Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis has given himself two chances to capture high buy-in Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles after going deep in two events on May 12. The Dutch Team PokerStars Pro finds himself at the final table of the $5,200 Titans Event, where $140,278 awaits the winner, and third from 13 players remaining in the $1,050 PKO Event.
Team Lex already has a substantial lead in the inaugural SCOOP League, and that lead is set to extend when Veldhuis eventually busts from this pair of high-stakes events, especially because Patrick “pads1161” Leonard has joined Veldhuis at the Titans Event final table.
- Team Lex – 4,130 points
- Team Spraggy – 3,565 points
- Team Tonkaaaa – 2,455 points
- Team Fintan – 1,870 points
Veldhuis Has a $140,000 Score in His Sights in the Titans Event
The $5,200 Titans Event is one of PokerStars’ toughest weekly tournaments, but it becomes even more difficult to win during SCOOP when superstar players from all over the world flock to it.
Only nine of the 128 starters remain in contention for the $140,278 prize pool, with each of the nine finalists guaranteed $18,629 for their efforts thus far. You only need to look at the star-studded final table to see why the Titans Event is one of the most prestigious on the 2024 SCOOP schedule.
Veldhuis returns to the action at 5:30 p.m. WET on May 13 with 1,369,399 chips, enough for fifth place at the restart. Mexico-based Russian “hello_totti” leads the way with 2,180,863 chips, with Yuri “theNERDguy” Dzivielevski (1,980,430) and Kahle “ROFLshove” Burns (1,825,573) making up the podium positions. Ukraine’s Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky (1,426,220) is the only other player with more chips than Veldhuis at this stage.
Even the players with fewer chips than Veldhuis will play a significant role in where the top prize ends up. “Wildace_hun” of Hungary (1,264,292) knows their way around a poker table, as do the Dominican Republic’s “Nacho124441” (1,099,705) and Patrick “pads1161” Leonard (957,193), who is part of veldhuis’ SCOOP League team. Event “kirbyl0ve” (696,325) cannot be considered out of the reckoning.
SCOOP 41-H: $5,200 NLHE Titans Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | hello_totti | Mexico | 2,180,863 |
| 2 | Yuri “theNERDguy” Dzivielevski | Brazil | 1,980,430 |
| 3 | Kahle “ROFLshove” Burns | United Kingdom | 1,825,573 |
| 4 | Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky | Ukraine | 1,426,220 |
| 5 | Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis | New Zealand | 1,369,399 |
| 6 | Wildace_hun | Hungary | 1,264,292 |
| 7 | Nacho124441 | Dominican Republic | 1,099,705 |
| 8 | Patrick “pads1161” Leonard | United Kingdom | 957,193 |
| 9 | kirbyl0ve | Switzerland | 696,325 |
Veldhuis Fourth in Chips in the $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up
SCOOP 40-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO Sunday Warm-Up drew in a 454-strong crowd, but only 13 of those starters have reached Day 2. Veldhuis is one of those players; he sits down in fourth place with a 4,195,860 stack and has collected $8,351 worth of bounties already.
Veldhuis will fancy his chances of winning this event, not least because there are only a handful of big blinds outside the top three.
Vamardino “vamvam27” Magsakay (5,763,829) is the man to catch at the restart, followed by Canadian grinder Jamil “Jamil11” Wakil (5,161,145) and Ukrainian “ContraSpemSper0” (4,469,554).
Everyone who has reached Day 2 has done so on merit, but pay attention to the trio of Brazilians toward the bottom of the chip counts. Thiago “KKremate” Crema (3,079,910), Renan “Aziz.Mancha” Aziz (2,543,164), and Peter “pitaufmg” Patricio (2,531,095) are currently playing catch-up but are only a big pot or two away from becoming a force at the business end of this high-stakes event.
