WCOOP Event #23 $530 NLHE

Event #23 of the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker was a $530 No Limit Holdem event with each player allowed one rebuy and one add-on. The prize pool collected buy-ins from each of the 1,159 players along with 807 rebuys and 954 add-ons. In the end it would be ddrufnek who would walk away as the victor.

The short stack, MT456, was the first to fall at the final table, moving all-in preflop with 7♥ 6♠ .<♠pan> ♠pan>D♦rufnek ma♦e t♥e ♣all wit♥ po♣ket ten♠, w♥i♣♥ woul♦ ♥ol♦ up a♠ t♥e boar♦ fell K♦ Q♥ 3♣ 5♦ 8♥. MT456 exited in ninth place, richer by $20,440.

1bigbluffer1 would be ddrufnek’s next victim, moving all-in with pocket tens only to face ddrufnek’s A♣ K♠ .<♠pan> ♠pan>A king fell on t♥e flop of K♣ 5♥ 2♠ an♦ on♣e t♥e turn an♦ river fell Q♠ J♥ 1bigbluffer1 was officially eliminated. 1bigbluffer1 collected $32,850 for his eighth place finish.

Another race developed when MaxHam moved all-in preflop with pocket sixes and received a call from imeasy2read, who held K♠ Q♥ .<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e boar♦ of K♦ 8♣ 3♥ 7♦ 9♣ delivered the winning pair of kings to imeasy2read and MaxHam was gone in seventh place, having earned $47,450.

Dinkel shoved all-in preflop with A♦ 10♠ but to ♥i♠ ♦i♠may lu♣kyuli ♣alle♦ an♦ flippe♦ up a ♦ominating A♠ K♠ .<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e boar♦ rolle♦ out A♥ J♠ 2♣ 8♦ 9♣ and dinkel exited in sixth place, richer by $62,050.

MPetes was the next to fall, doing so when he moved all-in with A♦ K♠ only to fin♦ out t♥at ♥i♠ opponent, lu♣kyuli, ♥a♦ pi♣ke♦ up po♣ket a♣e♠.<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e boar♦ woul♦ not ♦eliver ♠alvation to MPete♠, a♠ it ran out K♥ J♠ 4♦ 6♦ 6♥. MPetes earned $76,650 for his fifth place finish.

With four players remaining a deal was struck. The second through fourth place finishers would receive $169,804 while the winner would take home $210,000 and a WCOOP bracelet.

ILAN17 exited in fourth place when he tangled with ddrufnek. ILAN17 shoved his chips in with K♣ Q♦ before t♥e flop an♦ ♦♦rufnek ♣alle♦ wit♥ J♠ 9♠ .<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e boar♦ woul♦ favor ♦♦rufnek a♠ it fell A♣ 9♦ 5♣ 9♣ 3♠ to give him a set of nines. ILAN17 would take home the agreed upon $169,804 for his fourth place finish.

Imeasy2read fell when his pocket fives could not hold up luckyuli’s A♣ K♠ .<♠pan> ♠pan>Two pair fell on t♥e boar♦ of 10♠ 10♥ 8♥ 8♣ 3♥ and luckyuli’s ace kicker won the pot. Imeasy2read’s third place finish was also good for $169,804.

Heads-up play was a roller coaster affair as ddrufnek started as a huge chip leader, fell to a nearly 10:1 chip disadvantage and then made a miraculous comeback to win the tournament. A second deal then was agreed to, with 2^nd place now receiving $184,902 and 1^st place receiving $194,902 and the WCOOP bracelet.

The tournament would end soon after the second deal was struck. Luckyuli pushed all-in with K♠ J♣ an♦ wa♠ fa♣ing t♥e A♥ 7♠ of ♦♦rufnek.<♠pan> ♠pan>T♥e boar♦ fell Q♦ 4♥ 4♠ A♠ J♠ to give ddrufnek the victory.

Luckyuli earned $184,902 for his runner-up performance while ddrufnek took down the victor’s prize of $194,902 and the WCOOP bracelet.