It's official. Lex Veldhuis has, at long last, rid himself of the COOP title monkey clinging to his back. The PokerStars Team Pro took down the PokerStars SCOOP 41-H: $5,200 NLHE Titans event earlier today, a win that marks Veldhuis' second-biggest online score and first-ever COOP title.
The final table of the $5,200 Titans event brought together several of the world's best online players in a battle for the $140,279 top prize and the SCOOP glory that comes with winning one of the most prestigious tournaments of the series. Amongst the players that Veldhuis had to outlast on his way to victory were Patrick "pads1161" Leonard, Yuri "theNERDguy" Dzivielevski, Kahle "ROFLshove" Burns, and Roman "RomeOpro" Romanovsky.
Veldhuis began the final table smack dab in the middle of the chip counts and, along with the other players, started the day with $18,630 locked up. The first few eliminations came quickly, but not before Veldhuis found himself in a brutal spot against Romanovsky.
After raising with 
and seeing both blinds defend, Veldhuis made a continuation bet on the 
flop. Romanovsky, from the small blind, moved all-in over the top of Veldhuis' bet and drew a quick fold from Burns in the big blind. Veldhuis, however, had a decision to make. As he talked through his thought process, Veldhuis landed on a fold.
Later, when PokerStars' cards-up stream caught up to the moment, Veldhuis saw that he folded the best hand, but Romanovsky's 
had piles of equity and many outs to improve to the winning hand.
Veldhuis takes control
Veldhuis took the chip lead when his 
held up against the 
of 'hello_totti' after a 
flop saw the two players get all the chips in the middle. From there, Veldhuis continued to chip up as players hit the rail one by one.
At the start of three-handed play, Veldhuis held a sizable chip lead over his two remaining opponents. An ambitious bluff against 'Nacho124441', however, saw that chip lead vanish in an instant and Veldhuis would have to continue battling.
In a hand against Dzivielevski, Veldhuis flopped the nut straight with 
on a 
flop. The 
turn improved Dzivielevski's 
to the second nuts and the 
river didn't change a thing for either player. Dzivielevski's bet was met with a jam from Veldhuis and the Brazilian crusher called it off to leave himself with just over one big blind remaining.
Heads up for SCOOP glory
Heads-up play didn't last too long, despite both players being fairly deep-stacked. Veldhuis managed to regain the chip lead and take the first opportunity he could find to seal the victory. After 'Nacho124441' raised from the button, Veldhuis piled in his stack with 
, covering the roughly 30 big blinds that his opponent had left.
'Nacho124441' made the call with and it was a massive flip for both players. The board ran out 
, clean for Veldhuis, and good enough to see the longtime pro earn his much-deserved first SCOOP title.
As the on-screen winner's animations played out, Veldhuis' emotions overwhelmed him and he let it all out, saying, "Yes! Oh my god, yes! Oh my f***ing god, dudes. Holy shit, holy f***ing shit. Holy shit, we did it. Oh my god, I'm shaking. I've been trying so long... I finally won one. I've had so many second places, third places, holy shit. I'm so happy dudes. We won one of the toughest tournaments of the series. What a tournament for my first f***ing COOP win."
PokerStars SCOOP 41-H: $5,200 NLHE Titans results
| Place | Player | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lex 'L. Veldhuis' Veldhuis | $140,279 |
| 2 | 'Nacho124441' | $108,687 |
| 3 | Yuri 'theNERDguy' Dzivielevski | $84,210 |
| 4 | 'Wildace_hun' | $65,245 |
| 5 | Roman 'RomeOpro' Romanovsky | $50,551 |
| 6 | Kahle 'ROFLshove' Burns | $39,167 |
| 7 | 'hello_totti' | $30,346 |
| 8 | Patrick 'pads1161' Leonard | $23,512 |
| 9 | 'kirbyl0ve' | $18,630 |
