We have the answer ... at least for question #1.
Being a member of the bwin Team will bring the winner to the most prestigious poker events all around the world. WSOP, WPT, Aussie Millions ... you name it. For one year the biggest casinos will be the workplace for one lucky and skilled bwin player.
The structure for the semi-final was deep for a Sit&Go. 15k starting stack and 30 minutes blind levels (starting at 25/50) promised some great poker, with only the winner advancing to the finals.
Here are the seven players of this semi-final:
strongman, saturnin1, attilaattila and AAA_Urs
Seat 1: strongman
Will he live up to his name? Will he show weakness? He has an advantage over the field, 'cause the 22-year-old German is mainly playing live poker. His biggest success was the qualification for the Magic Moments of Poker.
Seat 2: saturnin1
The 27-year-old Frenchman dreams about playing at the WSOP in Vegas. Well, it's to late for 2009, but he could get his chance at the WSOP 2010 if he qualifies for the bwin Team. Could be just a matter of months before he will take a seat next to his idol "Elky" Grospellier.
Seat 3: attilaattila
You remember that name? You should. attilaattila joined the bwin Team for the WPT North America in 2008, where he cashed for more than $30,000. He owns a sports betting shop and I'm pretty sure he is laying himself some good odds today.
Seat 4: AAA_Urs
47 years old, the Swiss had some success at home over the last years. 65% of his poker happens online (thats where he qualified for the MMOP), 35% offline (where he could qualify for the MMOP Final right now).
SCAMATRON, qwasek1981 and Jojkomojko
Seat 5: SCAMATRON
The 36-year-old Italian already had some success at bwin.it, i.e. by winning the C.I.P.S. (campionato italiano di poker sportive online tournament). All he wants to do now is to play some good poker - he will get that chance over the next hours.
Seat 6: qwasek1981
The young Czech only plays Poker for half a year. If he wins today and takes the chance at the MMOP Final, he and bwin will join forces for much longer. Lets hope for the best!
Seat 7: Jojkomojko
Our last player comes from Slovakia and found his way from sports betting to poker. He almost qualified for the bwin Team and the WPT Venice before but didn't get there. It won't be much easier this time, he needs first place to advance to the final.
Naturally the action at the table started slowly, the players weren't to keen on building up big pots. Chipcount after the first break:
Jojkomojko - 25,600
attilaattila - 17,650
saturnin1 - 13,600
strongman - 13,075
qwasek1981 - 12,925
AAA_Urs - 12,375
SCAMATRON - 9,775
The blinds were now at 200/400 and 50 Ante. Things are starting to get interesting.
'I will have this many chips' ... Jojkomojko was right till now
strongman tried to use his strength and show some muscle at this tight table. Then he loses most of his chips against saturnin1's Pocket Jacks. Only a few hands later he pushes with his remaining 7 BB after a raise of AAA_Urs. AAA_Urs calls and shows A♥ K♦. Two live cards for strongman, who shows Q♠J♥, but an ace was enough, when the board run out 5♣ 4♠ 7♠ 7♣ 4♣.
His rollercoaster ride is over - strongman out
Apart from the small pot against strongman, AAA_Urs didn't play much. His patience payed out, with Pocket Kings twice in a row - followed by Pocket 5s - he takes a big leap and advances to third position.
qwasek1981 was going strong as well - after a decent pot against attilaattila he was the new chipleader.
90 hands were played, predictions still impossible
qwasek1981 - 24k
AAA_Urs - 21k
saturnin1 - 19k
attilaattila - 18k
Jojkomojko - 16k
SCAMATRON - 7,5k
attilaattila was next to hit the rail. He told us his favourite hand is AK ... thats what he needed in this spot. He went All In with 14.000 Chips and A♦Q♣ , saturnin1 called with A♠K♣. A king on the flop ended all discussion.
attilaattila didn't win at the MMOP ... but he'll be back!
The rising blinds loosen up the game. Jojkomojko startet the table with some loose plays and got tighter later on. He had to get back into the action before his stack would dwindle down more.
A♣T♦ seemed the right spot, he openedshoved All In. Once again its saturnin1 who takes the opportunity and calls with A♥Q♦. No help from the board and saturnin1 gets another nice pot.
Jojkomojko showed us some great poker, unfortunately it didn't pay out
The aggression at the table went on, qwasek1981 was the next victim. saturnin1 doesn't believe him and was right. qwasek1981 was bluffing with King High when he put his stack in the middle, saturnin1 manages to bust the 3rd player in a row.
4th place for qwasek1981
After losing a b big pot against AAA_Urs (T♥9♥ vs K♥7♥, both miss the board), SCAMATRON is left with little more than one Ante. Needless to say, no miracle happened, SCAMATRON had to watch the Heads Up from the Rail.
saturnin1 vs. AAA_Urs. 64k vs. 41k. Lets get ready to rumble!
A 2:1 lead at the start of Heads Up
It doesn't take to long. After a couple of hands saturnin1 pushes with K♦8♦ AAA_Urs calls with Q♣6♣. This time the players didn't miss the board ... saturninn1 manages to catch four diamonds and take down the MMOP Semi Final with a King High Flush.
It sure was interesting watching saturnin1. He barely played a hand in the first hour, after being dealt a couple of monsters in short time his confidence grew. He was involved in most of the Busts and managed to use his chiplead to bully the table. Congratulations, we'll meet him again at the MMOP Final in Vienna!
First Mr Hyde, then Dr Jekyll - but actually just saturnin1
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