Blog Posts

The GSOP Ends with a $519,000 Bang

16:51 UTC February 15, 2010 Seth Shafer

The 4th edition of the GSOP series has featured some amazing poker action since it kicked off at bwin on January 24th, with nearly every event shattering its guaranteed prizepool and featuring some gigantic payouts to the winners and top finishers. It was only fitting that the GSOP Grand Slam Finals on Sunday would follow in those footsteps, with an incredible turnout of 106 runners in the $5,000 event, which pushed the prizepool over the $500,000 mark!

Many of the top online pros turned out for the GSOP Grand Slam Finals, as well as some familiar names from the bwin Team including Hamburg 10 (who made several final tables earlier in the GSOP) and weniotto, who was fresh off his big cash of AU $75,000 at the Aussie Millions.

iLoveJazz had played multiple GSOP events without a cash, but he more than made up for that in the end, playing his way to victory in the Grand Slam Finals and collecting a whopping $140,000. IsSittingOut also got into the cash column in a big way, taking second for $93,492, with tbac1 adding to the $33,000 he’d already collected in the GSOP, finishing 3rd for $62,328.

Below are the top ten finishers in the GSOP Grand Slam finals, along with their winnings:

1. iLoveJazz – $140,000
2. IsSittingOut – $93,492
3. tbac1 – $62,328
4. arviserd1 – $45,187
5. Tomgus456 – $31,164
6. Rate my poo – $27,008
7. Bemardonks – $22,853
8. mementmori – $18,179
9. Maekelae – $14,543
10. jnsan1 – $12,465

And then there was one…one really big tournament

03:19 UTC February 12, 2010 Seth Shafer

There’s just one GSOP event remaining, but it’s a whopper of a finale: the $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals. Scheduled for February 14th, the Grand Slam Finals promises some amazing action, with the $5,000 buy-in event featuring deep stacks and plenty of play, just like a big buy-in live event.

With a guaranteed prize pool of $300,000 (which will likely grow when the final entrants make their way to the tables), there’s plenty of cash to play for. Winner of GSOP events got an automatic entry into the Grand Slam Finals, and greg_bluf played his way in as the leaderboard winner in one of the tightest races we’ve seen, overtaking Don_Victorio on the last event to win by just 3.7 points. men at work isn’t yet registered for the Grand Slam Finals but time well tell to see if he puts some of his Sidebet winnings towards entering.

Stay tuned to bwin poker on February 14th, as the Grand Slam Finals promises as amazing capper to what’s been yet another very successful GSOP series.

A Wild Weekend of GSOP Action

13:43 UTC February 8, 2010 Seth Shafer

The past weekend at bwin poker was packed with an amazing amount of action at the tables, as 6 different GSOP tournaments were completed from Friday-Sunday, which collectively would award well over $1.5 million in prize money to players!

On Friday GSOP #4 would feature a Omaha Hi/Lo Pot Limit format, which would drew 244 runners and would award the winner just north of $10,000 in cash (plus the standard $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals entry the winner of every GSOP event gets). Magniifico18 would ultimately prevail, taking down $10,975, with Randomdonk99 (a fixture of the big tournies at bwin and former winner of the ChampionChip) would finish runner-up, collecting $3,824. Later on Friday GSOP #13 would kick off, with Carterboy11 taking down the victory there.

Saturday action would feature two more GSOP extravaganzas, GSOP #14 and GSOP #15. GSOP #14 would be a $162 NLHE freezout tournament, which attracted 912 entries for a prizepool of $136,800. tbac1 would play his way to the top prize of $32,810 (plus a Grand Slam Finals ticket), with O_ASIMOS taking 2nd for $17,134. bwin Tem vet indrich would take 34th for $659, his second cash of the GSOP series.

GSOP #15 would feature a complete change of pace as far as format, with the players battling it out in a 7 Card Stud tournament (the first of its kind in the GSOP) that drew 224 entries. CrunchGrunch would come through in the crunch to take 1st place and $10,000 + a Grand Slam Finals ticket, with vasiont finishing 2nd. bwin Team veteran Hamburg 10 notched his second big cash of the GSOP, finishing 3rd in GSOP #15 for $2,000.

Sunday’s action included a monster of a tournament: GSOP #16. The $525 buy-in saw an amazing 1,546 runners sign up to take their shot at over $775,000 in prize money, which meant the winner would collect well over $150,000 in cash plus a GSOP Grand Slam Finals entry for their win. After a long hard day of tense action, HappyPiggy would indeed finish the day on a happy note, notching the victory and claiming $154,760 in cash + a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals entry. Sixteri had to settle for 2nd ($95,232), with Sphud taking 3rd ($61,440).

