Different strokes for different folks – it was interesting to see the demeanour of the players during the break in the APT Seoul final table. First-time final table participants like Norwegian qualifier Seval “Biffen 1” Hægeland and Michel “MSTP007” St Pierre paced nervously outside the ballroom while Jo Berec and Roger Spets looked relaxed and calm after the first two levels. James Honeybone said he’d been happy to stay under the radar during the first two hours.

After a quiet level 17, we’re expecting some fireworks during level 18, especially with Seval Haegeland (107,000) and Sid Kim (96,000) being chipped away.

Hands 36-40: Spets takes the first hand (36) after the break with 20,000 pre-flop raise, and Kim pushes all-in to claim the blinds and antes in hand 37. On hand 38, Berec raises to 24,000 and gets no action. Bachar and Berec check it down to the river on hand 39, and ace-high is enough for Bachar to take the pot on a board of Jh 9h 8c 8d Jd. Hægeland makes his move with an all-in bet on hand 40, but gets no love.

Hands 41-45: Berec takes the blinds and antes in hand 41 with a pre-flop raise of 25,000. Sid Kim is again all-in on hand 42 and after a few moments to deliberate, Roger Spets folds. Berec pumps it up to 26,000 to take hand 43, while St Pierre’s pre-flop raise of 25,000 is enough to take down hand 44. We see a flop on hand 45 between Berec and Haegeland. It comes Qc 10c 5d, and the pot goes to the Norwegian when he pops it up 25,000.

Hands 46-50: Bachar scoops hand 46 with a raise to 20,000 pre-flop. Hand 47 is a carbon copy with Honeybone taking the blinds and antes. Haegeland, Berec and Honeybone see a flop on hand 48 – it comes Qc 10c 5d, and Haegeland takes it down with a bet of 25,000. On hand 49, it’s a three-way pot between Berec, Kim and Spets. The flop reads Js 8s 2h. Kim pushes all-in, and scoops the pot. The Canadian St Pierre gets a walk on hand 50.

Hand 51: Ziv Bachar
Button: Kim (seat 7) – in one of the biggest pots of level 17, Bachar raises to 20,000 and gets a call from St Pierre. The flop is Qd Js 5h. Both players check. The turn is the Jd, St Pierre bets 25,000 and Bachar calls. The river is 5c. St Pierre checks, and Bachar bets 30,000. St Pierre folds and Bachar wins pot of more than 100,000.

Hands 52-54: The pattern resumes on hand 52, with Haegeland raising all-in after St Pierre calls on the button, and everyone folds. On hand 53, Berec bumps it up to 45,000 and gets a call from Kim. The flop is Ad Ah 7c, and it goes check-check. The turn is Qs, Berec requests a count but Kim mucks before he has a chance to take a nice pot. Bachar and Spets butt heads on hand 54 after the Israeli’s raise to 25,000. The flop reads Ac 7h 5d, Bachar bets 20,000 and takes it down. Blinds have just gone up to 5000/10,000 with an ante of 1000.

Hand 55: Sid Kim
Button: Berec (seat 3) – Roger Spets pushes all-in from the small blind with 2d 4h and gets an immediate call from Sid Kim with Ac 7s. The board comes 6h 3h 9h 7d Jd, and Sid Kim doubles through Spets, who is down to just 11,000 in chips.

Hands 56-59:St Pierre takes hand 56 from Kim with a bet of 15,000 after a flop of Kh 8c 3c, and makes it two out of two on hand 57 with a pre-flop raise of 30,000. St Pierre raises to 35,000 on hand 58, but Bachar’s reraise to 95,000 send the Canadian’s cards into the muck. Hægeland takes hand 59 with a pre-flop raise to 25,000. Honeybone gets away from it on hand 60 after his pre-flop raise of 32,000, which Berec reraises all-in. The Aussie shows pocket eights.

