SCOOP 2018 Roundup: ‘calvin7v’ wins Overall Player of the Series as ‘Lena900’ shines

The Spring Championship of Online Poker is undoubtedly one of the most prestigious online events to take place each year. It also showcases some of the greatest poker talents in the world, across an array of different tournaments and games on PokerStars. This year has seen not only great players taking part, but also winning, in some instances, more than one title.

‘calvin7v’ wins overall Player of the Series

With one 3rd in the Medium buy-in category and two 1sts in the low category, ‘calvin7v’ was able to claim the overall Player of the Series title. His two victories in large fields saw him pick up lots of points, surpassing several players who had won two titles in medium and high categories. The Finnish player picks up a trophy and a Platinum Pass to the Players NL Holdem Championship for topping the leaderboard.

Double champions

There were a number of players who accomplished this feat during the 2018 SCOOP, with Calvin ‘cal42688’ Anderson being the first to complete a double. He followed up 3rd place in the $55 PLO in event 15 by winning the $2,100 Holdem in event 19 for just over $126,000. He then took down event 26, the $1,050 Limit Omaha hi/lo for another $26,305.

He was soon followed by ‘Tr!pleeeee’ who won event 15, the $530 PLO rebuy for just over $87,000 before adding the $55 Holdem, event 28 title too, picking up another $15,406.

Portuguese player Rui ‘RuiNF’ Ferreira also completed a double this year. Having picked up over $48,000 for winning the $2,100 Limit Holdem title in event 17, he added $196,407 to his winnings by topping the field in event 30, the $2,100 Holdem.

Ole ‘wizowizo’ Schemion was the next player to bag two titles, with quickfire wins in events 32 and 36. First, he won the $10,300 PLO for $283,260, before adding the $530 Deepstack Holdem title for $85,080.

Long-time MTT grinder Matt ‘OLD TIME GIN’ Stone then joined the growing list of double champions, winning event 37, the $2,100 Holdem for $205,828 before also taking the $1,050 PLO hi/lo title in event 59, banking a further $54,000.

‘Lena900’ gives masterclass and wins high category for Player of the Series

Another player who claimed victory in two events is Swedish pro Niklas Astedt. His collection of results during this year’s SCOOP have been shockingly strong, although when you consider he is currently the PocketFives number 1 ranked tournament player in the world, it shouldn’t be too surprising to see him have an outstanding SCOOP 2018. He picked up numerous final tables throughout the series, winning event 25, the $530 Holdem rebuy for $102,000, and the $1,050 NL Omaha hi/lo in event 39 for just over $50,000. Despite all these results, he still had work to do on the final day if he was going to win the High category for Player of the Series.

He duly put in the shift that was required, audaciously finishing 15th out of 5,508 players in the $1,050 mid buy in Main Event and 7th out of 654 of the world’s best players in the $10,300 high buy in Main Event. This remarkable achievement earned him the title and further underlined his credentials as one of the best online tournament players of all time.

Other notable SCOOP stories

Isildur1 was another big name who had a strong series this time around, showing the world he is not only a no limit beast. He took a creditable 6th place in the $2,100 Limit Holdem event before taking victory in the $2,100 HORSE event for $59,780, beating HORSE specialist Matthew ‘MUSTAFABET’ Ashton into 2nd place.

Shaun ‘shaundeeb’ Deeb came close to adding to his five SCOOP titles once again this year, only to finish 2nd place in the $1,050 Stud event after holding a 5 to 1 chiplead during heads up play.

Alex ‘lynskey99’ Lynskey had a better series this time around, winning event 8, the $109 Holdem for $60,000 in prize money and $31,000 in bounties.

Main Event winners

‘Sykoen’ and ‘Lena900’ were big stories in the Main Event tournaments, with both players finishing in the top 20 in medium and high categories, but the big money was claimed by the champions, with Austrian Tankanza picking up the biggest prize of over $1.1 million for winning the $10,300 high Main Event in a field of 654 runners. He defeated fellow Austrian ‘nailuj90’ heads up to take the crown. In the $1,050 medium buy in Main Event, ‘Wildace_hun’ will be glad he decided to fire two bullets, having gone on to navigate through the 5,508 players in the field to win $783,166 for 1st place. The Low buy in Main Event attracted 26,361 players, with German player ‘Cashcid Linc’ finishing top of the pile for $267,584.

Article by Craig Bradshaw