Team tonkaaaa Closes Gap with Talbot’s Second WCOOP Title in Four Days

Last Thursday, Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot clinched his fifth World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title with a win in the HORSE Championship. His stay in the five-time winner’s club was brief—lasting just four days—before Talbot captured yet another WCOOP victory.

The WCOOP League captain had even more reasons to celebrate as teammates “ShipitFTW911” and Niklas “Lena900” Astedt joined him on the podium in WCOOP 32-H: $1,050 NLHE [Progressive KO, Saturday KO]. Team tonkaaaa’s impressive one-two-three finish propelled them into second place on the leaderboard, overtaking Team easywithaces. Team peace&loove remained the team to catch over the weekend, as Sebastian “peace&loove” Huber‘s side kept their position at the top but can undoubtedly feel the heat that Team tonkaaaa has brought over the last few days.

In other WCOOP highlights from Sunday, undrafted Joao “Naza114” Vieira entered the WCOOP winner’s circle for the 11th time in his career, after a standout performance in the star-studded WCOOP 34-H: $2,100 NLHE [Turbo].

Watch Talbot’s Latest WCOOP Triumph

The double elimination “BRzRoll” and “dujo123” by “Dimisi777” meant the final table started with eight players. Talbot entered as the chip leader but was even more delighted that two of his teammates joined him at the FT.

The first elimination didn’t take long as “Manolo Poppe” despatched short stack “Grazza” in the first few hands. They then flipped 2024 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event seventh-place finisher Jonathan “johnyguedes1” Guedes to the wrong side of the rail with pocket jacks.

“ShipitFTW911” then found jacks to bust Dean “DeanoSupremo” Lyall, with Talbot cheering on from the sidelines despite his friendship with Lyall.

“Oh s***, oh s***! Hold for Shipit. I do love Deano but he’s on my team. Don’t do it. Nice dude,” commentated Talbot as the board ran out.

_{Final table action begins at 02:49:17}

Talbot started to distance himself from the field during five-handed play, solidifying his lead when his Big Slick took down “Dimisi777.” Shortly after, he further tightened his grip on the title by stacking “Manolo Poppe.”

“Yes, dude, I got three! All three of us are top three!” gushed Tablot as he salivated at the thought of all those WCOOP points.

“ShipitFTW911” kicked off the friendly fire by flushing out Astedt in third place, setting up a heads-up battle with Talbot, who held a commanding 3:1 chip lead. Despite the Swedish player’s efforts to turn the tide, Talbot stood his ground, giving nothing away. In the final hand, Talbot flopped a pair of aces, while “ShipitFTW911” hit a pair of sevens. After Talbot shoved on the river, “ShipitFTW911” made a hero call for his tournament life, only to see the pot and the title slide over to his captain.

“Damn bro, that’s pretty f****** cool, man. I’m not going to lie. When I woke up today, I did not expect to win $72,000 and a WCOOP while getting top three with two of my buds and two of my f****** leaderboard picks,” said Talbot as he rounded out his tournament stream.

Overall, WCOOP 32-H: $1,050 NLHE [PKO, Saturday KO] had 441 entries, where half of the $441,000 prize pool was shared between the top 55 players. The other half was reserved for the bounty prizes.

WCOOP 32-H: $1,050 NLHE [PKO, Saturday KO] Final Table Results

WCOOP League Standings After September 15

Talbot’s win, coupled with his Swedish cohorts’ performances, ensured that Team Tonkaaaa earned the most points on Sunday. Ahead of yesterday’s action, Team Tonkaaaa was trailing Team easywithaces by 310 points. However, they now lead the squad led by Fintan “easywithaces” Hand by five points. Additionally, Team peace&loove’s lead over Team Tonkaaaa has shrunk significantly, from 350 points to 75.

Team L. Veldhuis, captained by Lex Veldhuis, earned just 40 points. Veldhuis had been battling illness and posted on X on Sunday that he needed to take the day off to recover. He mentioned feeling unwell with a severe headache and dizziness, stating, “I’ve been sick all week but able to power through. Last night I had a pretty bad stream. Went to bed with an insane headache and dizziness and woke up feeling worse. I honestly can’t believe it, but taking WCOOP Sunday off. I think playing today will result in more damage. Sorry🙏”

However, today he updated his status, saying, “I slept 12 hours last night. Game on.”

• Team peace&loove – 2,025 points (+145)
• Team tonkaaaa – 1,950 points (+430)
• Team easywithaces – 1,945 points (+115)
• Team AAkkari – 1,695 points (+270)
• Team L. Veldhuis – 1,550 points (+40)
• Team Spraggy – 1,025 points (+190)

Dzivielevski is WCOOP League’s MVP So Far

Heading into the second week of WCOOP, Brazilian maestro Yuri “theNERDguy” Dzivielevski stands out as the most valuable WCOOP League pick, contributing 950 of Team AAkkari’s 1,695 points. Close behind is compatriot Renan “Internett93o” Bruschi, who has accumulated 855 points for Team easywithaces, making him the second-best pick to date. Rounding out the top three is “FAL1st,” who bagged their fourth WCOOP title on Thursday.

Denis “aDrENalin710” Strebkov is next on the list with 620 points from his 12th WCOOP first-place finish, proving to be Team L. Veldhuis’ most significant asset. Interestingly, for Team tonkaaaa, it’s not Talbot (400 pts) leading the charge but 2024 WSOP Main Event bronze medalist Astedt, who is the only other player to surpass the 600 points mark.

Benjamin “Spraggy” Spragg has contributed 340 points, working hard to pull Team Spraggy out of the bottom ranks, but the team continues to struggle at the lower end of the standings.

Another WCOOP, Another Title for Vieira

Joao “Naza114” Vieira has once again made WCOOP headlines by winning his 11th title. The remarkable achievement spans from his first win in 2018 and is even more mind-blowing that he had a dry spell in 2020.

Vieira’s latest triumph came in WCOOP 34-H: $2,100 NLHE [Turbo], which attracted 124 entries and created a $248,000 prize pool. Vieira edged out Ivan “ILS007” Stokes in a heads-up battle to secure the triumph and a first-place prize of $54,358.

WCOOP 34-H: $2,100 NLHE [Turbo] Final Table Results

Joao Vieira’s WCOOP Wins

WCOOP Results for September 15

* indicates heads-up deal
** includes bounty prizes

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Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game.

Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).