Hand 61: Ziv Bachar (Roger Spets eliminated in seventh position, $17,484)

Button: Honeybone (seat 2) – Bachar and Berec call, and Spets is all in for 5500 in the big blind. It’s checked down to the river with the board showing Ad 4h 2c 8h 7s. Bachar shows king-high to win the pot, eliminating Spets Js 5h. However, Roger Spets will go down in APPT history as the first player to reach two final tables.

Latest chip count (final table) Approximate:

• Ziv Bachar 620,000
• Jozef Berec 580,000
• Michel St Pierre 250,000
• James Honeybone 148,000
• Sid Kim 248,000
• Seval Haegeland 26,000

Hands 62-63: On hand 62, Berec raises to 25,000 and Kim calls. The flop reads Qh 8s 7c, Kim bets 25,000 and Berec raises enough to put Kim all-in. He doesn’t take the bait, leaving Berec in the chip lead on 580,000. St Pierre takes hand 63 with a bet of 20,000 when the board of Js Jh 2h 9h 7h is checked to the river.

Hand 64: Sid Kim
Button: Kim (seat 7): Kim raises to 25,000, Hægeland calls and the flop reads Js 8h 3c. Hægeland checks blind, Kim pushes all-in and the Norwegian calls. Kim shows 10s 9s, and Hægeland Jd 8d. The turn is 6h, but Kim hits the Qs on the river for a straight, crippling Hægeland.

Hands 65-70: Hægeland moves all-in from the small blind and gets a call from Bachar. It’s Qd 10h v Qs 7c, and Hægeland’s kicker plays to keep him alive after hand 65. Sid Kim scoops the blinds and antes with a raise of 40,000 on hand 66. Hægeland hangs on again in a chop (Ac 9h v Ad 9d) with Honeybone on hand 67. Sid Kim bets 25,000 on a flop of Kh Qs 2d, forcing Berec and Honeybone to fold on hand 68. St Pierre then gets a walk on hand 69, and Kim takes hand 70 with a bet of 20,000 on a flop of Ks Jh 6s.

Hand 71: Michel St Pierre (Seval Hægeland eliminated in sixth position, $21,855)

Button: St Pierre (seat 8): Hægeland pushes all-in for his last 19,000, and gets a call from Bachar and St Pierre. It’s checked all the way on a board of Kd 10s 9h 10d 2s. Haegeland shows Ks 3c but St Pierre has 10h 7d for a set, eliminating the Norwegian who won his way into the APPT Seoul main event for $1.

At the break, the latest chip count reads

• Ziv Bachar 562,000
• Jozef Berec 547,000
• Michel St Pierre 321,000
• Sid Kim 290,000
• James Honeybone 142,000

Hand 73: Sid Kim
Button: Bachar (seat 1) – Fireworks straight out of the break with the biggest hand of the tournament so far. Kim raises to 28,000, Berec re-raises to 112,000, Kim re-raises all-in and Berec calls. Kim shows Ks 10s and Berec Qc Qd. The flop hits Kim (As Kc 4h) and there’s no help for Berec on the turn (9c) or river (8s). Sid Kim is our new chip leader on 587,000, and Berec is down to 280,000.

Hands 72, 74-75: Berec raises to 36,000 on hand 72 to take the blinds and antes. Bachar’s raise to 36,000 is enough to take hand 73, as is Honeybone’s all-in push on hand 74.

Hand 76: Jozef Berec (James Honeybone eliminated in fifth place $28,412)

Button: Sid Kim (seat 7) – Honeybone moves all-in and Berec re-raises all in for 271,000. Honeybone shows Ad 10d and Berec 8h 8c. The flop comes 10h 4h 2s Qs, but Berec hits the 8d on the river for a set, KOing the young New Zealander.

Note: We’ll no longer be filing hand-by-hand reporting from the final table of the APPT Seoul main event, but keep an eye out for the final results in the coming hours.

