Players enjoyed a welcomed day from the 2024 PokerStars World Championship Of Online Poker (WCOOP) grind on September 27 but returned to the virtual felt the following day full of renewed vigor. The biggest event needing wrapping up was Day 2 of the $10,300 NLHE NLHE PKO Thursday Thrill High Roller, and one of online poker’s biggest names took it down: Niklas “Lena900” Astedt.
Astedt, part of Team tonkaaaa in the WCOOP League, became only the sixth PokerStars player in history to reach ten career WCOOP titles. The Swede finds himself among elite company, with Benny “RunGodlike” Glaser (15), Tobias “Senkel92” Leknes (13), Joao “Naza114” Vieira (12), and Patrick “pads1161” Leonard the other players into double-digit WCOOP victories.
PokerStars Player Turns $1.50 Power Path Ticket Into WCOOP Title and $36K
Team tonkaaaa is the only team with any sort of chance of catching Team peace&loove in the inaugural WCOOP League, and team captain Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot is doing everything in his power to catch his fellow PokerStars ambassador. Tonkaaaa triumphed in the $1,050 World Championship of Badugi for his fifth title of the 2024 WCOOP and his ninth overall. Unfortunately, this event only saw a field of 45 entrants, so it was under the threshold for earning valuable league points.
Unfortunately, despite the monumental efforts of Talbot, Astedt, and the other three Team tonkaaaa members, it is all but guaranteed Team peace&loove will run away with the WCOOP League. Over the weekend, “king153246” captured not one but two titles. The player Sebastian “peace&loove” Huber selected from the WCOOP Boot Camp took down WCOOP 101-H: $1,050 Stud 6-Max and then triumphed in WCOOP 103-L: $11 NLO8 6-Max.
Current WCOOP League Standings
- Team peace&loove – 7,020 points (+535)
- Team tonkaaaa – 5,930 points (+480)
- Team easywithaces – 5,560 points (+315)
- Team L. Veldhuis – 4,805 points (+420)
- Team Aakkari – 4,015 points (+275)
- Team Spraggy – 3,550 points (+250)
Astedt Helps Himself to $189K; Denies Leonard an 11th Career Win
If you are going to become a ten-time WCOOP champion, you may as well do it in style, which is precisely what Niklas “Lena900” Astedt did. Astedt came out on top in WCOOP 97-H: $10,300 NLHE PKO Thursday Thrill High Roller and walked away with his tenth career WCOOP titles and a $188,988 top prize.
Only seven of the 65 entrants won a slice of the regular prize pool, although many more received bounties payouts before they busted.
Team PokerStars ambassador Alejandro “PapoAR” Lococo was the first in-the-money casualty, falling in seventh; the Argentinian didn’t receive any bounties, which is surprising considering he went so deep.
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Ukraine’s Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky fell in sixth before Alisson “heyalisson” Piekazewicz busted in fifth. Alexandros “Pwndidi” Theologis‘ latest deep run ended in a fourth-place exit, with the tournament progressing to heads-up after the demise of “Natrium111” of Belarus.
Astedt found himself heads-up against Patrick “pads1161” Leonard, who recently became a ten-time WCOOP champion. Both players secured $86,879 from the regular prize pool, leaving six figures worth of bounty payments to play for. As he often does when he reaches the one-on-one stage of a major tournament, Astedt got the job done and defeated his final foe. With the $102,109 worth of bounties added to his regular prize, Astedt scooped $188,988, leaving Leonard to lick his wounds and receive $130,238.
WCOOP 97-H: $10,300 NLHE PKO Thursday Thrill High Roller Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Country | Bounties | Prize | Total Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niklas “Lena900” Astedt | Sweden | $102,109 | $86,879 | $188,988 |
| 2 | Patrick “pads1161” Leonard | United Kingdom | $43,359 | $86,879 | $130,238 |
| 3 | Natrium111 | Belarus | $44,218 | $52,443 | $96,661 |
| 4 | Alexandros “Pwndidi” Theologis | Austria | $7,500 | $37,792 | $45,292 |
| 5 | Alisson “heyalisson” Piekazewicz | Brazil | $16,250 | $27,234 | $43,484 |
| 6 | Roman “RomeOpro” Romanovsky | Ukraine | $12,187 | $19,626 | $31,813 |
| 7 | Alejandro “PapoAR” Lococo | Argentina | $14,143 | $14,143 |
Massive Sunday is on the Cards
September 29 could be a day to remember because it will be massive. In addition to dozens of WCOOP tournaments taking place, the three No-Limit Hold’em Main Events and the trio of Pot-Limit Omaha Main Events shuffle up and deal.
All three NLHE Main Events kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET. They come with buy-ins of $109, $1,050, and $10,300, while boasting guaranteed prize pools worth $2.5 million, $3.5 million, and $5 million, respectively.
There’s still time to win your way into the WCOOP NLHE Main Events, but you’ll need to hurry because time’s rapidly running out.
Those preferring four hole cards to two should hit the PokerStars client at 3:05 p.m. ET, when the $109, $1,050, and $10,300 PLO Main Events commence. These high-stakes affairs feature guarantees of $200,000, $500,000, and $800,000, respectively.
Be sure to return to PokerNews on September 30 for a full round-up of the Super Sunday action.
Recent WCOOP Results
It wasn’t only Astedt and Talbot who added to their WCOOP hauls over the weekend because several others found themselves in the winner’s enclosure.
Juan “Malaka$tyle” Pardo bagged his fifth title in WCOOP 97-M: $1,050 NLHE PKO, a result worth $74,764.
“Sintoras” became a three-time WCOOP champion following their win in WCOOP 99-H: $530 NLHE 7-Max Turbo, and Pedro “PaDiLhA SP” Padilha now has four WCOOP wins after coming out on top in WCOOP 100-H: $1,050 NLHE Deep Stack for $48,264.
*includes bounty payments
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