Michalak Among the Chip Leaders After Day 1 in SCOOP-28-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO; Veldhuis Advances
Another high-stakes contest of the 2021 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) has wrapped up after seven hours of 45 minutes of play. Out of a field of 1,261 entries, only 131 players remain in contention in Event SCOOP-28-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO, and among them is also PokerStars ambassador Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis.
The remaining contenders have a portion of the $1,261,000 prize pool locked up, and most importantly, still a shot at juicy bounty prizes. Best-positioned to claim them on the final day is a trio of chip leaders who are separated by just five big blinds. They all gained their prime spot in the very last hand on each respective table.
Dutch poker player Tom "Tom_Poker_NL" Talboom, who is also streaming his action, ended up as the chip leader with 3m346,984. He is followed by Hungarian regular "Wildace_hun" (3,245,116) and Jakub "Olorionek" Michalak (3,239,693). Not far behind is also another duo in Leocir "leocir25" Carneiro (2,860,124) and Matt "OLD TIME GIN" Stone (2,755,275).
Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1 in SCOOP-28-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO
| Position | Player | Country | Bounty | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom "Tom_Poker_NL" Talboom | Netherlands | $1,812.50 | 3,346,984 | 167 |
| 2 | Wildace_hun | Hungary | $1,968.75 | 3,245,116 | 162 |
| 3 | Jakub "Olorionek" Michalak | Poland | $5,437.50 | 3,239,693 | 162 |
| 4 | Leocir "leocir25" Carneiro | Brazil | $3,468.75 | 2,860,124 | 143 |
| 5 | Matt "OLD TIME GIN" Stone | Canada | $3,687.50 | 2,755,275 | 138 |
| 6 | Chopper100 | Canada | $2,000.00 | 2,465,149 | 123 |
| 7 | $eT4x4 | United Kingdom | $1,250.00 | 2,414,660 | 121 |
| 8 | Tatiana "Mysters_Y" Barausova | Russia | $2,312.50 | 2,390,802 | 120 |
| 9 | Artur "mararthur1" Martirosian | Russia | $2,312.50 | 2,234,442 | 112 |
| 10 | Alejo "Hugo_Ronzi" Castellazzi | Argentina | $2,343.75 | 2,221,110 | 111 |
Tatiana "Mysters_Y" Barausova (2,390,802) and 2021 EPT Sochi Main Event champion Artur "mararthur1" Martirosian (2,234,442) also bagged up top 10 stacks to gain a promising shot at glory in this event. Other notables with above-average stacks include Luigi "ll-Giuglia" D'Alterio, Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs, Florin "AAgoodfold" Duta, Thiago "KKremate" Crema, Patrick "Egption" Tardif, and Jon "luckyfish89" Clark.
Only one Team PokerStars ambassador made it through in Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis, who advanced with a short stack of 301,397 on his second bullet. Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, who was recently revealed as a new brand ambassador, earned one $250 bounty and cashed for $1,104 in 139th place. For Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, Ramon "RamonColillas" Colillas, and Fintan "easywithaces" Hand, Day 1 ended prior to the money bubble.
Colillas was eliminated in a three-way all-in after being left very short in a previous clash. Hand got his short stack in with pocket sevens only to see former EPT Sochi Main Event champion Arsenii "josef_shvejk" Karmatckii call with queens and prevail. Spragg spun up a shorter stack only to miss the money and Talbot snuck into the paid spots with a short stack to hit the rail a few minutes before bagging and tagging.
While the money bubble in many events can very intense and nerve-wracking, this wasn't the case in this event. As a matter of fact, the hand-for-hand play never kicked off as half a dozen players departed within one minute. Included in that batch were Gary "quiditbear" Hasson, Sergei "Futti18" Koliakov, and "Old brock". "Mikee_2308" ended up as the official bubble boy when their aces were cracked by king-jack suited.
Nearly three dozen hopefuls then bowed out before the action wrapped up at blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a running ante of 2,500. That's where the event will resume the following day at 1.05 pm EST and a long day is expected, as the tournament plays down to a winner.
The PokerNews team will be back then to provide as many key hands as possible until a new SCOOP champion is crowned.