Different strokes for different folks – it was interesting to see the demeanour of the players during the break in the APT Seoul final table. First-time final table participants like Norwegian qualifier Seval “Biffen 1” Hægeland and Michel “MSTP007” St Pierre paced nervously outside the ballroom while Jo Berec and Roger Spets looked relaxed and calm after the first two levels. James Honeybone said he’d been happy to stay under the radar during the first two hours.

After a quiet level 17, we’re expecting some fireworks during level 18, especially with Seval Haegeland (107,000) and Sid Kim (96,000) being chipped away.

Hands 36-40: Spets takes the first hand (36) after the break with 20,000 pre-flop raise, and Kim pushes all-in to claim the blinds and antes in hand 37. On hand 38, Berec raises to 24,000 and gets no action. Bachar and Berec check it down to the river on hand 39, and ace-high is enough for Bachar to take the pot on a board of Jh 9h 8c 8d Jd. Hægeland makes his move with an all-in bet on hand 40, but gets no love.

Hands 41-45: Berec takes the blinds and antes in hand 41 with a pre-flop raise of 25,000. Sid Kim is again all-in on hand 42 and after a few moments to deliberate, Roger Spets folds. Berec pumps it up to 26,000 to take hand 43, while St Pierre’s pre-flop raise of 25,000 is enough to take down hand 44. We see a flop on hand 45 between Berec and Haegeland. It comes Qc 10c 5d, and the pot goes to the Norwegian when he pops it up 25,000.

Hands 46-50: Bachar scoops hand 46 with a raise to 20,000 pre-flop. Hand 47 is a carbon copy with Honeybone taking the blinds and antes. Haegeland, Berec and Honeybone see a flop on hand 48 – it comes Qc 10c 5d, and Haegeland takes it down with a bet of 25,000. On hand 49, it’s a three-way pot between Berec, Kim and Spets. The flop reads Js 8s 2h. Kim pushes all-in, and scoops the pot. The Canadian St Pierre gets a walk on hand 50.

Hand 51: Ziv Bachar
Button: Kim (seat 7) – in one of the biggest pots of level 17, Bachar raises to 20,000 and gets a call from St Pierre. The flop is Qd Js 5h. Both players check. The turn is the Jd, St Pierre bets 25,000 and Bachar calls. The river is 5c. St Pierre checks, and Bachar bets 30,000. St Pierre folds and Bachar wins pot of more than 100,000.

Hands 52-54: The pattern resumes on hand 52, with Haegeland raising all-in after St Pierre calls on the button, and everyone folds. On hand 53, Berec bumps it up to 45,000 and gets a call from Kim. The flop is Ad Ah 7c, and it goes check-check. The turn is Qs, Berec requests a count but Kim mucks before he has a chance to take a nice pot. Bachar and Spets butt heads on hand 54 after the Israeli’s raise to 25,000. The flop reads Ac 7h 5d, Bachar bets 20,000 and takes it down. Blinds have just gone up to 5000/10,000 with an ante of 1000.

Hand 55: Sid Kim
Button: Berec (seat 3) – Roger Spets pushes all-in from the small blind with 2d 4h and gets an immediate call from Sid Kim with Ac 7s. The board comes 6h 3h 9h 7d Jd, and Sid Kim doubles through Spets, who is down to just 11,000 in chips.

Hands 56-59:St Pierre takes hand 56 from Kim with a bet of 15,000 after a flop of Kh 8c 3c, and makes it two out of two on hand 57 with a pre-flop raise of 30,000. St Pierre raises to 35,000 on hand 58, but Bachar’s reraise to 95,000 send the Canadian’s cards into the muck. Hægeland takes hand 59 with a pre-flop raise to 25,000. Honeybone gets away from it on hand 60 after his pre-flop raise of 32,000, which Berec reraises all-in. The Aussie shows pocket eights.