SCOOP 40-H: $1,050 NLHE PKO Sunday Warm-Up Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties collected | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vamardindo “vamvam27” Magsakay | Philippines | $8,335 | 5,763,829 |
| 2 | Jamil “Jamil11” Wakil | Canada | $2,875 | 5,161,145 |
| 3 | ContraSpemSper0 | Ukraine | $5,906 | 4,469,554 |
| 4 | Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis | New Zealand | $8,351 | 4,195,860 |
| 5 | dfranco13 | Brazil | $5,875 | 3,575,116 |
| 6 | jknack10 | Canada | $3,250 | 3,519,144 |
| 7 | Sunni_92 | Austria | $1,312 | 3,348,298 |
| 8 | Thiago “KKremate” Crema | Brazil | $750 | 3,079,910 |
| 9 | Thiryyyy | Austria | $3,031 | 3,036,588 |
| 10 | Renan “Aziz.Mancha” Aziz | Brazil | $250 | 2,543,164 |
| 11 | Peter “pitaoufmg” Patricio | Brazil | $5,031 | 2,531,095 |
| 12 | agnaton | Hungary | $3,875 | 2,244,588 |
| 13 | bbernardinho | Brazil | $2,468 | 1,931,709 |
Mario Gierse Banks a $113K Score and More Points for Team Lex
The biggest haul of the weekend’s action went to Marius “DEX888” Gierse, a member of Team Lex. Gierse came out on top in the SCOOP 35-H: $1,050 NLHE Mystery Bounty event, which shuffled up and dealt on May 11 before concluding on May 12.
A field of 480 entrants left PokerStars with a $20,000 overlay, not that those who finished in the money places cared because it meant free value for them. Team PokerStars’s Laurie “LaliTourneir” Tournier was the unfortunate soul who burst the money bubble, falling in 80th place. With Tournier out of the way, the mystery bounties came into play.
Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg was the first player to bust inside the money place. Fellow red spade-sporting players Fintan “easywithaces” Hand, and Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot also cashed but didn’t get the chance to open a mystery bounty envelope.
Some of the mystery bounties weighed in at five figures, including ten worth $10,000, two of $20,000, and a jackpot mystery bounty of $50,000. Most of those larger bounties were claimed at the nine-handed final table.
Romania’s “blebelea” busted in seventh for $5,077 but they took home $35,791 thanks to $30,74 from the mystery bounty prize pool. Fourth-place finisher “Marusia1980” also claimed more than $30,000 in mystery bounties, as did runner-up “Haringbuis.”
The $38,092 top prize and an eye-popping $75,341 worth of bounties went to Marus “LEX888” Gierse, who walked away with a total of $113,433 and plenty of points for Team Lex in the SCOOP League.
SCOOP 35-H: $1,050 NLHE Mystery Bounty Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marius “DEX888” Gierse | Austria | $75,341 | $38,092 | $113,433 |
| 2 | Haringbuis | Malta | $36,940 | $27,225 | $64,165 |
| 3 | Natrium111 | Belarus | $12,142 | $19,458 | $31,600 |
| 4 | Marusia1980 | Mexico | $31,040 | $13,906 | $44,946 |
| 5 | JustTrappedU | Austria | $3,027 | $9,939 | $12,966 |
| 6 | David “PlayingWasted” Kaufmann | Austria | $7,103 | $7,103 | |
| 7 | blebelea | Romania | $30,714 | $5,077 | $35,791 |
| 8 | Yuri “theNERDguy” Dzivelevski | Brazil | $357 | $3,628 | $3,985 |
| 9 | tomfoxpoker | Austria | $357 | $3,103 | $3,460 |
SCOOP Results: Sunday 12 May, 2024
Although May 12 was a busy day of SCOOP action, only a handful of events crowned their champions because most of the biggest tournaments were two-day affairs and will award their top prizes on May 13.
Paulo “paulinhoo00” Brombin clinched the SCOOP 44-H: $530 NLHE Turbo PKO Sunday Cooldown title and $44,103 in prize money. Team PokerStars’ Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg reached the final table of this event but could only muster a ninth-place finish worth a combined $4,110. Spragg feels like another SCOOP victory is just around the corner.
| Event | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCOOP 35-L: $55 NLHE Mystery Bounty | 6,923 | $346,150 | Gremio CEM | $22,635* |
| SCOOP 35-M: $215 NLHE Mystery Bounty | 2,218 | $443,600 | CrushWhales | 28,658* |
| SCOOP 35-H: $1,050 NLHE Mystery Bounty | 480 | $500,000 | Marius “DEX888” Gierse | $113,433* |
| SCOOP 44-L: $5.50 NLHE Turbo PKO Sunday Cooldown | 7,739 | $37,921 | Vazaika | $3,165* |
| SCOOP 44-M: $55 NLHE Turbo PKO Sunday Cooldown | 4,467 | $223,350 | JersonKlun | $21,427* |
| SCOOP 44-H: $530 NLHE Turbo PKO Sunday Cooldown | 528 | $264,000 | Paulo “paulinhoo00” Brombin | $44,103* |
*includes bounty payments
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