888PL Online Champs recap and results.

[Matty Norwood]

After weeks of players preparing themselves, mentally and physically, the 888PL Online Champs finally began on Saturday! Six coveted bracelets were up for grabs in a variety of events held on the Saturday 2nd of April. The action continued onto Sunday with the much anticipated State of Origin team's event on the Sunday where pitted each state's best online talent against each other in an epic battle!


Fully stocked with their caffeinated beverage at the ready; 140 players entered the opening $11 Deepstack event ready to play for, what would eventually be, 11.5 hrs of poker! SA Tournament Captain Russ Learmonth managed a third place but it was Michael "stringninja" Haigh who took the Victory and the first 888PL Bracelet of the day.


Up next was the $5.50 6max tournament, a favourite amongst many as indicated by the strong 126 player field. Popular Victorian 888PL player Mike "BionicMike" Raines took this out with an amazing comeback from having just one big blind left earlier in play. It should be noted that this is Mike's second Online Champs bracelet in three series and this in itself is a phenomenal effort and cement's Mike as one of the dominant 888PL players.


The third event on the calendar was the Heads Up event. 81 players fronted the $5.50 entry fee to battle it out in the purest form of NLHE. Stuart "doink44" Cleverly from South Australia took this one out and claimed the third bracelet of the day. As this event is not a true Heads Up Shootout it may be removed from the next series and replaced with another Hold Em variant.


Although a newer format for many 888PL members; Pot Limit Omaha is quickly evolving as one of the more popular variants of poker. Offering the player four cards instead of two and plenty more swings! It was a great turnout, where 87 players entered the $5.50 event. 888PL Victorian TC James "grumpy_dog66" Powis grabbed victory. The PLO title remains in 888PL TC's hand after South Australia's own Caleb Rybalka won this event in the last series.


By now we were more than halfway through the day with just two events remaining. First up was the Main Event, a $2000 GTD prize pool that generated 127 runners. A little over 4 hours in, and the bubble had burst. Not long after we were down to the final table where 888PL's very own National Operations Manager, Garth "suckoutmgnet" Kay, was sitting second in chips, however, leading the way was Mistress Poker's David Murrin. He would hold this lead throughout the whole Final table to claim the $1000 first prize money, with Garth placing second scoring $600 in prize money.


The last event on the 888PL Online Champs schedule was the $55 High Rollers. This event attracted 56 runners all vying for a bracelet and the $800 first prize money. After a grueling 3 hours the Final Table was upon us, with 888PL staff members dominating. The chiplead belonged to Dakota "24 Dcepticons" Tran. His loose aggressive style proved no match for many and within a short period he had whittled the field down to just 3. Also still in the chase was SA Tournament Captain Andre "th0ngpounder" Tomic and Victorian player Oliver "Ollio85" Cook. It didn't take long to lose Andre and we were quickly down to Heads Up. Dakota couldn't gain any momentum against Oliver and eventually finished a valiant 2nd place earning just over $500 for his efforts. Big congratulations to Oliver our final bracelet winner who is also $800 richer!


That was it for our Bracelet events, but there was still one event generating much interest amongst the community. That was the 888PL State of Origins team's event. A new addition to 888 Poker the teams event would allow members to select their preferred team and a portion of the prize pool would be awarded to the winning team. Five States, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania all competed for the ultimate bragging rights. Eventually though, it was Victoria and South Australia heads up for the title. It was quickly determined that Victoria would be overall point's winner, with Victorian Peter "pokkets77" Porter cementing that by claiming victory over the 145 player field and taking home just over $140 in prize money.


It was a fantastic action packed weekend of poker, and we trust you all enjoyed yourselves. Due to the overall success of the online champs we are hoping to continue to host this series the first weekend of every new season. Stay tuned for details on the next online champs.


*Please note: if you were lucky enough to win a bracelet over the weekend, these will be presented at your respective State's Semi Final. If you are unable to make it please email info@888pl.com.au and we will arrange some.

[roodog]

Well written Matt! It was definitely a great series and I can see it growing steadily in the future

[Matty Norwood]

cant claim to be the author. This piece was written by Glyn Parsons. I was just the middle man on this one