PokerStars crowns WCOOP Main Event champion
29 Sep 2010
POTTERPOKER's victory came at the end of a long and hard-fought event that lasted more than 25 hours. In the final hand, with blinds at 100,000/200,000 and joeysweetp trailing by 8 million chips to POTTERPOKER's 40.5 million, the board read J?-8?-2?-K? when POTTERPOKER bet out and joeysweetp moved all-in as a bluff. Unfortunately for him POTTERPOKER snap-called with the nuts – A?-4? – to claim the 2010 WCOOP Main Event title, while runner-up joeysweetp pocketed $1,404,725 for his efforts.
As the victory sunk in, POTTERPOKER said: "I wouldn't be here without so many amazing people in my life! All my friends, family, poker buddies."
The two-day $5,200 Main Event was the last of 62 tournaments in the 2010 WCOOP. It boasted a field of 2,443 players (299 more than last year) which created a record-breaking prize pool of $12,215,000 (almost a $1.5 million increase on last year's $10.72 million) and shattered the event's $10 million guarantee.
This year's record-breaking ninth WCOOP continued its domination in the world of online poker tournaments, guaranteeing $50 million in total prize money. In the end, a staggering $63,157,150 was awarded, $11m more than last year's series.
The 2010 WCOOP featured 141,126 buy-ins, with 18 different countries represented on the WCOOP bracelet honours list. The 2010 WCOOP saw first bracelets for players from Russia (with three wins), Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Netherlands Antilles, Monaco, Ukraine and Uruguay. The United States, meanwhile, can boast the most bracelet winners of the online festival, with 33. The second-highest total was won by Australian players, earning four WCOOP bracelets in 2010, after previously only winning one.
All WCOOP 2010 bracelet winners will be invited to a special bracelet presentation ceremony during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure festival in January, in the Bahamas.
In the overall 2010 WCOOP Leader Board, Australian pro Andy McLEOD won Player of the Series after earning the most points with four final-table appearances. Other stand-out players this year include Xaston, who was the only player this year to win two WCOOP bracelets, and PearlJammer, who topped the table of most cashes with 15.
In the all-time WCOOP record books, g0lfa now stands on his own as the only player to win three WCOOP bracelets. After earning two bracelets in 2009, he triumphed in 2010's Event 55 – the $530 No Limit Hold'em with one rebuy and one add-on.