Event no. 11 in this year's World Championship of Online Poker, the limit seven-card stud tournament, brought in 657 entrants. This number equated to the lowest number of players in any one event for Poker Stars' series of tournaments this year. Despite the low entry, the tournament nearly doubled its guaranteed prize pool of $100,000, climbing to $197,100. Some notable players broke through the money bubble in the tournament, including Gary 'p10ker' Jones (41st, $689.85), Tom McEvoy (64th, $532.17), Shane 'shaniac' Schleger (80th, $473.04), and Greg 'FossilMan' Raymer (84th, $473.04). It took nine hours and 20 minutes to reach the final table, and another fifteen before the first elimination hand. Davebreal raised all in on third street and was called by Sassenage. Sassenage flipped over A A Q while davebreal showed A 4 2 and was well behind. By seventh street, Sassenage had hit another ace to give him a set, while davebreal only managed to pair his two and was eliminated in eighth ($3,744.90). Jcsacc had only two big bets worth of chips at the beginning of davebreal's elimination hand, but he managed to nurse his ailing stack for another quarter hour before finally busting. Jcsacc's paired door card, an eight, failed to improve against nikstar's concealed jacks. Nikstar eventually made two pair to take the pot and eliminate jcsacc in seventh, sending him home with $5,755.32.
BJCAS was next to go when he pushed all in on the river showing J K 2 Q. Hurricaneace, who had been betting aggressively the entire hand, called the all in bet showing J Q 7 10, and flipped over A J 6 as his hole cards, giving him a flush. BJCAS showed K 10 A in the hole, giving him a straight, not enough to keep him alive. BJCAS was sent to the virtual rail in sixth with a $7,686.90 payout.
Evelyn, a regular on Poker Stars, pushed all in on third street, calling morten's raise, with the 3 as her door card. She showed Q 2 in the pocket and morten flipped up 5 4, with the 4 as his door card. Evelyn ended up only improving to ace-high, while morten caught another pair to give him sixes up for the pot. Evelyn earned $9,855 for her fifth place finish.
Three minutes later, hurricaneace put all of his chips in the pot on third street, showing the 9 in the door. He was called by all three remaining player, Sassenage, nikstar, and morten, showing the 3, the J, and the 10 respectively. The three callers check it down to the river where hurricaneace shows only a king high, while Sassenage caught a queen-high flush on the river to take the hand. Hurricaneace received $12,239.91 for his fourth place finish.
Sassenage would also eliminate the next player from the tournament. Morten went all in on fifth street and was called by Sassenage. Morten was only holding ace high at the time, with no apparent draws, and Sassenage flipped up a pair of queens he had hit on fifth street. Sixth street and the river failed to pair morten's ace and he was sent home in third ($16,950.60).
Despite eliminating the previous two players, Sassenage was still barely trailing nikstar by a modest $130,000. Both players quickly decided on a by-the-chips chop, giving $33,517 to Sassenage and $34,548 to nikstar, with $5,000 and the 14 karat WCOOP bracelet still up for grabs, per Poker Stars' rules. The heads-up match between the two lasted more than 45 minutes before a winner was determined. The two players tossed chips back and forth, staying more or less even throughout heads up play. Nikstar finally forged a lead over the course of a few hands, whittling Sassenage down to $76,870 compared to his $1,565,630.
The final hand had nikstar check-calling the entire way until Sassenage could finally put himself all in on fifth street, showing 8 4 Q. Nikstar called showing 3 J Q and turned over Q J in the hole, giving him two pair. Sassenage showed K 2 in the hole for king high. The only improvement Sassenage got was an 8 on the river to give him a pair, meaning he was eliminated from the tournament in second. Nikstar took down the pot to win the match and collect the extra $5,000 and the WCOOP bracelet.
The final standings are as follows:
*nikstar - $39,548 *Sassenage - $33,517 morten - $16,950.60 hurricaneace - $12,239.91 Evelyn - $9,855 BJCAS - $7,686.90 jcsacc - $5,755.32 davebreal - $3,744.90
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