Event 11

If there is a single variant of poker that owes its popularity to the Internet, Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo would have to be it. There are no dealers miscalculating pots or players asking how much it costs to bet pot (as some did at the WSOP this year); online, the math part of the game is handled automatically, which means that players can lose themselves in the pure action the game brings.

A healthy field of 1,733 players turned up on PokerStars yesterday to sample that action in Event 11, $320 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, and have their shot at the guaranteed $300,000 prize pool.

Not only was the guarantee surpassed, it was positively shattered when the final prize pool tally came in at $519,900 - a 73.3% increase over what PokerStars had promised to its players.

By 6 a.m. EDT, nearly 16 hours after the tournament began, the field had been narrowed to the final table. Over the course of the next hour four more players would be eliminated, and a short 20 minutes later the heads-up match was set.

astarisborn would come in with a chip lead of better than 2-1, but the volatility of PLO/8 would quickly rear its ugly head and put him in the short-stack position. Finally, nearly 45 minutes after the action began, 92848's A-2-6-9 would lock up the title by virtue of the best kicker against astarisborn's A-2-7-8 when the board came down Ad-Jc-4d-Ah-Td.

Place
Name
Prize
1st
92848
$88,383
2nd
astarisborn
$66,547.20
3rd
a_zuzolo
$49,650.45
4th
gillete
$36,393
5th
The Omaholic
$25,995
6th
lucasino
$20,796
7th
A_Ivanovich
$15,597 8th
fazy4
$10,398
9th
Fedigan221
$7,278.60
Event 12

The counterpart to WCOOP's PLO/8 event yesterday was Event 12, $320 Mixed Hold'em (six-max). The mixed game that's not really a mixed game drew a field of 1,496 with its $300,000 guarantee, pushing the total prize pool to an eventual total of $448,800.

Plenty of members of Team PokerStars Pro were on hand to take a shot at this WCOOP bracelet, including Humberto Brenes, Barry Greenstein, Hevad Khan, Isabelle Mercier, Chris Moneymaker and Victor Ramdin.

It was German PokerStars pro Katja Thater, however, who made the biggest splash in the event.

Thater, the 2007 WSOP Razz champ, cracked the top 10 halfway through the tournament and even held the chip lead at one point after the money bubble had been broken. A few bumps in the road with pocket sevens took their toll on her stack, however, and she eventually finished in 96th place for $942.98.

At 6:55 a.m. EDT the final table was set, almost an hour after the field had been whittled to the last two tables. When just three players remained there was talk of a deal, but Jordan "Randers" Morgan - despite being the shortest stack - put the discussion to a quick end by demanding more money than his chip equity was worth.

Less than 10 minutes later Randers had eliminated MUHoosh33, and he and Aaron "011180" Kanter had struck a deal to leave $6,000 and the bracelet on the table. Just over a half-hour later, Randers would triumph with A-6 against 011180's A-5 on the final hand to seal the victory.

Place
Name
Prize
1st
Randers
$66,000
2nd
011180
$61,459.20
3rd
MUHoosh33
$39,718.80
4th
Gorrioncillo
$30,742.80
5th
Punty
$22,440
6th Snout19
$14,361.60

Event 13 ($215 No-Limit Hold'em with Rebuys) and Event 14 ($320 Seven-Card Stud) of the 2008 WCOOP kick off on PokerStars this afternoon, and PokerListings will have the rundown of the action for you as usual tomorrow.

To get in on some of the poker action yourself, head to PokerStars.

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