On September 7, the WCOOP series kicked off on PokerStars, as it always does.
In the past, this series was a true flagship and hallmark of online poker. The World Championship of Online Poker was eagerly anticipated by both regulars and amateurs. Is the WSOP had an online equal, it was the WCOOP. PokerStars has been going through some tough times lately, but WCOOP remains a bright spot.
This year's schedule features 123 tournaments (each held in three buy-in levels) with a total guarantee of $65 million. 55 have run so far.
Blaž "Scarmak3r" Žerjav from Slovenia has already won three tournaments. On the third day of the series, he immediately became a two-time champion. His victory in #10-M: $215 HORSE earned him $8,477, and in #13-H: $320 NLHE, he earned $22,018. A few days later, he won 33-H: Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max for $1,050 ($17,364). This tournament had 55 entries, with FAL1st finishing third ($8,185).
Blaž also has two heads-up losses. In the $1,050 HORSE Championship, he lost to Manolis "hangoverdose" Chalkiotis, who earned $19,664. The tournament attracted 79 entries, and FAL1st made the final table again, but was eliminated in fifth place.
In the 27-M: $1,050 PKO Thursday Thrill, Žerjav earned $42,883 for second place, beaten by Irishman Benjamin "BC1989RF" Shalo ($76,535).
At the last World Series, Blaž Žerjav won two bracelets – in the $25k 6-Max High Roller and the $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo.
After defeating Huck Seed, the Slovenian admitted he had very little experience in limit games: "I only play mixed games during the SCOOP and WCOOP series. I'm trying to work on my game, but I'm mostly learning as I go."
Žerjav is a former professional footballer; in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons, he played 36 matches in the Slovenian second league as a defensive midfielder.
In 2018, then 21-year-old Blaž qualified for the $5,300 buy-in partypoker MILLIONS Online tournament via a $5 satellite, finishing third and winning $1,364,688. He then gave up his football dream and focused on poker.
FAL1st and Žerjav also reached the final table of the $1,050 24-H: 2-7 Triple Draw.
Blaž finished 5th ($4,843), FAL1st finished 3rd ($9,971), and Swiftie4Life, who plays under the Mexican flag, won ($21,153). He defeated João "Naza114" Vieira heads-up. A few days later, Swiftie4Life won his second title in the $1,050 50-H: FLHE event ($15,366).
Naza114 has 13 WCOOP tournament victories, tying for second place with Denis " aDrENalin710 " Strebkov and Tobias "Senkel92" Leknes (his last title came in 2023). Benny "RunGodlike" Glaser leads the way with 15 titles (his best finish this series was third place in the $1k NL 2-7 event).
Denis secured his 13th victory of this series, in the 10-H: $2,100 HORSE tournament ($23,456). He defeated Patrick Leonard heads-up.
All the victories of the Russian limit poker legend:
Patrik Leonard lost another heads-up to EPT Monte Carlo winner Alexander "Shevliak" Shevlyakov. They played for the victory in Event #34-H: NLHE with a $2,100 buy-in. Alexander took home $42,646.
The final table also featured online stars €urop€an, Naza114, dejanlc357, and Sintoras.
After several long runs in smaller tournaments, Patrick finally took down one of the most crowded tournaments of the first half of the series. The 36-M: $109 NLHE [Sunday Kickoff] attracted 1,866 entries. Pads claimed his 12th WCOOP title and earned $28,023.
"I miss online rebuy poker tournaments," Pads said nostalgically in the midst of the series. "Gambling, adding on at the end of late reg period. The $11r, the $22c, the $109r. The good old days."
“The $11r was the tournament where careers were made,” Seth Davis agreed.
Many fondly remembered the $3 tournaments and satellites with rebuys that thousands of people played.
Leonardhas been covering the series in detail on Instagram, and he captioned the final hand from his winning tournament:
"Mom's sick and said the best cure would be my good play and a shiny trophy. Well, Mom, get out the rag, now there's something to clean."
On Wednesday, Patrick reached the final table of Event #51-H: $5K Super Tuesday, which featured one of the biggest names in the field.
"I spent the whole game with 10-15 BB, so we'll add that to my collection of losses :)," Vladimir Minko wrote on Telegram after crashing out in 3rd place.
€urop€an defeated Talal Shakerchi heads-up. This is the Finnish top-ranked player's sixth WCOOP victory; he won the main event last year.
That same evening, Vladimir Minko took 2nd place in the mid-stakes version of the same tournament.
Vladimir hasn't exactly been without victories this streak either. He currently holds two titles. He earned $42,296 for first place in #11-H: $1K NLHE PKO, and $24,095 for winning #12-H $530 7-Max Turbo.
Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi came within one point of winning another impressive final table in the 17-H: $10,300 Super Tuesday High Roller.
Lena900 and Pwndidi were eliminated in 9th and 8th place, earning seven prizes. Neymar finished seventh ($26,111).
Another footballer, who's been focusing more on poker lately, defended the big blind and check-called the flop. The turn was checked. On the river, Neymar led half the pot and couldn't fold to Shakerchi's all-in.
The remaining prizes were distributed as follows:
1. Guillaume "Nolet20" Nolet – $186,434
2. Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi – $134,351
3. Johannes "Jepser8" Straver – $96,818
4. Linus "LLinusLLove" Loeliger – $69,771
5. Pedro "PadiLhA SP" Padilha – $50,279
6. Ole "wizowizo" Schemion – $36,233
Final table replay:
Leonard "Grozzorg" Maue has won the largest cash to date. His victory in the WCOOP 38-H: $10,300 NLHE [Progressive KO, Super High Roller] event earned him $212,666.
3rd place went to Leqenden ($51,114), 4th to Lena900 ($45,160), 5th to SerVlaMin ($57,165).
Maue played two final tables simultaneously. In the $5,200 NLHE [6-Max Championship], he took second place ($130,401). Dominik Nitsche won ($135,555), and Johannes "Jepser8" Straver was eliminated third ($106,423). The top three players tied.
Another two-time champion of this series is Leon Sturm. He won Event #09-H: $5K PKO Super High Roller ($109,822) and Event #41-H: $5,200 NLHE [Turbo] ($64,180).
At the recent EPT Barcelona series, Leon won the €100k Super High Roller for €1,450,385. He decided to skip the Triton series in Korea to play online.
As in previous years, Brazil leads the pack in terms of wins, with 21 titles. Canada is next (13) and England (12) follows. Ukraine and Belarus have 5 victories each.
Belarusian |gammi|€120 has twice reached the top spot. Within a couple of hours of each other, he became the champion in tournament #43-H: $2,100 NLHE [7-Max, Progressive KO, Bounty Builder SHR] ($54,500) and #45-H: $1,050 NLHE [7-Max, Progressive KO] ($41,653).
Roman "RomeOpro" Romanovsky won his fourth WCOOP title in the 17-L: $109 NLHE [Super Tuesday] event. The tournament attracted 2,444 entries, earning him $36,739.
Vlad "VladTheSlaye" Martynenko became the champion in WCOOP #26-H: $1,050 NLHE [Mystery Bounty] ($68,911).
This year's leaderboard prize pool is $100,000. Cash prizes are awarded across all buy-in categories, with the overall winner receiving $25,000.
Current situation:
The leader from Albania is someone we covered on our site in the past.
Vitaly has one victory in the NLO8 tournament so far.
