A round up of the big name news from the first half of the Spring Championships of Online Poker including a record breaking win for Calvin Anderson, two wins for Jason Mercier, and much more.
One man dominated the 2015 Spring Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP). Calvin “cal42688” Anderson cashed in 20 of the 134 events he played, made seven final tables, and picked up the fifth SCOOP win of his career to finish as the 2015 SCOOP Player of the Year.
So where do you go from there?
How about becoming the most successful SCOOP player in history?
That’s what Anderson has achieved after we reached the midway point of the 46 event calendar. He topped a field of 66 runners in Event #13: $2,100 (H) Stud; a final table that included his great rival Shaun Deeb, Dan ‘djk123’ Kelly, and Andrey ‘Kroko-dill’ Zaichenko.
Before the final table started both Anderson and Deeb were tied on five SCOOP victories. Anderson now has six after beating Kelly in heads-up action. Deeb fell in fourth spot, Zaichenko ended in third.
Anderson picked up $36,600.36 after cutting a deal with Kelly. I don’t know why I am even mentioning it. This is not about the money. How would Deeb react? Like anyone would expect him to. Only ‘Km_freestyle’ prevented Deeb from joining Anderson on six titles, when he beat him at the final hurdle of Event #16: $215 (M) PLO Heads-Up – an event that contained 755 entrants.
Anderson and Deeb didn’t hog all of the early headlines. Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier also got under the spotlight after winning two SCOOP titles in two consecutive nights: Mercier now has three SCOOP titles to his name.
Mercier defeated 56 entrants to win the $39,300 first prize in Event #5: $2,100 (H) Badugi. He beat Adam Owen in heads-up action; Talal Shakerchi finished fifth. Then he beat 43 players to take the $34,400 first prize in Event #8: $2,100 (H) No-Limit Five Card Draw. Fedor Holz bubbling the final table, and Mike Watson finishing third.
Reigning World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) Champion Holz next surfaced in Event #8 $27 (L) NL Draw. There were 1,807 runners, and Holz went all the way. He pocketed $7,099.09 for the win, mere peanuts for the lad, but he would have been delighted with the score.
Sorel ‘zangbezan24’ Mizzi got off to a great start for the second year in succession. This time last year he was picking up his largest online score to date by finishing runner-up in Event #2: $2,100 (H) NLHE for $278,980. This year he beat 986 entrants in Event #3 $2,100 (H) NLHE to take the much larger prize of $354,960. Mizzi would leave his laptop for a few days, and run deep in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Amsterdam event. He was ousted in cruel fashion in 12th place after the AQ of Fredrik Andersson cracked his AK, in a chip lead pot.
Mohsin ‘sms9231’ Charania won his second SCOOP title. The former EPT and two-time WPT champion won Event #4 $1,050 (H) No-Limit Hold’em (Turbo). 1,100 players ensured the $500,000 guarantee was smashed. Charania picked up $198,000 for the win; Benny Spindler finished third.
Chris ‘NigDawG’ Brammer picked up his first SCOOP win in Event #14 $215 (M) No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw. 307 players made sure the guarantee was almost doubled, and the lad from the UK picked up $12,894 for his troubles. The final table included Martin Kozlov (2nd), Darren Elias (6th) and Mike Watson (7th). Elias also finished fourth in Event #14 $2,100 (H) Single Draw 2-7.
Another huge win went the way of Thomas ‘WushuTM’ Muhlocker, after securing victory in Event #9 $1,050 (H) NLHE Super Tuesday SE. 1,723 players entered the beefed up weekly star-studded event, and $288,602.50 went the way of Muhlocker. The $1m guarantee was passed with ease.
You can’t have a SCOOP round up without mentioning James “Andy McLEOD” Obst. The three-time SCOOP, one time WCOOP, and one time TCOOP champion triumphed in Event #10: $1,050 (H) PLO 6-Max. He won $166,980 after beating Joe Cada in heads-up action; Ireland’s John O’Shea was fourth and Russia’s Artem Litvinov sixth.
Last but not least, one of the hottest poker stars on the planet has also gotten involved in the action. Dzmitry ‘Colisea’ Urbanovich won his third COOP title, after beating 120 players in Event #19: $2,100 (H) FL Omaha Hi/Lo for a $58,800 score. The Pole is having a sterling year after setting a new European Poker Tour (EPT) side event record with four wins in EPT Malta, and recently finished runner-up to Erik Seidel in the €100,000 EPT Grand Final Super High Roller for €1,446,600.
The action continues…
