Lee, a prolific high-stakes online player and 10-Game champ at the 2011 WSOP, outlasted an incredibly tough, 107-player field to win Event 31-H, $2,100 8-Game.
Kelly, likewise a WSOP bracelet winner and one of the best online poker players of all time with over $5.3 million in earnings, dragged his title in Event #29-M, $109+Rebuys NLHE Big Antes.
Three-time WCOOP champ Kelly earned his first SCOOP title and $73,040 after a two-way deal while Lee took home $58,315.
Kostritsyn, ElkY and CHUFTY Make Final Four
As has been the standard so far in the 2012 SCOOP, the fields in the high buy-in, mixed game events have been small but talented and that held true today.
Among the pros knocked out early in the tournament were Martin Staszko, Chad Brown and George Lind while Eugene Katchalov and Scott Clements held on to finish in the top 10.
Team PokerStars pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier made another run at a SCOOP title but ultimately had to settle for third while Lee and Alexander Kostritsyn had an epic, 1.5-hour heads-up match to decide the winner.
In the end, Lee prevailed and claimed his first SCOOP title.
Final Results - 2012 SCOOP Event #31-H ($2,100 8-Game):
1. Chris "Genius28" Lee (Canada) - $58,315.00 2. Alexander "joiso" Kostritsyn (Russia) - $39,055.00 3. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (UK) - $29,960.00 4. Richard "CHUFTY" Ashby (UK) - $20,330.00 5. Kecinpulach (Czech Republic) - $14,980.00 6. Ig123456789 (Ukraine) - $11,235.00
Dan “djk123” Kelly – The Most Unheralded Pro of All Time?
When you think of poker pros with over $7.5 million in combined earnings live and online, Dan “djk123” Kelly probably isn’t the first player to come to mind.
The $7.5 million+ range is heady territory - and usually reserved for the Erik Seidels and Daniel Negreanus of the world.
But Kelly has proved time and again he belongs in the discussion of the game’s truly elite and proved it again last night as he dismantled a 1,659-player field to take the biggest share of the $491,400 prize pool.
Kelly didn't have a particularly easy path either as pros Nicolas Chouity and Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia both ran deep. Kelly and Mandavia ultimately decided on a deal to split the top two payouts fairly evenly.
Final Results - SCOOP 2012 Event #29-M $109+Rebuys NLHE (Big Antes)
( * denotes part of two-way deal ) 1. Dan "djk123" Kelly (Australia) *$73,040.06 2. pistons87 (Canada) *$66,542.11 3. Blackbeaty (Germany) $44,226.00 4. matt20 (United Kingdom) $32,923.80 5. kripap (Hungary) $23,341.50 6. ro_Man777 (Germany) $18,427.50 7. djalminha (Portugal) $13,513.50 8. raare01 (Netherlands) $8,599.50 9. YugiohPro (South Korea) $4,914.00
For a full recap of all the day's action plus a preview of the remaining events on the 2012 SCOOP schedule, visit the PokerStars blog.
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