Novak Leads Final Nine in SCOOP-96-H: $5,200 Main Event 2nd Chance; Lefrancois and Adams on His Heels
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The final table is set in the 2020 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker SCOOP-96-H: $5,200 NLHE [8-Max, Main Event 2nd Chance] as 42 survivors after Day 1 have been whittled down to the final nine contenders out of a field fo 465 entries in fewer than five hours of play on the penultimate tournament day.
All of the finalists have secured a payday of $42,195.96 thus far but the winner can look forward to a payday of $416,741.68, the high stakes SCOOP title for the poker resume and the bragging rights that come along with it.
Leading the field into the final day will be Andrey "Anjeyyy" Novak with a stack of 25,969,709 and the Ukrainian already knows what it feels like to take down a tournament during the current festival. In SCOOP 44-H: $5,200 NLHE [Sunday HR SE], Novak topped a field of 264 entries to claim his maiden title and a top prize of $253,819.24.
The Final Nine Players of SCOOP-96-H: $5,200 Main Event 2nd Chance
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey "Anjeyyy" Novak | Ukraine | 25,969,709 | 104 |
| 2 | Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois | Canada | 21,477,585 | 86 |
| 3 | Timothy "Tim0thee" Adams | Canada | 18,866,198 | 75 |
| 4 | Will "hellzito" Arruda | Brazil | 13,225,664 | 53 |
| 5 | Alfred "Kzzon" Karlsson | Sweden | 10,705,721 | 43 |
| 6 | Silvio "silskyer" Costa | Netherlands | 10,320,168 | 41 |
| 7 | Pavel "silentm0de" Plesuv | Moldova | 7,452,915 | 30 |
| 8 | temka99 | Moldova | 4,523,896 | 18 |
| 9 | Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov | Russia | 3,707,144 | 15 |
Two Canadian High Roller regulars of the live poker circuit follow behind in second and third place, as Pascal "Pass_72" Lefrancois advanced with 21,477,585 and Timothy "Tim0thee" Adams bagged up 18,866,198 in virtual chips. On the final table bubble, Lefrancois doubled through Adams with eights versus ace-king suited when he dodged the overcards and a diamond draw.
Brazil has yet another representative on a big final table as Will "hellzito" Arruda sits in fourth place with a stack of 13,225,664. Alfred "kzzon" Karlsson (10,705,721) and Netherlands-based Portuguese poker pro Silvio "silskyer" Costa (10,320,168) are separated by fewer than two big blinds. Two players from Moldova reached the final in Pavel "silentm0de" Plesuv (7,452,915) and "temka99" (4,523,896), and the shortest stack belongs to highly decorated SCOOP, WCOOP and three-time Sunday Million champ Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov (3,707,144)
Fast-Paced Action Early On
It took some time to reach the first pay jump of the day and Mike "gorodski" Gorodinsky was unfortunate to miss out on it when he ran with kings into aces to exit in 40th place. From there on out, the eliminations kept coming at a steady pace as big names such as Charlie "Epiphany77" Carrel, Konstantin "krakukra" Maslak, Mark "AceSpades11" Radoja, Michel "FreelancerZZ" Dattani and Dinesh "NastyMinder" Alt all came up short in quick succession.
Daniel "DANMERRRRRRR" Merrilees and Alex "lynskey99" Lynskey missed out on the final three tables on which the roller coaster ride of Andrew "ClockWyze" Pantling ended in 22nd place. Pantling was up and down the leaderboard all day long and eventually got short after paying off the second nuts of Alfred "Kzzon" Karlsson. Moments later, the Canadian lost a flip with king-queen against the jacks of Pavel "silentm0de" Plesuv.
Big Names Bust Shy of the Final Table
Laszlo "omaha4rollz" Bujtas was another very familiar name of the online and live poker circuit that came up short, and he was joined on the rail by Sylvain "caIcuIer_" Loosli and Alex "dynoalot" Difelice to set up the final two tables. Difelice was aiming for back-to-back final tables after finishing third in the SCOOP-74-H: $10,300 Main Event but his ace-queen only led the flop and turn while Timothy "Tim0thee" Adams rivered a flush with jacks.
Simon "C. Darwin2" Mattsson had to settle for 14th place and start-of-the-day chip leader Jans "Graftekkel" Arends departed in 11th place. The Dutchman was near the top of the counts for the vast majority of the day but ran with ace-king into the aces of Plesuv to drop into the middle of the pack. He then got it in with ace-jack against kings and ended up second-best.
The same cards were also involved in the elimination of Dominik "Bounatirou" Nitsche. After a string of double ups on both five-handed tables, Nitsche became short and found no ace to beat the kings of Will "hellzito" Arruda
Some 16 minutes remain in level 33 at blinds of 125,000-250,000 with a big blind 32,500 ante and the final table will recommence on May 26th, 2020, as of 1.05 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Conclusive updates from start-to-finish will be published right here on PokerNews until a champion is crowned.
, Nitsche failed to hit anything and was eliminated in 10th place for $34,091.24.
runout and Arends was out in 11th place for $34,091.24.
flop was check-raised by "mdf92" who made it 733,078 and then called the shove of Karlsson.
turn to leave "mdf92" drawing dead and made the 
river a formality. The player from Uruguay finished in 12th place for $34,091.24.
and he was eliminated in 13th place for $27,543.34, all remaining 12 players now already have $34,091.24 locked up.
sent Nuutinen to the rail in 16th place for $22,253.04.
