Fabio "LFFF22" Freitas Takes Down the PokerStars SCOOP 96-M: $530 Main Event 2nd Chance for $348,643
After just over five hours on Day 3 of the PokerStars 2020 Spring Championship of Online Poker 96-M: $530 Main Event 2nd Chance, an inaugural champion has been crowned. Fabio "LFFF22" Freitas defeated Day 2 chip leader "thx4urm0n3y" heads-up for the first-place prize of $348,643 and a brand-new SCOOP title. The tournament attracted 4,899 entries on the first day for 607 players to get paid a share of the $2,449,500 prize pool which was created by them all.
Freitas has had some pretty deep runs and wins before but none have yielded the same results as he has done here today. He overcame many hurdles but managed to clinch the win in the end. The final table also included "LuckyBet101", "serrazina11", Bradley "mrbradleyy" Harwood, "$ubuta1", "AfRoBiZzLe!", "Anton720", and "Jessofaces13".
But there were more players in contention today as the final day of the 3-day tournament started with 16 players, "galo_pb", Leo "LeoFernandez" Fernandez, "bernderbei2", "M4GPI3, "cmontopdeck", Luuk "pokerkluka" Gieles, and Felipe "Carboneraa" Carbonera were there too at the start of the day.
PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker 96-M: $530 Main Event 2nd Chance Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio "LFFF22" Freitas | Brazil | $348,643 |
| 2 | thx4urm0n3y | Canada | $248,523 |
| 3 | LuckyBet101 | Ukraine | $177,156 |
| 4 | serrazina11 | Malta | $126,283 |
| 5 | Bradley "mrbradleyy" Harwood | United Kingdom | $90,018 |
| 6 | $ubuta1 | Mongolia | $64,168 |
| 7 | AfRoBiZzLe! | United Kingdom | $45,741 |
| 8 | Anton720 | Sweden | $32,606 |
| 9 | Jessofaces13 | Canada | $23,243 |
From 16 Players to the Final Table
The level duration was increased to 25 minutes as soon as the players finished the seven remaining minutes of Level 44 which allowed for more play during the day. Carbonera was the first to leave today when they three-bet shoved with ace-ten and were called by Gieles who held pocket fives. Carbonera flopped a pair of fives but the river gave Gieles the wheel to eliminate Carbonera. But his joy didn't last long as he was next to go when he four-bet shoved tens into the queens of "AfRoBiZzLe!" and got no help from the board.
"cmontopdeck" was floored next when he ran their ace-jack into the tens of Freitas. They flopped a flush draw but didn't get there in the end. "serrazina11" then took out "M4GPI3" with the higher kicker with "benderbei2" going away after when they got their chips in with ace-nine while "LuckyBet101" held queens. And then it was Fernandez's turn to go when he shoved with jacks. "LuckyBet101" found queens again and took Fernandez out to get the tournament to the final table bubble. The bubble didn't last long as less than ten minutes later, "galo_pb" was gone as they jammed their queen-jack into the ace-jack of "serrazina11".
The Final Table
Freitas and "thx4urm0n3y" were the two players at the top of the counts when the final table started and even though the chip lead swapped hands several times, they also ended in those spots after almost four hours. "Jessofaces13" four-bet shoved with kings but "serrazina11" had aces to stay ahead throughout the runout of the board. It would take 45 minutes with several big hands being played before "Anton720" fell in eighth place with jacks. "LuckyBet101" held ace-king and hit the king on the river to get the field down to seven players.
"AfRoBiZzLe!" was ousted by Freitas before "$ubuta1" busted in sixth place with jacks versus the tens of "serrazina11". The ten on the flop meant the end of their tournament life. Twenty minutes later, Harwood was halted by "LuckyBet101". Harwood held king-ten and was ahead against the king-trey of "LuckyBet101" but the seven-six-trey flop wasn't good for him. The seven on the turn and the four on the river didn't help in any way.
A deal was discussed but not agreed upon and "serrazina11" was eliminated when they flopped a pair of tens when they called the reraise of "LuckyBet101" who held ace-queen. The queen on the turn brought "LuckyBet101" the higher pair and flush draw but also gave "serrazina11" a glimmer of hope on a straight. The eight on the river brought the straight indeed but it also gave "LuckyBet101" the flush to bust "serrazina11".
A deal was brought up again but before they could really discuss it, Freitas doubled up through "LuckyBet101", "LuckyBet101" then doubled back up through "thx4urm0n3y" but then lost all those chips again to Freitas when they found pocket treys. Freitas held eights and flopped a full house to get to the heads-up stage.
The two players looked at the numbers and the possibility of getting a PokerStars host to adjust the numbers from the ICM deal but found out that this wasn't possible so continued play. With pretty even stacks at the beginning of heads-up play, Freitas extended that lead by the time the last break rolled around.
"thx4urm0n3y" won a hand to get it back to even but shortly after "thx4urm0n3y" raised with five-four and was called by Freitas who held six-trey suited. The four-five-ten flop gave "thx4urm0n3y" two pair but it also gave Freitas the flush and open-ended straight draw. Freitas check-raised the bet of "thx4urm0n3y" who then responded with a reraise and called for their tournament life after Freitas shoved. The queen on the turn kept "thx4urm0n3y" alive for a bit but the seven on the river gave Freitas the SCOOP title and the wonderful first-place prize that came with it.
The PokerNews coverage of this event has concluded but there's still plenty of SCOOP action to follow so stick around.