Event #17 of the 2008 World Championship of Online Poker was $530 Pot Limit Holdem. There were a total of 960 players competing in the event, and in the end it would be poker101 who would walk away with the WCOOP bracelet and the $80,400 first place prize.
Shortly after taking a huge hit when Str8$$$Homey would not be fooled by a river bluff, s00tedjokers would call off the rest of his stack after YanniYankiev made a large raise to force mikek15 out of the hand. S00tedjokers flipped over [Ks][Qc] and saw that he was in big trouble when YanniYankiev revealed [Qd][Qs]. The board would prove to be utterly unhelpful as it rolled out [9d][9h][7h][10h][10d] and s00tedjokers was eliminated in sixth place, taking home $14,400 for his efforts.
Str8$$$homey was the next to fall, doing so when he wound up tangling with the chip leader, poker101. Str8$$$homey was all-in after the flop came down [Qc][10c][3h], holding [Kh][Jc] for an open-ended straight draw. Poker101 held pocket jacks and Str8$$$homey would need some help if he was to survive. The help would not come as the [5d] landed on the turn and the [2c] landed on the river. Str8$$$homey exited in fifth place, richer by $20,592.
Mikek15 found himself out of the tournament when his hand improved on the turn but not enough to overcome poker101’s stronger hand. In the hand the two players saw a flop of [Ah][Js][6h] and moved on to a [8h] turn after mikek15 called poker101’s flop bet. Mikek15 bet first on the turn, only to be check-raised by poker101. Mikek15 then pushed all-in, receiving an instant call from poker101. Mikek15 showed [8d][6d] for the turned two pair, but poker101 held a better two pair with his [As][6s]. The [4c] river was no help for Mikek15, who would collect $31,200 for his fourth place finish.
QUEEN KAZU had managed to maintain a short stack throughout three-handed play but would eventually fall at the hands of poker101. QUEEN KAZU was all-in before the flop with [Ad][Jd] but was facing an uphill battle as poker101 held [Ac][Qh]. Needing a lot of help from the board QUEEN KAZU would receive none as the board fell [Kh][6d][4s][8s][3c]. QUEEN KAZU would take home $45,600 for finishing in third place.
Poker101 and YanniYankiev would battle for over an hour before the tournament was decided. In the final hand the two players raised back and forth preflop until YanniYankiev was all-in with [Ah][10c]. poker101 held [Ks][Qs] and the two went to the board to see who would win the pot. The flop brought pairs to both players but poker101 made the better pair as the board fell [Qc][10s][6d]. The [7d] turn and the [Jh] river would not help YanniYankiev, and the tournament was over.
YanniYankiev earned $60,000 for their runner-up performance while poker101 captured the WCOOP bracelet and $80,400.