Hand 61: Ziv Bachar (Roger Spets eliminated in seventh position, $17,484)

Button: Honeybone (seat 2) – Bachar and Berec call, and Spets is all in for 5500 in the big blind. It’s checked down to the river with the board showing Ad 4h 2c 8h 7s. Bachar shows king-high to win the pot, eliminating Spets Js 5h. However, Roger Spets will go down in APPT history as the first player to reach two final tables.

Latest chip count (final table) Approximate:

• Ziv Bachar 620,000
• Jozef Berec 580,000
• Michel St Pierre 250,000
• James Honeybone 148,000
• Sid Kim 248,000
• Seval Haegeland 26,000

The appeal of online poker–or at least part of it–is the ability to play in an event with a relatively small buy-in and have a chance at a major score.

Event #20 of the World Championship of Online Poker had nothing to do with that part of the game’s appeal.

At $5,000, the buy-in to the HORSE event was the largest of the entire tournament series. It drew some of poker’s top name from both the live and online world. One hundred seventy-seven players threw in five grand a piece for a chance at a $225,000 first prize.

Here’s what the final table of the event looked like.

Seat 1: tj_trail (285838 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (246331 in chips)
Seat 3: BUS02 (116856 in chips)
Seat 4: TwinkleStar (95043 in chips)
Seat 5: BOBALOB (268092 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (382407 in chips)
Seat 7: ROXY24 (170189 in chips)
Seat 8: Cordelia (205244 in chips)

At the start of the final table, the game was Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo at the 10,000/20,000 limit. TwinkleStar had less than 100,000 in chips. With 8c4c/8d, he came in for a raise and then called a re-raise from BOBALOB who showed a queen up. On fourth and fifth street, TwinkleStar picked up nines and was looking good with two pair. He got a bet in on sixth street, but BOBALOB called and made queens up on the river. TwinkleStars was out in eighth place, cashing for $22,657.

BUS02 came into the final table with the second shortest stack and found the exit shortly thereafter. Reduced to only 43,000 chips, BUS02 got all his chips in with AdKh7c3s showing. We never got to find out what he had in the hole, as hairos pulled a straight flush and and BOBALOB had an 8-low. BUSO2 exited in seventh place for $31,860.

The players took a 30-minute break and came back to 12,000/24,000 limit hold’em, stacked up like this:

Seat 1: tj_trail (341638 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (363231 in chips)
Seat 5: BOBALOB (430563 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (443835 in chips)
Seat 7: ROXY24 (97889 in chips)
Seat 8: Cordelia (92844 in chips)

ROXY24 was looking for a double up and came in for a raise with J9. After calling a re-raise from tj_trail, ROXY24 saw the flop: Jc7dKs. Tj_trail bet out, ROXY24 raised, tj-trail re-raised and ROXY24 called. The turn was the 3d. This time tj_trail bet out and ROX24 called all in. Tj_trail held AdTd and had outs to any diamond, any queen, or any ace. The ace fell on the river and ROXY24 was out in sixth place and a $41,595 payday.

Cordelia was the next to go. Tj_trail rivered a flush on a 4s9cTh7c8c board to put Cordelia on life support. Cordelia was all-in in the big blind on the next hand and couldn’t find a winner. For fifth place, Cordelia picked up $55,755.

Despite being the only person at the final table interested in a deal, tj_trail could not stop winning. Whether it was a rivered flush or a flopped full house, he won hand after hand and, before long, was up over 800,000 in chips.

The hold’em round simply belonged to tj_trail. After it was over, he held a firm lead.

Seat 1: tj_trail (859527 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (303462 in chips)
Seat 5: BOBALOB (187407 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (419604 in chips)

The beginning of the Omaha/8 round cut further into BOBALOB’s stack. His frustration started to set in and he gave some clue as to his identity.

BOBALOB: this is sick 4th in both the biggest horse events of the year.

