PokerStars ambassadors Lex Veldhuis and Benjamin Spragg are coming towards the end of their 2023 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) grind, with the series concluding in just over a weeks time. And as SCOOP inches closer to the start of its Main Events, Veldhuis and Spragg put in the reps over the weekend in various SCOOP events.
It was another good weekend on the orange virtual felt for Veldhuis, who scored numerous cashes across various events. His latest SCOOP showing also resulted in him making the final table for SCOOP 75-H: $5,200 PKO Titans, where he sits in fifth place from the nine remaining players.
Veldhuis is gunning for his first-ever SCOOP title and has gone agonizingly close on several occasions over the last few weeks. You will be able to see if Veldhuis can shake off his SCOOP hoodoo on PokerStars’ Twitch channel, with cards up coverage beginning at 6 p.m. BST.
Spragg, on the other hand, had a relatively muted Saturday and Sunday, with just one SCOOP cash recorded. It was for a sizeable $8,393 after a 21st-place finish in SCOOP 62-M $1,050 PKO Thursday Thrill, which wrapped up on Saturday.
However, the Englishman celebrated his 33rd birthday on Friday in spectacular style as Spragg took down the $530 Bounty Builder for $33,600 and played “one of the most incredible hands” of his career against Parker Talbot, who was also denied a SCOOP title over the weekend.
Birthday Delight for Spragg
There’s only one thing better than having quads, and that’s getting paid off with them. And it was even sweeter for Spragg, as it was his colleague and friend Talbot that helped propel him to victory.
Here it is. The sickest hand I’ve ever streamed. 5 players left on the Final Table of the $530 Bounty Builder.… https://t.co/zMFDNA5HC9
From there on, Spragg sealed out the victory to start off his birthday weekend in the best way possible. However, the birthday run good would be shortlived as Spragg fell short of cashing the $5,200 PKO Titans and also found himself on the wrong side of a preflop cooler in the $1,050 PKO Thursday Thrill for his only SCOOP result of the weekend.
Veldhuis’ Wild Ride to $5,200 PKO Titans Final Table
As mentioned, Veldhuis returns in the middle of the pack for $5,200 PKO Titans final table, with Jonathan “x_zola25” Skovsen sitting in pole position. The event saw 154 entries, creating a $770,000 prize pool which bested the $600,000 guarantee.
Also still in contention are Felipe “lipe piv” Boianovsky, Patrick “pads1161” Leonard and Pedro “PadiLhA SP” Padilha.
They’ve all locked up $11,363 for getting to this stage, but of course, they will all be gunning for $71,023 for the winner plus any additional bounties.
$5,200 PKO Titans Final Table Standings
| Place | Player | Country | Bounty | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan “x_zola25” Skovsen | Denmark | $15,457 | 6,012,917 | 43 |
| 2 | “retro_cheetah01” | Poland | $10,313 | 5,952,304 | 43 |
| 3 | Felipe “lipe piv” Boianovsky | Brazil | $18,125 | 5,222,432 | 37 |
| 4 | Patrick “pads1161” Leonard | United Kingdom | $20,781 | 5,090,584 | 36 |
| 5 | Lex “L.Veldhuis” Veldhuis | Netherlands | $9,375 | 4,770,482 | 34 |
| 6 | Pedro “PadiLhA SP” Padilha | Brazil | $15,781 | 3,736,676 | 27 |
| 7 | “PAX176” | Poland | $0 | 3,665,344 | 26 |
| 8 | “milanov888” | Bulgaria | $2,500 | 2,767,158 | 20 |
| 9 | “Haringbuis” | Malta | $9,844 | 1,282,103 | 9 |
As we await for the final table to get underway, why not check out how Veldhuis navigated his way to the final table?
Veldhuis’ Weekend SCOOP Results
| Event | Position | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| 68-M $530 PLO | 20/273 | $1,466 |
| SCOOP Edition: Big $109 | 94/1104 | $244 |
| 70-H $215 | 8-Game PKO 8/240 | $1,514 |
| 71-M $109 NLHE PKO | 5/1663 | $3,224 |
| 72-L $55 NLHE Turbo | 126/2968 | $197 |
Editor & Live Reporter
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’s proudest poker achievement is winning the only tournament he has ever played in Las Vegas, the prestigious $60 Flamingo evening event.