The Sunday Briefing: Jason Mercier Wins WCOOP Gold; Mike Telker Leads WCOOP Main Event

Posted at 12:20 2012-09-25 by Mickey Doft

The most anticipated day on the calendar for many online poker pros is when the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event kicks off. That day was yesterday, and a field of 1,825 took part in the biggest online poker tournament of the year. Day 1 action ended just 20 spots shy of the money bubble, and leading the way is Mike "munchenHB" Telker.

Meanwhile, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier earned the lone WCOOP bracelet up for grabs on Sunday, topping the field in the 8-Game High-Roller event for $253,425.

PokerStars WCOOP-65: $5,200 NL Hold'em Main Event ($5M Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$5,000+$200	1,825	$9,125,000

A starting field of 1,825 players in the WCOOP Main Event is down to 245 following 20 half-hour levels on Day 1. First place is set at $1,612,844, while a min cash (starting at 225th place) pays $12,318.75.

Among the immediate eliminations was Tobias "PokerNoob999" Reinkemeier after he opened to 150 from early position during Level 1 (blinds 25/50). "PikkuHUMPPA" called on the button before "e1mdopp" popped it to 625 from the big blind. Both Reinkemeier and "PikkuHUMPPA" called to see an flop. "e1mdopp" bet 900 with only Reinkemeier tagging along to see the turn. Another bet came from "e1mdopp," this one for 2,150. Reinkemeier called once again, and the landed on the river. With 8,000 in the pot, "e1mdopp" bet 3,150. Reinkemeier responded by shoving for 15,119, but was insta-called by "e1mdopp" with for aces full of fours. Reinkemeier's was second best, ending his WCOOP Main Event during the first level.

Defending champion Thomas "Kallllle" Pedersen bowed out during Level 10. With the blinds and antes at 200/400/50, Pedersen min-raised to 800 from the hijack. A three-bet to 1,985 came from "theMakdiesel" out of the cutoff. Action folded back to Pedersen who re-raised all in for 9,047. "theMakdiesel" called and revealed , leading Pedersen's . The flop, though, came down to give Pedersen a flush draw. However, he found no help from the turn or river.

Jason Mercier exited during level 13 (350/700/85). Mercier was in the hijack and he min-raised to 1,400. Action folded to "slv458" in the big blind who re-raised all in with the bigger stack. With 12,750 behind, Mercier called all in with . He held a commanding lead against "slv458's" , but the board ran out to give "slv458" a set of sixes to send Mercier to the rail.

Here's a look at the top five stacks entering Day 2:

Place	Player	Chips
1	Mike "munchenHB" Telker	587,433
2	moukari6	536,563
3	hnidel	442,654
4	JRADF79	422,268
5	Francis "The Lag rat" Anderson	416,817

Among the many notables still in the field are:

Place	Player	Chips
15	TJ "1BigAceHole" Ulmer	327,853
21	Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker	313,226
22	Ole “wizowizo” Schemion	311,349
29	Ryan "gutshtallin" Welch	291,142
32	Calvin "cal42688" Anderson	275,934
46	Huy "SavePluto9" Nguyen	237,198
47	David "malicous222" Randall	234,777
48	Kyle "KJulius10" Julius	231,590
51	Mike "Timex" McDonald	227,343
77	Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen	174,331
113	Keven "Stammdogg" Stammen	133,407
115	Brendon "brendon1717" Rubie	132,088
117	Jude "j.thaddeus" Ainsworth	131,714
121	Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier	128,993
159	Alex "joiso" Kostritsyn	93,625
218	Jonathan Duhamel	45,177

PokerStars WCOOP-64: $10,300 8-Game High-Roller ($400K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$10,000+$300	93	$930,000

An elite field participated in the $10,300 8-Game High-Roller event and, as expected, big names put up excellent showings. Among the players who cashed but finished just short of the final table were Anders "Donald" Berg (7th - $34,875), George "Jorj95" Lind III (8th - $34,875), Calvin "cal42688" Anderson (9th - $34,875), James "Andy McLEOD" Obst (10th - $23,250), and Sorel "zangbezan24" Mizzi (12th - $23,250).

The final table was stacked with big names, including Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Scott "gunning4you" Seiver, Niki "RealAndyBeal" Jedlicka and Ben "BensBenz" Yu. While Mercier held a sizable chip lead with four players remaining, a back-and-forth battle ensued that saw the chip lead change multiple times before Mercier closed the deal and took home the bracelet.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Jason Mercier	$253,425
2	GozoBoro	$169,725
3	Daniel "KidPoker" Negreanu	$130,200
4	Niki "RealAndyBeal" Jedlicka	$88,350
5	Ben "BensBenz" Yu	$65,100
6	Scott "gunning4you" Seiver	$48,825

PokerStars WCOOP 65 2nd Chance: $1,050 NL Hold'em

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$1,000+$50	742	$742,000

Making deep runs in the $1K 2nd Chance event were Chris "d0r1t0s" McClung (10th - $5,194), Chris "Big Huni Hunichen (14th - $4,452) and Mike "Timex "McDonald (15th - $4,452). Poker pro Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald went on to win the even after agreeing to a heads-up chop with "arnon shraga." Also making the final table were Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick and Will "dankness3" Jaffe.

