"MaxHendrix" Wins the SCOOP-24-M: $1,050 Super Tuesday Special Edition for $169,485
It would take just over eight hours on the final day of the PokerStars 2020 SCOOP-24-M: $1,050 Super Tuesday Special Edition before a brand-new SCOOP Champion could be crowned in "MaxHendrix" who defeated Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira heads-up. A deal was struck between the two with "MaxHendrix" walking away with $169,485 and the bragging rights.
This special edition of the Super Tuesday attracted 1,105 entries which didn't surpass the freshly increased $1,250,000 guaranteed prize pool. On the final day, a star-studded field of 72 players returned to battle it out for the lion-share of that pretty prize pool. Also on the final table were players like Luke "lb6121" Schwartz, Scott "Aggro Santos" Margereson, and Ariel "ArielBahia" Celestino.
PokerStars SCOOP-24-M: $1,050 Super Tuesday SE Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MaxHendrix | Russia | $169,485* |
| 2 | Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira | Portugal | $173,792* |
| 3 | Luke "lb6121" Schwartz | United Kingdom | $104,351 |
| 4 | Scott "Aggro Santos" Margereson | United Kingdom | $75,540 |
| 5 | MinReraise | Russia | $54,684 |
| 6 | suprambopro | Thailand | $39,586 |
| 7 | mmetsla | Estonia | $28,657 |
| 8 | Ariel "ArielBahia" Celestino | Brazil | $20,745 |
| 9 | gaul17 | Austria | $16,412 |
*reflects a heads-up deal
Slow Start, Quick Busts
The start of the tournament was delayed for unknown reasons as the event was manually paused until around 1:15 p.m. EST but once things kicked off, they really kicked off. Vlad "dariepoker" Darie was the one to ensure everyone else got a pay jump when he eliminated "MonsieurRask" with his pocket sevens. Other familiar names and faces to bust soon after included Thomas "MarToMchat" Boivin who notched up a third-place finish in SCOOP-22-H the day before, Alberto "alberto.m7" Meran, Flavio "flavioreis88" Reis, Arsenii "josef_shvejk" Karmatckii, and Elias "SinKarma" Gutierrez.
Celestino laid claim to some of the early eliminations and had jumped into the chip lead by the time the first break came around. It would take another hour for the field to be reduced to 36 with the same two players in the lead, Celestino and Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah who came into the day with the chip leader badge.
From 36 Left to the Final Table
Soon after, Ezequiel "eze88888" Waigel, Darie, and Mike "SirWatts" Watson were eliminated but after Leah doubled up "fcrscccc", things seemed to get worse for him. In the end, he left the tournament in 16th place when he ran his ace-king into the jacks of "MinReraise". "fcrscccc" was next to leave, followed by "THCHunter", "G1a1u1s1s", "IAmSoSo", and "Relthor1301".
The final table bubble was a lengthy one for online poker, it took around 20 minutes before Matthias “Cashcid Linc” Maasberg check-raised-shoved on the seven-eight-seven flop with nine-six and was called by Ferreira who had trips sevens with the king-seven in his hand. The five on the turn gave Maasberg a straight but the happiness was shortlived as the eight on the driver gave Ferreira the full house to burst the final table bubble.
Ladders and a Deal
Compared to other final tables the PokerNews live reporting team has been reporting on during this year's SCOOP, action seemed to slow down here. Ferreira had taken a commanding chip lead with almost 100 big blinds while the biggest stack after that had just over 40. It would take just over 30 minutes before "gaul17" was eliminated when he ran his ace-eight into the jacks of "MaxHendrix". "gaul17" started the day as the absolute short stack with just over two big blinds.
Celestino then left the final table window when his ace-king failed to win against the kings of "MaxHendrix". That was also the hand Margereson held when he busted "mmetsla". "suprambopro" then fell to Ferreira for five-handed play to then go on for an hour during which there were 5 double-ups. But in the end it would be "MinReraise" who would get eliminated.
Schwartz was short for most of the time after that, getting excited in the chat about possibly laddering up when Margereson and Ferreira played a substantial pot, doubling up once, before seeing Margereson bust to "MaxHendrix" with ace-king. "MaxHendrix" held jacks and held throughout the board. Schwartz doubled up once more before he was done in third place with ace-nine and got looked up by Ferreira who held ace-king.
Ferreira went into the deal discussion with the chip lead and got the most money out of it when play resumed but couldn't claim the remainder as he first doubled "MaxHendrix" up to lose the chip lead and then stayed alive with a full house. But it was the end of the road for him, no sixth SCOOP title after having come close all week. In the final hand of the night, he three-bet shoved with king-queen but saw "MaxHendrix" had kings. No help of the board and he was done with this tournament but still got to take the biggest prize "home".
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back at 1 p.m. EST for live coverage of the SCOOP-33-M: $1,050 PKO Thursday Thrill and SCOOP-33-H: $10,300 PKO High Roller so make sure to come back!