PokerStars will extend 2020 SCOOP because it has been such a huge success while the gaming world is under lockdown and quarantine. SCOOP is now 124 events that will run through the end of May, with an additional $50 million in guaranteed prize pools. Meanwhile, Steve O'Dwyer took down a 25K High Roller for his first SCOOP title and outlasted a final table that included Fedor Holz, Talal Shakerchi, and Ole Schemion.
Ship it to the Mango King. Oh, and let's keep the SCOOP party going on and on and on and on and on and on. Why not? Things are already weird, but in their era of extreme weirdness and lockdowns, you have to find little things to keep you going through the rough times.
The 2020 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) will always be a memorable one. Remember the time we had to make masks out of underwear and bras, eat canned food, binge-watch a show about crazy Americans with Big Cats, and stay inside our homes for a couple of months during a pandemic, but PokerStars decided to extend SCOOP for a couple of weeks before everyone was having so much fun? Yeah, at this rate, PokerStars might extend SCOOP indefinitely.
Originally, PokerStars planned a SCOOP fiesta with 80 events and $85 million in guaranteed prize pools. But they added $50 million more in guarantees and added 44 more events! Yes, there will be up to Event #124 on the docket with low, medium, and high buy-in levels.
At least seven events have a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, including Event #102-High $10,300 buy-in High Roller affair.
May 31 falls on a Sunday, so of course there's the Sunday Million with a $2.5 million guaranteed prize pool.
Oh and for Badugi fans, you're in luck with Event #82. And if you've been digging Fusion, there's an added FUSION for Event #88. There's a HORSE event and more PKO's than you can shake a stick at.
Everyone was really excited and stoked about the SCOOP Main Event. That's the mumbo jumbo event that attracts players from all over the planet to take a shot at a seven-figure payout. Several notable players won the SCOOP Main Event in the past and the high-profile event will thrust an unknown into the spotlight... and for a known-player, shipping the SCOOP Main Event will rocket them into the upper echelons of the online realm. It happened to Fedor Holz back in 2014 when he took down the SCOOP Main Event for $1.3 million. Holz embarked on a torrid streak shortly after that, which might one of the sickest runs in recent memory.
Heck, Gianluca "Tanlanza" Speranza pulled off the unthinkable with back-to-back SCOOP Main Event titles. It's difficult to win once, let alone twice.
So, how about the latest High Roller action at the 2020 SCOOP? Steve O'Dwyer is no stranger to the winner's circle and winner's photos, but he never binked a SCOOP title... until now. O'Dwyer has over $30.4 million in career winnings (according to Hendon Mob).
O'Dwyer faded a field of 89 high roller sharks and ballas to win the title and $521K in cash. The final eight included Fedor Holz, Ole Schemion, Talal Shakerchi, Joao Vieria, Chun Lei Zhou, Steve O'Dwyer, Andras Nemeth, and Vyacheslav Buldygin.
O'Dwyer picked off Andras Nemeth heads-up to win the title and cashola.
O'Dwyer's last live cash occurred down under in Australia at the 2020 Aussie Millions 25K Challenge. Like many live grinders, the mango man holed up and hit up the virtual tables. O'Dwyer has at least one major win under his belt during the pandemic. Maybe he'll crush the SCOOP Main Event as well?
2020 SCOOP 25K High Roller
Buy-in: $25K
Entrants: 89
Prize Pool: $2,182,725
Final Table Results:
1. Steve 'Mr. Tim Caum' O'Dwyer $521,598
2. Andras 'probirs' Nemeth $403,096
3. Chun Lei 'SamRostans' Zhou $311,517
4. Joao 'Naza114' Vieira $240,744
5. Talal 'raidalot' Shakerchi $186,049
6. Vyacheslav 'VbV1990' Buldygin $143,781
7. Ole 'wizowizo' Schemion $111,115
8. Fedor 'CrownUpGuy' Holz $85,420