Place	Player	Prize
*1	Alex "Assassinato" Fitzgerald	$128,500
*2	arnon shraga	$123,780
3	MistheMan	$71,677.20
4	holly17	$44,520
5	Mr.Bittar	$33,390
6	FrenchDawg	$22,260
7	Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick	$14,840
8	micide	$11,130
9	Will "dankness3" Jaffe	$7,420

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars Sunday 500 ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$30	1,154	$577,000

Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis (11th - 42,962.20), Leandro "leopeluca" Csome (13th - $3,865.90), Alex "AK87" Kim (15th - $3,865.90), Aidan "whereisdonny" Tam (22nd - $2,308), and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (24th - $2,308) had impressive showings in the Sunday 500. The outright triumph went to "delegator" for $98,090.

Place	Player	Prize
1	delegator	$98,090
2	gomir	$72,125
3	plokker292	$54,757.30
4	Timo "heißtercamp" Pfützenreuter	$39,236
5	tytkto	$28,561.50
6	Joe "floes" Serock	$22,791.50
7	rezla23	$17,021.50
8	Mayu "marroca5" Roca	$11,251.50
9	LanaPrincess	$6,231.60

PokerStars $109 Sunday Rebuy ($225K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$100+$9	1,348	$459,300

Making deep runs in the $109 Sunday Rebuy were Ryan "ryanghall" Hall (12th - $4,363.35) and Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee (16th - $2,526.15). A tough final table was topped outright by Jon "TherookieQQ9" Plens for $83,408.88.

Place	Player	Prize
1	Jon "TherookieQQ9" Plens	$83,408.88
2	Kyle "KJulius10" Julius	$60,627.60
3	NessV	$45,930
4	Vegasnl	$34,447.50
5	O-Totoro	$24,113.25
6	Athanasios "Athanasios 9" Polychronopolous	$19,520.25
7	dragonwarrior	$14,927.25
8	onesixty8	$10,334.25
9	X-ypenizer-X	$6,430.20

PokerStars Bigger $109 ($160K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$100+$9	3,617	$361,700

Christophe "chrisdm" De Meulder (12th - $2,170.20), Faraz "The-Toilet 0" Jaka (13th - $1,627.65), Jonathan "Poker Own U" Bardier (16th - $1,085.10), and Hunter "HEMIpowerSWT" Frey (18th - $1,085.10) were among the top finishers in the Bigger $109. A heads-up deal took place with "P-i-t.DqDoG" coming away with the win for about $50,000.

Place	Player	Prize
*1	P-i-t.DqDoG	$49,862.55
*2	fviana	$49,244.69
3	el17@bk	$29,840.25
4	wasylisa	$20,797.75
5	gorglav	$15,372.25
6	qualle400	$11,755.25
7	Faiv	$8,138.25
8	computerg999	$4,521.25
9	Liam "moffo47" Moffett	$2,893.60

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars Bigger $162 ($150K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$150+$12	2,027	$304,050

Falling just shy of the final table in the Bigger $162 were Sorel "zangbezan24" Mizzi (11th - $2,536.38) and Ashley "DYBYDX" Mason (13th - $1,824.30). Following a heads-up deal, "Javy28" came out on top with the victory.

Place	Player	Prize
*1	Javy28	$41,176.28
*2	poker@luffyD	$43,958.73
3	YugiohPro	$27,364.50
4	Crash61rus	$19,504.80
5	huiiiiiiii	$13,682.25
6	Diablepoulet	$10,641.75
7	engantil	$7,601.25
8	vbjishfij	$5,320.87
9	ocnits	$3,040.50

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars Sunday Storm ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$10+$1	34,213	$342,130

"FoppTheFlop" bested a massive 34,213-player field in the Sunday Storm, earning $28,393.10 after agreeing to a deal heads-up.

Place	Player	Prize
*1	FoppTheFlop	$28,393.10
*2	Danii22	$22,756.56
3	reizda	$14,369.46
4	myumyuemi	$10,948.16
5	pino1234	$7,526.86
6	Lucke 7even	$4,618.75
7	FCBARCAAAA	$3,164.70
8	alex18081988	$2,223.84
9	varnak2	$1,556.69

*denotes heads-up deal

PokerStars Sunday Kickoff ($100K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$100+$9	1,565	$156,500

Making a deep run in the Sunday Kickoff was Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen, but the Team PokerStars Online member was eliminated in 27th place for $626. After a heads-up deal at the final table,"LiMa171" got the better of "@cey@lone" to notch the win.

Place	Player	Prize
*1	LiMa171	$24,051.06
*2	@cey@lone	$21,334.21
3	stragerpoker	$14,476.25
4	MinReraise	$10,642
5	jkfrankfurt	$7,668.50
6	Bobacadie	$6,103.50
7	apuam	$4,538.50
8	viktor1963nn	$2,973.50
9	arron8	$1,611.95

*denotes heads-up deal

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