GSOP #17 was another new twist, with the players battling for the first time ever in the GSOP in a 5 Card Draw Pot limit rebuy format. cayman4 would collect the victory and $11,388 in cash and a Grand Slam Finals ticket, with IceBabyG finishing runner-up and pocketing $4,088.

Carterboy11’s Lucky Number is GSOP #13

02:40 UTC February 7, 2010 Seth Shafer

With a $400,000 guaranteed prize pool in GSOP #13, the action kicked up a notch, with serious money on the line and over $82,000 slated to go to the winner (along with a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals ticket). The best and brightest on bwin poker turned out to slug away at the tables, all trying to claw their way to the top spot.

bwin Team veteran (and winner of the Rigged in Riga live event) Wieringen was among the leaders for much of the late action, and gave it his all, bouncing back from various beats to make a very deep run. He’d ultimately finish 6th, taking down a very nice cash of $11,850 for his efforts. As far as the ultimate winner, it was Carterboy11 who would finally prevail, beating totonr1 in heads-up action to take 1st place.

Below are the top ten finishers in GSOP #13, along with their winnings:

1. Carterboy11 – $82,025 + a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals entry
2. totonr1 – $48,980
3. Alan_Parsons – $31,600
4. ctrllrtc – $23,700
5. GUESS13 X – $15,800
6. Wieringen – $11,850
7. -goldpanner- – $7,900
8. frank-727 – $6,715
9. Destinee_x – $5,530
10. the_Cuckoo – $4,345

wildgirly Has a Wild Time in GSOP #12

14:54 UTC February 5, 2010 Seth Shafer

GSOP #12 promised one thing: action action action. Well, lots of action and a ton of money up for grabs to the winner of the $54 PLO shorthanded rebuy tournament, as the prizepool topped $85,000, with just over $25,000 of that (plus a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals ticket) going to the winner.

That winner would be wildgirly, who’d survive all the action to emerge the winner as the smoke cleared and the dust settled, richer by $25,075 and clutching a ticket to the $5,000 Grand Slam Finals. Fisu47 would finish runner-up ($12,045), with Myrtillus finishing 3rd ($7,227).

Below are the top ten finishers in GSOP #12 along with their winnings:

1. wildgirly – $25,075
2. Fisu47 – $12,045
3. Myrtillus – $7,227
4. hkukko – $4,979
5. zumpi – $3,373
6. ralex555 – $2,570
7. 17Pott4 – $1,847
8. Mobuvantom69 – $1,526
9. suitsusir – $1,205
10. kpanzer06 – $964

jiujitsu11 Karate Chops His Way to Victory in GSOP #11

14:58 UTC February 4, 2010 Seth Shafer

One great feature of the GSOP series on bwin is that it offers up a little something for every player, as far as tournaments with a wide range of buy-ins (from $54 to $5,000) and a dizzying array of formats (NLHE, PLHE, LHE, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw). GSOP #11 played to the Limit Hold’em fans, sporting a hefty $320 buy-in to entice the best online LHE players to take their crack at GSOP glory.

218 runners meant that they’d be playing for over $65,000, with the winner getting just over $20,000 + a $5,000 Grand Slam Finals entry. gbpoker represented for the bwin Team veterans in the field, playing his way to a nice 16th place finish of $725. The title came down to a heads-up battle between jiujitsu11 and Dr Kevorka, with jiujitsu11 prevailing to take down $20,100 in cash plus the Grand Slam Finals entry.

Below are the top ten finishers in GSOP #11 along with their winnings:

1. jiujitsu11 – $20,100 + a $5,000 Grand Slam Finals entry
2. Dr Kevorka – $9,664
3. bb10103 – $6,040
4. mumu123456 – $4,107
5. Kongedreng – $2,899
6. alain21 x – $2,537
7. winnie976 – $2,054
8. magkeeper2 – $1,691
9. KingKingy – $1,329
10. ANTICADHOR1 – $1,087

Paweee is a Perfect 10 in GSOP #10

21:01 UTC February 3, 2010 Seth Shafer

358 runners turned out for GSOP #10, which was a $108 one rebuy + add-on Pot Limit Hold’em format that would ultimately generate a prizepool of just over $77,000. With just north of $18,000 in cash and a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals ticket going to the winner, there was plenty on the line as action wound down to the final table.

