by Mario Alfonsi | Published on Mar 10, 2021 | Updated on Mar 10, 2021
The inaugural Michigan Championship of Online Poker (MICOOP) came to an end on March 8, and it was a massive success, attracting a total of 28,830 entries, with $2.2 million in total prize money awarded across 60 events. That figure pretty much surpassed the initial guarantee of $1.4 million.
PokerStars is currently the only online poker site operating in US State of Michigan. It launched less than two months ago and enjoyed immediate success, prompting it to bring one of its most popular tournament series to the state.
The festival culminated in the $300 buy-in, $200K GTD Main Event, which was ultimately taken down by “smftt” for $56,398.93 after topping a field of 1,284 entries. The eventual winner led the chips early on and managed to remain at the top through to the final day.
As the final table kicked off, “smftt” was second in chips, with “zscoro” leading the pack. “sexycaitlyn” left the table first, finishing 9th for $3,759.82. “Ryan Haury” busted next, finishing 8th for $5,274.48. “PuntnStacks” took home $7,399.31 for their 7th-place finish, followed by “GigglyGrizzlies” who was eliminated in 6th place for $10,380.16.
Fifth place went to “nldoublej” who walked away with $14,561.81 in winnings, while “LayThePipeDream” finished 4th for $20,427.99. “cbauer6789” was the 3rd placer winning $28,657.44.
“smftt” and “zscoro” battled it out during heads-up play, and when the dust settled, the latter settled for 2nd place for $40,202.13, with “smftt” becoming the first ever MICOOP Main Event winner, securing the $56,398.93 top prize.
Other High-Profile Victories at MICOOP
Main Event champion “smftt” took home the biggest top prize of the series, but two other players also emerged as big winners at the festival, after winning two MICOOP tournaments.
First was “sexycaitlyn” who won Event #6: $200 NLHE Sunday Special SE and Event #11: $100 NLHE 4-Max to walk away with nearly $15,000 in combined winnings between the two events. “Coolriver84” followed suit a week later – the player took down Event #34: $100 NLHE 6-Max for $5,495.38, and then won Event #59: $100 NLHE Nightly Stars for $6,629.72.
Other tournament winners include “PowerRanges” (Event #1: $100 NLHE Kick Off Nightly Star SE, $13,562), “WOW $dogecoin” (Event #4: $100 NLHE 8-Max Deepstack, $10,386.42), “Bout2CrushU” (Event #14: $200 NLHE Super Tuesday, $10,448.68), “Surge_Ibaka” (Event #18: $500 NLH 6-Max High Roller, $12,988.35), and “GrndChalengChmp” (Event #31: $250 NLHE Sunday Special, $19,161.33).
Andrew “autokorekt” Korby also continued his great run on PokerStars MI. After winning three tournaments in just two days last month, the Farmington resident managed to secure his own MICOOP title after taking down Event $43: $100 NLHE 6-Max Turbo for $5,547.22.
