The 2012 PokerStars WCOOP is still awaiting a big-name winner but both de Leon and Gross put on impressive performances coming fourth and sixth respectively at their final tables.
With 56 WCOOP bracelets yet to be awarded there is still plenty of time for the pros to shake things up in the prestigious series.
It's all leading up to the $5 million-guaranteed WCOOP Main Event on Sept. 23.
Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Day 4 of the 2012 WCOOP:
Event 8: $1,050 No-Limit Hold’em – Day 2
Team PokerStars Pro Christian “el grillo” de Leon stole the headlines on the second and final day of the $1,050 No-Limit Hold’em event yesterday.
de Leon made the deepest run by a Team PokerStars Pro yet at the 2012 WCOOP by coming in fourth place in Event 8 for $107,032.
Of the original 1,574 entrants, a total of 78 runners entered Day 2 including top-ranked MTT player Griffin “Flush_Entity” Benger.
Benger hit the rail midway through Day 2 of the contest when he had the misfortune of shoving ace-king into de Leon’s pocket kings.
The hand helped propel de Leon to the final table where he had to compete with fellow professional Pascal “Pass_72” LeFrancois.
LeFrancois won a WSOP bracelet in 2010 and finished 11th in the Main Event the same year. The French Canadian ended up finishing in fifth place for $77,126.
Meanwhile de Leon finally busted when he lost a flip with pocket deuces against eventual second-place finisher The Lag rat’s ace-king.
Online player beardo1981, who was playing from the U.K., went on to win the tournament outright for $262,936.
Here are the complete final table results for Event 8:
1. beardo1981 - $262,936 2. The Lag rat - $192,028 3. Roi kin23 - $144,808 4. Christian “el grillo” de Leon - $107,032 5. Pascal “Pass_72” LeFrancois - $77,126 6. Osten - $61,386 7. TeamWispy - $45,646 8. Bob43155 - $29,906 9. Gabyalp - $16,369
Event 9: $265 Pot-Limit Omaha Knockout
Noted online grinder Steve “gboro780” Gross proved he had knockout power yesterday by making it to the final table of Event 9.
The unique $265 buy-in PLO Knockout tournament drew 1,176 players yesterday to create a prizepool of $235,200 with $58,800 side aside for bounties.
The field was thick with pros including Eugene Katchalov, Roy “GodlikeRoy” Bhasin and George Danzer who all made the money.
Danzer was the final Team PokerStars Pro to fell as he hit the rail in 22nd place for a $987.84 payout.
Online player KingOfThe$ea, who was playing from Thailand, would take the chip lead into the final table with 1.1 million. Gross was one of the short stacks with 465,864.
The entire table likely sighed a breath of relief when Gross busted in seventh place for $6,938.
Portugal’s anguila would go on to beat The Cooker heads-up to claim the $40,595 first-place prize.
Here are the complete payouts for the Event 9 final table:
1. anguila - $40,595 2. The Cooker - $29,400 3. Kanipallo - $22,344 4. KingOfThe$ea - $16,369 5. Nakkehai - $11,642 6. Triantafill - $9,290 7. Steve “gboro780” Gross 8. Majava44 - $4,586 9. SONGJOY - $2,587
Ongoing WCOOP Events
Event 10: $320 No-Limit Hold’em Ante Up – Day 2
Event 11: $215 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em – Day 2
WCOOP Events Starting Today
6:00 ET – WCOOP-12 $215 Omaha-8 [6-Max, One Rebuy, One Add-on]
$215 buyin $150,000 guaranteed11:00 ET – WCOOP-13 $530 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max [Knockout]
$530 buy-in $500,00 guaranteed14:00 ET – WCOOP-14 $215 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo
$215 buy-in $50,000 guaranteedVisit www.pokerlistings.com