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Russian player ‘maratik’ was crowned the PokerStars 2012 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event champion this morning, winning $1,000,907.26 having qualified into the $5,200 buy-in event for just 40 Frequent Player Points (FPPs)!
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It’s a remarkable story for the Russian – a low stakes Sit & Go and tournament player on PokerStars – who topped a field of 1,825 players to win the richest and most prestigious online tournament of the year. He beat Ryan ‘TheCart3r’ Carter heads-up to win the largest share of the $9,125,000 prize pool.
In the final hand, with ‘maratik’ holding nearly a 2:1 chip lead, all the chips went in on the turn, with the board reading 3h-Qs-Jc-3s. ‘TheCarte3r’ revealed 4s-Jd for two pair, but ‘maratik’ had Ac-Ad for a higher two pair, and the 4c changed nothing, rewarding the Russian player with the all-important title and WCOOP Main Event bracelet.
Final table
A six-way deal was negotiated at the final table, which saw ‘maratik’ initially get $900,907.26, but he then went on to beat the other five players to win the additional $100,000 that was reserved for first place. Here are the final places and payouts:
1. maratik (Russia) – $1,000,907.26*
2. Ryan ‘TheCart3r’ Carter (Canada) – $662,516.39*
3. Jossel2008 (Ireland) – $814,602.12*
4. Mike ‘munchenHB’ Telker (Cyprus) – $1,000.584.34*
5. sly caveat (Portugal) – $601,884.93*
6. FOO-92 (Germany) – $502,992.46*
7. Kakalala (Denmark) – $182,500.00
8. Phil ‘takechip’ D'Auteuil (Canada) – $136,875
9. mitdadu (Russia) – $91,250.00
* denotes six-way deal
WCOOP 2012 statistics
The 11th annual WCOOP smashed the $30 million guarantee with total prizes awarded reaching a staggering $55,522,590, which is an increase of more than $7 million on 2011’s total. There was also a big increase in amount of tournament entries, with 126,041 as opposed to last year’s 119,832. Here’s a few more statistics from the series:
Most cashes: Jon ‘PearlJammer’ Turner – 17
Most final tables: Ti0373 – 4
Most bracelets: mikal12345; Ti0373 – 2
Bracelet wins by country: Canada (14), Russia (8), Germany, UK, Mexico, Norway (5)
Player of the Series
The hotly contested WCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard was won by ‘mikal12345’ from Norway. He cashed in 15 events, winning two (WCOOP-12, 26), and racked up 395 points. He wins the Champion’s Trophy, 2013 PCA package, 2013 EPT Grand Final package, 2013 TCOOP Main Event ticket and custom chip set.
His closest challenger was ‘Ti0373’ from Russia, who accumulated 345 points while also winning two WCOOP bracelets. He will receive a 2013 PCA package and 2013 TCOOP Main Event ticket. Meanwhile, Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer came third with 315 points, ‘TryToExploit’ from Poland came fourth with 270 points, and ‘Illini213’ from Costa Rica came fifth with 265 points. Those three players will all receive 2013 TCOOP Main Event tickets.