While he managed to double up and stick around for a while longer, he finally got his remaining chips in with KhKsJd6s. It was both a good and bad flop, KcQcTc. While tk_trail didn’t hold clubs, he did have AAJx for the flopped straight. The board didn’t pair and BOBALOB was out in fourth place for $71,685.

All the while, hairos was making a steady climb and, midway through the O8 round, had moved up to the chip lead. At the same time, tj_trail fell all the way back to third place after losing a 300,000 chip pot when svesken rivered two pair, nines and threes.

As the game turned to Razz, the chips stacks looked a lot different than they did an hour before.

Seat 1: tj_trail (409248 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (588648 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (772104 in chips)

Razz was unkind to tj_trail. Where he had the chip lead for a good long while, he had fallen back during the O8 round. The Razz round–and svesken–proved to be his undoing. Over the course of 20 minutes in Razz, his opponents beat him up. TJ_trail sat incredulous as his stack dwindled down to nearly nothing. The more he didn’t believe his opponent had made their hand, the more they actually did. The final nail came After losing with a ten-low to svekson’s six, Tj_trail finished in third place, earning $103,987.

Here’s how the stacks looked going into heads-up play.

Seat 2: svesken (1056144 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (713856 in chips)

Within a few minutes, hairos had drawn even with svesken and the players decided to chop up the money. They left $26,000 on the table and and took $176,921 a piece.

In the end, hairos picked svesken apart piece by piece over half an hour and finished him off to pick up the extra cash and the gold WCOOP bracelet.

2007 WCOOP: Event #21 Final Table Results
Results based on finishing order and two-way deal that left $26,000 for first place

1. hairos (Denmark) $202,921.00
2. svesken (Denmark) $176,921.00
3. tj_trail (United States) $103,987.50
4. BOBALOB (United States) $71,685.00
5. Cordelia (United States) $55,755.00
6. ROXY24 (Canada) $41,595.00
7. BUS02 (United States) $31,860.00
8. TwinkleStar (United States) $22,567.50

Hand 11: Ziv Bachar
Button: Bachar (seat 1) – Bachar raises to 15,000. Honeybone calls from the small blind. The flop is Jd 5h 2c. Bachar bets 15,000, Honeybone raises to 42,500 and Bachar raises all-in and has Honeybone covered. The Kiwi folds.

Hand 12: Roger Spets
Button: Honeybone (seat 2) – Berec calls the small blind and Spets checks. The flop is Qd 7c 2c. Berec checks and Spets bets 10,000. Berec folds.

Hand 13: Ziv Bachar
Button: Berec (seat 3) – Bachar raises to 15,000 and wins the blinds and antes.

Hand 14: James Honeybone
Button: Spets (seat 6) – Haegeland raises to 14,000 under the gun. Honeybone calls, and we see a flop of Ah Jc 6h. Haegeland checks and Honeybone bets 20,000. Haegeland folds.

Hand 15: Michel St Pierre
Button: Kim (seat 7) – Sid Kim raises to 15,000. St Pierre calls from the small blind. The flop is 10c 10h 9d. St Pierre checks, Kim bets 20,000 and St Pierre makes the call. The turn is a 6c. Both players check. The river is Qs. St. Pierre bets 45,000. Sid Kim calls, St Pierre shows pocket eights and Kim mucks.

Hand 16: Jozef Berec
Button: St Pierre (seat – Berec calls 6000, Haegeland calls from the small blind and Bachar checks. The three players see a flop of Jd 8d 7h. Check check check, and the turn brings A. Berec bets 15,000 and scoops the pot.

Hands 17-20: Small raises from Spets and Haegeland are enough to take the blinds and antes. Sid Kim takes hand 19 with a small bet after a flop of 10h 2h 2c against Honeybone and Berec. A pre-flop raise to 17,000 gives Honeybone hand 20. Blinds are now up to level 17 (4000/8000 with an ante of 500).

