Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008

• Email
• Print

Shaun Deeb dominates WCOOP

By Arthur Crowson

Well-known online player Shaun Deeb stole the spotlight at PokerStars.com World Championship of Online Poker by winning Event 25 $325+R PL Omaha yesterday.

Deeb outlasted 747 players to take down $144,112 for first place and the coveted WCOOP title. The win secures Deeb's spot as one of the best online multi-table tournament players in the world.

Pot-Limit Omaha wasn't the only game being played at the WCOOP these past two days - Tuesday's Event 24, No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw, saw 308 players combine to create a memorable final table with thousands of dollars up for grabs.

Here's a closer look at each event:

Event 24 $530 No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw

No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw isn't the most popular game in the world, but it is nonetheless cherished by experienced rounders. Therefore it was no surprise the field was absolutely stacked, with Lee Nelson, Shane "shaniac" Schleger, Kevin "BeLOWaBOVe" Saul, Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Griffin all making it into the money.

As an added plus the field was so small that PokerStars made up the small overlay, to make the tournament even more value-packed.

The two most well-known players at the final table were Mike "SirWatts" Watson, who recently took down Bellagio Cup III for $1.6 million, and former WPT Borgata Poker Open winner Mark "newhizzle" Newhouse.

Both pros came very close to taking the whole thing down, but eventually Newhouse had to settle for third while Watson simply couldn't defeat luvgamble in heads-up play. luvgamble won $42,000 for outlasting some stiff competition.

Here's a look at the final-table payouts:

1. luvgamble	$42,000
2. SirWatts	$30,000
3. newhizzle	$21,000
4. Blute	$13,000
5. Aftret	$9,000
6. thevoice72	$7,000
7. borisbäck	$5,000

Event 25 $320+Rebuy Pot-Limit Omaha

Event 25 saw a total of 748 players combine to create a prize pool of $768,000 once the rebuys were tallied.

The field was packed with Team PokerStars pros like Chad Brown, Greg Raymer, Gavin Griffin, Dario Minieri, Vanessa Rousso, Luca Pagano and Chris Moneymaker all clambering to grab a piece of the prize pool.

The Pint-Sized Poker Pugilist, that's Minieri, was cruising along but got all-in with a serious draw, and couldn't beat his opponent's set.

Frenchman Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier outlasted them all, however, and very nearly made the final table, eventually settling for 12th, which netted him $8,070.

Deeb made it to the final table in great shape with $2.5 million chips, although ely_cash41 wasn't that far behind with $1.8 million.

One of the best players at the final table, Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy, came into the final table with $555,570 chips but couldn't get anything going and was actually the first person to be eliminated.

Deeb had a very different final-table experience. He started knocking players out and didn't stop until he had bested TheNew in heads-up play. Deeb banked $144,112 for his victory while TheNew got $103,761.

Here are the final-table payouts:

1. shaundeeb	$144,112
2. TheNew	$103,761
3. MiniKipDK	$76,860
4. Canuck	$57,645
5. kAmIkAdZeEe	$40,351
6. Miraclos	$32,665
7. caprioli	$24,979
8. ely_cash41	$17,293
9. JohnnyBax	$10,837

It remains to be seen whether high-profile names will further solidify their gains in the WCOOP, so be sure to check back tomorrow for updates on how Thursday's WCOOP events played out. 

Related Articles:

• ElkY scores again but amateurs still rule WCOOP
• Pros dig deeper into WCOOP events
• Pros light up weekend WCOOP, manage to hold own
• WCOOP spreads Heads-Up, PLO

 

More News

• PokerStars Sunday Million a whirl for twirlpro
• $100k goes to limpiewimpie in ECOOP Sunday
• DaMunsta gives Cole South nightmares
• Three more winners at ECOOP III
• PKR breaks tournament records
• Dwan forced to surrendurrrr
• New UltimateBet player hits $790k bad beat jackpot
• Sudworth cashes in at Ladbrokes Poker