Patrick "pads1161" Leonard is enjoying a purple patch of form, one that has seen the popular British superstar secured back-to-back WCOOP titles. Leonard won the WCOOP #08-H: $5,200 NLHE 8-Max PKO on August 24, and followed that up with victory in the WCOOP-15-H: $1,050 NL 2-7 Single Draw 7-Max event.
Leonard’s victory came after he navigated his way through a star-studded field of 70 players in the $1,050 buy-in NL 2-7 Single Draw 7-Max tournament.
It's been all small ball on all three tables since the action went hand-for-hand with each hand taking a couple of minutes. In a recent hand, Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood limped from the small blind and Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs checked back from the big blind.
Both players checked the flop. Greenwood bet 35,000 on the turn and Ponakovs called before both players checked the river. Greenwood held for just the pair on the board and Ponakovs won the hand with for two pair.
"kZhh" opened for 88,000 from the hijack and was called by Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph from the cutoff.
Both players checked the flop before "kZhh" check-called for 160,000 the turn. "kZhh" checked again on the river and Rudolph bet 440,000. "kZhh" went into the tank using nearly their entire clock before the folded and Rudolph won the pot to go over 2 million in chips.
Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood opened for 88,000 from under the gun. Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski three-bet to 340,000 from the small blind. Greenwood four-bet shoved for 2,097,284 and Kovalski called to create the largest pot of the day.
Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood:
Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski:
The board didn't save Greenwood and he was eliminated in 17th place. Meanwhile, Kovalski soared over 5 million in chips to take a huge chip lead with 16 players remaining and the day ending when the action reaches the money with 15 players remaining.
Day 1 has concluded after Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver eliminated "EzzaEvz1991" in 16th place. The final 15 players will return on Monday at 5:05 p.m. GMT in the money for at least a $54,828 min-cash with $657,557 slated for tomorrow's winner.
The final hand of the day went as follows. Oliver opened for 80,000 from the lojack and was called by "EzzaEvz1991" from the small blind. "EzzaEvz1991" check-jammed the flop from 108,000 to 429,770 and Oliver called.
"EzzaEvz1991":
Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver:
Oliver's queens held after the turn and river completed the board to end the day.
Stay tuned at PokerNews for the Day 1 chip counts and recap of the day.
The 2021 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) showcased its largest buy-in event on the schedule this festival at PokerStars with Sunday featuring the first of two days of the WCOOP 34-H: $25,000 Super High Roller.
The action was down to just 15 hopefuls by the end of the day, each of whom will benefit from the fact that the event missed the lofty $3 million guarantee by a few players to create $155,100 in added value to the 15 players that cashed for at least a $54,828 min-cash.
Three-time WCOOP champion Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski found himself in familiar territory at the end of the day with a chip leading stack of 5,006,522. Kovalski was involved in the largest pot of the day when he eliminated Sam "Str8$$$Homey" Greenwood near the end of the day when his rockets held against big slick.
Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas, Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos, and Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver were the only other players to virtually bag at least 3 million in chips, while "Sintoras" was the only other player to advance with more than 2 million in chips.
Other notable players coming back on Monday to compete for the $657,557 top prize include Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo, Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph, Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha, Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs, Eelis "EEE27" Parssinen, Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford, and Mike "SirWatts" Watson.
2021 WCOOP-34-H: $25,000 Super High High Roller Day 1 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Fabiano "Kovalski1" Kovalski
Brazil
5,006,522
125
2
Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas
Hungary
3,159,334
79
3
Adrian "Amadi_017" Mateos
Spain
3,054,797
76
4
Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver
United States
3,023,286
76
5
Sintoras
Germany
2,036,861
51
6
Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo
United States
1,960,585
49
7
Christian "WATnlos" Rudolph
Germany
1,919,729
48
8
Pedro "PaDiLhA SP" Padilha
Brazil
1,850,440
46
9
kZhh
Hungary
1,609,936
40
10
CrazyLissy
Russia
1,603,416
40
11
Aleksejs "APonakov" Ponakovs
Latvia
1,260,911
32
12
Eelis "EEE27" Parssinen
Finland
1,091,730
27
13
Conor "1_conor_b_1" Beresford
United Kingdom
501,910
13
14
spaise411
Russia
480,586
12
15
Mike "SirWatts" Watson
Canada
439,957
11
Total
29,000,000
725
Average
1,933,333
48
Pye Runs Into a Royal Flush
It wasn't the best of days for Team PokerStars with Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle, Sam "SamSquid" Grafton, Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis, Fintan "easywithaces" Hand, Parker "tonkaaaa" Talbot, Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, and Mason "Pye_Face21" Pye firing a dozen bullets between them only to come up empty.
The 15 returning players are each slated to receive at least a $54,828 payout with the winner set to add $657,557 to their PokerStars balance.
Place
Prize
1
$657,557
2
$509,470
3
$394,733
4
$305,835
5
$236,959
6
$183,593
7
$142,247
8
$110,211
9
$87,327
10-12
$69,195
13-15
$54,828
Final Day Schedule
The second and final day will kick off on Monday, Aug. 30 at 5:05 p.m. GMT. PokerStars will be streaming the final table with hole cards exposed on a 30-minute delay. PokerNews will report the final table on the same delay as to not reveal any spoilers.
The blinds will resume with the remainder of Level 20 (20,000/40,000/5,000a) and increase every 30 minutes until a winner is crowned.
Stay tuned at PokerNews to see who will win the WCOOP-34-H: $25,000 Super High Roller at PokerStars.