Hands 21-24: Spets takes hand 21 over St Pierre with a bet of 15,000 on a flop of Qh 5s 3s. Berec takes hand 22 after a pre-flop raise of 28,000, and Hægeland follows suit with a pre-flop raise to win 24,000 to win hand 23. Honeybone and Bachar play hand 24 down to the showdown – on a board of Ac Qh 3c 4c 2d, Honeybone shows Kc 5d for the straight and a small pot.

Hands 25-28: Sid Kim takes hand 25 after pushing all-in for 105,000, and a pre-flop raise to 26,000 gives Honeybone hand 26. Sid Kim is again in action on hand 27 and takes down a 68,000 pot with a bet of 25,000 on a flop of Ad 5c 2c. Spets takes hand 28 after a pre-flop raise of 20,000.

Hands 29-32: In a battle of the blinds on hand 29, St Pierre bets 17,000 on a flop of Ad 10c 9h against Haegeland to take the pot. Berec takes hand 30 with a pre-flop raise to 26,000, and hand 31 goes to Bachar after a bet of 8000 on a board of Ks Jc 8h Js forces Honeybone to fold. The duo battle it out against for hand 32 after Honeybone calls Bachar’s pre-flop raise of 20,000. It’s checked to the river on a board of 6d 5c 3s Qd 6h. Honeybone takes it with a bet of 9000.

Hands 33-35: Spets gets a walk in hand 33, as does Kim in hand 34. Honeybone wins hand 35 thanks to a pre-flop raise of 25,000, winning the blinds and antes. And we’re on a break – things have settled into a nice pattern now after the carnage on the first five hands.

Latest chip count (final table):

• Ziv Bachar 476,000
• Jozef Berec 470,000
• Michel St Pierre 329,000
• James Honeybone 201,000
• Roger Spets 169,500
• Seval Haegeland 107,000
• Sid Kim 96,000

Hand 1: Michel St Pierre

Button: St Pierre (seat – Michel St Pierre pushes all-in for 149,5000 with pocket queens, and gets a call from Paul Adams. The flop comes Qd 7c Ac 5c 8s, and Michel doubles through on the first hand! He leaves Adams crippled with just over 35,000.

Hand 2: Paul Adams

Button: Hægeland (seat 9) – Adams pushes in his remaining 35,000, but gets no action and takes the blinds and antes.

Hand 3: Seval Hægeland

Button: Bachar (seat 1) – Schreiber raises to 15,000, Hægeland declares all-in, Schreiber folds and Hægeland shows pocket kings. Three hands, three all-ins, it promises to be an action filled afternoon and evening!

Hand 4: James Honeybone (Paul Adams is eliminated in ninth position, $8740)

Button: Honeybone (seat 2): Adams pushes all-in, Honeybone calls and Schreiber (in the big blind) asks for a count before folding. Adams shows Qd 10h, and Honeybone has Ac Js. The flop hits both players (As 6c Qc), the turn is 4c and the river is 4d.

Hand 5: Jozef Berec (Daniel Schreiber is eliminated in eighth position, $13,113)

Hands 6-9: Small raises from Sid Kim (3) and Roger Spets are enough to take the blinds and antes.

Hand 10: Sid Kim

Button: Seval Hægeland (seat 9) – Berec raises to 16,000, Kim re-raises all in for 121,500. Berec asks for a count and thinks for a few moments before folding.

Previous APPT Posts:

• It’s time to ‘shuffle up & deal’ at the APPT Seoul final table
• Last nine decided in battle for APPT Seoul glory
• Qualifiers have a tale to tell to folks back home
• Was there something in the food?
• Chinese Poker, it’s anyone’s game
• A Case of Tae Kwon Woe
• Schreiber stays on top in race for Seoul crown
• ‘Rekrul’ rules late on day one
• Mercier makes her move
• Quality field takes aim at Team PokerStars
• Who are those masked men?
• Seoul Tournament Kicks Off