The final table would feature a few familiar names, including bwin Team veteran Hamburg 10 (who represented the Team at the 2008 WSOP) and Don_Victorio (who finished 6th in GSOP #1 for $13,519). They’d bow out in 7th ($1,885) and 10th ($1,015) respectively, with Paweee powering his way to the top prize of $18,125 plus a GSOP Grand Slam Finals ticket.

Below are the top ten finishers in GSOP #10, along with their winnings:

1. Paweee – $18,125 + $5,000 Grand Slam Finals entry
2. monsterman68 – $11,600
3. GLU3 – $7,250
4. Gamboola – $4,640
5. banditen4 – $3,190
6. Panglossian1 – $2,465
7. Hamburg 10 – $1,885
8. welly xx – $1,523
9. Theoren – $1,233
10. Don_Victorio – $1,015

likvit Licks the Field in GSOP #9

01:11 UTC February 3, 2010 Seth Shafer

GSOP #9 drew out the action junkies in the crowd, featuring a shorthanded format with unlimited rebuys at $54 a pop, drawing a monster field of 1,249 runners. With over $150,000 in the prizepool they’d all have their eyes on the top prize, worth $31,217 + a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam finals ticket. Not a bad payday at all for a $54 rebuy tournament held on a Monday night!

Chiplieder85 would once again carry the banner for the bwin Team veterans, cashing in yet another GSOP event, this time finishing 26th ($739). He also just missed out in the daily GSOP Grand Slam finals satellite a few days ago, finishing 2nd and barely missing out on the $5,000 ticket that goes to the winner of each daily Grand Slam Finals qualifier.

As far as the top finishers, it all came down to likvit and top online pro FCBSpacey to battle it out heads-up for the title, with the honors eventually going to likvit (along with $31,217 in cash and the $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals entry). FCBSpacey had to settle for $19,233 for 2nd, with El_Kabongg finishing 3rd for $12,131.

GSOP #7 Proves Lucky for dragan_galic

00:24 UTC February 1, 2010 Seth Shafer

There’s no rest for the weary or the GSOP hopefuls, as the big tournaments kept on rolling with GSOP #7, which was a $108 NLHE shorthanded freezout. 1181 runners took their seats to start the tournament, which meant that $118,100 would be up for grabs, with over $28,000 (plus a $5,000 GSOP Grand Slam Finals entry) going to the winner.

It looked for awhile like Rate my poo might notch his second win of this GSOP series, as he was among the leaders for much of the later stages, but his run ended in a 5th place finish worth $4,524. seekayuno was the next to go in 4th ($6,786), with pandsaroo bowing out in 3rd ($9,274).

That left dragan_galic and BigSauna to battle it out for the title, with dragan_galic coming through in the clutch to take 1st prize ($28,864 + a $5,000 Grand Slam Final entry), with BigSauna settling for runner-up and a nice consolation prize of $14,703. Below are the top ten finishers and their winnings from GSOP #7:

1. dragan_galic – $28,864
2. BigSauna – $14,703
3. pandsaroo – $9,274
4. seekayuno – $6,786
5. Rate my poo – $4,524
6. –sbj– – $3,393
7. dawncore – $2,262
8. 11bnn – $2,036
9. suitsusir – $1,583
10. LittleOlmi – $1,244

GaySvensson Has a Merry Time in GSOP #6

01:19 UTC January 31, 2010 Seth Shafer

The price of poker went up in GSOP #6, which was a $200 PLO freezeout tournament that saw 397 hardcore Omaha fans turn out to take their shot. A prizepool of just over $75,000 would await the players skilled and lucky enough to make the money, with over $22,000 (plus a $5,000 entry to the Grand Slam Finals) awaiting the winner.

In the end it’d be GaySvensson who’d prevail, claiming the top prize of $22,608 and getting his entry into the $5,000 Grand Slam Finals. plzbquiet had to settle for 2nd place and $11,269, with souvlaqui taking third and $7,043. Below are the top ten finishers and their winnings:

1. GaySvensson - $22,608
2. plzbquiet – $11,269
3. souvlaqui – $7,043
4. matric13 – $4,508
5. dinos_kol – $3,099
6. clarkgable1 – $2,395
7. mafiadu42 - $1,831
8. ZombieCake – $1,479
9. pelleheikk – $1,197
10. lyngbyboys – $986


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