3), and Marigold (10 months).

"I’m a high school Social Studies teacher at AGBU Manoogian High School, where I am also the school’s Athletic Director and have coached girl’s volleyball, cross country, and girl's and boy's basketball," he told PokerNews.

Novak first learned to play poker approximately 20 years ago thanks to his friend Russ Woodruff, who taught him using pennies.

"I almost immediately started playing on PokerStars around 18 or 19 years old in my parent’s house where I turned $20 into $50," he explained. "I was hooked ever since absorbing it online, on TV, and through books like Gus Hansen’s Every Hand Revealed."

Prior to 2011, Noval was mainly a Sit n’ Go grinder grinding approximately 20 SnG tables at a time. Those ranged from $10 to $50 buy-ins and he was simultaneously trying to maximize profit while amassing Frequent Player Points towards Supernova Elite status.

"I also played all types of tournaments starting from the suggestion of a friend starting around age 23," he said. "There have been several nice scores with my best being due to my wife who suggested I play it despite only having around 10 minutes left of late registration. I took third in a $50 tourney with over 7k participants for approximately $21,000."

In regards to legal and regulated online poker coming to Michigan, Novak was among the masses to welcome it with open arms.

"I’m very excited about Michigan’s return to online poker and look forward to getting back on the virtual felt," Novak concluded.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Adam "Red4novak" Novak us
Adam "Red4novak" Novak
38,776
13,776
13,776

"gabpoker_cc" Shoots Down Top Pair

"gabpoker_cc"
"gabpoker_cc"

In Level 13 with blinds of 800/1,600 and an ante of 200, "ChippewaBadger7" limped under the gun and saw "gabpoker_cc" raise to 4,800 on their direct left. Action folded to "tsaroffish4" in the small blind, who called, and "ChippewaBadger7" called as well to take three-way action to the streets.

The flop was {2-Spades}{6-Clubs}{j-Diamonds} and "tsaroffish4" checked. "ChippewaBadger7" bet 8,800 and "gabpoker_cc" called. "tsaroffish4" then folded, taking action heads up to the turn {3-Hearts} where "ChippewaBadger7" went all in for 13,734 and "gabpoker_cc" called.

"ChippewaBadger7": {j-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}
"gabpoker_cc": {a-Clubs}{a-Spades}

"ChippewaBadger7" had flopped top pair but ran it into a pair of bullets. Needing to hit a five outer to stay alive, the river {9-Clubs} failed to comply and their stack was sent one seat over. They quickly re-entered and received a new 25,000; meanwhile, "gabpoker_cc" is now over 118,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of gabpokercc us
gabpokercc
118,194
Profile photo of tsaroffish4 us
tsaroffish4
83,450
Profile photo of ChippewaBadger7 us
ChippewaBadger7
25,000

"jTizzle450" Nabs "BigBuck1020"

"jTizzle450"
"jTizzle450"

In Level 12 with blinds of 700/1,400 and an ante of 175, action folded to "jTizzle450" on the button and they opened to 4,200. "BigBuck1020" defended their big blind and action went heads up to a flop of {4-Clubs}{5-Diamonds}{q-Hearts}.

"BigBuck1020" checked to "jTizzle450", who made a continuation-bet of 4,200 and was check-raised to 23,100. "jTizzle450" re-jammed for 33,713 effective and "BigBuck1020" called all in.

"BigBuck1020": {a-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}
"jTizzle450": {k-Spades}{q-Clubs}

"BigBuck1020" was in trouble and the runout {7-Diamonds}{6-Clubs} did nothing to bail them out. Their bottom pair remained no good to the top pair of "jTizzle450", who earned the pot and the knockout to bring their stack above 84,000.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of jTizzle450 us
jTizzle450
84,706
41,253
41,253
Profile photo of BigBuck1020 us
BigBuck1020
Busted

Check Out Episodes of PokerNews Podcast for All the Up-to-Date News

PokerNews Podcast
PokerNews Podcast

Are you interested in all the latest news and top interviews in poker? If so, be sure to check out episodes of the PokerNews Podcast, which are released once a week.

Sarah Herring, Jeff Platt, and Chad Holloway break down the latest news and discuss gossip from the poker world. They also welcome big-name guests — such as Doug Polk, Daniel Negreanu, Fedor Holz, and Phil Hellmuth — to talk all things poker.

They also offer special episodes such as a conversation with Poker Hall of Famer Crandell Addington, Amnon Filippi talking about his time in prison, and remembering Mike Sexton where players, friends, and family shared stories about one of poker's best ambassadors.

Tell us who you want to hear from. Let us know what you think of the show — tweet about the podcast using #PNPod, and be sure to follow Sarah Herring, Jeff Platt and Chad Holloway on Twitter.

Subscribe to the PokerNews Podcast on Apple Podcasts here!

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"9NINENINE" Loses With Eights

"FarmingYou"
"FarmingYou"

In Level 11 with blinds of 600/1,200 and an ante of 150, "9NINENINE" raised to 2,400 under the gun and "FarmingYou" three-bet shoved for 25,100 in the hijack. Action folded back to "9NINENINE" and a call was made.

"FarmingYou": {a-Spades}{q-Spades}
"9NINENINE": {8-Diamonds}{8-Hearts}

The two found themselves on opposite ends of a coin flip with "9NINENINE" slightly ahead going to the flop {3-Spades}{4-Hearts}{k-Hearts}. "FarmingYou" picked up four more outs to Broadway on the turn {j-Spades}, but needed none of them as the river {a-Hearts} came to give them a pair of aces and score them the dub.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of FarmingYou us
FarmingYou
53,350
28,350
28,350
Profile photo of 9NINENINE us
9NINENINE
21,387
21,387
21,387

Field Over 200, Guaranteed Prize Pool Soon-To-Be-Passed

In Level 10 with blinds of 500/1,000 and an ante of 125, there have now been 204 entries logged. Just 11 more are needed to surpass the $50K guaranteed prize pool and a little under an hour remains in the late registration period.

"Trying2Donate" is atop the counts with a stack of more than 133,000, and they are one of just four players with six-figure stacks at this point in the tournament. Here's a look at the top 15 counts in on the leader board.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Trying2Donate us
Trying2Donate
133,274
75,802
75,802
Profile photo of megatron06869 us
megatron06869
128,856
44,886
44,886
Profile photo of xXColdCallXx us
xXColdCallXx
111,000
Profile photo of V1ct0r0 us
V1ct0r0
102,500
Profile photo of wassem28 us
wassem28
93,456
Profile photo of justinbrown69 us
justinbrown69
86,180
35,295
35,295
Profile photo of Batmanstein us
Batmanstein
86,000
Profile photo of icebong619 us
icebong619
85,893
Profile photo of Buckoh555 us
Buckoh555
84,500
Profile photo of UPay4MyBeer313 us
UPay4MyBeer313
77,683
Profile photo of vikmod us
vikmod
76,581
198
198
Profile photo of BackdoorFILTH us
BackdoorFILTH
75,870
Profile photo of Diddy Donkeeeey us
Diddy Donkeeeey
75,371
32,316
32,316
Profile photo of saturnp1ut0 us
saturnp1ut0
74,178
Profile photo of chunkypineapple us
chunkypineapple
73,455
22,871
22,871