Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford Finally Wins His First WCOOP Title for $162,674 in WCOOP-33-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller]
The number player in the world according to the online poker rankings Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford has won many titles but had never laid claim to a WCOOP title. He has now finally done it by winning the PokerStars WCOOP-33-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller] for $162,674.
The tournament attracted 155 entries to create a prize pool of $775,000 with the lion-share going to Beresford as he defeated Luke "Bit2Easy" Reeves heads-up. Beresford came close in 2013 when he finished in fourth place and already won three SCOOP tournaments but at long last has taken down a WCOOP tournament. As this was a high roller, many of the poker elite came to take a shot at a title and the prize money that comes with it and only 14 players made it through to Day 2.
Joining the two Brits on the final table were "Boootsy", Mike "SirWatts" Watson, Alexandru "steakaddict." Papazian, Mirza "zazano" Muhovic, Sergei "Futti18" Koliakov, David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera, and Ole "wizowizo" Schemion.
WCOOP-33-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, High Roller] Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford | United Kingdom | $162,674 |
| 2 | Luke "Bit2Easy" Reeves | United Kingdom | $125,932 |
| 3 | "Boootsy" | Canada | $97,488 |
| 4 | Mike "SirWatts" Watson | Canada | $75,469 |
| 5 | Alexandru "steakaddict." Papazian | Romania | $58,423 |
| 6 | Mirza "zazano" Muhovic | Luxembourg | $45,228 |
| 7 | Sergei "Futti18" Koliakov | Russia | $35,012 |
| 8 | David "EzPaTuLa" Cabrera | Spain | $27,104 |
| 9 | Ole "wizowizo" Schemion | Germany | $22,312 |
Today's Action
The day started with Filipe "Zagazaur" Oliveira as the absolute shortest stack but he managed to double up just before Artur "mararthur1" Martirosian was first to go when his aces got cracked by the ace-trey of Schemion who rivered a flush in the first minute of the tournament in the old level. The level duration increased to 30 minutes and this ensured for action to certainly slow down a bit. It would take almost the full 30 minutes before Joao "Naza114" Vieira fell to Muhovic when he had a chance to triple up but failed.
Having secured a pay jump, Oliveira was next to go when he got his last 11 big blinds in against Watson and couldn't win. Thirty minutes later, Matthias "iambest2" Eibinger three-bet shoved with tens and was looked up by "Boootsy" who held queens and got no help from the board.
Hand-for-hand play commenced for the final table bubble which would end up lasting 80 minutes. Simon "simon1471" Higgins was left short with just over a big blind when he doubled up Koliakov and managed to double up three times to stay alive but eventually lost it all to Koliakov to get the tournament down to the final table.
Schemion immediately busted to Watson with the latter also taking out Cabrera to then win a few more hands to take over the chip lead from Beresford. Watson kept increasing his chip lead while Koliakov was kicked out of the tournament by Beresford. Day 1 chip leader Muhovic saw his tournament run end when his queens got beat by Reeves' ace-nine who turned trips.
Reeves took over the chip lead and kept building it during the hour five-handed play lasted before taking out Papazian to get him almost 60% of the chips in play. Watson fell shortly after to Beresford who then doubled through "Boootsy" to leave the latter with nine big blinds. A few hands later, "Boootsy" busted to Beresford with Reeves still in the lead with 53% of the chips in play.
Reeves increased his chip lead but just as quickly returned those chips to Beresford. Beresford then scored a big double-up with the higher two pair to leave Reeves behind with 13 big blinds. In the end, Reeves shoved with king-five and Beresford called with the ace-king he had picked up. The higher kicker gave him his first WCOOP title while Reeves would have settle for the runner-up cash of $125,932.
The PokerNews live reporting team will continue coverage of WCOOP-37-H: $5,200 PLO [6-Max, High Roller] with Day 2 on Thursday, September 10 and Day 1 of WCOOP-39-H: $5,200 NLHE [Progressive KO, High Roller], so stick around for all the action.