Talal 'raidalot' Shakerchi wins SCOOP Main Event and $1.4 million

(PRESS RELEASE) -- The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) $10,000 Main Event has been won by Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi, who last night topped a field of 713 players (plus 111 re-entries) at PokerStars.com, an Amaya Inc. brand, to win the first prize of more than $1.4 million and grab his third career SCOOP title. It was the biggest field in SCOOP Main Event (High) history in terms of both unique players and total entries.

Shakerchi, who is a U.K.-based high stakes player and regular winner on the European Poker Tour (EPT), cashed in 38 tournaments and made five final tables this series, to take his overall winnings in SCOOP 2016 to $1,622,466.98.

SCOOP-54-H ($10,000 NL Hold'em Main Event)
Entries: 824 (713 players, 111 re-entries)
Prize pool: $8,000,001.76
Places paid: 99

1. Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi (United Kingdom) $1,468,000.88
2. Sean "Nolez7" Winter (Romania) $1,048,000.23
3. s0nny_bLacCk (Thailand) $792,000.17
4. Scott "gunning4you" Seiver (Canada) $596,000.13
5. Markku "markovitsus" Koplimaa (Estonia) $416,000.09
6. Pablo "pablotenisis" Fernandez (Mexico) $336,000.07
7. Luckbox (Japan) $256,000.05
8. IReadB00ks (Denmark) $176,000.03
9. EvnomiYa (Russia) $104,000.02

The $1,000 Main Event also finished last night and was won by "Educa-p0ker" from the U.K.. The player pocketed a six-figure score of $578,621.27 after a four-way deal was done. Meanwhile, Brazil's "mmleandro" triumphed in the $100 Main Event, winning $195,000 after a three-handed deal was reached. It was the 21st title for Brazil this series, making it the top winning country, one title ahead of the U.K..

All three Main Events set new participation and prize pool records, as part of a record-breaking SCOOP festival that saw nearly $91 million awarded to players.

PLAYER OF THE SERIES
With 41 cashes and eight final tables, Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb won the Overall SCOOP Leader Board to make it back-to-back "COOP" Player of the Year titles following his World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) 2015 Leader Board victory last September. For his latest triumph, Deeb wins another champion's trophy and an additional $20,000 in cash.

SCOOP 2016 STATS
-- $90,984,283.44 – total prizes awarded.
-- $1,468,000.88 – first prize won by $10,000 Main Event High champion Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi.
-- 61,154 – number of entrants from Russia – the highest of the series; over 6,000 more than Germany, which had the second highest number of entries.
-- 123 – number of final tables made by U.K. players, six more than the second best-performing country, Canada.
-- 41 – number of cashes by Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb – the highest this series; "Colisea" and "SixthSenSe19" each had 40.
-- 21 – number of events won by Brazil, one more than second-placed U.K., and seven more than Canada in third.
-- 8 – number of final tables made by Shaun "shaundeeb" Deeb – the highest this series; Calvin "cal42688" Anderson and Jason Mercier both made six.
-- 3 – number of events won by Shawn "buck21" Buchanan this series, which put him on six career SCOOP titles, one behind Calvin "cal42688" Anderson, who leads on seven. Buchanan needs one Sunday Million win to become the first PokerStars Grand Slam winner (TCOOP, SCOOP, WCOOP, Sunday Million titles).
-- 2 – number of events won by three players this series; Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah, "otitov", and "SsicK_OnE" all helped themselves to multiple titles.

HIGH-PROFILE WINNERS
A host of well-known players, with multiple "COOP" victories to their names, won SCOOP events this series, including, but not limited to, Rafael "GM_VALTER" Moraes, LU.K.e "lb6121" Schwartz, James "Andy McLEOD" Obst, Shawn "buck21" Buchanan, Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick, Marco "NoraFlum" Johnson, Matt "plattsburgh" Vengrin, Nick "The Takeover" Schulman, Dan "Danny98765" Smith, Tom "tjbentham" Bentham, Mike "goleafsgoeh" Leah, Paul "paulgees81" Volpe, Calvin "cal42688" Anderson, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, Doug "WCG|Rider" Polk, Matthew "MUSTAFABET" Ashton, Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez, Nick "GripDsNutz" Grippo, Daniel "w00ki3z" Cates, and Talal "raidalot" Shakerchi.