Most poker players will go their entire careers without experiencing the joy that comes with becoming a Spring Championship Of Online Poker (SCOOP) champion. Kelvin “Kelvin_FP:AR” Kerber is not like most poker players. On May 20, Kerber completed an incredible hat trick, winning his third title of the 2024 PokerStars SCOOP and his seventh overall.
Earlier this week, Kerber won a $109 and $530 buy-in Fixed-Limit Hold’em 6-Max events for a combined $11,057. Fastforward to May 20, and Kerber came out on top of a 123-strong field in SCOOP 78-H: $5,200 NLHE Progressive KO Titans for $114,316.
Any of the nine finalists would have made a worthy champion, but Kerber shone the brightest. After Team PokerStars’ Alejandro “[Papo]AR” Lococo bowed out in ninth for $21,159, “Notmystyle” and Romanian grinder Vlad “dariepoker” Darie fell by the wayside and left the final table six-handed.
Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis won this event a week ago and was vying for back-to-back Titans titles. However, the New Zealand-based Dutch star busted in sixth, collecting $27,063.
Fifth place went to Ukraine’s “234241234214432” before Alisson “heyalisson” Piekazewicz saw his latest deep run end in a fourth-place finish worth $44,199. The tournament progressed to the heads-up stage following the untimely demise of Vlad “VladTheSlaye” Martynenko, who scooped $68,459 with bounties included.
Kerber locked horns with Bulgaria’s “Eccentric_BG,” a player enjoying a fruitful 2024 SCOOP. Both players locked in $59,668 from the regular prize pool, leaving the now huge bounties to play for.
As he had done in two prior SCOOP events, Kerber got the job done, adding $54,648 to his winnings for a total prize of $114,316. The Bulgarian runner-up headed into the night with $93,378 to show for their efforts.
Kerber’s seventh SCOOP title ties him with some of online poker’s greats. Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira, Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Jerry “Perrymejsen” Odeen, Tobias “Senkel92” Leknes, and Matthew “MUSTAFABET” Ashton also have seven SCOOP victories on their resume. Kerber finds himself in esteemed company.
SCOOP 78-H: $5,200 NLHE Progressive KO Titans Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelvin “Kelvin_FP:AR” Kerber | Brazil | $54,648 | $59,668 | $114,316 |
| 2 | Eccentric_BG | Bulgaria | $33,710 | $59,668 | $93,378 |
| 3 | Vlad “VladTheSlaye” Martynenko | Ukraine | $28,437 | $40,022 | $68,459 |
| 4 | Alisson “heyalisson” Piekazewicz | Brazil | $13,359 | $30,840 | $44,199 |
| 5 | 234241234214432 | Ukraine | $13,125 | $23,765 | $36,890 |
| 6 | Lex “L. Veldhuis” Veldhuis | New Zealand | $8,750 | $18,313 | $27,063 |
| 7 | Vlad “dariepoker” Darie | Romania | $10,781 | $14,112 | $24,893 |
| 8 | Notmystyle | Canada | $2,500 | $10,874 | $13,374 |
| 9 | Alejandro “PapoAR” Lococo | Argentina | $11,875 | $9,284 | $21,159 |
Narcis “Narcisus90” Nedelcu Becomes a Five-Time SCOOP Champion
Romanian pro Narcis “Narcisus90” Nedelcu captured his second title of the 2024 PokerStars SCOOP, taking his running total to five SCOOP victories. Nedelcu took down SCOOP 79-H: $2,100 NLO8 6-Max PKO, outlasting 72 opponents and bulldozing his way through a star-studded final table.
“FAL1st” reached yet another SCOOP final table but fell in seventh for $6,655. The Thailand-based superstar’s finish earned some much-needed points for Team Spraggy in the SCOOP League.
“mari4ka9510” of Ukraine fell in sixth for $10,973 before “Zanos_Goda” saw their tournament end in a fifth-place finish worth $8,152. We must doff our cap to “Zanos_Goda” because they went on to win the $215 buy-in edition of this event for $13,708.
Patrick “pads1161” Leonard‘s quest for a ninth SCOOP title ended in a fourth-place finish worth $8,730, with the tournament progressing to eads-up after “RedPh0enix” crashed out in third for $12,009.
Nedelcu went on to defeat “Sur_OK1111” of Ukraine in the one-on-one battle, locking in $54,309 for his second SCOOP win of the current series, of which $37,093 came from the bounty prize pool!
SCOOP 79-H: $2,100 NLO8 6-Max PKO Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Narcis “Narcisus90” Nedelcu | Romania | $37,093 | $17,216 | $54,309 |
| 2 | Sur_OK1111 | Ukraine | $4,500 | $17,215 | $21,715 |
| 3 | RedPh0enix | Thailand | $1,000 | $11,009 | $12,009 |
| 4 | Patrick “pads1161” Leonard | United Kingdom | $500 | $8,230 | $8,730 |
| 5 | Zanos_Goda | Bosnia & Herzegovina | $2,000 | $6,152 | $8,152 |
| 6 | mari4ka9510 | Ukraine | $6,375 | $4,598 | $10,973 |
| 7 | FAL1st | Thailand | $3,218 | $3,437 | $6,655 |
Recent 2024 SCOOP Results
It wasn’t only Kerber and Nedelcu claiming multiple 2024 SCOOP titles because Sweden’s Andreas “MrAndreeew” Berggren bagged his second title of the series, winning SCOOP 77-H: $530 NLHE [Sunday Warm-Up] for $70,080.
Jens “Fresh_oO_D” Lakemeier, Ireland’s Cathal “shinerrr” Shine, and Aliaksei “ale6ka” Boika also got their hands on titles and substantial cash rewards.
*includes bounty payments
Lococo On Course For a Massive Prize; He’s Second in Chips in a $2K Event
Alejandro “[Papo]AR” Lococo has done his chances of taking down a 2024 SCOOP event no harm at all by bagging up the second-largest stack in SCOOP 82-H: $2,100 NLHE Progressive KO High Roller.
The tournament had 222 players registered by the time late registration slammed shut, and only 27 of those hopefuls remain. Lococo finished Day 1 with 2,588,805 chips and $9,375 worth of bounties in tow, enough for second place at the restart. First place awards $38,120 plus probably a similar amount, if not more, in bounty payments.
Plenty of superstars are among the final 27, including the aforementioned Kerber (176,080), Joao “Naza114” Vieira (206,479), Andras “probirs” Nemeth (636,354), Bert “girafganger7” Stevens (1,170,314), and chip leader Diego “diesanser” Sanchez (2,735,000). Play resumes at 5:30 p.m. BST on May 21.
Team Lex About to Break Through 10,000 Points
Team Lex remains way out in front in the race to become the inaugural SCOOP League champions. Results in the high buy-in two-day events over the weekend earned Veldhuis’ team 1,025 points, leaving them only 30 short of breaking through the 10,000-point barrier.
Team Spraggy also enjoyed plenty of success in the recent round of the event, adding 805 points to their total. Team Tonkaaa and Team Fintan members need to put on a late charge if they are to even consider catching Veldhuis’ star-studded roster before the final SCOOP event takes place on May 29.
| Team | Points | Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Lex | 9,970 | +1,025 |
| Spraggy | 8,025 | +805 |
| Tonkaaaa | 5,480 | +540 |
| Fintan | 4,160 | +445 |
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