Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts Leads Final Nine Players in the 2020 SCOOP-74-H: $10,300 Main Event
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The final table of the 2020 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) SCOOP-74-H: $10,300 NLHE [8-Max, Main Event] is set. Nine players, representing eight different countries, remain in contention for one of the most-coveted titles in the world of online poker and the lion's share of the $6,090,000 prize pool.
All finalists out of a field of 609 total entries have $95,745.15 locked up for their efforts already but the eyes are set on the SCOOP Main Event title and the top prize of $1,062,966.47 that comes along with it.
Leading the charge is Belgian poker player Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts, who was near the top of the counts all day long and ended Day 3 with a stack of 38,539,059. High Roller regular Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress follows in second place as a late surge propelled the Canadian to a stack of 28,570,379.
Brazil's Pablo "pabritz" Brito sits in third place with a stack of 20,514,267 and enjoys a fabulous year so far as he won the $10,300 MILLIONS South America Main Event for $1,000,000 and also took down the inaugural online edition of the Irish Open for €462,100 after defeating Andras Nemeth in heads-up. On top of that, Brito already has a SCOOP title to his name from 2019 and will certainly aim to make that two by tomorrow.
Michael "imluckbox" Addamo seemed unstoppable for most of the five hours of play but eventually lost a big pot to Dvoress' aces to end up fourth in chips with 18,739,553. The final table also features streamer and poker coach Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle (12,283,432), "Alexgirs" (11,783,439), Dublin-based WSOP bracelet winner Max "goodeh99" Silver (8,647,301), Alex "dynoalot" Difelice (8,594,592) and Finland's "EEE27" (4,577,978).
Only one hand was played in level 36 at blinds of 150,000-300,000 and an ante of 37,500 when the final table bubble burst and concluded the day.
Final Table Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pablo "pabritz" Brito | Brazil | 20,514,267 | 68 |
| 2 | Michael "imluckbox" Addamo | United Kingdom | 18,739,553 | 62 |
| 3 | Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts | Belgium | 38,539,059 | 128 |
| 4 | Alex "dynoalot" Difelice | Canada | 8,594,592 | 29 |
| 5 | Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle | Austria | 12,283,432 | 41 |
| 6 | EEE27 | Finland | 4,577,978 | 15 |
| 7 | Alexgirs | Belarus | 11,783,439 | 39 |
| 8 | Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress | Canada | 28,570,379 | 95 |
| 9 | Max "goodeh99" Silver | Ireland | 8,647,301 | 29 |
Huge Viewership for Veldhuis and Spragg on Twitch Streams
Among the 40 contenders at the start of the day were also the PokerStars ambassadors Ben "Spraggy" Spragg and Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis who streamed their sessions on Twitch and hit huge viewership numbers. Spragg had some 17,000 viewers and the deep run of Veldhuis attracted even more than that. Both were on the same table when the action recommended and some banter ensued, Spragg even tossed virtual tissues to Veldhuis and Benjamin "bencb789" Rolle.
While both scored early double ups with their short stacks and secured two pay jumps, the inevitable clash would eventually happen. Spragg defended his big blind against a button raise by Veldhuis and jammed a six-high flop with ten-six suited only to get shown the rockets by his fellow ambassador. Two bricks later, Spragg was eliminated in 30th place.
Veldhuis navigated his short stack to the final two tables and eventually ran out of steam when he jammed with ace-seven into the ace-king of Rolle and the pocket tens of Jack "Swaggersorus" Sinclair. Rolle rivered an off-suit king to remain in contention as Veldhuis departed in 15th place.
Big Names Bow Out on Day 3
Sinclair fell short of the final table and had to settle for 12th place. He was one of many high-profile casualties of the day and it all started with the elimination of 2016 SCOOP Main Event champion Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi in 40th place.
Michael "imuckbox" Addamo and Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts dominated the early stages of the tournament by knocking out several opponents and chipping up consistently with sheer relentless aggression. Michael "merla888" Gathy was one of those victims when he hero-called the shove of Aerts on an ace-high river with ace-ten suited for top pair only to see his fellow countryman turn over five-four suited for the turned wheel.
Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker and Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt missed out on a second SCOOP Main Event final table appearance and bowed out in 27th and 20th place respectively. Alt flopped top pair with king-nine suited but stood no chance against the aces of Rolle. Ignat "0human0" Liviu ran with flopped top pair into a full house on the river and start-of-the-day chip leader Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov, who has a SCOOP and WCOOP title along with three Sunday Million wins on his poker resume, had to settle for 16th place. The dominated ace of the Russian missed out on a gutshot for the chop and the nutflushdraw to beat the flopped broadway of Pablo "pabritz" Brito.
As the big stacks Addamo and Aerts pulled further away and had more than two times the chips of their nearest follower, it was Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress that came back from a short stack thanks to two double ups and a big pot with aces against Addamo shortly before the final table was set.
The final table will recommence on Wednesday, May 20th, 2020, as of 1.05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to play down to a champion and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to provide all the action from start to finish.